There was a lull in the storyline of “Lost” this season, and I was about to give up on the show altogether. But my relationship to the “Lost” series can be compared to Michael Corleone’s relationship to the mafia: “Just when I think I’m out, they pull me back in!” All I can say now is that after the season finale, my attention to this story has been totally reinvigorated. “Lost” is a fascinating show with a host of religious and philosophical undertones. Characters are named after famous philosophers (e.g., John Locke, Desmond David Hume), storylines are mistaken for religious narratives (e.g., the theory that the island is purgatory), and…
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Regenerate Church Membership
John Hammett is a professor of theology at the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and he has presented a lecture on regenerate church membership that you need to hear. The title of the lecture is “Regenerate Church Membership: The Baptist Mark of the Church.” Hammett explains how Southern Baptists have lost sight of this ideal and have acquiesced to membership consisting of both believers and unbelievers. He describes the problem this way:
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Stick a Fork in Giuliani
You can stick a fork in Mayor Rudy Giuliani because he’s done. At least that’s the judgment that James Dobson has made, and I fundamentally agree with him. In case you missed it last week, Dobson said this: The jig is up. Rudy Giuliani finally admitted in a speech at Houston Baptist University last week that he is an unapologetic supporter of abortion on demand. That revelation came as no great shock to those of us in the pro-life movement. His public pronouncements as mayor of New York, together with his more recent tap dances on the campaign trail, have told a very clear story.
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The Baptist Perspective on Religious Liberty
I’ve just begun reading a new release from Broadman and Holman, First Freedom: The Baptist Perspective on Religious Liberty. The book is a collection of papers that were read at the 2005 Baptist Distinctives Conference held at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Among the contributors are Russell Moore, Richard Land, and Paige Patterson. I just finished Russell Moore’s contribution, and it is provocative to say the least. It’s titled, “Conservative Christians in an Era of Christian Conservatives.” Here’s a snippet in which he takes a whack at the emerging church:
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Giuliani’s Abortion Muddle
Don’t miss Michael Gerson’s opinion editorial on Rudy Giuliani’s incoherent position on abortion. Gerson writes:
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The Superbowl comes to Dallas! (. . . I mean, Arlington)
The Associated Press is reporting that the Superbowl will be coming to Dallas in 2011. Actually, it will be played in Arlington, which is a part of the Metroplex, but not Dallas proper. It could have been in Dallas, had the Dallas City Council and the Mayor gotten their acts together. But alas, the new Cowboy stadium is to be built in Arlington, and that will be the site for Superbowl 45. Woohoo! “North Texas Wins” – Mickey Spagnola (DallasCowboys.com) “North Texas bid beats Indy, Arizona for 2011 Super Bowl” – Associated Press
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Former President Weighs in on the ETS Doctrinal Statement
Dr. David Howard is a former president of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS), and in Friday’s Wall Street Journal he weighed in on the resignation of Dr. Francis Beckwith. Howard thinks that Beckwith’s resignation was entirely appropriate, given Beckwith’s return to the Roman Catholic church. He writes: His resignation was appropriate, since the ETS affirms that “the Bible alone . . . is the Word of God written.” The phrase “the Bible alone” in the ETS context refers to the 66 books in the Old and New Testaments of the Protestant canon and thus rules out Mr. Beckwith’s continued membership, given that the Roman Catholic Church accepts additional books in…
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The New Breed of Evangelicals
The New York Times has an article today about the “new breed” of evangelicals. Predictably, the article suggests that: The new breed of evangelical leaders — often to the dismay of those who came before them — are more likely to speak out about more liberal causes like AIDS, Darfur, poverty and global warming than controversial social issues like abortion and same-sex marriage. I think this line represents as much wishful thinking as it does reporting. The rest of the article bears out the fact that the life-issue still remains at the top of the list of policy priorities for evangelicals. I don’t expect that to change anytime soon, no…
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Rev. James Lipscomb: I Wish You Could Have Known Him
The persons pictured to the right are me and my college Greek professor, Rev. James W. Lipscomb. The picture was taken by Mrs. Lipscomb as he and I were reading the Greek New Testament together on his back porch in Ruston, Louisiana in 1994. The picture brings back fond memories of a man who had many stories to tell. To give you an idea of the cloth from which Rev. Lipscomb was cut, he was a classmate of Francis Schaeffer in both college and seminary. I just received word yesterday that Rev. Lipscomb passed away (obituary). He was 92 years old. It would be impossible for me to overstate how…
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What are people saying about Jerry Falwell?
What follows is a list of articles and resources on the death and legacy of Rev. Jerry Falwell. I plan to update this list as more comes out.