Resources by Topic: Culture and Worldview

The fact that a term or phrase can be used by one person one way, and mean something completely different to another person, is nothing new. But as people who believe that words matter—because God communicated to us using precise words, right down to the smallest jot and tittle—we as Christians should be especially thoughtful in how we use terms, and educate ourselves about what others mean when they use them.

I recently read the following in Russell Moore’s book Onward: Engaging the Culture without Losing the Gospel, where he points out how the prosperity theology that can show up in more subtle and “culturally appropriate” forms in America is opposed to the real gospel of Jesus.

There are certainly articles and perspectives out there saying that David is a “social justice warrior.” I would encourage you (and this goes for me and all of us too) to be careful about believing what we read on the internet. 

In light of Amazon pulling some books from its website earlier this year, in the following article Tim Challies writes about “The Power Over Christian Publishing We’ve Given to Amazon.”

The following video, featuring a personal story from author and journalist Nancy Rommelmann, is titled “How to Become a Dangerous Person,” and is indicative of what can happen to anyone who gets on the wrong side of our culture’s ever-changing but closely-held values.

In my previous blog post, I shared a letter from Pastor David Platt, who publicly prayed for President Trump when he came unannounced to McLean Bible Church last Sunday. When we posted a link to the article on my Facebook page, there were a lot of comments, many of which were bewildering and saddening to me.

Last Sunday, June 2, President Trump showed up unannounced to McLean Bible Church in Vienna, Virginia, which is pastored by David Platt. Later that day, David posted a letter to his church, explaining why he chose to pray for President Trump on stage.

I have always loved science (and science fiction) and artificial intelligence doesn’t scare me, it fascinates me. Still, because of sin, technology can be used for bad as well as for good. With great potential for good comes great potential for evil. 

Last month, prolife speaker Ryan Bomberger became the center of controversy when the student body president, vice-president, and the executive VP of community diversity at Wheaton College wrote a letter saying his on-campus presentation made people, minorities in particular, feel “unsafe.”

Last month, 20-year-old Isabella Chow, a student senator at the University of California, Berkeley, became the center of a controversy when she chose to abstain from a pro-LGBTQ vote.

By now you’ve probably read and heard all sorts of commentaries analyzing this week’s midterm election results. Whatever your political leanings, you’ve likely been encouraged by some results and discouraged by others. But no matter the results, here’s a perspective we should always remember: America may or may not unravel in coming decades, but God’s kingdom certainly won’t!

Here’s another great post from one of my sons-in-law, Dan Franklin, who’s married to my daughter Karina. While I admit I am biased about not only my daughters but about both my sons-in-law, in my opinion this is really great teaching.

Relativism dominates the thinking of most educated people (which means sometimes that uneducated people are morally smarter). The “it all depends” morality, controversial fifty years ago when called situational ethics, denies the existence of any objective standards of right and wrong. What’s wrong for one person, so it insists, may be right for another. One uses internal, not external, standards to judge morality.

My friend Tony Reinke has written a terrific article that I think is right on target concerning sarcasm and snark and its profound effect on us, both outside and inside the church.