 | Jonathan Falwell: Culture Is Redefining
What's Right, Wrong
Joining pastors throughout the country in denouncing President Barack Obama's support for same-sex marriage, Pastor Jonathan Falwell told thousands from the pulpit that they must protect the biblical definition of marriage, even if the culture and the president tries to redefine it. "We've got to protect marriage; we've got to protect our families; we've got to protect the Church," Falwell, senior pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Va., preached Sunday. "I don't care what the world says; I don't care what the culture says; I don't even care what the president says. With all due respect ... the Bible says that God made them male and female and the two shall become one flesh. "Marriage is between a man and a woman, period," he said to applause from the congregation. Following Obama's announcement last Wednesday that he believes same-sex couples should be able to get married, pastors have spoken out either rejecting the president's views or welcoming it. The Rev. Emmett Burns, who was previously a staunch supporter for Obama's election in 2008, announced on Sunday that he is withdrawing his support over his gay marriage stance. "Burns has been at the forefront of the Maryland fight against same sex marriages and is appalled at the president's decision to endorse this practice," according to an announcement. The Maryland pastor also intends to encourage other Baltimore pastors to follow suit. MORE |  | | | |
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| Tuesday, May 15th, 2012 | | | | NEWS ITEMS OF INTEREST TO CHRISTIANS | Imprisoned Iranian Pastor Alive, In Good Spirits
Though Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani remains in prison in Iran, a new letter gives reason to believe he is still alive | Buzz over Obama Gay Marriage Not Dying Down
The first Sunday after President Obama's decision to back same-sex marriage had pulpits and news programs buzzing. | Black Pastors Speak Out on Obama's Gay Marriage Stance
Black pastors across the country dwelt on President Barack Obama's stance during worship services Sunday, after Obama's May 9 announcement that he supports gay marriage. | Pollster Rasmussen's Hope Isn't In Politics
A Christian pollster asserts that the only way to change politics and the country is for believers to live out their Christianity and share it with others. | Baptist Group Giving Up Official Status at Vanderbilt
Although Vanderbilt University approved a campus ministry's reapplication for status, the Baptist group has decided to decline. | Court First, Then Church
A worker at a major tourist attraction in the United Kingdom has won the right to have Sundays off for church -- a victory that took two and a half years to claim. | NY Child Porn Decision Receives Backlash
A recent New York State Court of Appeals decision that said viewing child porn is legal has received backlash from the public and the legislative arena. | Colorado Day of Prayer Ruled Unconstitutional
A Colorado appeals court panel recently ruled that the state's Day of Prayer is "predominantly religious" and violates the constitutional rights of nonbelievers. | Breakaway Va. Church Moves on 'With Purpose'
Members of an historic, Northern Virginia Anglican church are moving on "with purpose" after meeting for their final service in their sanctuary Sunday. | | | | CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS EDITORIALS | Robert Knight: Obama's Wicked Marriage Proposal
President Obama has come out of the closet, so to speak, in support of brideless or groomless "marriage." And he brought Jesus with him, citing Christ as his inspiration. | | | | MINISTRY & SCRIPTURE RELATED ARTICLES AND ESSAYS | Adoniram Judson: Endurance Personified in the Life of a Protestant Missionary
As we celebrate the 200th anniversary of Adoniram and Ann Judson's sailing from Salem, Massachusetts to India and later Burma, we are not merely celebrating a critical early event in the North American Mission Movement. We celebrate the life of a devoted follower of Christ whose life and ministry personified the long-term impact of endurance and perseverance... | Dan Delzell: Should Anyone Planning to Sin Be Baptized?
