Author: S&P
TIME Sounds the Alarm
On the cover of TIME this week is this headline: 40 Years Ago, Abortion-Rights Advocates Won an Epic Victory with Roe v. Wade. They’ve Been Losing Ever Since. The story – “What Choice?” – is written by Kate Pickert. The main point of the article is that Roe v. Wade hurt the pro-choice cause by delivering the movement’s main goal and by energizing a generation of pro-life activi...
How Is the Kingdom of God “Already but Not Yet”? What Else Does the Bible Say?
What is the Kingdom of God? The Kingdom of YHWH The Kingdom of God is mentioned in the Old Testament as the Kingdom of Jehovah (Jehovah being the English expression of the tetragrammaton – YHWH – the four consonant letters that make up the holy name of God in Hebrew). The Universal Kingdom The Kingdom was never meant to imply the mere rule over Israel. “He says: ‘It is too light a thing that you s...
Does 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 teach about hell?
My book, What is Hell? is now available on Amazon. I am doing a series of podcast studies that focus on some of the content from the book. The studies look at the eight key terms that are often equated with hell, and about a dozen key passages that are thought to teach about hell. If you want to learn the truth about hell and what the Bible actually teaches about hell, make sure you get a copy of ...
7 Steps to Using Technology for God’s Glory
No parent wants to give his or her child unfettered access to the Internet. But neither is it realistic or wise to forbid any access whatsoever. How then do we plot a course that avoids these two extremes and yet maximizes their moral and spiritual safety? 1. Educate First, educate yourself. Hiding your head in the sand, ostrich-style, is not an option for the serious Christian. You must get on th...
What You Need to Know About Sexual Assault and Steubenville
[Editor’s Note: While we cannot address every wrong in the world, the horrifying situation at Steubenville, Ohio led us to ask contributing writer, Justin Holcomb, to write on the matter of sexual assault. How can we best help those who have experienced the trauma of sexual assault? What can we do to foster a culture of safety in our communities and churches?] “Silence in the face of evil i...
Why You Should Be Alarmed about the Hobby Lobby Case
The facts are well known: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) requires employers to provide insurance for their employees. As part of the mandated health coverage, businesses must include contraceptives and abortifacient drugs in their insurance plans. Hobby Lobby, owned by the Green family (strong Christians and generous philanthropists), is refusing to comply with the ...
When Hope Is Shipwrecked
What happens to a dream deferred?Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?Or fester like a sore—and then run?Does it stink like rotten meat?Or crust and sugar over—like a syrupy sweet?Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.Or does it explode? ~ Langston Hughes, “A Dream Deferred” Many answers to Langston Hughes’s questions came during the Civil Rights movement. When a dream was deferred there ...
Louie Giglio and the New State Church
President Obama kicked up some controversy by announcing that evangelical pastor Louie Giglio would be praying at the inauguration. Sexual liberationist groups quickly identified Giglio, as they did Rick Warren under similar circumstances in 2009, as “anti-gay.” After a couple of days of firestorm from the Left, Giglio announced this morning that he would withdraw. Here’s why this matter...
Questioning “the Call” to Ministry
Sitting on the dock, looking out over the still, dark waters of the lake, I just knew. It wasn’t surprising; I’d been toying with the idea for almost a year. But now, after much prayer, and at the end of an especially meaningful retreat, everything was clear. My mind relaxed, the decision made: I was going into ministry. I can still remember that easy certainty, the calm assurance...
Why I Hate Sanctity of Human Life Sunday
[Editor’s Note: Sanctity of Human Life Sunday is observed this year on January 20, 2013.] Don’t get me wrong, the call to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ is a joy. Nothing is more thrilling than opening the Word of God to the people of Christ week-by-week. But it provokes my spirit to preach the Sanctity of Human Life (SOHL) emphasis on a Sunday morning. I don’t h...
Speaking in Tongues
[Editor’s Note: In a recent feature story for Esquire, actress Megan Fox spoke of a number of non-Christian beliefs to which she holds but then also described what it feels like to speak in tongues. (See quote below). Since such experiences are neither provable nor deniable, people are curious about what the Bible teaches. After all, what is the Christian’s authority? God’s Word ...
Bored? Cynical?
“Truly God is good to Israel.”Psalms 73:1 I don’t think we have categories today that get at what these words are saying. The words roll off your tongue so easily your mind barely has time to consider their content. The words are so familiar and mundane they barely draw interest out of us, let alone awe. At breakfast you’ll say something like, “Wow, this cereal is goo...
