Eating out with your kids when Hell is real
‘Recently, the New York Times ran a piece on a famous pastor’s son who is now a vocal ex-vangelical and a rising Tiktok star. Many have commented on the story and it’s not my intention here to weigh in on this tragic situation. God is sovereign and I pray that this man will one day have his eyes truly opened, and not remain in the sad ranks of those who achieved fame by publicly maligning the faith their fathers preached. But there was one comment of his quoted in the article that I have been chewing on.’
Embarrassed by the gospel
‘One of the most striking features of the contemporary Christian scene is embarrassment. Many of the leading traditional institutions of the faith seem embarrassed by the gospel.’
How the culture wars came for history
Aside from helpfully telling us not to bother with a particularly atrocious book, I think the wider point in this one bears consideration. NB: there is an occasional bit of bad language so, if you’re offended by that, probably one to skip.
Sheol, Hades and Gehenna: are there differences?
Jesse Johnson looks at how these different terms are used in the Bible and whether they refer to the same place or not.
Absolutely ripped or absolutely gutting?
‘We are being led by the enlightened gods of the Sexular Age to the glorious future of crafting ourselves into whatever it is we wish to be. And for every Elliot Page who has the money, the fame, the influence, the safety net of expensive doctors and the latest technology, there are myriad gender confused teens, gender dysphoric young people, anxious parents worried about being sidelined by activist medicos and lawyers, and a compliant media. The proles are merely the crushed road-base paved over by the fools gold of sexual celebrities on the path to self-destruction.’
Why does God do that?
‘Today, it is the church – Abraham’s descendants through faith – who have the responsibility of showing God’s character to the world, in word and deed. Let’s face it, we aren’t always great at that, despite the empowering of the Holy Spirit. So why does God do this, why does he repeatedly tie his own activity and his own reputation to unreliable creatures like us?’
From the archive: Why spend so much time and energy on what seems like unfruitful ministry?
‘Our area of Oldham is replete with South Asian Muslims, predominantly from Pakistan and Bangladesh. Such work can be hard going with no obvious gospel fruit to speak of. Most of our gospel successes (for want of a better phrase) have come amongst Iranian and Afghan people, with relatively little to show for our efforts with our South Asian friends. This begs the question why we focus so much of our evangelistic energy on South Asians when there appears to be comparatively little fruit. Here is why.’