Thabiti Anyabwile ruffled feathers last week with an essay arguing that homosexual behavior ought to induce “moral outrage” (a “gag reflex”). Among other things, he argues that our culture has lost its “moral outrage” concerning homosexuality because people have lost sight of what this conversation is all about—perverted sexual behavior. He argues, therefore, that we need to drop expressions like “gay” and “homosexual” and to use explicit terms that are not cloaked in euphemism. He then gives an object lesson on how we ought to speak, giving a brief but explicit description of what gay sexual behavior actually is. As you can imagine, Thabiti’s post has caused no little controversy…
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Should the president authorize a military strike?
Secretary of State John Kerry began laying the groundwork today to justify a military strike against the Assad regime in Syria. As one would expect, the prospect of another war has become quite the controversy among politicos and the talking-head class. I read today about one Senator who said this: The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation… In instances of self-defense, the President would be within his constitutional authority to act before advising Congress or seeking its consent. History has shown us time and again, however,…
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Brian Payne: A model of Christ-centered biblical exposition
Brian Payne is a professor of preaching and Christian theology at Boyce College. He’s also a local pastor here in Louisville, and he’s one of the finest Bible expositors on our campus. Every time he steps into the pulpit, he delivers. Last week, he preached in Boyce Chapel on the Joseph narrative from Genesis. It’s a model of verse-by-verse exposition. It’s also a picture of a faithful Christ-centered hermeneutic. I commend it to you. He’s one of the best. You can download it here or listen below. [audio:http://www.sbts.edu/media/audio/BoycePodcast/20130821-boyce-podcast-payne.mp3]
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Olive Tree: The Best Bible App on the Market
I have been using Olive Tree’s BibleReader app on my iPhone since 2009. But the small size of the iPhone screen meant that I really only used it in a pinch. For regular Bible reading, I have preferred either a physical book or at least a larger screen. About a month ago, I purchased my first iPad. Since then, I’ve been using the Olive Tree reader on a daily basis. It’s clean interface and easy usability makes it my favorite Bible app for mobile devices—even more so for the iPad. For what I use it for, it simply has better features than any of its competitors. So here are my…
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Was “The Battle of the Sexes” a fix?
Next month will be the fortieth anniversary of the famed “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match between Bobby Riggs and Billy Jean King. In 1973 just as feminism was getting its sea legs in the wider culture, the heroine Billy Jean King vanquishes the chauvinist Bobby Riggs. It was an irresistible storyline, and it still stands today as one of the most iconic moments in the history of American sports. Or does it? ESPN is reporting that the match was fixed. In short, a witness has come forward to say that Riggs threw the match in order to pay off a gambling debt to the mob. If you want the…
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If we must choose, we choose Christ over America
As religious liberty erodes in the United States, we will find ourselves increasingly at odds with an overweening state. There is a great conflict descending on Christians, and Doug Wilson says that pastors have a responsibility to prepare their congregations accordingly. If you think this concern is just alarmism, then you aren’t paying attention, and you may be part of the problem.. Wilson writes:
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Gay marriage as litmus test for acceptance in elite society
R. R. Reno offers some insight on why gay marriage has become the litmus test for acceptance in elite society. He writes: Same sex marriage has become the issue of our time… How did this come to pass? There’s no easy answer, which is not surprising. Same sex marriage is the issue because lots of different interests, concerns, and trends converge on it. The first thing to say is that the gay rights movement has been largely an upper middle class project. Thurgood Marshall attended Lincoln University, an all-black college in southeastern Pennsylvania, and then Howard University Law School. Gay activist Larry Kramer went to Yale. Judge Vaughn Walker went…
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Is opposing gay marriage like joining the Ku Klux Klan?
When Ben Carson was disinvited from offering the commencement address at Johns Hopkins University last Spring, Michael Kinsley used the occasion to describe our current cultural moment. He writes: But Carson didn’t murder millions of people. All he did was say on television that he opposes same-sex marriage—an idea that even its biggest current supporters had never even heard of a couple of decades ago. Does that automatically make you a homophobe and cast you into the outer darkness? It shouldn’t. But in some American subcultures—Hollywood, academia, Democratic politics—it apparently does. You may favor raising taxes on the rich, increasing support for the poor, nurturing the planet, and repealing Section…
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God as the third rail of rock-n-roll
Back in the days when the earth’s crust was still hardening, I was a big fan of The Smashing Pumpkins. They were in the thick of the grunge scene–which was a whole new departure in rock music and which was all the rage for most of the 1990’s. After the grunge fad faded, the band broke up in 2000. Following a seven year hiatus, they got back together and have been trying to make a comeback. Lead singer Billy Corgan recently sat down for an interview with CNN, and he makes the astonishing claim that God is the “third rail” of rock-n-roll. He also gives a brief and trenchant critique…
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Can you be a Christian homosexual?
Justin Lee (author of Torn) and James White had a “debate” last Spring about the question, “Can you be a Christian homosexual?” James White says no, and Justin Lee says yes. In a candid moment, Lee says that his position on the morality of the question has changed and that he is now more open to consider entering a relationship with a person of the same sex (at about 1:37). AlphaOmega Ministries has made the audio available for free, and you can download it here or listen to it below. [audio:http://aomin.org/podcasts/GayChristianityDebated.mp3]