Last year, when I published my article on same-sex marriage, commenters asserted that the academic literature suggested children with gay or lesbian parenting situations did just as well as those with heterosexual parents. As I looked into it, even as a non-specialist, I could note that many such studies displayed methodological weaknesses such as the lack of control groups, or self-selection and self-reporting by participants. This should have cautioned against such dogmatic conclusions. (more…)
Monthly Archives: June 2012
To dye or not to dye?
Life, Sola Panel
To dye or not to dye? This question came up on Jenny’s blog, and I just couldn’t resist jumping in with a typically over-long comment! Here’s an edited version of what I wrote, for women considering the pressing question of whether or not to dye greying hair. It’s not a bad test-case for issues of beauty and personal adornment.
flickr: foxtongue
Like all things the Bible doesn’t legislate on, whether or not to dye your hair comes down to the freedom to serve one another in love (Gal 5:13). It’s the teaching of demons to declare a created thing “bad”: it’s good if received with thanksgiving (1 Tim 4:1-5). We’re not to submit to rules like “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch!” (Col 2:16-23).
So yes, hair dye, waxing, and, dare I say, even botox and surgery to improve appearance are not evil in themselves: (more…)
Polygamy in the Bible: A sordid tale
Life, Thought, Sola Panel
I saw an excellent interview on Australia’s Channel 7 Sunrise program recently. Christian leaders were being asked about their opposition to proposals to redefine marriage, and were discussing the Bible’s view of marriage. At one point, the interviewer asked a question which is often brought up in these contexts: Doesn’t the Old Testament condone polygamy? There was, of course, a question behind the question: Since the Old Testament says polygamy is OK, why should we listen to it on any moral issue? (more…)
→ Masterplan
Link
Ben Pakula, talking about his upcoming album, with my current favourite sentence on the internet:
Masterplan is a biblical-theology rock opera.
Ben is a musician who teaches deep theological truths from the Bible through the medium of heavy rock music.
[Masterplan] is designed as the kind of thing to listen to on long (or short) car trips, especially for kids who like crazy music, and kids who are ‘too cool’ for kid’s music generally.
New Atheism: There’s probably no lasting impact
Thought
I think the New Atheists are overrated. I find myself under-whelmed at their bus campaigns, their books, the way that journalists throw softball questions in response to their every problematic pronouncement, and their whole position. I have been scratching my head for years trying to work out where all the interest in them comes from, let alone why they are treated as some kind of serious attack on religion in general and the Christian faith in particular. (more…)
→ An open letter to Sam Harris
Link
Dave Macca:
Dear Mr Harris,
I was encouraged by a friend to watch your lecture on Death and the Present Moment at the recent Global Atheist Convention in Melbourne. Your topic is very close to home for me, as I’ve been battling a stage 4 adenocarcinoma of the lung for the past 6 months. I understand it was also especially pertinent for you, and many in your audience, following the death of your good friend, Christopher Hitchens. Your lecture has provoked me to consider a number of issues and to write a few words in response.
The whole thing is a great read, as is the rest of Macca’s site.
(h/t Sandy Grant)
A three-course banquet of Bible memorization
Life, Sola Panel
This is the second post in my series on memorizing Bible passages. You can read part 1 here.
flickr: chefranden
A couple of weeks ago, I invited you to commit Bible passages to memory. The fact that you’re still reading encourages me a lot, because I know that memorizing the Bible – especially whole passages! – isn’t popular:
Once, I thought that memorising anything longer than two verses was for old people or super holy people. – Anna
In my late twenties was challenged by some Navigator friends to memorize Scripture…I thought they were saying that because Navigators sell Scripture Memory courses. – Duncan1
When I encourage people to memorize the Bible, I sometimes feel about as popular as a peddler of bad-tasting, expensive medicine. (more…)
→ Grief—a forgotten apologetic
Link
Many of our friends and family—and us, I suspect—don’t think about death a whole lot. So when someone close gets cancer, or a friend has a miscarriage, we’re caught off-guard.
Nathan W. Bingham reflected on this recently:
There are many reasons why ignoring grief and the pain of life is bad. Not the least of which is that we’d be faking it. And faking it is antithetical to Christianity. Christianity is all about getting real with God. Real about who you are and your sin. Real about who He is and His holiness. Real about the only way to reconcile the two: through Jesus Christ. Too many Christians are being crushed as church has become a show room for success stories instead of a hospital for the hopelessly helpless.
However, today I want to consider another reason ignoring grief is a bad idea: pain and grief is an apologetic for the faith. Not apologetic in a literal sense of being a defense of the faith, but:
- a tool to confirm the truthfulness of Christianity,
- a reality best explained by Christianity,
- and a bridge to give us an ear for sharing Christianity.
An anatomy of sin
Life, Thought, Sola Panel
flickr: SashaW
The first stage in Paul’s announcement of the gospel of God’s grace is a concise anatomy of sin (Rom 1:18-32). Sin is, at its heart, a suppression of truth. This suppression of truth has a kind of logical progression to it: rejection of God (vv. 19-21) leads to worshipping the creation (vv. 22-23), then to sexual degradation (vv. 24-27), then to “all unrighteousness”, particularly rejection of family (v. 30), foolishness, faithlessness, heartlessness and ruthlessness (v. 31). Then there is the ultimate suppression of truth: the shameless promotion of sins committed by others (v. 32). At first glance, though, this logical progression might seem a little arbitrary. Does sexual immorality, for example, really lead people to approve of other people’s heartlessness and ruthlessness? (more…)
Five – or possibly six – more tips for going to church with your family
Everyday Ministry, Life, Sola Panel
Did you see last week’s link to Christine Jensen’s Growing faith: Ten tips for going to church with your family? It’s such an excellent little post, it sparked a few reflections of my own. (I’d also like to second her point about letting kids see you enjoying church.)
Here they are, five six more tips for going to church with your family.
→ Raising gospel-centered children
Link
Luma Simms:
If we stop to consider the motivations of our hearts—what is driving us as parents—we can gain important insight into the discipleship of our children. The driver behind gospel-centered discipleship is the glory of Christ. The driver behind child-centered discipleship is the glory of our children, and by extension, our own glory. In order to understand my own motives, I’ve learned to ask myself: Do I want my children to know God, to rest in the person and work of Christ, to have their many, many sins washed in the blood of the Lamb, and to eternally glorify Him? Or rather do I want my children to be “good,” to scrupulously avoid sin and follow biblical injunctions, to avoid bad consequences in this life?
(h/t Jean Williams)
The Two Ways to Live enhanced app
Resource Talk
Back in February, Sam Freney reported on the launch of the new Two Ways to Live app for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. He mentioned at the time that he was working on “an enhanced iPad version, including some Q&A videos and testimonies about how the gospel has changed people’s lives”. (more…)
Teaching preaching
Everyday Ministry
I wish I could say that the idea to begin a ‘teaching preaching’ course at our church was part of a deliberate and well-planned strategy to equip people for ministry. The truth is I stumbled across the idea out of desperation as I tried to cope with ministry demands, but I want to share it with you because it is the most significant ministry training I have ever done in a local church context.1 (more…)
→ Speech
Link
In the Bible, James says that ‘anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect’ (James 3:2). Does he seriously expect that? He reckons that a person who speaks that well could ‘keep their whole body in check’. He seems to picture someone with absolute self-control.
But who’s like that? Our speech bubbles up from so many different emotions and circumstances. How could you seriously expect ‘perfect’ speech from anyone?
Short-but-fascinating post on the complexity of wise speech, and if you can make it (to Sydney) it sounds like a great night of discussion.