“Veterans Day honors all of those who have served the country in war or peace – dead or alive – though it’s mostly intended to thank living veterans for their service.” - C&C

“I asked Dr. Murphy to explain some basic arguments for anarcho-capitalism, the extent of American distrust in the current two-party system, and the current state and strategy of the libertarian movement.” - Acton

“…one of the greatest weaknesses of the West is our commitment to autonomy….We think we should be able to read the Bible and come up with its proper interpretation all by ourselves….God told us that one of His chief gifts to the church is teachers (Eph 4:11).” - DBTS Blog

“…it is manifestly the case that with the church’s mounting capitulation to secular culture, God’s people have increasingly been marked by the antipathy to learning so characteristic of that culture.” - Ligonier

“In the meantime, the denomination — one of the largest in the United States — has begun to splinter, with some churches choosing to leave the United Methodist Church for the Global Methodist Church or to become independent.” - RNS

“…they forfeited winnable races by nominating novices, cranks, and candidates whose primary qualifications were belligerence and fealty to Donald Trump.” - National Review

Related…

“What does it mean that the husband is the head of his wife? …What is the covering?…What “head” does the woman dishonor?…What does Paul mean by ‘authority’ ”? - Kevin DeYoung

Though I had hoped to hand the site off to another individual or group a few years ago, that still hasn’t worked out. Meanwhile, web technology has raced on. The CMS (Content Management System) SharperIron.org is built on will soon reach, as they say in the software biz, end of life.

For that and other reasons, a new site is going through its birth pangs and, Lord willing, will deliver “soon.”

How soon? That is yet to be determined.

“…many Christians agree abstractly that the Lamb should come first, but then say, in essence, ‘The Lamb is riding on the elephant’ or ‘The Lamb is trotting next to the donkey.’” - Marvin Olasky

“a controversy over the future of both Bob Jones University and fundamentalism is raging. That fight centers on the presidency of Steve Pettit. Will he stay or will he go? Part of the fight centers on this basic question: what, exactly, is fundamentalism?” - Joshua Valdez

“Think about it. We could have an all-powerful God who doesn’t love us. Or we could have a loving God who means well but doesn’t have the power to make good things happen. Instead…” - Randy Alcorn

“The Christian satire site’s connection to Musk is the latest example of the Bee’s rise from a would-be pastor’s side project to a conservative powerhouse.” - RNS

Thoughts from Russell Moore and Hannah Anderson at Christianity Today

“On average, U.S. Protestant churches report current attendance at 85% of their typical Sunday morning crowds in January 2020” - Lifeway

“…events that took place over the weekend seemed to indicate growing fissures in that once impassable unity of approval, with Florida governor Ron DeSantis emerging as heir apparent over leadership of the Republican party, as well as the white evangelical support that comes with it.” - C.Leaders

“The new two-story building, constructed with the latest preservation standards and environmental controls, cost $13 million. It unites all of Graham’s records — not only from the Wheaton archive but from Minneapolis, where he started his formal ministry” - RNS

“…most Americans experience positive emotions when sitting in a church building, reporting they feel ‘peaceful’ (47%) ‘connected to God’ (42%), ‘safe’ (40%), ‘welcomed’ (39%), ‘comforted’ and ‘hopeful’ (37% each).” - Barna Research

Read the series.

Looking Deeper into the Problems with Covenant Theology

8. CT thus interprets the Bible with different rules of hermeneutics depending on the aforementioned presuppositions.

“Augustine doesn’t assess isolated trends within late Roman culture. Instead, he engages with deep structures and fundamental assumptions: the culture’s virtues as well as its vices, its piety as well as its philosophy, its political environment as well as its popular entertainment.” - TGC

“there’s another type of professionalism that is manifestly not what Piper intended to criticize—that is, professionalism as the day-to-day pursuit of excellence in ministry.” - 9 Marks

“the idea that faithful Christians are safe from persecution even within Christendom has been proven false. …Christians across America—including dozens of Evangelical Christians within the halls of power—put another Christian man, Mike Pence, in mortal danger last year simply for having the basic integrity to uphold the rule of law.” - David French

“The 2022 State of Theology study found most Americans (56%) don’t believe every Christian has an obligation to join a local church. Only relatively small majorities of evangelicals (51%) and churchgoers themselves (62%) believe all Christians have that responsibility.” - Lifeway

Also on this topic: Why Should I Join a Church? - Ref21

“Given the unprecedented pressure to conform to the sexual and gender revolutions, we are about to see another great divide among schools that have identified as evangelical.” - Al Mohler

This is part of a commentary series through the Book of Galatians. It began with Galatians 3:1-6. This series will progress until the book is finished, then circle back and cover ch. 1-2.

Here, we begin the most difficult portion of Paul’s letter—the relationship of the Mosaic Law to saving faith. Before we begin, I’ll restate some principles from the first article that will help you understand the position this commentary takes. Here they are:

“This is not an isolated incident from one sad, angry, and ‘extremely online’ guy. It reflects an increasing trend among some Christians.” - Russel Moore

“Our faith is rightly fixed in the God who… ‘upholds, as with his hand, heaven and earth and all creatures, and so rules them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty—all things, in fact, come to us not by chance but from his fatherly hand.’” - Challies

“Let me label this first group The Influencers. They want a Christianity-influenced nation. Though I think The Influencers need to drop the ‘Christian nationalism’ or ‘Christian nation’ label posthaste…you can count me in with this group.” - 9 Marks

“If we abandon politics, someone else will fill the void that we left, someone with a very different agenda than our own. This will mean suffering and pain and destruction for the nation.” - Michael Brown

Related: It’s Okay to Cram Before Election Day: Our vote is not the reason for the hope we have. - CToday

By Jim Vogel. Republished with permission from Baptist Bulletin.

No church can be successful without committed leadership. It starts with pastors who are committed to the Word and the people they serve, but it includes deacons who take their role seriously and serve with genuine dedication.

As a pastor, I was privileged to serve alongside some committed, effective deacons. They contributed to the success of the churches I pastored, and I could not have accomplished my ministry without them. Consider this list of 10 commitments that are essential in effective “deaconing.”

“Wednesday… former Hillsong Church global senior pastor Brian Houston released a video statement addressing the circumstances of his departure from the Australian-based international megachurch, seeking to clear his name of what he described as ‘gossip’ and ‘innuendo.’” - C.Leaders