• News,  Politics

    Rick Santorum’s Daughter Admitted to the Hospital

    From the Philadelphia Inquirer: The three-year-old daughter of Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum has been admitted to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the candidate has cancelled his Sunday morning campaign events to be at her side. Santorum campaign spokesman Hogan Gidley said Saturday night that the former Pennsylvania senator and his wife, Karen, were with Bella at CHOP. Gidley said Santorum planned to return to campaigning as soon as possible in Florida, where the Republican primary is Tuesday.

  • Christianity

    Some Thoughts on the Elephant Room

    Two days ago the chatter coming out of The Elephant Room seemed to indicate that T. D. Jakes had alleviated all concern about his orthodoxy. I counted that as a good report and was certainly eager to hear it for myself. I had a chance last night to watch the session that featured Jakes and the discussion about Trinitarianism. There are some good things in this session (Jakes’ affirmation of one God and three persons), but there are also some not-so-good things. At the end of the day, I thought too much was left undone. Coming into this event, Jakes has been widely known as a modalist, and I saw…

  • Christianity,  Entertainment,  News

    Spielberg To Direct New Moses Movie

    Here’s the scoop: The two-time Oscar winner is closing in on a deal with Warner Bros. to direct “Gods And Kings,” which is described as a “‘Braveheart’-ish version of the Moses story” mixed with the “gritty reality” of “Saving Private Ryan.” Warner Bros. has been courting Spielberg for the project since last September, and now it appears they are close to nabbing him. That in itself is an accomplishment: the notoriously busy Spielberg always has a full dance card, but will have time for “Gods And Kings” next spring. The director just finished “Lincoln” and will soon start on “Robopocalypse”; “Gods And Kings” would hope to begin lensing in March…

  • Theology/Bible

    Women in Ministry and 1 Timothy 2:12

    1 Timothy 2:12 has become the most debated verse in intra-evangelical debates about women in ministry. For this reason, it was no small matter when the translators decided to revise the rendering of this text in the 2011 edition of the NIV. Paul appears to be prohibiting two activities—teaching and exercising authority—but the new NIV alters that reading.

  • Politics

    Kevin DeYoung on the Ironies of the GOP Race

    Kevin DeYoung has a clever post the morning reflecting on what the GOP debates say about us as Americans. He really captures some glaring ironies that suggest how schizophrenic the American electorate really is. He writes: We want to be rich and want politicians who will promise to make us richer. But we don’t like our politicians themselves to be wealthy. We want candidates to give straight answers and not dodge hard questions. But when they give specific answers to hard questions their answers will be ridiculed as dull or will be held against them. We want our leaders to be super confident, super competent, and super intelligent. But we…

  • Christianity

    Hymn To God the Father

    One of my favorite poems of all time is “Hymn to God the Father” by John Donne. If you are not familiar with this poem, you need to be. Donne composed this piece near the end of his life when he was facing death (circa 1631). As he contemplates his demise, he is overcome with a sense of his own sinfulness, and he wonders how he will stand at the judgment. Donne evokes all the anguish of the “wretched man” in Romans 7:24 before he sounds a final note of hope that Jesus will rescue him at the last day. There is a wonderful play on the word “done” in…

  • Christianity,  News,  Sports

    Joe Paterno, Justice, and Eternity

    I tried to write a reflection on the life of Joe Paterno yesterday. After spending a good bit of time on it, I gave up. There is so much that I admire about the man, and yet it all seems eclipsed by what happened at the end. Still, it seems unfair not to acknowledge all the good that came before the end. How do you put all of that into something that makes sense? Thank you, Barnabas Piper, for putting into words the feelings that so many of us are having about JoPa’s legacy: “Conflicted. Complex. Complicated.” Piper writes: There is no single side to the memory of Joe Paterno…

  • Christianity,  Politics

    An Uncomfortable and Awkward Question

    Francis Beckwith asks conservative Christians an uncomfortable and awkward question: Are you prepared for America to have a First Lady who was a home wrecker and was once the President’s mistress (if Gingrich were to become President)? Beckwith presses the point because he was unsatisfied with Gingrich’s fiery answer to a character question in last week’s GOP debate in South Carolina. Instead of addressing a question about past infidelities, Gingrich opined about everyone knowing what it’s like to go through “personal pain.” Beckwith responds: