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Boy Scouts at the Brink — The Moment of Decision Arrives

Albert Mohler — Wed, 22 May 2013 07:20:18 +0000

Meeting Thursday in Grapevine, Texas, the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America will decide whether it will retain or revise its historic membership policy on the issue of homosexuality. The 1,400 voting members of the B.S.A. National Council hold the future of one of America’s most iconic organizations in their hands. In reality, they are not only deciding a matter of membership policy. They are actually deciding the future of the entire organization.

The culture wars came to the Boy Scouts many years ago. For the last few decades, the Boy Scouts have had to fight battles with both secularists and homosexual activists. The secular challenge came first, with demands that the Scouts drop their historic requirement that boys affirm belief in God as a criterion for membership. Soon thereafter, the demand for the full inclusion of homosexual members and leaders followed. The Scouts have had to fight legal battles both locally and nationally, costing the venerable organization millions of dollars in legal fees. In 2000, the B.S.A. prevailed at the U.S. Supreme Court when the nation’s highest court ruled that the Boy Scouts had a constitutional right to exclude openly gay boys and leaders from the organization, so long as that exclusion is based in one of the organization’s core convictions — an “expressive message.” The B.S.A. won the case because that is exactly what they claimed. They argued that excluding openly homosexual boys and leaders from Scouting was necessary and required by the Scout Oath. Keep Reading

The Goodness of God and the Reality of Evil

Albert Mohler — Tue, 21 May 2013 07:07:01 +0000

Every thoughtful person must deal with the problem of evil. Evil acts and tragic events come to us all in this vale of tears known as human life. The problem of evil and suffering is undoubtedly the greatest theological challenge we face. Keep Reading

“By What Power or by What Name Did You Do This?” The Question Every Minister of Christ Must Long to Be Asked

Albert Mohler — Fri, 17 May 2013 05:51:46 +0000

And so, you graduate. The Seminary Lawn is filled with hundreds of graduates, faculty, family, and friends. Everyone is playing his or her part. Parents are proud, spouses are glad, friends are happy, and a good number of infants are hungry. The faculty is feeling old and the graduates are feeling wise. And you are wise, for you have completed demanding courses of study that are rightly respected and widely envied. You are wiser for the knowledge that what you have learned thus far is only a prelude to a life of consecrated learning for the cause of Christ and the aim of faithfulness in Christian ministry. This great congregation gathered on this sacred soil is here to celebrate with you, and to thank God for you. Furthermore, we are here to set you loose and to pray for you as you go out into the fields of ministry, for, as our Lord has promised, the fields are white unto harvest. Keep Reading

Kermit Gosnell’s America — What His Trial Really Reveals

Albert Mohler — Tue, 14 May 2013 20:52:08 +0000

The doctor is a murderer. The trial of Dr. Kermit Gosnell ended yesterday, with the infamous abortion doctor convicted of three counts of first degree murder and one count of involuntary manslaughter. The doctor’s abortion clinic, described by a Philadelphia prosecutor as a “house of horrors,” is no more, but the truth revealed in his trial remains. He is not the only one with blood on his hands. Keep Reading

Sneering at Parents, Hiding Behind “Science” — The Emergency Contraception Controversy

Albert Mohler — Thu, 09 May 2013 07:13:39 +0000

Looking for evidence that our society is losing its mind? Just look at the controversy over so-called “emergency contraceptives” and a federal judge’s effort to make these drugs available, over the counter, to girls of any age.

Last month, Judge Edward Korman of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York handed down an order forcing the Food and Drug Administration to make emergency contraceptives, sometimes called the “morning-after pill,” available without a doctor’s prescription or parental permission to girls without any restriction on age.

