A good lesson - Beware when talking to the biblically illiterate!

Senator Sam Brownback thought he was just using a Scripture quotation ("by their fruits you shall know them") hardly recognizing that what he was really doing was slamming the homosexual community. Read the Rolling Stone article. Read Brownback's statement.

Sigh. By their fruits you really will know them...

That the vast portion of the media is unchurched is one thing. That they insist on demonstrating their enormous bias to the point of making themselves laughingstocks is another.

This is the uphill battle we face. Might as well adapt to it.

Truth Isn't Enough ... You Must Weep

Emotions play a role in the debate for the hearts and minds of the nation. Get used to it.

Pretty important column

From Christianity Today: We Are What We Behold:

...evangelicals have wrestled with our relationship to power. When in a position of influence (and in our better moments), we leverage power to better the lives of our neighbors. Cultural savvy enables us to successfully translate the gospel for a changing world.

But it's a double-edged sword—influence and savvy can also dull the gospel's transcendence. We achieve a royal position, but soon we are using a worship service to Almighty God to hawk Justice Sunday III. We worry that the culture has forgotten the meaning of Christmas, but we cancel Sunday worship because it's Christmas. We fret because of our culture's biblical illiteracy, but sign up for the Sunday school class on our pet social-justice cause rather than the Bible or theology track. In short, we complain that the church has sold out to culture, but we subconsciously give our allegiance to a political or social subculture and champion its agenda.

Triumph From Tragedy

BY DAVID M. HOWARD JR.
Friday, January 20, 2006 12:01 a.m. EST

On Jan. 8, 1956, five American missionaries were speared and hacked to death by a group of Auca Indians in the deepest jungles of Ecuador, making headlines around the world. A movie commemorating the 50th anniversary of the event--and the stranger-than-fiction tale that followed--is being released today. "End of the Spear," based on a 2005 book by Steve Saint, the son of one of the slain missionaries, will be shown in 1,200 theaters across the country. More from the Wall Street Journal...

Yes, We Have Race Problems ... Yes, We Should Do Something About Them

(AgapePress) - I know of a church that recently interviewed a prospective pastor. The congregation was impressed with him and asked the superintendent to extend a job offer. The pastor declined, citing that church's obvious problems on the issue of race.

As in, we don't want them in here.

Martin Luther King, Jr., celebrations this week ought to spark, at the least, some questions in our minds about racial reconciliation in this country. As in -- do I really actively love persons of another race like God wants me to? When Jesus suggested that loving one's neighbor was one of the tandem commands that fulfilled the Law and the prophets, He illustrated that "neighborly" passage with a story about a man of a hated race (Luke 10:27-37).

Other questions: What am I proactively doing in my community to promote loving others of a different hue? What is my family doing? My church?

Typical answer -- not a thing. More

Fifty Most Influential

Here's a list of the fifty most influential Christians according to The Church Report. Agree? Disagree?

Christian rockers - here's a song about education you ought to sing...

But I won't hold my breath...

Dobson speaks truth concerning gambling

It is making a mess of my state, Mississippi. It is making a mess out of the nation. Preach, Brother Dobson!

...Dr. James Dobson is calling on lawmakers nationwide to take a strong stand against legalized gambling in America. Calling the rampant growth in gambling a "national disaster," the Focus on the Family chairman says all types of gambling is driven by greed -- and that makes it "morally bankrupt from its very foundation," he states. "If the nation's politicians don't fix this national disaster, then the oceans of gambling money with which Jack Abramoff tried to buy influence on Capitol Hill will only be the beginning of the corruption we'll see." And new ethics rules for Congress, he says, are nothing but a "Band-Aid fix." Dobson asserts the country needs "courageous office holders who will begin the process of shutting down lotteries, casinos, and other gambling outlets." A longtime opponent of gambling because of its damaging effect on families, Dobson has been critical of members of both major political parties for accepting campaign contributions from gambling interests. [Jody Brown]

A great line out of an academic paper...

The academic dean of our school, Dr. Ray Easley, writes this first line in his paper "Finding the Correct Balance in Theological Education for Leadership Development." Here it is:

When Jesus gave the Great Commission to the Church, he spoke to The Twelve with a world of six billion people forming the backdrop of his view.

My.

A little satire at Robertson's expense

Well deserved, I think. Scrappleface...

NPR on Abortion

...and my (humble, rather pitiful) voice is featured. About eight or nine minutes into this piece by National Public Radio there is a man's voice outside an abortion clinic featured to contrast that which was just heard inside the abortion clinic. That would be me.

The whole piece is interesting.

A lot of media done on Mississippi abortion lately (as we have only one clinic remaining). Public television had a special on the other day, and some of the members of our church were on that as well.

Pray that Mississippi becomes the first abortion free state.

Junxion - a new e-production of Wesley Seminary

First issue. A bit I wrote is featured.
Second issue.