With a vote of 538 to 431, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (Wikipedia) has passed a motion to allow ministers to be in same-sex relationships as long as they are characterized by faithfulness and commitment—even though it is still against official church policy. These homosexual pastors are not to be disciplined.
The ELCA, which has 4.8 million members, had previously allowed gays to serve as pastors so long as they abstained from sexual relations.
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Since the ELCA was founded in 1988, the group has ordered three pastors in gay relationships to be removed from their ministries. The most recent case was decided in July when the ELCA’s committee on appeals voted to remove an openly gay pastor from St. John’s Lutheran Church in Atlanta.
There’s been a lot of buzz on the web about the New Perspective on Paul (Wikipedia | Theopedia) in the last couple of weeks. Here’s a roundup of what I’ve come across:
Most Christians probably still give financially to their local church by putting cash or a personal check in an offering plate or offering box, but many are giving through automatic bank drafts, debit cards, and credit cards.
The Dallas Morning News discovered that 55% of the 200 local churches they polled already accept debit cards and credit cards. Some churches have added kiosks in their lobbies, thanks to companies like Secure Give.
It seem like only a matter of time before this becomes the norm in most churches. No doubt some will resist, but should they?
Several articles and discussions on music have caught my eye recently. Music remains a controversial subject with strong opinions on both sides of the debate.
Stephen Altrogge praises God for Coldplay (Wikipedia). Erik Davis traces the Christian Rock movement to the Jesus People of the 60s. Harrison Scott Key tells the Jesus People to take their music back. Libby Purves points out a satirical music video, “Christian Rock Is Cool.” Webster Young contemplates the dilemma of Vatican II’s mandate to use “the music of the people” in light of the baseness of popular music.
It’s a solid, balanced, and fair introduction to the issues. For those acquainted with the New Perspective, there’s nothing earth shattering here. But this would make a great introduction for those who are asking, “What’s the New Perspective?” or “New Perspective on what?”
The idea of penal substitution (God’s punishing Jesus in our place with the punishment that we deserved) continues to come under attack. Here are two recent articles that you’ll want to be sure to read:
Both Testaments, then, confirm that judicial retribution from God awaits those whose sins are not covered by a substitutionary sacrifice: in the Old Testament, the sacrifice of an animal; in the New Testament, the sacrifice of Christ. He, the holy Son of God in sinless human flesh, has endured what Calvin called ‘the pains of a condemned and lost person’ so that we, trusting him as our Saviour and Lord, might receive pardon for the past and a new life in him and with him for the present and future. Tellingly, Paul, having announced ‘the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation (i.e. wrath-quencher) by his blood, to be received by faith’, goes on to say: ‘This was . . . to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus’ (Romans 3:2-26, my emphasis). Just justification—justified justification—through the doing of justice in penal substitution, is integral to the message of the gospel.
Some popular slogans that have been deployed to belittle the doctrine of penal substitution betray painful misconceptions of what the Bible says about our Triune God. The best known of these appalling slogans, of course, is that penal substitution is a form of “cosmic child abuse.” This conjures up a wretched picture of a vengeful God taking it out on his Son, who had no choice in the matter. Instead of invoking the Triune God of the Bible, this image implicitly pictures interactions between two separable Gods, the Father and the Son. But this is a painful caricature of what the Bible actually says. In fact, I do not know of any serious treatment of the doctrine of penal substitution, undertaken by orthodox believers, that does not carefully avoid falling into such traps.
Due in theaters on June 22, Evan Almighty is the latest in semi-religious hubbub. All the usual questions are flying: “Isn’t that blasphemous?” “Don’t religious movies have to be serious?” followed closely by all the usual hasty conclusions: “Let’s pretend it isn’t happening,” or “Let’s make tracts to hand out!” or “I’m going down to protest outside the theater.”
All that aside, there is one unique aspect of Evan Almighty that is worth considering:ArkAlmighty. It’s a program coupled with the movie that centers on fulfilling needs. When a church registers, it receives a media kit and a dedicated page on the ArkAlmighty website (e.g., Greenville Community Church). The church can then hand out the provided flyers, which direct their readers to the church’s page. Online, ArkAlmighty has a sort of garage-sale for needs. If a person has a need, he can go to the page and post it. The church then does what it can to meet that need.
The idea is that the publicity already generated by Evan can help churches be more available. The program is designed to be an outreach tool, to bridge gaps between churches and their communities. On the surface, it sounds good. Maybe it’s even good underneath.
Here are a few pros and cons to consider:
Pros (not exhaustive)
Millions will be exposed to a religious message
Needs are being met
Ties to secular communities are being made
Religious movies don’t have to be serious
Excellent selection of teaching points
Cons (not exhaustive)
Possible cheapening of the holy
Possible misrepresentation of biblical ideas/concepts
Does the church need a movie to accomplish God’s purposes?
Association—would Steve Carell ever speak from your pulpit?
Excellent selection of teaching points
Your decision should be made in prayer: whether to see the movie, whether to associate with ArkAlmighty, whether to jump onto the bandwagon or watch it roll by.
In addition, read all you can and be as informed as possible. It should be your goal to provide helpful, insightful advice and answers to your flock.
Timothy Bayly has a post on the recent trend towards egalitarianism in several evangelical institutions. He mentions Campus Crusade for Christ, Navigators, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation, Calvin College and Seminary, Wheaton College, Dallas Theological Seminary, and Westminster Seminary—all of which are showing signs of heading down the slippery slope. Some (IVCF and Wheaton) are further along than others.
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With a vote of 538 to 431, 
There’s been a lot of buzz on the web about the New Perspective on Paul (
Most Christians probably still give financially to their local church by putting cash or a personal check in an offering plate or offering box, but many are giving through automatic bank drafts, debit cards, and credit cards.
Several articles and discussions on music have caught my eye recently. Music remains a controversial subject with strong opinions on both sides of the debate.
The August issue of Christianity Today features an article by 
The idea of 