Each one of us is a sinner. There is no getting around it. So what is the difference between a sinner who has been saved by God's grace, and a sinner who is still lost in his sins? |
/////| Monday, May 14th, 2012 | | | | NEWS ITEMS OF INTEREST TO CHRISTIANS | Plane En Route to Christian Rally Crashes, 4 Dead
A small airplane that crashed in southeast Kansas on Friday was carrying five people with connections to Oral Roberts University to a Christian youth rally. | Mother's Day Church Attendance Ranks 3rd
Between Easter and Christmas, Mother's Day may be the most likely day people will attend church, according to a study by LifeWay Research. In a national poll of 1,000 Protestant pastors, LifeWay Research asked what the three highest attendance Sundays were throughout the year. | Poll: Obama's Gay Marriage Stance Could Cost Him Votes
A new poll shows that President Barack Obama's decision to support gay marriage might make many independents and even some Democrats less likely to vote for him in November. | Kansas County Commission Won't Reinstate Prayer
Officials in Reno County (Kansas) are ending their tradition of mostly Christian prayer before meetings. | Samaritan's Purse Calls Christians to Pray for Peace in Sudan
Refugee pastors are asking Christians to pray for peace between Sudan and South Sudan. | Anti-Religion Campus Policies Targeted By ADF
The Alliance Defense Fund has launched a nationwide campaign to convince state universities and colleges to change policies that restrict students' First Amendment rights. | ABC Cancels Controversial 'GCB' Series
ABC has cancelled its freshman series with the controversial title "GCB," which some believed mocked Christians, as it failed to attract enough viewership. | | | | CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS EDITORIALS | Kelly Boggs: Gay Marriage Misconceptions
...One misconception is that North Carolina, along with 31 other states, has banned gay marriage. In actuality all voters in the Tar Heel State did was to establish that the only legally recognized marriages in their state will be those that take place between a man and a woman. | Am Thinker: Modern Gnosticism and the Family as Contract
...Specifically, there is a Gnostic impracticality in the vain pretense that children can be loved and raised just as well under an adult-contracting arrangement as within a real, traditional, and physical family unit. The re-packagers of marriage fail to grasp this because they are... | Am Thinker:: Demonizing Conservative Thought
The president has adopted an electoral strategy of demonizing conservative thought. In a now-infamous speech, President Obama referred to his conservative opponents as "stuck in the past," and as "naysayers" who "don't believe in the future." He scoffed that his... | One News Now: Our Fascination With Saviors
The Avengers is about a fundamentally moral battle. It evokes a truth through narrative fiction that we can experience in real life. Christians need to be unafraid to share about their own Avenger and Savior. | Am Thinker:: Should Critically Discussing Islam Be a Form of Hate Speech?
...Hedegaard dared say that Islam should be criticized for endorsing coerced child-bride marriages. The prosecutor never alleged that anything Hedegaard stated was untrue. Truth under the Dutch hate speech law is largely irrelevant. | David Cloud: Inventor of the MRI Says Evolution is Science Fiction
...If you take the trouble to examine the evidence supporting the Bible and contradicting alternative theories, from my perception, the evidence is overwhelmingly in support of the biblical record and vacates alternative thoughts such as evolution. The evidence for evolution is non-existent. In my opinion, evolution is science fiction. | | | | MINISTRY & SCRIPTURE RELATED ARTICLES AND ESSAYS | Jonathan Leeman: What Is Church Membership?
Church membership is a formal relationship between a local church and a Christian characterized by the church’s affirmation and oversight of a Christian’s discipleship and the Christian’s submission to living out his or her discipleship in the care of the church. | Jared C. Wilson: What is Better?
...God did not make us to “feel good inside” (or outside) all the time this side of heaven; he made us to share in the sufferings of Christ, that we might share in his resurrection. | Nathan Bingham: Grief — A Forgotten Apologetic
Whether that’s from seeing “prosperity gospel” false teachers on television, or observing conservative Christians leaving their homes on Sunday morning wearing their “happy clothes” and “happy face.” Either way, we’re good at giving the world the impression that life’s hard for the heathen and roses for the righteous. But that’s not true. | Julie Yarbrough: Grief is Ministry
...You see, until my husband died in 2004, I had never experienced the death of someone intimately close to my heart. The truth is, it is absolutely impossible to comprehend the death of another person before the fact, however dire the circumstance. | Jared C. Wilson: How to Deal with Persistent Guilt
A little-known seventeenth-century Puritan, Thomas Wilcox . . . wrote Honey Out of the Rock, one of the most helpful essays we’ve found on dealing with persistent guilt. We’ve updated into modern language a series of Wilcox’s instructions for dealing with persistent guilt: | Aaron Armstrong: Division, Contending and Speaking the Truth in Love
...Younger Christians (and non-Christians) struggle to understand the uproar from their conservative forebearers. Rachel Held Evans is right to point this out. But just because homosexuality seems “normal” to the 30 and under crowd, it doesn’t mean that our response ought to be to throw their hands up in the air and sigh, “Can’t we all just get along?” | Art Lindsley: Seven Key Ideas from C. S. Lewis
I have heard it said that many well-known thinkers have only two or three key ideas that they develop from various angles throughout their lives. It might be asked: What are C.S. Lewis’s key ideas? I have chosen seven to summarize in this essay | Dave Stone: Families Are Key to the Future of the Church
Have you ever been asked why the church focuses so much attention on families?...churches often provide resource upon resource for married couples and families. So, what’s the reason for this? Why is the family so central to the church? | Geoff Surratt: Leadership Training That Works
...I want to look at how Jesus developed leaders. He never held a class, he never put out a sign-up sheet, there wasn’t even a Starbucks in Galilee. But the eleven men he poured his life into changed the world. So here are my observations on the Jesus Leadership Pipeline... | | | | GENERAL ARTICLES AND ESSAYS | Wired: The Age of Microcelebrity
Microcelebrity is the phenomenon of being extremely well known not to millions but to a small group --- a thousand people, or maybe only a few dozen. As DIY media reach ever deeper into our lives, it's happening to more and more of us. Gota Facebook account? A whackload of.... | Licorice: The Candy That Fights Diabetes
A new treatment for diabetes may have just been identified from the most unlikely source: the basic ingredient of a candy. Licorice root, the raw material for licorice candy, has now been hailed as containing substances with an anti-diabetic effect. |
///////| Weekend, May 12th-13th, 2012 | USA Today: Mother's Day Packs the Pews
Hold the chocolate and flowers. What mom may really want for Mother's Day is for the whole gang to go to church. A survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors finds Mother's Day ranks right after Easter and Christmas in peak church attendance. MORE | | NEWS ITEMS OF INTEREST TO CHRISTIANS | Colorado Appeals Court Declares Day of Prayer Unconstitutional
A Colorado court has ruled the state’s proclamation for a Day of Prayer is unconstitutional. The state appeals court made the ruling Thursday on the proclamations by former Govs. Bill Ritter, a Democrat, and Bill Owens, a Republican, saying they violate the Constitution's provisions for religious liberty. | Excavations Find Evidence Of Solomon's Temple, Archaeologists Say
Archaeologists have unearthed a trove of artifacts dating back to the time of the biblical King David that they say closely correspond to the description of Solomon's Temple found in the Book of Kings. Hebrew University archaeologist Yosef Garfinkel said the find "is extraordinary" | Liberty U President: Romney Speech Should Focus on Graduates, Not Politics
For all the attention on Mitt Romney's commencement speech at Liberty University on Saturday, most of it has been on how or if he will try and woo evangelicals voters. But the conservative school's president, Jerry Falwell, Jr., hopes the focus of Romney's message will be on the graduates and not on politics. | Abortion Groups Alarmed at Growing Pro-Life Support
Nancy Keenan, leader of the nation's largest pro-choice organization, announced this week that's she's stepping down amid concerns of a lack of abortion support among young voters. | Unborn Babies Count In the White House
