Has anyone watched the recently released documentary about the Duggar family (from TLC's hit reality show 19 Kids and Counting) and their involvement with IBLP, ATI, and Bill Gothard? I've seen the first two episodes so far, which are currently streaming for free right now on a channel called Freevee. (I don't have Amazon Prime and don't plan to get it, so I'm not sure when I'll see the other two episodes).

The amendment would add a sixth identifier to Article III saying churches “in friendly cooperation” do “not affirm, appoint, or employ a woman as a pastor of any kind.” - BPNews

Related: SBC messengers to vote on proposed amendment solidifying ban on women pastors in denomination - CPost

“A former dean alleges over $1 million in staff kickbacks and payouts as his case against the university goes to court.” - CToday

You’ve heard the mantra a dozen times: “Christianity is not a religion; it’s a relationship.” This statement is quite wrong. Firstly, because it’s a false dichotomy (can’t it be both?), but secondly because if we have to choose, Christianity is more fundamentally a religion than it is a relationship.

“Perhaps because Americans feel they are no longer allowed to turn on the TV, open social media, shop for clothes, buy groceries, or walk down the street without being assaulted by sexual propaganda … all year round, not just in June.” - Breakpoint

“1. There is a power and control issue behind the dismissal. Typically, the pastor has not bowed to the demands and preferences of a power group in the church…. 2. Reasons for the firing are often not given to the congregation.” - Church Answers

“Charles Taylor draws attention to the problem of disenchantment and the loss of meaning in the modern era. This phenomenon is historically recent—while most modern people intuitively understand the problem, it would be difficult to explain to those who lived 500 years ago.” - TGC

“For a growing number of evangelical pastors, embracing right-wing rhetoric is seen as a way to put more people in the pews — and it may be working.” - RNS

“This is not a witch hunt. On the other hand, there are other dimensions we also must remember. Here are the optics…” - Mohler

“The American Bible Society released Chapter 3 of its State of the Bible 2023 report Thursday, titled ‘Flourishing and Hope.’” - CPost

Read the series.

Now we have to tackle the issue of identity. This is where we get down to brass tacks. Our first two principles taught us that (1) there are two kingdoms, Babylon and Jerusalem, and Babylon will lose, and also that (2) God’s kingdom is distinct from every nation state. So far, so abstract—what are Christians supposed to do with this information?

Principle no. 3: A Christian’s core identity is as a child of God and a kingdom citizen, and so her principal allegiance must be to God’s kingdom (“Jerusalem”) and not to a nation state.

“How things have changed: I can think of several ways in which the digital revolution, accelerated by COVID lockdowns, is still with us.” - Word by Word

“Tobias Cremer’s The Godless Crusade: Religion, Populism, and Right-Wing Identity Politics in the West, which evaluates this question on four interrelated arguments using Germany, France, and the United States as case studies.” - Providence

“I am excited to see friends I haven’t seen since we left Anaheim. I am certainly a little nervous about how everything will turn out once all the votes are counted.” - SBC Voices

“It may seem odd to think of inclusion as a means of exclusion, yet inclusion in a community willing to call “evil good and good evil” … is a de facto exclusion because it denies the transformative decision that the Gospel requires.” - CPost

“Presbyterians expect less fight and more fatigue as they gather following the Covenant shooting and the deaths of Harry Reeder and Tim Keller.” - CToday

“White evangelicals and others of conservative faiths appear to be the most resistant to gender-neutral pronouns, according to the survey by” PRRI. - Axios

Read the series.

How should our dispensational movement attempt to move forward?

That is the vital question of this series. And I began my attempt at tackling it last week, looking at the issue in terms of what you might call its philosophical foundation. In essence, I provided some very basic and practical direction for the revival of dispensationalism—drawing on its historical roots from the time that it began to grow in popularity as a system of theology.

“Conspiracy theories, as unbelievable and problematic as they can be, provide adherents with both a sense of control and community.” - Kainos

“Working alongside Liberty Coalition Canada are dozens of churches across the country, a number of small media outlets and at least one well-funded think-tank…. Several Canadian pastors in the movement also have ties to a controversial branch of evangelical Christianity in the U.S. known as reconstructionism.” - CBC

“The question forty years ago was this: would evangelicals be part of the renewal of the Southern Baptist Convention? The question today is: Will Southern Baptists be part of the renewal of evangelicalism?” - TGC

“Hummel…takes the reader back to Plymouth, a midsize port city on England’s southern coast that birthed the nonconformist sect known as the Plymouth Brethren. And he takes the reader to Ireland, where we encounter a radical Irish Anglican curate named John Nelson Darby” - First Things

“With CBN, ‘The 700 Club,’ Regent, the Christian Coalition, and a run for president, he changed evangelicals’ place in public life.” - CToday

“What Apple, Meta And Sony Don’t Get About AR And VR” - Forbes

Read the series.

According to the Talmud, “The Men of the Great Assembly said three things, ‘Be deliberate in judgment, raise up many disciples, and make a fence for the Torah’” (Avot 1:2). But the bonds between rabbi and disciple varied.

Nicknaming Leading Disciples

Jesus nicknamed several disciples. Simon was “Peter” (Rocky), James and John the “sons of thunder,” while Thomas was called “Didymus” (twin). This is different from having alternate names, as demonstrated by Nathaniel as Bartholomew or Matthew as Levi.¹

“Suppose a Christian were stranded on a deserted island and could only select 12 books of the Bible from which to read. Which books would be most valuable?” - Kenneth Berding

“The first biblical principle is to ‘choose love not hate, as [our] posture’…. Second, we must ‘choose the Bible, not culture, as [our] authority.’” - Breakpoint

“While the movement remains influential, the controversies and losses raise questions about its future.” - RNS

“Reviewing Islam’s belief, the group states that ‘by a decree from God, sexual relations are permitted within the bounds of marriage, and marriage can only occur between a man and a woman,’ citing Quran 4:16, 7:80-83…” - GetReligion

“The change means that females may be ordained for pastoral roles with the exception of senior/lead pastor roles, which require male eldership.” - CPost

Related: Christian and Missionary Alliance Will Ordain Women - CToday