“Operation Rescue released the report Tuesday….finds that the number of surgical abortion clinics in the United States has dropped by over 35% from 713 facilities in 2009 to 458 facilities in 2020.” Clinics providing drug-induced abortions went from 131 facilities in 2009 to 248 facilities in 2020. - CPost

“Though Acts 8 doesn’t call this experience ‘Holy Spirit baptism,’ similar passages do. For example, Acts 1:5 refers to the outpouring of the Spirit in Acts 2 as a baptism, and Acts 11:16 does the same for Acts 10.” - TGC

Review of Brett McCracken’s The Wisdom Pyramid: Feeding Your Soul in a Post-Truth World - CToday

“9Marks asked several pastors how they intend to pray this Sunday to shepherd their congregation in light of Wednesday’s events at the Capitol.” - 9 Marks

“Second, we can strive to use the Sunday school hour fully for Bible teaching. In many adult classes announcements, prayer time, and discussion of community events takes up much of the teaching time. Third, we can emphasize Bible reading plans.” - SBC Voices

Steven Mathewson’s work The Art of Preaching Old Testament Narrative¹ is a somewhat helpful but ultimately disappointing book. Curiously, only ch. 3-6 (pp. 43-78) deal with narrative.

“I personally have been ushered out the back door at healing services, after being publicly chastised. Many other disabled people have experienced similar treatment under the assumption that if you’re not healed, it’s your fault. ‘Because God’s will is for everyone to be healed. Always. The faithful will never suffer.’” - C.Leaders

“A graphic has started to spread on social media, allegedly showing a CNN chyron reporting that Antifa was behind the attack on Congress on Wednesday.” It’s fake. Also “XRVision never actually identified Antifa members at the riot: The company’s attorney issued a statement to BuzzFeed decrying the Washington Times article as ‘outright false, misleading, and defamatory.’”

“Designing 16 questions across six categories, the annual index measures perspectives on the First Amendment. Now in its second year, in October it polled a nationwide sample of 1,000 Americans, scoring their support from 0 (complete opposition) to 100 (robust support).” - CToday

“Luther may have gone too far in urging the Princes to crush the Peasant Revolt by force, which they were sure to do anyway. But in doing so, he laid out some thoughtful principles about when legitimate protests go too far.” - Veith

Read Part 1.

What Should We Think?

If I polled my readers at this point, there’d probably be some who’d say, “I’m of Paul,” and others, “I am of Barnabas.” Whose side do you take? Before you decide, consider two things:

“Conservative evangelical supporters of President Donald Trump have condemned the violence that broke out at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday afternoon, describing it as ‘dangerous for our republic’ and un-American.” - CPost

Related…

“Like past surveys, the 2020 State of Theology survey reveals some encouraging results, but it also reveals confusion and a lack of theological knowledge among evangelicals. In this article, we will take a look at each of the thirty-one questions on the survey in an attempt to help readers understand the orthodox Christian view on these issues as well as the biblical grounds for it.” - Ligonier

“This brings me to another question of discernment, viz., the question of falsifiability, or, ‘What would it take to change my mind?’” - Snoeberger

“The fall of mankind began with a lie. “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” This was followed by a second lie. ‘You certainly will not die! For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing good and evil.’” - Ref21

Olinger: On Aspirations in the New Year

The apostle Paul appealed to the church in Corinth: “that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment” (1:10). But Paul did not always attain to that ideal himself. In Acts 15:36-41, we read the sad story of a sharp disagreement between Paul and his companion, Barnabas. What makes their disagreement so disheartening is the division that resulted.

“…nine presidents of institutions associated with the Council for Christian Colleges the Universities… have already announced they are leaving in 2021. Fourteen CCCU schools appointed new presidents in 2020, continuing an upward trend in turnover rates. Thirteen left in 2019 and 11 in 2018” - CToday

“When it comes to religious affiliation, the 117th U.S. Congress looks similar to the previous Congress but quite different from Americans overall.” - Pew

“…the New Testament authors apparently don’t think the once-for-all forgiveness (justification) conflicts with the need for ongoing forgiveness (sanctification). This can be seen not only in the Lord’s Prayer, but also in 1 John 1:9: ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’” - TGC

“The article is simply intended to alert American believers of the shuttering of places of worship in Canada that seems more stringent than similar closures in the United States…. many American evangelicals have limited or no knowledge of churches to our north who are facing similar or more rigorous restrictions from various parts of the Canadian government. This is their story.” - P&D

“As revolting as the practice of anti-Semitism is, it’s a problem that lies hidden right in the midst of America—and it’s more widespread than we like to admit.” - Heritage

Worldometer “monitors statistics on health, the global population, the use of resources and deaths in real-time, over 40 million abortions are performed worldwide annually. The website tabulates statistics on abortion made available from the World Health Organization.” - CPost

“Organizers of the Jericho March, slated for Tuesday and Wednesday, have called on ‘patriots, people of faith and all those who want to take back America’ to travel to Washington on those days for a pair of marches to overturn the recent presidential election.” - CToday

Video: “Today, we have many medical advances that enable us to prolong our lives. Are Christians responsible to take advantage of these technologies? Is it ever permissible to refuse them? From one of our live events, R.C. Sproul reflects on these difficult questions.” - Ligonier

“…there is a huge reason for not going into a litany of our pastoring mistakes: God works even in our mistakes and can make good emerge from them. As a result, even though we look back and see the times we dropped the ball, we give thanks for what He accomplished through it all.” - C.Leaders

“Unless he recuses himself and hands the job over the Senate president pro tempore – as Vice President Hubert Humphrey did in January 1969 – Pence will have the ceremonial but politically consequential role of presiding over a contested certification.” - The Conversation

Are there seven problems with pretrib? Some prewrath folk recently came together and contributed to a documentary highlighting problems with pretrib. My first thought was, “Only seven?” Of course I’m being sarcastic.

Incidentally, one of the gents involved produced a video ominously asserting that the pretrib rapture is dead! Apparently they’re still trying to kill it.

“Seven things Christians can look forward to this year after a very challenging 2020: space, virtual learning, challenges for Christians, ministry, and more.” - AiG

“The church was fined for allegedly violating restrictions on in-person worship services and mask mandates implemented by the New Mexico Department of Health. The restrictions, which went into effect on Dec. 15, require churches located in “red-level” counties to cap attendance at 25% of capacity.” - CPost