 | Wall St. Journal: The American Revolution & Its Ministers
On Sunday morning, Jan. 21, 1776, at a church in Woodstock, Va., Rev. Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg brought his sermon to a dramatic and unexpected crescendo. His text was taken from the book of Ecclesiastes. "The Bible tells us 'there is a time for all things,' and there is a time to preach and a time to pray," said Muhlenberg. "But the time for me to preach has passed away; and there is a time to fight, and that time has now come." Stepping down from the pulpit, the minister took off his clerical robes to reveal the uniform of a colonel in the 8th Virginia Regiment of the Continental Army...The "fighting parson" was a common sight in the American Revolution. Why? Because American Christianity— anchored in a Protestant understanding of religious freedom—gave its blessing to democratic self-government. MORE |
| Black Pastors Lay Down Gauntlet to Obama On Gay Marriage
The Coalition of African American Pastors demanded on Monday that President Obama meet with the group to address his stance on same-sex marriage. So far, the White House has refused to acknowledge the group's request but leaders say they plan to "turn up the heat" by asking black Christians to sit on the sidelines for the time being. MORE | Andy Griffith's Wife: 'He Was Prepared to See the Lord'
...Griffith passed away at his home in Dare County, N.C., around 7 a.m....."Andy was a person of incredibly strong Christian faith and was prepared for the day he would be called Home to his Lord," Mrs. Griffith said in a statement. "He is the love of my life, my constant companion, my partner, and my best friend. I cannot imagine life without Andy, but I take comfort and strength in God's grace and in the knowledge that Andy is at peace and with God," she added. MORE | AP: Evidence of 'God Particle' Found
Scientists believe the "God particle" that might explain the underpinnings of the universe is real, and they are about to present their evidence to the world. Physicists at the world's biggest atom smasher plan to announce Wednesday that they have nearly confirmed the primary plank of a theory that could shape the scientific understanding of all matter. The idea is much like gravity and Isaac Newton's discovery: It was there all the time before Newton explained it. MORE | Religion News Service: Invasion of the High School Atheists
High school kids can join the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Jewish Student Union, the Muslim Students Association and, in some schools, a Hindu or a Buddhist club. Now they can join the young atheists club, too. In another sign of the emergence of nonbelievers in American society, the Secular Student Alliance, a national organization of more than 300 college-based clubs for atheists, humanists, agnostics and other “freethinkers,” is helping to establish clubs for high school students to hang out with other teens who share their skepticism about the supernatural. MORE | UK Daily Mail: World's First Genetically Modified Babies Born
The world's first geneticallymodified humans have been created, it was revealed last night. The disclosure that 30 healthy babies were born after a series of experiments in the United States provoked another furious debate about ethics. So far, two of the babies have been tested and have been found to contain genes from three 'parents'. MORE |
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| Wednesday, July 4th, 2012 | | NEWS ITEMS OF INTEREST TO CHRISTIANS | Pastors: Obama Doesn't Understand 'Civil Rights'
The Coalition of African American Pastors is demanding a meeting with President Obama or Attorney General Eric Holder to discuss the president's endorsement of homosexual "marriage." | Major Cities Up July 4 Security Just in Case
Local and state law enforcement will be working to ensure fireworks are the only "booms" residents encounter this Fourth of July weekend. | Illinois Clerks Get OK to Defend Marriage
Two Illinois county clerks have received permission to defend the state's "gay marriage" ban in court. Effingham County Clerk Kerry Hirtzel and Tazewell County Clerk Christie Webb on Tuesday got the okay to intervene in the lawsuit filed in Cook County by 25 homosexual couples. | The Declaration of Independence -- A History
Nations come into being in many ways. Military rebellion, civil strife, acts of heroism, acts of treachery, a thousand greater and lesser clashes between defenders of the old order and supporters of the new--all these occurrences and more have marked the emergences of new nations, large and small. The birth of our own nation included them all. That birth was unique, not only in the immensity of its later impact on the course of world history and the growth of democracy, but also because so many of the threads in our national history run back through time to come together in one place, in one time, and in one document: the Declaration of Independence. | 'Incredible Win' for Christian Students
