From Timmy Brister: ——— Healthy church leaders in local churches are vitally important. In three weeks, the PLNTD Network is hosting a conference in Nashville focusing on cultivating gospel-driven leadership. On the weekend of Nov. 2-3, Ed Stetzer and Trevin Wax will address this important topic, namely how the gospel shapes church leaders as well as how to forge a distinctly gospel-driven philosophy of leadership. Whether you are a seminary/college student, pastor, church planter, or small group leader, this focused time of training will provide instruction and encouragement for anyone wanting to train, equip, and send out gospel-driven leaders to reach our communities for Christ. Alongside the main sessions, there…
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It’s okay to fight against homosexuality
Christy McFerren shares her gut-wrenching testimony in a recent post at the online Prodigal Magazine. The story is gut-wrenching because she has experienced powerful attractions to other women throughout her life, yet she has never given in to a homosexual identity. In fact, her whole testimony is aimed to communicate that it’s okay to fight if you’re a homosexual. It took her years to come to this conclusion, but that is where she ended up. For me the most powerful part of her testimony is in the following lines. Pay special attention to the underlined portion:
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What is an evangelical?
I am glad that Rachel Held Evans is stoking a conversation about the meaning of “evangelical.” Evans says that she herself is an evangelical, yet she defines the term in a way that can only be described as radically revisionist. I daresay that very few would recognize her definition as anything approaching what evangelicals have historically held. We all know that defining the term ‘evangelical’ can be controversial, but many observers still look to David Bebbington’s quadrilateral as a helpful outline of the defining characteristics of evangelicals.
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What ever happened to that KONY 2012 guy?
Do you remember the KONY 2012 video that went viral earlier this year? It was a campaign to end the terror of African warlord Joseph Kony. The efforts of the filmakers were undermined after the very public breakdown of the face of their campaign, Jason Russell. Now after many months, the campaign has come out with a new video, released just last night (see above). In it, the filmakers explain that the effort to stop KONY is still ongoing. They also attempt to explain the emotional breakdown of Jason Russell. In the video, Russell apologizes and says that he is fully recovered.
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The Criticism of Jim Lehrer Is Hogwash
After the debate last Wednesday, many journalists criticized Jim Lehrer for getting “steamrolled” by the candidates, for losing control of the format. These journalists think that Lehrer should have inserted himself more into the conversation and asked tough follow-up questions to the candidates. I think this complaint against Lehrer is hogwash. And it comes from a class of professionals who seem to have an overinflated sense of their role in this process.
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LA Tech Earns National Rank in Both Polls
LSU lost to Florida on Saturday, just as I predicted they would last week. That’s all I have to say about that. In other news, my LA Tech Bulldogs beat UNLV decisively. Tech now moves to 5-0, and it’s our best start since the 1975 season. The AP poll now has Tech ranked at number 23. This is only the second time Tech has ever been ranked by the AP. The first time was near the end of the 1999 season when Tech was 8-2. The Coach’s poll has Tech ranked at number 24, and it’s Tech’s first time to appear on this poll.
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Pastor Voddie Baucham talks abortion, adoption, President Obama
(HT: Josh Philpot)
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Romney vs. Obama on Gay Marriage
Michael Foust has done some fantastic reporting contrasting Romney’s and Obama’s records on gay marriage. There is a real difference here, and Foust reminds us of the strong stand that Romney took when he was governor of Massachusetts. Foust writes: Romney was governor of Massachusetts when the state’s highest court issued its first-in-the-nation decision legalizing gay marriage, and he not only fought to have the ruling overturned but also supported an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would define marriage as between a man and a woman. Obama voted against that federal marriage amendment as a U.S. senator, and once he was president he became the first sitting U.S. president…
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Younger Evangelicals Are Not Going Liberal
Joe Carter argues against the meme that says younger evangelicals are trending more liberal than their parents. Highlighting a new survey by the Public Religion Research Institute, he shows that younger evangelicals have not abandoned the conservative political convictions of their parents. His concluding observations are right on the money: Since evangelicals tend to put strong emphasis on the authority of the Bible, it shouldn’t be surprising that they do not support a party whose platform is, on several issues, diametrically opposed to Biblical principles. What is surprising is that such as large number of evangelicals have embraced the naïve idea that voting for a party that endorses abortion-on-demand, same-sex…
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John MacArthur Rebukes Democratic Platform
I’ve been following John MacArthur’s ministry for many years now. He is not—by any stretch of the imagination—a political preacher. In fact, he steers clear of politics in his preaching because he believes it to be a distraction from the preacher’s primary responsibility—preaching the word of God. So it is worthy of note that MacArthur has recently included remarks in a sermon that address politics. I could write an excerpt here, but you’ll probably benefit more from hearing it from the man himself. You can download the audio here or listen below. [audio:http://www.gty.org/media/audioblog/AB_90-448_1.mp3] (HT: Dan Phillips)