Tim Challies has a post today about his encounter with the Louisville abortion clinic when he was in town for T4G last week. Tim says that he observed some Christians standing outside the clinic encouraging young women not to abort their unborn babies. You can read the narrative of Tim’s experience here, but I want to tell you a little bit about the people who are outside of that abortion clinic every week. A few years ago, Dave and Stacy Hare of Immanuel Baptist Church were inspired by a sermon from their pastor to begin a ministry called “Speak for the Unborn.” The ministry was to be a kind of…
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Mark Coppenger on “Blue Like Jazz”
I read Donald Miller’s Blue Like Jazz several years ago after finding that so many of my students were enamored with this hip new book that was taking the evangelical world by storm. At the time, the “emergent church” was all the rage among a certain sector of evangelicals, and folks were trying to sort out how the author Donald Miller fit within that whole discussion. In any case, my students loved the book and were talking about it, and I felt almost obligated to read it. So I did. I didn’t much care for the book. I thought it was irreverent in all the wrong ways. At the time,…
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“Blue Like Jazz” barely says anything at all.
Eleanor Barkhorn at The Atlantic waylays the movie adaption of Blue Like Jazz. Her critique centers not so much on the production value as it does the message of this story. One paragraph in particular is devastating, and it reflects to some extent weaknesses inherent in the book that the movie was based on. She writes: Unfortunately, in its attempt to be a more honest voice of evangelical Christianity, Blue Like Jazz the movie ends up saying barely anything at all. It tries to navigate a middle course between mainstream Hollywood and mainstream evangelical movie-making, and in the process loses everyone. The film doesn’t show skeptics anything distinctive about Christianity.…
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For those doubting the digital revolution…
It’s should be no news to anyone at this point that print media are on the decline. But for those who are still doubting the potency of the digital revolution, please note the slate of Pulitzer Prize winners that was just announced this afternoon. David Wood of The Huffington Post won for national reporting, and Matt Wuerker of Politico won for editorial cartooning. These are the first Pulitzer’s for Politico and The Huffington Post.
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Why do couples live together before marriage?
There was a fascinating article in The New York Times over the weekend titled “The Downside of Cohabiting before Marriage.” It shows that—contrary to popular belief—living together before marriage does not produce better or more stable marriages. In fact the divorce rate is higher among those who cohabit before marriage than those who do not. The reason for this is due in part to the different agendas that men and women have for cohabiting. Here’s an excerpt: Couples bypass talking about why they want to live together and what it will mean. When researchers ask cohabitors these questions, partners often have different, unspoken — even unconscious — agendas. Women are…
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Celebrity Pastors and the Conferences that Feature Them
You may have noticed the numerous warnings that Carl Trueman gave last year about celebrity pastors and the conferences that feature them (see here, here, here, here). The one that really got me was the anecdote he shared about a pastor who was kicked out of the VIP section at a recent mega-conference. Trueman’s remarks led to a spirited and generally helpful exchange with Thabiti Anyabwile. It was a real coup that Trueman agreed to appear at T4G last week to discuss the issue again. This time he did so with a panel of celebrity pastors before a gathering of 8,000 people. The panel featured Trueman and Anyabwile along with…
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Squirrel with his head caught in a yogurt cup
I don’t know why, but for some reason I find gags involving squirrels to be hilarious. Maybe it’s a southern thing. In any case, here’s a case in point. Professional golfers Ted Schulz and Kenny Perry recently happened upon a squirrel with his head caught in a yogurt cup. Kenny Perry’s caddie was able to free the squirrel, but the squirrel went after him when he did! Then the squirrel quickly scampered away. (HT: @mikefrantz__)
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Main Take-away from T4G 2012
My main take-away from T4G 2012 is nothing new or earth-shattering. It’s not even something that I didn’t already know. It’s something I’ve known and believed my whole life but which needed to be reinvigorated. The pursuit of holiness won’t happen by accident. I’m not going to be conformed to the image of Christ by osmosis. If I am to be sanctified, it will be a fight to the death. And that means much work, labor, and effort. Fie on passivity and quietism. The effect of God’s grace in me will be effort on my part. Where that effort is absent, so also is grace. You would benefit from all…
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All the Audio and Video from T4G Main Sessions
John Piper – Glory, Majesty, Dominion, and Authority Keep Us Safe for Everlasting Joy [download] [audio:http://media.t4g.org/t4g2012/audio/t4g2012-gen9-piper.mp3]
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Will you still be a Christian tomorrow?
In the final message of T4G 2012, John Piper ruminated on the fact that this will be the last time he preaches at T4G as a pastor. He also marveled at the fact that he’s still a Christian after 60 years. He then turned his amazement on the congregation, “I love to ask people, and I’ll ask you: What makes you think you’re gonna wake up a Christian tomorrow?” Here’s the clip with his answer: