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What's So Great About Christianity: by Dinesh D'Souza

New York Times Bestseller, What's So Great about Christianity, makes my top ten best books I've read this year. Written by Dinesh D'Souza, an immigrant from India, it should remain a standard apologetic for Christian theism for years to come. When D'Souza came from India to the United States at age 17 as a High School exchange student, he had no plans of staying. By his 26th birthday, he was in the White House giving President Ronald Reagan policy advice on civil rights, constitutional questions, and AIDS. D'Souza is a... Read more →

10 Most Powerful Women of the Modern World

Hillary Rodham Clinton gave her rousing speech last evening at the Democratic National Convention. Swooning Obama supporters, she uttered what, to them, were words on golden plates descended from heaven and translated by Joseph Smith descendants: "Barack Obama is my candidate and he must be our president." Many believe the failed candidate in her impressive run for the White House--a run which no other female has accomplished, at least without embarrassment--demonstrates her status as one of the most powerful women in the world. Not so according to LiveScience.com. In their... Read more →

Wade Burleson, Blogging, and Promoting His Book

Well it's true. It's definitively not a rumor. Rev. Wade Burleson (a.k.a. Marshall Matt Dillon) is back. And, proving sabbaticals are a guy's best hope for recovery, Burleson does not disappoint the loyal towns-folk who look to him for protection. The Marshall rides back into Dodge City, six gun fanning a spray of shells aimed for the imaginary gang of bushwhackers he calls Baptist Identity. But whether or not he was so accurate in his shoot em up post yesterday is debatable. Seems Burleson can't really come up with sources... Read more →

Faith on its Feet: Expository Teasers from the Epistle of James: Part IV

Representing Missouri, Willard Vandiver served in the United States House of Representatives from 1897 to 1903. In 1899, Vandiver declared, "I come from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me" (emboldened added). Found on the license plates of Missouri vehicles, show me came to be the caption by which Missouri is known. The Apostle James said similarly concerning faith in his little epistle sent to the scattered, persecuted... Read more →

A Quiet Drive in the Back Roads of Tennessee

Ever want a quiet drive in the country? Somebody suggested this drive to me. It really opened my eyes. Don't feel bad; I jumped too. With that, I am... Peter Read more →

"Faith on its Feet": Expository Teasers from the Epistle of James: Part II

Below are only a few of the many questions to which answers should be pursued as a sermon series is developed from this little New Testament jewel: What is the theme of James' epistle? When did he write? Out of several possibilities in the New Testament, which James is the likely author of the canonical writing known as The General Epistle of James? Is it possible to identify a particular reason the author penned the document? Are there any key phrases or recurring words interwoven throughout the letter that may... Read more →

John 3:16 Conference

The John 3:16 Conference is one conference you need to make this Fall. Mark the dates--November 6-7, at First Baptist Church, Woodstock, Georgia. You can sign up here. J316C promises to be a scholarly evaluation of the recent Calvinist Resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention. And, with the heavy weights involved, I do not personally see how it can miss. Scholars delivering papers at this conference include: Dr. Paige Patterson (President of SWBTS) on Total Depravity Dr. Richard Land (President of ERLC) on Unconditional Election Dr. David Allen (Dean at... Read more →

When Truth Bites

If your journey with God is similar to mine, sometimes we descend into a murky hole, glibly asking God to make His will and His will alone known in our life, a sorta "I-just-want-your-will-to-be-done" kind of prayer. Many times our Lord's response is to bite, mashing down hard in a way we faintly expected. We wrongly assumed God's Word is always gentle...soothing...relaxing. It is that alright, but not always. Sometimes the Bible is more of a beast. When I saw the following clip, I got a belly-busting laugh. Later, I... Read more →

"Faith on its Feet": Expository Teasers from the Epistle of James: Part I

Presently I am in the process of moving a bunch of stuff around in my study, unloading other stuff from an old office I abandoned a few years back. An Atlanta church allowed me to keep some things there in an unused part of their facilities. As I separated some things to store away, part of the stuff I tagged for the attic included hundreds of pages of sermon notes I've kept through the years. I don't know how I've kept them because a dozen times, I've decided to throw... Read more →

Is Universalism Prevalent? "Not Until Someone Dies" according to Gerald Harris

Gerald Harris, Editor of The Christian Index, the Baptist state paper of Georgia, wrote a pastoral essay for Baptist Press that offers sober, practical counsel for pastors who inevitably minister at memorials for people who possessed no Christian testimony. He writes: "...some pastors are torn between integrity and compassion and in an effort to add comfort to the family they become universalists -– giving the family some hope that their loved one may have been granted eternal life by a gracious and benevolent God." Any pastor who has served long... Read more →

A New Kind of Christian: The Emergent Church: Part VI

The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier by Emergent author, Tony Jones has captured my attention for a few weeks now as I have reflected upon this trendy new version of the Christian faith that's appeared over the last fifteen years or so. Self-described as being an expression of the ancient faith, specifically dressed in the spiffy new postmodern attire, Emergents (EC) gladly hold hands with one another as they preside over the memorial service of traditional Christianity, which has thoroughly but unknowingly sold its soul to the failed... Read more →

Baited Hooks, Frenzied Fish & Fishermen: A Guest Post by SelahV

The following story is posted at SelahV Today. She has an interesting take on Baptist blogging, one I could not resist. I post it here by permission. Her link is at the little story's end. Enjoy... Once upon a time, I went trout fishing the streams of Vermont with my husband and son. There'd been a drought that year. The little mountain brooks trickled down a dry creekbed. I couldn't believe my husband even baited our hooks with worms. What skewered carnage for what appeared even minnows would be hardpressed... Read more →

By My Own Reckoning by Cecil Sherman: A Brief Review by Peter Lumpkins

By My Own Reckoning. By Cecil Sherman. Macon, Georgia: Smyth & Helwys Publishing, Inc., 2008. 280 pages. Hardcover, $24.00. Recently, I posted briefly concerning a review by Paige Patterson on this release. That, however, was more a summary of attention others were giving to his work, most notably Dr. Patterson's. Below are a few of my own thoughts since reading Dr. Sherman's book. Please Note: Thanks to Steve Heartsill who was kind enough to post this on the comment thread, we post the following and call on everyone to pray... Read more →