truth in love

Paul reminded the Ephesian church that only with truth would there be mature Christian unity and only if truth was spoken in love.
Truth cannot be ducked or minimized in any way, but it must be softened with compassion. It is not compassionate to downplay or minimize or disregard truth.
Dr. Mohler wrote about this the [...]

that Newsweek cover story

Newsweek has a cover story on “the End of Christian America.” here is an optimistic bit from the article:
Let’s be clear: while the percentage of Christians may be shrinking, rumors of the death of Christianity are greatly exaggerated. Being less Christian does not necessarily mean that America is post-Christian. A third of Americans say [...]

complementarianism

Complementarianism. Isn’t that a great word? It represents one of the most hated Biblical doctrines in our modern world. Mark Driscoll was reviled for believing in this doctrine long before he was taken to task for being too vulgar.
Complementarianism is the doctrine that men and women are different and that God has [...]

Time Magazine noticed us

everybody is buzzing about number 3 on Time Magazine’s Top Ten Ideas Changing the World Right Now.
here, let them explain:
Calvinism is back, and not just musically. John Calvin’s 16th century reply to medieval Catholicism’s buy-your-way-out-of-purgatory excesses is Evangelicalism’s latest success story, complete with an utterly sovereign and micromanaging deity, sinful and puny humanity, and the [...]

God’s glory

Al Mohler also touches on the question that I quoted from John Piper the other day.
First he starts with an important reminder:
Human beings are trapped in a human frame of reference. When we think of motivation, we inevitably start with our own self-conscious knowledge of our own motivations. For a human to seek [...]

Making it plausible or unthinkable

Al Mohler has completed posting a six part series on abortion which is the edited transcript of the sermon he gave on Sanctity of Life Sunday. excellent message excellently presented.
here are the links to the parts for some weekend reading.
part 1
part 2
part 3
part 4
part 5
part 6
and here is an excerpt from part 5 that [...]

Moralistic therapeutic deism

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism–the New American Religion. If that isn’t a fair name for our prevailing cultural belief system, then I don’t know what is.
this is an article from 2005 that I just found courtesy of Chris Turner who I found courtesy of Steve McCoy. (isn’t web surfing on Friday evening fun?)
check out these [...]

our culture’s effect on our faith

Al Mohler is hitting on a very sensitive topic with this post. It is a more complete picture of the effect than the slice that I was looking at in my comments to this post. I said the following:
Number 2, there is a basic misunderstanding of the important responsibility of church membership in [...]

syncretism

Thanks to Al Mohler, I ran across this story from the Leaf Chronicle.
Syncetism is the reconciliation/fusion of opposing belief systems.
the Leaf Chronicle story talks about Christians using eastern meditation in their devotions.
Like many churchgoers in the Bible Belt, Kristy Robinson teaches Sunday school with her husband and helps prepare communion at their Episcopal church [...]

Questions at church?

I don’t watch the show Desperate Housewives so I only have a passing familiarity with it or its characters. But thanks to the Vision Navigator, I saw this clip and it struck a chord with me.
watch this right quick (excuse the mild expletive)

parenthetically, do you get the impression that this [...]

domesticated or dangerous?

as a Christ follower, have you been safely neutered and domesticated? do you long for more? do you dare ask God to make you dangerous to the devil and his demons?
Mark Batterson has an article on Catalyst about the difference between animals in the wild on the Galapagos Islands and animals in a [...]

Al Mohler on the babies

here is Al Mohler’s take on the babies. Go read all of it.
I can understand the fatigue and the sense of frustration. On the other hand, we have witnessed a growing respect for life as ultrasound technologies have opened the womb to view. We have seen the Supreme Court allow that some [...]

True or False?

Here is an excerpt from Quitting Church
My research suggested that people are simply not being pastored. Often ministers are out of touch with what’s happening on the ground, as they are surrounded by a wall of secretaries and voice mail. Congregants have to wait up to a month for an appointment, if they [...]

Mohler on preachingq

Some quotes from this book.
“The audacious claim of Christian preaching is that the faithful declaration of the Word of God, spoken through the preacher’s voice, is even more powerful than anything music or image can deliver.”
“If we do not come face-to-face with our sin as individuals and as a congregation, we have not seen God, [...]