Posts by Todd Pruitt

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When you get a chance, take time to read Francis Beckwith's excellent explanation of Roe v. Wade and America's abortions laws.
If you lack the conviction or the courage to stand up and say to your church, who you are accountable to lead, “It is wrong to kill unborn babies, God hates it and God will judge it,” then you should not be a pastor. If you don’t have the guts to say “These are children—we must stop killing them”...
Bart Ehrman, a New Testament scholar who rejects most of the New Testament, is, ironically enough, a graduate of both Moody and Wheaton. He is also the go-to guy for the media when they are looking for a "Christian" to bash Christianity. Ehrman's books sell well and many nice church-going folks...
For the excellent book For the Fame of God's Name: Essays in Honor of John Piper , Justin Taylor composed a chapter on the great work John Piper has done in properly framing abortion as a theological as well as ethical issue. Taylor writes: Evangelicalism—in the Reformed camp or elsewhere—is not...
James Lankford (R-OK) is a friend from my youth ministry days in Oklahoma. James is an intelligent and passionate man. I am very glad that he is a representing his state in the US House of Representatives. May his voice be multiplied! [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CdTnKWury0]
Al Mohler addresses two of the most recent (but not uncommon) horrors coming out of the abortion industry. The bottom line is that once the legality of abortion is accepted, it is difficult to provide a reason why any abortion for any reason ought not be provided. Abortion also makes arguments...
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mPrqltkJyw]
From beginning to end the Bible tells one story, God’s Great Story . It is the story of God’s glorious work of redeeming a people through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This story includes creation, human sin, the fall of all creation, God’s covenant with his people, the...
Abortion is an unmitigated evil. What is more, it is self-evidently wrong. We simply "can't not know" that abortion is wrong. It is a monumental wrong. It is not like other wrongs. It is the slaughter of the most vulnerable among us. And now a genuine house of horrors has been discovered in my own...
On Sunday morning we were blessed to have Michael Oh in the COS pulpit. He preached an outstanding message entitled "The Individual's Suffering and the Salvation of the World." It was taken from Psalm 22. On Sunday evening I preached a message entitled "Evil, Disaster, and the Justice of God." It...
Moody Press recently commissioned Carl Trueman to write an ebook which is entitled The Real Scandal of the Evangelical Mind . Carl was kind enough to allow me to read an advance copy some months ago. I read it again this weekend. I know I get excited about books. But this one really is a must. I'm...
From John Piper: 1. Existing fetal homicide laws make a man guilty of manslaughter if he kills the baby in a mother's womb (except in the case of abortion). 2. Fetal surgery is performed on babies in the womb to save them while another child the same age is being legally destroyed. 3. Babies can...
"Notoriety can be gained at once by just being singular, and setting up to know better than those around you. Everybody will talk about you at once, and you can impress yourself upon their memories by saying something very cutting and impudent, and as nearly blasphemous as you dare to make it. But...
Perhaps you have heard the news that Ted Haggard is going to have his own reality show on TLC . I know. Just when you think someone's willingness to abase himself and his family can't be any greater... Over at Ref21 Carl Trueman helpfully points out the difference between genuine shame and the...
By now, you've no doubt heard about the troubles afflicting the Crystal Cathedral. It is not everyday that a mega-church files for bankruptcy after all. Therefore it's worth noting; not because of the sad details but because of the irony. The decline of the Crystal Cathedral is ironic because of...
Harvard’s Richard Lowentin quoted in the Jan. 9, 1997, New York Review of Books : We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to ful"ll many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the...
"Theistic evolution is a biblical and theological disaster." So writes Dr. Al Mohler in the latest edition of magazine of Southern Seminary. The theme of the current edition is "Ex Nihilo," or "out of nothing." Check it out and pay special attention to the following articles: The New Shape of the...
This morning I read a report on the tragic suicide of Bill Zeller, the 27-year-old son of fundamentalist preacher George Zellar. Bill was a Ph.D candidate at Princeton University and a well known internet programmer. In his suicide letter, Zeller reveals for the first time that he was the victim of...
WTS Bookstore has a great deal on an excellent resource by Paul Tripp. The DVD series, Getting to the Heart of Parenting is now only 14.99 (75% off!).
Kevin DeYoung has an excellent post on the importance of moral language in the face of such events as Saturday's mass murder in Tuscon. I have no doubt Loughner is messed up, crazy, off his rocker, and out to lunch. It seems that he’s needed help for a long time. But why jump to conclude that this...
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/18468741 w=400&h=225] R.C. Sproul Discusses the Issue of Abortion from Ligonier on Vimeo .
"The pulpit is the Thermopylae of Christendom: there the fight will be lost or won. "To us ministers the maintenance of our power in the pulpit should be our great concern, we must occupy that spiritual watch-tower with our hearts and minds awake and in full vigor. It will not avail us to be...
Ross Douthat offers wise commentary on the mysterious motives of the Tuscon shooter. Along the way he gives a timely rebuke to those who seek to assign blame for political advantage. But chances are that Loughner’s motives will prove as irreducibly complex as those of most of his predecessors in...
This week's message was entitled "Our International Anthem" and was taken from Psalm 96. You can listen to or download it HERE .
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/17351126 w=400&h=225] Gospel Coalition Q & A from Realityla on Vimeo .
