• Theology/Bible

    It’s now legal for your 11-year old daughters to buy abortifacients

    Welcome to the brave new world. Now your 11-year old daughter can purchase abortifacient “birth control” over the counter without parental consent. Here’s the lede from NBC News’ report: A federal judge on Friday reversed a contentious Food and Drug Administration ruling and ordered the agency to make the so-called “morning-after pill” available without a prescription to all girls of reproductive age, including those younger than 17. Read the rest here.

  • Politics

    How the debate over gay marriage is stifled

    Here’s how the debate over gay marriage is often stifled. For many proponents, they simply rule out a priori any suggestion that people aren’t free to do whatever they want to do sexually. Of course no one actually believes this in principle (notice that no one is arguing to abolish incest laws), but it nevertheless is the most common argument in favor of legal gay marriage. This notion is now deeply embedded within popular culture, as David Letterman’s words to Rachel Maddow so vividly illustrate. Watch above or read them below: It is absolutely stupidity. Humans have the right to do what humans do, that’s it. End of the story.…

  • Christianity,  Theology/Bible

    Good words about how we ought to speak on the internet

    I came across two helpful items yesterday, both of which contained exhortations about how we should be using our voices on the internet. An essay from Tim Challies warns against what we ought not be saying, and another from John Piper what we ought to be saying. There are exhortations and admonishments in both of these that we all need to hear. I commend them both to you.

  • Christianity,  Humor

    Talk about being on fire for Jesus!

    An Easter pageant at a church in Canton, Ohio went horribly awry on Sunday when the paper mache tomb caught on fire during the finale. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but I’m pretty sure they made a memory. It’s remarkable that the singer never missed a note. The rest of it, you’ll just have to see for yourself above. The good stuff starts at about 1:10. (HT: Zach Nielsen, @RevKevDeYoung)

  • Christianity,  Politics

    Ross Douthat on Gay Marriage and Historical Amnesia

    Ross Douthat is getting some push-back on a column he wrote over the weekend about gay marriage. In a blog post today, therefore, he offers a rejoinder. He argues that gay marriage proponents have “historical amnesia” when they claim that marriage’s legal connection to procreation is a new idea invented by conservatives to oppress gay persons. He shows convincingly from the historical record that this is not the case and then concludes with this: That so many people find this claim credible or even self-evident is a small but potent example of exactly the two phenemona that my column’s conclusion discussed: First, the way that gay marriage inevitably has widening…

  • Christianity

    Piper’s first-day thoughts on not being a pastor anymore

    Having completed his course at Bethlehem Baptist Church, John Piper has a meditation on the joy of “finishing things.” He writes: Therefore, as I woke up on this Monday morning for the first time in 33 years without the official mantle of pastor, the only tears that came were tears of thankfulness. And under them was a great joy. It is finished. It has a completeness to it. God started it. God sustained it. God ended it. And I have loved it. And I love looking back on it, complete. Imperfect in a hundred ways, but not because it was too long or too short. Being Bethlehem’s pastor has been…

  • Christianity

    John Piper’s final sermon at Bethlehem Baptist Church

    I am grateful beyond words for the ministry of John Piper at Bethlehem Baptist Church (read about it here). And I am grateful as well for the ministry that continues there under Jason Meyer. In more ways than one, this isn’t the end. It’s only the beginning. Still, this past weekend marks the close of a significant chapter, and it is worth the time to mark the occasion. So watch the video above, read the transcript here, download audio here, or listen to the audio below. [audio:http://cdn.desiringgod.org/resources/sermon/2013/20120330.mp3]