“Every time we let someone say, ‘Oh, I’m just a mom,’ and don’t honor her work, we let stand the idea that serving the vulnerable is somehow a lesser existence—when in reality it is the foundation of any society that hopes to survive.” - Acton

“When we don’t make a point of singing to one another, we forget musical worship is a mutual activity, a discipline that calls us to recognize and relate to each other as we worship the Lord.” - TGC

“To the shock of hundreds of thousands of normie conservatives… Rubin was congratulated by official TheBlaze TV and PragerU accounts. Other prominent conservatives, including Christopher Rufo and Christina Pushaw, slapped the ‘expectant’ fathers on the virtual back. Gov. Ron DeSantis sent the babies onesies. So what do these ‘conservatives’ think they are conserving?” - WNG

The question of whether the Bible teaches eternal security or that believers are “once saved always saved” is not uncommon at all. We might recall Nicodemus—a brilliantly educated Jewish leader—asking Jesus how things related to the new birth and salvation could actually be.¹ In a sense, Jesus’s answers were so simple that they seemed to throw Nicodemus for a bit of a loop. But Jesus’s teaching in John 3 is very clear.²

“Google’s chip sort of working cannot be interpreted as evidence for parallel universes because its function is entirely consistent with theories in which ours is the only universe. The headlines, as Shenvi put it, are ‘overblown and sensationalistic.’” - Breakpoint

What will actually happen with Gaza? The president has suggested that the U.S. take over the land and build it into a beautiful place. Is this realistic? What are your thoughts?

“The most common reason given by parents of homeschooled children is concern about the school environment – such as safety, drugs or negative peer pressure (83% of parents of homeschooled children cite this as a reason).” - Pew

“Americans started having a lot fewer babies around 2007, and fertility has not recovered. Each year since, fewer and fewer elementary, middle, and high schoolers have boarded school buses. This year, the American birth dearth turned 18, which means colleges and universities are beginning to feel the pinch.” - Breakpoint

“However, faced with brutal repression by the Russians, then the Nazis, then the Russians again, and now Putin (Russia again), the record is clear: Whether it was from Lenin and Stalin starving the Ukrainian people to cow them into submission, or from death squads during World War II, the Ukrainian people have suffered and yet retained a distinct Ukrainian cultural identity.” - World

“Consider for a moment how tragic it would be if there were no answer to this question…. Yet it’s equally tragic to incorrectly answer the question.” - Ligonier

“Sometimes, our spiritual struggles come not because we have neglected God’s word but because we have neglected his world. …We may indeed have spiritual issues to address. But our first solution may simply be this: open your eyes and ears and wonder at the world God made.”- Desiring God

In the previous installment, I began building upon a statement by my professor of systematic theology at Faith Baptist Theological Seminary, Dr. Myron J. Houghton. Basing his thoughts on 2 Cor. 2:15-16, Dr. Houghton stated: “Your ministry is like a fragrance. It will attract some, and it will repel others.”

We are considering here some Biblically legitimate means of making our ministries of the utmost appeal to the greatest number of people. In the first place, we considered the need to know our audiences. We will look at the final two ideas in this, the concluding installment.

“The phenomenon can be called the ‘Sunday to Monday gap,’ the ‘sacred and secular divide’ or practical atheism. Call it what you will, but seeing all aspects of our lives through the lens of our faith in God can often be counterintuitive.” - IFWE

“A group of more than 1,000 concerned students, alumni and their family members have signed a letter demanding a change in leadership at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, amid what they describe as the flagship Evangelical institution’s mission drift.” - CPost

Also: Wheaton College clash over Russell Vought escalates, exposing evangelical fault lines - RNS

“President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday to expand access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) and other fertility treatments through the reduction of out-of-pocket costs.” - Fox

Related:

“The ministers, mostly from Grand Rapids, are no longer willing to abide the denomination’s increasingly rigid stance on sexuality.” - RNS

“ ‘It’s the end of an era,’ said Tiffany Thigpen following the announcement that the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) Executive Committee is no longer pursuing the implementation of an abuser database.” - C.Leaders

Also…

Long ago, a question posted in the Sharper Iron forum regarding the possessive form of “Jesus.” Is it Jesus’ or Jesus’s or something else?

Commenters provided good answers for the English usage and style options at the time. In short, Chicago Manual of Style called for one option, while other style guides had different rules.

Today, style manuals still differ on this point. In some cases, though, their specifications have changed.

“Sometimes we need the reminder that God can do what is humanly impossible, and that He knows what is eternally best in ways we cannot.” - Randy Alcorn

“Though a fascinating historical study undoubtedly unfamiliar to many readers, American Heretics fails to interpret properly the framers’ conception of religion and… ham-fistedly collapses into a single whole a diverse group of religious conservatives who often share little more than superficial commonalities.” - Acton

“When you try to square this with ministry’s weekly demands and emotional toll, it doesn’t look so simple. Rather than jumping at the first opportunity to get published, I encourage pastors to slow down, discern, and ask, Should I write a book?” - TGC

“The number of Hillsong Church campuses in America has now fallen to just five after leaders in the global Australia-based megachurch announced Sunday that Hillsong San Francisco — led by pastors Brenden and Jacqui Brown — is separating from the Hillsong brand” - CPost

Also: Hillsong San Francisco Splits Off - C.Leaders

“How accurately has the book of Isaiah been copied over the centuries? Gavin Ortlund responds to Alex O’Connor, arguing that the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls was a remarkable confirmation of the prior Masoretic Text.” - Gavin Ortlund

“It was an alarming degree of contempt for cherished free speech principles, to say the least. News organizations are free to evince a preference for Europe’s pro-censorship policies, but the criticism they attract from the right… in this case—was quite deserved.” - Reason

Related: Europeans Don’t Get Free Speech, and Neither Does CBS News, Apparently - N.Review

“In his follow-up post, Warren wrote, ‘I apologize. I wrote poorly. I don’t believe Jesus was a centrist. He stands far above it all. “My kingdom is not of this world…” Jn.18:36.’” - CLeaders

“Bavinck delivered the lectures that would become The Foremost Problems of Contemporary Dogmatics: On Faith, Knowledge, and the Christian Tradition at the beginning of his time at the Free University of Amsterdam, likely writing much of it in 1903–4.” - TGC

The Scripture often uses military language for the Christian life. Most famously, I suppose, Paul describes the “armor” (lit. “panoply”) of the Christian warrior, supplied by God for both defense and offense (Ep 6.13-17). Christians who take a more pacifist approach to life (e.g.

“It’s easy to get lost in the busyness of ministry—planning services, running programs, and meeting needs. Yet, without regularly anchoring ourselves in the presence of Jesus, our actions can become hollow, more about doing for God than being with Him.” - Brian Cederquist

“Scripture also gives examples of conspiracy theories. Saul believed a conspiracy theory that David wanted to kill him (1 Sam. 22:8, 13), the Pharisees created a conspiracy theory to undermine and deceive others about the truth of Christ’s resurrection (Matt. 28:12-15), and Thomas chose to believe a conspiracy theory rather than the truth of Christ’s resurrection (Jn. 20:24-25).” - P&D