“pastors should be appreciated all the time, and not just one month a year. Pray for your pastors, pay them well, and give them time and space to love and lead their families. And maybe reconsider your pastor appreciation gifts.” - C.Leaders

“True socialism also entails quite a bit more: ‘…the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole (government)’” - Stephen Rowland

“ ‘What does the average Muslim believe?’ … Robin Hadaway’s book The Muslim Majority demonstrates that it is harder to answer than one might think. It assumes two things that are not actually true” - TGC

“…some prochoice religious groups argue that as Adam’s life began when God breathed into him, so each human life begins when the baby is born and takes his first breath. This demonstrates a misunderstanding of the nature of the unborn’s respiration.” - Randy Alcorn

From Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal (DBSJ) 2013. Used by permission. Read Part 1.

The 6000-year-earth position may be questioned on several grounds, some more substantial than others. I would like to suggest, though, that while all of the arguments developed below are load-bearing, the intertextual-exegetical arguments take pride of place in the ensuing material.

The current series by Mark Snoeberger about this subject made me think that this would be a great poll question.

I was influenced by Henry Morris, who suggested the earth was perhaps 10,000 years old. Since Ken Ham has become popular, the new creationist party line has returned to Bishop Ussher’s chronology, setting the date for creation at 4004 B.C. This, of course, raises both historical and textual questions. How dependable are the numbers/ages in the genealogies? Are these merely highlight descendants, or a complete list? How do we account for the differing numbers (regarding age) between the LXX and the Masoretic text?

“First, we sought to gain the heart of our kids. If you are not seeking to gain the heart of your child when they are pre-teens, it will be more difficult to do during their teenage years….” - Taigen Joos (HT: P&D)

“I’ve proposed using the Old Testament account of Joshua’s succession of Moses as a pattern for us as we face a rapidly and significantly changing world. I suppose I should justify that.” - Olinger

“ShareWord will continue to distribute Scripture, but emphasize church partnerships and equipping Christians for evangelism.” - C.Today

“The longtime general counsel for the Southern Baptist Convention has decided to cut ties with the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. The decision came after members of the SBC’s Nashville-based Executive Committee decided to waive attorney-client privilege as part of a sexual-abuse investigation.” - RNS

Some things look a lot different in retrospect… - C.Leaders

From Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal (DBSJ) 2013. Used by permission (first appearance at SharperIron in 2014).

“Republican- and Democratic-led states alike already require hundreds of thousands of their citizens – infants, toddlers and schoolchildren, mostly – to be vaccinated against a panoply of diseases.” - Pew

“On Friday, a U.S. appeals court temporarily reinstated the Texas Heartbeat Act, which prohibits abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, reversing the recent decision of a federal judge to block enforcement of the law.” - N.Review

“Among ‘John Delta’s’ requests were that counties send him data retained on voting machines. But voting machines have no data—all the vote tallies are downloaded to drives and servers and kept elsewhere.” - Dispatch

“After John 3:16, Philippians 4:13 is one of the most-searched verses in the Bible, and is often linked with athletes seeking to inspire victory and strength. But this common application unfortunately misses its real power.” -TGC

“Facebook’s own research confirms what many academic researchers had been saying for years—that for some people, especially teen girls, social media can harm mental health, and that the rise in depression and self-harm among teens since 2010 might be caused by the increasing popularity of social media” - IFS

“As we ponder the usefulness of creeds, a look back at one of the earliest Baptist confessions provides some guidance. British Baptists in the second part of the 17th century were facing some serious challenges.” - Credo

I’ve been intentionally experimenting with my preaching over the past few years. I am grateful for the expository preaching model I was handed at seminary. It’s a good model. It’s the best model. But, there are different flavors within that broad framework. The past few Sundays, I’ve tried something radical for my sermon preparation. It is radical for me, but perhaps not for you. I shall share it, anon.

But, first some observations about expository preaching, as it is sometimes practiced―as I used to practice it!

“Some people feel like we’re accelerating headlong toward a precipice, uncontrolled and uncontrollably. And on the heels of such thoughts inevitably come fear, despair, desperation, rage. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.” - Olinger

“I want to talk through a super common issue on the internet. I invite your wisdom and input; I also invite your prayer. Because I want and need—desperately need—divine wisdom for whether and how to answer all kinds of internet comments from all kinds of strangers with all kinds of perspectives.” - Mark Ward

“Lead pastor of Sheridan Church in Tulsa, OK Jackson Lahmeyer told his congregation this past weekend that ‘It’s time to shout it in the halls of Congress that Jesus is King.’…Lahmeyer has said that he has signed thousands of vaccine exemption forms, a service he has offered for a one-time donation of any amount to his church.” - C.Leaders

“In the church, more is always more. More event participation equals more holiness. In church leadership, more events equals more impact. These are y = x, straight up diagonal graphs with no blips, no cap, no ceiling. There’s never an event planned called: ‘Stay home and be with your family and friends night.’ … The church assumes you’re doing that. Except we’re not doing that.” - Ref21

Bavinck insists, “To do full justice to religion, we must return to the central unity in man that is the basis for differentiating his faculties and which is in Holy Scripture designated the heart, from which proceed all expressions of life in mind, feeling, and will.” - TGC

How sad and telling is the title of this article when it speaks of “The Glory and Mess of Christian Music.”

In ‘The Jesus Music,’ Erwin Brothers Recount the Glory and Mess of Christian Music

By Bob Smietana

The contemporary Christian music industry survived scandals, pushback from televangelists and the wholesale disruption of the record industry over the past 50 years and kept rolling along… . .

“Linking a personal religious belief to an organized religion’s stated beliefs could be problematic…. Berg noted courts have regarded the relevant religious belief in such cases as that of the individual, not the group to which he or she belongs.” - WORLD

“Interceding on Instagram may seem like a uniquely 21st-century phenomenon, but Christians in the first century were already praying at a distance.” - C.Today

“A new documentary recounts the history of contemporary Christian music from its roots among California hippies to today’s multimillion-dollar industry.” - RNS

(Related at Christianity Today)

“Two trans-identified healthcare professionals are raising concerns about the rush to affirm children suffering from gender dysphoria and the longterm consequences of puberty blockers.” - C.Post

Practicing Christians who say local pastors are aware of their community’s needs: 73%; non-praciticing Christians: 63%; non-Christians: 44%. - Barna Research