The religion of the Baptist is an inward, spiritual religion, that of the Campbellite an external, formal, mechanical religion. Between them there is the difference of the poles. People sometimes say that Baptists and Campbellites are so near together that they ought to unite. As a matter of fact, there are no two denominations on … Read more
The following was published in the Reformation Montana Journal, written by JD Hall and posted with permission. Dissection of a Downgrade compares some of the issues that we are currently seeing, in relation to the Downgrade of Spurgeon’s day. To order the Reformation Montana journal, click here. “We have said, with deep grief that we … Read more
The following is a transcript of small portion of Monday’s Pulpit & Pen Program, in which JD briefly discusses what he believes to be a mischaracterization of The Squirrel’s recent post by Dave Miller and, more concerning, the marginalization of legitimate concerns through soteriological reductionism. “I talked about this article on the program Friday (or … Read more
We commented about the total lack of doctrinal standards applied to the question of what books are sold at LifeWay Christian Resources stores. We remarked about the danger of false conversion brought on by a climate of “easy believism” and belief in “decisional regeneration.” We discussed inflated membership numbers driven by pride and ego in … Read more
Over the last few weeks we’ve received a lot of questions, comments and concerns about the state of and plans for the Pulpit and Pen blog. Many people have been asking how we will be proceeding into the future with JD no longer blogging and having by and large taken a step back from Social Media [His … Read more
I recently had the opportunity to check out a local Church bookstore. Perusing their selection got me thinking; What is the purpose of a Church bookstore? Apart from being a small source of revenue, which undoubtedly must be the secondary or even tertiary purpose, I would have imagined that it would be a place where … Read more
Justin Peters, in talking about the lack of discernment applied to deciding what books to stock in a Christian book store, says that there is no more dangerous place for a Christian than most “Christian” book stores. The title of this post sums up his assessment of that threat. I’ve been in several discussions these … Read more
The Southern Baptist Convention recently voted to adopt a resolution to “reaffirm the sufficiency of biblical revelation over subjective experiential explanations to guide one’s understand of the truth about heaven and hell.” Oddly, a resolution to keep Lifeway from peddling Heaven is For Real went nowhere, affirming the old adage that “Your money’s where your … Read more
Earlier last month I told you about why I’m writing my own Bible Translation [The Dustin Germain Awesome Bible, or DGAB], but I’ve decided to take a quick break from that project and write a book about my recent trip to heaven. A few days ago I had a near death experience. The precise details … Read more
Many of have taken issue with Steven Furtick in recent years. Pointing out Furtick-level pastoral narcissism has been common fare on a number of popular podcasts. I’ll assume you haven’t actually made your habitation under a rock and that you’re aware of the Furtick controversies; the increasingly scary cult mentality of Elevation Church as it … Read more
Monday – Program Summary: On Monday’s Program, JD explains why he doesn’t believe in “prayer in schools” and Christians shouldn’t advocate for it. He then discusses an article by Bob Hadley explaining that Biblical Monergists for some reason believe that the Gospel is for sanctification and not conversion, and end in the Daily #DOWNGRADE segment … Read more
Is the doctrine of the Trinity something worth standing resolute on anymore in the Southern Baptist Convention? The question, seemingly obvious among the people who turned back the liberal tide and fought for the inerrancy of Scripture 35 years ago, must be asked in the early days of 2014 when one looks at the schedule … Read more
No. Christianity does not need Chris Rosebrough. God is self-sufficient, Gospel is complete, and Jesus needs nothing and no one. So, please forgive the question. Perhaps a better question would be, “Is there a need in the Christian church for Chris Rosebrough and the work of discernment ministries?” Chris is best known for his program, … Read more
Jared Moore, 2nd VP of the SBC is not happy that I included his Harry Potter Bible study in my previous post, “Finding Theology in the Hunger Games and Harry Potter” [click here for the article]. Moore’s Harry Potter Bible study [click here to see it], according to him, illustrates doctrines of the “trinity, image … Read more
Christianity Today ran an article this week (November 13, to be exact) explaining the “theology” of the popular novel and movie by the same name, ‘The Hunger Games.’ The article’s author, Laura Snider, draws parallels between the premise of The Hunger Games (which Snider admits “is enough to turn your stomach”) and biblical tenets such … Read more
