My friend Lawrence Smith has produced a fantastic report for our local Fox affiliate about the upcoming election of Fred Luter as the first African American president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Albert Mohler, Paul Chitwood, T. Vaughn Walker, and Paul Simmons are all interviewed in this piece. I cannot overstate how significant this election will be in the life of our denomination. I expect as the convention approaches, we’ll be seeing lots of news stories like this one. This will be an historic vote, and I can’t wait to see it.
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A Mother’s Story of Aborting a Child with a Disability
I have never read a story like this one before. Sarah Carpenter, a married woman with two children, becomes pregnant with her third child. After finding out that the child had a disability, she and her husband Andrew make the decision to abort the child in order to spare him from having a bad life. The gut-wrenching thing about this story is that everything inside this woman—her conscience, her maternal instinct—is telling her to protect her baby. But her doctor and family members are telling her to spare her child by killing him. In other words, she has a very real sense of what she ought to do, but her…
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Hamilton Responds to Köstenberger on Biblical Theology
Andreas Köstenberger’s most recent JETS editorial characterizes Jim Hamilton’s book God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment as a “hybrid” of biblical and systematic theology. Köstenberger writes: It should be noted that Hamilton’s brand of Biblical Theology is in fact a hybrid of Biblical and Systematic Theology—Hamilton calls the two disciplines “equal tools”—and takes its cue from both theologians such as Jonathan Edwards and direct study of biblical texts (3) Hamilton takes issue with this description of his methodology in some extended remarks on his website. Hamilton writes: In sorting through the Bible’s themes to determine which one the biblical authors consider to be ultimate, the distinction Jonathan Edwards makes between…
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Dwight McKissic Debates Gay Marriage on The Laura Ingraham Show
Dwight McKissic played the part of the prophet on the Laura Ingraham show yesterday. He was on the program to discuss same sex marriage with an African American minister who supports gay marriage. McKissic did not mince words but called out the other minister as having allied himself with the kingdom of darkness. I think McKissic was right to do so. We need more prophetic boldness like this from pastors, not less. McKissic’s remarks begin at 2:45. [audio:http://www.trn1.com/uploads/mp3/showclips/051612LISUZANNESOMERS.mp3] Titus 1:7-9 “For the overseer must be… able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.”
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John Calvin on Divorce
“They who, for slight causes, rashly allow of divorces, violate, in one single particular, all the laws of nature, and reduce them to nothing. If we should make it a point of conscience not to separate a father from his son, it is still greater wickedness to dissolve the bond which God has preferred to all others.” –John Calvin’s commentary on Genesis 2:24
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Matt Anderson on Getting beyond the Culture Wars
Matthew Anderson writes about the culture wars and the future of evangelical witness. The whole thing is a good read, but there are some nuggets in here worth highlighting. On marriage amendments, he writes, The overwhelming passage of traditional marriage amendments are not signs of our society’s health, but its disease–and we are all implicated in it. Anderson goes on to show that calls to get beyond the culture wars really miss the point. I think Anderson nails it in this paragraph.
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How Pres. Obama Invokes Jesus’ Support for Liberal Policies
Michael Gerson takes on President Obama’s proclivity for invoking Jesus in support of liberal public policies. Pay special attention to the last line. Gerson writes: Agree or disagree with the policies Obama recommends, his arguments can’t be called sophisticated. They are the liberal political application of a “What Would Jesus Do?” wristband. In a mirror reflection of the religious right, Obama has a tendency to engage in partisan proof texting — which is divisive in service to any ideology. Saying “I would just refer them to the Sermon on the Mount” is a claim of divine authority that short-circuits democratic debate. Even when Obama changes his political views, Jesus somehow…
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R. T. France on Divorce and Creation Ethics
Much debate surrounds Jesus’ remarks about divorce in Matthew 19:3-12. R. T. France observes why so much of the discussion is off-base from the start. In doing so, he provides some sage advice about Christian ethics in general. He writes:
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Horton and Wilson Spar over “Muscular Christianity”
Michael Horton and Doug Wilson have begun a conversation about gender roles that is not to be missed. Horton began the discussion last week in a short article in Modern Reformation titled “Muscular Christianity.” Doug Wilson responded on his blog just today in a post titled, “Michael Horton, Gender Stereotypes, and Me.”
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Tony Dungy on Pres. Obama’s Gay Marriage Stance
Tony Dungy tweeted a short word about his take on President Obama’s gay marriage announcement (HT). Dungy writes: I was disappointed he veered from biblical view. In 2007, Dungy spoke out publicly in favor of an amendment to the Indiana state constitution that would define marriage as between one man and one woman. He took some criticism for this, but he explained that his feelings on the matter grew directly out of his Christian convictions. In his own words: We’re not trying to downgrade anyone else. But we’re trying to promote the family — family values the Lord’s way. Elsewhere, Dungy says this: Family is important, and that’s what we’re…