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Author: John C. Nugent 11/03/12 Christians in America are all too often drawn into the nationalistic rhetoric that permeates election seasons to such an extent that they stray from the biblical vision of church and state. This essay was developed as a three-part blog series immediately before the 2012 presidential election. It informs Christians of the disturbing religious dimensions of nationalism, the history of the state's domestication of the church, and the biblical basis for the proper relationship between Church and state. Page 1 Part One: Nationalism, Elections, and Idolatry I have been reluctant to vote in national elections for as long as I can remember. My reasons were not novel or profound: I was paralyzed by the poor options, I didn't…

'Courage' is an invitation to trust the Lord fully, says Washington, DC-based friar Christine Rousselle Sun, August 13, 2023 at 7:30 AM EDT·3 min read "At once [Jesus] spoke to them, "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid" (Matthew 14:27). This verse comes from the Gospel of Matthew, which is one of the three synoptic Gospels in the New Testament of the Bible. Not much is known about St. Matthew, who is credited with writing the Gospel of Matthew, says Christian website Overviewbible.com. When Matthew was called by Jesus to be one of his disciples, he was employed as a publican, or tax collector — a "reviled profession" at the time. And though he's one of the authors of the Gospels, "there…

Rosaria Butterfield https://www.reformation21.org/blog/why-i-no-longer-use-transgender-pronouns-and-why-you-shouldnt-either?fbclid=IwAR3-utWdz2cvxNRKSU8UDxnN11913fMUztPxe-j-XQ6S15GofchAz7cSCS8  April 3, 2023 A civil war erupted within broad evangelicalism, and the idol of LGBTQ+ is dividing the house. This issue is personal, political, and spiritual for me.  In 1998, I became one of the first crop of so-called “tenured radicals” in American universities, proudly touting my lesbian street cred. In 1999, Christ called me to repentance and belief, and I became a despised defector of the LGBTQ+ movement. But progressive sanctification came slowly, and I have failed many times during these past decades. After I have learned lessons, I have earnestly tried to course-correct. And that’s the problem. My use of transgendered pronouns was not a mistake; it was sin. Public sin requires public repentance, not course correction.…

The American academic landscape includes many different kinds of institutions. You've got vast private universities, you've got the big state funded universities, you have land grant universities, you have small colleges, community colleges, private colleges. You also have the so-called Seven Sisters. The Seven Sisters are a system of very elite women's colleges in the United States. It's actually a very interesting history, and what's going on right now means that all seven of the Seven Sisters are really at the center of a massive controversy. Because the Seven Sisters are very liberal sisters as you think about these liberal arts colleges, and they're doing their dead level best with very liberal faculty and probably even more exceedingly liberal students to keep…

https://wng.org/opinions/hey-christians-get-out-and-stay-out-1678879969?fbclid=IwAR3RaFnw7IlZBM6bvTydVe15_kByg1vvOG8-6oQLLgChwukcusMGtU2ZTrQ An Arizona school district gives the boot to student teachers from a Christian college. Our society is growing increasingly secular and increasingly hostile to Christian conviction. Anyone who doubts that mounting hostility should look to Arizona, where one of the state’s largest public school districts has just voted to show student teachers from a Christian college the door. Now Arizona finds itself ground zero in a religious liberty dispute that could have nationwide implications. With equal urgency, this case reveals the contours of the challenge soon to be faced by every Christian college that dares to be Christian in any convictional sense. It all started with some routine paperwork, filed for the Washington Elementary School District’s Feb. 28 school board meeting.…

A Response to Jen Hatmaker OCTOBER 31, 2016 | Rosaria Butterfield https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/love-your-neighbor-enough-to-speak-truth/ If this were 1999—the year that I was converted and walked away from the woman and lesbian community I loved—instead of 2016, Jen Hatmaker’s words about the holiness of LGBT relationships would have flooded into my world like a balm of Gilead. How amazing it would have been to have someone as radiant, knowledgeable, humble, kind, and funny as Jen saying out loud what my heart was shouting: Yes, I can have Jesus and my girlfriend. Yes, I can flourish both in my tenured academic discipline (queer theory and English literature and culture) and in my church. My emotional vertigo could find normal once again. Maybe I wouldn’t need to lose everything to have Jesus. Maybe the…

http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/christ-and-the-conflagration-of-canaan#When:05:01:00Z MARCH 24, 2015 A New York Times article recently described the Islamic State’s persecution of Christians in Iraq and Syria as “a slow-motion genocide.” Atrocities such as beheadings, burnings, crucifixions, and mass burials (sometime of live victims) defy human comprehension. Islamic mujihedeen (holy warriors) smile at the camera, waving flags and holding up AK-47s, proud of their brutal accomplishments. One does not have to be a Christian to be sickened by such horrors. In this cultural moment, with daily reports of genocide throughout the world, the question of Canaan’s destruction under the ministry of Joshua occasionally enters the conversation: “How could the God of Scripture command the violent slaughter of an entire society?” In other words, doesn’t the Old Testament practice…

  JUNE 10, 2020  | RUSSELL PULLIAM https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/reviews/think-christianly/ © Historian Mark Noll once famously worried about the scandal of the evangelical mind, contending that Christians had turned their backs on the academic world. Decades before Noll’s concern, a small group of leaders were laying the groundwork for developing the Christian mind in the church’s pews. The quest accelerated after World War II, thanks to writers and thinkers such as C. S. Lewis, Francis Schaeffer, and Carl Henry. Blending theology, philosophy, and other academic tools for popular evangelical audiences, they wanted Christians to use their minds, as well as their hearts, in the full service of Christ. To Think Christianly: A History of L'Abri, Regent College, and the Christian Study Center Movement CHARLES COTHERMAN In this compelling…

 FEBRUARY 1, 2021 BY GRAYSON GILBERT https://www.patheos.com/blogs/chorusinthechaos/the-danger-of-emphasizing-the-exciting-testimony/?fbclid=IwAR2mxofbgkePNKpBdNTcTuVwdeRRUuqorIa7aGWcVGTotqkTgroNdIpOLZc On August 28, 2008, the Lord put to death a man who was an atheistic, drug-addled dealer, womanizer, drunkard, liar, thief, idolater, and suffice it to say: the fool of fools; the laziest of sluggards; the chief of sinners. I have the “exciting” testimony that many within the church are eager to lift up as an example of God’s grace and faithfulness. I came to Christ in a rather uproarious manner. Not only was I arrogant enough to think out of thousands of years and millions of people that I’d be the one who could sufficiently dismantle the historic faith, I had a life that boasted of doing things my way. I did what was right…