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Current Events

Alan Jacobs’ Antidote To Christian Anti-Intellectualism

Conservative theologian J.P. Moreland once wrote, “The contemporary Christian mind is starved, and as a result we have small, impoverished souls.” Indeed, Western Christianity, particularly in its evangelical Protestant expressions has often been accused of anti-intellectualism by the secular academy.

Enter Alan Jacobs–both a Christian and distinguished professor of humanities at Baylor University–and his newest book, “How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds.” He argues that in a world of “alternative facts” and “truthiness,” most of us are not as good at thinking as we assume. But all is not lost, Jacobs says, because it is possible to reclaim our mental lives without sacrificing our inner lives. Here we discussed via email the common intellectual pitfalls of American Christians and how they can learn to better love God with their minds.

CONTINUE READING. . . 

October 21, 2017by Jonathan
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Current Events

First Look: Trump Talks Israel On Mike Huckabee’s New TBN Show

The Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), America’s premier Christian television station, is not just for televangelists anymore. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee will launch a new TBN talk show, “Huckabee,” which will air each Saturday at 8 pm Eastern.

The promotional materials for the show positions it as a show for heartland conservatives, who often feel they aren’t fairly represented by mainstream media outlets. It promises to showcase stories of that remind viewers of “what makes America so amazing.” As Huckabee says in a new promo video for the show, “There is a lot of America between New York and L.A., and sometimes we seem to forget that simple fact.”

CONTINUE READING. . .

October 21, 2017by Jonathan
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Current Events

The Gospel For Gun-Loving Christians

(David Gungor wrote this post as a guest writer for Jonathan Merritt’s column.)

(RNS) — At a church where I used to serve, one of our lead pastors owned an assault rifle. It was a glorious specimen as far as guns go, a black AR-15 type of weapon. The same kind that was just used in Las Vegas.

I remember the day this pastor (and my boss) showed all of “the boys” on our staff the picture of his new weapon mounted on the wall. Amid all of the congratulations, I kept thinking, “How can this be okay?”

CONTINUE READING. . .

October 17, 2017by Jonathan
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Current Events

Take A Deep Breath. The Nashville Statement Won’t Change Anything

(RNS) — There is a way for conservative Christians to make a strong, winsome case for traditional views of sexuality and gender. Unfortunately, the Nashville Statement isn’t it.

This week, a group of prominent evangelicals released a “Christian manifesto,” which argued that LGBT people who embrace their sexual or gender identity are living in sin. The statement was coordinated by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, and many intelligent and respectable people, including my father, signed it. I assume most did so because of their convictions, however misguided, rather than hatred.

CONTINUE READING. . .

September 4, 2017by Jonathan
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Current Events

Flaming Hypocrisy In Evangelical Disney Boycott

When it was announced last week that Disney’s forthcoming Beauty and the Beast film would feature the company’s first gay character, many responded with singing and dancing. But some conservative Christians have opted for sackcloth and ashes.

Franklin Graham, son of famed evangelist Billy Graham and a lightning rod of controversy himself, tweeted that while Disney has the right to control the content of its cartoons, Christians “also have the right to not support the company.”

LifeSiteNews.com, a popular conservative Christian website, launched an online petition to boycott Disney that has already received more than 110,000 signatures. And at least one Christian theater owner has canceled screenings of the film.

CONTINUE READING. . .

September 4, 2017by Jonathan
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Current Events, Politics

Why Christians Can Stay Hopeful In This Time Of Political Darkness

(RNS) — Seventy percent of Americans are dissatisfied “with the way things are going in the United States at this time,” according to a Gallup poll. This presumably includes a large number of Christians — a group of people who claim to have reasons to hope no matter how dismal the moment. Christian hope, of course, is not tethered to the success of America. But the darkness of our present age raises questions about how followers of Jesus can nurture the light of hope.

Writer Zach Hoag wrestles with these very questions in his new book, “The Light Is Winning: Why Religion Just Might Bring Us Back to Life.” The darkness is real, he says, but it is also receding. He explains why America is in a time of “great revealing” and how Christians can stave off nihilism and nurture hope.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

CONTINUE READING. . .

August 27, 2017by Jonathan
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Church, Current Events

Eugene Peterson Had This To Say About Same-Sex Issues In 2014

One of the pastors I spoke with about Eugene Peterson is Fred Harrell, pastor of City Church in San Francisco. He attended a conference in 2014 in which Peterson shares insights that are interesting in light of recent events. Below is the video of the Q and A with Peterson at Western Seminary.

Around the 2:23 mark, Peterson talks about being raised in a culture when gay was “really bad.” He says, “I accepted the status quo.” But recently, Peterson says, he thought about two homosexual men in his church, one who committed suicide and another who was divorced by his wife.

