The End of “BIG”: Decentralization, Opportunity, and the Denominational Future
By Rhett Burns Back in June, I attended my first ever Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. This means that, despite being a lifelong Southern Baptist, Chocolate Knox, a Presbyterian, has taken part—and voted?—in more SBC annual meetings than I have. I’m unsure if this makes him a worse Presbyterian or me a worse […]
Reviewing Shai Linne’s The New Reformation
By Levi Secord Recently, I’ve seen many positive comments about Shai Linne’s new book, The New Reformation: Finding Hope in the Fight for Ethnic Unity. Some portrayed it as a third way between the extremes of the woke and the anti-woke crowds. Naturally, such comments caught my attention, and I ordered a copy. As a […]
When the Government is an Abusive Husband
By Levi Secord With all the insanity we’ve seen around the COVID-19 fiasco, what has frustrated me the most is evangelicalism adherence to gross governmental overreach. Before this past year, I believed statism was a significant threat to God’s people in the West, and what I’ve seen has only solidified that concern. In December, I […]
Telling the Whirlwind Where to Blow
By Rhett Burns Well, by my calculations today is March 375th. Are you enjoying your “15 days to flatten the curve” yet? Personally, I would like to cancel my free trial of communism, reinstall the Christian republic operating system, and return to the land of liberty. In the meantime, let’s evaluate the overarching response to […]
In Every Domain of Human Existence: An Institution-Building Church
By Rhett Burns The book of Proverbs often perplexes modern readers of the Bible with its earthiness. What’s with all the talk of work and women and words? What does that have to do with the Great Commission and the kingdom of God? It turns out a lot. In his book Solomon Says, Mark Horne […]
The Grinch and His Heart Problem
By Jesse Sumpter Hollywood does not understand the Grinch’s heart problem. The famous song has it correct: Mr. Grinch’s heart is an empty hole. But the last two movies about the Grinch have redefined his problem, placing the problem somewhere else. In this way, both movies fundamentally gut the story of its magic. In the […]
In Diversity We Trust?
By Levi Secord Recently, I saw a man with “In diversity we trust” emblazoned on his shirt. Replacing “In God we trust” with this mantra offers insight into how some people view diversity. With the rise of critical race theory and social justice, both inside and outside of the church, many prescribe an increase in […]
Singing and the Sons of God: On the Recovery of Maximalism
Congregational singing is in the crosshairs of Covid-19 as public health recommendations and orders from civil magistrates in some areas of the country seek to restrict the liturgy. Some churches have pulled the trigger and put singing to rest, at least for a time. Others have refused to comply. Leaving aside the question of the […]
The Justice of Poverty
By Levi Secord Central to the social justice movement is the belief that inequality of outcome is a telltale sign of injustice: things like income inequality, education inequality, and social inequality are proof of evil. Of course, this principle is only selectively applied. Higher incarceration rates for men versus women and the rate of police […]
#StillPostmil
By Rhett Burns This year has been a doozy. Australia caught fire for weeks. United States forces killed Iran’s top general, Qasem Soleimani, stoking tensions with the Islamic regime. A global pandemic hit, causing both a health and economic crisis as the world shut down for several months. Experts and politicians paused that pandemic to […]
Are You Serious?
Guest Article by Michael Foster and Bnonn Tennant Do you want to be taken seriously as a man? Most men do, but most men equally find it difficult to be the sort of man that others take seriously. A man with gravitas. Men need gravitas like women need beauty. The term is Latin—a Roman virtue […]
The Refreshing Reality of Hell
By Jesse Sumpter In dark times like these, one of our great hopes is the reality of Hell. It might seem odd to say that, but in the midst of terror and destruction, Hell is a wonderful comfort for Christians to reflect on. The doctrine of Hell also guards us against two common errors that […]
What Christian Witness?
By Levi Secord One tired argument aimed at rowdy Baptists (and Presbyterians) is the need to protect our witness. As the reasoning goes, Christians should wear facemasks, not reopen before the community is ready, and submit to unlawful closures of churches all in the name of protecting our witness. I wonder if those making such […]
Jim, I’m a Pastor not a Doctor: Feminism, Aimee Byrd, and Mark Jones
By Joseph Spurgeon Titus 2:15 These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee. Feminism ruins everything. Everywhere that it raises its rebellious head, harm is soon to follow. Whether it was the willful deception of Eve overturning the created order in her rebellion or her daughters trying to […]
Seductive Statism: David Bahnsen, Robert Sirico, and Big Government
By Jesse Sumpter Thursday, April 9, Acton Institute hosted a live conversation on Zoom between David Bahnsen and Fr. Robert Sirico about the current Covid-19 Economic situation. David Bahnsen is the Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of The Bahnsen Group, managing over $2.25 billion in client assets. Bahnsen was recently on CrossPolitic to talk […]
Coronaing Out of Control
By Levi Secord At this point, frustration, bewilderment, and despair rule over much of our world. As a pastor, I’m tasked with shepherding my flock throughout life. This calling includes helping them live faithfully in the face of global uncertainty. Trials shed light on who we are, especially our weaknesses. Unfortunately, like with other controversies […]
World Baptized: the Riot and the Dance
By Jesse Sumpter I find the deep ocean to be rather intimidating. It is enormous. It is dark. You don’t know what is below the watery surface. Strange large monsters could be lurking below in the darkness and there is no way to know. I think there is something about the mysterious vastness of the […]
Prepare to Meet Your God: Repentance in the Time of Coronavirus
By Rhett Burns We live, like the old Chinese curse goes, in interesting times. A global pandemic and all its political and economic ramifications are wreaking havoc upon the world. The wise among us will ask: What is God doing through this pandemic? The very first thing we must recognize is that God is doing […]
Book Review: The Book that Made your World by Vishal Mangalwadi
By Jesse Sumpter Vishal Mangalwadi, a Christian from India, has written a number of books. One of his recent ones is The Book that Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization. In it, he recounts his experience growing up in India and how different the Indian culture is from the […]
On How We Speak of Sin
Guest Post by Aaron O’Kelley In a 2013 essay, Thabiti Anyabwile wrote regarding same-sex marriage, “Turns out that being civil about indecency actually hurts the traditional cause.” His point was that polite discourse about abominable behavior plays a role in normalizing such behavior. It is not difficult to see why that would be the case. Polite […]