“Artificial Intelligence content creators such as ChatGPT will certainly revolutionize almost every kind of work that relies on writing of some sort…. But how could AI be used lawfully and helpfully in ministry?” - P&D

“No matter what is revealed about Donald Trump’s character and attitude toward women, large numbers in the evangelical community seem to have no king but him.” - Cal Thomas

“AdventHealth submitted plans to build a hospital on the site. Demolition is currently underway.” - CPost

“The current total membership of Southern Baptist congregations is 13,223,122, down from 13,680,493 in 2021. The 457,371 members lost is the largest single-year numerical drop in more than 100 years.” - BPNews

I’d like to take a few posts to talk seriously about fun.

Seriously. About fun.

A few years back I did some thinking about the topic, thinking that eventuated in a chapel sermon at BJU on March 19, 2008. These days it seems helpful to run those ideas around the block again.

My first thought about fun is the title of this post.

Fun is good.

I’m not saying just that I like fun; that’s pretty much assumed in the definition of the word. What I’m saying here is a moral judgment, with a theological foundation.

Fun is good. Morally good. We ought to have fun.

Reposted with permission from Danolinger.com.

ERLC and Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention are backing parents seeking legal standing to contest the Eau Claire (WI) Area School District policy that “permits staff to conceal from parents their child is identifying at school as a gender different than his or her biological sex.” - BPNews

“Solzhenitsyn pointed to the lack of great statesmen as evidence of cultural collapse. While there are certainly courageous individuals worthy of our respect, he clarified, consider how society had defined greatness in the past.” - Breakpoint

“We humans will survive and adjust, I believe. But not without challenges to our freedom, privacy, livelihood and independent thought.” - Kokomo Tribune

“It is too easy to get caught up in the minute, to criticize one sermon, one book, one interview, or one tweet. But journeying from his early years to the work of Redeemer on the streets of New York City, we can see ‘God’s mysterious providence’ in the tapestry of influences.” - Acton

“Murthy… announced his anti-loneliness campaign by emphasizing the role family played in his own life, then goes on to almost entirely leave family out of his set of recommendations.” - IFS

“The majority of surviving Greek manuscripts include Mark 16:9–20 at the end of the Gospel, and the majority of Christians throughout church history have received these verses as God’s word. Nevertheless, both external and internal evidence suggest that Mark likely ended his Gospel at verse 8” - Desiring God

“We will absorb it into the warp and woof of our lives with astounding ease, and in no time it will be so much a part of the water we swim in, we’ll have difficulty reflecting on it and its significance.” - Current

“The mandate of the ARITF is to provide help for local churches to be as safe as possible for children, teens and vulnerable adults…. the toolbox will put the essentials for prevention and protection into the hands of every church and association.” - BPNews

Why the Church Needs Pastor-Theologians - TGC

“Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said she had a ‘terrific meeting’ with Trump….The meeting came weeks after Dannenfelser slammed the Trump campaign’s assertion that abortion restrictions should be left exclusively to states as a ‘morally indefensible position.’” - Fox

“On April 3, 1960, Episcopal priest Dennis Bennett announced to his congregation in Van Nuys, California, that he had been baptized with the Spirit and spoken in tongues, inaugurating the ‘second wave’ of the charismatic movement.” - By Faith

“Crowdfunded by a Kickstarter campaign, the hymnal is a collection of 150 hymns, including centuries-old mainstays like ‘A Mighty Fortress Is Our God’ … and more recent works like Michael Card’s ‘Barocha.’” - CToday

Read the series.

This series is from the first draft of my book The Words of the Covenant: New Testament Continuation. Volume One on Old Testament Expectation is already available.

I have friends who are Plymouth Brethren, and they will not allow a woman to ask questions in a Bible study based upon one of the passages below. Although I do not quite interpret things the same way they do, I respect them because they are trying to let the Bible, not the culture, dictate their beliefs.

“The original version read, ‘We believe in the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father,’ a statement taken directly from John 15:26…. In this article, we’ll guide you through the history and theology of the Filioque clause.” - Word by Word

How inclusive can something be and still be considered Christian? - RNS

Related: Al Mohler’s even more negative view: “The coronation of King Charles III and his consort, Queen Camilla, refutes the claim of the British monarchy to adhere to fixed principles and Christian morality.” - World

Shifting Your Church Out of Survival Mode and into Hopeful Optimism - Sam Rainer

“Watching others captivated by the wonder of simply seeing or hearing is a powerful statement on the goodness of God’s world.” - Breakpoint

“In a video message to the congregation, Sauls apologized for an unhealthy leadership style that harmed the people who worked for him and the church.” - RNS

Concerning the use of drum-like instruments in the temple, I recently found the following information online:

I doubt that thankfulness is the first thing most conservative Christians feel these days when they reflect on American culture. There are some good reasons for that! I get it. Much is changing. Much more has already changed but is now becoming evident in more ways.

Many of the changes we’re seeing have to do with aspects of life we’re deeply sensitive about—like sexual ethics, marriage, and family. Visceral reactions are, if unhelpful, at least understandable.

There’s a lot of outrage and fear.

Inwardly, I’m sometimes too critical of people for that. I hope that, outwardly, I’m more gracious and that, inwardly, I’m improving.

“ ‘Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.’… Yet here, in 1 Timothy 3:7, as the culminating qualification for the church’s lead office, we hear that pastor-elders must be well thought of by outsiders.” - Desiring God

https://www.mbu.edu/blog/events-press-releases/new-chancellor/

Bob Jones University is not the only educational institution within historic Fundamentalism that is seeking new leadership this summer. Maranatha Baptist University, a much smaller school located in the North, announced yesterday that their president of fourteen years has vacated the office. According to the article, the transition was effective immediately upon the close of the University's commencement exercises.

When 97 Words Just aren't Enough https://www.scriptureandplainreason.com/post/when-97-words-just-aren-t-enough?postId=b0315baf-50c2-4870-abf2-7ac5414485d6&utm_campaign=92da35f8-c8fd-4ef5-b5e1-ebf9fac4bc1d&utm_source=so&utm_medium=mail&utm_content=1b77e91f-26e4-4d1e-b0ac-8a41abb72b88&cid=7bcb60df-8e9a-440b-8986-1ad31b22cfe0