Have you seen any of Pastor Rob Bell’s “NOOMA” videos? I first viewed a few of them a few years ago when a friend from church brought them to me and said that I needed to watch them. They are impressive in terms of production, and compelling in terms of Rob Bell’s delivery of the material. They are short, hip, punchy sermonettes that do a good job of reaching the pomo set. Greg Gilbert has written a 3-part review of the videos that is now available at the blog for 9Marks.org. Gilbert ends up being extremely critical of the videos because of their lack (and sometimes distortion of) gospel content.…
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Were the Invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq Just?
My friend Scot McKnight posed a fair question in the comments section of a previous post (comment #65), and I think a proper response deserves a new post. Here’s Scot’s question: “Do you really believe our invasion of either Afghanistan or Iraq was just war?” Before answering the question, I need to clear the decks with a couple of clarifications. First, please note that Scot is not asking whether I hold to some form of the just war position. He’s a pacifist and knows that I am not. He is not asking me to justify just war theory. He’s asking if these two particular invasions can be reconciled with the…
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Against Music
Greg Gilbert has written a must-read essay/exhortation titled “Against Music.” I second everything he says in this one. Here’s an excerpt: ‘I am really afraid that we’ve managed to create a generation of anemic Christians who are spiritually dependent on excellent music. Their sense of spiritual well-being is based on feeling “close to God,” their feeling close to God is based on their “ability to worship,” and being able to worship depends on big crowds singing great music.
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Carl Trueman: Linguistic Soul-patches
You gotta love Carl Trueman. He hits another homer with this short essay, “Done? You Have Been.” Here’s an excerpt, but you must go on to read the rest. “A couple of months back, I made some observations on the advent of that most ridiculous facial accoutrement, the soul patch. The size of these absurd tufts of hair is surely inversely proportional to their eloquence: any Christian man the wrong side of forty, or, to avoid sexism, any woman of any age, who sports one clearly suffers from that common Christian ailment of taking themselves far too seriously. The faux-rebellion such things express is really rather sad: along with dog…
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What’s Notable about Romney’s Speech?
Gov. Mitt Romney dropped out of the race for President today. In his speech, he said something remarkable: “Barack and Hillary have made their intentions clear regarding Iraq and the war on terror. They would retreat and declare defeat. And the consequence of that would be devastating.
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Romney To Drop Out of Race
CNN and Time magazine report that Gov. Mitt Romney will drop out of the race for president as early as today. Here’s the bulletin from CNN: “Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will suspend his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, GOP sources tell CNN. “A candidate may “suspend” his or her campaign rather than dropping out, and technically remain a candidate. In this case, he or she is entitled to keep any statewide pledged delegates as well as their district-level delegates. “Candidates who officially drop out must forfeit statewide delegates.”
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Pictures of the Destruction at Union University
It’s difficult to grasp the scope of the devastation at Union University when all you have are pictures on television and the internet. Dr. Greg Thornbury, however, has posted a link to some photos that give a glimpse of the extent of the damage. There are several aerial shots that show just how much of the campus was destroyed. Here they are. Slideshow of the Destruction at Union University It’s amazing that not one person on campus died during the storm. Thank the Lord.
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David Dockery on NBC’s “Today Showâ€
Lester Holt interviewed our friend Dr. David Dockery on the “Today Show” this morning. The video shows some of the destruction caused by the tornado as Dr. Dockery gives an update on the students who were caught in their dorms during the storm. Thankfully, there were no fatalities at Union University.
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Update on Amending the ETS
Last year, I posted several notices about an effort that Ray Van Neste and I are undertaking to amend the doctrinal basis of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS). You can read about that effort at our website www.AmendETS.com. Today I am passing on two new developments to those readers who are interested. First, Ray and I (the co-sponsors) have written a response to the Executive Committee’s characterization of our proposal. We disagree with their public statements, and we have written about it here: “Response the Executive Committee.” Second, the January issue of Christianity Today has a report about the amendment effort. The story talks about the meeting in San Diego…
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Tornado Hits Union University; Students Trapped
Tornadoes ripped through the campus of Union University tonight, and the Baptist Press is reporting that 8 students are trapped by debris in their dormitories. No fatalities are reported. The University has no power right now, and their website is down. So check Baptist Press and the Jackson Sun newspaper for updates as events unfold. Here are some stories that have already appeared: