The video above is the story of a little boy named Jack who “feels” like he is a girl. His parents have affirmed his intuition and are now letting him live the life of a little girl with the name Jackie. The parents are tragically wrong in this case. And the grandfather is right to insist that 10 year olds do not know what’s best for themselves and that parental guidance is needed (Proverbs 22:6).
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TV Appearance of Last Living Witness of President Lincoln’s Assassination
Samuel J. Seymour was five years old when he went to Ford’s Theater with some family and friends. After arriving in Washington, D.C., he was told, “Sammy, you and I and Sarah are going to a play – a real play. And President Abraham Lincoln will be there.”
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Marvin Olasky Sizes-up GOP Front-runner Rick Perry
Marvin Olasky has begun to size-up the new GOP front-runner in the latest issue of World magazine. Olasky has lived in Austin for two decades and has known many of Rick Perry’s political allies, critics, and former staffers. After reading Olasky’s article, I have to say that his take on Perry is rather cool. It’s not negative, but it’s not positive either. It is a bit wait-and-see-ish. Olasky gives a thumbnail sketch of Perry’s very conservative record as the governor of Texas. Olasky raises the specter of some “crony capitalism” in Perry’s record as well. Olasky finds no evidence of any personal corruption on Perry’s part.
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Ross Douthat Goes Another Round with Ryan Lizza over Francis Schaeffer
Earlier this week I posted about Ross Douthat’s deft dismantling of Ryan Lizza’s misinterpretation of Francis Schaeffer. Ryan Lizza has since responded on The New Yorker Website and stands by his contention that Francis Schaeffer favored armed resistance to the U.S. government over the issue of abortion. Douthat has just offered another rejoinder to Lizza. Once again, Douthat has the better part of this argument. One thing I would add about his whole conversation: If Francis Schaeffer really favored armed resistance against the U.S. government, then why haven’t evangelicals answered his call to do so? In the last 30 years, can you think of any evangelical who has heeded Schaeffer’s…
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Texas A&M Notifies Big 12 of Plans to Bolt the Conference
Texas A&M is setting itself up to begin playing in the SEC next year. From ESPN.com: Texas A&M is done messing with Texas. Texas A&M has notified the Big 12 that it plans to apply for membership to a new conference, and if accepted, it will end its membership with the Big 12 on June 30, 2012. Read the rest here.
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Do Dead People Praise God?
Do dead people praise God? The Psalmist says that they don’t. Read for yourself the last two verses from Psalm 115: The dead do not praise the LORD, Nor do any who go down into silence; But as for us, we will bless the LORD From this time forth and forever. Praise the LORD! For those of us grew up in evangelical churches that teach about saints praising God in the afterlife, this text can come across as quite a jolt. Can it really be true that departed saints no longer praise God?
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DC Comics Creates First Lesbian Superhero
Just a quick note about another sad milestone in popular culture: DC Comics is shaking-up its comic book universe. They have decided to do a giant do-over of 52 of their titles, which means that Superman, Batman, and a host of other comic book icons will be starting-over from issue number 1. What does this mean? For starters, it means that Lois Lane will no longer be married to Superman. There will be brand new story lines and brand new characters. America is a lot less “white” than it was when DC Comics started 76 years ago, so the new series will feature more ethnic diversity among its heroes. But…
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Was the Apostle Paul Married?
It is generally agreed that the apostle Paul was an unmarried man for the duration of his ministry. Not only does Acts omit any mention of Paul having a wife, but also Paul’s own letters seem to indicate the same. Nevertheless, there is some disagreement over whether or not Paul had been married at an earlier point in his life. In this post, I will argue that Paul was in fact a widower at the time of his writing. I’ll make the case in seven points:
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A Compelling Case against Inerrancy?
I’m reading Thom Stark’s new book arguing against biblical inerrancy, The Human Faces of God (Wipf & Stock, 2011). In the preface Stark says this about proponents of inerrancy: “As for died-in-the-wool fundamentalists and biblical apologists, I have no expectations that anything I have said within the pages that follow will convert them (although I hope it will); neverthless, I have tried to pay them the deep respect of extensively engaging their arguments” (p. xvii). I have to say that I am forearmed against believing that Stark will meet the ideal of that last sentence. I have just perused Stark’s bibliography, and there is not a single reference to the…
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Douthat Takes Lizza to the Woodshed
Ryan Lizza’s piece from The New Yorker a couple of weeks ago gets another critique—this time from Ross Douthat. In a follow-up piece to Douthat’s article in today’s New York Times, Douthat goes to his blog to challenge Ryan Lizza’s misrepresentation of Francis Schaeffer. Douthat is charitable, but tough. Here’s the conclusion: