The conversation continues at Life In Mordor over the “special condition” of sexual sins.  I have written too much in that comment thread already; it’s time for a post.

I contend that homosexuality is one of many sexual sins mentioned in the Bible.  Is a homosexual act any worse of a sin than adultery or fornication?  I’m going to say no.  Are sexual sins in a different category than others sins?  And here I say yes.  But I’m not going there without a firm scriptural basis. Continue reading →

It’s been about a month since I said that I was going to begin a survey of the Bible.  I promised that the next thing I posted would be about the creation and the fall.  One blogger even linked my site, saying how excited he was as this was a topic of interest to him.  I offer my sincere apologies, and now once again am announcing that I’m about to start my Biblical survey.

A couple of notes:

1) This will be a survey.  A survey sort of maps out the lay of the land.  I believe Bible study should be done verse by verse, chapter by chapter through a book of the Bible.  To cover the entire Bible in this manner would take years.  Continue reading →

The InternetMonk recently posted some very thought provoking essays on his expectations of Evangelical churches in the 21st century and what happens after that.  It’s a three part series, and I’ve linked them in order.  Perhaps not the world, but the American Bible belt would become a very different place.  On the one hand I hope that he’s wrong.  But after carefully reading the first post, I realize that he’s probably not.  Many of my readers are already iMonk fans, but if you missed these they’re worth another look.

The Coming Evangelical Collapse

What Will Be Left?

Is All This a Bad Thing?

Martin Luther was a Roman Catholic Monk.  That is the first fact to get straight before going any farther.  He worked hard studying the scripture – and at working hard – in order to be the best young monk he could possibly be.  By nailing his 95 theses to the door of the church at Wittenberg he was hoping to begin Catholic Church reform.  He was neither expecting nor prepared for what happened next. Continue reading →

In the December post Bittersweet  I spoke in the language of metaphor and analogy.  Read Bittersweet first; this will make that make sense.

We learned on the 10th of December that my wife Teresa is pregnant.  We have been pregnant twice and had miscarriages twice.  The first (in 2002) was unexpected and very traumatic.  In 2004, we got to the doctor very early (9 weeks) and found that the condition of the baby was already deteriorating.  At 9 weeks there was no heartbeat, and after 2 quantitative HCG tests it was confirmed.  We scheduled a D & C, which was much less traumatizing than the first actual miscarriage.  So in December, when we found out that we were pregnant again for only the third time in 11 years, we had reason for concern.  The news was “bittersweet.”

Teresa is now 9 weeks pregnant, and this evening we heard a heartbeat.  The baby is 7.7 millimeters long, and the doctor says everything is perfect.  We’re still asking for your prayer, but also offering praises at this time.  There are no guarantees in life, but we are now feeling really good about this situation.  For the time it seems God has turned out bittersweet to sweetness.