Keller’s Baal Problem
Look, I know it’s easy to criticize prominent men. I know it’s easy to point fingers, to blame, to accuse, to read the worst into what people say. I get that. It’s hard to be put on the spot, under the spotlight, and, given that, we really should be willing to overlook infelicities and shortcomings. I […]
True and Lasting Regime Change: Hope for Iran (and all of us)
Iran is once again embroiled in national protest. The demonstrations started a week ago as an economic protest, but have taken on an increasingly anti-government tone, resulting in twenty-one deaths and over 450 citizens imprisoned. This protest marks the largest demonstrations in Iran since the Green Movement of 2009, when disputed presidential election results sparked […]
Reluctant Revolutionaries of the American Republic
“In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.” – Thomas Jefferson “I confess that there are several parts of this Constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve […]
Dance with Us – Dance and the Christian Life
Team Farley has a number of Family Rules that are beyond discussion. Rule #1: When Billy Idol comes on the radio no one may leave the car until the song is over. You must respect the Idol. It is our most sacred Family Rule. Rule #2: “Hello,” by Adele, requires that all windows be opened […]
Feasting is Fighting
Fight, laugh, feast. You’ve no doubt heard and read those words around the CrossPolitic podcast and website, as they capture our vision of cultural engagement. Faithful Christians are joyful warriors. They are mighty in battle with their enemies, yet they fling jokes at the stars while gathered around a table teeming with friends and their […]
Humbug
Humbug is an old word of indeterminate etymology meaning “spectacle” or “hoax” or “jest,” often referring to some unjustified reputation or publicity. Of course, the word is most often associated with Ebenezer Scrooge, a character created by Charles Dickens in The Christmas Carol. He famously dismissed Christmas declaring, “Bah! Humbug!” Interestingly, variations of the term […]
R.C. Sproul 1939-2017
In 1976, in tribute to his own mentor, John Gerstner, Dr. Sproul declared, “In an era of Church history when theology is in chaos, the Church is being shaken at its foundations, and Christian ethics shift and slide with every novel theology, we are grateful for the vivid example of one who stands in the midst of confusion as a bright and shining light.”
A Person’s a Person, No Matter How Rich
The estate tax (or death tax, or silver spoon tax, depending on who you ask) is the state’s attempt to redistribute the money of the wealthiest families in America. In recent months, it has seen support from Bernie Sanders, and has been sharply criticized by President Trump. In light of this, it has become a […]
Mob Justice in SEC Country: Tennessee Football and the Alabama Senate Race
After another dismal football season, the University of Tennessee has now fumbled its coaching search. Last week, the Volunteers had reached an agreement to hire Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano as its head football coach. However, the deal was dropped because of allegations that he knew about a sexual predator and did nothing—allegations which […]
Worldviewishness
“The most practical and important thing about a man is his view of the universe. The question is not whether the theory of the cosmos affects matters, but whether, in the long run, anything else affects them.” G.K. Chesterton “Worldview is the most important thing that we can know about a man. Ideas have consequences. […]
The Madgeburg Confession
By the 16th century virtually no one disagreed on the fact that the West needed to be reformed. What they disagreed on was what that reform should entail and how it was to be effected. In frustrated tension, dozens of competing factions, sects, schisms, rifts, rebellions, and divisions roiled just beneath the surface of the […]
Culture: Religion Externalized
Culture is simply a worldview made evident. It is basic beliefs worked out into habits of life. It is theology translated into sociology. Culture is a very practical expression of the common faith of a community or a people or a nation. Culture is, in other words, religion externalized. What a person thinks, what he […]
Our Souls are Starved: The Rise of Astrology and Witchcraft
So…witches are on the rise. Sadly, this is not the beginning of a stand-up comedy routine, but a religious trend in the United States. According to this report, millennials are trading traditional religion for witchcraft and astrology. A majority of young adults consider astrology to be scientific, while the psychic services industry has grown two-percent […]
Arise, O Lord, in Your Anger: Praying Biblically after Sutherland Springs
Twenty-six of our brothers and sisters in Christ were gunned down a week ago during Sunday morning worship in Sutherland Springs, Texas. The victims ranged from unborn baby to seventy-seven-year-old, including eight people from one family. Devin Kelley, dishonorably discharged from the Air Force, walked into the church and emptied fifteen magazines from his AR-15 […]
Shall the Critical Race Theorists Win?
Racial reconciliation is all the rage these days, and rightly so. It is hard to deny the animosity and division that plague our nation and that race-based attitudes are often involved of such hostilities. Further, Galatians 3:28 and Colossians 3:11 are still in our Bibles, and believers are called to unity with their brothers and […]
Psalms With a Southern Accent – My Soul Among Lions
In my first church job the Pastor gave me a bit of advice that stuck. Children learn most of their theology from the songs that their church sings. They may not remember your sermons, but they will carry the songs they sing in church the rest of their lives. This is not just true of […]
Rob Bell’s “What Is the Bible” Part 5
It’s common these days for heretical teachers to point out something that is clearly in the text of Scripture and then act as if there is some kind of misty significance to it all that those truncated fundie Bible teachers must have missed. Then when all is said and done, the teacher will draw just […]
Are Cannabis Laws Paternalistic?
For several years Peter Hitchens has made a sustained argument against the legalization of cannabis. One feature of his argument is to point out the correlation between cannabis use, mental illness, and violent crime. He links mental illness with both legal and illegal mind-altering drugs, such as cannabis, and then goes on to show that […]
The Perils of President Pence?
Vice President Mike Pence is one heartbeat, or resignation, away from the top job. But with Trump’s robust health and seeming immunity to the effects of scandals that would have sunk a normal presidency, Pence’s accession is unlikely–certainly not unless the Democrats make huge gains at the 2018 midterm elections and successfully impeach the President. […]
Gun Laws and Heroism after Las Vegas
Like a sniper in a war zone, Stephen Paddock found a defensible position 400 yards from his target, and set to waging his little war on the Route 91 Harvest music fest in the early morning hours of October 1. From the killing fields of the darkened concert ground it was impossible to see or […]