Pope Benedict XVI has announced his resignation from the papacy. The last Pope to resign was about 700 years ago, Pope St. Celestine V, who did so in 1294. Pope Benedict’s letter of resignation is below.
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Evangelicals and the Homosexual Revolution
Albert Mohler’s article for The Washington Post is a must-read. It’s a sobering reflection on where evangelicals stand within a culture that has turned against a biblical view of human sexuality. He writes: Evangelicals cannot join the moral revolution on homosexuality, but it seems unlikely that we can stop it, either. The issue of homosexuality, by itself and in tandem with other moral issues, may well lead to the marginalization of evangelical Christians within the larger society. This is already the case in secular Europe and, increasingly, in Great Britain and Canada as well. Churches and other groups that cannot accept the full normalization of same-sex relationships will find themselves…
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Bishops reject “compromise” on abortion mandate
Cardinal Timothy Dolan has released a statement today on behalf of the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The Bishops have rejected the so-called “compromise” that the Obama administration proffered last week. The Bishops rightly conclude that the mandate still requires Catholic hospitals and schools to provide contraception and abortifacient drugs to their employees. Cardinal Dolan writes, The Administration’s proposal maintains its inaccurate distinction among religious ministries. It appears to offer second-class status to our first-class institutions in Catholic health care, Catholic education, and Catholic charities. HHS offers what it calls an “accommodation,” rather than accepting the fact that these ministries are integral to our Church and worthy of the…
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Marco Rubio, the Republican Savior?
The cover of the most recent Time magazine has a full-size picture of Marco Rubio and dubs him “The Republican Savior.” Senator Rubio tweeted a response today, and it is classic. He writes: There is only one savior, and it is not me. #Jesus There was once another politician who responded very differently to such acclaim, and the outcome wasn’t so good for him (Daniel 4:29-37). So this is a very good response from Senator Rubio. It’s exactly what he should have said.
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Advice for parenting young kids
Pastor Steve McCoy has some fantastic advice for parents of young kids. It’s a list of 24 practical ways in which you can raise your kids well. For example, here’s number four: Teach *First Time Obedience* | When Dad or Mom says do it, they do it. We are the parents. They are kids. Why is this important? Do you want them to obey God the first time, or to put it off? Also, if they don’t obey us there are often major consequences in the future. Sometimes if they don’t obey there are major consequences in the very near future. Example: We taught our children to *stop* when we say…
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Michael Gerson nails it on the abortion mandate
I gave my analysis last week of President Obama’s proposed revision of Obamacare’s abortion mandate. I said then that the revision is not a compromise, despite the favorable media coverage that would suggest otherwise. It’s just more of the same, and it still implicates Christian business owner’s in the killing of unborn children. The clearest analysis of the new rules that I have read, however, comes from Michael Gerson in today’s Washington Post. Here’s the bottom line:
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Confession: I DVR’d the Superbowl to watch Downton Abbey
I have a confession to make. I DVR’d the Superbowl so that I could watch Downton Abbey. I’m not much in to following television drama’s, but I have drunk the Kool-aid when it comes to the Crawley family. I’m happy to read this morning that I’m not the only one. Ted Kluck is a former professional football player and a current sportswriter. He’s also a super-fan when it comes to professional football. Yet in an article earlier today he reveals that even he tuned in to PBS during the big game. But that’s not the most interesting thing about his article. He also reveals that he has all but burned-out…
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Christians should let the Republican party split apart
Peter Leithart has a must-read over at the First Things blog. In short, he argues that President Obama is convinced that liberals have won the culture war. As a result, the President is trying to force a split in the Republican Party in order to smoke out the “bad” Republicans—those who hold to traditional marriage and who are prolife. Leithart writes: My advice to Bad Republicans is: Let it come. If the price of regaining power is to abandon any semblance of Christian sexual morality, the price is too high. If the Republican party can’t bring itself to endorse a traditional understanding of marriage, let it split. If the Republican…
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A Christian baker refuses to make cake for same-sex wedding and now faces charges
The Oregon Department of Justice is investigating a complaint against a Christian baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding. Here’s what happened in a nutshell. A woman and her daughter came into Aaron Klein’s store requesting a wedding cake. When they told Klein that the cake was for a wedding with two brides, he informed them that he does not serve same-sex weddings.
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I’m not defending Taylor Swift, but…
After watching the news piece above, I confess that I came away scratching my head. Is this really where we’ve come to as a culture? You can hardly call anything “wrong” or “immoral” in the public space without being jeered as a prude or perhaps even as a bigot. Yet it’s apparently completely within bounds to snipe at a 23-year old woman who likes to drink Diet Coke. This just seems silly to me. I don’t know much about Taylor Swift. I saw enough in the video above to be concerned about the image she is projecting to young girls. But drinking Diet Coke? How can they be serious? American…