A Texas third-grader will now be allowed to hand out invitations to an after-school Bible club, thanks to a lawsuit filed by Alliance Defense Fund. | Tim Tebow Special Highlights His Faith, Life Achievements
E! television network's special on New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow highlighted his influence and the events that led to his superstardom as told through his friends, former teammates and reporters. | Christians Fear Impact of Discrimination Law
The City Council in Jacksonville, Fla., is considering a law that would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation. The proposal would make it a crime to deny housing, employment, and public accommodations. | Pro-Aborts Respond with Vandalism
It's apparent from two recent acts of violence that the personhood movement is infuriating some abortion advocates. | Religious Class OK, Says 4th Circuit
A federal appeals court has ruled that a South Carolina public school district hasn't violated the Establishment Clause by awarding students two credits for off-campus religious instruction. | Army Chaplain Brings Life to Bible's Warriors
How do you connect the next generation with the scriptures? One Army chaplain believes bringing ancient Bible heroes to life with 21st century media can do the job. | | CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS EDITORIALS | Appreciating Andy Griffith's Positive Influence
TV legend Andy Griffith, 86, died this morning at his home in North Carolina. Griffith is best remembered for his starring role as Mayberry, North Carolina's Sheriff Andy Taylor in the 1960s series The Andy Griffith Show. Dan Gainor, a Hollywood critic with the Media Research Center, says the big credit to Griffith's career is the wholesome entertainment he gave to America, which is so hard to find now. MORE | Paul Kengor: Dreams From Obama's Mentor
In his wildest dreams, Justice John Roberts couldn't imagine that he has fulfilled the ambitions not only of Barack Obama, but of the president's devoted communist mentor Frank Marshall Davis and Communist Party USA. | American Thinker: Six Weeks That Saved America
More than any six weeks in recent memory, the events that transpired during the period May 21 to June 28, 2012 confirmed the ingenuity and wisdom of the founders and sealed the fate of an administration as well as of the American left. | Gatestone Institute: Muslim Persecution of Christians -- May 2012
Elsewhere in Sub-Sahara Africa, wherever Christianity and Islam meet, Christians are being killed, slaughtered, beheaded and even crucified. Unlike those nations, such as Saudi Arabia, that have eliminated Christianity altogether, Muslim countries with significant Christian minorities saw much persecution during the month of May.... | Thom Rainer: The Death of Elitist Leadership
It is indeed an understatement, but it's true. Leadership is changing. Some point to technological advances as the great equalizer. Others say it is the social media facet of technology that is key. Still others point to the Millennial generation and their changing expectations of leaders and life in general. Some would say that the failure of political and business leaders led to the change. | American Thinker: Thanks, Cher
Thank you, Cher, for revealing what Hollywood liberals really think of America. If I interpret your tweet correctly, you are not happy about the prospect of having a white man in the White House, and you are doubly unhappy at the thought of having a devoutly religious man there who is a Mormon. | CNN: Evangelicals Taking over Brazil?
The number of evangelical Christians s in Brazil, the world’s largest Catholic country, has soared over the last decade, from 15% of the population in 2000 to to 22% of the population in 2010, according ... | | MINISTRY, SCRIPTURE & LEADERSHIP RELATED ARTICLES AND ESSAYS | Tim Challies: 5 Questions To Ask of a Book
A reader of this site recently asked me to explain how I determine whether a book is good and worthy of recommendation or whether it is not. That is a fair question...Here are five questions, plus a bonus, that I ask myself as I read. | Joel J. Miller: We Know God By Experiencing Him
In the endless debates about Christianity it is common to subject the church to a cost-benefit analysis. On one side of the ledger we tally up the positive impacts the faith has had: hospitals, orphanages, universities, etc. On the other… | Brandenburg: The Travesty of Theologically Conservative But Culturally Liberal
... Second, was the contradiction of theological conservatism and cultural liberalism. I brought that up because I didn't think it would sound acceptable to him, even though it's how his church actually practiced. And his laughter indicated to me that I was right. It's not going to stop them because it works, people like it, and since it works, it must be that "God is working." - a form of continuationism. | Brian Croft: How Should a Full-Time Pastor Prioritize his Time?