Judge Korman’s order would open the door for girls as young as 10 or 11 to obtain the morning-after pill without any involvement by either a doctor or a parent. That same girl, of course, could not be given an aspirin in a school clinic without parental permission, much less a simple antibiotic like penicillin. Nevertheless, this federal judge ruled that girls and women of any age must be allowed over-the-counter access to emergency contraceptives. Keep Reading

Confessional Integrity and the Stewardship of Words

Albert Mohler — Wed, 01 May 2013 08:30:49 +0000

In the beginning was the Word. Christians rightly cherish the declaration that our Savior, the crucified and resurrected Lord Jesus Christ, is first known as the Word — the one whom the Father has sent to communicate and to accomplish our redemption. We are saved because the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Believers are then assigned the task of telling others about the salvation that Christ has brought, and this requires the use of words. We tell the story of Jesus by deploying words, and we cannot tell the story without them. Our testimony, our teaching, and our theology all require the use of words. Words are essential to our worship, our preaching, our singing, and our spiritual conversation. In other words, words are essential to the Christian faith and central in the lives of believers.

As Martin Luther rightly observed, the church house is to be a “mouth house” where words, not images or dramatic acts, stand at the center of the church’s attention and concern. We live by words and we die by words. Keep Reading

Same-Sex Marriage as a Civil Right — Are Wrongs Rights?

Albert Mohler — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 15:18:59 +0000

We should have seen it coming. Back in 1989 two young activists pushing for the normalization of homosexuality coauthored a book intended to serve as a political strategy manual and public relations guide for their movement. In After the Ball: How America Will Conquer its Fear and Hatred of Gays in the 90s, authors Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen argued that efforts to normalize homosexuality and homosexual relationships would fail unless their movement shifted its argument to a demand for civil rights, rather than for moral acceptance. Kirk and Madsen argued that homosexual activists and their allies should avoid talking about sex and sexuality. Instead, “the imagery of sex per se should be downplayed, and the issue of gay rights reduced, as far as possible, to an abstract social question.” Keep Reading

Leadership as Stewardship, Part Two

Albert Mohler — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 14:13:04 +0000

Jesus once told of a wealthy man who went on a long journey. Before the man left, he entrusted his wealth to three servants. To one he gave five units, to another just two units, and to the last he gave only one. Each received “according to his ability,” Jesus said. The servant with the five units invested them and made five more. The one entrusted with two units also traded with them, and made two more. The servant who had received only one unit dug a hole in the ground and hid it, keeping it safe, he thought. Keep Reading

“The Lady’s Not for Turning” — Margaret Thatcher and the Leadership of Conviction

Albert Mohler — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 05:28:04 +0000

Margaret Thatcher, one of the most significant leaders of the 20th century, died yesterday at age 87. A model of convictional leadership, Margaret Thatcher became almost universally known as Britain’s “Iron Lady.” In May 1979, Margaret Thatcher moved into No. 10 Downing Street and changed the course of British history. Beyond this, Lady Thatcher changed the terms of debate on both sides of the Atlantic and left a legacy of leadership that should inspire generations to come.

Born October 13, 1925 in the village of Grantham, Margaret Roberts was soon recognized as an unusually bright and forceful child. Her father, Alfred, was a grocer who had high hopes for his children. The Roberts household was a place of firm discipline, Christian nurture, and intellectual activity. After graduating from Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School, Margaret Roberts entered Oxford University, where she earned a degree in chemistry and became the first woman to serve as President of the Oxford University Conservative Association. Shortly thereafter, she married Denis Thatcher, an executive in the chemical industry. Together, they were to have two children, Mark and Carol. After over a half century of marriage, Denis Thatcher died in 2003. Keep Reading

Leadership as Stewardship, Part One

Albert Mohler — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 07:34:46 +0000

Christians are rightly and necessarily concerned about leadership, but many Christians seem to aim no higher than secular standards and visions of leadership. We can learn a great deal from the secular world and its studies of leadership and its practices, but the last thing the church needs is warmed over business theories decorated with Christian language.

