An Easter pageant at a church in Canton, Ohio went horribly awry on Sunday when the paper mache tomb caught on fire during the finale. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but I’m pretty sure they made a memory. It’s remarkable that the singer never missed a note. The rest of it, you’ll just have to see for yourself above. The good stuff starts at about 1:10. (HT: Zach Nielsen, @RevKevDeYoung)
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Ross Douthat on Gay Marriage and Historical Amnesia
Ross Douthat is getting some push-back on a column he wrote over the weekend about gay marriage. In a blog post today, therefore, he offers a rejoinder. He argues that gay marriage proponents have “historical amnesia” when they claim that marriage’s legal connection to procreation is a new idea invented by conservatives to oppress gay persons. He shows convincingly from the historical record that this is not the case and then concludes with this: That so many people find this claim credible or even self-evident is a small but potent example of exactly the two phenemona that my column’s conclusion discussed: First, the way that gay marriage inevitably has widening…
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Piper’s first-day thoughts on not being a pastor anymore
Having completed his course at Bethlehem Baptist Church, John Piper has a meditation on the joy of “finishing things.” He writes: Therefore, as I woke up on this Monday morning for the first time in 33 years without the official mantle of pastor, the only tears that came were tears of thankfulness. And under them was a great joy. It is finished. It has a completeness to it. God started it. God sustained it. God ended it. And I have loved it. And I love looking back on it, complete. Imperfect in a hundred ways, but not because it was too long or too short. Being Bethlehem’s pastor has been…
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John Piper’s final sermon at Bethlehem Baptist Church
I am grateful beyond words for the ministry of John Piper at Bethlehem Baptist Church (read about it here). And I am grateful as well for the ministry that continues there under Jason Meyer. In more ways than one, this isn’t the end. It’s only the beginning. Still, this past weekend marks the close of a significant chapter, and it is worth the time to mark the occasion. So watch the video above, read the transcript here, download audio here, or listen to the audio below. [audio:http://cdn.desiringgod.org/resources/sermon/2013/20120330.mp3]
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A Resurrection Day Poem
O Jesus, Savior of my life, My hope, my joy, my sacrifice, I’ve searched and found no other one Who loves me more than you have done. (John 15:13)
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What I observed this week in the debate about gay marriage
This week has been a watershed moment for the fortunes of marriage in our culture. I’ve been following the discussion with great interest, including listening to oral arguments that were made before the Supreme Court on Tuesday and Wednesday (here and here). Without question, the most significant thing that I have noticed in debates both inside and outside the Court has been the utter lack of moral argument. This was brought home in spades on Wednesday when Justice Elena Kagan highlighted a statement made by the House Judiciary Committee in 1996 when the Defense of Marriage Act was passed. Here are the critical lines:
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President of Midwestern Seminary enters blogosphere
Until very recently, Dr. Jason Allen was a colleague with me here at Southern Seminary. Last year, however, he took the helm as president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has a vision for Midwestern that it serve the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. To that end, he has launched a new website this week. He’s already gotten several items posted, including the beginning of a series on theological education.
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How not to have a debate about gay marriage
One of the things that has become increasingly clear in the debate about gay marriage in this country is that proponents do not really want to have a debate. They have already decided that traditional marriage supporters are ignorant rubes at best or bigots at worst. In either case, there is no reason to take traditional marriage supporters seriously, and they can be safely dismissed as a part of a dying minority.
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Congratulations to Russell Moore, President-elect of the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission
The SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission has just announced the election of Russell Moore as its next President. Here’s the lede from the announcement on the ERLC’s website: Russell D. Moore has been elected as the new president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission by the entity’s board of trustees. Moore will follow Richard Land as the eighth president of the ERLC, which is the Southern Baptist agency dedicated to addressing social and moral concerns and their implications on public policy issues. Moore will begin his new responsibilities June 1. At that time, Land will become the entity’s president emeritus, an honor bestowed on him…
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How to keep single-minded devotion to Christ when travelling alone
Many a “faithful” man has gone astray while traveling . Perhaps for business or even perhaps for ministry, travelling alone and being away from home are riddled with temptation and opportunities for moral failure. That is why I love Garrett Kell’s outline of what he does to prepare himself spiritually for taking trips. In short, he tends to his family, purity, and ministry every time he travels. This essay is well worth the read, and you can do so here.