Month: February 2012

The inescapable logic of abortion – infanticide

/ David Thomas / Leave a comment

Many Christians have been saying for a long time that there is no ethical difference between the killing of a child prior to or after birth and that both should be considered for what they in fact are, a violation against the 6th commandment – “You shall not murder.” (Exodus 20:13)

Now a paper published by two ethicisits in the British Medical Journal and highlighted online here and here, entitled “After-birth abortion: why should the baby live?” has called for the killing of newly born children to be made legal, on the basis that there is no ethical difference between this and abortion.  The abstract states,

 “After-birth abortion (killing a newborn) should be permissible in all cases where abortion is, including cases where the newborn is not disabled.”

The proposal is hideous, but the logic is inescapable. 

Heard the one about Jesus, Mohammed and the BBC?

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You can read about Mark Thompson’s recent interview on the BBC and religious bias here, or if you want to see the whole interview yourself then head on over here.

If I’m hearing him right there’s a complete lack of logical consistency in Mr Thompson’s  explanation as to why it can be permissible to offend Christians but not Muslims in the UK

During his defence of why he thought it acceptable to show Jerry Springer: The Opera on the BBC he effectively makes the two following statements:

  • because Islam is a minority held view in the UK we need to take extra care we do not cause offence
  • because Evangelical Christianity as expressed by the group ‘Christian Voice’ is a minority held view in the UK we need not pay too much attention if offence is caused

Go figure!  Romans 1:21-22

So what is the right way to listen to a sermon?

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With a soul that is prepared, a mind that is alert, a Bible that is open, a heart that is receptive, and a life that is ready to spring into action.

So says Phil Ryken in a helpful article you can find here.  And here’s a quote from Thabiti Anyabwile to remind you how to make your pastor’s day.

Few things are more discouraging or dishonoring to [faithful pastors] than a congregation inattentive to the Word of God. Faithful men flourish at the fertile reception of the preached Word. They’re made all the more bold when their people give ear to the Lord’s voice and give evidence of being shaped by it. As church members, we can care for our pastors and teacher and help to prevent unnecessary discouragement and fatigue by cultivating the habit of expositional listening.

Helping the poor – feeling or doing good?

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Christianity Today addresses the issue of effective ways to fight poverty in it’s latest issue.  It highlights the problem that so often we give to feel good rather than to do good.  In the article, “Cost Effective Compassion: The 10 Most Popular Strategies for Helping the Poor,” economists specialising in analysing development programs were asked to rate from 0-10 some of the most common poverty interventions in terms of their impact and cost-effectiveness.

It’s an interesting list and worth at least a few minutes reflection as you sip your Fairtrade coffee – or perhaps not.

1. Get clean water to rural villages (Rating: 8.3)
2. Fund de-worming treatments for children (Rating: 7.8)
3. Provide mosquito nets (Rating: 7.3)
4. Sponsor a child (Rating: 6.9)
5. Give wood-burning stoves (Rating: 6.0)
6. Give a micro-finance loan (Rating 4.2)
7. Fund reparative surgeries (Rating: 3.9)
8. Donate a farm animal (Rating 3.8)
9. Drink fair-trade coffee (Rating. 1.9)
10. Give a kid a laptop (1.8)

What is the gospel?

/ David Thomas / 1 Comment

How would you answer that question?

This coming Sunday evening we will be asking the question, “What is the gospel?”  Perhaps it’s a question we think is so basic it doesn’t need an answer.  But as we saw a few weeks ago when we asked the question, “What is evangelism?” the most basic questions are the most important questions.

Below are a some definitions from a few well know evangelicals and you can find a lot more here thanks to Trevin Wax  who has complied a whole list.

Finally, this article by Derrick Olliff is a sizeable but excellent read.

 

 

Songs for Saplings

/ David Thomas / 2 Comments

If you have  young children I would highly recommend the Songs for Saplings CDs by Dana Dirksen.  We have the first three volumes of the Questions with Answers CDs (also downloadable from iTunes) and the children love them.  The tunes are good and the songs progress through the Westminster Shorter Catechism with lots of Bible verses and great truth as  the lyrics.

A few car journeys with these songs playing and children and parents will get to know the Bible better.

For a taster, click on the links below and find  lots more playable samples on their web site.