Christian leaders are called to convictional leadership, and that means leadership that is defined by beliefs that are transformed into corporate action. The central role of belief is what must define any truly Christian understanding of leadership. This means that leadership is always a theological enterprise, in the sense that our most important beliefs and convictions are about God. Our most fundamental beliefs about God determine everything else of importance about us. If our beliefs about God are not true, everything we know and everything we are will be warped and contorted by that false knowledge – and this fact points to a huge problem. Keep Reading

Bracketing Morality — The Marginalization of Moral Argument in the Same-Sex Marriage Debate

Albert Mohler — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 18:09:22 +0000

“Somewhere along the way, standing up for gay marriage went from nervy to trendy.” This was the assessment offered by Frank Bruni, an influential openly-gay columnist for The New York Times. Bruni’s column, published just as the Supreme Court was poised to hear oral arguments in the two same-sex marriage cases now before it, is a celebration of the fact that, as he sees it, same-sex marriage is soon to be the law of the land, whatever the Court may decide. “The trajectory is undeniable. The trend line is clear. And the choice before the justices is whether to be handmaidens of history, or whether to sit it out.” Keep Reading

Of First Importance: The Cross and Resurrection at the Center

Albert Mohler — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 06:27:19 +0000

The Christian faith is not a mere collection of doctrines — a bag of truths. Christianity is a comprehensive truth claim that encompasses every aspect of revealed doctrine, but is centered in the gospel of Jesus Christ. And, as the apostolic preaching makes clear, the gospel is the priority. Keep Reading

Marriage in the Dock—The Supreme Court Considers Same-Sex Marriage

Albert Mohler — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 08:34:08 +0000

The next two days are destined to stand among the most significant days in our nation’s constitutional history, but the issues at stake reach far beyond the U.S. Constitution. Nothing less than marriage is in the dock, with the nation’s highest court set to consider two cases that deal with the question of the legalization of same-sex marriage.

The first time the issue of same-sex marriage came before the Court, back in 1972, the Court dismissed the question succinctly: “The appeal is dismissed for want of a substantial federal question.”

But now the Supreme Court is faced with two cases that demand a more substantial response. One case deals with a challenge to the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, and the other addresses Proposition 8, the amendment to the California constitution defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Keep Reading

A Warped Worldview: Another Moral Effect of Pornography

Albert Mohler — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 18:14:21 +0000

The moral effects of pornography are, by now, well attested. The scourge of pornography has brought ruin and harm into the lives of millions of our friends and neighbors, destroying marriages, distorting sexuality, and poisoning minds. Even so, the pornography industrial complex continues to grow, representing one of the most lucrative segments of the Internet economy.

For the most part, previous research into the effects of pornography has focused on the psychological and physiological effects of pornography exposure. Among males, exposure to pornography is associated with addictive behaviors traced to the release of chemicals in the brain, stimulating arousal and excitement. In the larger context, pornography is also associated with an exaggerated masculinity, negative attitudes toward women, and relational breakdowns due to unrealistic sexual expectations.

Pornography reduces women to objects of sexual attraction and the endless permutations of sexual behaviors available on the Internet are evidence of the insatiable desire for innovation and excitement that pornography produces. This, to a large extent, is what makes pornography such an expansive industry. Its product builds an apparently insatiable appetite for more, and then even more.

More recently, research has emerged that points to another effect of pornography exposure — it warps the worldview of the viewer. Keep Reading

Adultery: When Law and Morality (used to) Agree

Albert Mohler — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 15:51:28 +0000

Keep Reading

The Christian Leader in the Digital Age

Albert Mohler — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 07:49:52 +0000

The Digital Age is upon us. In the span of less than three decades, we have redefined the way humans communicate, entertain, inform, research, create, and connect – and what we know now is only a hint of what is to come. But the greatest concern of the church is not a technological imperative, but a Gospel imperative. Keep Reading

So What if Abortion Ends a Life? Rare Candor from the Culture of Death

Albert Mohler — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 09:50:47 +0000

Is an unborn baby “a life worth sacrificing?” The question is horrifying, but the argument was all too real. In a recent article, Mary Elizabeth Williams of Salon.com conceded what the pro-life movement has contended all along — that from the moment of conception the unborn child is undeniably a human life. And yet, Williams argues that this unborn human life must be terminated if a woman desires an abortion. The child is a life, but, in her grotesque view, “a life worth sacrificing.”

The abortion rights movement has always had a problem with language. The average American still hears the world “abortion” with some degree of moral revulsion. Activists did not need sophisticated marketing analysis to understand that much. Early on, the abortion rights movement shifted its public argument to the language of choice — a woman’s “right to choose.”

But to choose what? No legal revolution was necessary in order for a woman to have the right to carry her unborn child to birth. What was demanded was the right to choose to kill the unborn child. This is the moral reality that was clouded and camouflaged by the “pro-choice” language. Keep Reading

Limping Between Two Opinions: The Moral Evacuation of the Boy Scouts of America

Albert Mohler — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 10:00:41 +0000

And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go on limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” 1 Kings 18:21

The announcement this week that the Boy Scouts of America may soon rescind its national policy prohibiting the participation of openly homosexual members and leaders fell like a thunderclap. The B.S.A. national board is expected to approve the change early next week, just six months after that same board had announced that no change would be made, citing the unanimous recommendation of a special study committee. Back then, the B.S.A. CEO said that the “vast majority” of Boy Scout parents supported the policy.

That was then, but this is now. Just six months later, the B.S.A. board is prepared to capitulate to massive pressure from gay rights activists and their allies, some inside the board itself. The proposed policy amounts to a local option, with each Boy Scout unit deciding its own policy. As for the Boy Scouts of America — the national group will “under no circumstances” dictate a national policy on the question of homosexuality. Keep Reading

Morally Straight? The Transformation of the Boy Scouts of America

Albert Mohler — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 07:58:37 +0000

The comprehensive scope of the moral revolution America is currently experiencing is likely to surprise many Americans when they realize that the Boy Scouts are now swept up in the revolutionary tide.

Word came yesterday that the Boy Scouts of America is poised to change its policy preventing the participation of openly homosexual scouts and leaders. According to a spokesman for the Boy Scouts, the group may make the formal decision to end the policy as early as next week.

This announcement comes just six months after the B.S.A. board declared that it would not reconsider the policy. Deron Smith, B.S.A. national spokesman, said last July that a special committee established by the B.S.A. board had unanimously recommended keeping the policy. Smith said that the committee “came to the conclusion that this policy is absolutely the best policy for the Boy Scouts.” Keep Reading

Forty Years After Roe, Human Dignity Hangs in the Balance

Albert Mohler — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 07:20:36 +0000

After addressing a large secular assembly on issues of moral controversy, I turned and faced a woman who urgently wanted to ask me a question: “Why won’t the abortion issue just go away?”

I knew exactly what she was asking. I often meet abortion rights advocates who honestly thought that the national controversy over abortion would simply melt away within a few years of the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973.

That was clearly the hope of the Supreme Court majority that signed onto the opinion written by Associate Justice Harry Blackmun. In a note he wrote to himself as he drafted the final opinion and looked to its aftermath, Blackmun revealed a rather optimistic assumption: “It will be an unsettled period for a while.”

Surely, he didn’t mean for that “while” to extend four decades.

Next Tuesday will mark the 40th anniversary of the decision, and the abortion question is anything but settled. Just look at the crowds gathering in Washington next week for the annual March for Life.

In fact, America has been unsettled ever since Roe. Abortion has become a central issue of political conflict, debate and division. If the court had hoped to calm the waters, it failed spectacularly. Keep Reading

Why Conservatives Should End the Debt Ceiling Debate

Albert Mohler — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 20:07:00 +0000

Watching the American scene in the 1960s, historian Daniel Boorstin, invented the idea of the “pseudo-event.” The rise of television and modern mass media had produced a transformation of the news business, so that what now mattered was not if an event was important, but only if it was “newsworthy.” Keep Reading

The Giglio Imbroglio — The Public Inauguration of a New Moral McCarthyism

Albert Mohler — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 20:35:32 +0000

A new chapter in America’s moral revolution came today as Atlanta pastor Louie Giglio withdrew from giving the benediction at President Obama’s second inaugural ceremony. In a statement released to the White House and the Presidential Inaugural Committee, Giglio said that he withdrew because of the furor that emerged yesterday after a liberal watchdog group revealed that almost twenty years ago he had preached a sermon in which he had stated that homosexuality is a sin and that the “only way out of a homosexual lifestyle … is through the healing power of Jesus.”

In other words, a Christian pastor has been effectively dis-invited from delivering an inaugural prayer because he believes and teaches Christian truth. Keep Reading

Losing Ever Since Roe? — TIME Sounds the Siren for Abortion Rights

Albert Mohler — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 08:36:11 +0000

The 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade will bring the nation face to face with the abortion question once again. More accurately, it will serve as an opportunity for activists and supporters on both sides of the abortion controversy in America to consider where the nation stands, four decades after Roe.

Roe was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court on January 22, 1973. The divided Court handed down a confusing and complex decision, constructed by Justice Harry Blackmun in an effort to put the abortion controversy to rest. The decision was simple enough in its main point — that a woman had a constitutional right to an abortion for any reason or for no reason within the first trimester of her pregnancy. The effect was to legalize abortion on demand nationwide.

Nevertheless, Roe did not put the abortion issue to rest. The decision was constructed out of Justice Blackmun’s own constitutional and obstetric creativity. He invented the notion of three trimesters of pregnancy as a legal concept and then created an unfettered right to abortion within the first trimester. From the onset, abortion advocates have opposed any effort to restrict abortion in the second and third trimesters, or to regulate abortion providers and clinics. Keep Reading

“And Them That Mourn” — Celebrating Christmas in the Face of Grief and Death

Albert Mohler — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 05:28:31 +0000

Families across the Christian world are gathering for Christmas even now, with caravans of cars and planeloads of passengers headed to hearth and home. Christmas comes once again, filled with the joy, expectation, and sentiment of the season. It is a time for children, who fill homes with energy, excitement, and sheer joy. And it is a time for the aged, who cherish Christmas memories drawn from decades of Christmas celebrations. Even in an age of mobility, families do their best to gather as extended clans, drawn by the call of Christmas.

And yet, the sentiment and joy of the season is often accompanied by very different emotions and memories. At some point, every Christian home is invaded by the pressing memory of loved ones who can no longer gather — of empty chairs and empty arms, and aching hearts. For some, the grief is fresh, suffering the death of one who was so very present at the Christmas gathering last year, but is now among the saints resting in Christ. For others, it is the grief of a loss suffered long ago. We grieve the absence of parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles and siblings. Some, with a grief almost too great to bear, suffer the heartbreak that comes with the death of a child.

For all of us, the knowledge of recent events of unspeakable horror and the murder of young children make us think of so many homes with such overwhelming grief. Keep Reading

Rachel Weeping for Her Children — The Massacre in Connecticut

Albert Mohler — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 04:10:45 +0000

Thus says the LORD: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” [Jeremiah 31:15]

It has happened again. This time tragedy came to Connecticut, where a lone gunman entered two classrooms at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown and opened fire, killing at least twenty children and six adults, before turning his weapons of death upon himself. The young victims, still to be officially identified, ranged in age from five to ten years. The murderer was himself young, reported to be twenty years old. According to press reports, he murdered his mother, a teacher at Sandy Hook, in her home before the rampage at the school.

Apparently, matricide preceded mass murder. Some of the children were in kindergarten, not even able to tie their own shoes. The word kindergarten comes from the German, meaning a garden for children. Sandy Hook Elementary School was no garden today. It was a place of murder, mayhem, and undisguised evil. Keep Reading

Newsweek vs. the New Testament — It Must Be Christmas

Albert Mohler — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 22:25:37 +0000

The major festivals of the Christian year often prompt major cover stories in the nation’s weekly news magazines. Time, Newsweek, and US News & World Report all regularly feature major articles timed for Christmas and Easter. The days of these cover articles may soon be over, however, since US News & World Report is no longer publishing a print edition, and Newsweek‘s final print edition will be dated December 31, 2012.

In years past, these cover articles had featured the work of reporters who interviewed a range of scholars and authorities from several theological perspectives. More recently, both Time and Newsweek have instead featured essays written by a single author.

Timed for this Christmas, Newsweek just released a cover essay by Bart D. Ehrman, who is well-known for his belief that the New Testament is largely historical fiction. “Who is Jesus?” is the question on the cover. “The Myths of Jesus” is the headline on the essay itself.

Newsweek‘s agenda is clear, and it has chosen to feature a cover article denying the historical basis of Christmas as one of its last print editions. Keep Reading

Feed My Lambs — The Tender Courage of the Christian Ministry

Albert Mohler — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 08:51:12 +0000

The U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics maintains a list of recognized job descriptions, and that list has been undergoing a lot of change in recent years. Some jobs have disappeared entirely. There is little call for lamplighters and ice cutters today, and those jobs actually disappeared long ago. More recently threatened jobs include telephone operators and typewriter repairmen. They will soon join lamplighters and ice cutters on the list of jobs that exist no longer. Keep Reading

The Injustice of Helpful Parents — Yet More Insanity

Albert Mohler — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 09:53:16 +0000

French President François Hollande recently announced that he wants French schools to put an end to homework. That is certain to thrill school children in the nation, but the reason for Hollande’s war on homework will likely puzzle many French citizens. Keep Reading

The End of the World is NOT Near. Says the Russian Government

Albert Mohler — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 19:50:23 +0000

Russia is in the grip of an apocalyptic fever. The New York Times reports that Russians across the nation’s nine time zones are in the grip of a mass hysteria of sorts — and it’s all about the end of the world. Keep Reading

How Did This Happen? The Family Crisis as a Theological Crisis

Albert Mohler — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 17:46:24 +0000

Writing a generation ago, sociologist Christopher Lasch pointed to the weakening of the family as the most significant and dangerous development of our times. In his book, Haven in a Heartless World, Lasch described the breakdown of the natural family as a calamity for the society at large, as well as for the individuals whose lives are so directly affected. Keep Reading

The Briefing, Monday, December 3, 2012

Albert Mohler — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 11:45:26 +0000

TODAY 1. The Supreme Court and Same-Sex Marriage — A Decision Not to Decide is Still a Decision. 2. First Same-Sex Marriage in West Point’s Chapel — What it Means. 3. Sharia Law Combines with Autocracy in Egypt. 4. The Two-Edged Sword of Palestinian Statehood. 5. Does Justice Require that Stay-at-Home Moms Leave Home? I discuss all these and more in today’s edition of The Briefing: A Daily Analysis of News and Events from a Christian Worldview. Keep Reading

The Briefing, Friday, November 30, 2012

Albert Mohler — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 11:45:54 +0000

TODAY: Another Decision Day at the Supreme Court — Marriage on the Line / Does the Fiscal Cliff Really Matter? / The Gender Police Hit a Toy Store / The United Nations Grants Palestinians Observer State Status, But Where is the State? I discuss all these and more in today’s edition of The Briefing: A Daily Analysis of News and Events from a Christian Worldview. Keep Reading

The Briefing, Thursday, November 29, 2012

Albert Mohler — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 11:45:37 +0000

TODAY: The Digital Divide — Where the Young People Are / Filtering the Flood in the Digital Age / Are Hindus and Muslims Better at Practicing what They Preach? / The Rise of Muslim Atheists? / You Mean Judges Have Worldviews, Too? I discuss all these and more in today’s edition of The Briefing: A Daily Analysis of News and Events from a Christian Worldview. Keep Reading

The Briefing, Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Albert Mohler — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 11:45:25 +0000

TODAY: The Perils of Powerball –The Losing Game of the Lottery / The Deadly Danger of a New Prenatal Test / Abortions Fall by Five Percent . . . Good News or Strange Math? / An Actor Says Watching His Own Show is “Filling Your Head With Filth” / The Ominous Threat of Inflatable Bouncers. I discuss all these and more in today’s edition of The Briefing: A Daily Analysis of News and Events from a Christian Worldview. Keep Reading

The Briefing, Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Albert Mohler — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 11:45:50 +0000

TODAY: What the Christmas Buying Season Says About Us / The Perils of State Sponsored Religious Education / Atheist Group Gets Major Funding at a State University / Paul Krugman Wants to Marginalize Opponents of Evolution / The Last Typewriter Leaves the Factory in Britain. I discuss all these and more in today’s edition of The Briefing: A Daily Analysis of News and Events from a Christian Worldview. Keep Reading

The Briefing, Monday, November 26, 2012

Albert Mohler — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 11:45:53 +0000