One pro-lifer finds it interesting that pregnant mothers must register their preborn babies before taking a tour of the White House, considering the fact that the current occupant of the White House is pro-abortion. | CBN News: Artifacts from King David's Time Confirm Bible
Was the Bible's King David man or myth? That's the question Israeli archeologists are answering with new archeological finds. Their discoveries also shed light on how the first Jewish temple was built. Khirbet Qeiyafa is in the Elah Valley. MORE | Who Should Christians Vote For? Look to Biblical Teachings, Pastor Urges
Dr. Ken Hutcherson, the pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in Redmond, Wash., has told Christians in America to look to the word of God before they consider presidential candidates this coming election year, and has set a clear message – Christians should not support those who go against Biblical teachings. | Pastor Says 'Society Is On Thin Ice' With Obama's Gay Marriage Endorsement
Pastor Ed Young of Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas, stated that society is treading on "thin ice" after President Barack Obama declared his support for same-sex marriage. | Congress Closer to Protecting Chaplains' Conscience
In a 36-25 vote Wednesday, a House panel passed an amendment directing the military to accommodate those who are morally opposed homosexuality. | Pastors Disappointed by Obama's Shift on Marriage
Pastor Charles Bagi, in Chesapeake, Va., categorically denounced Obama's position, suggesting his endorsement of gay marriage did not bode well for the nation. | Catholic School Welcoming Abortion Supporter
Fallout continues over Georgetown University inviting Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to speak at its Public Policy Institute awards ceremony this year. | Message To Law-Abiding Citizens -- 'You're a Sucker'
he head of an immigration reform organization is outraged that a loophole is allowing illegal aliens and other people not even in the U.S. to fraud the government out of billions of dollars, leaving American taxpayers who play by the rules to pay the price. | Focus on the Family Says Obama Disrespecting 'Will of the People'
President Obama is disregarding the will of the people by supporting same-sex marriage, said Focus on the Family President Jim Daly. "The role of government is to do what is best for its people: all its people," he said. | Egyptian Cleric: 'Jerusalem is Our Capital'
The Obama administration has been reaching out to the Muslim Brotherhood, which recently won the majority of seats in Egypt's parliament. But critics warn that the group is anything but moderate, as evidenced by a May 1 Muslim Brotherhood rally, where Egyptian cleric Safwat Higazi called for a march on Jerusalem."Say 'Allah Akbar!' Our capital shall not be Cairo, Mecca or Medina. It shall be Jerusalem, Allah willing," Higazi declared. | Low Birth Rate Could Mean the Extinction of the Japanese People
Japanese researchers have now warned of a doomsday scenario if it carries on this way with the last child to be born there in 3011 and the Japanese people potentially disappearing a few generations later. | As TBN Sorts Through Its Troubles
A ministry watchdog organization has handed the world's largest Christian broadcasting network the lowest grade for ministry transparency. | Town Fights to Keep Welcome Sign With Bible Verse
The Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter to an Alabama town demanding that they remove Bible verses that were posted on four welcome signs. They said the signs were unconstitutional. | Facebook Co-Founder Gives Up U.S. Citizenship Before IPO
Eduardo Saverin, the billionaire co- founder of Facebook Inc. renounced his U.S. citizenship before an initial public offering that values the social network at as much as $96 billion, a move that may reduce his tax bill. | | | | | | MINISTRY & SCRIPTURE RELATED ARTICLES AND ESSAYS | David Cloud: From Southern Baptist to Goddess Worship -- Sue Monk Kidd
Sue Monk Kidd is a very popular writer...Kidd is quoted favorably by evangelicals...It is “contemplative spirituality” that changed Kidd’s life, and her experience is a loud warning about flirting with Catholic mysticism. | Dustin Neeley: Justification by Twitter
...Throughout history, we have bowed down to golden cattle, celestial beings, stone animals... With the passage of time, the number of ways we exchange worship for the one true God for lesser, false gods has only increased. Today, we can add yet another idol---social media. | Brian Croft: What Should a Pastor Most Want to Hear After Preaching a Funeral?
...A burly man with a bushy beard and a long pony tail had already left, but I saw that he came back in specifically to talk with me. I must be honest, I had no idea what I would hear. What I heard was a great, unexpected encouragement to me. | Kent Brandenburg: Going Too Far with Separation?
