The main reason that I am a Baptist Christian is because that is what my parents raised me to be. The faith that they passed on to me involved (among other things) a conviction that baptism is for believers alone and that the church’s polity is congregational. The Bible honors this kind of inheritance, and I am happy to own it (2 Tim. 3:14). It was only after I entered seminary that I really began to press into other ecclesiological perspectives and to wrestle with their interpretations of scripture. Elder-rule polity and paedobaptist paradigms were particularly challenging to my congregational and credobaptist upbringing. More than anything, I wanted to be…

Wayne Grudem has to be one of the most significant figures in the evangelical movement. He has published more books than I could attempt to count off the top of my head. But the one that he is known best for is his Systematic Theology, a text where innumerable young students have cut their theological teeth. That has certainly been the story on the campus of Southern Seminary and Boyce College where I teach. It would be difficult to overstate the influence of Dr. Grudem on an entire generation of theological students. That is why I am so excited that Dr. Grudem will be in town later this month to…

The integrity of God’s word has always been under assault, from “hath God really said” until now. For this reason, Jonathan Akin highlights two recent instances in which well-known Christians have made statements that cast doubt on that integrity. He writes: First, Andy Stanley tweeted a link to an article where a young lady who has renounced Christianity talks about how much she misses being a Born-Again Christian. Along with the link, Stanley tweeted, “Why we must teach the next generation the FOUNDATION of our faith is an EVENT not a BOOK.”

Matthew Vines appeared on MSNBC last week promoting his book God and the Gay Christian (video above). There is nothing new here in terms of argument, and I still stand by my previous critique of this work. Having said that, it is interesting to see that Vines’ views are received as unassailably obvious. The interviewers give no place to the entire 2,000-year consensus of the Christian Church on sexuality. Instead, Vines’s recent revision is treated as if it were the only plausible perspective to reckon with. The ground is moving beneath our feet.

Several years ago, Danny Akin and Albert Mohler wrote a short article explaining why they believe children who die go to heaven. Today, Danny Akin offers a revised version of that argument, and you can read it here. Akin writes: I believe that there are good reasons biblically and theologically for believing that God saves all who die and who do not reach a stage of moral understanding and accountability. Scripture may not speak to this issue directly, but there is sufficient evidence that would lead us to affirm that God receives into heaven all who have died in infancy. Some evidence is stronger than others, but cumulatively they marshall…

In this third and final episode of the interview with Family Life Today, we discuss talking to children about the birds and the bees. We also discuss our culture’s changing definition of marriage. Can Christians have fellowship with one another while having differences over the definition of marriage? Can pastors be neutral on the issues of marriage and homosexuality? You can listen to the episode below or download it here.

Here is the second episode of my interview with Dennis Rainey and Bob Lepine of Family Life Today. I’ll post episode three tomorrow. You can listen to today’s episode below or download it here. Here’s the description of the show: What did God have in mind when He created male and female? Denny Burk, a professor at Boyce College and an assistant pastor at Kenwood Baptist Church in Louisville, KY, reminds listeners that sex exists for the glory of God, which means that our sexuality puts God’s glory on display. Burk talks about God’s purposes for sex: consummation, procreation, an expression of love, and pleasure. [Source]

I am very grateful for the ministry of Dennis Rainey and Bob Lepine at Family Life Today. These are faithful men running a top-notch ministry aimed at strengthening marriages and families. I recently had a chance to sit down for an interview for three episodes of their daily radio program. It was a joy to be with these brothers to talk about sex and gender issues. I will post all three episodes as they are released over the next couple of days. You can listen to episode one below or download the audio here.