TODAY: Autocracy in Egypt as Morsi Launches an Islamist Coup / The Real Aims of Hamas / India Executes a Terrorist / An Oklahoma Judge Sentences a Teenager to Church / Larry Hagman Dies — But Is Death Really “Just Another Stage in Our Development?” I discuss all these and more in today’s edition of The Briefing: A Daily Analysis of News and Events from a Christian Worldview. Keep Reading

The Briefing, Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Albert Mohler — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 11:45:54 +0000

TODAY: The Church of England turns down women bishops / San Francisco turns down public nudity . . . partially, maybe / Teenagers disconnected — Hurricane Sandy’s lessons for the digital age / A true Thanksgiving. I discuss all these and more in today’s edition of The Briefing: A Daily Analysis of News and Events from a Christian Worldview. Keep Reading

The Briefing, Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Albert Mohler — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 11:45:58 +0000

TODAY: Should Israel put its trust in an Iron Dome? / A day of decision for Anglicans — Women Bishops? / Hindu congresswomen to take oath on Bhagavad Gita / Judge grants injunction in contraception mandate case. I discuss all these and more in today’s edition of The Briefing: A Daily Analysis of News and Events from a Christian Worldview. Keep Reading

The Briefing, Monday, November 19, 2012

Albert Mohler — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:45:37 +0000

TODAY: Conflict between Hamas and Israel intensifies / Monarchy out of step in the modern world / Mail order ordination in a secular age / The Twinkie goes the way of the Studebaker — extinct. I discuss all these and more in today’s edition of The Briefing: A Daily Analysis of News and Events from a Christian Worldview. Keep Reading

The Briefing, Friday, November 16, 2012

Albert Mohler — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 11:45:33 +0000

TODAY: Violence in the Middle East and the future of Israel / A moral crisis in the military? / Why is adultery still a crime? / Another step toward designer babies, and another threat to the unborn. I discuss all these and more in today’s edition of The Briefing: A Daily Analysis of News and Events from a Christian Worldview.

1. Attack and Counterattack in the Middle East

Violence broke out in the Middle East once again, as the forces of Hamas in Gaza attacked Israel with rockets. The rockets, which in the past have killed scores of Israelis, were fired into inhabited neighborhoods. Hamas, a terrorist organization which calls for the end of Israel, may be attempting to sabotage efforts by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to gain international recognition for the Palestinian State at the United Nations.

As expected, Israel responded with force. On Wednesday, Israeli forces killed the Hamas military leader Ahmed Jabari and his assistant. The two were killed by a targeted missile attack that was filmed by satellite and released to the international media as a warning to others. Israel’s leaders warned other Hamas leaders to stay underground, or face a similar fate. Keep Reading

The Briefing, Thursday, November 15, 2012

Albert Mohler — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 11:45:53 +0000

TODAY: Social engineering in Sweden means toddlers can’t say “him” and “her” / France debates same-sex marriage, eliminates “mother” and “father” / Turkey’s Islamist turn, ten years later. I discuss all these and more in today’s edition of The Briefing: A Daily Analysis of News and Events from a Christian Worldview.

1. Just “Friends” — No More Gender References for Swedish Toddlers

Social engineering is usually the legacy of a revolution. In revolutionary France, aristocratic titles were out, and the French were told to refer to each other as merely “citizen.” In the USSR and other communist states, the revolution’s new title for all was “comrade.” Now, the Swedes are teaching their children to call each other simply “friend.”

As The New York Times reports, the words “him” and “her” are out at Nicolaigarden, a tax-payer financed preschool in Stockholm. Keep Reading

The Briefing, Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Albert Mohler — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 11:45:18 +0000

TODAY: Has America made a great moral shift? / How democracies decide divisive questions. / Was Gen. Petraeus a victim of “Sexual McCarthyism?” / When Football and fatherhood collide. I discuss all these and more in today’s edition of The Briefing: A Daily Analysis of News and Events from a Christian Worldview. Keep Reading

The Conviction to Lead

Albert Mohler — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 10:06:57 +0000

Let me warn you right up front — my goal is to change the way you think about leadership. I do not aim merely to add one more voice to the conversation about leadership, I want fundamentally to change the way leadership is understood and practiced.