...Usually evangelicals are the ones criticizing for going too far with separation. But this would also be a complaint of fundamentalist parachurch organizations. They can't have "too much" separation, because a major way that Christian colleges get the enrollment to meet payroll is by cobbling together a coalition based upon minimizing doctrine. | Mark Altrogge: Sins, Failures, Regrets And A Sovereign God
...Ever done something without praying or seeking counsel only to have it backfire on you? And now years later you continue to pay the price. Or worse yet, maybe others now suffer because of your sins or failures. Your children or spouse. It’s so easy to be filled with regret | Tim Challies: 6 Bullet Points on Preaching
The Apostle Paul had a lot to say about preaching, but I think the majority of it can be grouped under six main headings or ideas. You could, of course, extract specific teaching points from each one, but I think there’s value in looking at them in a broad sense. | White Horse Inn: How Wisdom Avoids Legalism and License
We are so good at being legalists. One minute we’re the “older brother” in our Lord’s parable, resentful of the Father’s lavish grace showered on the prodigal son; the next minute we’re smug judges of the “pharisees.” To reverse the roles in another parable, gospel-liberated... | David Cloud: Who Is Dallas Willard?
Dallas Willard (b. 1935) is a philosophy professor who has had an influence on the emerging church and evangelicalism at large through his writings on contemplative spirituality and the kingdom of God. He has been called a “key mentor in the emerging church.” | Brad Hambrick: A Sexual Abuse Prevention Policy For Churches
Every church ought to have the best possible sexual abuse prevention policies in their children’s ministry. These should be followed closely and reviewed regularly. But what happens when evil slips through the cracks of even the best policies and procedures? | Michael Horton: Same-Sex Marriage Makes a Lot of Sense?
Same-sex marriage makes sense if you assume that the individual is the center of the universe, that God—if he exists—is there to make us happy, and that our choices are not grounded in a nature created by God but in arbitrary self-construction. | Paul Tautges: The Sluggard’s Squeaky Bed
The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! A lion is in the open square!” As the door turns on its hinges, so does the sluggard on his bed. The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is weary of bringing it to his mouth again. The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men | Thomas Ice: Who Are the 24 Elders of Revelation?
An important interpretative issue in the Book of Revelation revolves around the identity of the 24 elders. Who the 24 elders represent can be very important in regards to the pre-trib rapture | | RELATIONSHIP, MARRIAGE & FAMILY | Amy Henry, Patheos: How to Create a Prodigal Daughter
First, students, remember to major on minors: Make no differentiation between social guffaws and moral absolutes. In fact, invert your response if possible–For commandment-breaking acts, throw up your hands and say, Oh, she didn’t actually mean to lie. And, for matters of indifference, go bat-crud-crazy... | Ministry Matters: Our Extraordinary Ordinary Moms
Motherhood seems to be made up of a million small things. We hold our tiny babies. We fold their little clothes. We lose their tiny shoes in our mini vans and their teensy weensy socks in our dryers. We celebrate baby steps and small victories. And there are days when we can’t seem to... MORE | Thom Rainer: Mother's Day Teaching Tools
Mother's Day in the United States was first proclaimed in 1870 in Boston by Julia Ward Howe, and Howe called for it to be observed each year nationally in 1872. As originally envisioned, Howe's "Mother's Day" was a call for pacifism and disarmament by women. Early "Mother's Day" was mostly marked by women's peace groups. A common early activity was the meeting of groups... MORE |
////////////////// |  It is certainly Biblical for us to use our rights as citizens, as Paul used his Roman citizenship in Acts, and for us to follow Christ's command to be salt and light in our society-- never- theless, we are also? not to violate Biblical precepts about separation, nor neglect the fact that preaching the gospel and making disciples is the Great Commission, not simply trying to influence society. Is there a Biblical way to preach the gospel, stand for godly government, and cry out against the evils of our society at the same time, while maintaining Biblical separation? Should we join hands with those who preach a false gospel to advance political causes? What can be done to cry out for righteousness when we now have a president who openly supports sodomite marriage, not to mention the murder of the preborn.... MORE |  I am trained as a journalist. And I’m trained as a preacher. You might be surprised to learn there’s significant overlap between these callings. Both teach by distilling complicated concepts about how the world works. Both herald news, good and bad. You might not know about the overlap between these callings because journalists and preachers generally don’t like each other. Journalists rank among the most skeptical professionals. They don’t trust anyone they cover. A pastor recently told me his