Larry King conducted a panel discussion on Tuesday that used the widely-acclaimed movie “Brokeback Mountain” as a catalyst for discussing the issue of the wider culture’s debate over the morality of homosexuality (transcript). The discussion focused on the question of homosexual rights and, in particular, the question of homosexual “marriage.”

David Howard of Bethel University has penned and excellent opinion piece in today’s Wall Street Journal titled “Triumph From Tragedy: Five missionaries’ murders were not the end of the story.” It’s the kind of essay that will pique interest in the faith that led these five men to die martyr’s deaths. Go read it. Tell others.

Dr. William Cutrer is the medical director of a crisis pregnancy center that is featured in today’s New York Times. The article is titled “Some Abortion Foes Forgo Politics for Quiet Talk.” Dr. Cutrer is an OB-GYN who also serves as a Professor of Christian Ministry at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also a special friend who ministered to my wife and me while we were living in Louisville, KY. This article puts to the lie the notion that pro-life people do not care about women. A Woman’s Choice Resource Center where Dr. Cutrer works not only counsels women against abortion, but also provides material and financial resources…

Olivia Judson, an evolutionary biologist at Imperial College in London, writes an interesting Op-Ed in today’s New York Times titled, “Why I’m Happy I Evolved.” The essay is interesting because it puts on plain display the incoherence of atheistic Darwinism. She writes: Some people want to think of humans as the product of a special creation, separate from other living things. I am not among them; I am glad it is not so. I am proud to be part of the riot of nature, to know that the same forces that produced me also produced bees, giant ferns and microbes that live at the bottom of the sea. It is…

Since it is New Year’s Day, I figure there is time for one last holiday post. World Magazine takes an entertaining look at Santa Claus and makes the argument that jolly old St. Nick should be enlisted in the Christian cause. The article is titled, “Slappy holiday: Why not take the Santa Claus tradition a little further?” If you are a theologue, then you will likely find this piece quite amusing. HT: Carl Miller, the SixPointCalvinist