I've previously argued that ethnic discrimination propagated by professing Christians, churches, or Christian organizations is antithetical to the gospel.For that reason, I want to recognize the organizers of pleasereconcile.org as the 2009 Paleoevangelicals of the Year.I can't entirely explain the cocktail of cultural and religious pressure that affects so many BJU alumni, leading them to tolerate and even defend the intolerable and indefensible. I know that it affected me for far too long. The fear of man brings a snare.What I appreciate so much about the pleasereconcile.org organizers is... [read more]

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Mark DeYmaz' Building a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church is a terrific book. It makes a powerful case that one of the central purposes of the work of the gospel is to break down ethnic barriers in order to create one people of God in the Church. Therefore, the ongoing propagation of unjustifiable ethnic barriers or discrimination is antithetical to the gospel. DeYmaz' argument pulled together several strands of thought that had been present in my mind and provoked me to voice my support for the recent appeals from BJU alumni that the school's leadership acknowledge and apologize publicly for dec... [read more]

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As I'm writing this, I'm sitting in the rear nave of the National Cathedral in Washington during "part the third" of Handel's Messiah. Just a few minutes ago about two thousand people rose to their feet for the Hallelujah Chorus. Though I have some appreciation for that tradition, the inescapable reality is that we who stood will one day, to a man, fall on our faces in full and final recognition that "the Lord God omnipotent reigneth."I live in Washington, where "the kings of the earth rise up, and rulers take counsel against the Lord, and against his Anointed." It's impossible to meditate ... [read more]

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Hypothetically speaking, imagine that you knew a person who told you something along these lines:I was a devoted Muslim when a man appeared to me in a dream. The man told me to go see a foreigner in town who is a follower of Jesus. The man in the dream told me to ask him about Jesus, and to believe what he told me. The Christian man told me all about Jesus, and now I am a follower of Jesus too.So what do you think. Is the guy delusional? Under demonic influence? Or is this sort of thing compatible with rigid cessationism? Hypothetically, of course . . .

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The annual Evangelical Theological Society meeting is in Providence, Rhode Island, this week. Al Mohler is there. So is Jeff Straub, Associate Professor in Historical and Systematic Theology at Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Minneapolis. Straub presented a paper on the Rockefeller family and how theologically liberal causes were funded by people who, at least at first, were not theologically liberal.Straub, who earned his PhD at Southern Seminary, got a nice shout out yesterday beginning in the fifth minute of the Albert Mohler Radio Program. You can listen to it here.

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Some Palinesque sarcasm from Dana Milbank of the Washington Post.

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John Hutchinson pastors McLean Presbyterian Church in the DC metro area. I found his recent Tabletalk article, "A Different Kind of Power," to be a helpful perspective on how Christians, particularly pastors, should engage in political issues. Praise God for a wise, godly Senator who advised Hutchinson on a particular matter:John, I’m not going to tell you what to do, and I share your convictions on a subject that is very important. But as you pray about your decision, remember that you will have no control over how the press will quote you, and you will be labeled as a conservative advo... [read more]

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Here's a review I wrote for the 9Marks E-Journal on Mark DeYmaz' Building Healthy Multi-Ethnic Churches.As I noted in the review, I would have some reservations with some of the methodologies DeYmaz describes. He also goes looking a bit too hard for a biblical rationale for pursuing ethnic diversity in a local church—harder than is necessary to make his case, in my opinion.Nevertheless, it's worth reading if for no other reason than the fact that so many conservative evangelical-fundamentalist churches are so lily-white and never think much at all about how to cross entrenched ethnic divi... [read more]

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The SharperIron headline that, according to a new LifeWay survey, just 69% of SBC church members affirm the authority of Scripture caught my eye. Sounds kind of discouraging, right? Cause to skewer the SBC? No doubt.But what the lead misses is that 100% of the SBC pastors surveyed affirmed the inspiration of Scripture, and 97% unequivocally affirmed its inerrancy. Though I have no doubt (and am grateful for the fact) that the latter figure would be even higher among independent, fundamental Baptist churches, it should be neither surprising nor substantially discouraging for two reasons. Fir... [read more]

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This pastor would.I have no idea how much freedom of prayer this pastor possesses, but assuming you could pray whatever you wanted to pray, what would you do? Would it make a difference if you were a pastor or a layman? Or which party it was?

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