From The Vancouver Sun: One of the world’s most famous evangelical theologians quit the Anglican Church of Canada this week because he believes many of its bishops are “arguably heretical” for adhering to “poisonous liberalism.” James Packer, whom Time magazine recently named as one of the planet’s 25 most influential evangelicals, said he hesitated before using the harsh terms to describe the Anglican bishops, but believed he must do so in the name of truth.
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John Piper on Evangelism
I listen regularly to Pastor John Piper’s sermon podcasts. Recently, he finished up a series on the new birth, and in the final sermon Piper gives ten encouragements to Christians to do evangelism. Not only does Piper give some great practical instruction, but he also shares about his own evangelistic habits. “I’m Sending You to Open Their Eyes” – by John Piper [audio:http://www.desiringgod.org/download.php?file=http://www.desiringgod.org/media/audio/2008/20080413.mp3] In the course of the sermon, he mentions two items that he has written as aids for evangelism. One is a tract, and the other is a book. Both of them are aimed specifically at the conversion of the lost. As you may know, not all gospel…
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Can you read this?
Dear friends, I’m experimenting with Greek fonts again. Sound off if your browser shows the following as the Greek text of 2 Corinthians 5:21. τὸν μὴ γνόντα á¼Î¼Î±Ïτίαν á½‘Ï€á½²Ï á¼¡Î¼á¿¶Î½ á¼Î¼Î±Ïτίαν á¼Ï€Î¿á½·Î·ÏƒÎµÎ½ ἵνα ἡμεῖς γενώμεθα δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ á¼Î½ αá½Ï„á¿·
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Making Sense of the Texas Polygamist Controversy
Dr. Albert Mohler did an interesting show yesterday on the legal battles of the Fundamentalist Mormon sect that has been all over the news. While almost everyone would agree that the state needed to intervene in this case, he points out that there is a potential for precedents to be set that could adversely affect Christian families. You can listen to the show by pressing the “play” button below. [audio:http://www.sbts.edu/MP3/totl/2008/AMP_04_24_2008.mp3]
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Speaking of Evangelicals and Politics . . . Jim Wallis
Yesterday I lamented the fact that the evangelical left has their priorities all wrong. They refuse to treat abortion-on-demand as a transcendent moral issue. In other words, they do not think it should be a priority for Christians to support the protection of the unborn in law. Christians might try to reduce the abortion rate through social action, but they should not seek to protect the unborn through political means. At least that’s what the religious left is urging us to do.
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Colson, Boyd, and Claiborne on Evangelical Politics
Chuck Colson, Greg Boyd, and Shane Claiborne recently sat down with Krista Tippett for an interview about the political views of Evangelical Christians. You can watch the video here, or listen to the audio below.
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Brian McLaren at Willow Creek
Last week, the Baptist Press ran a story about the address that Brian McLaren gave at a conference for youth ministers at Willow Creek Community Church. As you might expect, he said some things that grate against traditional evangelical priorities. Here’s an example: “Some of us came from a religious tradition or a religious background where our main role was to recruit kids to go to heaven. And that’s a good thing. Mortality rates are still pretty high, and we all have to face that decision. But I’m here to challenge you to think bigger and deeper and in more layers and dimensions about your role.”
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Christians and Alcohol
Baptists in North America have a strong tradition of teetotaling piety. For Southern Baptists, however, the issue is a live one again as dissenters are making the case for Christian freedom to partake in moderation. In 2006, the Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution promoting total abstinence, but the measure only passed after a debate with a vocal minority. The fact that there was even a debate is significant for a denomination that has been fairly consistent on this issue. The SBC has passed over forty such resolutions since 1886.
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Abortion as Art
Yesterday the Yale Daily News reported that an undergraduate named Aliza Shvarts is using abortion as art: “Beginning next Tuesday, Shvarts will be displaying her senior art project, a documentation of a nine-month process during which she artificially inseminated herself “as often as possible” while periodically taking abortifacient drugs to induce miscarriages. Her exhibition will feature video recordings of these forced miscarriages as well as preserved collections of the blood from the process. The goal in creating the art exhibition, Shvarts said, was to spark conversation and debate on the relationship between art and the human body.”
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Young, Restless, Reformed by Collin Hansen
Collin Hansen, Young, Restless, Reformed: A Journalist’s Journey with the New Calvinists (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008). 160pp. $14.99. In 2006, Christianity Today editor-at-large Collin Hansen wrote an article about the rise of Calvinism among younger evangelicals. The piece had the title “Young, Restless, Reformed,” and it was a CT cover-story that raised eyebrows across evangelicalism. That is one of the reasons that news of Hansen’s book (published under the same title) caught my attention when I heard it was in the works last year. When Justin Taylor noted that the book was finally released on March 30, I ordered it almost immediately.