church convenes meetings for Christian artists, bankers, and many other professionals. Despite the many media outlets in this city, few journalists ever darken the door of his church. MORE |  The ObamaCare contraceptive mandate has caught a lot of flack from Catholics who claim that it violates the free exercise rights of church-affiliated employers by forcing them to include birth control in employee health care plans. The outrage against the mandate is justified, the narrative runs, and the case against the Health and Human Services rule is a slam-dunk. That overconfidence evaporates like spit on a hot tailpipe the minute we start thumbing through a few Supreme Court opinions. The problem: the free exercise clause is the 1st Amendment's redheaded stepchild. MORE |  ...As Joe Biden said, television shows such as Will & Grace,Modern Family, and Ellen have normalized same-sex relationships. Nearly everyone knows and loves someone who lives openly as a homosexual or fights same-sex attraction...You won't understand the challenge facing Christians regarding homosexuality until you see how these three points permeate our culture. On the surface, we appear to be locked in a battle of rights we can't win. Christians declare our right to speak out and legislate according to religious conviction in defense of traditional institutions. Gays pursue their right to life, liberty, happiness with regard to their sexuality. But homosexuality fronts a much bigger challenge that threatens us all. MORE |
//////// Two rare 3,000-year-old models of ancient shrines were among artifacts presented by an Israeli archaeologist on Tuesday as finds he said offered new support for the historical veracity of the Bible. The archaeologist, Yosef Garfinkel of Hebrew University, is excavating a site known as Hirbet Qeiyafa, located in the Judean hills not far from the modern-day city of Beit Shemesh. Garfinkel says the central finds presented Tuesday at a Jerusalem press conference — two model shrines, one of clay and one of stone — echo elements of Temple architecture as described in the Bible and strengthen his claim that the city that stood at the site 3,000 years ago was inhabited by Israelites and was part of the kingdom ruled from Jerusalem by the biblical King David. MORE |  To no one's surprise, President Obama revealed that after some "evolution" he has "concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married." This after the Vice-President came out last Sunday strongly in favor of gay marriage. Not coincidentally, the New York Times ran an article on Tuesday about how popular and not controversial gay television characters have become. In other words, everyone else has grown up so why don't you? It can seem like the whole world is having a gay old time, with conservative Christians the only ones refusing to party. The temptation, then, is for Christians go silent and give up the marriage fight.... MORE |  Pastors are instructed to be examples to the flock (1 Peter 5:3). The pastor can feel a bit overwhelmed when considering the implications of that instruction. Because of this, we can lose sight of the need to mature and grow for the sake of our own personal sanctification, not solely because others are looking to us. In light of this temptation, here are a few areas that pastors need to double-check to make sure there is annual progressive growth. These revolve around the pastor’s soul and the longevity of his ministry: MORE |  What would you do if someday the government made it mandatory for everyone to receive an implantable microchip for identification purposes? Would you take it? Such a scenario may not be as far off as you might think. In the United States today, millions of dogs and cats have been microchipped, thousands of elderly Americans with Alzheimer's disease have been microchipped, and the U.S. military is developing "medical devices" that contain microchips to monitor the health of soldiers. MORE |
EDITOR'S DISCLAIMER
Please do not assume that a link to an author or a ministry implies our agreement with, or support of, that entity. Even the article or item itself may not agree with the editor's views. We trust our readers to discern the truth for themselves. Our purpose here is to make known to Christian leaders the issues of the day, and point to articles that may shed light on what others are thinking about an issue or subject. You can find more about the Editor's beliefs and views by clicking on About This Site. |
 The Rev. Jerry Falwell’s name will always be linked with the Moral Majority, the organization he formed to galvanize conservative evangelicals into political action. Certainly, bringing evangelicals out of the cultural wilderness and marching them into politics changed both the political and the religious landscape in important and enduring ways. One needs only to look at this primary season to glimpse that legacy. This year evangelicals came out to vote in record numbers. numbers. The recent rhetoric surrounding the Obama administration’s contraception mandate... MORE |  Dutch politician Geert Wilders has been labeled "Islam's public enemy number one." Consequently, he lives every day under a death sentence from Islamic jihadist groups like al Qaeda. Wilders never walks the streets without a security detail and he and his wife must live in safe houses across