Rod Dreher quotes a young adult who supports gay marriage: Your conception of marriage, the traditional one, is that a man and a woman get married for the purpose of procreation. Marriage isn’t really about romantic love in this conception, but rather a framework for the rearing of children. If we take for granted that this is what marriage is, then I don’t think it’s bigoted at all to not have gay marriage, so long as the coupling is respected. The problem for people my age is this: your definition of marriage was displaced prior to our lifetime. I have no memory of when that definition … [Read more...] about Why Are Conservatives Losing The Marriage Debate?
Practical Ministry
What Makes a Good Leader?
Though this article is about leadership in an academic setting at a college or university, the principles can be generalized: 1. Listening. 2. Inclusiveness. 3. Delegation. 4. Sincerity. 5. Decisiveness. 6. Accountability. 7. Optimism. 8. Realism. 9. Frankness. 10. Self-Effacement. 11. Collegiality. 12. Honesty. 13. Trustworthiness. 14. Morality. In a sentence, a good leader gets under others to lift them up, not over them to enjoy ego gratification. Here's a related article on developing leadership potential. … [Read more...] about What Makes a Good Leader?
John Piper – Future Grace – Revised Edition
Last year Multnomah released a revised edition of Future Grace. In the Preface, Piper writes: Since publishing the first edition of Future Grace in 1995, I have walked through extended controversies surrounding the nature, ground, and instrument of justification. These controversies have sharpened my own grasp of what the Bible teaches. Some of that sharpening is captured in Counted Righteous in Christ: Should We Abandon the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness (Crossway, 2002), The Future of Justification: A Response to N.T. Wright (Crossway, 2007), and Finally Alive: What Happens When We … [Read more...] about John Piper – Future Grace – Revised Edition
Mohler on The Intolerance of Tolerance
Dr. Albert Mohler interviews Dr. D.A. Carson on his book, The Intolerance of Tolerance (which I've mentioned before). You can read the transcript or listen to (or download) the podcast. … [Read more...] about Mohler on The Intolerance of Tolerance
Dr. Ben Carson on Rejecting Darwinian Evolution
Yes, the same Ben Carson who recently delivered a message at the National Prayer Breakfast. In this 10-minute interview with David Boze, he explains why he rejects Darwinian evolution. An excerpt: I think one of the most damning pieces of evidence against evolution is the human genome. You can see that you have very complex, sophisticated coding mechanisms for different amino acids, and various sequences that give you millions of different genetic instructions — very much like computer programming, which uses a series of zeros and ones in different sequences, but gives you very specific … [Read more...] about Dr. Ben Carson on Rejecting Darwinian Evolution
Top 10 Reasons our Youth Leave Church
A significant percentage of 18-29 year olds once raised in the church are no longer attending one. The social forces which once brought transitioning adults back to the church (e.g., marriage, child-raising) are being delayed, sometimes indefinitely. Moreover, our culture, as a whole, is less religious. For example, an Oct 2012 Pew survey shows those claiming "no religion" jumped from ~15% to ~20% from 2007-2012. Among 18-29 year olds, it's one out of three (32%). Yet somewhere between 2/3 and 3/4 of such young adults were raised in religious homes. At least temporarily, the church seems … [Read more...] about Top 10 Reasons our Youth Leave Church