Great Commission Resurgence

A new effort to revitalize and unite Southern Baptists is underway called The Great Commission Resurgence. It is being spearheaded by several Southern Baptist leaders, including SBC President Johnny Hunt and Daniel Akin, President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

This effort has now launched a website with a declaration that is available for electronic signing. I like this effort and support the principles outlined in the declaration including biblical inerrancy, convention reform, and perhaps most intriguing, "A Commitment to Methodological Diversity that is Biblically Informed." If you are a Southern Baptist who wants to see the SBC revitalized as an efficient, Gospel-centered, mission-minded denomination, check this website out.

Iraq: Just War?

The Associated Press is now reporting that it has uncovered secret statistics held by the Iraqi government showing 87,215 Iraqi citizens have been killed since 2005 as a result of everything from "catastrophic bombings to execution-style slayings." When tallied with records since 2003, it climbs to an estimated 110,600. (That number only includes "violent deaths.")

Here's some questions: Was it worth it? Would you characterize the Iraq War as a "just war?"

Related: See my article in Relevant Magazine's May/June issue entitled, Just War.

Review of Disneynature's Earth

Recently, I had the opportunity to screen Disneynature's debut film, Earth. I was so impressed by the movie that I wrote a review for Relevant. The movie is narrated by James Earl Jones and follows the lives of three animal families as they overcome amazing circumstances. The film is replete with life lessons and redemptive elements that uncover the grandeur of God's creation. In fact, Flourish's Rusty Pritchard has produced an Earth discussion guide in cooperation with Disneynature that is incredible tool that could be used by pastors, small groups and families as they engage this movie.

If you see this movie and especially if you utilized the discussion guide, I would love to know what you thought of both.

Loving our Neighbors...All of Them

I wrote an article that ran in USA Today this morning entitled "An Evangelical's Plea: Love the Sinner" calling evangelical Christians to begin treating our gay and lesbian neighbors more lovingly. The feedback has been intense with many positive affirmations coming from young adults and a few negative comments and emails from some older Christians.

This is actually the second time in less than a month that I have taken heat over this particular issue. I took a beating behind closed doors for an interview that appeared in an article entitled, "Reduce, Reuse, Religion." When the interview was conducted, I thought it was going to be about environmental stewardship and younger evangelicals, but I soon realized that it was primarily about gay and lesbian issues. The article's lead sentences state:

"Jonathan Merritt doesn’t want to talk about his own views on gay marriage or civil unions -- perhaps for good reason. Merritt is a young evangelical leader, a prominent writer on modern faith, and the son of a former Southern Baptist Convention president. The religious landscape of this country may be changing, but anyone who espouses equality could derail a future leadership role among evangelicals..."

The journalist seems to imply that I play my cards close to my chest because my views on gay marriage or civil unions could get me into trouble. In the sense that he means it, the implication is dead wrong; but in another sense, it is spot on.

My views are not controversial in that I believe a redefinition of marriage, much less the moralization of the homosexual lifestyle, runs in direct opposition to the teachings of scripture. I hold to the historically orthodox position. But, perhaps they are controversial in that I don't elevate homosexual practice above and beyond all the other sins in scripture like many Christians.

Homosexual practice is sin according to scripture, but so is gossip, lying, pride, most divorces and the many other "respectable sins" that run rampant in our church hallways. 33% of pastors say they have viewed pornography in the last year, and in 1996 at Promise Keepers event 50% of men said they had viewed porn in the week preceding the event. Are we speaking about our own sexual sins with the same frequency and veracity? If two people are co-habitating or getting an unbiblical divorce, we often turn a blind eye, but if a gay couple visits the church, they are often treated as if they have some sort of contagious disease. Truth be told, Christian treatment of homosexuals runs contrary to the teachings of love replete in scripture.

I have many gay friends who have suffered at the hands of evangelical Christians who spit venom at the gay community every chance they get. Like many young evangelicals, I am weary of the unloving, unsympathetic, uninformed speech directed at the gay community. It is time those who bear the name of Jesus Christ stand up and call our community back to a posture that reflects the teachings of the One we claim to serve.

What can we do to affirm, rather than undermine, our claims to love our gay and lesbian neighbors?

Protestant Pastors and Creation Care

Interesting new research from Ed Stetzer & Co. A LifeWay Research study breaks down protestant pastors' views on most divisive environmental issue as well as how often they address creation care from their pulpit. Clear divisions among political and theological lines. Read the study news release.

Has your pastor ever addressed creation care from the pulpit? If so, what kind of church do you attend?

Sex Trafficking and Second Chances

(Guest Writer - Katie Corbett, VA) I teach American History and recently we were discussing the abolition movement. For those of you who are not familiar with the our nation’s history, this movement called for the outlawing of slavery in the spirit of Thomas Jefferson’s eloquent and immortal words in the Declaration of Independence: “all men are created equal.” Men like William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglas took Jefferson’s words to heart and led a movement to see change and equality brought to America.

A few days ago when I was telling my students about the inhumane treatment forced upon many slaves, one of my dear, sweet students raised her hand and said, “Ms. Corbett, I am so thankful slavery like this doesn’t exist.” Yes, my cherub, keep on believing that. Reality is quite different. In Thailand, half-a-world away and completely foreign to most of us, slavery is still very much alive. Women, no, young girls are being sold on a daily basis, not to pick cotton, but to sell the very last thing they own – themselves. Today in Thailand there are approximately 1.8 million sex slaves, 400,000 under the age of 12. These are just babies, the age of my sixth graders.

These women are defiled daily, giving way their dignity and their self-worth. In a country ravaged by poverty, sex drives the economy. It only takes $24 to buy a Thai woman for 24 hours. These women are valued at $1 per hour! American men flock by the thousands for cheap sex, calling their homebound wives from the lobbies of swanky hotels, just blocks from massive go-go bars. It is estimated that close to $27 billion is made through the sex industry in Thailand each year. Think about that! Really, think it over. These are women, just like our moms and sisters and aunties and little cousins that we love and hold so dearly, treated like trash and discarded just the same!

This should sicken us and break our hearts. But the problem is so big and so distant. Lucky for us, there are ministries that are trying to bring to light the atrocities of the sex trade. Last year, the movie/rockumentary Call + Response was released by the art and music community to raise awareness of human trafficking. Also amazing ministries like Freedom424 has been launched. $24 is all it takes to set a woman free from abuse for an entire day. Freedom424 goes into these bars, purchases these women and brings them back to the safe house, where they are honored and valued as women. Their hair is washed and their nails are painted. They are given a solid meal and most importantly their souls are fed with the gospel. These women are offered the chance to leave the bars and learn a new skill or trade. They are given a chance at a new life.

As Edmund Burke well said, "“Nobody makes a greater mistake than he who does nothing because he could only do a little.” Christians above all others should know the value of a second chance, of a new life. For us, this should become an unavoidable issue.

What If Jesus Never Existed?

Just when you think you've seen it all, someone comes along and denies the existence of Jesus Christ. A recent documentary, The God Who Wasn't There, has just been released to DVD, which Newsweek says "irreverently lays out the case that Jesus Christ never existed." The writers of the New Testament Gospels, they claim, never believed that Jesus existed. Instead, these writers simply wrote about a fictitious character named "Jesus" who was nothing more than a literary reincarnation of pagan cult heroes. 

Unfortunately, these documentarians stand in opposition to the preponderance of the evidence. Take the simple fact that 11 of the 12 disciples died for their belief in a Messianic Jesus. Or, attempt to reconcile their assertions with the plethora of extra-biblical sources which reference Jesus Christ, including the revered Jewish historian, Josephus. There is more evidence for the existence of Jesus Christ than there is for many, if not most, historical figures. 

If one determines to throw out the historical Jesus on evidential grounds, then one must also throw out most every figure in pre-modern human history and virtually empty University faculty offices around the globe. That is why basically every scholar--including secular historians--agree that the Rabbi named "Jesus of Nazareth" existed in the first century A.D. and had an influential ministry. In fact, questioning the historical existence of Jesus would get you laughed out of almost any university in the world. 

The existence of a God can never be proven on this side of eternity, but the existence of Jesus Christ is historically indisputable. It just goes to illustrate the wise words of Mark Twain, who once said, "All you need in life is ignorance and confidence."

Thoughts?