the Netherlands. It's the price he pays for speaking out against the Islamization of Europe. "I don't want to live - and my children to live - in a country based on Sharia law," Wilders told CBN News. "It's the worst thing that could happen. Democracy would end the day after Sharia was implemented." MORE |  An archaeologist from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem says he has discovered cultic shrines dating back to the time of the biblical King David, which may provide clarity to some obscure building references in the Bible. Professor Yosef Garfinkel says his discoveries at Khirbet Qeiyafa, an ancient fortified city that is 30 kilometers southwest of Jerusalem and is adjacent to the Valley of Elah, have confirmed the biblical view of the region prior to the construction of Solomon's Temple. "This is the first time that archaeologists uncovered a fortified city in Judah from the time of King David," Garfinkel said in a press release.MORE |  ...Now President Barack Obama has affirmed his support of same-sex marriage. The president's statements should come as no surprise. His refusal to defend the Defense of Marriage Act and his comments about "evolving" on the issue both pointed toward this event. I Tweeted recently that I expected such a move from the president. The only remote surprise is the timing of his announcement. I, like many others, expected this announcement after he had won a second term in November. This announcement accelerated the timeline of an inevitable conversation. So how do we as evangelicals respond? MORE |
 It may be one of the most difficult jobs in the world. Indeed, it may be an impossible job to do in our own strength. I know. Before I was LifeWay's president or a seminary dean, I served as pastor of four churches. I know. I have heard from countless pastors in countless churches. Their stories are similar to mine. So I asked the question: What specific part of being a pastor is the most difficult for you? In the weeks ahead, I will share a more exhaustive list. For now, let's look at five tough challenges for pastors. MORE |  Just when all of Israel was preparing for early elections on September 4th, Prime Minister Netanyahu pulled off a stunning political deal this week that some are interpreting as a prelude to war with Iran. That’s certainly what the Arab media is saying. Rather than dissolve the Israeli parliament (Knesset) as expected, Netanyahu persuaded his chief rival Shaul Mofaz, leader of the Kadima party, to join the government. Mofaz will become a Deputy Prime Minister. His entire party will join as well...This will give Netanyahu a coalitio... one of the largest national unity governments in modern Israeli history. Even political observers who can’t stand Netanyahu are calling it a “masterstroke.” MORE |
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Thom Rainer: Seven Things in the Church That Will Not Change
I love following church trends. I have been researching and consulting with churches for over thirty years. It’s just what I do. Sometimes I am pretty good about projecting current trends toward a future reality. Of course, I’ve had my share of misses as well....This time, however, I can make a definitive statement. I can tell you seven things in the church that will not change. In the fast pace of change in local congregations, these seven constants are good reminders of what really matters. MORE | Romney Tells Liberty Graduates to Trust in God; Defends Traditional Marriage
Mitt Romney was received with loud applause at Liberty University Saturday morning as he called on graduates to let "the message of Jesus Christ" be their guide and also as he reaffirmed the traditional definition of marriage. "Marriage is a relationship between one man and one woman," the presumptive Republican presidential nominee asserted, receiving a standing ovation...Romney – a Mormon – focused much of his speech on faith, family and service. "Today, thanks to what you have gained here, you leave Liberty with conviction and confidence as your armor. You know what you believe. You know who you are. And you know whom you will serve," he told more than 14,000 graduates, Liberty's largest graduating class. MORE | | | |
Ron Edmondson: 10 Attributes of a Humble Leader
Humility is a desired, but often neglected characteristic of good, servant leadership. The more we promote ourselves online, the more I’m afraid humility is being forgotten. As one who has an online presence, I consistently sense God reminding me that I’ve been on the bottom and I can return there. Pride is a struggle for many leaders (author included), but we must strive to bring humility to our leadership roles. Here are 10 attributes of a humble leader... MORE |  | Art of Manliness: Learning the
Skill of Paying Attention
...You might be surprised how much we are required to listen in the course of an average day. Yet, unlike many of the other essential skills in our lives that we have learned through some combination of schooling and experience, very little time has been devoted to training us as listeners. The irony is that listening is the most frequently used and invaluable skill we could possibly have for our personal and professional lives. Let’s put it in perspective with some of the aspects of... MORE | | | | |
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