• Sermon

    You Must Be Born Again – Part 2 – John 3:6-15

    Did you know that the human condition has been so corrupted by sin that apart from grace not a single one of us would give a fig about God, the cross, the Bible, the resurrection, judgment, eternal life. The Bible says that apart from grace, all of those spiritual realities—those ultimate realities—would be foolishness to us (1 Cor. 2:14). This is the human condition, and it really is desperate. We are corrupted by sin and headed for damnation, and yet we don’t have it in us to seek out or even to want the salvation that God has provided. Left to ourselves, we open the Bible or we hear the…

  • Christianity,  Complementarianism,  SBC

    Can’t we all just get along in the SBC?

    I just read a helpful thread by Bart Barber, the President of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), about cooperation and non-connectionalism in Southern Baptist life. Among other things, he writes: This local-church non-connectionalism simply says that two churches can do something together without taking on any responsibility before God for the other church… This idea is woven into Article XIV (“Cooperation”) and Article XV (“The Christian and the Social Order”) of The Baptist Faith & Message. Those articles remind churches that it does not compromise a church’s faith to cooperate with other churches who differ theologically. Quoting from the Baptist Faith & Message, he elaborates: “Christian unity in the New…

  • Christianity,  Theology/Bible

    What Happened at ETS 2023?

    Another annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) is now in the books. We met last week in San Antonio, and I heard a lot of talk about the basement of the Alamo. I was so busy with meetings, however, that I never made it over. Seriously though, for those of you unfamiliar with ETS, it is a society of theologians and biblical scholars who are dedicated to biblical inerrancy and a belief in the Trinity. At the annual meeting, members come together to present academic papers, meet with publishers, and catch up with old friends. Keep in mind that I only experienced a narrow slice of things, but…

  • Sermon

    You Must Be Born Again – John 2:23-3:5

    This is the miracle of the new birth. Jesus sends forth His Spirit and says to you, “Come forth.” To use Ezekiel’s imagery, he looks at your valley of dry bones, and he says to the bones, “Live.” What was once dead comes to life. The eyes and ears of your heart open. There is a blink of recognition. And in that moment, faith and love and obedience to the good news of Jesus appear. Have you ever wondered why you responded to the Gospel but your neighbor didn’t? It’s not because you were by nature smarter and more spiritually sensitive than your neighbor. You weren’t. You were dead as…

  • Christianity,  Egalitarianism,  Homosexuality,  Theology/Bible,  Transgenderism

    An Evening with Rosaria Butterfield | “Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age”

    From The Kenwood Institute: On October 6th, Rosaria Butterfield joined the Kenwood Institute for an evening organized around her new book, Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age. Rosaria Butterfield is a wife, homeschooling mom, and a best-selling author and cultural commentator. Her latest book, Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age (Crossway, 2023), is a much-needed, prophetic word to our current culutral moment, which is growing increasingly hostile to Christian faith and practice. In this video, we hear from Rosaria and then she and her husband, Kent, participate on a panel discussion with Colin Smothers and Jim Hamilton. 0:00 Introduction 4:04 Rosaria Butterfield, “Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age” 57:55 Panel…

  • Christianity,  Sermon,  Theology/Bible

    The Serrated Edge of Doug Wilson

    In a message to my church on Sunday, I gave a biblical evaluation of the so-called “serrated edge,” which Doug Wilson defines as the use of biting and satirical speech that sometimes includes obscenities and vulgarities. You can download the audio here, the manuscript here, listen below, or read below. Please be advised that the manuscript version of this address does contain quotations of obscenities and vulgarities, although I have tried to use asterisks in some of the offensive expressions. ?? Introduction The elders have set aside the last couple weeks in the Sunday School hour to address and confront post-millennialism and theonomy. If you haven’t heard those talks yet,…

  • Christianity,  Homosexuality

    Christians Cannot “Agree to Disagree” with Wolves

    As has been widely reported this week, Andy Stanley and North Point Community Church recently hosted an LGBTQ-affirming event called the Unconditional Conference. The church’s pastor Andy Stanley defended the conference in his Sunday morning message. He also argued that following Christ might be “unsustainable” for some Christians but that churches should nevertheless recognize them as true followers of Christ. If that seems like a contradiction, that’s because it is. And that’s precisely the problem with Stanley’s approach. It’s fundamentally at odds with the Christian faith. Anyone who claims to follow Christ but then denies him by their deeds is lying, and the truth is not in him (1 John…

  • Complementarianism,  Culture,  Entertainment

    The Child Will Never Be Born

    My wife and I had been hearing and reading mixed reviews on the Barbie film, so last night we decided to go and check it out for ourselves. I think it’s safe to say that from the jump, the film left us pretty cold. The very first scene shows morose-looking little girls in a dark and barren landscape playing with baby dolls. The desert backdrop and the sullen expressions on the girls’ faces make it clear that playing at maternal stereotypes is oppressive and limiting for a young girl. After all, there is much more to life than the drudgery of motherhood. So the girls smash their baby dolls into…

  • Sermon

    Saving the Best for Last — John 2:1-11

    Excerpt: If you were a Jew, you understood that it doesn’t get any better than Moses. It’s all downhill after Moses. No one will outstrip Moses and what he has given to God’s people. What came before is always better because what came before is Moses. So what is Jesus saying through this sign? He’s not just performing some cheap parlor trick to impress his disciples. Nor is he simply showing them that he has power to do what he wants. No, this whole miracle is a parable of a deeper truth about who Jesus is and about how Jesus is going to defy Jewish expectation. They thought that the…

  • Christianity,  Complementarianism,  SBC

    The Baptist Press Features Opponents of the Law Amendment

    The Baptist Press (BP) is the official news service of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), and in the last two days BP has run three different news items airing the perspectives of opponents to the Law Amendment. The first focuses on remarks from James Merritt who proposed a task force that some people hope will offer an alternative to the Law Amendment.† The second is a video interview with J. D. Greear who makes the case against the Law Amendment. And the third is a news report with an ominous headline about the Law Amendment, “Greear foresees ‘nationwide hunt’ if SBC amendment passes.” BP published one article featuring comments from…