I was recently written by a bi-vocational pastor who is about to become fully compensated by his church. Since this is new territory for him, he asked me how he should organize his time each week. Here we emphasize how we as full-time pastors prioritize our time. | Kevin T. Bauder: Identity and Idolatry
When you ask people, "Who are you?" they usually answer first by giving you their name. A name, however, is only a label. It does not reveal the identity of the person to whom it is attached. | | GENERAL ARTICLES AND ESSAYS | Mark Bauerlein: Grow Up? Eh, Maybe Next Decade
...verywhere I turn today I see men who refuse to grow up—husbands of thirty-five who enjoy playing the same video games that obsess twelve-year-olds; boyfriends who will not commit to marriage and family; and fathers who fight with umpires or coaches at their son’s little league games. | UK Guardian: How Wal-Mart Is Taking Over the World
It hardly shrieks of billion-dollar glamour. The US nerve centre of the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, consists of a collection of low-slung prefabricated buildings along a four-lane highway in north-western Arkansas. Wal-Mart's head office is hundreds of miles from the nearest big city. It isn't even handy for the state capital, Little Rock, which is three and half hours' drive away. | More Gehrig: The Day Gehrig Retired -- July 4th
July 4, 1939. More widely celebrated as Independence Day in America. But at Yankee Stadium, approximately 62,000* people were celebrating Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day, Gehrig's official retirement gala. | Carson Holloway: Why Birtherism Won’t Die
Birtherism—the belief that President Obama was not born in the United States, as he claims and as official records attest—will not die. Despite its apparent implausibility, it has lived on for years even after Obama was elected to the presidency. |
/////| Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012 | Christian Post: Michelle Obama Brings Politics To AME Church
First lady Michelle Obama told those gathered at the annual conference of the African Methodist Episcopal church in Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday that what Christians do in the quieter moments of their lives is more important than just showing up for Sunday services once a week. MORE | Record Number of Workers on Federal 'Disability'
A record of 8,733,461 workers took federal disability insurance payments in June 2012, according to the Social Security Administration. That was up from 8,707,185 in May. It also exceeds the entire population of New York City, which according to the Census Bureau's latest estimate hit 8,244,910 in July 2011. MORE | | NEWS ITEMS OF INTEREST TO CHRISTIANS | Chief Justice John Roberts Switched Views to Uphold Obamacare
Chief Justice John Roberts initially sided with the Supreme Court's four conservative justices to strike down the heart of Obamacare, but later changed his position and formed an alliance with liberals to uphold the bulk of the law. | Obama, GOP Both Flummoxed by Supreme Court's Decision
The Supreme Court ruled last week that the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) requirement that individuals purchase health insurance is constitutional because it is a tax. While the White House agrees with the ruling, officials are not calling it a tax. Republicans, meanwhile, says they disagree with the ruling, but have been referring to the mandate as a tax. | 75% of Obamacare Costs Will Fall on Backs of Those Making Less Than $120K
Stephen Moore, Senior Economics Writer with the Wall Street Journal, told FOX and Friends yesterday that nearly 75% of Obamacare costs will fall on the backs of those Americans making less than $120,000 a year. | Churches Face Obstacles During Record-Breaking Heatwave
Churches across the U.S. tried to beat the heat this past weekend, although some were forced to cancel events and others found alternative ways of keeping cool as they faced record temperatures. | Judge Temporarily Blocks Miss. Abortion Law
A federal judge has temporarily blocked enforcement of a Mississippi law that could shut down the only abortion clinic in the state. | Gay Cruise Turned Away By Morocco Docks in Spain
The cruise ship Nieuw Amsterdam, on its present voyage catering to a gay clientele, docked Sunday in the southern Spanish port of Malaga after Moroccan authorities prohibited it from making its scheduled port of call in Casablanca. | NAACP Wants Texas Lottery Shut Down
Down The Dallas chapter of the NAACP wants to stop seeing low income Texans pumping money into the state lottery by putting it out of business. | Nothing's Changed at Michigan's Arab Festival
A Christian attorney has reached out to a group of Christians that a Muslim mob pelted with bottles and other objects at the recent Arab festival in Dearborn, Michigan. | Bivocation Pastors Work 'Double Duty' to Impact World for Christ
Pusey Losch begins his day in God's Word. Like many men who make a living with their hands, he seeks spiritual preparation for the mental and physical challenges his workday presents. | Gay Marriage Issue Appealed To Supreme Court
The issue of gay marriage has officially been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court in a move that could lead to a landmark ruling. House lawyers filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, asking it to take up a case concerning the constitutionality of a major section of the Defense of Marriage Act. | Ancient Mosaic Floor in Galilee Synagogue Uncovered
A synagogue dating to the late Roman period (4th-5th centuries BC) is being uncovered in the Galilee a few miles west of Capernaum and Migdal. The excavation is in its second year. | States Refuse to Implement Parts of Obamacare
Three states will opt out of provisions in President Barack Obama's health care law for expanding Medicaid and creating a private insurance exchange. The governors of Florida, Wisconsin, and Louisiana said the federal law would cost their states billions as well as boost insurance premiums. | Paralyzed Steve Saint Undergoing Painful Therapy
Steve Saint, who suffered a paralyzing injury while testing new equipment for the mission field, is undergoing intense, painful therapy to restore the use of his hands and feet. | | CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS EDITORIALS | Gadi Adelman: Stoned Dearborn Christian Speaks
...The 2012 Arab International Festival in Dearborn, Michigan ran this year from June 15 – 18 over the Father’s Day Weekend. Like every other year, incidents that occur there become YouTube sensations, but nothing like what happened this time around. | American Thinker: The Supreme Court Is Not Our Friend
The relationship between conservatives and the Supreme Court is rather like that between Charlie Brown and Lucy Van Pelt in autumn. She always holds the football as if Charlie Brown has a fair shot at kicking it, and then she always snaps the ball away at the last moment. | Tim Challies: Putting Our Hope in the Wrong Place
So what is the TSA to do? They are between a rock and a hard place, between their mandate to protect the skies and passengers who are ready to say, “Enough!” | Best Schools: Gifted Neurosurgeon Fails Political Correctness 101 at Emory Univ.
