The Gospel of Roman Catholicism

IS THE REFORMATION REALLY OVER? The Gospel of Roman Catholicism In their 2005 book of the same title, Christian historians Mark Noll and Carolyn Nystrom posed the question “Is the Reformation over?” While acknowledging that doctrinal and practical differences between Catholics and evangelicals remain, they concluded that when it comes to the matter of justification by faith “…many Catholics and evangelicals now believe approximately the same thing.” Eleven years earlier, it was essentially this same conclusion that served as the fundamental premise of the 1994 ecumenical document “Evangelical and Catholics Together”: We affirm together that we are justified by grace

Read more

Deep and Wide: A book review by Gary Gilley

BOOK REVIEW: Deep and Wide, by Andy Stanley (reviewed by Gary Gilley) Initial comments below by Dave James, followed by the full book review by Gary Gilley: Only occasionally one runs across an article that could be considered a “must-read”—and even less frequently, a book review that would fall into the same category. However, this particular book review by Gary Gilley really is a must-read because it deals with an issue that is broadly affecting the church in America. It is concise, insightful, relevant—and important to the on-going discussion of what it means to “do church” in a way that is

Read more

Saddleback’s Health and Fitness Seminar: An Eyewitness Account

A few days ago, I posted an article by Jan Markell (Olive Tree Ministries) concerning Rick Warren’s newest initiative—a health and fitness seminar featuring three doctors representing three very different worldviews – Dr. Oz (a Muslim), Dr. Hymen (a Jew) and Dr. Amen (a Christian). As a follow-up, I am posting this article by Jennifer Pekich (Ponderings from Patmos blog), who personally attended the event on January 15, 2011. This is a well-written, well-researched and very important article that has been picked up and re-posted on  many discernment and apologetics blogs across the internet. I want to extend my personal

Read more

Rick Warren’s Controversial New Initiative

Rick Warren has been broadly criticized for both his alliances and his projects. His latest initiative, launched on January 15 at Saddleback, is almost certain to attract similar attention – not so much because of the issue itself, but because of those who are partnering with him. Jan Markell, over at Olive Tree Ministries, discusses this issue in her latest article which is featured in this edition of the ABI Blog. I hope you will take a few moments to read this important piece. (This article is reproduced by permission of the author.) __________________________ by Jan Markell What on earth

Read more

Glenn Beck’s “Black-Robed Regiment”

Should we be concerned about Glenn Beck’s 8/28 “Restoring Honor” rally in Washington? I have watched Glenn Beck almost every day since he has been in the 5 o’clock slot on the FoxNews channel and I agree with virtually everything that he says about the fact that we have been witnessing the decline of the principles and values upon which this country was founded. I tend to agree with much of his analysis as to why and how this has happened. I also agree that returning the Constitution to its rightful place in the legislative and judicial realms of government,

Read more

Manhattan Declaration: Conclusions

(An article combining this post and the previous one on the Manhattan Declaration is available in downloadable and printable PDF, 2-column article format: Click here to download) This is the third and final post in a series concerning the Manhattan Declaration. I would encourage you to read the first two posts so you will have the context for understanding my final conclusions. Please take a moment to complete the ABI Manhattan Declaration Survey . . . The Nature of the Manhattan Declaration The Manhattan Declaration addresses issues that are a part of the current public debate and symptomatic of the

Read more

Manhattan Declaration: A Response – Part I

(An article combining this post and the previous one on the Manhattan Declaration is available in downloadable and printable PDF, 2-column article format: Click here to download) . A week ago today, the Manhattan Declaration was released by Chuck Colson and almost 150 other signers at the National Press Conference. Since then there have been countless blogs and articles written about the 4700-word document and the response has been quite mixed. Predictably, it has been denounced by liberals of all stripes who support the LGBT agenda and who advocate “a woman’s right to choose.” But neither has it been received

Read more