The grounds of our assurance (3 min)

D.A. Carson on how it is not the intensity of our faith that assures our salvation, but the object of our faith, the sacrifice of Jesus, the blood of the Lamb!

Prebiotic soup made life? But it can’t even make muffins!

Evolutionary creed says life started in some prebiotic soup somewhere. What ingredients made up this soup? They aren’t so sure… just that the something included was all that was needed.

How can we expose this for the nonsense it is? Paul Nelson proposes prebiotic soup as a solution for the origin of something much simpler than life: muffins. That muffins could come about on their own is, of course, ridiculous, and that’s the point: “as has been shown time and time again, undirected chemistry is hostile to life.”

How to tell someone they’re wrong

There is a time and place when we will have to tell someone they are wrong, so how can we best do so?

In defense of stigma

The world says that critiquing other people’s choices is unloving. But that pretends that there are no better or worse choices. Meanwhile Christian love, “rooted in God’s love for us, includes healthy stigma and never pretends there are no consequences for our choices.”

Problems with the NRSV translation

While many may have fond memories of the RSV, here’s a reason not to try out the NRSV.

A hymn written in 5 minutes

A beautiful rendition of this classic hymn – for the story behind the hymn, click the link above.

Is having kids socially irresponsible?

The myth of overpopulation refuses to die…but this video can help drive the stake. This is a practical argument that doesn’t get into the real reason children are valuable. Their value comes from being made in God’s Image (Gen. 9:6). It’s when we recognize everyone as valuable, that we’ll also recognize that we are more than simply mouths to feed, but have also been given brains and hands to create with.

White noise to soothe the crying baby

For those blessed with a new arrival, this might be a help. If you’re having trouble getting your baby to stop crying even though they are fed and dry, try this free white noise generator.

Canadians aren’t donating…

…and that presents an opportunity for God’s people to stand out, to His glory, with our generosity.

Old commentaries are better than the new

A commentary on Timothy has Rev. Tim Bayly enthused… but he doesn’t like many modern commentaries

Prenatal tests, false positives, and abortion

Prenatal testing on the unborn promises to “cure” genetic diseases, but does so via abortion – it does so by killing unborn carriers. That’s horrific all on its own, but now it turns out certain prenatal tests, tests which lead to countless abortions, are “usually wrong.”

Topics too hot for conservative pastors to handle

Even in conservative evangelical circles, the importance of parents being married is being forgotten. Why? The article offers as explanation that pastors know many in the pews have had sin stain their relationships, and thus preaching forthrightly on the topic could cause division. That’s not a problem in our Reformed churches, yet at least, but are there topics our pastors might find hard to preach on? Might the last two year’s events make it hard to preach on the government’s authority, or on its limits? Another: we don’t share the world’s hatred for male headship, but how often are we taught why we should love it? And what about the sixth commandment as it applies to contraceptives and IVF?

The evangelical church has their “too hot to handle” topics that might not be so hot in our circles…… but we do have touchy topics too. May God help us seek out His truth with courage and grace.

Answering Hitchens’ “impossible question”

When an atheist asks a question we can’t answer, a quick thought to consider is, “So what?” That’s the right response to the late Christopher Hitchens’ question: what moral action can a believer do that an atheist can’t do? Does anything leap to mind? Give to the poor? Atheists can do that. Visit the sick? Atheists can do that too. But…so what? What point does that prove?

The more pertinent question would be: “What moral action should Christians do that atheists can do, but have no real reason to do?” Then we could come up with a list, starting with giving to the poor. Yes, an atheist can do that, but why should they? From their worldview, in which we are all just chemicals in motion, accidental creations of time and chance, with no future, and no purpose, why would an atheist give?

Mike Winger gives his own, very good answer below.