Category: 500 Words
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Most Southern Christians Believe God Accepts the Worship of All Religions
In AD 610, while staying in Ramadhan, Mohammed reported having a Samuel-like encounter. Whereas Samuel heard the voice of God (1 Samuel 3), Mohammed encountered the angel Gabriel, God’s messenger. According to Islamic tradition, Gabriel would deliver the content of the Koran to Mohammed over time. Loosely derived from the Koran, every faithful Muslim must…
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Identifying Sinful Fears, Pt. 2: The Fear of Creation
Matthew’s Gospel challenges our assumptions about fearfulness. After a long day of ministry, Jesus and his disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee. Weary from the day, our Lord fell asleep in the boat’s bow. Then, a violent storm battered and threatened to destroy the vessel and its occupants. The disciples panicked, but Jesus remained asleep.…
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Identifying Sinful Fears, Pt. 1: The Fear of Man
On April 27, 2011, we had our children huddled in the bathtub of our Alabama home, wearing bicycle helmets. Weather sirens were blaring in the background as 62 tornadoes touched down throughout the day. My children were terrified by the ordeal, and it took one of them nearly five years to overcome the memories of…
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Bunches of Southern Churchgoers Don’t Believe the Bible
Many Southern churchgoers believe the Bible is a book of silly myths. What I’m about to share with you applies to survey respondents who attend church “several times per week.” These are not the fringe folks who only show up on rare occasions. These are the regulars. Twenty-five percent of these folks agree that “the…
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Southern Evangelicals Overwhelmingly Affirm Scripture’s Inerrancy and Authority
Orlando-based Ligonier Ministries recently released their 2022 survey titled, The State of Theology. The survey included 33 questions designed to assess Americans’ beliefs. Twenty-seven questions covered five theological categories, and six questions probed ethical concerns. For my research and reporting, I filtered the results to include the responses of those classified as Southern Evangelicals. To…
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The Sanger Gospel, Part 2
One of the most troubling economic indicators for our country is the declining birth rate. A nation built on two-worker households cannot survive if those workers do not replace themselves. And, we are not. I shared this with my physical therapist in South Carolina many years ago. His response was, “The more troubling thing is…
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The Sanger Gospel, Part 1
To measure the level of sadness and despair in individual families, count their children. The more they have, the greater their misery. To achieve happiness, both for your family and society at large, keep your family small. Such was the perspective Margaret Higgins Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, adopted early in her childhood. Sanger grew…
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Compassionate Orthodoxy
Not long ago, I rolled up to the church and found an unfamiliar vehicle parked in the lot. I strolled over to assess the situation and struck up a conversation with the driver. After a moment, I could tell he was in some distress. Against my better judgment, I invited him into my office to…
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Man, Woman, Garden
Well, it’s June, and that means it is Pride Month. For the next 30 days, your social media stream may be much more colorful than usual. I suggest you take this as an opportunity to reconsider the Bible’s teaching on gender, marriage, and sexuality. As Christians, our response to the dogmatic assertions made by the…
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Can the SBC hold sex abusers accountable?
We will be talking about the recently released report detailing sexual abuse within the Southern Baptist Convention for some time to come. In nearly 400-pages of detailed reporting, Guidestone Solutions, an independent investigating firm, demonstrated corruption at high levels within the SBC. What I’ve read so far is heartbreaking because of the stain this activity…
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Jehovah Hears and Remembers
If you had to grade sins, what would be worse – murder and adultery or breaking a vow? Most of us would say that murder and adultery are worse sins than breaking a vow. Scripture, however, requires us to view a broken vow as a severe sin in God’s eyes. In 2 Samuel 21, God…
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Beaten Back
Introduction In this article, we consider briefly whether incarceration or public judicial corporal punishment offers a more humane treatment of criminal offenders. Though the idea of public caning, or some alternative of the practice, stirs a visceral reaction in many, we should note the practice is rooted both in Scripture and world history. I base…
500 Words 