1| Dallas Morning News OpEd: Robert Jeffress belongs in Dallas’ past, not our future
***Robert Wilonsky writes a smackdown of Robert Jeffress, pastor of the historic and influential First Baptist of Dallas. Wilonsky also throws their late pastor, W.A. Criswell under the bus for his 1956 views on segregation, without making any mention of Criswell’s later renouncing of that position and his leadership among Baptists in ending segregated worship. I would think that if you’re going to mention the former, journalistic integrity demands that you also mention the latter. Wilonsky writes:
It’s appalling but never particularly surprising when First Baptist Dallas senior pastor Robert Jeffress says something about how the Catholics and the gays and the Muslims and the Mormons are ruining America and stripping Christians of their religious liberties. It’s who he is. It’s what he does. It’s how he makes his mammon.
Dallas has become a city that considers itself progressive and tolerant, where “gender identity and expression” are part of the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance. We’re supposed to be enlightened now, no longer The City of Hate.
But Jeffress is the vestigial tail that forgot to fall off.
2| Church of Scotland votes to allow ministers to be in same-sex marriages |The Guardian
“The decision, after years of deliberation, means the church maintains the traditional view marriage as between a man and woman, but allows individual congregations to “opt out” if they wish to appoint a minister or deacon in a same-sex marriage or civil partnership.”
***John Knox would be rolling over in his grave. John who? Burk Parsons writes:
“Perhaps more than anything else, John Knox is known for his prayer “Give me Scotland, or I die.” Knox’s prayer was not an arrogant demand, but the passionate plea of a man willing to die for the sake of the pure preaching of the gospel and the salvation of his countrymen. Knox’s greatness lay in his humble dependence on our sovereign God to save His people, revive a nation, and reform His church. As is evident from his preaching and prayer, Knox believed neither in the power of his preaching nor in the power of his prayer, but in the power of the gospel and the power of God, who sovereignly ordains preaching and prayer as secondary means in the salvation of His people.”
3| Today, Franklin Graham’s Decision America Tour Reaches Halfway Point in South Dakota
4| Don’t speak about your faith unless you’re asked to says Archbishop of Canterbury |The Telegraph
***If the basic idea here is to use tact in conversation with strangers, I get it. But seriously, who these days needs to have a church leader exhort Christians to hit the brakes on personal evangelism? I’m not seeing zealot-evangelists running around thumping unsuspecting people on the head with John 3:16.
Welby: “I draw the line in terms of respect for the other; in starting by listening before you speak; in terms of love that is unconditional and not conditional to one iota, to one single element on how the person responds to your own declaration of faith; and of not speaking about faith unless you are asked about faith.
“That’s a shorthand but I could go on.
“I draw a pretty sharp line, it is all based around loving the person you are dealing with which means you seek their well-being and you respect their identity and their integrity.”
5| Jimmy Carter, Seeing Resurgence of Racism, Plans Baptist Conference for Unity |NYT
6| Evangelicals are the kind of Latinos the GOP could be winning. But probably not with Donald Trump |LA Times
…and Watch Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump Court Hispanic Evangelicals |TIME
7| “Should we live together first?” Yes, say Democrats. No, say Republicans (even young ones) |Brookings Institution
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