For the better part of the last three decades, leadership has been a major cultural preoccupation and a professional obsession. Walk into an airport bookstore and you will find the front tables filled with books promising to make you a better leader. Apparently, people passing through airports have a healthy appetite for books on leadership. Walk into a Christian bookstore, and you will find ample evidence of the same hunger.

If you are like me, you have probably read a small library of books on leadership, attended numerous conferences and seminars, and you likely read leadership newsletters and professional journals when you find the time. Hotel conference rooms overflow with people listening to speakers deliver talks on leadership and colleges and universities have gotten into the business as well, offering majors, degree programs, and even entire schools devoted to leadership studies.

And yet, something is missing. Keep Reading

The Briefing, Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Albert Mohler — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 11:45:55 +0000

TODAY: Adultery in the digital age, worldview and demographics strike again, teenagers ready to vote, religious liberty undermined, and a new reason to elope. I discuss all these and more in today’s edition of The Briefing: A Daily Analysis of News and Events from a Christian Worldview. Keep Reading

The Briefing, Monday, November 12, 2012

Albert Mohler — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 10:45:13 +0000

TODAY: So, adultery does matter, a new law “vexes” the porn industry, Norway’s mass murderer complains of “inhumane” treatment, and Germany decides to subsidize moms and export grandmothers. I discuss all these and more in today’s edition of The Briefing: A Daily Analysis of News and Events from a Christian Worldview. Keep Reading

The Briefing, Friday, November 9, 2012

Albert Mohler — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 10:45:40 +0000

TODAY: A new Archbishop of Canterbury, Jared Loughner sentenced to life in prison, Mormonism after the election, can the law make us decent? I discuss all these and more in today’s edition of The Briefing: A Daily Analysis of News and Events from a Christian Worldview.

Anglican sources have confirmed that Justin Welby, currently Bishop of Durham, will be named today as the next Archbishop of Canterbury. The Crown Nominations Commission is expected to nominate the new Archbishop, with action to be taken by the Prime Minister as early as later today.

Bishop Welby has been a bishop for only a year, and his background has been mostly in the business world. He was for many years an oil executive before entering the ministry later in life. He is Eton-educated and considered to identify with the evangelical wing of the Church of England. As The Telegraph [London] reports, “Theologically, he is unashamedly part of the evangelical tradition, upholding a more traditional and conservative interpretation of the Bible than some in the Church of England.” Keep Reading

The Briefing, Thursday, November 8, 2012

Albert Mohler — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 10:45:43 +0000

TODAY: A revealing (and troubling) portrait of America in the 2012 election data, Obama’s “rainbow coalition,” the conservative gender gap, same-sex marriage, assisted suicide, and the U.S. election viewed from China. I discuss all these and more in today’s edition of The Briefing: A Daily Analysis of News and Events from a Christian Worldview. Keep Reading

The Briefing, Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Albert Mohler — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 10:45:24 +0000

History has been made and the issues are becoming clear. The 2012 U.S. election is over, and President Barack Obama has won a second term in office. Massive political and cultural changes are now evident, and American Christians wake up this morning to a witness a seismic alteration in the nation’s moral landscape. At least three states have taken steps toward same-sex marriage and other great challenges come into view. Keep Reading

Aftermath: Lessons from the 2012 Election

Albert Mohler — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 09:35:16 +0000

The 2012 U.S. election is over, and more than 100 million Americans participated in the great exercise of democracy — fulfilling the franchise of the vote. Even with some votes not yet counted and some issues as yet clarified, a general picture of the election is clearly in view, and the impact of this election will be both massive and enduring.

Several lessons emerge in the immediate aftermath of the election and Christians should consider them carefully.

A Decisive Victory

First, we must recognize that President Barack Obama won a decisive and clear victory, surging to over 300 votes in the Electoral College before midnight. Against the expectations of many, the President held his 2008 coalition together. Voting intensity among younger Americans, African-Americans, Hispanics, and other crucial constituencies held firm. Once the election results started coming in, an Obama victory came quickly into view. Keep Reading

The Briefing, Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Albert Mohler — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 10:45:36 +0000

It’s Election Day in America, and that fact alone presents us with a full range of issues to discuss in today’s edition of The Briefing: A Daily Analysis of News and Events from a Christian Worldview. Keep Reading