From Law to Grace » Archive
SBC, GCB & the De Facto Name Change Charade
As Yogi Berra would say, “This is like deja vu all over again.” Or, as Ronald Reagan quipped to the second-worst President of the modern-era, Jimmy Carter, “There you go again.” At least that’s what came to mind as I began reading the 2012 Pre-Convention Special Issue of SBC Life that I received in the mail on Tuesday of this week. Published by the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, this “communication piece” is distributed five times a year “to pastors, ministers of education, ministers of music, full-time denominational workers, chaplains, missionaries, and vocational evangelists of the Southern Baptist Convention.” This slick publication usually has several articles that I find particularly beneficial. I would say that it is a good use of Cooperative Program funds to publish this magazine, but … Read entire article »
Filed under: Christianity, Great Commission Resurgence, Religion, SBC Name Change, Southern Baptist Convention
Will the Black Church Rebuke Obama Over Gay Marriage?
That didn’t take long. After Vice President Biden on Sunday opened the floodgates, it was only a matter of time before President Obama publicly expressed what most political observers already knew: that he supports so-called same-sex marriage. Biden, in answering a question posed by Meet the Press’ David Gregory, proudly declared: “The president sets the policy. I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women, and heterosexual men and women marrying another are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties. And quite frankly, I don’t see much of a distinction — beyond that.” If the Vice President, a practicing Roman Catholic, doesn’t “see much of a distinction” between traditional marriage and gay marriage, then he perhaps needs to take remedial catechism classes as well as … Read entire article »
Filed under: Christianity, Homosexual Agenda, Politics, Religion
Andy Stanley’s Perplexing Silence Far From Golden
Silence is golden.” Perhaps Andy Stanley’s defenders (and there are many) would do well to remember the above maxim. It seems that the longer Stanley remains silent in the face of questions regarding his use of a confusing sermon illustration during his April 15, 2012 message, “When Gracie Met Truthy,” (click here and then hit Part 5 of the ”Christian” Series) the more his defenders speak out on his behalf. However, instead of putting this story to bed, the convoluted defenses only raise more questions about how Andy Stanley and North Point approach the issue of homosexuality. In response to my original post, “Andy Stanley’s Soft Landing On Homosexuality,” and in response to subsequent posts by Dr. Albert Mohler (here), President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Denny Burk (here), Associate Professor of Biblical Studies at … Read entire article »
Filed under: Andy Stanley, Christianity, Homosexual Agenda, Religion
Andy Stanley, Homosexuality & the Horns of a Dilemma
A dilemma is a problem offering two possibilities, neither of which is practically acceptable. One in this position has been traditionally described as “being on the horns of a dilemma“, neither horn being comfortable. This is sometimes more colorfully described as “Finding oneself impaled upon the horns of a dilemma”, referring to the sharp points of a bull’s horns, equally uncomfortable (and dangerous). (Dilemma – Wikipedia) Not a good position to find oneself in, but that is exactly where Atlanta-area megachurch pastor Andy Stanley finds himself in today. After first seeing the story reported last Wednesday on SBC Tomorrow, I wrote a post on April 26 titled, “Andy Stanley’s Soft Landing on Homosexuality?” which critiqued one of Stanley’s recent sermons which appeared to condone homosexual behavior. On Tuesday, the story “got … Read entire article »
Filed under: Andy Stanley, Christianity, Grace, Homosexual Agenda, Religion, Theology