In yesterday’s New York Times, the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, called on religious believers of all stripes to “respect, admire and appreciate other traditions.” In doing so, he explained how he has learned from and been inspired by Christianity. He writes: “In my readings of the New Testament, I find myself inspired by Jesus’ acts of compassion. His miracle of the loaves and fishes, his healing and his teaching are all motivated by the desire to relieve suffering.”
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Ray Boltz in the NY Times
Many of you will remember that in 2008 Christian pop music star Ray Boltz came out as a gay man. That was two years ago, but today’s New York Times has a profile of Boltz’s new album that was released in April. Now, after more than five years of self-imposed absence from stage and CD, Mr. Boltz has reached a musical and religious destination. As an openly gay man, living in a gay-friendly part of South Florida with his partner, Franco Sperduti, he has released his first album since coming out.
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McLaren in Louisville This Weekend
Brian McLaren will be preaching in Louisville this weekend in Saints Hall at Saint Matthews Episcopal Church. The event will be held at 7pm, Sunday, May 23, and the address for the church is 330 North Hubbards Lane. You can download a flyer with all the details here. The flyer indicates that he will be talking about his new book “A New Kind of Christianity.” Anybody want to go?
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God’s Grace on The Today Show
I’ve never seen Matt Lauer get choked-up on camera, but he did this morning while interviewing two Christian families for “The Today Show” (see video above). Lauer is astonished by their faith and even asks them if they ever doubted God through their ordeal. Both families confessed their faith in God’s sovereignty over painful tragedies, and it was an unusually beautiful thing to see on network television. What was the story about? In 2006, five students from Taylor University were in a deadly car accident, and only one of them survived. The lone survivor was a blond-haired co-ed who was hospitalized for weeks after the accident. For five weeks, the…
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Should pastors get Ph.D.’s?
John Piper gives his answer, and I think it’s a good one. He says, “The way most PhD programs are set up it is small payoff. Because you have to read so much junk in order to get your PhD. You have to become an expert in what other people are saying, most of which is wrong.
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Ode to Grudem…sort of
This video tribute to Wayne Grudem’s systematic theology text was produced by some college students in the U.K. My favorite part is the dance move from “Thriller” near the end. For those of you who haven’t heard of Wayne Grudem, he is the author of what is one of the most widely-read evangelical systematic theology texts in the world. At 1,291 pages, it is no small book, and that is in part what these students are lampooning. Nevertheless, it’s a classic, and if you don’t own it you should buy a copy now and read it. (HT: Jon Bloom)
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Swagger Wagon
When I was a youth, the station wagon was the quintessential “uncool” car. Somewhere in the transition from ‘tween to teen, everyone my age learned that you didn’t want to be caught dead in a station wagon.
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Get Your Growtivation On
The media team at North Point community church satirizes the formula for contemporary worship services. (HT: Tim Challies)
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Ken Starr Begins at Baylor
The New York Times reports on Ken Starr’s forthcoming tenure as the president of Baylor University. Starr begins on June 1. Here’s a snippet from the report: “Baylor’s growth into a large research university is now irreversible, but its Christian character remains unsettled. Dr. Sloan recruited several prominent evangelicals, and was known to reject potential hires for not being able to articulate how faith had influenced their academic lives. Even so, the faculty is perceived to be more liberal in its Christianity than many Texas Baptists, including Baylor’s alumni. “Despite his notorious prosecutorial history, Mr. Starr may be the Christian conciliator Baylor needs. In his faith life, he has tacked…
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Congratulations, Boyce Class of 2010!
Today we celebrated the commencement of the 2010 graduates of Boyce College. You can watch my charge to the graduates above, or you can listen to it below. If you are interested in the manuscript of my address, you can download it here. Dr. Mohler’s address is here. [audio:http://www.sbts.edu/media/audio/spring2010/20100506-boyce-grad-burk.mp3] Congratulations, Boyce College class of 2010!