“We are convening this Christian nationalism briefing because we feel it represents a clear and present danger to our democracy and to an inclusive vision of religious freedom” - RNS

“Nearly all of the attention and encouragement given to pastors in conferences, podcasts, books, videos, or otherwise, is pointed to a stereotype of a younger pastor who is out there trying to change the world.” - C.Leaders

Reposted from August, 2021.

Judging from what I’m seeing, hearing and overhearing lately, a lot of conservative Christians are really worked up right now. Details vary, but the general feeling seems to be that recent developments in religious liberty, LGBTQ trends, mask and vaccine “mandates,” and Afghanistan mean all we hold dear in the U.S. is now collapsing.

“More than 4 in 5 evangelicals describe legal immigration as helpful to the U.S., and around 2 in 3 believe the country should at least maintain the current number of legal immigrants approved in a year.” - Lifeway

Related: Survey: Today’s Evangelicals More Likely to Welcome the Stranger - C.Today

“The number of women and men in the U.S. with at least a bachelor’s degree has increased since the second quarter of 2019. But the share of college-educated women who are in the labor force has not changed since before the pandemic, while the share of college-educated men who are working or looking for work has declined.” - Pew

Jakes “emphasized that he was anointing her not through DNA, birth order, favoritism, or nepotism. ‘If I did not know that the hand of the Lord was upon you, I would never do this,’ he said.” - C.Leaders

“Five praise music songwriters on how they handle criticism, work together, and seek to reach Gen Z through their work.” - C.Today

“… the members know one another. … I know every member. I’ve learned where he grew up, her vocation, his joys and sorrows, which of her kids has wandered from the Lord. So when we break for a time of fellowship, we’re actually having fellowship.” - TGC

From Faith Pulpit. Read Part 1: Seek God Earnestly.

Reflect on God Continually

In the midst of this life’s wilderness, everyone thinks; in the arid regions of the wilderness, thoughts sometimes scream. In these times, we must learn what captivates the thoughts of our brothers and sisters. We must help them not only to give themselves to learning more about their God, but also to capturing their thoughts with the truth of God that they know and are learning.

“Bilbro suggests that we release ourselves from the junk-food news diet by attending to resources that are deep and rich. This is essential because “so much of what people do under the rubric of unwinding or self-care doesn’t actually recreate or restore; It scratches the itch of our restless souls’ ” - Tim Miller

“the first English Baptist confession, John Smyth’s (1609), lists ‘bishops and deacons.’ The First London Confession of 1644 lists ‘pastors, teachers, elders, deacons,’ while the Second London Confession of 1688 returns to two: ‘bishops or elders and deacons.’ In fact, nearly all Baptist confessions mention only two” - 9 Marks

“…thousands of people from all races and different denominations came together to worship God. Clips show people speaking in tongues, surrendering to God, praying over people, waving flags that read ‘Jesus,’ dancing, and screaming the name of Jesus in the streets of New York.” - C.Leaders

“Our field of reasoning goes only so far as the stories take us, and no further. … the validity of any argument must, indeed, can only be demonstrated through a personal narrative. Do I believe that the healthcare profession is completely corrupt, full of greedy, lying malpractitioners? I need only share my personal story of falling afoul of poor medical care” - Ref21

“seeking God is a significant spiritual concept for the author of Chronicles….Are there any clues about what the Chronicler meant by seeking the Lord?” - Kindle Afresh

“The successor to Paige Patterson cites ‘reputational, legal, and financial realities’ as he moves on to an IMB role.” - C.Today

Also:

“Catholics in the United States are deeply divided over issues as disparate as LGBTQ inclusion, clerical sexual abuse and celebrating the liturgy, according to a summary of consultations carried out in dioceses across the country in recent months as part of Pope Francis’ Synod on Synodality.” - RNS

“The judge lifted a decades-old injunction that blocked enforcement of the law on the books since before Arizona became a state. The only exemption to the ban is if the woman’s life is in jeopardy.” - C.Index

“The questions about Christian nationalism — the idea that Christianity is an essential part of American identity and that Christians should run the country — were part of a larger poll of 2,091 participants conducted May 6–16, 2022.” - RNS

“People were labeled evangelicals for the sake of the survey if they agreed to certain basic statements of evangelical orthodoxy…. But then as they began to answer survey questions, the denials of core doctrines began flowing like a river.” - Kevin Schaal

Read the series.

6. By assuming, without sufficient warrant, that the New Testament must be used to [re]interpret the Old Testament, CT in practice denies to the OT its own perspicuity, its own integrity as inspired revelation, and creates a “canon within a canon.” To paraphrase George Orwell, in CT “all Scripture is inspired, but some Scripture [the NT] is more inspired than others [the OT]”.

At historic country church, fiery fundamentalists pitted against old guard

“…despite low response rates, national polls like the Center’s come within a few percentage points, on average, of benchmarks from high response rate federal surveys.” - Pew

“There are probably two groups reading this article: The first are the complainers….The second, are those who, like me, are tired of hearing how great things used to be by those who came before us.” - Relevant

“David Kinnaman, who leads the prominent faith-based polling firm founded by Evangelical pollster George Barna, gave a video presentation Thursday at the Awana Child Discipleship Forum about the five shifts he believes are needed to renew children’s ministries.” - C.Post

“Philosopher Kenneth Samples has identified a set of truths that cannot be verified algorithmically or scientifically: logical truths, metaphysical truths, and objective moral truths. Some truths must simply be accepted to be able to do science at all.” - Reasons to Believe

“In their breakout session at TGC21, Kevin DeYoung, Ligon Duncan, Melissa Kruger, and Nancy Guthrie discuss what it means to have a healthy, biblical view of complementarianism.” - TGC

“Many teens who attend our youth meetings don’t come from a Christian family. And sadly, too many who do don’t have parents modeling a solid, solvent Christian faith.” - C.Leaders

Daniel: Revealer of Secrets (Part 2)

In the last installment, I introduced you to my friend from ancient Babylon, the prophet Daniel.

I commented on some of the overarching themes of his book in the attempt to demonstrate its significance, and further provide some structure that might aid additional study. But I also tried to remind us of Daniel’s real, human experiences as a captive in Babylon—and the impression they should make on each one of us.

And that is where I want to pick up in this concluding installment—sharing specifically how the book has impacted my life and ministry.

‘The ERLC and the advisory group collaborated in multiple ways… also produced various resources, such as a comprehensive training curriculum for churches.” - BPNews

“Though it’s not always clear when a movement is over, there are many indicators that suggest this is the case of the ‘New Atheism,’ a cultural wave that rose in the 2000s and aggressively attacked religion in the guise of scientific rationalism” - Breakpoint