I’ve been watching conservative and liberal pundits alike puzzling over the fact that Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the liberal wing of the Supreme Court to uphold President Obama’s healthcare law. I think Chief Justice Roberts gives us a glimpse into his rationale in his majority opinion. Read the following excerpt carefully, especially the underlined portion at the end. Our permissive reading of these powers is explained in part by a general reticence to invalidate the acts of the Nation’s elected leaders. “Proper respect for a co-ordinate branch of the government” requires that we strike down an Act of Congress only if “the lack of constitutional authority to pass…
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Doug Wilson Takes on Gay Activists in Q&A
Doug Wilson’s recent lectures on sexuality at Indiana University are absolutely riveting. If you start these, beware, because you might not be able to stop. Wilson followed the lectures with two hours of Q&A with a raucous, offended crowd. There were forty questions and forty answers in all. Watch the first trailer above and the second trailer below. To see the lectures and the Q&A, click here. This is quite an amazing thing to watch, and it’s worth offering some reflections on this spectacle.
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Precious Coins from a Father
Jim Hamilton preached a fantastic sermon last Sunday on Jeremiah 25:15-38 at Kenwood Baptist Church. At the end of the message, he gave an illustration that I thought really connected the text to life. It’s only about five minutes long. In the audio below, it begins at 37:09. [audio:http://kenwoodbaptistchurch.com/podcast/media/2012-06-24_jim_hamilton_jer_25_1538_6_24_12.mp3] Christianity.com published the illustration today, and here’s an excerpt.
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Ed Young’s Recent Sermon on Reformed Theology
Earlier this evening, I saw that Justin Taylor tweeted a link to Ed Young Junior’s sermon from this past Sunday. It’s titled “Cool-aid: Homeboy.” At the 27:29 mark, he begins about a 12 minute attack on reformed churches. You can download it here, listen below, or watch at the bottom of this page. [audio:http://cdn.creativepastors.com/podcasts/mp3/20120624_coolaid.mp3] Among other things, Young accuses reformed believers of being non-evangelistic. Or to put it in Young’s words, “They pimp God not to reach people who are dying and going to hell.” He also charges reformed Christians with preaching the social gospel, with being more concerned with digging wells in South Africa than with sharing the gospel…
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An Interview with an Arminian
John Starke’s interview with Fred Sanders over at the Gospel Coalition is a really good read. I think it demonstrates the fraternity that can exist between brothers who differ with one another over the doctrines of grace. I welcome the warm expressions that Sanders offers towards Calvinists, and I would simply reply that the feeling is mutual. There was one section from the interview that I thought worthy of highlighting. Starke asks Sanders to complete the following sentence: “If you think Arminianism is semi-Pelagian, then…” Sanders replies:
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HuffPo Calls Martin Luther King “Too Prejudiced”
The Huffington Post has a brief article about gay rights and civil rights. Commenting on the Martin Luther King’s support for interracial marriage, the author says that King was “too prejudiced” to endorse gay marriage. Did you get that? Martin Luther King was “too prejudiced” to embrace same-sex marriage according to this article. Mark it down, folks. It’s not too often that you’ll hear Dr. King spoken of as a bigot at the Huffington Post, but there it is. It just goes to show that the advocates of same-sex marriage are adopting civil rights rhetoric for a reason. They mean not merely to redefine marriage. They mean to marginalize and…
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David Platt Comments on the Sinner’s Prayer Dust-up
David Platt has some helpful remarks about the “Sinners Prayer” dust-up that has captured the attention of many Southern Baptists over the last few months. Platt also comments on the “Sinner’s Prayer” resolution that was adopted at the SBC in New Orleans last week. No one should be surprised that he voted in favor of the resolution. He writes:
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The Blankenhorn Defection on Gay Marriage
David Blankenhorn was a key witness in California’s “Proposition 8” trial. As an author and expert on marriage, Blankenhorn made his case for marriage in that trial, and he was pilloried by David Boies on the stand. After the trial, advocates of gay marriage heaped scorn and ridicule on Blankenhorn for his views and his defense of Proposition 8. As it turns out, their jeering had its intended effect. Blankenhorn has caved and has decided to accept gay marriage.
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Fred Luter: ABC News’ Person of the Week
ABC News has selected Fred Luter as their person of the week (HT: Russell Moore). See above Diane Sawyer’s report and interview from earlier this evening. The YouTube version is here. My favorite part is when Luter says that his mother gave him the gift of a “drug.” He says, “She drug me to church every week.” It was also interesting to see the pictures of past SBC presidents flash across the screen. It’s not your everyday fare for the nightly news, but there it is. The picture is below. You get a 100 points in the big book in the sky if you can name all these faces.
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Your Congregation Needs to See Fred Luter
Amen to Bart Barber! Barber argues that Southern Baptists should not hold their breaths waiting for the cultural elites to congratulate us about the election of Fred Luter. He says that CNN is not the most important audience for this week’s historic election. He writes: If the folks at CNN aren’t the most important audience, then who needs to know that Southern Baptists have elected Fred Luter? The kids in your youth group, pastor—they need to know… You need to report back to your congregation with a Powerpoint slideshow and you need to make certain that the people in your congregation see a photograph of the new SBC President. The…