Moore to the Point
By Russell D. Moore. Russell D. Moore serves as the teaching pastor at Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky. In addition, Dr. Moore is the Dean of the School of Theology and Senior Vice President for Academic Administration at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Find sermons and other resources to help Christians engage the culture from a biblical worldview at www.russellmoore.com.

Deep-Fried Coke?

— Thursday, October 12th, 2006 —

My former student Eric Schumacher, now a pastor in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, sent me this news report about the invention of “deep-fried Coca-Cola.” Pastor Schumacher asks: “Dr. Moore, you’re from the Deep South, do you eat this?”

I am from the Deep South. And everything I ever ate growing up was indeed deep-fried. But, by the time I was uprooted from Dixie nine years ago, we had not yet pioneered this technology. That is not to say that I’m not for it. I guess you could call it “synergy.”

I was embarrassed about my homeland’s reputation for the fatty side of life, but only for a few seconds. Then I remembered an anecdote from, of all things, the 2004 Democratic presidential primary season.

Why Jesus is More-and-Less Violent than Allah, Planned Parenthood, and Me: Mercy, Ministry, and the Kingdom of Christ

— Wednesday, October 11th, 2006 —

Name It. Claim It. Play It.

— Thursday, October 5th, 2006 —

The grinning face of Joel Osteen is a familiar face in the parachurch evangelical world these days, promising all of us our “best life now” via watching his affirming sermons and buying his even more affirming books, CDs, and mp3 downloads. But now his brand of prosperity gospel has reached a new level: the board game.

“Your Best Life Now: The Game,” according to its promotional material, “enables players to step beyond the one-on-one nature of the book and feel, touch, and live Joel’s 7 Steps To Living At Your Full Potential with your friends and family.” It is “an entertaining and educational way to take inventory of yourself and accountability of your actions.” The board game, with Osteen’s smiling face right there on the box, allows the player to “Enlarge Your Vision, Develop a Healthy Self Image, Discover the Power of your Thoughts and Words, Let Go of the Past, Find Strength Through Adversity, Live To Give, and Choose to Be Happy.”

George Will on Religion, Liberty, and the GOP

— Thursday, October 5th, 2006 —

Columnist George Will recollects the infamous line of a humorist after the 1936 Franklin D. Roosevelt landslide: “If the outcome of this election hasn’t taught you Republicans not to meddle in politics, I don’t know what will.” Will argues that the Mark Foley scandal indicates a deep breach in the Republican political alliance between the western and southern wings of the Party.

Will writes:

“The former is largely libertarian, holding that pruning big government will allow civil society — and virtues nourished by it and by the responsibilities of freedom — to flourish. The Southern, essentially religious, strand of conservatism is explained by Ryan Sager in his new book, The Elephant in the Room: Evangelicals, Libertarians, and the Battle to Control the Republican Party:

Evangelical Code Words?

— Thursday, October 5th, 2006 —

It should be no surprise that President Bush prompted controversy with his (unfortunate, I think) comment that the violence in Iraq will be seen to be “just a comma” in the global war on terror. What is surprising is that some critics see the comment as “code language” designed to appeal to evangelical Christians.

The Washington Post reports:

“Critics of Bush began e-mailing and blogging about the remark within minutes of the CNN interview. The Carpetbagger Report blog called it stunning ‘even by Bush’s already-low standards’ and added: ‘Everything we’re seeing is “just a comma.” I’m sure that will bring comfort to the families of those who have sacrificed so much for Bush’s mistakes.’

“Then Ian Welsh, on his Agonist blog, postulated a theory about the hidden meaning of the comment, citing the ‘never put a period’ saying and calling it a ‘dog whistle’ comment that only some would understand: ‘He is constantly littering his speeches with code words and phrases meant for the religious right. Other people don’t hear them, but they do, and most of the time it allows Bush both to say what those who aren’t evangelical or born again want to hear, while still reassuring the religious right [what it] wants to hear.’”

Ms. Behavior

— Thursday, October 5th, 2006 —

Ms. magazine is unveiling next week its new fall cover story: “We Had Abortions,” a declaration signed by 5,000 women who are unapologetic for the abortions they had.

According to MSNBC, some of these women are famous, such as Ms. founder Gloria Steinem, but most are not. MSNBC quotes signatory Tyffine Jones of Jackson, Mississippi, who remains proud of her decision to abort her child ten years ago.

Revolt Against the Frat Boy Patriarchy

— Thursday, October 5th, 2006 —

Columnist Terry Mattingly looks at the state of women on contemporary college and university campuses. Mattingly writes:

“They are the campus rebels, the young women who refuse to play by the rules laid down by a male-dominated culture.

“They wish that more young men would focus on their minds and souls, instead of their bodies. They are tired of crude social games that serve the desires of men rather than the dreams of young women.

“They are rebels, the religious women who struggle with the frat-boy patriarchy that rules the modern university campus on nights and weekends.”