It was just over one hundred years ago that the great preacher Charles Spurgeon began the long battle that would ultimately cost him his life. He saw in the church of that era a trend away from the preaching of the gospel and towards entertainment. The church began to focus on pleasing people rather than…
King for a Week is an honor I bestow on blogs that I feel are making a valuable contribution to my faith and the faith of other believers. Every week I select a blog, link to it from my site, and add that site’s most recent headlines to my left sidebar. While this is really…
Our culture has an obsession with underappreciation. Everywhere you look there are discussions about this topic. I cannot think of many subjects that are discussed more in the sports world; there are always and forever discussions about which player is the most underappreciated or which position generates the lowest amount of recognition. Look around and…
Friday January 20, 2006 Blogspotting: That Chad Allen topic continues to garner interest. Among those who linked to it yesterday were Agape Press and Al Mohler. Dr. Mohler says, “I believe that the makers of this movie made a very reckless decision in casting Chad Allen as Nate and Steve Saint.” Blogs: In what seems…
I have to admit: Only a few years ago I was quite convinced that Oswald Chambers simply could not be worth reading. I had first heard of the man through the context of a sudden rush of interest that seemed to be spearheaded by the Christian music industry. Several Christian artists banded together to record…
Sharing our faith with others is almost always difficult. It is rarely easy to share with another person that he is a sinner and in need of a Savior. The foolishness of the gospel makes us feel like fools. Yet it is our great honor and privilege and responsibility to be fools for Christ and…
Thursday January 19, 2006 Blog: The men leading the Together For The Gospel conference have decided to start blogging together. Film: I hope this will be the last I say about The End of the Spear. Bob Bixby points out the importance of the word “activist.” Music: Months after I got the album I am…
As you may know, Al Mohler was a guest on Larry King Live last night, discussing homosexuality in general, and homosexual marriage in particular. The impetus for the discussion was, of course, the film Brokeback Mountain which won several Golden Globe awards on Monday night and which seems primed to walk away with several Academy…
Wednesday January 18, 2006 Marriage: A friend passed along an interesting article on a Dutch cohabitation contract, which many perceive to be the first step in legalizing polygamous marriages. Book: Oprah Winfrey has decreed that Elie Wiesel’s Night “should be required reading for all humanity.” Quote: ““The movie associates homosexuality with nature – magnificent mountains,…
First off, I’d like to take an opportunity to clarify something about the article I posted this morning. My friend Paul Martin posted a comment here and at his blog (and at Justin Taylor’s blog, for that) where he warned against making the issue of watching the film The End of the Spear an issue…
Last week I posted an article in which I pointed out that Chad Allen, the actor who plays Nate and Steve Saint in the upcoming film The End of the Spear is homosexual. In the article I simply posted the information without providing much commentary upon the decision of the producers to cast a homosexual…
Women’s Ministry in the Local Church, authored by J. Ligon Duncan and Susan Hunt, is a practical book that seeks to provide guidance on how and why a church can and should have an effective women’s ministry. It is a timely book, arriving at a point when the church is in need of this type…
Tuesday January 17, 2006 Theology: John the baptist wants to know whether early church deacons were waiters or bankers (or both). Worship: Phil Johnson discusses worship and whether or not karaoke qualifies as public worship. He says that “Karaoke is a populist form of burlesque.” Church: The Church Report lists the 50 most influential Christians…
Today we will conclude this short three-part series dealing with assurance of salvation by discussing first the basis of assurance and then some marks of salvation. We have all known people who think they are saved when all the evidence points elsewhere. It is a sad fact, and one we examined in the second part…
Monday January 16, 2006 Wow: A dollhouse maker has created quite an amazing replica of Bag End, the home of Frodo and Bilbo Baggins. Emergent: Ed Stetzer writes an article entitled “Understanding The Emerging Church.” He covers it under three headings: Relevants, Reconstructionists, Revisionists. Quote: “Many nonbelievers know only two kinds of Christians: those who…
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1). Jesus, our Lord and our God, was…
Choosing a Bible used to be an easy task. Only a few decades ago there were only two or three translations to choose from, giving a person very little in the way of options. The situation today is far different. We are inundated with translations of Scripture and it seems that a major new translation…
Damage Control makes for a good half-book. Were we to skim a little from the early pages and cut a few chapters from the back it would really be quite good. Somewhat unfortunately, the book is 170 pages rather than 80 or 90. Damage Control is a book that seeks to help Christians stop making…
A couple of years ago I made a web site for Ron Cowle who happens to be both an exceptionally gifted artist and my uncle. The design for his site was really quite unique because he sat with me at my desk while I created it. My job as the designer was to translate his…
Not too long ago I mentioned that my wife and I were ready to give up cable television. Perhaps strangely, our concern stemmed not only or even primarily from the content of television shows. After all, if we do not like the content of a show we can easily simply avoid watching it. Will and…