What is it about Ben Carson that would cause five hundred people—faculty members, students, alumni—to sign a letter of “concern” about him as the Commencement speaker? Well, it turns out that he is an academic heretic. He doesn’t believe in the Darwinian theory of evolution. | American Thinker: Have We Reached the New Tipping Point?
...Under Barack Obama and others, the abuses which we have suffered have accumulated to the same point we were at in 1776. They can no longer be tolerated. We can not afford, as a nation, a continuance of such violations of the underpinning of our democratic republic, the Constitution. | 17 Reasons To Be Concerned About the Second Half Of 2012
What is the second half of 2012 going to bring? Are things going to get even worse than they are right now? Unfortunately, that appears more likely with each passing day. MORE | Why Are Wildfires Increasing In the United States?
As America watches large sections of Colorado literally burn to the ground, many are wondering why all of this is happening. There have always been wildfires, but what we are experiencing now seems very unusual. MORE | | MINISTRY, SCRIPTURE & LEADERSHIP RELATED ARTICLES AND ESSAYS | David Murray: 5 Reasons to Study Old Testament History
Shakespeare said that history is “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” The Christian view of history is quite a contrast; we believe God ordained it, organizes it, and moves it towards a meaningful, definite, and certain purpose. However many Christians entertain a negative view of Old Testament History, of its usefulness and even of its accuracy. | Kevin T. Bauder: The Illiberality of Liberalism
...When he stated that birth control was selfish, much of the assembly erupted into derision. Calls rang from across the stadium to "pull him down," and "get him off the stage." Factions within the crowd made repeated attempts to drown out Kessler's remarks with shouts and jeers. | Trevin Wax: 10 Tips on Solving Mysterious Bible Passages from Sherlock Holmes
What can a fictional detective teach you about how to study the Bible? A lot. Last summer, I read The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Time and time again, Holmes commented to Watson about how to solve mysterious cases in ways that apply directly to studying the Bible. | Focus On the Family: When Fire Forces You From Home
...If you had only a few minutes to gather up a few select treasures of your life before fleeing a raging inferno, what would you take - and what would you leave behind? Families in Colorado Springs were faced with this very question this past Tuesday. | Thom Rainer: Seven Characteristics of Advancing Leaders
...Recently, I made an attempt to summarize seven general characteristics of these leaders who are advancing in their organizations and in life in general. Here are the seven traits I noted, none of which should be a surprise… | Daniel Darling: Prone to Wander
In the last several decades there has been much angst over the exodus of young people from the evangelical church. Seems every year there is a survey letting us know how poor of a job we are doing at retaining our young. Interestingly, the solutions are all over the map. | Paul Tripp: 6 Traits of a Pastor in Awe of God
What traits does the awe of God produce in the heart of a pastor that are vital for an effective, God-honoring, and productive ministry? Here is a list of six. | Zack Eswine: Learning from the African American Preacher
Dr. Roberts Smith of Beeson Divinity School offers a helpful guide to reading and preaching the Bible in his acclaimed, Doctrine that Dances. Dr. Smith helpfuly describes sermon preparation and delivery in the following way. | Perry Noble: Three Ways to Build a Better Church Website
...Be yourself, serve people and meet them where they are. If your website can do those things, you’ll build a better website and your effectiveness in sharing the Gospel through the Internet will increase.. | Downtown Cornerstone: Is Church Membership Biblical?
