President Obama hosted hundreds of gay and lesbian leaders in the White House yesterday for a “LGBT Gay Pride Month” reception. I want to comment briefly on three excerpts from the President’s remarks and conclude with some final thoughts at the end.
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All I Really Wanted Was a Dad
“Through the grace of God, I have been fortunate to have achieved many of my artistic and professional aspirations realized early in my lifetime. But these, friends are accomplishments, and accomplishments alone are not synonymous with who I am. Indeed, the cheery five-year-old who belted out Rockin’ Robin and Ben to adoring crowds was not indicative of the boy behind the smile. . . I am the product of a lack of a childhood. . . when I was young I wanted more than anything else to be a typical little boy. I wanted to build tree houses, have water balloon fights, and play hide and seek with my friends.…
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CT Covers Piper vs. Wright
Trevin Wax has compiled a helpful piece for Christianity Today in which he sets in parallel the contrasting views of John Piper and N. T. Wright on the topic of justification. There is an HTML version that you can read, or you can download a PDF of the article as it appeared on the pages of CT.
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Why there’s a buzz about the SBC Annual Meeting
This year’s meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) in Louisville, Kentucky was nothing short of amazing. For me, the totally unexpected happened. I came away feeling more optimistic about the SBC than I ever have before. Why did I feel this way? 1. The Great Commission Resurgence (GCR). Danny Akin first cast his vision for a “Great Commission Resurgence” at the “Building Bridges” conference back in 2007. If you have not ever listened to this sermon, I encourage you to do so (audio below). It was prophetic, timely, and courageous.
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Do dead people praise God?
Do dead people praise God? The Psalmist says that they don’t. Read for yourself the last two verses from Psalm 115: The dead do not praise the LORD,Nor do any who go down into silence;But as for us, we will bless the LORDFrom this time forth and forever.Praise the LORD! I wonder how many of you readers are shocked to learn that Holy Scripture says the “dead do not praise the Lord.” For those of us grew up in evangelical churches that teach about saints praising God in the afterlife, this text can come across as quite a jolt.
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Come meet Southern Seminary Authors
In my last post, I noted that Russell Moore will be signing books next week in the SBTS booth at the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). In fact, SBTS will be hosting a number of its authors for book-signings. The full schedule for the SBTS booth is below, and I hope to see you there!
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A Must-Read: Adopted for Life by Russell Moore
If you haven’t done so already, you need to buy and read Russell Moore’s new book Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families & Churches. Not only is this book is a real page-turner, it also makes a compelling case for the cultivation of an adoption culture within churches for the sake of gospel witness. Moore writes, “The gospel of Jesus Christ means our families and churches ought to be at the forefront of the adoption of orphans close to home and around the world. . . Adoption is about an entire culture within our churches, a culture that sees adoption as part of our Great Commission…
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Hammertime!
Here’s another post for the humor category. This video is a PR stunt to promote the A&E reality program “Hammertime.” What is perhaps even more entertaining than these dancers invading the department store is the fact that about 20 years ago I did a killer “running man” myself. I had some moves. Fortunately, no one has any video footage of that!
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Scot McKnight’s Question about Headship
Scot McKnight has invited readers to respond to a letter that he received concerning women in leadership. I’m going to post the letter here and then give a brief response. Here’s the letter: Dr. McKnight, I am in the process of rethinking my views in women in the church, and my wife asked me a question last night that I couldn’t answer. Her sister has been an elder in a church at various times and always struggled with being in a leadership position and believing that her husband was to be the spiritual head of their family. My wife’s question was, if the husband is to be the spiritual head of…
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Pregnant “Man” Gives Birth
Here’s the headline from the UK’s Times online: “‘Pregnant man’ Thomas Beatie gives birth for second time.” The story caught my eye because I didn’t even know such a thing was possible. I’m no medical expert, but I am pretty sure I would have heard about it if some technology were invented that actually enabled a man to conceive and give birth. But that is actually not the case here. Here’s the key paragraph from the report: