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Wednesday, 3 June 2020
Good morning.
It's been a challenging week for millions of Americans. Just here in Atlanta—historical bulwark of the Civil Rights Movement—there have been five nights of protests against racism, with marches, curfews, skirmishes, tear gas, anger, sadness, talking, listening, and tears. How much change will be effected, who can say? Racially speaking, the country has certainly made progress since the 1950s and '60s—but we have far to go. Reconciliation is problematic when injustice is ongoing. If you live outside the United States, please keep this country in your prayers.
Amidst this difficult time, for us a bright spot this last week was joining in an Edinburgh marrieds fellowship (online). It's great to get to know the group ahead of our relocation to the U.K. Scotland is just starting to open up for business, so now it seems in late July or August we should be able to make the move. Apart from the upcoming transition, the ministry is stable (teaching, preaching, writing, training, correspondence).
In this week's edition, you'll find:
The 4th and final part of our Creation Care series
Part II of my extensive baptism debate with Baptist scholar Thomas Ross
Next week: An assessment of Messianic Judaism (the Christian movement that encourages believers to live out the Torah, and sees modern Israel as integrally connected with God's prophetic purposes).
What About Global Warming?, by John Clayton
In this final installment in our Creation Care series, science teacher / apologist and my friend (for 35 years) John Clayton writes compellingly.
Because we live in a time when virtually all of our information comes from news sources that have an agenda, it is hard for anyone who is not a part of the media to know what is real and what is not. This is not just true of political news, but also true of religious news and in matters related to faith and doctrinal issues. There is no area related to science and faith where we see this better than in the case of global warming.
We have politicians who maintain there is no such thing as global warming. We have religious groups maintaining that global warming is an attack on religion. We have ecological alarmists who claim that global warming is about to eradicate life on this planet, and creationist groups who maintain that global warming is just an evil scientific attack on the Bible to justify evolutionary theory.
(Although all 4.5 hours of the baptism debate are now posted at YouTube, the debate on Eternal Security is still being processed. We will let you know once it's ready.)
Origins, with Paul Copan
(Adapted from Amazon.com)
Origins: The Ancient Impact and Modern Implications of Genesis 1-11 turns much of what we learned in Sunday School on its head, in a revealing comparison of the Genesis narrative to the competing pagan narrative of the day. Relatively few Bible readers are familiar with the world of the ancient Near East, centered in Mesopotamia and its most prominent city, Babylon.
Origins surprises and amazes all seekers, new believers, and veterans of Scripture alike as it devastates the polytheistic, pagan worldview—and proclaims the true God. Order HERE.
Until next week...
On Friday we're launching a short series (online) for campus ministries in the Dallas area, on The Old Testament God: Loving Deity or Cosmic Bully? Then on Tuesday I address Dallas church ministers on the topic of Messianic Judaism—actually, not virtually. (I'm getting used to flying with a mask. Zoom is good, but face-to-face teaching is better.)
Next week I'm preaching for the "Sunday" (Friday) service of a church in Dhaka (online)—in Muslim Bangladesh. Friday is the day of worship for 150 million Muslims in this country. And later this month: an intensive course in Apologetics. (I teach one course a year in the M.A. program for LincolnChristianUniversity.) There's much work to be done, and I solicit your prayers.
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Wednesday, 3 June 2020
and in matters related to faith and doctrinal issues. There is no area related to science and faith where we see this better than in the case of global warming.
To watch the May 9th debate between Baptist scholar Thomas Ross and me on whether the new birth occurs before baptism or in baptism:
of the Genesis narrative to the competing pagan narrative of the day. Relatively few Bible readers are familiar with the world of the ancient Near East, centered in Mesopotamia and its most prominent city, Babylon. 
