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Wayne Grudem Interview: “Politics According to the Bible”

I recently stumbled on an interesting interview with Wayne Grudem, the author of Politics According to the Bible. Grudem sketches five common mistakes that Christians can make in their posture toward government and politics. The antidote, says Grudem, is growing to understand how the gospel can (and should) change our political sentiments. 

The full interview with Wayne Grudem was originally published by the Acton Institute’s periodical Religion & Liberty. Here’s an excerpt that made me excited:

The gospel, when it is truly proclaimed, will result in changed lives. And I think Jesus wants us to have changed marriages and changed ideas of parenting and changed schools and changed neighborhoods and changed businesses and workplaces, and certainly, that would include changed governments as well.

I think that pastors have an obligation to explain to their congregations how biblical teachings impact the government. In addition to that, there are many passages in the Bible that talk about God’s purpose for government. Another answer to this view that says we should do evangelism and not politics is that it fails to understand the great influence that Christians have had on governments since the early history of the Church. Early in the Roman Empire, it was Christian influence that led to outlawing infanticide, child abandonment and abortion in the Roman Empire. Christian influence led to outlawing the gladiatorial contests in 404 A.D. Christian influence led to granting property rights and other protections to women at various times through history…

 

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While I’m all for pastors preaching on values that could affect our voting decisions — for example, “What is a fair wage?”  — I’m unsettled by the idea of pastors regularly giving their congregations specific voting instructions. In my experience, this situation often carries a subtext that there’s only one valid Christian way to vote. I believe our voting decisions today are only rarely as clear-cut as when Christians in ancient Rome influenced the outlawing of infanticide.

But what do you think? Should churches discuss voting decisions from the pulpit, or is that something better left among friends?

Has your church become involved in political projects? And when conflict over politics erupts, how has your church handled it? I’d love to hear your comments.

(-Adam Forrest, Zondervan Internet Team)


About Wayne Grudem
Wayne Grudem is Research Professor of Theology and Biblical Studies at Phoenix Seminary in Phoenix, Arizona. He holds degrees from Harvard (BA), Westminster Seminary (MDiv), and Cambridge (PhD). He is the author of over fifteen books including the bestselling Systematic Theology and the related Making Sense Of… series.

 

 

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Blog Tour: “Thunder of Heaven” by Tim LaHaye, Craig Parshall

 

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We’re giving away 40 copies of Thunder of Heaven to bloggers for review! Sign up below, and if your blog is selected we’ll ship a copy of the book to you.

Written by Tim LaHaye and Craig Parshall, Thunder of Heaven: The End Series, Vol. 2 is an epic thrill ride ripped from the headlines of today and filtered through Scriptural prophecy. As world events begin to set the stage for the “end of days” foretold in Revelation, Joshua Jordan must weigh the personal price he must pay to save the nation he loves. (Thunder of Heaven is the brand new sequel to Edge of Apocalypse: The End Series, Vol. 1.)

 

Sign Up for the Thunder of Heaven Blog Tour

  1. Fill out the form below by Sunday, July 3. If your blog is selected, we’ll ship a copy of Thunder of Heaven to you.
  2. Post your review on your blog during the week of August 8. Then link to your review in a comment here on Zondervan Blog, because we’d like to hear your thoughts on the story!
  3. Post your review on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or your favorite book retailer’s website.
  4. Please mention in your review that Zondervan provided you with the book free of charge, for the purpose of review.

 

 (DON’T SEE A SIGNUP FORM? Go here.)

 

Learn more about Thunder of Heaven
Read the first chapters on Scribd
Find Colonel Jordan on Facebook

 

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Interview: Looking Behind “Veneer” with Author Tim Willard

 

Sometimes we know we’re hiding behind a false front, or “veneer.” Are there other ways we hide and don’t even know it? How do our false fronts make us less free, and what’s the solution? These questions and more are answered by Tim Willard, co-author (with Jason Locy) of Veneer: Living Deeply in a Surface Society, in this interview with Dan King on The High Calling (TheHighCalling.org).

 

Watch the full interview or click the links below to view highlights on YouTube.

