I’m going to be honest. I was mad as a hornet when I saw what happened this morning to Cities Church, a Southern Baptist congregation in St. Paul, Minnesota. For those of you who haven’t seen the news, a group of leftist radicals shut down Cities Church’s worship service by shouting down the pastor, marching around the sanctuary yelling protests against ICE, and haranguing the men, women, and children who were gathered for worship. For a first person account of what happened, see the video below which was posted by one of the protesters. Please note the vile things coming out of the protester’s mouth and the terrified child being…
-
-
Answer Not a Kinist according to His Folly
There a number of race-baiting kinists, racial realists, and antisemites whose entire schtick consists in sowing error and division online among Christians. They live off of the error and controversy that they themselves manufacture. Do they have influence among a small section of the right? Yes. Must they be opposed whenever their teaching shows up in a church? Yes. Must pastors lead the way to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict? Absolutely yes, yes, yes. But I think we need to be realistic about the best way to engage the bad actors mentioned above. Arguing with them online is exactly what they want. They are conflict…
-
What is Hell?| Responding to Kirk Cameron | The Kenwood Institute Podcast | Ep. 3
Kirk Cameron and his son recently recorded a podcast in which they both adopted an annihilationist view on Hell. This view holds that the damned do not suffer in hell permanently but eventually cease to exist. Jim Hamilton, Tom Sculthorpe, and I refute this view in podcast linked below. You can watch or listen to the podcast below.
-
On a New Sexuality Statement at the Evangelical Theological Society
On this episode of the CBMW Podcast, Jonathan Swan, Denny Burk, and Colin Smothers discuss the adoption of a new statement on LGBTQ by the board of the Evangelical Theological Society. You can watch the video below, or you can tune into Spotify or Apple podcast versions below that.
-
What Happened at ETS 2025?
I attended the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society last week in Boston. Readers may wonder why I take time to write an annual round-up of the goings-on at such an event. The bottom line is pretty simple. This is where evangelical scholars and theologians gather to engage one another in academically rigorous theological debate. These are the authors who shape the pastors who in turn shape congregations across North America. What starts at ETS often doesn’t stay at ETS but eventually makes its way to the pews. For example, I had my first debate about whether same-sex attraction is sinful at the 2014 annual meeting of the ETS.…
-
No Frenemies to the Right?
All conservatives (especially Christian ones) should know that they are duty bound to say what is true. The “No Enemies to the Right” calculation is immoral and unprincipled because it is not only a refusal to say what is true but an active campaign to defend what is not true. Dissembling is no virtue, especially when it is being used as a cover for moral evil. And make no mistake. Racial epithets and jokes about the holocaust are beyond the pale and ought to be marginalized. [The excerpt above is from my most recent column in WORLD magazine, “No Frenemies to the Right.” Click here to read the rest.]
-
Why Is John’s Gospel So Different from the Others?
One of the great ironies of the Gospel of John: The Greek version of this gospel is on the level of “See spot run.” It’s some of the easiest and most basic Greek that you will read anywhere. And yet, John fills these simple expressions with the most profound statements of Jesus’ identity and divine nature. It’s no wonder that the Nicene Creed is so indebted to the words of John’s Gospel. As I have been preaching through this book, I have told our congregation that the Gospel of John is like an ocean. There are parts of it that are shallow enough for a toddler to splash around in…
-
A Hip-Hop Song Based on My Blog Post
A former student named Timur Nesbitt wrote rap lyrics based on my previous post about the Charlie Kirk funeral. Then he used SUNO Studios for the beat and vocals. You can listen to the result below. Thanks for sharing, Timur! TimurNesKZ · That Young Man… I Forgive Him
-
Sometimes the Results of Our Ministry Appear Many Years Later
From Wayne Grudem: “Sometimes the results of our ministry appear many years later: In 1982, when our oldest son Elliot was in 3rd grade, Margaret began to think that we needed a Christian school in the north suburban Chicago area (there were none near us). As we talked, I agreed with her. We began to talk with other parents and soon we formed a committee to address the possibility of founding a Christian school. After many presentations at many churches and in many homes, Christian Heritage Academy opened in 1984 in Northbrook, Illinois with 59 students in grades K-6. The school now has moved to nearby Northfield, Illinois, and has over 400…
-
Charlie Kirk’s Complementarian Legacy
On this episode of the CBMW Podcast, Colin Smothers, Jon Swan, and I discuss Charlie Kirk’s legacy, memorial service, and his widow Erika’s extraordinary complementarian challenge to men and women. You can listen on Apple podcasts or Spotify (linked below) or watch the YouTube version (also linked below).
