50 Shades of Strange

I have not read 50 Shades of Grey, nor do I plan to. The book is a bona fide publishing phenom, but every description I have read is that the story amounts to literary pornography. For that reason, I can’t imagine anything helpful coming from the film version set to be released later this year. I’ll be sitting that one out too. So I have great sympathy for the concerns Aimee Byrd expresses about the reception of the forthcoming movie. 

She writes: Now the trailer is out for the movie. And just this week, I am encountering more shades of strange for a movie that isn’t even releasing until February. I am shocked by some of my mom friends that have posted the trailer on Facebook, tagging some of my other mom friends about the “Mom’s Night Out” they look forward to having in February. Some of these women profess to be Christians. They all have daughters in middle or high school. And sons.   Continue at Denny Burk

Why Surgery is not the Answer for Transgender

This should be the last item on transgender for the week, but it is one that readers will want to pay very close attention to. Dr. Paul McHugh is the former psychiatrist in chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and he has penned a revealing column for The Wall Street Journal opinion page. In short, he challenges the notion that sex-reassignment surgery is good for transgendered persons. His data are very compelling. He writes:  

You won’t hear it from those championing transgender equality, but controlled and follow-up studies reveal fundamental problems with this movement. When children who reported transgender feelings were tracked without medical or surgical treatment at both Vanderbilt University and London’s Portman Clinic, 70%-80% of them spontaneously lost those feelings. Some 25% did have persisting feelings; what differentiates those individuals remains to be discerned.   Continue at Denny Burk

Southern Baptists Pass Resolution on Transgender

Last week, I wrote about a resolution that I proposed to the Southern Baptist Convention (along with my co-sponsor Andrew Walker). The resolutions committee did a fine job with it and offered many helpful improvements to the text that we sent them. The final draft of resolution #9 titled “On Transgender Identity” is printed below. The messengers just voted overwhelmingly in favor of the resolution. In fact, I couldn’t see a single ballot raised against it.

—————

<strong>ON TRANSGENDER IDENTITY</strong>

WHEREAS, All persons are created in God’s image and are made to
glorify Him (Genesis 1:27; Isaiah 43:7); and

WHEREAS, God’s design was the creation of two distinct and com-
plementary sexes, male and female (Genesis 1:27; Matthew 19:4; Mark 10:6) which designate the fundamental distinction that God
has embedded in the very biology of the human race; and

WHEREAS, Distinctions in masculine and feminine roles as
ordained by God are part of the created order and should find expres-
sion in every human heart (Genesis 2:18, 21–24; 1 Corinthians
11:7–9; Ephesians 5:22–33; 1 Timothy 2:12–14); and   Continue at Denny Burk

What Jesus Does with False Faith

“Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, beholding His signs which He was doing. But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to bear witness concerning man for He Himself knew what was in man.” -John 2:23-25

 

In verse 24, there’s a play on words that you miss in English translation. Literally, John says that even though the people were believing in Jesus, He was not believing himself to them. The idea is that even though they were trusting in Jesus, He wasn’t reciprocating. Jesus was rejecting their faith as false faith. 

So what does it mean that He was not “entrusting” himself to them? It means that he was holding back the full revelation of himself. In contrast to what he did with his disciples after turning water into wine where he “manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him” (John 2:11), here it’s as if Jesus is holding back even in the midst of performing signs.   Continue at Denny Burk

The New Calvinism Considered

Jeremy Walker, New Calvinism Considered: A Personal and Pastoral Assessment (EP Books, 2014). 126pp. $10.99.

If you are wondering what the so-called “New Calvinism” is, Jeremy Walker has just written a short book trying to explain it. In The New Calvinism Considered: A Personal and Pastoral Assessment, Walker explains what the theological hubbub is all about. Walker identifies four characteristics of this movement. First, and most obviously, it is Calvinistic. But its Calvinism tends to be limited to soteriology as there is a good bit of diversity on other aspects of Reformed faith.

Second, the movement is marked by big personalities. “New Calvinism” seems to cluster around celebrity pastors and theologians who serve as theological figureheads for the movement. As a result, Walker alleges a kind of cult of celebrity among the new Calvinists. Indeed, a short appendix to the book includes a seven page list of pastors, preachers, bloggers, and others who are “Individuals of Note” to new Calvinism.    Continue at Denny Burk

Friendly Fire: Tom Schreiner and Sam Storms Debate Cessationism

Tom Schreiner and Sam Storms have both published essays this morning at The Gospel Coalition discussing whether the miraculous gifts are still in operation today. Tom Schreiner argues the cessationist position–that miraculous gifts have ceased. Storms argues the continuationist postion–that prophecy, tongues, and the rest continue. I think both essays have a constructive tone even as they straightfowardly disagree with one another.

