It's Worth The Risk of Ebola – The Desiring God website carried an in-depth interview with missionary Nancy Writebol, one of the first two Ebola survivors brought back to the U.S. for care. "Popular opinion seemed to be that Ebola would not spread to a city. It had always been out in the bush, confined to small regions, so many people didn’t worry. It took two Americans contracting Ebola for the world to wake up."
Ebola, Closer to Home – The fiancée of Ebola victim Eric Duncan is still struggling. "I am hurt, I am displaced, I have this Ebola stigma on me and no one will take me in," she said. However, the Christian Examiner reports that "Wilshire [Baptist] church members were among the few who didn't shun [Louise] Troh and her family. The congregation literally and figuratively embraced her in welcome when she attended a service after her quarantine."
Slippery Slope 1 – It's called 'post birth abortion' because, well I think you can figure that out. "[S]ome students even suggest children up to 4 or 5-years-old can also be killed, because they are not yet 'self aware.'" While the survey of college students notes that this viewpoint may stem from certain authors who are required campus reading, the view "that life beings at conception is also growing, and that is growing at a larger and faster rate than those who accept infanticide."
Slippery Slope 2 – Roger Olson notes that when people supporting gay marriage are confronted with the question, 'Then why not legalize polygamy?' they generally respond that nobody is actually calling for that to happen. But media portrayals suggest the stage is being set and that the incest agenda is not far behind. "What ethical or legal arguments would you, who advocate and support gay marriage, give for continuing to prohibit plural marriage?"
When it Happens in Your Church Building – First, there was the Islamic prayer gathering that took place at the National Cathedral, that ended with a protester being escorted out. Next, Franklin Graham condemned the Cathedral for agreeing to host the event in the first place. Meanwhile, in Winnipeg, Canada, a Pentecostal church refused to allow a Mennonite group to hold a 50th Anniversary concert in their building upon learning it would include a smudging ceremony, an element of native spirituality. However, Jamie Arpin-Ricci, an IVP author who happens to live in Winnipeg thinks the criteria for evaluation in this case needs to be reconsidered.
Filling Pastoral Vacancies – Thom Rainer reports that some Millennials don't want to serve in an established church, and gives five reasons. But that creates a problem: "There are about 350,000 established churches in America alone. They represent untold resources of people and time, not to mention billions of dollars in property. It would be a shame to abandon those churches at such a pivotal time in our world."
Worldviews in Collision – Opening the very same weekend as the movie 50 Shades of Grey, Valentine's Day 2015, the movie Old Fashioned is a kind of anti-50 Shades. "Clearly we're picking a fight with 50 Shades; we're picking a fight with the schoolground bully, likely to get our nose busted in two. Why? … Honestly, because we believe it matters." The battle takes place at a multiplex near you.
What We're Supporting – The new report from the Evangelical Council on Financial Accountability (EFCA) shows the biggest overall turnaround in the last three years is in the "Camps and Conferences" category. Categories such as "Short Term Missions" continued to see gains, but not as significantly. Overall, giving in 2013 was up 6.9%.
Those Special Moment Videos – I had this on the list, and then deleted it, and then brought it back. It wasn't the song that Carrie Underwood sang—which I'm told she also sang at her baptism—but the great opportunity of singing it at the Country Music Awards, before an audience of both churched and unchurched. Two years ago she told a Country Music website, "I’m not the first person to sing about God, Jesus, faith (or) any of that, and I won’t be the last. And it won’t be the last for me, either. If you don’t like it, change the channel."
Paul Wilkinson blogs daily at Thinking Out Loud.
