In the video above, Bishop Tom Wright explains why he hasn’t written on the topic homosexuality. In short, he says that he hasn’t done the necessary research on the topic. Furthermore, he says that he is keenly aware of the complexity of the issue, and thus to do the topic justice would require him to write a book the length of The Resurrection of the Son of God.
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Calvinist Quibble
A. N. Wilson is a New Testament scholar who left the Christian faith when he was in his thirties but who has now begun to believe once again. It’s a great story, and you can read about it here. As great as Wilson’s story is, that is not the main point of my writing today. Dr. Ben Witherington has a short post on his blog about Wilson’s return to the faith, and my aim today is to respond to one little piece from Witherington’s commentary. Witherington writes:
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Justice David Souter Will Retire
NPR is reporting that Justice David Souter will retire from the Supreme Court at the end of the current court term. This means that President Obama will be able to make his first appointment to the Supreme Court. Even though Souter was appointed to the Court by George H. W. Bush, he has turned out to be a big disappointment on many important issues. His retirement will not change the balance of the Court’s opinion on Roe v. Wade. Nevertheless, Obama may very well appoint a replacement that is younger and more liberal than Souter. That will not be good. UPDATE: The Associated Press reports, “Justice David Souter has told…
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Is it possible to restore a pastor who has sinned sexually?
I enjoy listening to the “Ask Pastor John” series from DesiringGod.org. These recordings are each about three to four minutes long, and in them Pastor John Piper answers questions on sundry topics. I thought one recent episode might interesting to share here. Here’s the question that Piper sets himself to answer: Is it possible to restore a pastor who sinned sexually but who is repentant? Or is such a pastor disqualified because he no longer meets the qualification of being “above reproach”? According to Piper, the answer to the question is yes. You can hear his explanation by downloading the audio from here or by pressing the play button below.…
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The Difference between Christianity and Politics
Adam Nagourney reports for the New York Times that the same-sex “marriage” issue has become a hindrance to the Republican Party. More and more voters are simply disinterested in fighting over this issue. Nagourney writes: “In the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, released on Monday, 31 percent of respondents over the age of 40 said they supported gay marriage. By contrast, 57 percent under age 40 said they supported it, a 26-point difference. Among the older respondents, 35 percent said they opposed any legal recognition of same-sex couples, be it marriage or civil unions. Among the younger crowd, just 19 percent held that view. “Steve Schmidt, who was the…
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Al Mohler on the ‘Swine’ Flu
On his radio program yesterday, Dr. Albert Mohler talked about how Christians should respond to the potential ‘Swine’ flu pandemic. You can download the audio here or listen to it below. [audio:http://www.sbts.edu/media/audio/totl/2009/AMP_04_28_2009.mp3] The interesting thing about this discussion is that Dr. Mohler compares the current threat with how Christians in previous eras dealt with plagues. The comparison is apt and one that we should all be thinking about from a biblical perspective.
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Another Outrage from Planned Parenthood
Lila Rose is a 20-year old college student at UCLA. She has the voice of a 14-year old, but she has an ingenious plan to expose Planned Parenthood’s serial abuse of vulnerable young girls who are pregnant. Rose produces undercover videos in which she poses as an underage teen seeking an abortion from Planned Parenthood. Recently, she was featured in a front-page story in the LA Times. Watch the video, and read the article. Unbelievable.
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Danny Akin’s Prophetic Vision for SBC
Dr. Danny Akin is the President of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. Last week in Southeastern’s chapel, he delivered a prophetic message—a message that I hope all Southern Baptists will embrace. Dr. Akin’s vision is for a Great Commission Resurgence to sweep through the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). In his chapel sermon, he sets forth eleven axioms of such a resurgence. You can download the message here , read the message here, or listen to it below. [audio:http://www.sebts.edu/images/video/audio/7718677790.mp3] I think Dr. Akin’s vision for the SBC is the right one, and I’m praying for his tribe to increase. There is now a website where you…
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Pontiac Goes the Way of the Dodo
When I was a kid, I always believed that the ultimate car of cars was the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. First it was Burt Reynolds in “Smokey and the Bandit.” Then it was David Hasselhoff in NBC’s “Knight Rider.” I just thought that car got better and better. For me, there was nothing more exotic than a Trans Am. It is a strange thing to watch the passing of an 102 year-old American icon. Yet that is what is happening with the Pontiac brand of General Motors (GM). GM announced this week that it is shutting down its Pontiac brand in order to “concentrate resources on its remaining, strategically more…
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Is John Piper a Pastor and a Scholar?
John Piper is not sure whether he should be considered a pastor and a scholar. At least that is what he says in an address he gave last week at Park Community Church in Chicago, Illinois. You can read it here, download it here or listen to it below. [audio:http://media.desiringgod.org/audio/events/20090423_piper.mp3] Here’s how Piper describes his task in this message: “I assume that one of the main reasons I was asked to do this talk is that somebody thinks I am one of these—a pastor-scholar. I’m not sure that I am. And so I thought maybe I should just tell my story as how I got to be the way I…