Tom Schreiner and Sam Storms have both published essays this morning at The Gospel Coalition discussing whether the miraculous gifts are still in operation today. Tom Schreiner argues the cessationist position–that miraculous gifts have ceased. Storms argues the continuationist postion–that prophecy, tongues, and the rest continue. I think both essays have a constructive tone even as they straightfowardly disagree with one another. The essays are too short to cover the issues exhaustively. Nevertheless, I think that Schreiner has the stronger argument. For me anyway, the arguments for the continuationist position continue to fall short biblically. At the end of the day, this all comes down to what the Bible teaches,…
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If President Obama were honest about abortion…
As thousands of citizens march on the nation’s capital to support life, President Obama issues a statement reaffirming the culture of death. As usual, his remarks are cloaked under the cover of abortion rights euphemisms (e.g., “choices,” “safe, affordable healthcare,” “right to privacy”). It takes the breath away to consider what he is actually saying—that he believes it should be legal for a mother to have her child killed at any time from zero to nine months gestation. Here’s what he says: Today, as we reflect on the 41st anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, we recommit ourselves to the decision’s guiding principle: that every woman…
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The backstory to “Alone Yet Not Alone”
Last week, an obscure song from an obscure movie was nominated for an Academy Award: “Alone Yet Not Alone” (listen below). The big surprise was not so much that it was from a little known independent movie but that it was from a Christian movie. Not only that, the song is sung by none other than evangelical mainstay Joni Eareckson Tada.
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The Life Story of Pro-abortion Hero Wendy Davis
Wendy Davis came into the national spotlight last summer after mounting a filibuster in favor of abortion rights on the floor of the Texas State legislature. The media gave her glowing coverage as she was fighting to keep the abortion mills open in Texas. Davis has since transformed the national spotlight into a campaign for governor. She aims to be the first Democrat governor of Texas in almost a quarter of a century. Throughout her campaign, Davis has been making much of her personal life story—how a divorced single mother pulled herself up by her own bootstraps to get into Harvard and then on to political achievement. But the Dallas…
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The Epiphany of Rod Dreher
A couple weeks ago, I posted a brief note about Rod Dreher’s excellent book The Little Way of Ruthie Leming. If you’ve read that book, then you know that Dreher’s story doesn’t really end with the last page. His rocky relationship with his father and the revelation of Ruthie’s true feelings about him are too new to have been completely processed and dealt with. Moving home didn’t make all the old issues evaporate. In a blog late last night, Dreher indicates that he has reached a personal and spiritual milestone. In his own words:
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How Obamacare provides taxpayer funded abortions
Remember the “pro-life” legislators who promised that Obamacare wouldn’t fund abortions? Where are they now? Sarah Torre of the Heritage Foundation has a lengthy article explaining how Obamacare entangles taxpayers in the funding of abortion-on-demand. This is not an article about the contraception mandate that has been so much in the news lately. It’s about how the state exchanges subsidize insurance plans that cover elective abortions. She writes:
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Southern Seminary hosts Mohler, Douthat, and Prager
I’m really excited to announce that Southern Seminary will be hosting a panel discussion featuring Albert Mohler, Ross Douthat, and Dennis Prager. It will be held in Alumni Chapel at 7pm, Tuesday, January 28. The topic of the discussion will be “Faith and Freedom in the Public Square.” This promises to be a fascinating discussion. Although these three men are generally identified as “conservatives,” their religious views are quite different. Mohler is an evangelical, Douthat a Roman Catholic, and Prager Jewish. I’m looking forward to an interesting exchange of views. This is a rare opportunity. If you can be here for this event, I highly recommend that you visit the…
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Progressive evangelical indifference about abortion
Andrew Walker and Dan Darling have put the screws on progressive evangelicals and their indifference about abortion-on-demand. Progressives say they care about “social justice” issues, yet they somehow cannot (or will not) muster social justice concern for the unborn. In an opinion piece for Christianity Today, they write: Among progressive evangelicals, there’s a reflexive hesitancy to tout or raise the banner of human life as a preeminent justice issue. You’ll hear individuals in this camp dance around the sanctity of life—writing it off as “political” or “complicated.”… They’re against the circumstances of teenage poverty that lead to abortion. They’re against sexual abuse. They’re against a libertine sexual ethic (though many…
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No moms and dads needed to make a family?
The video above is a trailer for a new documentary titled Breeders: A Subclass of Women? The film takes a critical look at the issue of surrogacy and how the practice turns babies and women into commodities. Here’s a description from the film’s website:
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Egalitarianism and the functional authority of scripture
Sarah Bessey, author of Jesus Feminist, has a lengthy blog post expressing her disagreement with Candace Cameron Bure. Last week, Bure was in the news for defending a complementarian view of gender roles. Bessey argues that Bure’s decision to submit to her husband is both unbiblical and harmful to women. Bessey’s remarks are pretty standard egalitarian fare. There’s nothing really new at all in her critique of complementarianism. Nevertheless, there was one line in her post that jumped off of the page at me. It stood out not because it is new, but because it is “Exhibit A” of what is wrong with egalitarian exegesis. Here’s the sentence: