“As for RICO, Georgia has a much more expansive law than the federal government, with many more state laws that can be used for charges…. also requires less proof to show a criminal enterprise has been formed and less proof to show a comprehensive conspiracy.” - World
Despite an aggressive RICO statute, the Georgia prosecution will face big challenges to convicting Trump
Dept of Education confirms Baylor University’s religious exemption from LGBTQ rules
“The University does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression per se, but it does regulate conduct that is inconsistent with the religious values and beliefs that are integral to its Christian faith and mission” - BPNews
Related: Baylor University wins exemption from Title IX’s sexual harassment provisions - RNS
Worship Music Nostalgia Brings New Profit to Old Songs
“In recent years, industry giants like Capitol Christian Music Group (CCMG), which, as of 2021, claims over half the market share of the Christian music industry, have invested more in catalog acquisitions and are seeing profits from publishing catalogs increase.” - CToday
Fifty Years Is a Long Time
When I’m having a get-acquainted conversation with someone new, it’s common for them to ask what I do. “I’m a Baptist pastor,” I reply. They will usually ask the name and location of my church. Then comes the big one, “And how long have you been there?”
It’s a reasonable question. People ask because pastors move fairly often and it’s helpful to know if he is a newcomer or is well established in the community. However, I answer reluctantly, since I know my answer is rare, almost shocking. “You may find this hard to believe, but I’ve pastored Beacon for fifty years.” Surprise crosses their face. “Fifty years! I don’t think I’ve ever known a pastor who’s been at the same church fifty years.” But that’s the truth.
UFOs and worldview: Sci-fi headlines lead us to contemplate the deeper things in life.
“Congress recently held hearings on the subject of UFOs…. numerous claims were made by those called before the subcommittee, including by former military or intelligence personnel.” - Breakpoint
‘Pastora’ title challenging as Hispanics discuss proposed SBC constitutional amendment
“ ‘What worries me is that we make decisions without thinking about the consequences for ethnic churches…. There are many ethnic churches that, for translation reasons, use the title of pastor for a person. But it’s a matter of translation. It’s not that the person is ordained.’” - BPNews
Christian unity, Internet, and ‘context collapse’
“The Internet leads to ‘context collapse.’ It places into a space that is intrinsically faceless and lacks geographic borders. That space generalizes language and thought, ignores the very real differences between people and places, and pushes us toward highly generic ways of speaking and thinking.” - 9 Marks
Defining Tyranny Down: A Review of Sohrab Amari's ‘Tyranny, Inc.’
“Some of the ‘fresh thinking’ [of the new right] is strangely reminiscent of New Deal-style policies and Marxist critiques of capitalism. Sohrab Ahmari’s new book, Tyranny, Inc. is a prime example.” - L&L
See also, a less negative review at Acton: Tyranny, Inc. and the Future of American Labor
TRUE OR FALSE?
"Anyone who adds the qualifiers of standards of dress, styles of music, or translations of the Bible, or any other arbitrary thing to the Gospel and uses that as a standard of separation is not a fundamentalist."
The slow exit: Do most who quit church drop out slowly rather than in response to a crisis event?
“When I talk about the majority of dechurching stories being a story of slowly rolling down a slope…. I’m also thinking about specific choices that churchgoers will make that announce to everyone in their family and friendship groups that church is actually not that important.” - Mere Orthodoxy
Senior adults suffer greatest increase as U.S. suicides near 50,000
“The 8 percent rise in suicides among adults 65 and older was the highest driver in suicide deaths, the CDC said, with 10,433 deaths in that age group alone.” – BPNews
Love Is the Greatest Apologetic
“Intellectual objections to the faith should be addressed. However… It should be apparent something inexplicable on natural grounds is at work. That’s Christian love.” - TGC
Pornography as a Spiritual AND Public Health Crisis
“What is interesting now is that the general culture is seeing the mental health damage that pornography brings…. Louisiana house passed this bill 96-1, the state senate 34-0, and a left-leaning governor… signed the law without argument.” - P&D
“Religious views that are perceived to be imposed become unpopular, and the coercion enforcing them becomes ultimately unsustainable.”
“we must be mindful that even a righteous political cause if pursued with intemperance while claiming His name, will discredit our cause and even His” - CPost
Are Conservative Evangelical and Fundamental churches too driven?
Are conservative, Bible-oriented churches too driven (by and large), in your opinion. Or is the problem occasional here and there. Or is it a problem?
If you want an example of what I mean by “driven,” think of Amway or some other agency that depends upon motivational techniques and pressure.
By driven, I mean do church leaders/pastors try to put a lot of guilt on church members and undue pressure to do more? This is different, obviously, from preaching the Word which will naturally put a level of guilt (conviction) upon us at times. Yet some leaders feel like if the clear meaning of a passage does not heap guilt on us, they must dig up some application so that it will.
Study: Half of Gen Zers say their life was 'transformed' by the Bible's message
“Among Gen Z adults between the ages of 18 and 21, 49% agreed that the Bible had a transformative effect on their lives. That number rose to 52% among Gen Z respondents between the ages of 22 and 26.” - CPost
SBC leaders applaud transgender athlete decisions as victory for reality
“Recent decisions by World Aquatics, requiring transgender men to compete in an ‘open’ category rather than against women, are examples of common sense prevailing in the transgender debate, according to two Southern Baptist leaders.” - BPNews
The Canon Is Closed: The Cessation of Special Revelation
This article (part 2 in the series) posted at Sharper Iron in 2019. It is reposted here with original comments included. Read Part 1.
Can We Integrate 8 Views of the Atonement? A Review of ‘Mapping Atonement’ by William G. Witt and Joel Scandrett
“Overall, Mapping Atonement accomplishes its goals of providing a historical and theological survey and a critique…. many of us will wish the authors were less reticent to embrace penal substitution as the central motif of an integrated atonement theology.” - TGC
Fully Half of Americans Have Tried Marijuana
“The proportion of Americans who say they smoke marijuana has more than doubled since 2013, when Gallup first asked the question. That year, 7% said they did.” - Gallup
The Wisdom of Work
“People now jump from job to job throughout the course of their lives. If we viewed our work under the rubric of God’s calling, we would be more apt to settle into whatever lawful work God has gifted and called us to do.” - Nick Batzig
Is the New Right Fascist?
“Starting with the emergence of the ‘Alt-Right’ during the 2010s, a different group of political right-wing ideologues have surfaced to defend very different principles from those of traditional American conservatism.” - Acton
Give Members Permission to Leave Your Church
“Our members are not my sheep. They are God’s. The church is not my flock. It is God’s.” - 9 Marks
You’ll Never Cancel Israel (Part 2)
Read Part 1.
We are in the midst of a short series intended to bolster our confidence in the fact that God still has a future for Israel. His Word to His chosen people will certainly be fulfilled literally—not merely spiritually—in accord with the provisions of the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 12:1-3). This unconditional covenant provided a paradigm as to how history would unfold from the day it was given until the final coming of God’s kingdom to Earth. It was also the basis of the other unconditional covenants that God gave to Israel.
Voddie Baucham Believes Watching ‘The Chosen’ Would Violate the Second Commandment
“When LeMaster asked if Baucham had seen ‘The Chosen,’ Baucham said, ‘No. 2CV, man. Second Commandment violation,’” against making images. - C.Leaders
Despite Trump’s Indictments, Evangelicals Continue to Back His 2024 Run
“…’most conservative evangelicals gave up on the politics of character in 2016’ and still consider their relationship to Trump as a pragmatic bargain.” - CToday
“Turning worship into a clown show” – Carl Trueman says Saddleback Church has even deeper problems than female pastors
“Leading worship while dressed as characters from the Toy Story franchise suggests theological problems that go way beyond debates about the nature of Paul’s teaching on eldership.” - Carl Trueman
Book review: ‘Regime Change’ and Postliberal False Hope
“Among Deneen’s more outlandish proposals is the suggestion that the separation of Church and State be abolished. Pointing to rising ‘deaths of despair,’ Deneen insists that it is not enough to ‘ensure [the people’s] freedom to pursue’ essential goods of human life, such as religious faith.” - Juicy Ecumenism
See also, at Providence: A New Vital Center?
“Science is a powerful way to gain knowledge about the natural world but it has limits and is provisional.”
Lessons from Blaise Pascal - Reasons to Believe
Denouncing the dangerous (and pseudo-Christian) anti-Semitism of Nick Fuentes
“in response to his proclamation that America is a Christian nation not a Jewish nation, the crowd [in the video] begins to chant, ‘Christ is King! Christ is King!’” - Michael Brown