DOES THE BIBLE SANCTION SLAVERY?
In the comments section of my last post ‘r.k.’ asked a good question about slavery in the Bible and wondered how God could sanction behavior like that mentioned in Exodus 21:20-21.
In response it is important to understand that scripture does not sanction slavery but rather regulates it. Slavery was never part of the un-fallen order that God made. Slavery came into the world as a result of human sin and corruption. The amazing thing, in light of mankind’s rebellion, is that God decided not to let the race perish but to graciously save those who call on his name. God’s plan of ‘redemption’ — a word which comes from the slave trade and speaks of the ‘buying back’ or the ‘liberation’ of slaves — has been progressively revealed in scripture, and history, and culminates in Jesus the Messiah. It is only because of his sinless life and substitutionary death on the cross, and the subsequent pouring out of the Holy Spirit, that men and women can begin to move in the freedom that God originally intended.
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Add comment July 26, 2008
GETTING READY TO MOVE
Well, the date is set and we have been working late getting ready. We have replaced most of the blinds in the house, hung a new door for the girl’s bedroom, packed the dining room and Patricia’s room, and changed 13,375 diapers in our spare time. Well, maybe not that many. Ask Paula for the exact number. Today, I plan to repair the deck and screen porch, including five deck boards, three railing boards, and new screen for the porch. I hope to finish it up before dark. We’ll see. I also have to hang blinds on the kitchen and den windows. Then I join the rest of the family labor force in packing the rest of the house. We pick up the moving truck on Wednesday morning. This blog will be mostly quiet until we get settled in our new home. I noticed the lack of activity has led some readers to unsubscribe. Please check back in August as I hope to pick things back up. Also check out my Web Clippings blog as I post interesting articles and links from around the web.
Add comment July 26, 2008
WHEN CHRIST IS LORD OF YOUR HOME, PART 2
Charlotte and Danny Akin on parenting
Having the privilege of parenting four sons was one of the great blessings of our life. Often we were flying by the seat of our pants doing the best we knew how but not certain it was. We visited numerous emergency rooms and had our assortment of broken bones, but it was a wonderful experience and we would not exchange it for anything. Several principles and precepts of Scripture influenced our style of parenting. While this list is certainly not exhaustive, it summarizes what guided us as we sought to develop godly sons who would love Jesus and live for Him.
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Add comment July 25, 2008
WHEN CHRIST IS LORD OF YOUR HOME, PART 1
By Danny and Charlotte Akin
On May 27, 1978 we began a great journey together. From the start we had a commitment both to the permanence of marriage and the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We could never have imagined then where God would take us and what all He would allow us to experience. We have been blessed with four wonderful sons, 3 beautiful daughters-in-law, 2 grandchildren and a 3rd on the way. Our life together has been a fantastic adventure. We have laughed and cried, succeeded and failed, been glad, mad and sad. Through it all, however, we have attempted to follow God’s guidelines found in Scripture for marriage and family. The Bible has been our compass and we, to the best of our ability, have sought to allow it to chart our course.
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Add comment July 25, 2008
THE MOST DANGEROUS THING WE HAVE
Edith Schaeffer, Lifelines, pages 188-189.
Add comment July 25, 2008
PREACHING IN THE FLESH
Add comment July 25, 2008
CONVERSIONS, PERSECUTION IN KENYA
On Friday 11th July 2008, Moslems invaded our training center in Kenya. The Moslems attacked the team while they are having meeting in preparation for one month August Missions.
The Moslems claimed that the Christians abused their Koran, but we know it was just a plot, since nobody did that. The truth is that the Moslem are furious about the number of the Moslems who were converts to the Lord this year.
In the last two months through the initiatives of our missionaries about 24 Moslems have ACCEPTED THE Lord Jesus Christ in spite of all the persecution. Moslems felt that the best way to stop all these conversions was to burn the Church and kill key leaders and missionaries.
Add comment July 25, 2008
PRAY FOR GREG LAURIE
Tullian Tchividjian:
I received word yesterday afternoon that Christopher Laurie (33), son of evangelist Greg Laurie, died in a car accident yesterday. You can read about it here. Please be praying for Laurie family as they are, no doubt, facing the most difficult days of their life.
Lord have mercy!
Add comment July 25, 2008
RETIRED PASTORS SHARE INSIGHTS INTO EFFECTIVE PASTORAL MINISTRY
William Willimon, a United Methodist Bishop in North Alabama, recently asked retired pastors to share their insights into pastoral ministry. On his blog, A Peculiar Prophet, Willimon summarizes the over fifty responses he received:
- Successful pastoral ministry requires not only theological ability, biblical fidelity, and a good personality; it requires hard work! Pastors must be “self-starters” who proactively engage their parishioners and their communities by knocking on doors, engaging in conversation, making contacts and other efforts to reach people. Disciplined, determined work is required.
