Together for the Gospel '08

Registration for T4G is open until March 21, 2008, or until the conference sells out (T4G sold out early in 2006!). Register today!

Tuesday April 15 - Thursday April 17, 2008

Kentucky International Convention Center, Louisville, KY

John Piper
How the Supremacy of Christ Creates Radical Christian Sacrifice

Thabiti Anyabwile

Bearing the Image: Identity, the Work of Christ and the Church

John MacArthur

The Sinner Neither Able Nor Willing: The Doctrine of Absolute Inability

Ligon Duncan
Sound Doctrine - Essential to Faithful Pastoral Ministry: A Joyful Defense and Declaration of the Necessity and Practicality of Systematic Theology for the Life of the Church

Mark Dever
Improving the Gospel: Exercises in Unbiblical Theology

RC Sproul
The Curse Motif of the Atonement

Albert Mohler
Why Do They Hate It So? The Doctrine of Substitution

CJ Mahaney
Sustaining a Pastor's Soul

View video clips of the 2006 conference here: www.t4g.org/promo

One of Clinton's radical positions exposed during rally

During a Clintonian rally in Steubenville, Ohio yesterday, a member of the crowd exposed to others in attendance one of the outrageous positions of the Clintons -- namely, their position on abortion. (See video below.)

In his hubris, former President Bill Clinton actually felt justified as he tried to defend his untenable and outrageously immoral position of supporting the legal murder of babies by making it about a "woman's right to choose." What is the mother choosing? Isn't the choice between allowing her baby to live, or killing her child? Also, why would we extend as a right, the right to murder another human being? Is it because they are at a certain age of development? We don't extend to people the right to murder an adult, or an adolescent, or an infant. Why would we make it legally permissable for people to kill a human being just because they in their pre-born stage of development? Maybe they feel that human worth is determined by location? Is a human more valuable if he or she lives in Washington D.C. versus the Midwest? Does a child lose its status as a human being when it leaves the arms of its parents? If not, then why does it lose its status as a human being when it is located inside the mother’s uterus?

Finally, Clinton boasts that abortion rates went down during his administration. As you can see in the following video, he seems proud of this fact. It’s like he said that murder rates in the country went down during his term in office. Why would he be proud of this fact? Why would it matter if abortion rates go down? By boasting of a decline in the rate of abortion isn't he thereby implying that the act of abortion is not a good thing? Bill, what is wrong with abortion? Aren’t we just talking about a "blob of tissue" here? Or are we talking about more than simply a blob of tissue? Kind of like you and me are more than simply respective blobs of tissue, Bill.

Here's the video.



By his two appointments to the Supreme Court as president, he did more than anyone to insure that all forms of abortion remains legal in this country.

Watch this video, which explains what is involved with the “procedure” known as partial birth abortion. (WARNING: While this video does not show an actual partial-birth abortion, it is demonstrably graphic and will hopefully make you righteously indignant and responsive to this injustice plaguing our country.)

Bridging the Great Divide

It has always been a challenge for the learned men who seek to educate and inspire to not lose the ability to communicate with the common man. In this piece, James Emery White explains how there is a real dearth of leaders in the church today who are first academically competent in knowing the deep truths of Scripture, and second, able to conveys these truths to the masses in a simpler form while still maintaining their accuracy.

Just Say Yes to iPS!

From frc.org:

Clearing a huge hurdle on the road to embryo-free stem cell treatments, Professor Shinya Yamanaka announced yesterday that his team has found a way to grow induced pluripotent cells (iPS) without triggering tumors. Since Yamanaka first went public with his iPS research in December, the scientific community has been largely supportive of his work because of its promise both medically and morally. Sadly, some of the remaining holdouts for embryonic stem cell (ESC) research have used the threat of tumors to downplay his progress. However, Yamanaka's team took a gigantic leap forward in silencing critics with the news that he has successfully avoided this problem for six months in the mice that he is currently treating with iPS cells. Although the research is still years away from treating humans, we continue to be encouraged at the steady advances Yamanaka's work is making both in people's understanding of ethical alternatives to ESC and in treating disease.

New Movie On Intelligent Design: Expelled

Ben Stein (that teacher in Ferris Bueller's Day Off…“Bueller?…Bueller?") is coming out this month with a controversial new film about intelligent design. It's called, Expelled - No Intelligence Allowed. Here's a couple trailers:

Teaser (1:19)



Super Trailer (7:41)

Warning to Conservatives: don't boo McCain

Politico's report today on the annual CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference):

During registration last night at the Omni Shoreham a registrant was asking to upgrade his CPAC package and then proceeded to ask what time GOP front-runner John McCain was going to speak today. “Oh good,” he said to the response -- answer: 3 p.m. today-- “I hope they boo him out of the room.”

“No, no no no no” came the reply from the person registering him. “We’ve been instructed to tell participants not to boo McCain.”

“Are you kidding me?” the shocked CPAC-goer asked.

Another Romney endorsement

Fellow Christian pundit and tennis star, David Wheaton, just emailed me this morning and told me I can add his name to the list of those who endorse Romney. Glad to do it.

