Why would a Christian vote for John McCain?

[The following is a response to SouthEastern Baptist Theological Seminary professor Nathan Finn's blogpost, "On Going with the Best Available Option for President."]

Christians believe that human life begins not at birth, but at the moment of conception. We believe that the best science supports this opinion, but, more importantly, we believe that God's Word clearly teaches that individual human life exists in the womb in passages such as Exodus 21:22-23, Isaiah 44:2, Psalm 139:13-14, Jeremiah 1:5, and Luke 1:15,44. This means that abortion is murder and that the government's failure to recognize this type of murder as a crime is the most crucial political issue of our day. At this point in the 2008 Presidential race, only one candidate- Mike Huckabee- has a consistent pro-life record. John McCain is "moderate" on this issue at best.

In 1860 a person of sincere, biblically-informed conviction would not want to vote for someone that was moderate on the issue of slavery. In Nazi Germany a person of sincere, biblically-informed conviction would not want to support a political leader that was moderate on the issue of the "Final Solution" concerning the Jews. In the 2008 Presidential election a person of sincere, biblically-informed conviction will not want to vote for someone who is moderate on the issue of legalized child murder.

Why would a Christian vote for John McCain?

He or she wouldn't.

Why preach through books of the Bible?

[The following is an excerpt by "Why I Still Preach the Bible" by Pastor John MacArthur, found in the Together for the Gospel book, Preaching the Cross.]

In the big picture, preaching verse-by-verse, book-by-book, brings a divine balance to ministry. It helps keep the preacher from leaving things out or from getting on a hobbyhorse and riding it to death. It forces him to deal with topics he might not naturally be drawn to if it were not for the fact that it is addressed in the next verse he is preaching. Put simply, it requires him to teach God's truth the way God revealed it. And that's the best way to teach.

Some preachers allow their audience to determine what topic they will address. As one popular pastor has written:

Adapt your style to fit your audience... The ground we have in common with unbelievers is not the Bible, but our common needs, hurts and interests as human beings. You cannot start with a text, expecting the unchurched to be fascinated by it. You must first capture their attention, and then move them to the truth of God's Word. By starting with a topic and then showing what the Bible says about it, you can grab their attention, disarm prejudices, and create an interest in the Bible that wasn't there before. [Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995), 294-295.]

But such a bait-and-switch approach is really just a recipe for compromise- tempting pastors to tickle the ears of their audience or water down the gospel in an effort to be more appealing. In essence, this approach says that God's Word is irrelevant and makes human ingenuity the key to interesting sinners in the gospel. It is therefore an approach that should be categorically rejected.

Response to and excerpt from Sibbes' "The Bruised Reed"

Yesterday I finished reading The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes as part of the 2008 Puritan Reading Challenge. [Yes, I know I was a day late, but I started reading about 20 days late.]

Response

As this work has blessed Christians for over 300 years now, offering any response is clearly judging my superior. However, I will say that The Bruised Reed is not an easy read. For this reason, I would not suggest that someone unfamiliar with Puritan works begin with this particular book. Nor would I suggest that someone who is in a "bruised" (i.e. "distraught") condition- the intended audience of this work- be handed this book, as they will likely only become frustrated due to the difficult sentence structures. However, I would suggest that anyone going into full-time ministry read this work as an excellent example of how to help hurting people by directing them to a consideration of Christ. Also, I would definitely suggest that anyone teaching on Isaiah 42:3 or Matthew 12:20 (the verses that this work is focused upon) study Sibbes' thoughts on the text. This is the real genius of the Puritans- how they can give laser-like focus to a single passage of Scripture, drawing numerous valid connections to other texts and offering insightful applications, so that sometimes (as in the book under examination) they produced a whole volume on a single verse. Finally, for someone who has learned much of Christ and who may even be tempted toward pride due to his or her knowledge of Him, I would certainly suggest he or she study this book, as Sibbes destroys human arrogance (by demonstrating that we are all 'bruised reeds') and employs God's Word to deepen his readers' affection for the Lord Jesus.

Excerpt

The following is my favorite passage from The Bruised Reed, coming near the end of the final chapter; this passage shows the Christ-centeredness of this work and demonstrates the relentless application of the text, characteristic of the Puritans:

Let us strive a little while, and we shall be happy for ever. Let us think when we are troubled with our sins, that Christ hath this in charge of his Father, 'that he shall not quench the smoking flax,' until he hath subdued all. This putteth a shield into our hands to beat back all 'the fiery darts of Satan,' Eph. vi. 16. He will object, (1.) thou art a great sinner; we may answer, Christ is a strong Saviour; but he will object, (2.) thou hast no faith, no love; yes, a spark of faith and love; but (3.) Christ will not regard that; yes, 'he will not quench the smoking flax;' but (4.) this is so little and weak, that it will vanish and come to nought: nay, but Christ will cherish it, until he hath brought judgment to victory.

The Gospel according to Joel Osteen

On May 31, 2005 my uncle, Dr. Alan Branch of MidWestern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote an article titled, "The Gospel according to Joel Osteen." The summary of his argument is found in the following paragraph:

Essentially, Joel Osteen advocates a form of the “prosperity Gospel” in BLN [Your Best Life Now!], a theology he learned from his father. For example, chapter 14 is titled “The Power in Your Words.” In this chapter, Joel Osteen concludes by saying, “Friend, there is a miracle in your mouth” (125), a phrase which mirrors the title of one of John Osteen’s books, “There is a Miracle in Your Mouth.” I want to be clear that Osteen’s version of the prosperity Gospel is not as extreme as Kenneth Hagin or Kenneth Copeland. Much of his book simply encourages people to be “positive.” In this sense, Joel Osteen is a Pentecostal version of Robert Schuller!

You can read the rest of the article HERE.

As Osteen is such an influential public figure (leader of the congregation with the largest average weekly attendance in the U.S. and author of two New York Times bestsellers) I encourage everyone reading this to please read the article linked above and drop a comment concerning your thoughts on what it says. (Please don't leave a comment if you don't bother to read the article.)