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…
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News Coverage of Fred Luter’s Election
I would not have missed being in New Orleans for the election of Fred Luter for anything. One thing that I did miss, however, was the television news coverage of the historic election. The convention meetings kept me busy, and there was very little time to track news reports. I can imagine that many other Southern Baptists at the meeting missed those reports as well. So I’m posting here a round-up of some news coverage that folks may have missed if they were attending the convention. See below.
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A Newspaper Misrepresents John Piper
Last week I had a chance to read through John Piper’s sermon manuscript about same-sex marriage. I thought it was very well-done and particularly insightful in instructing Christians about their responsibility to press for public policies that promote the public good. At the beginning of the sermon, Piper explained that he wanted to address the issue of same-sex marriage in light of the Minnesota Marriage Amendment that will be voted on this November. The amendment would define marriage as between one man and one woman. Piper brought the Bible to bear upon the issue, and again it was very well done.
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Interview about Complementarianism with Janet Mefferd
Yesterday, I sat for interview about complementarianism on the Janet Mefferd program. Janet had followed the online conversation between me and Rachel Held Evans and was interested to explore whether or not complementarianism really is patriarchy. I gave her my opinion on that question as we discussed a number of biblical passages. You can download the interview here or listen to it below. Interview with Janet Mefferd [audio:http://media.townhallstore.com/jm/rs/jm_rs_20120621-3_Thu_fb5701da-d6a0-4dc6-97dd-42eda28b0331_radio-show_Hi.mp3] It’s very difficult to say everything that needs to be said on a topic like this one in a single interview. I recently preached an expositional sermon at my church on Ephesians 5 that gives a more systematic presentation of the Bible’s…
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Albert Mohler’s Reflections on the 2012 SBC
Albert Mohler has posted his reflections on the 2012 Southern Baptist Convention. Among other things, he writes about the election of Fred Luter, the name change, and our mission as Southern Baptists. He also notes the discussions about doctrine at this particular convention. He writes: The 2012 SBC was marked by talk about theology, and the issue of Calvinism in particular. At this point, the reality is more like talking about talking about theology, but the talk will become more organized, partly through a process to be led by the SBC Executive Committee. In the meantime, Southern Baptists need to be kind, open, generous, and truthful. We should expect the…
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Reflections on the Election of Fred Luter
Over a century and a half ago, Baptists in the south split from Baptists in the north over the issue of slavery. Southern Baptists wanted to appoint slave owners as missionaries, and the northern Baptists disagreed. And so in 1845, the Southern Baptist Convention was born. In the mid-90’s, Southern Baptists affirmed a resolution of repentance for being on the wrong side of slavery and Jim Crow. It was too long in coming, but it was good and needed. Today, however, Southern Baptists had their Acts 26:20 moment. We brought forth deeds in keeping with repentance. I cannot overstate how deeply significant the election of Fred Luter is. Nor can…
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CBMW Studies on the Gender Language of the NIV
The CBMW website had been a tremendous source for complementarian resources over the years, and we are working to make it even better. As the website has been undergoing a massive update, readers have requested access to the two studies on the gender language of the NIV that were published last year. Both of those articles are now available on the temporary site. The links are below: Denny Burk, et al., “The Translation of Gender Terminology in the NIV 2011? Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood 16.1 (2011): 17-33. “An Evaluation of Gender Language in the 2011 Edition of the NIV Bible,” A report from the Council on Biblical Manhood…
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When it’s hard to tell Dad, “I love you.”