In The News

Tragic shooting at FBC Maryville

Please pray for this family and the congregation as they deal with this great tragedy. This is from the church’s website:

On Sunday, March 8, 2009, a little after our 8:15 service began, a man entered First Baptist Church and fired several gunshots at our Senior Pastor, Dr. Fred Winters. Pastor Winters was taken to the hospital but died of his wounds.

Please pray for Dr. Winter’s family, our two brave members who were injured when they stopped the assailant, for the assailant himself and his family, and for our church members as they deal with this tragic loss.

In this day, where uncertainty seems to abound creating an environment in which people are vulnerable in doing things they might not do otherwise, one thing is certain, we, as human beings need a foundation upon which we can live our lives. We at First Baptist Maryville, along with other Christian believers, share this conviction: that foundation is God’s Word. In the pages of the Book we call the Bible, we find the pathway for peace, hope, and a quality of living life despite what circumstances we find ourselves in.

To those who believe in the power of prayer, we covet your prayers right now.

Filed Under: Church Life, In The News

NEXT Conference … coming very soon

May 23-26 to be exact.

If you’ve been to New Attitude before, I don’t need to take time to belabor the point: it is an exceptional conference. The times of gathered worship are Christ-enthralled. The speakers bring messages that engage the mind and heart with the truth of the Scriptures. Much more can be said.

The one thing I’ve never been wild about has been the actual billing – New Attitude. Not a deal-breaker to be sure, but in any case, it didn’t seem to advance the purpose of the conference very well.

NEXT is the new name and here’s how it fits. Ah, much better.

This year, the theme of the conference will be, get ready, The Person and Work of Jesus Christ. If you can afford to go, I think the trip will be well worth the investment. Speakers this year are world class teachers/expositors (harris, mahaney, carson, deyoung, ferguson). Times of singing will be led by various artists (new attitude band, bob kauflin, zelos, reilly). Breakout sessions are also featured this year.

No more Louisville. This year we fly to Baltimore. If you’re interested in coming (whether from Lakeview or not), I’d encourage you to check out the NEXT website (see links above) and consider making the trip. If you do end up going, and aren’t from the New Orleans area, I’d still love to meet you and have you connect with our group while in Baltimore. Call the church office (504-482-6221) and let us know how to contact you. Hope to see you there.

Filed Under: In The News, Miscellaneous, Spiritual Growth

How to pray for Piper, these days

John Piper has been given an 8 week leave from the Elders at Bethlehem Baptist Church in order to spend some time on a few writing projects. He actually has 7 potential projects in the hopper at the moment.

Mohler, on using Facebook

Al Mohler comments on Facebook’s 5 year birthday, including some helpful advice on how to use and not abuse Facebook.

1. Never allow social networking to replace or rival personal contact and communication.

2. Set clear parameters for the time devoted to social networking.

3. Never write or post anything on a social networking site that you would not want the world to see, or anything that would compromise your Christian witness.

4. Never allow children and teenagers to have independent social networking access (or Internet access, for that matter).

5. Do not allow children and teens to accept any “friend” unknown to you.

6. Encourage older friends and relatives to sign up and use the technology.

7. Use the social networking technology to bear witness to the Gospel, but never think that this can replace the centrality of face-to-face evangelism, witness, and discipleship.

8. Do all things to the glory of God, and do not allow social networking to become an idol or a display of narcissism.

How to Pray at a Presidential Inauguration Ceremony

What would you pray if given the opportunity to call on God on such a nationally significant occasion as this? If author/theologian John Frame was offering the prayer, this is something like what he’d say:

We pray to you our creator, the mighty king of kings and lord of lords, who governs all things that come to pass and rules over all the nations. You raise up rulers and cast them down at your own pleasure, in the pursuit of your just and merciful purposes. We thank you for the freedom we have to worship you, sought by the founders of this nation, freedom you have given to us through the righteous laws of this land. So we call on you to be with us again during this new era. Be with our new president and all the leaders of this country, that they may be willing to hear the wisdom of your word and thus may image your justice, mercy, and integrity in their public life. As the one who remains constant throughout history, and yet who ordains change from each moment to the next, move our leaders to know how to maintain the foundations of our nation, while changing to meet the demands of new situations. Be our rock, when so much is changing in our lives. We pray for those families whose loved ones have died in defense of our country, and we pray for the young men and women who continue to fight our battles, that they may be victorious, and that their efforts may bring about the fruit of peace. We pray for those who have experienced terrible losses through the changes in the economy, and we pray that the leaders of this nation may seek out the wisest ways of responding. Above all, pour out on this nation your Holy Spirit, that there will be revival in our land, that the hearts of many will be moved to seek you, and that they may find that new life you offer us of love, joy, and peace.

This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ,

AMEN

Filed Under: Cultural Issues, In The News, Miscellaneous

Abortion, war, corporate greed: prioritizing issues

A thought-provoking post from college professor/author J. Budziszewski, aka Professor Theophilus. In it, Prof T posits a conversation with two students about the dilemma of identifying the proverbial “lesser evil”.

