Character Matters

Annie Brown, Apologetics, character, Christian Ethics, Christianity, Gospel, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, morality, SES, Southern Evangelical Seminary, Virtue
Character and morality often intersect in their definitions. Even for the non-Christians, all people are given a moral compass from the time of our birth. As image bearers of God, a person is able to recognize right from wrong. Though these matters have been declared more subjective over time, murder is still deemed hateful by the large majority. Stealing is considered a crime by most law-abiding citizens. There are obvious signs that either positively or negatively allude to one’s character. Character Defined Character, defined by the world, is commonly based on what is done rather than what is believed. A person is considered morally good by the things that they do for themselves or someone else. For instance, donating to multiple charities and volunteering at a homeless shelter may lead…
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Is Social Justice Hijacking the Gospel?

Alisa Childers, Apologetics, Christianity, Deconstruction, Gospel, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Progressive Christianity, Social justice, Theology and Christian Apologetics
Progressive Christian blogger and author John Pavlovitz wrote,  “We believe that social justice is the heart of the Gospel…” Is he right? And what exactly is social justice? I recently posted an article in which I described Progressive Christian churches as swapping out the gospel for social justice. I got a lot of pushback on this point, but I believe that most of this pushback comes down to a misunderstanding of words. Some are quick to say, “Social justice is good!” or “Social justice is bad!” without giving any nuanced thought to what the phrase actually means. Recently, I listened to a Mortification of Spin podcast episode called “Hijacking Social Justice,” that brilliantly dove into the history and meaning of the phrase and how it interacts with the gospel. It inspired this article, and I highly recommend listening to it. What is Social Justice?  Justice is a strong and…
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Apologetics and Politics

Apologetics, Arguments for God, Christianity, ethics, FreeThinking Ministries, Gospel, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Politics, Reasonable Faith, Tim Stratton
How should we live?How should we think?How should we vote? Are these questions with objectively right or wrong answers? That is to say, is it true — apart from human opinion — that humanity ought to live, think, and even vote in a certain manner? Some Questions that Need Answering If it is not objectively right or wrong to live, think, or vote in a certain manner, then does anything really matter? Moreover, if it is objectively wrong to live, think, and vote in a certain manner — how would we know? After all, is how we ought to vote determined by the majority vote? That doesn’t seem right. Are these things merely based on your emotions or “how it makes you feel?” That doesn’t seem right either because, as Ben Shapiro often says “Facts don’t care about your feelings.” One…
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How to Talk with Your Teens about Sex and Love from a Biblical Worldview: Interview with Sean McDowell

Apologetics, Biblical Worldview, Christian Ethics, Christianity, Gospel, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Love, marriage, Natasha Crain, Romance, sex, Theology and Christian Apologetics
Over the last several years, I’ve spoken on the subject of apologetics to many groups of parents at churches and conferences. Although none of my talks deal with the topic of sexuality, I can hardly think of a time when I wasn’t asked a question about it either in the Q & A or in private conversation afterward with an individual parent. In particular, parents always want to know what they should say to their kids about homosexuality and transgender questions. These are undoubtedly the most top of mind questions parents have today. Not the Sex Question Again! While I can appreciate that these specific questions are front and center in culture, I always feel a bit disappointed when I get them. Frankly, I feel like we’ve really missed the boat if…
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A Compassionate Response to Alistair Begg’s ‘Bad Advice’ on LGBT Weddings

Alistair Begg, Apologetics, Christian Ethics, Christian Marriage, Christianity, cultural apologetics, gay marriage, Gospel, Jason Jimenez, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, LGBTQ, Sexual Ethics, Stand Strong Ministries
Some time has passed since controversial advice resurfaced from popular preacher Alistair Begg on his radio program, “Truth for Life.” The controversy revolves around Pastor Begg shocking a grandmother with the advice to not only attend her grandson’s transgender wedding but also to buy them a gift. To reinforce the grandmother attending the trans wedding, pastor Begg prefaced it by saying, “Well, here’s the thing: your love for them may catch them off guard, but your absence will simply reinforce the fact that they said, ‘These people are what I always thought: judgmental, critical, unprepared to countenance anything.'” Days following the backlash Begg and his ministry received, a spokesman for “Truth for Life” published this statement: “Alistair’s advice to the inquirer was that of a grandfather [Mr. Begg] seeking to…
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What is Woke?

