Straight Dope on Choice in Education: Tax Credits vs. Vouchers

Here's another really simple, straightforward summary that explains why tax credits are better options than vouchers. Look for the sidebar article at the bottom, "Fighting on Better Ground."

If you're interested in school choice, read this short piece. It shows how many advocates are using time and political capital poorly.

Why Would an Independent Fundamental Baptist Preach in a Reformed Presbyterian Seminary?

This is a terrific address delivered by Kevin Bauder at the commencement ceremonies of Geneva Reformed Seminary. I can think of nothing to which I've linked that I would commend to you more.

Bauder asks the question in the title. Here's his answer:

• Because of our unity
• In the gospel
• By the gospel
• For the gospel
• Because of the gospel
• Because we understand the limits of our unity

Sound familiar?

Here are a few of the particularly salient quotes stitched together (warning) with very little context. And by the way, my regurgitation of the above outline is probably not comprehensive.

There is a kind of popular philosophy within contemporary Christianity that seems to believe that unity or fellowship are all-or-nothing. I believe that is a disastrous philosophy. It has been disastrous both for evangelicals and for some fundamentalists . . . No one can implement that philosophy consistently.

Not every aspect of the faith is equally important.

There are certain activities and certain forms of fellowship that are not affected by the differences between us . . . It’s lamentable that we do not yet experience complete unity in the faith, but it is not nearly as lamentable as if we were to try to bury some aspect of the faith in order to achieve some sort of a contrived unity. You see, we are not only committed to the gospel. We are committed to the whole counsel of God.

I would not want you to stop being Presbyterians [while you believed in Presbyterian distinctives] just so we could enjoy some greater level of contrived unity. That would be wrong for you to do.

I love you too much to ask you to surrender or sacrifice your obedience to Christ . . . I love you enough that I want you to obey the Bible as you understand it, because you are going to have to give answer to God for your understanding of the Scripture someday . . . We love each other too much to let errors go unchallenged.

Near the conclusion, Bauder also addresses the point that has been kicked around on this blog recently—the need for people from different orthodox theological perspectives to listen and learn from each other.

Amen and amen.

Unbeatable Price on MacArthur NASB Study Bible

I don't think you could beat this deal with a stick. The hardcover is $10 cheaper than on Amazon. I'm guessing it's a limited time offer. The leatherbound editions are waaaaaay cheaper too, but they seem to be listed as paperbacks on Amazon.

Secret Service Uses Power to Stop Evangelism!!!

I don't want to encourage this kind of strategy, but I have to confess that this seems like a compelling argument why using tracts that look like $1,000,000 bills does not constitute counterfeiting:

I'm not going to stop printing them," Comfort said. "How can you possibly counterfeit something that is not real – a $1 million bill?

Here's the follow-up story.

OT Narratives: Are They Theology or Examples for How We Should Live?

I hope this article on preaching OT narratives is not the last from Randy McKinion of Shepherds Theological Seminary.

Straight Dope on Gas Prices: Problems and Solutions

It's a few weeks old (I'm behind), but World Magazine has a nice summary piece by Gene Veith on who's to blame (and who's not) and why there's a little light at the end of the tunnel.

Church Members as Spectators

Some great thoughts from John MacArthur here:

One of the most disturbing side effects of the seeker-sensitive fad is something I haven't said as much about: When one of the main aims of a ministry philosophy is to keep people entertained, church members inevitably become mere spectators. The architects of the modern megachurches admit that they have deliberately redesigned the worship service in order to make as few demands as possible on the person in the pew. After all, they don't want the "unchurched" to be intimidated by appeals for personal involvement in ministry. That's the very opposite of "seeker sensitivity."

Such thinking is spiritually deadly. Christianity is not a spectator sport. Practically the worst thing any churchgoer can do is be a hearer but not a doer (James 1:22-25). Christ himself pronounced doom on religious people who want to be mere bystanders (Matthew 7:26-27).

Gender Issues and the Gospel

This post on the T4G blog addresses some questions I've been pondering: Why did the T4G statement address gender issues? What does this have to do with the gospel? Why are gender issues more important than differences on theological issues like paedobaptism and cessationism?

Dever's summary:

Of course there are issues more central to the gospel than gender issues. However, there may be no way the authority of Scripture is being undermined more quickly or more thoroughly in our day than through the hermenuetics of egalitarian readings of the Bible. And when the authority of Scripture is undermined, the gospel will not long be acknowledged. Therefore, love for God, the gospel, and future generations, demands the careful presentation and pressing of the complementarian position.

Peggy Noonan on the Republicrats

Actually, I think I like the term "Demolic(i)ans" better. It sounds worse.

Anyway, Noonan talks about the possibility of the rise of a third party. It's interesting conjecture, but here's the real point of the editorial:

Partisanship is fine when it's an expression of the high animal spirits produced by real political contention based on true political belief. But the current partisanship seems sour, not joyous. The partisanship has gotten deeper as less separates the governing parties in Washington. It is like what has been said of academic infighting: that it's so vicious because the stakes are so low.

The problem is not that the two parties are polarized. In many ways they're closer than ever. The problem is that the parties in Washington, and the people on the ground in America, are polarized. There is an increasing and profound distance between the rulers of both parties and the people--between the elites and the grunts, between those in power and those who put them there.

For Those of a Kinder Disposition Than I

I know there are many folks who are frustrated by the critical thinking that is directed towards various popular personalities in American Christianity—the best-selling authors, the popular evangelists, and the TV preachers who are easy on the eyes and the ears. Certainly folks are right to point out that these personalities do have some good thigns to say.

On the other hand, these words from none other than Charles Spurgeon provide an important reminder:

Avoid a sugared gospel as you would shun sugar of lead. Seek the gospel which rips up and tears and cuts and wounds and hacks and even kills, for that is the gospel that makes alive again. And when you have found it, give good heed to it. Let it enter into your inmost being. As the rain soaks into the ground, so pray the Lord to let his gospel soak into your soul.

As the Apostle Paul reminds us, widespread popularity, particularly among unbelievers, ought to serve as a warning of a diluted message.

(HT)