Kevin DeYoung’s message from the NEXT conference is outstanding. He calls us to cease our fixation with ecclesiastical revolution and instead to become “visionary plodders.” That little phrase—visionary plodders—is one that you can hang your hat on. The idea is that we should take the long view on our Christian walk. Revolutions can occur, but they are more likely to occur over a lifetime. What that means is that we are called to be faithful in the small things every day. A life that accumulates that kind of faithfulness over the long haul is a revolutionary life. Kevin DeYoung hasn’t literally given me my purpose in life, but he has…
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The End of Prop 8: A Moral and Legal Revolution
Yesterday, a federal judge overturned California’s ban on gay marriage—a measure that was added to the state’s constitution through a 2008 ballot effort called Proposition 8. Federal district judge Vaughn R. Walker ruled that Proposition 8 was a violation of the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment (p. 109). The judge immediately stayed his own decision pending appeals, so gay marriages will not be performed until the issue is resolved in the higher courts. Read the decision here. The next stop for this case is the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals—a court well-known for leaning left on social issues and which will almost certainly rubber-stamp…
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Anne Rice Speaks to NPR
NPR interviewed Anne Rice on Monday on “All Things Considered.” The conversation is of course about her recent decision to leave the Roman Catholic Church. That decision is already well-known and is not news. In this interview, however, we do find out that the straw the broke the camel’s back was the issue of homosexual marriage. She says: “I didn’t anticipate at the beginning that the U.S. bishops were going to come out against same-sex marriage… That they were actually going to donate money to defeat the civil rights of homosexuals in the secular society… When that broke in the news, I felt an intense pressure. And I am a…
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Anne Rice on First Things blog
By now you have probably heard about Anne Rice’s de-conversion from Roman Catholicism. The famous vampire novelist came back to Catholicism about 12 years ago (see video below), but now has decided that she can no longer be a Christian. In short, she wants to be devoted to Jesus, but she can’t stand what the Roman Catholic Church stands for. So she’s checking out. She made the announcement Wednesday on her Facebook page, and you can read her remarks there. Earlier today, she commented on one of the blogs at the First Things site. She writes:
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Reformation Conference
Southern Seminary is pleased to host the first North American conference for Refo500, a global project to direct attention toward 2017 and the quincentenary of the beginning of the Reformation. Featured speakers include Albert Mohler, Timothy George, Joel Beeke, Peter Lillback, Herman Selderhuis, David Hall, and many others. The conference will meet this September 27-28 on the campus of Southern Seminary in Louisville, KY. Click here for more information and to register for the conference. “Refo500: Challenges and Opportunities between Now and 2017”
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Mark Dever vs. Jim Wallis
Mark Dever has an informal dialog with Jim Wallis about the church’s responsibility to promote social justice. This video is part 1 of the conversation, and there are more videos to follow. As you might expect, Dever and Wallis markedly differ about the role “justice” ought to have in gospel ministry. This section of the conversation is about race relations. Dever’s point is that the church as the church should not confuse its mandate to preach the gospel with social justice concerns. Wallis argues that that gospel ministry includes efforts at racial reconciliation in the wider culture. What I find most interesting about this first segment is the differing ways…
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Hollywood vs. the Heartland
Robert Duvall recently sat for an interview with Christianity Today. I found this exchange to be pretty interesting: CT: Why do you think Hollywood has a tendency to mock Christians and preachers? Duvall: Well, it’s not just Christians. I mean, I’m a Christian. But they mock the interior of the United States of America, the heartland. They don’t go out of their way to understand what’s really there. I think his analysis is remarkable. It’s the “heartland” that Hollywood likes to lampoon, not just heartland religion. He sees the real divide to be a cultural one, not a merely a religious one. This observation is correct so far as it…
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Scripture Memory
John Piper answers the question, “How do you keep from forgetting Scripture after you’ve memorized it?” I found this to be practical and helpful, and I hope you will too. Watch his answer above, or read it here.
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He over-repented
Ted Haggard tells The Wall Street Journal that he “over-repented” from the public sin that ended his ministry in 2006. Even though his former church has said he does not belong in pastoral ministry, he has started a new church just a few miles from the one he fell from. Haggard’s new ministry is out of step with the New Testament in a number of ways (1 Timothy 3:2-7; Titus 1:6-9). Nevertheless, Haggard provides this justification: “Tiger Woods needs to golf. Michael Vick needs to be playing football. Ted Haggard needs to be leading a church.” I agree with Carl Trueman on this one. Haggard’s words sound more like “personal…
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Manhattan Declaration 2.0
S. M. Hutchens says that the Manhattan Declaration needs to be revised. Even though he supported and signed the Declaration, he notes some weaknesses in it. In a lengthy blog post, he argues that the Declaration confuses “revealed religion with the natural law” and as a result has mixed “the oil of Christianity with the water of popular American religion.” Hutchens’s remarks were provoked in part by a recent video released by Chuck Colson and Timothy George on civil disobedience (see above). Hutchen’s concludes: