Great Summary on Scripture’s Teaching on Alcohol

I have pasted this and the citation is at the end of the article. I found this pretty exhaustive and objective on this galvanizing topic.
SPECIAL TOPIC: BIBLICAL ATTITUDES TOWARD ALCOHOL (FERMENTATION) AND ALCOHOLISM (ADDICTION)
I. Biblical Terms
A. Old Testament
1. Yayin – This is the general term for wine, which is used 141 times. The etymology is [...]

Catholics Withdrawing Charitable Minsitries Becasue of Equal Protection Laws for Homosexuals

As reported in the NY Times:
Catholic Charities To Withdraw Services Over Same-Sex Marriage
The fight over a proposed same-sex marriage law here heated up this week as the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said that if the law passed, the church would cut its social service programs that help residents with adoption, homelessness and health care. [...]

Gandalf Defacing the Bible? Say it ain’t So

In an interview with”Details” magazine, actor Ian McKellen admitted to ripping pages out of the Bible whenever he gets a chance (link).
Details: Is it true that when you stay at hotels you tear out the Bible page that condemns homosexuality?
Ian McKellen: I do, absolutely. I’m not proudly defacing the book, but it’s a choice between [...]

Gene Robinson Quote

Was listening to NPR today and heard part of an interview with Episcopal Gene Robinson, who happens to be openly gay and in a relationship with another man. He was previously married to a woman and had two children with his former wife. Anyhow, this quote is not exact, but the best my memory can [...]

Nidal Hasan and Secular America

I have written in the past about the coexistence of Islam and Secularism; (here and here for example). According to the Washington Post, Islamic murderer Nidal Hasan gave a presentation to the Army about which the Post says:
Under the “Conclusions” page, Hasan wrote that “Fighting to establish an Islamic State to please God, even by [...]

Book Review: Divided by Faith, by Michael Emerson and Christian Smith

Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America is a historical and sociological study of white evangelical attitudes toward white-black relations.  I found it fascinating.  I should also try to read some reviews by trained sociologists who may be able to offer some insight into their research methods.
Emerson and Smith state [...]

ACORN, Obama, unlawful acts- should be under strict investigations

Kudos to James O’ Keefe and Hannah Giles for exposing what lies, unlawful, and treachery lies beneath the covers of ACORN.   BUT, will the left media pay much attention to this?  Will Obama speak out against this?  Apparently, this is “just some smear campaign”.  Wow, denial (or secrecy of corruption) is the quite the virtue [...]

Book Review: “Black and Tan” by Douglas Wilson

While looking at Doug Wilson’s blog one day, I happened to notice that he wrote a book on slavery and culture wars.  Black and Tan: Essays and Excursions on Slavery, Culture War, and Scripture in America seemed to be a great book to pair with America’s God, since both books discuss 19th-century American Christianity.
The story [...]

Balanced Spirituality According to St. James

James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
I am preaching on this text this coming Lord’s Day (8/31/09). After reading Matt Harmon’s ( Grace Theological Seminary) “ten theses for further discussion” from his [...]

The tricky balance between evangelism and social justice

Matt Harmon of Grace Theological Seminary posted “ten theses for further discussion” from his talk about the relationship between the kingdom of God and social justice.  You can find them here and here.  This is something that I’m quite interested in.   Here are some that I thought were particularly well-said:
2. We must allow biblical and [...]

American hermeneutics and slavery

After chronicling the Americanization of Calvinist and Methodist theology, Mark Noll in America’s God turns to American biblical hermeneutics, the way that Americans read the Bible, in Chapters 18-20.  Noll argues that the American approach to Scripture in this period also came from both their Protestant heritage and their revolutionary/early national circumstances.  Noll has argued [...]

our mad world

Since we are encased within our society we can sometimes forget how insane it really is. A conversation I had yesterday reminded me of the deep weird that we live in. Our women fill their bodies with chemicals to prevent them from fertility for years and years. Later, when they are older and may decide [...]

30 days, pro-choice in a pro-life world

I happen to catch a show of “30 days” late last night (when I should of been sleeping), a reality show by Morgan Spurlock, about a pro-choice woman to took on the challenge of living 30 days at “His Nesting Place“, a faith-based pro-life organization (a great opportunity for ministry or help).   Watching the show [...]

Combined Book Review: Evangelism, Racial Reconciliation, and Community Development in Mississippi

John Perkins, Let Justice Roll Down (1976)
John Perkins, With Justice for All (1982)
Dolphus Weary, I Ain’t Comin’ Back (1990, 1997)

On June 15, I’m heading down Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee with members of 9 different Chicagoland churches.  Organized by Willow Creek Community Church, the idea of the “Justice Journey” is to get white and black Christians [...]

Integrating a Christian College

Dolphus Weary describes his predicament in mid-1960s Mississippi in I Ain’t Comin’ Back:
I also developed a vague idea that I wanted to so [sic] something similar to John [Perkins] and the others at the ministry.  I didn’t know what, but I wanted to prepare for it as best I could.  To me that meant finishing [...]

Perkins on the importance of informed solutions

After John Perkins essentially fought the Mississippi court system to a draw twice, dropping his charges against the local authorities when they promised to drop theirs against him, he believed that the most important part of his experience was informing people about the injustices of police misconduct and brutality:

One of the things for Christian observers [...]

When the church looks irrelevant

From John Perkins’ autobiography Let Justice Roll Down:
You see, in all my years growing up in Mississippi, I had never heard the simple truth of the gospel: the fact that Jesus Christ could set me free and love His life in me.  I grew up knowing nothing about Jesus Christ.
In fact, I had always looked [...]

Pro-Choice=Abortion=baby torture

For those who oppose torture & are pro-choice, I ask you, how can you declare equality & justice for terrorists & lawbreakers (especially repeat offenders), & luxurious amenities in jails (like cable tv, workout gyms, etc) yet you are ok with the slaughter of innocent human babies who have committed no wrong, though you would [...]

Rising numbers of ProLifers

Newest gallup poll in May 2009 shows an increase of pro-lifers in America @ 51% of Americans calling themselves “pro-life” on the issue of abortion and 42% “pro-choice. I just wonder if these same people who consider themselves pro-life also deem it so important that they vote accordingly?  Or is it one of those, “well, [...]

Peter Berger on Globalization and Religion

I listened to Speaking of Faith program (transcript and audio here) from 2006 today that talked about how globalization has impacted religion.  You might be familiar with the rather Eurocentric thesis that said that secularism would accompany modernization, just as it had in Europe.  In fact, sociologist Peter Berger held this view as well, before [...]

the conservative black vote

I know this a little late but I had it drafted during the elections but just forgot about it but still wanted to post anyway b/c this problem didn’t stop just b/c this election is over.
Why were black conservatives who voted for McCain being ostracized for their conservative beliefs?   People want to claim that only [...]

Ashley Judd, get a clue, and a “real heart”.

I have enjoyed Ashley Judds’ performances on film but sadly, her recent confrontation of Sarah Palin has tainted my image of her sweet face.   Are you kidding me?? Is she serious?? She’s going on about how “cruel and senseless” (“It’s time to stop Sarah Palin and stop this senseless savagery,” said Judd [...]

Heeding the Call to Defend the “Mute” AND to Defend the Poor and Needy

Proverbs 31:8-9 (ESV) 8 Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. 9 Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.
As I was reading Scripture today, this passage really spoke to me. The people of God are told to defend the “mute”, those [...]

John Piper: “Be Courageous, Mr. President”

Thank you Brother Piper for your powerful words to the president. I stand with you in prayer for him and for what’s best for his daughters as well.

Hippocratic Oath is Pro-Life

I made mention of this oath in a previous post, but failed to cite where this 4th Century B.C. oath made explicit mention of abortion. Here it is:
“I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan; and similarly I will not give a woman [...]

My Letter to President Obama

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
President Obama, I read your comments on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, where you wished my son and daughter well in their pursuit of a “world class education”. Thanks for your concern for my childrens’ pursuit of happiness, but I care, and I pray that my very children [...]

My Response to Obama’s Comments on 36th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade

“On the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we are reminded that this decision not only protects women’s health and reproductive freedom, but stands for a broader principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters. I remain committed to protecting a woman’s right to choose.

While this is a sensitive and often [...]

congratulations Mr. Obama. now what?

I tried to simplify the scope and depths of what was going on to my children.   Later in the evening, as I sat on my bed last night playing with my girls and watching the unfolding of the votes and then the declaration that Obama won the presidency, my stomach empty, my heart heavy, my head [...]

John Piper’s Article, “Lincoln’c Logic on Slavery Applied to Abortion”

On January 12, 2009 Samantha Heiges, age 23, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for drowning her newborn in Burnsville, Minnesota. If she had arranged for a doctor to kill the child a few weeks earlier she would be a free woman.
What are the differences between this child before and after birth that would [...]

2009 Sanctity of Life + Martin Luther King Jr. Sermon “Rescuing Life by Exposing Evil and Loving Jesus”

http://www.sovereigngracefellowship.org/topical/Life.mp3
 I just want to thank the entire congregation for their overwhelming feedback to my sermon. R.C. Sproul has lamented that many pastors choose to ignore the issue of abortion for fear of splitting the church or hurting feelings. I rejoice that this issue of abortion has actually impassioned our church, from what I can tell [...]