Justin Giboney has a remarkable opinion piece at Christianity Today that I missed at the end of May. Giboney is an ardent supporter of President Obama, but he says that it was a mistake not to oppose President Obama’s views on transgenderism. Here’s an excerpt: We happily manned the front lines as Obama fought for the poor and underserved. We held our noses when he championed policy contrary to our beliefs. The unspoken, but understood call was to stand down lest we undermine our brother and empower his enemies. And stand down we did, submitting to the Obama Effect. When Louie Giglio “withdrew” from events in Washington for having the…

“Walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” -Ephesians 4:1-3 “Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.” -Philippians 4:5 Obviously, we are all rightly grieved and horrified by the events of the last three days. I know I am. It feels like our nation is coming apart at the seams, and there is much sorrow and bewilderment. Everyone is on edge. Emotions are frayed. And it is easy for our…

I’m thinking about Habakkuk today, an Old Testament prophet who had the audacity to ask God for justice. Habakkuk took a long hard look at systemic injustice in Israel—social division, violence, oppression. His depiction of the nation is one of total moral and social upheaval: “The law is ignored and justice is never upheld” (Hab. 1:4). Because justice has become so “perverted,” Habakkuk cries out to Yahweh for help. If Habakkuk teaches us anything, he teaches us that it is good and right to pray for justice. But he also teaches us something else. Praying for justice is risky precisely because God might answer our prayer. Habakkuk didn’t realize just…

It was about five hundred years ago that the Roman Catholic church excommunicated Martin Luther for the teachings that led to the Protestant Reformation. Chief among these teachings was the idea that justification is by faith alone (sola fide).  That is why it is baffling to read Pope Francis’s recent remarks about Luther. In a recent interview, a reporter asked the Pope if he might consider lifting Martin Luther’s excommunication. While the Pope did not offer to remove his excommunication, he did have some rather remarkable words. There is one particular paragraph worth highlighting: I think that the intentions of Martin Luther were not mistaken. He was a reformer. Perhaps…