The essays are too short to cover the issues exhaustively. Nevertheless, I think that Schreiner has the stronger argument. For me anyway, the arguments for the continuationist position continue to fall short biblically. At the end of the day, this all comes down to what the Bible teaches, and on that point cessationists and continuationists are still at loggerheads. In any case, I’ll leave it to you to read their essays and form your own opinion. For a longer for argument in favor of the cessationist position, I recommend Dick Gaffin’s classic work Perspectives on Pentecost.  HT: Denny Burk

Tom Schreiner – “Why I Am a Cessationist”

Sam Storms – “Why I Am a Continuationist”

No Moms and Dads Needed to Make a Family?

There's is a video trailer for a new documentary titled Breeders: A Subclass of Women? The film takes a critical look at the issue of surrogacy and how the practice turns babies and women into commodities. Here’s a description from the film’s website:

Surrogacy is fast becoming one of the major issues of the 21st century—celebrities and everyday people are increasingly using surrogates to build their families. But the practice is fraught with complex implications for women, children, and families. What is the impact on the women who serve as surrogates and on the children who are born from surrogacy? In what ways might money complicate things? What about altruistic surrogacy done for a family member or close friend? Is surrogacy a beautiful, loving act or does it simply degrade pregnancy to a service and a baby to a product? Can we find a middle ground? Should we even look for one?    Continue at Denny Burk

Marrying a Man Addicted to Pornography?

In the most recent issue of JBMW, Heath Lambert answers this question: “Should a woman marry a man who has a problem with pornography?” The essay contains much practical and helpful advice, and I commend it to you. Here’s how Lambert begins his answer to the question: 

 

First, the short answer. There is a clear and concise response for a woman wondering whether she should marry a man after discovering he struggles with pornography: no. She should not do it. Marriage is too important and too exclusive to enter into it with a man who is cultivating desires for women beyond the one to whom he is married. You need to be in a relationship with a man who is cultivating exclusive desires for you. That’s the short answer.

Next, the long answer…

Read the rest of Heath’s advice here. Download the rest of the issue here.

The Normalization of Porn Is Not Normal

Carl Trueman has some important reflections on the normalization of pornography in Great Britain, but I think his observations apply to this side of the Atlantic as well. He writes:

 

Internet pornography is probably the number one pastoral problem in the world today. I wonder if it is set to become yet more so: as the social shame dimension passes away, it will be harder to maintain discipline on this issue. The Christian church is currently mesmerized by developments relative to sexuality, not least because these development are couched in the rhetoric of civil rights and have serious legal implications. I wonder if a more serious and lethal internal issue for the church will actually turn out to be pornography. Holding the line on this will probably not come with direct legal and financial penalties attached; but when even The Spectator carries not one but two articles in a single week which assume the harmless normality of porn consumption, the pastoral challenge of preaching and maintaining basic sexual purity in the church is set to escalate beyond our wildest nightmares.

I think Trueman’s suspicions are right on target. The pornography epidemic is an absolute spiritual crisis in the church. Twenty-five years ago, it was normal to hear Christian men confess to one another about their struggles with lust. It was not normal to hear those men confess to a daily diet of hardcore pornography. That has all changed.  Continue at Denny Burk

Hobby Lobby wins Enormous Victory in Federal Court

I have written previously about Hobby Lobby on this site and about the battle they are waging against Obamacare’s abortion mandate. Today the Christian-owned company has won an enormous victory. A federal court has issued an injunction so that Hobby Lobby will not be required to purchase insurance plans that provide abortion-inducing drugs to their employees. The Obamacare mandate would require them to purchase the coverage or face crippling fines. The federal court says otherwise. 

Specifically, the court’s ruling says that the owners’ “rights” are “substantially burdened by the contraceptive-coverage requirement” and that the mandate causes “an irreparable harm” to the company. Continue at Denny Burk

Is my Boyfriend’s Porn a Marriage Deal-Breaker?

Desiring God ministries has a podcast called “Ask Pastor John,” in which John Piper fields difficult questions about life, ministry, and whatever. In the most recent episode he answers a query that has to be one of the most pressing question facing young women today: “Is my boyfriend’s porn a marriage deal-breaker?” Because of the internet, pornography has become pervasive and common among young men. It seems sometimes that there’s hardly anyone who hasn’t been hooked by it. So more and more women—even Christian women—must grapple with this question as they consider marrying.

