Here is the brave new world in which we are living. The Associated Press reports that Doctors in Oregon took brain cells from an aborted baby and implanted them in a 6-year old boy. Last month in Portland, Ore., doctors for the first time transplanted stem cells from aborted fetuses into his head in a desperate bid to reverse, or at least slow, a rare genetic disorder called Batten disease. The so-far incurable condition normally results in blindness and paralysis before death.
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Rocky 6?!
I was in the 7th grade when Rocky IV came out. As the cold war and the specter of a nuclear showdown weighed heavily on my little 13 year old brain, I remember feeling that it was very important for Rocky to beat the snot out of Ivan Drago. That is why my best friend and I stood up in our seats at the theater and cheered Rocky as he found his second wind and pounded Drago into submission.
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Mark Driscoll and the Fizzled Protest
Perhaps you’ve heard about the storm of controversy surrounding Pastor Mark Driscoll and some of the things he wrote on his blog about pastors’ wives. Driscoll has been roundly criticized by non-Christians and Christians alike for what he said, and he has since apologized for his tone, though not for the substance of his theological views.
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To Date Or Not To Date
To date or not to date. That is Scott Croft’s question in a provocative article in the Boundless Webzine titled, “Biblical Dating: An Introduction.” Scott Croft is an elder at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., and in this article he contrasts modern dating practices with what he calls “biblical dating.” What follows is a teaser that I hope will entice you to read Croft’s entire piece.
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Atheist Agonistes in the Postmodern World
There is an outstanding OP-ED in today’s New York Times declaring the bankruptcy of the Enlightenment and the atheism it spawned. In “Atheist Agonistes” Richard Schweder writes:
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Should College Administrators Blog?
The New York Times has an interesting story about college and university presidents who blog. The story is titled “Erasing Divide, College Leaders Take to Blogging.” The story explores the risks that a leader takes whenever he/she decides to keep a blog:
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Unholy Euphemism: “Induce Fetal Demise”
A euphemism is a figure of speech that substitutes a cultured or less offensive term for an offensive one. Everybody uses this figure of speech. It is so common that we hardly think about it. Every time you say “I am going to the bathroom,” you are using a euphemism that substitutes the report of what you actually intend to do with the room that you intend to do it in. There’s nothing wrong with euphemisms per se as they enable us to suffuse our speech with a certain decorum and respect.
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Grieving over and Praying for a Fallen Pastor
You cannot have missed the sad news about the former President of the National Association of Evangelicals and Pastor of the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I haven’t written about it until now because I simply could not have an opinion about a situation that I know so little about. The first couple of days of reporting included little more than speculation and the transmission of hearsay. But as of today, the picture has become fairly clear. The overseers at New Life Church issued a statement yesterday announcing the ouster of their pastor, and a letter from the pastor was read to the congregation today. Among other things,…
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Gay “Marriage”: A Debate about a Word?
A common misunderstanding about the debate over gay “marriage” is that this whole dust-up amounts to an argument about a word. The misunderstanding goes like this: “Conservatives want the word ‘marriage’ to refer to heterosexual unions, and liberals want the word to refer to heterosexual and homosexual unions.” If this were all that was as stake in this debate, then all that would be required is an updated edition of the dictionary.
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The Brilliance of Carter Beauford
Not many people know this, but once upon a time I used to be a drummer. I’m afraid the only time my drums get played anymore is when the worship band takes the stage at the Criswell College where I teach, and the guy playing my drums is definitely not me. This is for the best, since even when I was at the peak of my drumming powers, I wasn’t all that good.