The Southern Baptist Texan reports that my pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress will nominate Dr. R. Albert Mohler this summer for the next president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Anyone who has read this blog for any length of time will know that I receive this news as a very positive development for our denomination. I have a great love and respect for Dr. Mohler, and I can’t imagine a better candidate for SBC President. More later. (HT: Justin Taylor, Henry Institute)
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Lessons from the Martyrs at the New Year
On Sunday, the Associated Press ran a story about Christians in India who are fleeing from persecution at the hands of Hindu nationalists. The article mentions briefly an incident that occurred in India about 8 years ago: “In 1999, an Australian missionary and his two sons, aged 8 and 10, were burned to death in their car in Orissa following a Bible study class.” This line appears in the story to provide background to the current Hindu persecution of Christians in India. But I remember when I first heard about this story, and there is much more to what happened than is indicated in the AP article.
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The Gospel according to Judas Debunked
Earlier this year I wrote about the so-called “Gospel according to Judas” that was being rolled out by the National Geographic Society (click here to read post). I pointed out then that this heretical document was being introduced to the public when it was for publicity reasons. The lead-up to Easter is attended annually by hucksters who like to exploit the holy season to peddle their religious (or in this case, irreligious) wares. What was surprising at the time was that the respected National Geographic Society and some noted scholars had gotten caught up in the hype.
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Homosexuality and Plain Speaking in the Anglican Communion
The debate over the moral status of homosexuality within the Anglican Communion has been nothing sort of tragic. Not only has the American branch (the Episcopal Church USA) installed an open homosexual as one of its Bishops, but also Archbishop Rowan Williams has not always spoken plainly about the reason for the growing schism within the wider communion. To cite a case in point, note the Archbishop’s advent letter that was released last week. The letter is a long, complicated treatise that seems to me to be more confusing than clarifying. Buried deep within the verbal morass, the Archbishop writes the following sentence:
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Who Was Lottie Moon?
Unless you’re a Southern Baptist, you probably don’t know who Lottie Moon is. She served faithfully and in much hardship as a missionary to China from 1873-1912. The testimony of her life and ministry is remarkable, and Southern Baptists remember her every year about this time because our annual international missions offering is named after her. This week I listened to a message that was preached by Danny Akin about the life of Lottie Moon. I cannot recommend this sermon to you highly enough. It was not only informative about her life’s story, it was also a stirring call for laborers to go into the harvest. The message was a…
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Bell Again
The conversation about Pastor Rob Bell is still going on under my previous post. So I thought readers might be interested in another story—this one from Time magazine. ‘Bell, 37, is guilty of none of the negatives. He is largely apolitical, thinks that only those with gay friends are positioned to judge homosexuality–and he tinkers marvelously. At 28, he founded a megachurch that threw out the conventional sermon-and-worship service and instantly drew thousands of attendees. . . “He could be one of the most important 21st century Christian leaders,” says Bible professor and evangelical blogger Ben Witherington.’ No comment. Just an FYI.
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Rob Bell’s ‘Sex God’ on CNN
Pastor Rob Bell is in the news again with the release of his newest book Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections Between Sexuality And Spirituality. With chapter titles like “God Wears Lipstick,” it’s not difficult to see why a book like this one has gotten so much attention. On Tuesday, a friend sent me a little bit that CNN produced about Bell and Sex God, so I thought I’d pass it on to you. Here it is: Rob Bell on CNN.
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A Great Commission Resurgence
I wish to address this post to all my Southern Baptist readers. So the rest of you have fair warning that what follows is a bit of inside baseball for my fellow SBC’ers. Last week, I wrote about the “Building Bridges” conference that was taking place in Ridgecrest, North Carolina. The conference theme communicated the organizers’ intention to “build bridges” between the Calvinists and the non-Calvinists of the SBC. The divisions of late between some Baptists on this issue have left many SBC’ers wondering if the heated controversy might prevent future cooperation for missions. Thus it was good to hear many of the speakers (both five-pointers and non-five-pointers) communicate their…
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Albert Mohler on NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News produced a feature on the emerging church in which Tom Brokaw interviewed Dr. Albert Mohler, the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. It’s a short, but interesting bit. Dr. Mohler does a great job, as usual. I would make one observation about this piece. It seems to me that the media’s interest in the emerging church is almost entirely political. Brokaw’s coverage in this segment is a case in point. Underlying Brokaw’s attention to the new movement is a curiosity about how this new section of evangelicalism will affect electoral politics. I suppose that this should not be very surprising. But it is interesting to note…
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Support CBMW, but count the cost.
David Kotter, the Executive Director of the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW), has some wise words about how to prioritize your giving for kingdom causes. Read this one, and support CBMW.