“The ministry’s suit against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) cannot go forward.” - C.Today

“On average, American men tend to die about five years before American women do and eight years before men in other wealthy nations like Japan, Australia, Iceland and Norway.” - Relevant

“Most pastors (56%) say it’s important to incorporate patriotic elements into worship services the week of July 4th to celebrate America, including 27% who strongly agree” - Lifeway

“Some of those regulations are good, some are impractical, and some are so poorly thought out they actually contradict one another. My boss has basically told us which regulations to follow and which to ignore.” - TGC

“Becoming and remaining a Christian requires a ‘step of faith’ rather than a leap of faith. And that step of faith is not unique to Christianity. Throughout life we do many things that require a step of faith.” - Roger Olson

[Editor’s note: Patheos is so ad-ridden now it’s almost impossible to read an article there. I recommend opening the link in Firefox and enabling the Reader View (press F9)]

“In a 6-3 opinion, the justices decided the Bremerton (Wash.) School District actually violated the First Amendment rights of Joseph Kennedy by removing him as a coach because of its concerns his practice infringed on the Establishment Clause.” - BPNews

“While the DC-area congregation celebrates getting to move forward, critics continue to accuse leadership of a liberal takeover.” - CToday

“the number of heavy users has grown much faster than either the total number of users or the population as a whole. In 2020…there were 2.26 times as many Americans who used marijuana 10 days a month or more.” - IFS

“With the growing number of baby boomer pastors retiring, and with wounded and weary pastors leaving the ministry, your church might be seeking your next pastor or staff member. If so, maybe one of these posts will help you” - Chuck Lawless

“In former days Christians spoke often of duty…. They longed to be dutiful in devotion, dutiful in obedience, dutiful in every responsibility and every role. They believed that from their duty would grow a deepening delight.” - Challies

Reposted from Rooted Thinking.

Even though I had my struggles as a teen, God had my heart. I wanted to serve Him. When I heard appeals from pastors or missionaries about being willing to give ourselves fully to Christ in full-time Christian service, my heart sang, “Let me!”

A few overviews, with maps…

“Hall is no longer listed as pastor of Fellowship Baptist Church in Sydney, Montana and has been removed from the staff of Protestia, a website originally known as Pulpit&Pen.” - RNS

“one’s vocation is not so much the job itself as the end that the job ought to serve. If one does one’s job to that end, then one’s vocation can be found in it.” - Acton

“I could share many more examples, but the point is, whatever wrong, frustration, or offense you’ve experienced shouldn’t become the lens you view everything else through.” - Phil Cooke

“Though fewer evangelicals today than in the past seem concerned about depicting Jesus on screen, there are many who are nevertheless uncomfortable with the extent of non-biblical material that has been incorporated into the first two eight-episode seasons.” - Ref21

It’s often said that “fear not” is the most repeated command in the Bible. The claim is also made that there are 360 instances of the command, nearly one for each day of the year.

I don’t know how they arrived at that number. KJV has the phrase “fear not” more than any other English translation, and Logos finds it only 63 times. Expanding the search string to “fear not” OR “do not fear,” ESV has the largest count at only 70 occurrences.

In a recent thread, the following comments were made:

Again, narrative passages tell us what happened, but not always the why. That’s why it’s extremely dangerous to try to derive doctrine from narrative passages.

The passages used by Rajesh to justify his position are narrative, description and not prescription, and hence it’s (again) extremely dangerous business to try and draw doctrine from these narratives.

“At issue… is the NAE’s advocacy work….specifically names the Fairness for All Act drafted by the National Association of Evangelicals and the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities.” - RNS

More at Christianity Today

“28% of U.S. Protestant pastors say LGBTQ+ individuals can serve anywhere in their church, while 31% say there is nowhere they can serve.” - Lifeway

“I have in mind Rick Warren’s brief address Tuesday from the floor of the convention and Juan Sanchez’ convention sermon Wednesday. These two messages represented two different, competing visions of ministry and the local church.” - 9 Marks

“The emergence of the online sharing economy calls to mind the Socratic desire to abolish ownership with the goal of ending competition and discord. But, as Aristotle reminds us, this is a corrosive vision that would exacerbate rather than mitigate conflict” - Public Discourse

“It leaves room for different Christians to worship in ways consistent with their traditions and culture, yet also calls us to ensure that, no matter what, our worship is ‘shaped and governed by the Word of God’ ” - Challies

“In a 5-4 opinion, the high court overruled the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that struck down all state abortion bans and legalized the procedure throughout the country. The justices also invalidated the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey opinion that affirmed Roe.” - BPNews

NR: A Stain Erased

“Wisconsin adopted a ban on abortion except to save the mother’s life in 1849, a year after the territory became a state. The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide nullified the ban.” - C.Index

“The PCA takes up the case of a church leader who responded to sexual harassment claims with a defamation lawsuit against his accusers.” - C.Today

“’We’ve been writing about the threat of Putin to Orthodoxy for years,’ added Demacopoulos. ‘In some sense, I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner.’” - RNS

“’You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip’ (Ps. 18:36)….The Lord has not set us on a tightrope. He has given us a wide place to walk, a place where we take steps with confidence” - TGC

“We enjoyed tremendous services and other sessions at our recent annual meeting….You can find audio and video for our sessions here (not all sessions recorded in video). One of our afternoon panel discussions featured a worthy question for our panelists, ‘Why join the FBFI?’” - P&D

Richard Baxter on God’s Love for the saints: Baxter (1615 – 1691) is well known for his monumental work “The Saints’ Everlasting Rest.” This work was a product of the turmoil the Puritan experienced throughout his life.