Last year, a number of prominent Evangelicals gathered together to release a statement of concern about global warming, Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action. Some parts of the media, as well as individuals, have been misled to believe this was an “official” Evangelical position on the matter and the confusion has led some of those people to judge Evangelical groups by whether or not they are resisting their “leaders” rather than if they are actually being, well, Evangelical and preaching the Gospel.
It's no secret the thirteenth chapter of Paul's Letter to the Romans has been much abused. Those seeking support for oppressive regimes use it to bludgeon believers into a love affair with the ruling regime. For them, let's be clear the passage says "submit," not "support." The same passage has been read by many as describing the requirement of governments to ensure they are enforcing actual good. Frankly, this is not supported by the grammar. Twisting it around backwards to provide an excuse for active resistance to that same regime won't do. However, while I reject the most common understandings of this passage, I agree it's often taken out of context, at the very least.
Steve Jobs is known for being able to pull a rabbit out of his hat fairly regularly – far more regularly, anyway, than almost any other CEO. Like most Mac users, I find myself anxiously awaiting the likely announcement of the Apple phone tomorrow. Given the hype though, I wonder if Apple can actually win with this upcoming keynote.
One of the scariest, most uncertain times for a church is a transition in leadership. In most Baptist churches, when a pastor is to resign or retire, it is the standard practice for a committee (or six) to be formed and a lengthy search for a new pastor to begin.
So, I have been cleaning my hard drive – a little spring-cleaning one might say. Admittedly, it is a bit early to say spring cleaning, but what else can I say? I could say that I am trying to get a good start to a New Year’s resolution, but that would mean I had actually resolved to clean my hard disk. Ok, so I will just admit it: the drive was growing full and I decided to clean it before the computer simply refused to do anything more. Two hundred and fifty gigabytes goes quickly these days.
To inaugurate our new fiction and creative works section, Associate Editor Ed Hurst provides a thoughtful dramatization from the Old Testament. The text comes from Genesis 12:1-3. Join Ed in following a bit of the life of the man who would become Abraham, the story of whom begins in media res (already in progress).
The mad rush to shop for last minute gifts that your recipient will actually enjoy need not be a desperate mad rush, at least. I picked out five of my favorite highly giftable items – all one hundred dollars or less, in descending price order, no less – perhaps one just right for your soon to be happy giftee. So, if you need to spend a little time playing a ripe jolly old elf, read on and see what I have in my sack.
Dennis Prager wrote an article on Townhall.com titled “America, Not Keith Ellison, decides what book a congressman takes his oath on.” In brief, the article argues that every congressman should be made to take their oath of office on the Bible, not on any other book. Jason Franklin, a pastor, considers the the validity of this assertion.
At first glance, one might think there are a lot of marks against Adobe’s Creative Suite. It is pricey, complex and essentially without much in the way of competition to spur development. That is exactly what I thought for a long time, but actually using the suite dispels the notions one might accumulate just from outside analysis. As Creative Suite 3 looms on the horizon, it is worth considering exactly what makes this suite so delightful.