 

Ask Pastor John: “Is my boyfriend’s porn a marriage deal-breaker?”    Continue at Denny Burk

Gay Marriage and the Eclipse of Religious Liberty

Ever since the court handed down its DOMA decision yesterday, it has becomeincreasingly clear that we are one lawsuit away from gay marriage being ensconced as a Constitutional right. My hunch is that such a lawsuit will come sooner rather than later, and that the matter could end up before the Supreme Court in relatively short order. President Obama is already saying that gay marriages performed legally in one state should be recognized by every other state in the union. This matter will be litigated, and—as Scalia noted in his dissent—that other shoe is going to drop.

In any case, the Supreme Court has led us to the precipice of legal gay marriage in all fifty states. As gay marriage moves forward, there is a real question whether proponents of gay marriage will allow any legal accommodation for the consciences of those who hold marriage to be the union of one man and one woman. Observant Christians, Jews, and Muslims would all have religious reasons for defining marriage in the traditional way, but will their religious liberty be respected as gay marriage becomes the law of the land?   Continue at Denny Burk

See also:

What has the Gay Lobby Revealed to You about Your Faith

Where the Prop 8 ruling leaves us?

How Should You Explain the Same-Sex Marriage Debate to Your Children?

Supreme Court Defies God’s Clear Teaching on Marriage
 

7 Lessons for Christians from the “Gay Victory”

Back to Egypt for Exodus International?

By now, many readers will already have heard the news that Exodus International is closing-up shop. What was once a leading evangelical ministry to those struggling with homosexuality has now become defunct. This is in no small part due to the influence of its charismatic president, Alan Chambers, whose views have led the organization into a theological cul de sac.

Chambers announced the ending of Exodus in connection with an extended public apology to those who have been hurt by Exodus’ years of ministry. His apology, however, has caused much confusion and consternation for evangelicals (like myself) who have been watching this unfold from the outside. Among other things, Chambers writes,

I am sorry we promoted sexual orientation change efforts and reparative theories about sexual orientation that stigmatized parents.

For me, this expresses the underlying problem with Chambers’ leadership. I understand the skepticism about reparative therapy. In fact, there is nothing necessarily Christian about reparative therapy, and I am quite skeptical about some of its claims myself.   Continue at Denny Burk

Andy Stanley’s Poison Pill for the Doctrine of Scripture

Andy Stanley’s comments on Adam and Eve have been making the rounds since they appeared on HereIBlog.com yesterday. In short, Stanley affirms the historicity of Adam and Eve, but not because Genesis says so. Rather, he bases his belief on what Jesus says about Adam and Eve. You can listen to the entire discussion above, but here are the relevant excerpts:

The foundation of our faith is not the Scripture. The foundation of our faith is not the infallibility of the Bible. The foundation of our faith is something that happened in history. And the issue is always – Who is Jesus? That’s always the issue. The Scripture is simply a collection of ancient documents that tells us that story…

Here’s why I believe this actually happened. Not because the Bible says so, but because of the Gospels – Jesus talks about Adam and Eve. And it appears to me that he believed they were actually historical figures. And if he believed they were historical, I believe they were historical because anybody that can predict their own death and resurrection and pull it off – I just believe anything they say.

Let me say first of all that I am genuinely grateful that Stanley affirms the historicity of Adam and Eve. In this day and age, that position is under siege, and I don’t want to minimize the importance of Stanley’s affirmation in this regard.    Continue at Denny Burk

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Should Christians use Birth Control?

The most recent issue of The Journal for Biblical Manhood & Womanhood has just released. The lead article is from Albert Mohler, who takes a critical look at the “contraceptive mentality” that so much defines the spirit of the age. Mohler writes:

 

The effective separation of sex from procreation may be one of the most important defining marks of our age—and one of the most ominous. This awareness is spreading among American evangelicals, and it threatens to set loose a firestorm…

A growing number of evangelicals are rethinking the issue of birth control—and facing the hard questions posed by reproductive technologies. Several developments contributed to this reconsideration, but the most important of these is the abortion revolution. The early evangelical response to legalized abortion was woefully inadequate. Some of the largest evangelical denominations at first accepted at least some version of abortion on demand.   Continue at Denny Burk

Attorney General Sues Florist for Refusing to Provide Flowers for a Same-Sex Wedding

Attorney General Bob Ferguson of Washington State is suing Arlene’s Flowers & Gifts for refusing to provide flowers for a same-sex wedding. The owner of the flower shop, Barronelle Stutzman, says she is a Christian and cannot in good conscience participate in a same-sex wedding ceremony. Nevertheless, Attorney General Ferguson says the refusal is illegal and told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer the following:

As Attorney General, it is my job to enforce the laws of the state of Washington. Under the Consumer Protection Act, it is unlawful to discriminate against customers based on sexual orientation. If a business provides a product or service to opposite-sex couples for their weddings, then it must provide same sex couples the same product or service.