...While it is true that the term church membership is nowhere to be found in the New Testament, it is inferred and assumed throughout. (see also: “trinity”) Membership is not only biblical, but vital to the overall health of every local church. | | GENERAL ARTICLES & ESSAYS | Mental Floss: The Early Jobs of 24 Famous Writers
24. Harper Lee, author of one of the great American novels and winner of the 1961 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, had worked as a reservation clerk at Eastern Airlines for years when she received a note from friends: “You have one year off from your job to write whatever you please. Merry Christmas.” By the next year, she’d penned To Kill a Mockingbird. |
/////////////////////////////////// |  A new Gallup poll shows that 11% of Americans think Obama is a Muslim, and the leftist media just can't figure out why anyone would get that idea. Slate concluded that it must be because of "his exotic name and background, the color of his skin, or (most likely) some combination of the two." But in reality, the reason why people think Obama is a Muslim is because of how he acts. Why do people believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim? Here's why: after the Muslim Brotherhood won the Egyptian presidency, the military moved to curb the president's powers in order to stave off sharia rule in Egypt. But then Obama warned the military that they better hand over power quickly, or Egypt would lose billions in U.S. aid. MORE |  Ideas have consequences—& unintended consequences. The Supreme Court decision about the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Acts (“Obama-Care“) is one such case. It’s merits, deficiencies, nuances and implications will be debated between legal scholars for decades and, no doubt, between the political parties for months, and between news pundits of all ideological stripes for, possibly, hours, maybe even days. Yet the deeper realities that touch our lives, craft our national consciousness and, at the risk of melodrama, sculpt the “very soul of our nation” for centuries, often remain undetected. MORE |  Vacation Bible School has become a summer tradition for many people. In fact, many children attend VBS at multiple churches throughout the summer. Living in the Chatta- nooga area provides multiple opportunities for children to be a part of the exciting VBS experience. With VBS taking place at multiple churches almost every week of the summer, you may find it odd to learn that my wife and I do not, and will not, send our children to VBS at other churches, nor do we encourage the parents in our church to allow their children to attend VBS at other churches. 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. |
.......... “In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity.” Sounds nice, but which are which? Every- one wants to be unified in what really matters, agree to disagree on what isn’t as important, and exercise love in all things. But no one seems to agree on what really matters a lot, a little, or not at all. As hard as it can be determining the content of our faith, it can be even harder figuring out where to put our fences. This business of deciding where to draw doctrinal lines is incredibly complex. MORE |  The Supreme Court this morning ruled that two main provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (commonly referred to as "Obamacare") were, for the most part, constitutional. How did this happen? What does it mean for our constitutional system? Here's a few answers. What did the Court do? The Court, by a vote of 5-4, held that (1) Congress had the power to impose a tax on anyone who refuses to buy health insurance and (2) Congress could vastly expand the Medicaid program, but (3) Congress could not penalize states that refused to join the expansion of Medicaid. MORE |  In the context of serious theological discussions, it may seem trivial to write about first impressions of guests when they visit your church. But, if we could understand that a returning guest has more opportunities to hear the gospel and experience Christian love and fellowship, we might take the issue a bit more seriously. Earlier in life, , I led a church consulting company. One of our first steps in the consul- tation was to send one or more first-time guests to the church. Those individuals would then report back to us on their experiences. Many times those we enlisted were unchurched non-Christians. MORE |  ...So now America is headed for a complete and total disaster as Obamacare is fully implemented over the next several years. Obamacare is going to absolutely shred the infrastructure of our medical system, it is going to send health insurance premiums soaring, it is going to dramatic- ally expand the size and the scope of government, it is going to fundamentally alter the relationships between doctors and their patients and it is one of the largest tax increases in U.S. history. Not only that, it is also going to add about a trillion dollars to our national debt over the next decade. So no, the Obamacare decision is not good news. Obamacare was one of the worst pieces of legislation in American history, and now we are stuck with it. MORE |
 From time to time those who seek to make the 1960s social revolution the “new normal” advance ludicrous claims for the unreflective. This recently happened in a New York Times piecethat made the claim that the religious version of sixties radicalism, liberation theology, is the true and original doctrine of Jesus Christ....This is the basic claim of the religious left, also made by the early twentieth century Social Gospel, that Jesus’ teaching has been misunderstood by traditional Christianity, perhaps even by the apostle Paul, who mistook Jesus’ gospel of salvation from suffering as a gospel of salvation from the wrath of God, and the consequent need to be saved, and then sanctified. People don’t need salvation from the wrath of God, liberationists think, they need personal and social liberation. MORE |  Not long ago I found myself near a group of young people, listening to their conversation. They spoke a dialect of English often used by their generation: “She was, like, ‘You’ve got to try this.’ And I was, like, ‘Are you serious?’ And she was, like, ‘You totally won’t believe it.’ And I was, like, ‘I’ve got to get one!’” ...I didn’t want to judge or scold or hold any kind of opinion about their conversation, but it really bothered me to hear educated, intelligent middle-class kids talking this way....English is our conduit to the founding documents of English-speaking civilization, the body of law, literature, and Scripture that shapes our understanding of what it means to be a God-made, civilized human being. The more we change the language of the present, the more difficult it is for us to retrieve a clear message from the past. MORE |
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