- Faithful pastors must have a vivid sense of vocation, a sense of being summoned by God to do this work. The work that pastors do is too demanding to do it for any other reason than the conviction that one is called to do this work, that God wants you to do it.
- The only enduring reasons for being in ministry are theological. Pastors must constantly refurbish their sense that this is a “God thing,” that ministry is more than a mere “helping profession.” Pastoral ministry arises out of theological commitments and is dependent upon what God is doing in the church and the world.
- Though some seem to believe that pastoral visitation is outmoded, there is no substitute for meeting people where they live, from offering yourself to them through visiting in their homes and businesses.
- Pastoral ministry is relational. Your people must believe that you care about them, that you know them individually, and that you are trying to love them.
Wise words, indeed.
Add comment July 25, 2008
CHRIST’S DEATH IS INTELLIGIBLE
James Denney, The Death of Christ, pages 177-178.
Add comment July 25, 2008
THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO GET BETTER
“The only people who get better are people who know that, if they never get better, God will love them anyway.”
—Steve Brown, A Scandalous Freedom (West Monroe, LA: Howard Books, 2004), 68-69
Add comment July 24, 2008
PASTOR CRASHES MOTORCYCLE INTO FIRST ROW OF SEATS DURING SUNDAY SERVICE
The reason I don’t use stage props or ride a motorcycle (sorry Dave), from FOXNews:
Jeff Harlow, the senior pastor at Crossroads Community Church, broke his wrist when he lost control of the motorcycle at the start of Sunday’s second service, driving off a 5-foot platform and into the vacant first row of seats. He underwent surgery on the wrist Monday.
Becky Harlow said her husband had recently attended a motorcycle race in Buchanan, Mich.
“He had this idea that he would bring this bike out onstage and show people how the rider would become one with the bike,” she told the Kokomo Tribune. “He was going to just sit on it and drive it out. He was just walking the dirt bike out onstage and somehow it got away from him. It was not intended.” No one else was hurt.
Jeff Harlow had performed the demonstration at earlier services Saturday night and Sunday morning without incident.
Add comment July 24, 2008
FIREPROOFING YOUR MARRIAGE
There’s never a shortage of discussion on this blog about same-sex marriage, but what about the problems facing men and women united in holy matrimony? These struggles are real and growing more problematic every day, affecting believers and nonbelievers alike. Fireproof, a film by the makers of the surprise hit Facing the Giants, takes on [...]
Add comment July 24, 2008
WHAT DID CALVARY AND THE TOMB OF CHRIST LOOK LIKE?
Justin Taylor interviews Leen Ritmeyer, the archaeological and architectural editor for the new ESV Study Bible, available October 2008: part 1 and part 2
Add comment July 24, 2008
HUDSON TAYLOR ON THE NEWS OF MARTYRED CHINA INLAND MISSION MISSIONARIES
“Oh, think what it must have been,” he said, “to exchange that murderous mob for the rapture of His presence, His bosom, His smile!” He paused, trying to control his voice. “They do not regret it now,” he continued. “A crown that fadeth not away. They shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy.’” His mind had gone to the Book of Revelation (3:4).
Add comment July 23, 2008
IS HEAVEN THEOCENTRIC OR ANTHROPOCENTRIC OR BOTH?
Russell Moore:
Heaven is the expectation of Christians that life does not end with physical death but, for the redeemed, continues eternally in the presence of Christ.
Theologian Jerry Walls has traced two understandings of eternal blessedness in the history of Christian theology: a theocentric view and an anthropocentric view. In the theocentric view, eternity is “a timeless experience of contemplating the infinitely fascinating reality of God in all of his aspects,” without much element of human fellowship. The anthropocentric view, by contrast, emphasizes “being reunited with family and friends” and sees eternity as the continuation of life without the mar of sin and suffering.
Both strands are seen from the very beginning of the Christian story, with Christian thinkers such as Origen and Augustine emphasizing heaven as beatific vision and spiritual reality and thinkers such as Irenaeus and Justin Martyr emphasizing the creational aspects of the new creation.
In biblical eschatology, however, the eternal state is strikingly anthropocentric but not in the ways found in much of popular piety.
Add comment July 23, 2008
STRENGTH FOR A TREMBLING FAITH
“The cross which is the object of faith, is also, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the cause of it. Sit down and watch the dying Saviour till faith springs up spontaneously in your heart. There is no place like Calvary for creating confidence. The air of that sacred hill brings health to trembling faith.”
- C. H. Spurgeon, All of Grace (Chicago, Ill.: The Moody Press, n.d.), 75. 
2 comments July 23, 2008
AMERICA AND FAITH HEALERS
Russell Moore:
There’s much in the news these days about yet another travelling evangelist promising healing to the sick. Every few years here comes another fraudulent, scandal-riddled “faith healer.” That’s, sadly, no surprise.
Having said that, let me make clear, I am not dubious about healing. I believe that God heals today, often miraculously. And I believe that there are sometimes certain people whose prayers for the healing of others avail much. We all know, however, that there are those who will use the power of God to peddle a product. What’s most tragic about this is the fact that there’s always a constituency for guys like this.
I fear that it’s more than just P.T. Barnum’s famous old maxim about the gullibility of the American public.
Add comment July 23, 2008
JOHN WESLEY’S ADVICE TO A FELLOW PREACHER: “SCREAM NO MORE”
Scream no more at peril of your soul. God now warns you by me, whom he has set over you. Speak as earnestly as you can, but do not scream. Speak with all your heart, but with a moderate voice. It was [...]
Add comment July 23, 2008
FIVE PRACTICAL TIPS FOR ENGAGING THE INFORMATION AGE WITHOUT LOSING OUR FAMILIES
Is our ability to follow long arguments, to process information well, and to meditate on the “big picture” suffering from a sea of triviality? The elite will keep reading, but is the “middlebrow” class, those who read well and kept the republic moving, disappearing?
As a teacher, my experience with students indicates that this article [...]
Add comment July 23, 2008
ADOLESCENT SHOPLIFTING
Family Research Council:
Shoplifting costs American businesses an estimated $16 billion a year, according to the Better Business Bureau. And it causes one-third of new businesses to fail.
Adolescents account for about 25 percent of the value of shoplifted goods and about half of all shoplifting cases. Without costing the taxpayer another dime, there is a way to reduce significantly the incidence of adolescent shoplifting, and that is the subject of the latest edition of Pat Fagan’s Mapping America.
Add comment July 23, 2008
MYTHS CHRISTIANS BELIEVE ABOUT WEALTH AND POVERTY
Add comment July 23, 2008
DAWKINS SLAPS CREATIONISTS
Albert Mohler:
The Times [London] is out with an article headline that reads, “Dawkins Slaps Creationists into the Primordial Soup.” Now that grabs your attention.
Dawkins, pleased to be known as “Darwin’s Rotweiller,” has been given a new three-part television series in Britain, known as “Dawkins on Darwin.” The British press is fawning in its applause, and Dawkins appears to be in rare form.
Add comment July 23, 2008
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT
View the rest of the announcement
Add comment July 22, 2008
SUMMER VACATION
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We are headed out of town this afternoon and I am leaving my computer home. I am also thinking about taking a month or so off from blogging as we transition to whatever ministry God has prepared for us. I will be back blogging in August. Have a blessed Summer, and for heaven’s sake, turn off the computer and go outside to soak up some rays.
Add comment July 3, 2008
BIBLICAL THINKING ABOUT SALVATION
“Salvation is not merely an objective reality to be wondered at, a theological dictum to be debated about, a philosophical theory to be speculated about—not even merely a marvelous subject to be preached about.
It is a divine reality entering the human being to transform his fundamental disposition, cleanse him from sin and unrighteousness, redeem him from bondage and corruption, impart to him the nature of God, recreate in him the image of Christ, make him a child of God, a member of the household of God, and qualify him through the gift of the Holy Spirit to live a life of true discipleship in the midst of a world almost destitute of the consciousness of God and eternity.”
—George W. Peters, A Biblical Theology of Missions (Chicago: Moody Press, 1972), 63-64
Add comment July 3, 2008
WHERE ARE EUROPE’S BABIES?
Albert Mohler:
“You can’t have a country where everybody lives in a nursing home.” The statement, shockingly obvious as it may be, was offered by Carl Haub of the Population Reference Bureau. He was speaking of Europe’s looming demographic disaster. As The New York Times Magazine reports this week, many Europeans are now asking, “Where are the babies?”
The cover story is by Russell Shorto, who contributes some of the most interesting pieces run in the magazine each year. As he makes clear in this article, the radical decline in birthrates will bring equally radical social challenges.
Add comment July 3, 2008
