Last spring I had the privilege of speaking at a conference for NFL players put on by Pro Athletes Outreach (PAO), a group which exists to unite a community of pro athletes and couples to grow as disciples of Jesus and positively impact their spheres of influence. They have a fantastic outreach to professional football and baseball athletes and their wives. I’ve seen firsthand the amazing difference they’re making. In the off-season I exchanged emails and texts with dozens of NFL players and cha..Continue reading→
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Thoughts
Motherhood Is a Marathon
I wanted to do great things for God. In the spring of my senior year of college, on the brink of embarking upon my own journey into adulthood, my future was undecided and that was simultaneously terrifying and thrilling. As a philosophy major, my path was narrower than I had realized, but I was sure it would take me on some grand and glorious adventure. I knew the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. “Glorify” sounds like such a grand term. It evokes images of battlefie..Continue reading→
1 Peter 5:7–8: How Not to Battle Anxiety
Anxieties attack our faith and torment our peace. The question with anxiety is not whether it will come, but rather, how can I fight it when it does? Watch NowContinue reading→
Is Love of Money Really the Root of All Evils?
Is the love of money the “root of all evils” or only the “root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10)? “All evils” is the formal English equivalent of the original Greek (pantōn tōn kakōn). It is remarkable that all older versions of the Bible translate 1 Timothy 6:10 in the more literal way: “The love of money is the root of all evils” (or all evil). This includes the Wycliffe Bible, Luther Bibel, Geneva Bible, King James Version, Douay-Rheims, Darby Bible, and Revised Standard Version. Bu..Continue reading→
Hot Topics
When Fundamentalists Do It, It’s not Sexy
…the historiographical truism about evangelical Protestantism was that they were not separatists. Fundamentalists were. And so, evangelicals were good (broad minded) and fundamentalists were bad (intolerant). The dividing line was particularly the question of whether conservative Protestants could cooperate with the mainline (read liberal) Protestant denominations. ‘It’ in this case is separatism. Back in grad school days the historiographical truism about evangelical Protestantism was that the..Continue reading→
The Curse of Constantine and the Lie of the Lesser of Two Evils
As the church has sought to gain and keep political power, it has often compromised by giving into the lie that we must always choose the lesser of two evils. The church has been forced into situations of moral compromise by a worldly political power Jesus never called it to have. From the very beginning, the church had to decide how much it would compromise in order to gain and keep the favor of the emperor. They had to decide how far they would bend God’s word to win political favor. “Those w..Continue reading→
The Da Vinci Code After Ten Years: Reflections on Heresy & Christology
In fact, Stephen Nichols used The Da Vinci Code as the launch pad of his 2007 book, For Us and for Our Salvation: The Doctrine of Christ in the Early Church. “If we learn anything from The Da Vinci Code phenomenon, it must be the lesson of the importance of getting the person of Christ right,” Nichols wrote in his introduction. “The early church labored over this question, and they did so in the face of intense challenge. The contemporary church needs to do no less.” Ten years ago, back in Augu..Continue reading→
Pluck Out…Your Candidate?
Let us never kid ourselves into thinking that obsessive political investment on social media or in private conversations with believers or unbelievers will further the kingdom of God one inch. The kingdom of God is furthered by the proclamation of the Word and by the work of the Spirit in opening the hearts of people to receive the message of Christ crucified. The kingdom of God is advanced by the work of evangelism and discipleship–by using the means of grace that God has given to his people an..Continue reading→
Movies
Watch: Idris Elba on being the villain in Star Trek Beyond
The film comes out in ten days and I still don’t have a very clear sense as to what Star Trek Beyond will be about — but one thing we do know is that the big “villain” of this film will be an alien who questions the Federation’s assumptions about itself. This aspect of the movie is teased in a new featurette that went online today. Here is the featurette in question: Incidentally, the film premiered in Australia last week, but no reviews have surfaced yet (at least not in any of the trades), an..Continue reading→
The first four clips from Ben-Hur are now online, and a few other things we learned about the movie today
A lot of new footage from the upcoming remake of Ben-Hur went live today. First, the ShareBenHur.com website posted four clips from the film as part of a “faith-based” discussion guide. And then, a 20-minute montage of film clips was included in a simulcast hosted by Rick Warren and producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey that was streamed to churches and other venues across the country. These clips give us our best look at the film yet, and they reveal some of the ways that this new version of B..Continue reading→
Box office: Pets, Dory set new records for animated films
A couple of animated films set a few new records at the box office this week. First, The Secret Life of Pets made an estimated $103.2 million between Thursday and Sunday nights, which is the biggest opening ever for an original animated film (previous champ: last year’s Inside Out, which opened to $90.4 million). The film also had the sixth-biggest opening of any animated movie ever, behind four sequels (Finding Dory, Shrek 2 + 3, Toy Story 3) and one prequel (Minions). Second, Finding Dory gros..Continue reading→
Prophet Joseph — episodes twenty-one and twenty-two
Synopsis. Joseph continues to encourage his fellow inmates. One day, while they are all on a food break at the quarry, Joseph sees a Canaanite chasing a runaway camel, and Joseph, without revealing who he is, asks the man for news of his family and gives him a cryptic message to take back to Jacob. Apopis is woken by a bad dream and learns that Inarus, too, has had a dream. They ask Joseph to interpret the dreams, and Joseph, to prove his words are trustworthy, makes a prophecy that comes true w..Continue reading→
Review: The Secret Life of Pets
Dear parents: It’s inevitable — you’re going to see “The Secret Life of Pets.” Your kids, who have likely already flipped for “Zootopia” and “Finding Dory,” will eat up this comedy about what dogs and cats do when their masters are away.They are going to love the cartoon antics, slapstick shenanigans and anthropomorphic tomfoolery. Sure, they may have just seen a giant octopus drive a truck in “Finding Dory,” but that won’t stop them from cackling with delight when a homicidal bunny causes a tra..Continue reading→
Chariots of Fire returns to theatres and gets a “sequel”
The Olympics will be upon us soon, and to mark the occasion, Chariots of Fire — the Oscar-winning 1981 film about two athletes, one Jewish and one Christian, who represented Great Britain at the 1924 Olympics in Paris — is coming back to theatres for one night only. An unofficial “sequel” has also started playing in China. The “sequel” in question is The Last Race, a Hong Kong-Chinese film that focuses on the last years of Eric Liddell, the Christian athlete from the earlier film. Liddell was bo..Continue reading→
Paramount releases new character posters for Ben-Hur
Paramount released three sets of posters today featuring the five main characters from Ben-Hur. Curiously, the main set of posters — released via the film’s official social media accounts — did not include any images of Jesus, but the other two sets (at least one of which is aimed at foreign audiences) did. Check ’em out below the jump. First, the main set, which consists of four posters — all of which, incidentally, say the film has been rated PG-13 for “sequences of violence and disturbing ima..Continue reading→
Watch: Trailers for eight independent “faith-based” films, all coming out between August and October of this year
The first months of the year and the last weeks of summer are the slowest moviegoing times of the year. Not coincidentally, perhaps, those are also the two times of year when a lot of the smaller, independent “faith-based” films tend to come out, since they don’t have to worry about blockbusters crowding them out of the multiplex. This year is no exception. In the last few weeks, I have received a lot of press releases and watched several trailers for “faith-based” films that are coming out betw..Continue reading→
“The Fight Within” hits theaters in August in a faith-film cage match
A young fighter grapples with the choices he must make to overcome a troubled past and survive in the world of MMA as he builds a new life of faith and love. “THE FIGHT WITHIN”—a muscular faith film set in the rough-and-tumble world of MMA (mixed martial arts)—premieres in limited theatrical release, nationwide August 12, 2016, from GVN Releasing. With a mashup of faith, fighting and romance, the film’s pro..Continue reading→
Music
Switchfoot and Relient K Announce Second Leg of Looking for America Tour
Switchfoot and Relient K announced this week that they've been enjoying their co-headlining tour so much that they'll be extending it into a second leg in 2017. "Our nation needs hope and healing more than ever- playing these songs of healing every night with our friends Relient K has brought such beautiful moments to life," Switchfoot explained through a facebook post. "In fact, we want to extend the tour and bring these songs to a few of our favorite cities that we missed along the..Continue reading→
Natasha Owens Releases Video For ‘Wings’
Natasha Owens has released the encouraging song "Wings" to Christian radio, and the message of the inspirational tune is already impacting radio and hearts all across the country. The song is the third single release from her latest recording, No One But You, available on iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon, among others. The reach of Natasha's ministry continues to expand. Including tour dates with Ryan Stevenson, ..Continue reading→
Ginny Owens Releases ‘Love Be The Loudest’ Friday, November 18
Award-winning singer-songwriter Ginny Owens releases her ninth studio album, Love Be The Loudest, this Friday, Nov. 18, on her indie label, Chick Power Music, with The Fuel Music distribution. The acclaimed new music shares a timely message for today's culture and will premiere on several different platforms this week, including two live events that will be available for audiences internationally. Two songs, the reimagined version of Owens' No. 1 hit song "If You Want Me To" and "The L..Continue reading→
Grayson|Reed To Release New Project ‘Walk’ January 13
Husband and wife duo, Grayson|Reed, will release their first project for Centricity Music, Walk, on January 13, 2017. The six-song EP will be available at all online music outlets, with a nine-song version of the record only being sold at Grayson|Reed concerts. Besides the amazing talents of Mike Grayson (Mikeschair) and Molly Reed (City Harbor), numerous producers took part in creating this project including Justin Ebach, Ben Glover, Jeff Pardo and Seth Mosley. Grayson|Reed co-wrote all the ori..Continue reading→
Unto Us by JJ Heller
Track Listing 01. Winter Wonderland 02. Christmas Is Here 03. White Christmas 04. Unto Us 05. I'll Be Home For Christmas 06. Oh, To See Christmas 07. Count Your Blessings 08. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas 09. Let It Snow 10. O Little Town of Bethlehem 11. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel 12. Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring 13. Silent Night Continue reading→
These Things Take Time EP by S.O.
Just over a year since his highly-acclaimed So It Ends album which charted well in the US and UK S.O. thought an EP would be the perfect transition after completing the So It Ends, So It Continues, So it Ends series of albums. "I thought it would be good to give the fans something," S.O. said. "When you make a trilogy, it's fine-tuned. These Things Take Time was a way for me to give the fans new music as I begin to work on my next project." The EP's artwork a picture of S.O. covered in clay suggests[...]Continue reading→
Waiting For The Dawn by Salt Of The Sound
Salt Of The Sound is the award-winning musical collaboration of Stockholm-based husband and wife duo Anita and Ben Tatlow. Their aim is to create songs that encourage a spirit of reflection both in church environments and in times of personal quiet, while also exploring musical styles and expressions that bring a freshness to the Christian music scene. Salt Of The Sound's new EP Waiting For The Dawn centres around the theme of light, which is echoed in different ways across all of the songs, and features heavily in the Advent traditions of Nordic countries. Waiting For The Dawn combines these[...]Continue reading→
American
Five Principles for Approaching the Bible after Genome Science
Adam and the Genome Books are officially available tomorrow. Clips from the first chapter in the second half of the book. Principle 1: A text out of context is a pretext. Every statement about Adam and Eve in the Old Testament, in Jewish literature, and in the New Testament is a statement made from a context and into a context. Furthermore, some of the statements about Adam and Eve in all of this literature are designed to speak against that context. That is, those statements are polemics and ap..
The Parable of the Good Deplorable
The Parable of the Good Deplorable, by Jason Micheli In front of a crowd of 70 (Or 140, who’s to say how big the crowd really was?) this lawyer tries to trap Jesus by turning the scriptures against him: “Who is my neighbor?” he presses. It’s the kind of bible question they could’ve debated for weeks. Read one part of Leviticus and God’s policy is Israel First; your neighbor is just your fellow Jew. Read another part of Leviticus and your neighbor includes the illegal immigrants and refugees in y..
Epiphany Prayer
Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of your people, and in our time grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. BCP
In the News: The Fate of Refugees
Nation states have chosen and encoded in law their boundaries and what it takes to get in and out of those boundaries. I don’t get to walk into Canada without going through an officer’s inspection, and Canadians don’t get to enter the USA without inspection. Such laws seem reasonable to most of us. Even so, what about refugees? In the Ancient Near East nations by law insisted in international treaties that refugee slaves be returned to their masters. One of the more remarkable counter-cultural l..
US
Democrats lost because they raised religious liberty fears
The reason the Democrats lost, argues David Bernstein in the Washington Post, is that their words, actions, and policies made large numbers of Christians afraid that their religious liberty is in jeopardy. So even though they had major qualms about Donald Trump, they voted for him in large enough numbers to give him the victory. Bernstein’s point, I believe, is that Democrats wouldn’t have to threaten religious liberty to meet their major policy goals. The country could have gay marriage without..
Macy’s drops Planned Parenthood
Macy’s department store no longer funds or matches contributions to Planned Parenthood. Neither do AT&T, Coca-Cola, Ford, and Xerox. For a list of big corporations that still do fund the abortion provider, click the link after the jump. We’ll see if the biggest funder of Planned Parenthood has a similar change of heart: namely, the United States government. From Macy’s: We No Longer Donate to Planned Parenthood Abortion Business | LifeNews.com: Another large corporation has decided to cease dona..
“Even if they are fools, they shall not go astray”
More prophecies of the coming of Christ for our Advent contemplation: Isaiah 35, yesterday’s Old Testament reading. I give the chapter after the jump. It’s about how God “will come and save you,” and what this will mean for “the redeemed,” those “ransomed by the Lord.” This includes those who are weak, infirm, and “anxious.” I take special comfort from verse 8: “even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.” The Ransomed Shall Return35 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the dese..
CIA says Russia helped Trump
The CIA says that Russia deliberately interfered in the American election in order to help elect DonalTrump. Russian hackers broke into e-mails of both the Democratic and the Republican national committees, but turned over only the Democratic batch to Wikileaks. The correspondence between Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta and various Democratic operatives proved highly embarrassing to her campaign and likely cost her some votes. Trump and his people are denying the Russian involve..