He also invited my readers to listen to his most recent show in which he had on fellow Romney-backers Hugh Hewitt and Dr. Wayne Grudem. Click here to listen to his show.

1st segment (~12 min.): Why Christians should participate in Super Tuesday
2nd segment (~18 min.): Interview with Hugh Hewitt
3rd segment (~10 min): Interview with Dr. Wayne Gruden (Phoenix Seminary) on his article, "Why EV Should Support Romney."
4th segment (~7 min): Further comments, including some about Dobson's implicit preference for Romney.

Which way will the Republican Party go? Super Tuesday may decide it.

Over the last few years, true conservativism (smaller government, low taxes, integrity in politics, strong military, pro-family, pro-marriage, pro-life) has lost footing within the Republican Party. Promoted by the mainstream media, the Centrists/Moderates within the party are threatening to take over the party for the long-term and return it to a “Gerald Ford/Pre-Ronald Reagan” era of Republicanism. Super Tuesday, February 5th will most likely decide which way the party goes. And the decision will ultimately come down to the vote of the social conservatives (also referred to as the “evangelical vote”).

One thing is clear: A vote for Huckabee is a vote for McCain.

As Hugh Hewitt reflects on the last debate:

Romney's problem sat at the end of the stage --Mike Huckabee, the conservative coalition splitter. Amiable, smart, and ambitious for the vice presidency, Mike Huckabee is staying in the race not to win it --Huck's far too smart to believe that fantasy-- but to keep the conservative opposition to McCain divided.

Huckabee knows he can’t win. But he can still be a kingmaker, and in the deal, get the VP nod from McCain.

The reality is, Mitt Romney is the only candidate who can represent all three bases of what has been called “the Reagan coalition”: social conservatives, fiscal conservatives, and pro-military conservatives. (Watch video.) This ability to unite all three bases of the party – not to mention his considerable personal wealth to finance his campaign – make him the only "acceptable" and "viable" Republican presidential candidate who can have a chance against the Democrats in the general election. (In contrast, both McCain and Huckabee represent only parts of the Reagan coalition; also both have cash flow problems.)

Audio: Social Conservatives need to take charge and hold strong. listen

John McCain is not a true conservative.

Short audio clips:

• The real John McCain

• The McCain-Clinton love fest
  

The case can be made – and needs to be made -- that John McCain is not a true conservative.

Can someone say, “Bob Dole II”? (I guess I just did.)

Yes, he is a brave American war hero. But being courageous and loyal to one’s country is not the only thing someone needs to be qualified to lead our country. They need to have the right ideas as well. Simply stated, John McCain is a moderate, not a conservative.

“He is not a conservative,” say real, leading conservatives like Senator Rick Santorium, Rush Limbaugh, Hugh Hewitt, and Judge Robert Bork. (Bork, as you recall, was President Reagan’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court in the 80’s but was denied the bench because liberals in the Senate thought he was too conservative). McCain was endorsed -- by all things -- the New York Times, which above everything reflects his non-conservative positions.

As a case in point, the Politico’s Jonathan Martin presents in a piece following the Michigan primary, exit poll numbers contrasting McCain and Romney:

McCain won Democrats 41-33%. McCain won pro-choice voters 39-35%. He won among those who never attend church by 11 points — 39-28. The “architect of the surge” won with Iraq war disapprovers 36-29.

For crying out load, McCain cares more about global warming than he does about abortion! That right there should tell you where he is ideologically.

Martin continues:

Even while campaigning in Christian conservative-heavy western Michigan, McCain was content to stick with the economy, spending, the war and climate change. Not once did he ever bring up the fact that he, unlike his top rival, had a consistent pro-life voting record.

I asked a top McCain adviser why the senator would never raise what would seem like a beneficial issue and didn't really get much of an answer.

The reality is -- to borrow Rudy's favorite phrase -- is that McCain is only comfortable talking about that which he really cares about.

And he's much more passionate about global warming than he is about abortion. The problem is that most of his own party takes the exact opposite view.

Moreover, McCain has been criticized for possessing no consistent, principled ideology or philosophy; rather his views and positions on issues seem to be guided more by what I would call a narcissistic pragmatism – a worldview that sees that the right policy is whatever works in promoting John McCain, the candidate for President.

McCain’s record:

• McCain-Feingold (The infamous campaign finance “reform” law that birthed MoveOn.org.)

• McCain-Kennedy (The proposed immigration "reform" package that would have provided amnesty for illegal immigrants.)

• McCain-Lieberman (He believes global warming is a serious threat requiring drastic action now! This legislation would economically disadvantage the U.S. in the world economy.)

• He voted against the Bush’s tax cuts.

• He voted against ANWR. (He opposed drilling in Alaska.)

• He voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment (which would have constitutionally protected marriage from being redefined out of existence).

• Led the Gang of 14. (McCain wasn't a fan of Justice Alito.)

• He has supported pro-life measures, but has taken no real leadership amongst his colleagues in Congress.