Everyone knows at this point that if you are a Christian and you’re on Piers Morgan’s show, he going to ask you about homosexuality (remember Kirk Cameron?). That was certainly the case with Rick Warren’s appearance on the program earlier this week (see below). In this encounter, Morgan asks Warren if he believes gay people are born gay. Warren says that the verdict is still out on that question. Warren also argues that our moral assessment of homosexuality is not altered even if they are born that way. In other words, it’s a moot point in terms of determining the rightness or wrongness of homosexuality.

Tom Wright has an op-ed in The Times of London today commenting on the Anglican decision not to ordain women as bishops. Wright’s article is a response in large part to Prime Minister David Cameron’s admonition to the church to “get with the program.” Wright thinks Cameron oversteps his bounds in telling the church what it ought to do. Perhaps I’m not the only one who would note the irony of an Anglican church leader complaining about the state chiming-in on church matters. But that is not what I am mainly concerned about here.

The Christian’s duty to give thanks is pretty clear in scripture. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “In everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” This is one aspect of God’s will that is not secret or hidden. It’s not something that we have to pray about. We already know what it is. Giving thanks in every circumstance is the normative ethic for all Christians. Nevertheless, there is at least one place in scripture in which Jesus warned against giving thanks. From Luke 18:9-14:

Charles and Andy Stanley open up to John Blake of CNN about their relationship and the split that led to the founding of North Point Community Church back in the 1990’s. The story appears in Andy Stanley’s new book Deep and Wide: Creating Churches Unchurched People Love to Attend. Fair warning: The intro to the CNN story will hook you into reading this lengthy article. Here it is: