Invictus, meet My Captain

Commentary By January 10, 2014 Tags: , 5 Comments

William Ernest Henley wrote Invictus in 1875. Undoubtably his most famous poem, it is an anthem of defiance. It has returned to prominence with the recent death of Nelson Mandela. Mandela would recite it to fellow inmates during his years of imprisonment, and President Obama recited the poem at Mandela’s memorial service. But Invictus has had a checkered history. When Timothy…

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The Distinction between Creation and Creationism

Commentary By November 6, 2013 Tags: , , , , No Comments

We often forget to make the distinction between creation and creationism. One is a doctrine while the other is an apologetic approach. On the one hand, creation is a foundational doctrine of the Christian faith. The essential features of the doctrine of creation are unchangeable tenets. The Bible teaches that those features include the truths that God, without compulsion or…

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Baptists and the Pilgrims

Commentary By August 5, 2013 Tags: , , , , No Comments

For 18 days last month, Malcolm Yarnell (from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) and I had the privilege of taking a group of students on a study tour through England and Scotland. One of the highlights of the trip was visiting Gainsborough Hall in Lincolnshire, a meeting place built over 500 years ago. During the English Reformation, Protestants who stayed in…

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The Art of Dying

Book Review By July 15, 2013 Tags: , , No Comments

“Our culture simply doesn’t know what to think about death,” begins an engaging read by Rob Moll entitled The Art of Dying: Living Fully Into the Life to Come (IVP Books, 2010). If you think me morbid for my interest in this subject, then this book was written precisely with you in mind! The title caught my attention, but even…

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A Train Wreck Conversion

Book Review, Commentary By March 28, 2013 Tags: No Comments

In the January/February 2013 edition of Christianity Today, I read the gripping story of Rosaria Champagne Butterfield’s journey to Christ entitled “My Train Wreck Conversion”. The subtitle further caught my attention: “As a leftist lesbian professor, I despised Christians. Then somehow I became one.” It was a fascinating testimony. The end of the article stated that she had written a…

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Word for Wednesday: Hospitalitude

Commentary By February 27, 2013 Tags: No Comments

For many years now Mrs. Cindy Bush, widow of L. Russ Bush, former Academic Dean of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, has taught a course in the Biblical Women’s Institute program entitled “The Ministry of Hospitality”. Anyone who knows Cindy even a little will confirm that her cup of gifts overflows with hospitality; and if they spend a little more time…

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I fell in love with the evangelist in the pea green suit

Commentary By August 25, 2011 Tags: , , No Comments

About 35 years ago I met a young man at a church baseball game who had recently accepted Christ. My girlfriend beside me whispered (don’t you think Ken is kind of cute?). My response was something like, “Yeah, he’s OK”, trying to pretend I had not noticed. Later my father and pastor invited this young man to preach a youth…

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Is the Gospel Worth $6,090,032?

Commentary By April 4, 2011 Tags: , No Comments

Is it possible to determine the economic benefit a church brings to its local community? A recent First Things article reports that researchers led by a University of Pennsylvania professor attempted to make just such an assessment (First Things: April 2011, p. 67). They estimated the economic impact of 12 congregations in the greater Philadelphia area. Some financial benefits could…

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