So Ferguson is suing to fine Arlene’s Flowers & Gifts for every infraction of Washington’s Consumer Protection Act. It would cost the company $2,000 per infraction. That means that, if enough gay couples were refused service, Arlene’s Flowers & Gifts could go out of business.

Robert Ingersol and Curt Freed are the gay couple in question, and they had been customers of Stutzman for over ten years. So the florist wasn’t refusing service to gay people in general. The florist simply didn’t want to participate in a same-sex ceremony. She describes what happened when Ingersol asked for her to provide flowers for his wedding:

He said he decided to get married and before he got through I grabbed his hand and said, ‘I am sorry. I can’t do your wedding because of my relationship with Jesus Christ.’ We hugged each other and he left, and I assumed it was the end of the story.   Continue at Denny Burk

Raising Children in a Pervasive Culture of Pornography

Rod Dreher’s post on the inconsistencies of “Lifestyle Liberalism” is a must-read. It is hitting at some pretty fundamental issues, and it does so from a number of different angles. First, it’s wrestling with how to raise kids (especially sons) in an age in which pornography is so pervasive and available. Second, it exposes the moral listlessness of liberalism, which in the wake of the sexual revolution has destroyed all boundaries around sexual behavior. Third, it exposes the fact that there are so few institutions left standing today that will support parents in resisting the sexual lasciviousness of our culture. 

I would make some observations on this last point. But first, take a look at Dreher’s conclusion:

The kinds of institutions and customs that parents used to be able to count on to push back against corrupting things like pornography have either evaporated or become so enervated that parents are left by themselves to try to hold the line. Your kids’ school is not going to help you, and may not be able to even if it wanted to.

Your church, lacking an awareness of the seriousness of the cultural situation, and perhaps having lost confidence in its message, is probably not going to help you. Your community is probably not going to help you either, because people either choose not to see what’s happening, or understandably feel so powerless against technology and the deeper cultural forces it carries with it that they tell themselves it’s not as bad as all that.

 

It’s just you. What now?    Continue at Denny Burk

Evangelicals and the Homosexual Revolution

Albert Mohler’s article for The Washington Post is a must-read. It’s a sobering reflection on where evangelicals stand within a culture that has turned against a biblical view of human sexuality. He writes: 

 

Evangelicals cannot join the moral revolution on homosexuality, but it seems unlikely that we can stop it, either. The issue of homosexuality, by itself and in tandem with other moral issues, may well lead to the marginalization of evangelical Christians within the larger society. This is already the case in secular Europe and, increasingly, in Great Britain and Canada as well. Churches and other groups that cannot accept the full normalization of same-sex relationships will find themselves driven further and further from the cultural mainstream.

This is going to be particularly difficult for America’s evangelical Christians. We are accustomed to standing within the political and cultural mainstream, comfortable in an America that shared much of our moral worldview. Those days are over.     Continue at Denny Burk

Not Featuring Enough Gay animals?

By Denny Burk on February 9, 2013 in News

 

This is not a joke. You really can’t make this stuff up. Here’s the report from the UK’s Independent: 

A university academic has criticised David Attenborough’s wildlife shows for not featuring enough gay animals.

Three of the veteran broadcaster’s shows are identified in a new study as perpetuating the notion that animal relationships are predominantly heterosexual.

Dr Brett Mills of the University of East Anglia says wildlife documentaries should be offering viewers a wider perspective on animal behaviour.

Researchers found BBC wildlife documentaries portray animals as heterosexual families too often, even though animals can also be gay.

 

Read the rest here. Then read Jonah 4:11. 

(HT: Carl Trueman)

Browse Worthy: Homosexuality

I agreed with David Murray a few months ago when he asked for a moratorium on speaking and posting about homosexuality.  I worked at actually practicing my own moratorium, seeking deliberately not to mention it automatically in writing or speaking as any easy target.  I did refer to it once recently, but that was to highlight a book that deals with a person’s story regarding it.  However, even then I sought to be more careful in how I spoke about this subject.  No one probably noticed, since silence on a subject rarely is noticed and our culture’s cacophony regarding it continues.

Today I wanted to lift this moratorium because of three articles worthy of your attention regarding it.  May they help us be both more loving and wise as this issue just doesn’t go away.    Continue at Barry York