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Highlights from the Interview
Why do we put on a false veneer?
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How do we deal with the core issues that make us hide? Watch Now

What is God’s role in stripping us of veneer? Watch Now

What about you?
Where or when are you most tempted to hide behind veneer?

About the authors: Tim Willard and Jason Locy
Timothy D. Willard has written for publications and organizations such as Catalyst, WinShape Foundation, The Prison Entrepreneurship Program, and Invisible Ink. He is also pursuing an MA in Christian Thought at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He lives with his wife and their daughter, Lyric.

R. Jason Locy is the Creative Director of FiveStone, a multi-disciplinary design studio whose client list includes MTV, Chick-fil-A, Q, and Catalyst, and has won multiple awards for his work. He has also written articles for Catalyst and the Q blog. He lives with his wife and three children.

Learn more about becoming unveneered at endveneer.com.

 

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Celebrating Our Single Fathers and Stepfathers by Tammy Daughtry

 

Guest post by Tammy Daughtry, founder of Co-Parenting International. Her new book, Co-Parenting Works! Helping Your Children Thrive After Divorce, is available now.

 

Many of us have grown up with a single father and/or a stepfather. I want to celebrate the important role these men have in the lives of children and to give a standing ovation to the men who stay in the game, year after year, and bring love and stability to the story of a child.

 

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One father I want to celebrate is my stepdad, John. When I was three my mom remarried and I enjoyed five years of love and laughter with John. We would watch TV together, play in the back yard, go to the local high school and play “crazy eights” at the basketball hoops and every Saturday he would cook me breakfast. My favorite breakfast always included extra, extra crispy bacon! He was a rock in my life and an anchor to my childhood. He believed in me and treated me like I was his own. He never tried to replace my dad, but he was another strong person to love me. Almost forty years later I am still being blessed by the role John plays in my life as my stepfather.

 

Another father I want to salute is the single father. There are single fathers across our country that have either lost a spouse in death or had their former wife walk out and leave them with the children. We don’t hear much good news about “great” single fathers and I want to lift them up and celebrate them! Imagine the tragedy of losing a beloved wife of twenty one years and to be suddenly faced with raising three children alone. Imagine the frustration of wanting to make a Christian marriage work but having no way to control the wife who walks out and refused to return, leaving not only a disillusioned husband but two beautiful brokenhearted young daughters.

 

I know many godly, stable, reliable, healthy single fathers who are raising well-adjusted and amazing kids. Single fathers and stepfathers are many times the unsung heroes in the life of a child. They are often over looked or unnoticed in our large bustling churches.

 

This father’s day I urge you to encourage and affirm the single fathers and stepfathers in your area of influence; remind them that their role is vital and important. Thank them for loving the children that God has placed in their care.

 

Can you share with us a celebration story of an amazing single father or a stepfather that has touched your life?

 

In what ways do you see single fathers and their families suffering from issues of isolation?

 

What ideas do you have to help a single-father family?

 

About Tammy Daughtry
Tammy DaughtryTammy Daughtry, The Co-Parenting Coach, is the founder of Co-Parenting International (coparentinginternational.com), an organization dedicated to addressing the critical impact of co-parenting on children of divorce. She holds a masters degree in Marriage and Family Therapy and has over 10 years’ experience in co-parenting. She currently lives with her husband, Jay, in Nashville, Tennessee. Together, they’re raising a blended family that includes four children and one rambunctious black lab.


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Quiz: Am I a Christian Atheist?

 

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The title of The Christian Atheist may sound like an oxymoron, but I think author/pastor Craig Groeschel is on to something. He defines Christian Atheist as “someone who believes in God but acts as if he doesn’t exist.”

The Christian Atheist inspired me to create the quiz below. Take it find out if you believe in God but act like he doesn’t exist. 

 

 

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After you take the quiz I’d love to hear your thoughts. Do you find the term Christian Atheist helpful? Surprising? Offensive? Other?
(-Adam Forrest, Zondervan)


 

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Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, by Alison Strobel

 

In this guest post, novelist Alison Strobel explores the mystery of how our bodies and beliefs affect each other. This theme appears in Alison's latest novel, The Heart of Memory, which also examines the difference between emotional faith and life-giving truth. Read more from Alison on emotion and truth in her guest post …And Therein Lies the Truth.

