OK… this is the press release for a new book called Holy Libido… creating passionate life in God. Has this provocative title crossed the line?  Or do you find it humorous? Author Roderick Lee Smith uses refreshing humor and a bit of wisdom to take on the challenging topic of developing an intimate relationship with our Creator SEATTLE, May 20, 2013 /Christian Newswire/ — It seems that books espousing intimate relationships are all the rage today. So how about a book that fans into flame our deepest desire for an intimate relationship with God? According to author Rod Smith, we were...

That’s a question posed in this article by Jonathan Merritt entitled:  ”Is Mark Driscoll this generation’s Pat Robertson?” Ouch. Here’s a part of the article: Robertson’s incendiary comments are often political or prophetic, while Driscoll’s are usually theological or social, but it’s difficult to discern which are more provocative. And while Driscoll’s list of miscues stretch long for someone of such a young age, Robertson has had more opportunities at 83-years-old. What if Mark Driscoll had a daily television show where he could say anything he wanted? Might we...

I admit that the thought never even crossed my mind. Nobody wants to bury the Boston bomber, Tarerlan Tsarnaev. Nobody. This article asks why no Christian (or anyone else for that matter) has stepped up to show enough mercy to take the body and bury it. From the article: “I’ve not heard a lot from the Christian community” on this issue, said Joel Anderle, senior pastor of Community Covenant Church in West Peabody, Mass., and president of the Massachusetts Council of Churches. “This is one of those curious areas where Christianity, and in particular Protestant Christianity, has come to believe...

Pastor Ryan Budde from Croswell Wesleyan Church in Michigan has a small problem on his hands.  A member of his church has recently been arrested for hosting a cancer fundraising benefit to help pay her medical bills.  Problem is… she doesn’t have cancer. The 38 year-old woman is facing eight charges in a couple different investigations (in 2001, the woman said a man raped her in a Meijer parking lot and that she received a sexually transmitted disease from the rape.  That, she said, is what caused her cancer).  And last September, she claimed she was sexually assaulted again.  The...

Freedom is coming to an end as we know it… and the end times are here (or at least the book 1984 is coming true).  What do you think?

OK… let me first start out by saying that Morgan Guyton wrote a great headline. But what follows is a pretty scathing rebuttal to complementarian pastors everywhere. Guyton is a United Methodist pastor who thinks that most complementarians are shooting themselves in the foot: Complementarian megachurch pastors are like pitchers who only throw 40-mile-an-hour change-ups. It feels cheap and dirty to swing at their pitches, but I’m genuinely bothered by what I’ve been hearing lately from that strange foreign land where Christians believe that wives are supposed to submit to their...

Benny Hinn recently headed to Trinidad and Tobago for one of his crusades, where he asked those gathered to sow a seed of faith for $100 (or TT$600). Considering the economic status of Trinidad and Tobago, this represents a significant sacrifice for many in the crowd, but Hinn let them know what would happen in return: You will produce a harvest for the rest of your life. There will be a miracle in your finances and that of your family… Let’s put aside the transactional nature of this “deal with God” thinking, and look at this from a discipleship perspective: How do/would YOU counsel...

Check out this press release. Do you have sympathy for the preacher arrested? I’ll openly admit… I think street preaching outside abortion clinics doesn’t accomplish much (other than making Christians look angry and defiant in our culture). Should it be allowed? I guess… it’s a free country. But the tone of press releases like this one (below) don’t seem to help the situation.  They strive only to rally the base.  (But the base is shrinking). I prefer to offer help to our local community pregnancy center.  They are doing great work in a positive way to those who...

Last week Matt Appling had a post on his site, The Church of No Peoplec, about the way we disagree within the church world. Coining what is now my favorite phrase “everybody’s orthodoxy is somebody’s heresy,” in response to yet another uproar about someone’s perceived theological transgressions. Now, don’t get me wrong, I believe that having a solid grasp of orthodox theology is important… but I also believe that Jesus has called us to love one another in spite of our theological differences. In this episode of Ministry Briefing, we unpack our experiences with...

Daphne Daly writes: It may surprise many Christians to hear me say that I was a Born Again Christian the entirety of my 20 year career as a prostitute and adult entertainer. I was a Born Again Christian the entire time I was advocating for legalized brothels. The fact is that Jesus still loved me throughout my entire life of sin. He held my hand the entire time, guiding me through until I found my place in his kingdom, not in this world. Those in same sex relationships are no different. They are still precious in his eyes. Ready. Set. Go… (That mean’s I’d like to hear your...