“There are an amazing number of social media sites and blogs that seem to be created for the express purpose of criticizing Christianity – something the writer’s have supposedly rejected – and they continue for years and years.” - C.Leaders

“Pro-life advocates gladly welcomed the U.S. Supreme Court’s announcement Monday (May 17) it would rule on the constitutionality of Mississippi’s ban on abortions of unborn children whose gestational age is more than 15 weeks.” - BPNews

Related:

“Don’t let those who’ve sinned against you determine your future. …You can move toward others with trust and hope again, not because your next community won’t fail you, but because God will never fail you, and he often ministers to us through others.” - TGC

“The sixth fruit that the Spirit grows in the developing character of a Christian is ‘goodness.’ … One of my friends posted recently, ‘Joe Biden wasn’t elected. He was installed. Like a toilet.’ Nope. Wrong fruit.” - Olinger

“More Americans now say that news organizations are gaining influence than say their influence is waning, a stark contrast to just one year ago when the reverse was true.” - Pew

“Pompeo and other Trump officials were vocal proponents of the First Freedom view. Blinken implicitly but clearly repudiated that view and articulated the basic outline of the Article 18 perspective” - C.Today

“Increasingly they ask questions that aren’t trying to ‘evangelize’ me to atheism or to get cheers from the other skeptics but just to ask how someone could believe something like what I believe.” - Russell Moore

Matthew Henry is perhaps best known for his Bible Commentary. I first came across him when I downloaded my first copy of the E-Sword Bible program. His commentary is available as a free download. Henry (1662-1714) died after finishing Genesis through to Acts. The rest of his commentary was finished by friends utilizing his notes.

“Last week Bethany Christian Services, America’s largest Protestant foster care and adoption agency, came under fire for the contents of a report that urged changes to a law called the Multi-Ethnic Placement Act” - David French

“Jackie Gale has never had a single vaccination because she believes that the Bible commands Christians to honor God regarding how the care for their bodies and not inject extra chemicals into one’s body, according to a letter to UAB President Ray L. Watts and the university’s lawyer John Daniel from First Liberty Institute attorney Christine Pratt.” - C.Post

“Even close relatives like ‘awe’ and ‘reverence’ don’t quite capture the passionate intensity of trembling in the presence of a holy God.” - C.Today

“When I speak with a friend, I cannot fully grasp what he thinks and feels. I do not directly experience their day… If all of this is true of people, how much more true is it when we think about God? That is kind of the point that Gregory of Nyssa (AD 335–395) makes when he debates Eunomius” - Wyatt Graham

“How the church can have a better conversation about the falling fertility rate and society’s changing expectations for mothers.” - C.Today

“…while the focus here is on church attendance, it’s logical to conclude that individuals who felt comfortable going back to weekend worship were also more willing to engage in other social activities. It is therefore difficult to isolate whether church attendance was the vector that most likely spread the infection” - The Conversation

“I work in a Christian ministry where the supervisor frequently appeals to Matthew 18 and encourages subordinates to come to his office to discuss concerns. Rarely does anyone take him up on his offer…How does Matthew 18 apply where there’s a power differential between parties?” - TGC

God loves all kinds of music because he invented it all—fast and slow, loud and soft, old and new. You probably don’t like it all, but God does! If it is offered to God in spirit and truth, it is an act of worship.

—Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Life, Zondervan, 2002, p. 65

In my opinion, the truthfulness of these claims that Warren makes are some of the most fundamental points of dispute in the worship music wars.

Poll Results

Does God love all kinds of music because He invented it all?

“…the research behind the World Happiness Report asks respondents to rate their lives on a scale of one to ten, with ten representing ‘the best possible life for you,’ and one representing the worst. …. the key, says Savolainen, is their low expectations. They don’t expect much, so they are highly satisfied, and, thus, very ‘happy.’” - Veith

“More than half of Americans believe the Bible is ‘without error,’ the American Bible Society (ABS) said Tuesday (May 11) in its 2021 State of the Bible report. Biblical inerrancy is professed by 55 percent of Americans, with even a greater portion of those surveyed, 71 percent, confessing that Scripture is the Word of God.” - BPNews

“Former Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback is ‘encouraged’ by the Biden State Department’s statements on international religious freedom thus far as Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday called religious freedom a ‘co-equal’ right.” - C.Post

“A cohort of advocates under the banner of the Campaign for a Commercial-free Childhood are urging Facebook to cancel its plans to launch a version of Instagram designed for pre-teens, highlighting the social ills and perils of overuse of digital technology.” - C.Post

“…what gave John Owen success in ministry was not so much his oratory skill, nor his evangelistic zeal, nor even his love for the people he shepherded. John Owen was used mightily by God in all these ways because he was a man characterized by personal holiness.” - Alistair Begg

“How are such people thinking? They’re thinking outwardly; they’re focused not on what they want or need, but on what’s in the best interest of the people around them.” - Olinger

“Over an estimated 10 million more Americans turned to the Bible in the past year than in years past, as one in four adults reported reading the Bible more frequently during the pandemic compared to last year, the American Bible Society’s 2021 State of the Bible report suggests.” - C.Post

“For those churches that embrace the purpose, follow the pattern, and implement the practice of church discipline, they will do their bodies good.” - C.Today

“There are no tracking studies to show whether the number of pastors leaving the pastorate has changed significantly in 2020-21. Because of the long-term nature of the pandemic, it is likely there has been an increase in pastors leaving the ministry, but it is also likely the number is still small.” - LifeWay

“Hamas does not care about how Jews behave. If Jews behave badly, Hamas does not care. If Jews behave nobly, it does not care. There is a reason. Hamas is an organization of Jew-haters.” - Jeffrey Salkin

“ ‘Given the intense conversation over the past few days,’ said Greear, ‘I thought it would be helpful to share how The Summit Church approaches and applies this issue.’ He linked to The Summit Church’s position paper on the role of women in ministry.” - C. Leaders

“I asked these students what their classmates associate first with Christianity. I couldn’t believe their answer. But since then I’ve repeated the question with audiences around the country. And every time I hear the same thing. … Westboro Baptist Church.” - Collin Hansen

Somewhere, along life’s way, I was bitten by the bug for writing.

My passion is not so much for writing itself—though I realize that there are people like that. But for me is has more to do with a desire to express my opinion and provide meaningful and useful—Biblically based—content.

It is hard to say exactly when the bug first bit. I can remember making scrapbooks of sports stories clipped out of the newspaper back in my preschool days. Then I remember when I was old enough to read sports columns—and dream of writing my own one day.

The Puzzle

Jesus testified of John the Baptist that, “if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.” (Matt. 11:14). John the Baptist was the forerunner of the Lord. Therefore, when Jesus will later speak in reference to John the Baptist, as “Elijah…come already” (Matt. 17:12-13), He is saying that John was an Elijah-figure, even though John himself had told the people that he was not Elijah (Jn. 1:21).

Because Christ was rejected for who He was, John’s Elijah-like role was also rejected. But there is a fascinating double entendre in Jesus’ witness to John, as can best be seen if we reexamine what is said in Matthew 17: