Gospel.com Blog

Unless you’re living on Mars, every day you’re faced with ideas and philosophies—both subtle and obvious—that are contrary to the Christian worldview.

So, how do you maintain a Godly perspective throughout the day?

Ravi Zacharias International Ministries answers the question as it relates to college students in the video below:

Watch other RZIM videos at their video teaching page.

What do you think?

What is poverty? What does it mean to live in poverty—who does it affect? Is poverty “just” a lack of money, or is it something bigger (and harder to solve)? Is American poverty different than poverty in other parts of the world? And what are Christians called to do in response?

Several prominent urban ministry leaders have put together a short series of videos that explore the difficult question of poverty. Here’s the first video, which asks the question What is poverty?

UrbanMinistry.org links to several other videos in the series. They’ll challenge your understanding of what poverty is and how Christians ought to respond to it!

It’s here at last—election day, the culmination of years of campaigning and political debate in the U.S. Whether you were first in line at the ballot box this morning or are still trying to figure out which candidate is the proverbial lesser of two evils, here are a few links from around the Gospel.com community to help you put the political craziness into spiritual perspective:

• GetReligion is the go-to blog for discussion of religion’s intersection with the media and society. They’re busy blogging about the election as it unfolds today, and you can be sure they’ll be analyzing the results over the next few weeks. If you want to learn how religion (and Christianity in particular) are being handled by the media, this is the place to start.
• James Watkins has written quite a bit about the political race—but without the partisan rancor that motivates so many bloggers and pundits. Take a look at his Election 2008 page for his insights into understand the relationship between faith and politics. His blog has lots of good election commentary, too.
• We’ve heard a lot about the “culture war” over the last few years—but is there a better way for Christians to influence culture? Delve Into Jesus challenges Christians to rethink the “culture war” mentality and instead model themselves on the early church.

So go out and vote—and as you do, pray that your grace and thoughtfulness will reflect Christ to the angry, hyper-politicized culture around us.

Election.

Could there be a more contentious word for the American follower of Christ? There are political elections. Elections in which voices from every side of the aisle will sputter about how Jesus would vote. And there is the matter of spiritual election in which one is predetermined to be heaven-bound or not.

Two issues that, in my opinion, should elicit a very similar response: prayer, Bible reading, a healthy understanding of the grace we are given and urged to give by Christ, and humility.

Prayer because—let’s be honest—without God’s guidance, we are left to our own wisdom, which is a terrible position to be in.

Bible reading because each of these ideas are complicated. Everybody needs to determine for themselves how to vote and what to believe, and appealing to the sourcebook of knowledge is a great place to begin.

Grace because chances are if you have or have had acquaintances, friends or family in your life you know what it is like to disagree with someone. Who hasn’t understand why a loved one would believe something? Who hasn’t been on the receiving end of that bewilderment?

Humility because as history has shown us there’s a lot of ways to make a fool of ourselves. Better to know one’s position in God’s kingdom than to be pompously prideful.

Plenty of people will enumerate reasons about who you should vote for, but we’d urge you to enter into the voting booth with a discerning heart and the knowledge that your true allegiance is not to a government but to God.

We’re talking about culture this week, and thinking about one of the most basic and important questions that Christians ask today: how do we engage and challenge our culture with the Gospel of Christ? Society around us is saturated with false and destructive ideas, memes, and values; how do Christians bring the Gospel message to bear in such an environment? (more…)

Is it possible to have a discussion about serious moral and political topics without it devolving into a partisan shouting match? Writer and blogger James Watkins has been seeking the Holy Grail of serious-but-civil dialogue for years through his columns, speaking engagements, and blogging.

Watkins’ daily blog talks about just about everything you can imagine, from the humorous to the deadly serious. But rather than shouting angry opinions from a soapbox, he prefers to step back and weigh both sides of any given debate, always from a Christian point of view. And he usually finds a way to inject some good-natured humor into even the most divisive topics. For some examples, see his posts on the same-sex marriage controversy, the US presidential race, and the Jeremiah Wright controversy. He also contributes to our own ThinkChristian blog, which explores the intersection of faith and culture.

So if you’re a bit tired of the Culture War and the bitter debates it sparks even between Christians, take a look at what Watkins is saying—it might prompt you to look at the Big Issues of the day from a more balanced, and even Christlike, perspective!

Jonalyn Grace Fincher, the author of Ruby Slippers, reacts to the recently released statistic that 1 in 4 teenage girls have an STD:

There is a discouraging, though not altogether unsurprising, statistic making headlines. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that 1 in 4 teenage girls have a sexually transmitted disease (STD). The New York Times covers the findings, “Sex Infections Found in Quarter of Teenage Girls”. My thoughts kicked into high gear when I heard that. What are my friends and sister’s friends going to be inheriting in the coming years? Infertility will continue to rise as infections from disease destroy the fine-tuned fertility micro-climate in a woman’s body.

…

But I suppose the thing that bothers me the most is that STDs are infiltrating the core of a woman’s body, targeting her capacities for vulnerability in the future. You know how hard it is to raise your voice when you have a sore, inflamed throat? Or to laugh a deep, vulnerable belly guffaw when you have a cough? Well, that’s a taste of how hard it will be for these young women to be vulnerable in intimacy when the sensitive parts of her body, her reproductive capacities, her sexual pleasure and recreation has been damaged, ravaged by disease, inflamed from infection. The physical pain is just a small slice of the problem. I haven’t even touched on the psychological aspects of sex without the safety and freedom of marriage…

Vulnerability means we have places that can be touched, wounded or pleased. As I’ve written in Ruby Slippers, “Vulnerability requires that we have places that are tender, places we can be affected, touched and even destroyed. A sparrow is more vulnerable than a rock. But because a sparrow is alive, it whistles, and soars, even though it can also be caught by a cat and clawed to death.” (p 112).

You can read more of her thoughts at her blog.

Has Christianity lost the “culture war”? Our society’s moral values have been on a steady decline for decades, and despite our best efforts, Christians seem unable to stem the tide. If Christians are losing the war of ideas, maybe it’s time for a new battle plan. A reflection from the Delve Into Jesus ministry suggests a better way to win back the hearts and minds of our culture–by following the example of the early Christians, who conquered the mighty Roman empire with their faith and ideas.

What does it mean to be human? It might sound like a cliched question from a Philosophy 101 class, but it’s an important one–how can we make moral decisions about life, death, and ethics if we can’t define exactly what it means to be a human being? The philosophy of “humanism” has taken widespread root in our culture–but do we know what that means?

These are the questions asked by apologist Ravi Zacharias in a moving and insightful talk about his new book The Grand Weaver. Listen to his talk in MP3 or RealMedia. If you couldn’t explain what it means to be human, or what your purpose in life is, Ravi’s talk will give you plenty to think about.

James Watkins turns ten today! Well, James isn’t turning ten, but his website, JamesWatkins.com, is celebrating its tenth straight year of publishing Jim’s often amusing, always insightful commentary. This week, he’s talking about the latest news and cultural developments–he offers his thoughts on the Imus scandal, on the roots of the violence currently plaguing Iraq, and the Duke Lacrosse team controversy. If you’re not acquainted with Jim’s unique take on current events, stop by and see what he has to say!