 

About ten years ago, back before I'd even finished writing my first novel, I read an article in People Magazine that made me think, "Now there’s an idea for a book!" It talked about organ transplant recipients who began experiencing strange changes in personal taste (food, music, etc.) and memories of things they knew they'd never actually experienced. One man developed a sudden appreciation for the violin. Another, a craving for beer and chicken wings when she'd never liked either one. Still another found himself moved to tears by a recording artist whose music he'd never liked before. One kept having dreams of blinding lights swinging into his vision, accompanied by a feeling of intense fear.

 

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Through some detective work they each managed to contact their donors' families—and discovered these new memories and preferences actually came from the donors themselves. One had been a violinist who actually died clutching his instrument. One had been a biker with a steady diet of—you guessed it—beer and chicken wings. One had been a huge fan of the singer Sade. And the dream of blinding lights? They were likely the last thing the donor had seen before a car collided head-on with his in the middle of the night.

 

When the time came to start my research, I feared I wouldn't find anything else about this phenomenon, because I'd never read of anything else like it outside of that one article. As it turns out, there is very little written on the subject—in fact, much of the medical world dismisses such experiences as bunk. But then I read a book called The Heart's Code. The author, psychologist Paul Pearsall, kicks off the book talking about his own heart attack—and all the signs his body tried to give him beforehand that something was dreadfully wrong. He didn't heed the signs, and it nearly killed him. He posits in his book that our body has more 'intelligence' than we give it credit for, and shares research that supports his theory.

 

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Jonathan Friesen Hosts “The Last Martin” Writing Contest for Young Adults

 

Author Jonathan Friesen loves to help young adults share their stories with the world. Find out why in this guest post, and learn how young writers can enter “The Last Martin” Writing Contest, open through June 1, 2011.

 

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One of the benefits of writing books for young people is that you get to visit schools. Lots of them. Elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, home schools—I love them all. And when I release a new book, it gets even better. Take this last month; I’ve been able to travel across North America talking about The Last Martin, the funniest, most intriguing middle grade book you’ll find. (If I do say so myself!)

 

But I digress! I was talking about visiting schools. When I do, I often ask, “How many of you like to write?” What do you think they say?

 

In elementary school? Most. By middle school, fewer than half tell me they enjoy it. When I ask a room filled with high schoolers, only two or three hands shoot up.

 

I think tha’s sad. Where does all this writing passion go? I have my ideas. (I’m putting on my teacher hat.) I think we teach writing like we teach math. “This is right. This is wrong. This is how you do it.” That’s what we say. When really, writing is an art, like painting. Adults never look at kids’ watercolor creations and say, “This splotch of yellow is all wrong!” Nope, they hang them on their refrigerators.

 

Why tell you all this? I can’t bear to see passionate writers lose their desire. God gives us each stories. Only we can tell them. If kids lose their willingness to share these precious tales, the world loses. We all lose.

 

It’s important to me that kids pass on their own sacred stories. It really matters. That’s why I spend time investing in young writers who still want to share their gift with the world.

 

And it’s why I’m so thrilled Zondervan is holding a writing contest in conjunction with the release of The Last Martin. Few activities kindle writing flames like contests, and this one is more than special.

 

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…And Therein Lies the Truth, by Alison Strobel

 

In this guest post, novelist Alison Strobel discusses her latest book The Heart of Memory and how it explores the difference between emotional faith and life-giving truth. Also, don't miss the Heart of Memory eBook Giveaway. Through May 2, you can download the eBook free wherever eBooks are sold.

 

One of the themes of my latest novel, The Heart of Memory, is that of the nature of truth. In this postmodern age, truth has been discussed to death—is there absolute truth, can we really know truth, what is truth in the first place? One of the most damaging realities that has arisen from this discussion is the emphasis some people place on emotion as an indicator of truth, especially as it relates to faith and religious belief. Nowadays there are some who teach that if a particular truth hurts your feelings, or doesn't feel right, or seems unfair, then it must not be true. But is this—well—the truth?

