Perhaps the best way to explain what went wrong with Donald Trump’s appearance at Liberty University earlier today is to clarify what wasn’t wrong with it (watch above). There’s nothing wrong per se with a Christian university hosting a presidential candidate for a speech on their campus. In a university setting—even in a Christian one—a speech need not equal an endorsement. If other candidates are given equal access and if it is clear how such a visit might contribute to robust Christian thinking and conviction, there is no necessary offense in this. In fact, it could be a win. There’s nothing wrong per se with a Christian university hosting a…
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Live Stream of Donald Trump at Liberty University
You can watch the video of Trump’s speech here.
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Leader Nancy Pelosi is not morally serious
Melinda Henneberger published an interview with Leader Nancy Pelosi two days ago in which Henneberger actually presses Pelosi about funding for Planned Parenthood. In response, Pelosi committs a number of howlers. 1. Pelosi indicates that she has never taken the time to actually watch the undercover videos from the Center for Medical Progress (see above). I’m sorry. But if you haven’t taken the time to watch the videos by now, you have forfeited your right to criticize them. 2. Pelosi also claims that the videos were “doctored” (see above). When Henneberger presents Pelosi with evidence that the integrity of the videos have been verified by Planned Parenthood’s own investigators, Pelosi…
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How confessional rigor promotes academic freedom
Wheaton faculty member Timothy Larsen weighs-in on the controversy swirling around his campus. In the midst of it, he makes an observation about academic freedom that might be counter-intuitive to some readers but that demonstrates the deep need for Christian institutions of higher learning. Larsen is spot-on when he writes: Indeed, for some of our most thoroughgoing critics it means that we are not at all like the University of Illinois. A statement of faith, they assert, prohibits academic freedom and thus disqualifies us from being a genuine institution of higher education. It feels differently from the inside. The vast majority of the professors Wheaton hires come either straight from…
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Seven reasons why you shouldn’t read 1 Timothy 6:1-2 as an endorsement of slavery
Have you ever faced a skeptic—maybe a family member or a friend at work—who threw slavery at you as evidence that the Bible can’t be trusted? They argue that if you are using the Bible as your authority on what is right and wrong, then you are basing your deeply held beliefs on a morally deficient revelation. If the Bible is wrong about something as elementary as slavery, how can it be trusted in its central claims about Jesus? And so the issue of slavery often comes up when people wish to discredit the Bible—to show that it is not worth your admiration and trust. Sometimes these criticisms really sting.…
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Martavis Bryant’s impossible catch with a flip
In the Steelers’s win over the Bengals last night, Steelers receiver Martavis Bryant made one of the most athletic plays I’ve ever witnessed (watch above or below). In the endzone, Bryant goes up for the ball and brings it in around his legs, does a front flip, and keeps control the whole time for a touchdown. Last night I tweeted that I think this catch may be the best I’ve ever seen. I have never seen anything like it. It definitely eclipses Odell Beckham Jr.’s famous one-handed catch. Unbelievable.
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Shepherds Lead from the Front
This is a great little image about pastoral leadership from my colleague and friend Hershael York: On one of my trips to Israel I once saw a man behind a flock of sheep, driving them down the road by holding out two long sticks, one on either side, in an attempt to force them to stay together in front of him. Puzzled that I had never seen a shepherd lead his sheep like that, I asked my guide, Zvi, “Why is that shepherd driving his sheep that way? I’ve never seen that before.” “Oh,” he answered. “That’s not a shepherd. That’s a butcher. He has bought those sheep and now…
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Wheaton Prof. dismisses theological concerns as “trumped-up”
Yesterday, embattled Professor Larycia Hawkins held a rally in response to Wheaton College administration’s intent to terminate her. If you haven’t been keeping up with this story, I encourage you to read Joe Carter’s explainer here. You can watch the entire rally above, including a statement from Professor Hawkins herself (which begins at 28:30). The main thing that I take away from Hawkins’s statement is its defiance—especially at the end. Here’s a transcript of about the last three minutes or so of her remarks:
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A religious test for conservative Christians in academia
In terms of cultural influence, there is hardly any group more consequential than the faculty members of elite universities. They have an incalculable impact on emerging generations of leaders in business and politics and other fields that define our national life. How do they come to this position of influence? The first and most important qualification is the Ph.D. degree. Who determines who gets Ph.D.’s in our country? Little groups of faculty members meeting in little rooms determine who gets into the programs and thus who will comprise the future faculties of our nation’s colleges and universities. How do these committees do their work?
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Interview with Michael Brown on “Line of Fire”
Many thanks to Dr. Michael Brown who recently interviewed me about the new book Transforming Homosexuality. You can download the interview here or listen below. The interview begins at 55:00. You can subscribe to Dr. Brown’s podcast at his website here.