Governor Sarah Palin’s candidacy has provoked much discussion about women who try to balance a career with motherhood (the topic of my previous post). In today’s New York Times, there’s a story describing a little bit about how Palin tries to do it: ‘Many high-powered parents separate work and children; Ms. Palin takes a wholly different approach. “She’s the mom and the governor, and they’re not separate,” Ms. Cole said. Around the governor’s offices, it was not uncommon to get on the elevator and discover Piper, smothering her puppy with kisses. ‘”She’ll be with Piper or Trig, then she’s got a press conference or negotiations about the natural gas pipeline…
-
-
Complementarian Hypocrisy?
In my previous post, we were addressing the question raised by the “On Faith” forum in light of Sarah Palin’s candidacy (a joint venture of The Washington Post and Newsweek): “Women are not allowed to become clergy in many conservative religious groups. Is it hypocritical to think that a woman can lead a nation and not a congregation?” In answer to that question, I noted that the Bible specifically enjoins believers to order their homes and their churches in light of a principle of male headship. There is no complementarian consensus, however, on how these matters apply outside of the home and the church. One other item is related to…
-
Sarah Palin and Complementarianism
David Kotter, Executive Director of the Council for Biblical Manhood & Womanhood, asks and answers the following question: “Does Governor Sarah Palin Present a Dilemma for Complementarians?” Among other things, he writes:
-
A Visit to Palin’s Church
You will not want to miss Newsweek‘s profile of Sarah Palin’s faith and her church. Among other things, the article says, ‘Palin has said she was baptized in the Roman Catholic church. As a teenager, she began attending the Pentecostal Assemblies of God church in Wasilla and was baptized there by the founding pastor, Paul Riley. Todd Stafford, an associate pastor at Wasilla Assembly of God, says Palin often publicly thanks Riley–now nearly 80 and still working as a prison chaplain–for bringing her to Jesus when she visits the church. She attended that Pentecostal church until she was 38 years old, when she switched to Wasilla Bible Church, saying she…
-
Russell Moore’s Two-fer
Two items in the news today are related to Russell Moore and are worthy of note. First, The Wall Street Journal features an interview with Moore on adoption and his forthcoming book Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches. It’s a great article, and you should take a look. Second, Senator John McCain announced that Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin would be his vice-presidential running mate. Moore predicted Palin as McCain’s pick exactly one month ago. Prescient indeed. Moore out pundited the professional pundits on this one.
-
Roe v. Wade Must Be Destroyed
Amen to James Kushiner‘s recent post on the Touchstone blog. I couldn’t have said it better myself. Read below. I’ve been watching this phenomenon now for several years: Christians reassessing their engagement with politics and their views of candidates and the parties, nuancing their pro-life and pro-family views so that their no longer “just” about abortion and “gay marriage.” Similiar nuancing seems to be at play when it comes to some basic Christian doctrines. . .
-
Response to Donald Miller on Abortion
Christianity Today recently interviewed Blue Like Jazz author Don Miller about his invitation to pray at the Democrat National Convention. CT pressed Miller on his political views vis a vis abortion. In his response, Miller reflects on how he thinks a Republican President and Congress have fallen short on the issue of abortion: “As we elect a Republican House and Senate, and as we elect Republican leadership in the executive branch, we see very little changes on that issue. We’re electing someone who agrees with us on abortion, being sort of a tragedy in our country, and yet can’t get anything done. . . The executive branch doesn’t have that…
-
First Female Preacher at Irving Bible Church
Last May, I wrote about the egalitarian shift at Irving Bible Church (IBC). The elders had just completed an 18-month long study and had concluded that they would allow women to preach in their church. Yesterday, IBC had a female preacher fill the pulpit for the first time since the elders’ findings were published. The preacher’s name was Jackie Roese. Sam Hodges of the Dallas Morning News wrote Saturday about the changes at IBC, and he quoted from my forthcoming JBMW editorial on this topic. But the best lines from the entire news article come from Tommy Nelson, pastor of Denton Bible Church: The Rev. Tom Nelson of Denton Bible…
-
Steven Curtis Chapman on ‘Good Morning America’
(HT: Justin Taylor)
-
Steven Curtis Chapman Speaks to Press about Grief
Many of you will remember the tragic accident that took the life of Steven Curtis Chapman’s five year old little girl this past May (see here). Chapman and his wife are now talking publicly about their grief and will be doing two high-profile interviews this week. The first one will appear on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Wednesday, August 6 at 7am. The second will be on CNN’s “Larry King Live” on Thursday, August 7 at 9pm Eastern Time. ABC has already posted an excerpt of their interview which you can watch here. Having only seen the excerpt, I was struck how Chapman spoke of his grief in the very…