[From Barnabas Fund] Kenyan Christians abducted, tortured and raped Six Christian missionaries have been found alive but traumatized after suffering three days of unimaginable torture in Kenya. Three men including Mr. Y, the leader of a group of Kenyan missionaries supported by Barnabas, had travelled to Nairobi on the morning of Wednesday September 15, to... Continue Reading →
A Biblical View of Election
I am known as a Calvinist, and the church where I pastor is known as a Calvinist church. This phenomenon is interesting to me because I don’t use the term Calvinist in my preaching, and the church I pastor is Cedar Grove Baptist Church, not Cedar Grove Calvinist church. I think the reason folks want... Continue Reading →
Justice and Vengeance
Folks often confuse the concepts of justice and vengeance, but God is not confused. He makes a clear distinction. Justice concerns dealing with someone according to a fixed law or standard—particularly a standard by which all are governed equally. Vengeance, on the other hand, concerns an individual or group who perceive a wrong against them... Continue Reading →
More Burning Anger
Today, the President admonished Pastor Jones, encouraging him to "listen to those better angels" who recommend not burning the Quran. There is a united consensus among leaders in America that Pastor Jones should not burn the Muslim books. Political leaders, religious leaders, media elites have uniformly condemned the act. I heard this morning that some--including... Continue Reading →
Sensible Response
Sarah Palin has a sensible response to the book burning down in Gainesville. Koran Burning Is Insensitive, Unnecessary; Pastor Jones, Please Stand Down Book burning is antithetical to American ideals. People have a constitutional right to burn a Koran if they want to, but doing so is insensitive and an unnecessary provocation – much like... Continue Reading →
Burning Fears (Again)
I am posting below an e-mail I received from Barnabas Fund, a Christian organization based in the UK which supports and encourages persecuted Christians. I post it because it makes a great follow-up point from my post yesterday. I really only made the first part of an important point in yesterday's post because I wanted... Continue Reading →
Burning Fears
According to this article, Pastor Jones is still planning to burn the bible of Islam at a service commemorating the 9th Anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. I have a couple of simple observations. Pastor Jones has a right to burn the Quran. He lives in a nation which prides itself on freedom of speech. ... Continue Reading →
For Your Own Good
So, did your parents ever tell you to do something you didn’t want to do, using the rationale, “This is for your own good”? Yeah, mine did, too. We had to go apologize when the rest of our friends did not. We had to work while they got to play. We got the spankings… all... Continue Reading →
Spine Severing
Is it OK to sever a man's spine if his crime caused another man to become paralyzed? I will be honest, I'm not sure. The government has been given the right to punish evil doers. The biblical injunction is "eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth." Such an injunction--though it has been given... Continue Reading →
Sovereign Suffering
In a couple of weeks, we begin our new Kerusso Corner program on Wednesday nights. We will be holding conversations about the places in life where God's Word meets the world. We are beginning those conversations at the heart of the gospel with a series of discussions on the sovereignty of God. I know that... Continue Reading →
Christ in China
If you are interested in Christianity in China, then you will want to read this report concerning a survey of Christianity recently completed in China. I would offer a couple of caveats to this report, however. They do not make much of the unregistered house churches. House churches are mentioned at the end of the... Continue Reading →
New TV Show on Persecution?
I just came across this information concerning a TV series on persecution. Looks like Anglicans and Roman Catholics are taking the lead. Let's get with it, protestants! You might check this out to see if you can watch the shows. http://archstl.org/archstl/post/suffering-church-%E2%80%93-new-tv-series-ew
Hellfire to Homosexuality, Pt. 3
So, to the heart of the issue, I turn my attention now to the question of how God can judge people for doing what is natural to them. As I have already pointed out, the question itself is a little flawed in that “natural” or “by nature” is not easily defined. Typically, we call natural... Continue Reading →
Hellfire to Homosexuality, Pt. 2
So, to the more weighty matters of the conversation, I would reiterate my own belief that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe (Romans 1:16). The issue for Christians is the salvation of souls, not the success of political parties. Like many Americans, we have opinions on political matters,... Continue Reading →
Hellfire to Homosexuality?
I recently had a conversation with a friend in which he expressed his disdain for “Christian coercion.” He didn’t exactly call it that, but I think that is an accurate description of what he meant. His concern was that Christians under the threat of eternal damnation pressure others to go against their natural desires. Specifically,... Continue Reading →
Gregory C. Cochran 