Wow! There is a lot of buzz in the religion & politics news this week regarding Barack Obama and his pastor former pastor Jeremiah Wright I understand that a pastor feels a burden to show courage and boldness in the face of hostility towards personally-held beliefs, but you’ve got to be amazed at his absolute inconsideration to his friend Barack, knowing the impact his statements might have on Obama’s campaign.

A short video clip of John Piper’s gem from 2000… the seashell story… Don’t Waste Your Life.

On the cross of Calvary, God poured out his wrath on Christ, in the place of sinners. Do you think that such a notion is a “twisted version of events,” or “morally dubious,” or a “huge barrier to faith”?Do you think that the doctrine of penal substitution, God punishing Christ in our place, is a form of “cosmic child abuse”? Did you know that there is an ongoing debate among some in the evangelical camp who are embarrassed and even hate the truth claim that Jesus’ death was a divine wrath-bearing event? A brand new book by Zondervan brings forth part of this discussion, focusing on the controversy as it appeared in the UK in the Evangelical Alliance. The Atonement Debate: Papers from the London Symposium on the Theology of Atonement is a collection of papers from a symposium held by the Evangelical Alliance and the London School of Theology.

PD#6 (an archived Truth in Art column): Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000) was one of the great American painters of the twentieth century. He grew up in Harlem, and spent afternoons in a community center arts and crafts program. His gifts quickly caught the attention of Harlem Renaissance artists, and soon he found work through the Civilian Conservation Corps.

About a month ago a portion of my column warned Missouri Southern Baptist parents about the upcoming pro-homosexual Day of Silence set for April 25 at about 20 Missouri public schools. While schools are saying they are not endorsing Day of Silence, they are still allowing taxpayer-funded property to be used to advance an ungodly lifestyle for an event that has nothing to do with public education and everything to do with advancing the homosexual lifestyle. This is outrageous considering how it will disrupt what would otherwise be a normal school day.

I’m no music critic, but if you want to hear some great rock written by a bunch of pomo 20-somethings who due to the death of a young son give their lyrics a constant “what is the meaning of life” emphasis, Cloud Cult will move you. This isn’t Madison Avenue music, the lyrics are their own sincere thoughts set to music.

Last week at Together for the Gospel, I noticed that my friend Tim Challies took part in a fellowship of folks from Canada. That got me thinking about geography, culture, and anthropology. In the interest of getting to know Tim better and also to discover new things about this people group called “Canadians”, I thought I’d ask Tim a few questions about himself and his native land.

PD#5:
Ben Stein’s movie Expelled comes out on Friday. Having read a bit about the movie, the gist is to show the intolerance of academia in its’ refusal to allow any discussion of Intelligent Design.
Huh? A wide-release, in-theater movie about academic freedom?
Is it Propaganda? Comedy? Documentary? Depending on who you ask, it is probably considered […]

Wow. Dr. Hershael York has written an outstanding piece that explodes the myth that International Mission Board (IMB) personnel have been leaving the field in droves as a result of recent leadership of the IMB Board, or because of the personnel policies in place.

The 2008 National Founders Conference will explore the place, necessity, and some of the God-ordained means for church renewal and church planting under the theme, Lengthening the Cords and Strengthening the Stakes: Renewing and Planting Local Churches. The conference theme has arisen out of the many questions conference organizers have fielded regarding local church reformation and planting new churches. These themes go hand-in-hand, revealing the desire for healthy, vibrant, and reproducing churches. Conference speakers bring a wealth of experience and expertise in both the strengthening and lengthening of the church.

Just up the road from St. Louis in Carlinville, Illinois, a Southern Baptist Church bought an old Wal-Mart building for a place of worship. The problem is, the local authorities refuse to allow the property to be changed from commercial zoning to R-zoning - for religious/rehabilitative use.

I am an environmentalist. I am just not angry about it.

Is explicit faith in Christ necessary for eternal salvation?

Just wanted to let everyone know that the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Religion Blog called Civil Religion is now up and running.

I am under assignment to pass the word around to all my people in order to draw the readers in.

The world sure is full of morons. Pleasant morons, but morons nonetheless.