I wonder how many Christian will struggle to feel compassion for the victims of the shooting in Orlando since it took place in a gay bar?1,2 There are many Christians in the U.S. who believe that it’s most important for Christians to take a stand against sin, to point out and condemn these wrongs. (Never
Tag: addressing sin
We Can’t Judge and Love Simultaneously
I love Greg Boyd’s proposition that we can’t judge (condemn) and love people at the same time. Obviously many Christians feel a very strong compulsion to condemn sin. Where does this come from? Probably two places. First, much of the Old Testament stresses holiness in the form of outward signs and actions. If people don’t
How Understanding the Gospel Affects One’s View of Homosexuality
I began to respond to a comment my cousin Jeremy made in response to my recent blog “The Surprising Reason I’m Not Celebrating Homosexual Marriage“. He says: Doug, I really like your approach, but it’s hard to draw a line between what the Bible teaches, and what we think it teaches (i.e. our interpretation). You
The Key to the Driscoll Controversy
Controversy regarding pastor Mark Driscoll has come to a head recently. The responses to this generally fall into one of two categories in my mind. I believe there is an important, key difference between the responses. I think this difference is worth examining because it can help us understand how to respond in other situations
Problems With Focusing on Sin
I once heard a preacher in a sermon briefly mentioned the corresponding dangers of legalism and license (or sometimes referred to as libertinism). The latter is the fallacy of thinking we have freedom to act any way we choose because of God’s grace and forgiveness. It seems as though this preacher understood legalism to be
Secret Church Review and Problems of Focusing on Sin
Secret Church is an annual event put on by David Platt and his church in Alabama. The event is promoted widely and simulcast to groups meeting across the U.S. and world. Some friends of mine had participated before and organized a viewing locally this year. So I joined them. It was scheduled for a single
Hot Topics
No, I’m not talking about the “goth” is now mainstream (10+ years ago) mall retail stores. I’m referring to topics which people are talking a lot about here recently. I usually pay little attention to these types of conversations, because there’s generally so little of value ever said by anyone. I heard a report on
Dealing with Sin: The Context for Confession and Confrontation
I chose to look at these topics together since they are interrelated—they both regard dealing with sin. Confession is done by the sinner and confrontation by someone else. (Here I am discussing personal confession and not corporate confession.) It seems to me that many Christians, especially conservative evangelicals, are very interested in pointing out people’s
Killing Gossip
A number of years ago I went to a prayer meeting at the church I was attending at the time. While the meeting was open, it was primarily attended by the leaders of the church (including both staff and lay leaders). The monthly event typically saw probably 100-200 people in attendance. This particular night, one
Addendum to Previous Post
When I wrote the last blog, I forgot to include an important part. I didn’t mean to make it sound like I had the whole thing figured out. A main part of why I wrote it was that there are some friends of mine whom I’m concerned about. No, I’m not saying this from an,