A La Carte (12/1)

  • Tim Challies
  • 12/01/06
  • 4

Friday December 1, 2006

Church: Al Mohler looks at the credibility question. “The credibility crisis on the issue on homosexuality that really matters is the loss of credibility suffered by the church when it fails to tell the truth with love, recoils from homosexuals instead of reaching out with God’s love, and buries its head in the sand.”

Theology: Paul continues his excellent series on what to do when you disagree with another Christian.

Design: My fellow Canadians will be glad to know that the Sola Scriptura site has been freshly redesigned and relaunched (courtesy of yours truly).

Film: The Nativity Story isn’t doing so well with the reviews. Rotten Tomatoes, a site that collects links to reviews, gives it a mere 26% (meaning that only 26% of reviewers have reviewed it positively). “…the film has all the substance, visual appeal, and excitement of a Hallmark card.” “An effective pitch for Christianity as the dullest religion ever.” “There is more spirituality in Santa Clause III.”

Comments (4)

1
Anonymous's picture
a comment from Tom Chantry • 12/01 @ 12:06pm
› visit my web site.

It’s getting bad reviews? First good news all week!

2
Anonymous's picture
a comment from Robyn Tippins • 12/01 @ 2:09pm
› visit my web site.

Plus, a prominent SJ paper is putting out slanted pieces against it. If you didn’t know the teen star (nominated for an Oscar in 2002) is pregnant out of wedlock with her carpenter boyfriend (I’m not making this up) and she chose to avoid the Vatican premiere to avoid a great deal of unwanted publicity.

While all other papers are reporting it like that, the SF paper is saying the Pope asked her not to come. Ugh.

3
Anonymous's picture
a comment from claire • 12/02 @ 7:13pm

Regarding Getting Serious About Getting Married: I am a divorced 46-year-old woman who has lived the horrors of the “protracted single” mindset in a husband who never grew up. I have suffered greatly for my sin of an unwise marriage; I look back on many pressures in the evangelical church that helped to lead me to that decision and that also made the divorce more hellish than it already was in itself. We do need to be careful in the church not to make an idol of marriage, which I unwittingly have done.I have read the Maken book, and I agree that single women need to be protected by agency, because respect for them, their lives and their time does not generally seem to come naturally from men in our culture (or anywhere?). I also have to say that I spent several years single and frustrated before my marriage, many years frustrated in another way in my marriage, and now I find myself in much the same frustrating single predicament. I am learning that the ultimate intimacy is with God and that I haven’t achieved that yet. My hard-earned advice: be careful as you read Maken to not allow her arguments to feed your anger or frustration; instead let God’s ways be exalted in your life; do what you can to pursue marriage, but seek first the kingdom and His righteousness.

4
Anonymous's picture
a comment from Steve • 12/04 @ 3:55am

As I read the article by Al Molher, I was kind os stunned. Well…that’s not really true. More, I shook my head and wondered at the influence of Satan in making us think that Godless activities can be condoned in modern society.

Even if I took, and most often times I do, that there is the posibility that sexual orientation can be genetically influenced, it really changes nothing. My sexual orientation of heterosexual, is, I believe, as much genetic as anything. But, this does not allow me the choice of adultery or fornication, with impunity because it is “how I am made”.

Nor does it alter the fact that my christian brothers and sisters are responsible to condemn me for my failures in adhereing to God’s commandments. Love of another human is not determined by our ‘niceness’ to others…rather it is determined by our willingness to do right by those individuals, regardless of feelings or well wishes. “Right”, in this instance may not be overlooking their sin, but rather confronting it.

A homosexual is under no more restrictions, or difficulty, than that of any heterosexual person. Both must restrain the impulses, or deny themselves in regard to God’s directives. Neither is easy, nor expected to be. The condemnation of sinful activity must be adhered to, or there is no…real…realationship with God.

Does that mean that we do not love and support those Gay and Lesbians that seek to turn from the world and come to God? Of course not! But neither do we condone their activity or choices to participate in those type of relationships.

I find the reasons in Mr Molher’s article to be both unGodly, and catering to the insidious influence of Satan, in allowing these lifestyles to come into play as accepted parts of “life” and something that God would accept. Perhaps I missed the point…it’s possible. But I have seen so many of these articles that “want” to accept the Gay and Lesbian lifestyle in direct opposition to God’s law. It….sickens me.