The result, Peterson said, was that, “I started to change my mind.”

CONTINUE READING. . .

July 26, 2017by Jonathan
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Church, Current Events

Eugene Peterson Backtracks On Same-Sex Marriage

(RNS) — “The Message” author Eugene Peterson says he regrets telling me he would officiate a same-sex wedding if asked to do so today by a gay couple who were “Christians of good faith.”

“On further reflection and prayer, I would like to retract that,” the evangelical author said in a statement.

Since we published the interview at RNS on Wednesday (July 12), the internet has caught fire. The article was the last of a three-part interview series that addressed a range of topics: why Peterson was stepping away from public life, what he thinks of Donald Trump, his view of megachurches, and whether he is afraid of death.

But nothing sparked more conversation than two questions I asked Peterson about same-sex relationships and marriage.

CONTINUE READING. . .

July 26, 2017by Jonathan
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Church, Current Events

Eugene Peterson On Changing His Mind About Same-Sex Issues And Marriage

When a journalist has a chance to interview a paragon of the Christian faith like Eugene Peterson, there’s a lot of pressure to pick the perfect questions. I’d asked him about why he was leaving the public eye and if he was afraid of death. I’d asked him about Donald Trump and the state of American Christianity. But there was one more topic I wanted to cover: same-sex relationships and marriage.

It’s one of the hottest topics in the church today, and given Peterson’s vast influence among both pastors and laypeople, I knew his opinion would impact the conversation. Though he has had a long career, I couldn’t find his position on the matter either online or in print. I did discover that “The Message,” Peterson’s popular paraphrase of the Bible, doesn’t use the word “homosexual” and “homosexuality” in key texts. But this wasn’t definitive proof of anything. After all, those words never appear in any English translation of the Bible until 1946.

CONTINUE READING. . .

July 26, 2017by Jonathan
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Church, Current Events

Eugene Peterson On Donald Trump And The State Of American Christianity

During the last election cycle, prominent Christians of all stripes voiced their opinions about the American political landscape. Eugene Peterson, however, did not speak out at that time.

Perhaps this is because the 84-year-old was busy finishing his final book, “As Kingfishers Catch Fire: A Conversation on the Ways of God Formed by the Words of God.” Or maybe nobody took the time to ask him what he thought. Regardless, I wanted to hear Peterson’s thoughts and decided to ask him about Donald Trump and the state of American Christianity. The author of the best-selling “The Message Bible” did not mince words when speaking about either topic.

CONTINUE READING. . .

July 26, 2017by Jonathan
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  • Today is the day to roll up your sleeves and start over.

Today is the day to release bitterness and embrace forgiveness.

Today is the day to stop languishing in the past and start living into the future.

Stand up. Wipe your eyes. Face the horizon. Start walking. Today.

Louis Lamore: ”There will come a time when you think everything is finished. That will be the beginning.”
  • Southern Baptists are now embroiled in a massive sex abuse scandal. I explore how they can survive it in my latest column @theatlantic. Full story at LINK IN BIO.

As I argue, “Ideas have consequences, and Southern Baptists must honestly explore whether their patriarchal theology is bearing rotten fruit.”
  • You are not what you do.

You are not what you have.

You are not what people say about you.

You are a beloved child of God.

You are infinitely valuable, deserving of dignity, and in possession of gifts that this world needs.

Be you.

Be loved.

Be free.

H/T - Henri Nouwen’s three lies of identity // 📸: @curatedworldphotos
  • “Love is a temporary madness.

It erupts like volcanoes and then subsides.

And when it subsides, you have to make a decision.

You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part.

Because this is what love is.

Love is not breathlessness. It is not excitement. It is not the promulgation of eternal passion.

That is just being “in love,” which any fool can do.

Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away. And this is both an art and a fortunate accident.

Those that truly love, have roots that grow towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two.” - Louis de Bernières // #gettingmerida
  • Just Mayan my own business. #dadjokes
  • Happy Valentine’s Day to the lonely and the left behind.

To the abandoned and the abused.

To the depressed and disappointed.

To the heartbroken and heartsick.

To the beat up, the beat down, the broken, the burned, and the betrayed.

To all those who liberally gave love to people who didn’t deserve it, who didn’t handle your heart with care.

To those who have waited a thousand nighttimes for love to arrive and are still empty handed.

Happy Valentine’s Day to YOU. Today, may you be seen and known.

You are worthy of the love you long for.

TAG SOMEONE WHO NEEDS TO BE REMINDED THAT THEY ARE LOVED. 📸: @zed.910

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“If we wake up to our current realities and return to our foundations... the faith's best days may yet lie ahead.” Jonathan Merritt, The Atlantic

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