Apologetics, christian, Christianity, Critical race theory, CRT, Culture and Politics, Gospel, Heaven Not Harvard, Jennifer Defrates, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Social justice, Woke, wokeness
A recent Huffington Post article about homeschool moms left me flabbergasted. I know, it’s HuffPo. I shouldn’t be surprised anymore, but this article was truly shocking . . . because of the comments of the homeschool parents. In the article, a curriculum developer is selling her books at homeschool conventions. She calls her trade a “girl-empowerment business.” Homeschool parents were rightly curious about the political slant of a historical curriculum and asked if this particular series was “woke.” The authors of the curriculum, asked “What do you mean by that?” (hat tip to Greg Koukl).[i] Now here is the troubling part. The homeschool parents didn’t know the answer. They knew they didn’t want woke, but they weren’t sure what they were rejecting or didn’t know how best to explain it.…
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Pro-Life Apologetics from Scott Klusendorf’s The Case for Life

abortion, Apologetics, Christianity, Culture and Politics, Gospel, Jason Jimenez, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, pro-life, Pro-Life Apologetics, Scott Klusendorf, Stand Strong Ministries, The Case for Life, www.standstrongministries.org
The debate over abortion remains one of society’s most divisive issues. Pro-life advocates argue for the rights of the unborn, emphasizing the sanctity of life from conception and advocating for policies to protect fetal humans. On the other hand, pro-choice advocates defend the right of individuals to make autonomous decisions about their bodies and reproductive health. Amid these deeply held convictions are discussions about the moral status of the unborn, making it a debate that is both intimate and public, personal and political. Everyone Has An Equal Right to Life . . . Or Not In his book, The Case for Life: Equipping Christians to Engage the Culture, pro-life apologist Scott Klusendorf writes, “The question of truth and of human value are driving our national debates on abortion, cloning, and…
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Post-Christianity… What’s That?

Apologetics, Bible, Christianity, Culture, FreeThinking Ministries, Hedonism, J.R. Klein, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Pluralism, Post Christian, postmodernism, Progressive Christianity, Syncretism, Theology and Christian Apologetics, utilitarianism, Worldview
There has been a new term floating around the Evangelisphere (if that’s a word, if it’s not, let’s coin it) in the last few years: “post-Christian.” FreeThinking Ministries[i] recently changed some verbiage on the website to indicate that the mission of the ministry is to equip the church to engage with the post-Christian culture. Some might say, “you (FTM) minister to all sorts of people all over the globe. You ought to relate to culture in general” not just the post-Christian parts of culture. Yes, this concern covers both pre- and post-Christian cultures and everything in between. But acknowledging that we live and operate within a largely post-Christian culture is still important if we are to equip the church in the West, and in America more particularly, with relevant strategies for preaching the…
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Our Children: The Greatest Mission Field

Apologetics, Big Government, Christianity, cultural apologetics, family, Family law, Gender Pronouns, Gospel, Government overreach, Indiana, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, LGBTQ, Parental Rights, Parents, Phil Ginn, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Be assured that when the knock comes at your door, it will be unannounced, it will be warrantless, and it will come at the most inconvenient time. The social service worker will be polite, but cool and business-like. Despite your confusion, fear, and even anger, you dare not lose your poise because that will ultimately be used against you. You will learn in short order that your refusal to cooperate will be futile; the social worker will just return with whatever government force is needed to remove your children from your home. They’re Coming for Your Children… After initial pleasantries, your children will be sent to a separate area where they will be questioned individually outside of your presence. You will not be told who made the accusation, only that…
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A Christian Response to a Viral Deconversion Post

1. Does Truth Exist?, 2. Does God Exist?, Apologetics, Christianity, Deconstruction, Deconversion, Gospel, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Natasha Crain, pragmatism, Social media, truth, witchcraft
By Natasha Crain Social media has been a popular place to share deconversion stories over the last few years, and sometimes so many people resonate with those posts that they go viral to some extent (being liked and shared by thousands of people). There’s one that’s being shared all over Facebook right now, written this week by a lady named Myndee Mack. At the time of this writing, it has 8,000+ likes/loves, 7,000+ comments, and over 3,000+ shares. Clearly, Myndee’s post is compelling to many. I’d like to offer a response. While it’s possible Myndee will come across this article, I’m not writing it primarily for her, but rather for the thousands of people who find her post to be a compelling assessment of Christianity and for Christians whose friends…
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