Carl Trueman on Hollywood’s Moral Contradiction Amidst the Weinstein Scandal

October 21, 2017November 24, 2017Kirk E. Miller

There is, of course, an irony in this [i.e., Hollywood’s condemnation of Weinstein]. