US | TLG Christian News

Obama gets tough on immigration

16/01/2017 0 Comment

With about a week left in office, President Obama has finally cracked down on immigration: against Cubans. Escapees from our Communist neighbor have long been given automatic legal immigrant status once they arrive on our shores. But no more. Now they will be returned for punishment.
The Obama administration says that now, in light of our “normalized relations” with Cuba, Cuban refugees will be treated like any other immigrants. Except other immigrants are allowed to enter illegally with impunit..

Letter from a Birmingham Jail

16/01/2017 0 Comment

To observe Martin Luther King Day, read his classic “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” It was written to fellow pastors who were concerned that a man of the cloth would engage in protests that would get him arrested.
The letter is interesting in itself for the case that it makes for civil disobedience, under certain very restrictive conditions. Some of what he says will resonate with pro-lifers and religious freedom advocates.
The letter also shows how it was possible back then in 1963 to continua..

Luther’s influence on German culture

13/01/2017 0 Comment

The Economist has a fascinating article on “How Martin Luther has shaped Germany for half a millennium.” I’m not sure how accurate it is. (Luther’s moralism? For the person who insisted that salvation is by grace through faith, rather than good works? Well, maybe so. Maybe this is evidence that an emphasis on faith really [Read More…]

Gay divorce

13/01/2017 0 Comment

We have gay marriage. Now we are also getting gay divorce. The New York Times has published an op-ed piece entitled “I Got Gay Married. I Got Gay Divorced. I Regret Both.” The author, Meredith Maran, tells with poignant honesty how she crusaded for gay marriage, took the plunge, but then went through a long, costly, and painful divorce.
After the jump, theology professor Denny Burk quotes from the article and comments on the problem: wanting the rights of marriage without the norms of marriage (..

Legal rights for robots as “electronic persons”

13/01/2017 0 Comment

A committee of the European Parliament has passed a measure that would give legal rights to robots, classifying them as “electronic persons.” It also imposes obligations, such as liability for any damages they might be responsible for. The report also says that robots must not be made so as to appear “emotionally dependent” and must have a kill switch, should they go rogue.That the committee is thinking in science fiction terms is evident in its implementation of Isaac Asimov’s Laws of Robotics,..

Trump and the prosperity gospel

12/01/2017 0 Comment

Giving the opening prayer at Donald Trump’s inauguration will be Paula White, a megachurch “pastor” and televangelist who is a leading proponent of the “prosperity gospel.” In fact, prosperity gospel preachers were the leading “evangelicals” who supported Trump from the beginning in an organized way.
Westminster professor and White Horse Inn host Michael Horton has published an op-ed piece in the Washington Post about the prosperity gospel movement and its connections to the president-elect. He ..

Trump’s news conference & confirmation hearings

12/01/2017 0 Comment

Donald Trump held his first news conference since winning the election. He said that he now believes the Russians were probably responsible for the Democratic National Committee e-mail hacks, but he blasted the report that Russia has compromising information on him, singling out CNN for its reporting and Buzzfeed for publishing the unverified document.
Also, confirmation hearings for Trump’s cabinet are underway. His attorney-general nominee, Jeff Sessions, said that abortion and same-sex marria..

Interfaith service surprise

12/01/2017 0 Comment

The Anglican cathedral in Glasgow, in its interfaith zeal, invited a Muslim to read from the Qu’ran in the divine service for Epiphany. The purpose was to show that Muslims too honor Jesus. The reader did read the accounts of Jesus’s birth in the Muslim holy book, but then went on to read the passage that specifically denies that Jesus is God’s son.
A controversy has broken out, but the point should be clear: All religions do NOT teach the same things. And to pretend otherwise, as interfaith ser..

More misunderstanding of vocation

11/01/2017 0 Comment

Frederich Buechner is a novelist and writer that I really appreciate, but his definition of vocation is causing confusion. He said that your vocation is “the place where your deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.” Great words with some good applications, but to say this describes vocation contributes to the notion that vocation is something special, tied to self-fulfillment, and something better than ordinary “jobs.”
So now Jo Swinney, thinking of that definition, says, writing for Christia..

Actors vs. Trump

11/01/2017 0 Comment

Meryl Streep took the occasion of her lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes to give a blistering speech against president-elect Donald Trump. See Mollie Hemingway’s critique of her speech.
Now actors have the same right as all other citizens to criticize their public officials. This, along with other recent “public service” spots featuring actors and their political causes, does raise another issue: acting outside of one’s vocation.
Actors have the vocation of effectively speaking line..