“The Supreme Court has ruled that corporations may spend freely to support or oppose candidates for president and Congress, easing decades-old limits on their participation in federal campaigns. . . The justices also struck down part of the landmark McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill that barred union- and corporate-paid issue ads in the closing days of election campaigns.” This is big political news. Read the rest here.
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To My Students
On Friday night, I exhorted the new students of Boyce College, “Don’t turn from God when you turn to your books.” I took that line from an essay that had an enormous impact on me when I was in seminary. The essay is B. B. Warfield’s “The Religious Life of Theological Students.” It is an address that Dr. Warfield delivered to the students of Princeton Theological Seminary on October 4, 1911. In it, Warfield insists that students who separate the rigors of a theological education from devotion to God do so at their own spiritual peril. Devotion to God and the study of theology should not be divided into different…
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Sunday in Haiti
“Think of our new village here as the home of Jesus Christ, not the scene of a disaster. Life is not a disaster. Life is joy! You don’t have food? Nourish yourself with the Lord. You don’t have water? Drink in the spirit.” -Rev. Joseph Lejeune, Evangelical Pastor in Port-Au-Prince The lines above are but one example of the sermons being preached in Port-Au-Prince on Sunday morning, according to a NY Times report. In varying versions, this scene repeated itself throughout the Haitian capital on Sunday. With many of their churches flattened and their priests and pastors killed, Haitians desperate for aid and comfort beseeched God to ease their grief.…
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I’ve Been to the Mountaintop
We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. So I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man.…
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I Have a Dream
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
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Killer Community Tips
Johnny and Chachi strike again—this time with some “Killer Community Tips” about how to have an effective small group ministry.
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Tebow in Pro-life Superbowl Ad
Focus on the Family has enlisted Tim Tebow to tell the pro-life story of his own birth. Doctors advised Tebow’s parents to abort him due to some complications with the pregnancy. His parents ignored the doctors’ recommendations and brought the pregnancy to term. And of course the rest is history. Tim Tebow grew up to become one of the greatest players in the history of college football. The Associated Press reports:
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What is Pat Robertson talking about?
When I first read news yesterday of Pat Robertson’s remarks about Haiti, I couldn’t believe that he had done it again (e.g., here, here, and here). The news report that I read said that he attributed the earthquake to a divine “curse.” Reading further, I found that his “curse” remark actually had more context–a context which only seemed to amplify the offense not lessen it. Read his remarks for yourself below, or watch the video above.
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Give to Haiti Disaster Relief
If you are horrified by the pictures coming out of Haiti and if you have any means at all, please consider giving a financial gift to disaster relief efforts. Many news reports say that the immediate need of relief organizations is cash, and many of us can help with that right now. Mark Kelly reports that Southern Baptist disaster relief is being led by Florida Baptists, who have had ministry relationships in Haiti for more than 20 years and currently have seven Haitian staff members who live and work in the country. Initial funding for the relief effort will come from the International Mission Board’s disaster relief fund. You can…
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Russell Moore on the Social Gospel
Russell Moore has a great piece on the social gospel in the latest 9Marks journal. Among other things, he asks and answers the question whether the emerging church represents a revival of the social gospel. He writes: “The doctrinal left wing of the ’emerging’ movement isn’t clarifying the doctrinal content of Christianity, but using, it seems, cunning words to downplay this doctrinal content in order to substitute a social program there instead. This can—and has—happened on the political right as well as on the political left, and with the same kind of wreckage left in its wake. . . “Let’s remember that the gospel is social but the social gospel…