 

Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that the heart is deceitful above all things. We can all think of a time when our feelings led us down wrong, even destructive, paths, or when our emotions did not support the idea of doing what we knew was right. Relationships that are formed on nothing but feelings will crumble beneath the weight of discord or tragedy. And a faith that is contingent on feeling God's presence is a faith without the foundation of Scripture, and is likely to dissolve in the face of persecution or doubt.

 

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In The Heart of Memory, the main character, Savannah, finds her faith disappearing. Instead of returning to the unchanging Word of God, she allows her emotions—inexplicable as they are—to guide her. Sadly, this doesn't only happen in novels. I'm sure we can all think of someone (maybe even ourselves) who has turned their back on God because they let their emotions determine what was true. A life lived that way—ruled by feelings and not by truth—will always come to ruin eventually. Savannah was saved from the natural consequences of her emotions by a friend who cared enough to say, "Hey, I think you’re making a mistake." Do we have it in us to be that friend when we see someone making the same poor choice? Or do our own feelings—of fear, of pride, of embarrassment—keep us silent?

 

If you decide to give The Heart of Memory a try, I hope its examination of the true nature of truth will be an encouragement to you as you navigate your own faith. I know God gives me these stories for a reason—perhaps your own life is why The Heart of Memory was written.

 

Download the Heart of Memory eBook FREE through May 2
Download it from Christianbook.com, Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, Sony.com, or anywhere else eBooks are sold. This is a limited time offer, so download it now!

 

 

About Alison Strobel
Alison Strobel

Alison Strobel writes novels that explore life, love and faith. She lives in Colorado with her husband and two daughters. Visit her at www.AlisonStrobel.com.

 


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Easter Story: Spy Wednesday

Listen to the fourth part of the Easter Story Blog Series. 

 

On Spy Wednesday …
"What Will You Give Me For Him?"…

 

Listen to the Story

Listen to the Story

-Audio from The Bible Experience

 

Read Along (Matthew 26:1-16)

When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, "As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified."

 

Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and they plotted to arrest Jesus in some sly way and kill him. "But not during the festival," they said, "or there may be a riot among the people."

 

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A Civil War Story: Karl Bacon on Writing “An Eye for Glory”

 

Guest post by Karl Bacon, whose first novel An Eye for Glory: The Civil War Chronicles of a Citizen Soldier just hit stores. In this post Bacon discusses his goals for writing Civil War fiction, how he immersed himself into the mindset of his characters, and the realities of being a "pantser"…

 

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." -Philippians 4:6

 

Pantser, noun; A writer who depends less on planning than on instinct and inspiration; one who doesn't know the story they're going to write until the storty starts happening.

I first heard the term "pantser" a couple of years ago and immediately thought, "Hey, that's me, a seat-of-the-pants writer." When I began writing An Eye for Glory, I was employed by a Swiss machine tool company in the development of some fairly sophisticated metalworking applications, mostly for the medical and electronic fields. I never gave a thought to becoming a writer, and never studied writing, except for those boring required courses in college, but I believed the Lord was leading me to tell the story of Michael Gabriel Palmer. I began to write in 1998, never thinking a published novel would be the end result, and from word one, I set three goals for the story:
(1) Honor the Lord Jesus Christ
(2) Honor those who served by getting the history right
(3) Write the best piece of literature I possibly could.

 

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It took ten years to complete the story. Research rabbit trails often took days or weeks to resolve. I read extensively about the history of the Connecticut regiment Michael Palmer would enlist in. I read about every battle in the story and visited each battlefield at least twice. How did the battle play out over this land? I tried to find the exact spot where Michael would have been. What would he have seen and heard and done? Sometimes I just sat still, soaking up the atmosphere of the place, so I might better bring that atmosphere to life on the page.

 

When it came to the actual writing, I essentially began to tell Michael Palmer's story as I thought he would have written it. I experimented with first person and third person points of view, and quickly settled on first person, because Michael's story is an intensely personal one, a man writing to his grown children twenty years after the events occurred. I read diaries of soldiers from the war, as much for the historical content as for the use of language, from which I developed Michael's manner of writing and speaking.

 

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