Filed Under: Cultural Issues, In The News

Colin Powell, a splintered coalition & unborn babies

Insight from Denny Burk.

This morning on “Meet the Press,” Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama for President of the United States. Many viewers were no doubt surprised by this given that Powell is an old military man and a Republican (like John McCain). Nevertheless, folks have often overlooked some of Powell’s political views that make him less than your run-of-the-mill Republican.

Powell is pro-choice. Not only is he pro-choice, but he also appears to rank the issue high on his priority list for candidates. In the “Meet the Press” interview, of all the things that Powell might have said against McCain, he chose to warn against the fact that McCain would appoint conservative Justices to the Supreme Court. I knew Powell was pro-choice, but until this interview I didn’t know how committed he in fact is to the left side of the culture war.

Both Colin Powell and Condi Rice were once considered the most likely people from the Bush administration to make a successful run for the White House. Both are pro-choice, however, and not very likely nominees for the Republican Party as long as social conservatives remain in the coalition of Republican voters. I question whether that coalition will survive this election cycle.

This latter point is what interests me most about Powell’s endorsement. Since the election of Ronald Reagan, a coalition of three groups has been responsible for Republican electoral successes. Those three groups are social conservatives, fiscal conservatives, and national security conservatives. It may be that we are witnessing in this election cycle the dissolution of that coalition. I don’t know what kind of Republican Party will emerge on the other side. It may very well be that a pro-choice Republican Party will emerge. (This was my concern with Rudy Giuliani’s candidacy last year.)

At the end of the day, I really don’t care about the Republican Party per se. Political parties are merely mechanisms that citizens may use for good or for ill. Nevertheless, if the Republican Party loses its pro-life base (and plank in its platform), then there will be no viable mechanism for ending the regime of Roe v. Wade. Moreover, we will likely see the abortion license expanding with tax-payer funded abortions.

Please don’t misunderstand what I am saying here. Powell’s endorsement is not causing any of this. I’m just suggesting that it may be reflecting a shift that is already underway in the grassroots. Only time will tell if this is really the case.

My main concern in all of this is the unborn, and it doesn’t look like our government will recognize their inalienable right to life anytime soon. I hope and pray that I’m wrong.

Filed Under: Cultural Issues, In The News

The Green Bible?

I had a conversation with someone just this morning asking about whether he should get his friend, a fireman, the new Firefighter’s Bible put out by Holman which includes the subcaption “with special prayer and devotional section for firefighting and EMS personnel”.

I don’t know why I ever would have thought that the marketers would run out of new ways to package the Bible so as to appeal to niche customers, but lo and behold I stumble on this: The Green Bible, fully equipped with green lettering on those passages that speak of God’s care for the creation. Contributions come from Brian McLaren, N.T. Wright, Desmond Tutu and others. Best of all it is printed on recycled paper, using soy-based ink with a cotton/linen cover.

Here’s a blurb from the website:

The Green Bible will equip and encourage people to see God’s vision for creation and help them engage in the work of healing and sustaining it. With over 1,000 references to the earth in the Bible, compared to 490 references to heaven and 530 references to love, the Bible carries a powerful message for the earth.

It’s no surprise that one of the men who stands strongly behind this ecology-centered rendition of Scripture is Al Gore.

I love God’s creation and am an avid fan of the Discovery Channel. I own the Planet Earth series and the companion picture book. And I do believe that there are rich references in Scripture to the never-ceasing song that creation sings to the majesty of the Creator. And yes we have a stewardship to care for the environment. But, surely … surely this is a bit much.

HT: Ref21

Filed Under: Cultural Issues, In The News, Theology

Worldliness

Check out the new book edited by CJ Mahaney…

Filed Under: In The News, Spiritual Growth

Gender debate in Deerfield

From a post over at The Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.

Four evangelical scholars will consider this important biblical question next month in a debate set for 7 p.m., Oct. 9 in the chapel at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) in Deerfield, Ill.

Defending the non-subordination view will be Tom McCall, Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology at TEDS and Keith Yandell, who serves as Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Noted scholars Wayne Grudem and Bruce Ware will represent the complementarian position which affirms that a structure of authority and submission will exist for eternity in the Godhead. Both Grudem and Ware are well-known across the evangelical world and both have published extensively on the gender issue.

The debate is sponsored by the Henry Center at TEDS. For more information, please see www.henrycenter.org/trinitydebates.php.

Let’s pray for Dr. Grudem and Dr. Ware to communicate with winsomeness, humility, biblical clarity and spiritual power. I’m grateful to God for their voices in this critical hour and on this vital topic (as well as others). I have listened and read several things from each of them and have never heard any note of condescension or academic pride. Both of them strike me as genuinely humble, servant-minded, lovers of God. I’m thrilled that they will have an opportunity to represent the complementarian position in this forum.

Filed Under: Cultural Issues, In The News, Manhood/Womanhood, Theology

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