David Wells, author of the indispensable No Place for Truth was interviewed for the most recent edition of Tabletalk Magazine . It is worth reading. The first question posed to Dr. Wells was, "Besides the Bible, what has been the most influential book you have read this past year?" Now, when a man...
So much for abortion being "safe, legal, and rare." My question for the pro-choicers, like the misinformed Planned Parenthood spokesperson featured on the news report, is why not be happy about this news? Isn't this simply a sign of women exercising their "reproductive rights"? During President...
Carl Trueman has an excellent piece over at Ref21 about being the frequent target of email criticisms. For me, the season also brought the usual Christmas accusation by email from somebody with time on their hands that I am a false teacher. Now, the world is full of people whom I regard as false...
"Worship is a memorial or remembrace of the saving acts of God on which the covenant relationship is based" - Hughes Oliphant Old, The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures , Vol. II, p. 232.
In October, Westminster Seminary hosted their annual Preaching Conference . The keynote speaker was Dr. Dennis Johnson of Westminster Seminary California. Dr. Johnson (B.A., Westmont College; M.Div. and Th.M., Westminster Theological Seminary; Ph.D., Fuller Theological Seminary) has taught at...
Mark Dever interviews New Testament scholar Bruce Winter concerning issues such as cultural contextualization in ministry, the importance of historical background for interpreting Scripture, and bad contemporary ideas of leadership. Check it out HERE . HT: Justin Taylor
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/18023976 w=400&h=225] Ask R.C. Live (Nov. 30, 2010) from Ligonier on Vimeo .
Dr. Darrel Falk is celebrating the impact of Biologos on the evangelical church. Indeed, he has declared the "dawning of a new day." At the same time he laments the continuing influence of men like Al Mohler and John MacArthur. Dr. Falk will understand, I trust, that there are many of us who do not...
So it's official. Tenth Presbyterian has a new Senior Minister. Liam Goligher was an excellent choice and I look forward to meeting him. My problem with the whole thing is that there will now be one more British accent on Sundays in the Philadelphia area. That means preachers like me are just going...
Ross Douthat has posted a thoughtful article on America's paradoxical attitude toward the unborn. "This is the paradox of America’s unborn. No life is so desperately sought after, so hungrily desired, so carefully nurtured. And yet no life is so legally unprotected, and so frequently destroyed." I...
The Pastoral Selection Committee of Tenth Presbyterian Church here in Philadelphia has put forward Liam Goligher to serve as the next Senior Ministier. To my mind, this is an excellent selection. Dr. Goligher is an outstanding preacher and writer. I have personally benefited from his ministry. His...
Derek Webb likes to stir it up every now and again. His favorite targets of disdain are those rascally conservative Christians. Recently he's made a few headlines by offering his troublingly thoughts on homosexuality. Along with his seeming agnosticism on that particular perversion, however, is an...
Sam Storms has posted his favorite books of 2010 HERE . On his list is one that could easily have made mine but I neglected to list it. It is Tom Schreiner's outstanding 40 Questions About Christians and Biblical Law . He also lists a volume that has been on my wish list for a while - God's...
The following are the books published in 2010 that I enjoyed most. I am limiting the list to those books from Christian publishing houses. The Heresy of Orthodoxy by Kostenberger & Kruger The authors carefully and effectively dismantle the arguments of Bart Ehrman and a generation of liberal...
From Michael Gerson writing in The Washington Post : Christmas has become a kind of alternative religion, offering watered-down versions of profound theological doctrines. Its miracles are found on 34th Street, not in Bethlehem. The visitation of Gabriel has become the visitation of Clarence,...
Carl Trueman calls attention to a very interesting article in The Spectator . Bruce Anderson, an atheist, makes some insightful claims about Christianity which suggest that he understands the Christian faith far more than theological liberals. Anderson writes: "We unbelievers are entitled to regard...
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/12425590 w=400&h=225] What is the Gospel? from Southern Seminary on Vimeo .
Writing for The New York Times , Nicholas Kristof once pointed to belief in the virgin birth of Jesus as evidence of that conservative Christians are a bit dim. There are even so-called evangelicals who cast doubt on the importance of belief in virgin birth (more correctly virgin conception) of...
Read about a woman who cannot experience fear.
So said Woody Allen as he sought to justify his sexual relationship with his step-daughter. In one sense it is easy to dismiss Allen's behavior as isolated albeit disgusting. But now David Espstein, a political scientist from Columbia University, has been charged with incest for carrying on a...
“That God would take human flesh, and that not of one of the great and the good but of a child born of apparently dubious parentage to a young woman scarcely more than a child herself, that he would be delivered in a stable - these are things that are an affront to us as human beings. That God...
Today's sermon was entitled "Born to Raise the Sons of Earth" and was taken from Matthew 1:18-25. You can listen to or download the sermon HERE .
The following video is of Princeton professors Robert George and Cornel West. It is an excellent discussion. Dr. George is perhaps the most formidable conservative intellectual in America while Dr. West is a well known man of the left. Their discussion is a model of respectful dialogue. Among the...
Ref21 has posted some excellent articles by Carl Trueman reflecting on the miracle of the incarnation. These three articles are well worth reading. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
On Sunday I concluded a series of messages through Hebrews. Part 50 was entitled "Benediction" and was taken from 13:20-25. You can listen to or download the sermon HERE .