“We must first see that the Bible takes a dim view of idleness. This is clear in how Proverbs speaks of the sluggard. The word is used 14 times in the book of Proverbs; thus painting a clear and unflattering picture” - byFaith

We’ve recently launched the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. “at the same time, the legal right to physician-assisted suicide is being expanded more than ever….Do we as a society want to prevent people from killing themselves, or to support it as an expression of personal autonomy?” - RNS

“I tell people that the Bible does not forbid cremation….However, when asked, I also express a preference for burial – not a conviction, but a preference.” - P&D

“A Christian mystic priest and software engineer claims one of the world’s most powerful tech companies discriminated against his religious beliefs after he publicly proclaimed that an AI chatbot has become sentient.” - TGC

McDonald’s sells more than burgers, Amazon sells more than books, and a AAA membership offers far more benefits than just roadside assistance. We easily associate a brand name or well-known company with a limited sample of its products or services when it actually produces or offers much more. If we’re not careful, we do the same thing in the church when we view or portray worship as the musical part of Sunday morning gatherings. I say this because worshiping God encompasses so much more than music.

“…recent data shows the long-held trend may finally be flipping: In the United States, young women are less likely to identify with religion than young men.” - CToday

“Haggard, 66, is being accused of using methamphetamine and behaving inappropriately with young men at St. James Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, a church he founded in 2010” - RNS

“Nearly 1 in 3 Americans (32%) say none of the roles considered in this study are best positioned to lead healthy conversations on challenges in America.” - Lifeway

“…profit for business is like breathing for humans—both are necessary for existence, but very few of us claim that respiration is the ultimate purpose in life.” - IFWE

“While physicians may have legitimate questions about the new state abortion laws, the organized campaign to attack them as banning sound medical judgment is a disservice to physicians and patients alike.” - Public Discourse

Reprinted with permission from As I See It, which is available free by writing to the editor at dkutilek@juno.com.

“according to Myers, this very day I carried, heard, and preached from translations based on Satan’s Bible. The Bibles I read—that is extremely similar to his—are part of a corrupt stream deriving somehow from gnostic heretics.” - Mark Ward

“Greene’s remarks came … at Turning Point USA’s Student Action Summit in Tampa, Florida. Other speakers at the conservative event for students included founder Charlie Kirk… Laura Ingraham, Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, Senator Josh Hawley, Senator Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, Jr., Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and former president Donald Trump.” - C.Post

“Our work itself is an instrument of God’s grace, pushing back the corruptions of the fall through the influence of God’s character and care that we embody — even in the most pressured, difficult, secular, frustrating, and demoralizing workplaces.” - Brian Chapell

“Now we’ve seen who he is, we know his impact on our nation, and we’ve seen his influence on the church. This isn’t the 2016 primary, it’s not the 2016 or 2020 general elections. There is no more ‘binary choice,’” - David French

“…’Welcome times’ when members stand and guests remain seated. ‘Introduction times’ when guests stand and members remain seated. Ushers handing out name tags or info cards to seated guests as a part of the service (while all eyes are on them).” - Church Answers

“China has the world’s largest population (1.426 billion), but India (1.417 billion) is expected to claim this title next year. The next five most populous nations – the United States, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria and Brazil – together have fewer people than India or China.” - Pew

“This issue focuses on Bible prophecies that God has already fulfilled. The purpose is to highlight what God’s prophets predicted in advance which then came to pass. …. God’s Word predicted them clearly, specifically, and accurately ahead of time.” - P&D

“I’ve been praying the Psalms, in some form, for almost 40 years now. Over those years, through seasons of ecstatic joy and abiding sorrow, I have experienced the Word-at-work-in-the-Psalms faithfully forming me, and forming so many others, toward Christlikeness.” - Dan Wilt

“Bitterness is poison dipped in honey. It tastes sweet going down, then it kills us from the inside out. In this way, bitterness is the poster child for the deceitfulness of sin.” - TGC

Some time ago, I came across Samuel Gregg’s book while perusing items at Acton.org, and the title caught my eye. In my personal efforts to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5), I’ve frequently felt that I don’t yet have an adequate understanding of the relationship between faith and reason, and by extension, the relationship between the sciences and Scripture.

The book didn’t take me where I hoped to go on that topic. It did, however, provide an interesting and enjoyable survey of the history of Western thought, and one of the better interpretations of the role of reason and Christianity in Western thought.

Some parables are allegories, as is obviously the case in the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 in the Matthew account). Not everyone, it seems, agrees as to who is truly saved when interpreting this parable. What is your view? Has your view changed over the years?

Poll Results

Who is saved/elect in the Parable of the Sower?

“With all the Democrats and 47 Republicans voting in favor, the House approved the Respect for Marriage Act in a 267-157 roll call.” - BPNews

Related: The Bill to Codify Same-Sex Marriage Might Just Pass in the Senate

“The angry, howling hordes arrived as real-life avatars, cosplaying the role of rebels in face paint and fur. They stormed the Capitol while an enemy army tried to beat them away.” - Russell Moore

Vatican scientists, Answers in Genesis, and journalistic young-earth skepticism - RNS Related at AiG

“Barber is the first SBC president in nearly two decades not to emerge from an urban or suburban megachurch.” - RNS

“…there is a third way: one can still love their neighbor who is of the world while not agreeing with their actions.” - Denison Forum

Henry was a Baptist who sometimes didn’t write like one!

Read the series. This and the next installment use material from my article “The Eschatology of Covenant Theology,” originally published in the Journal of Dispensational Theology, 10:30 (Sep 2006).

“Despite recent trends, formal theological training still plays an important role in the evangelical church.” - CToday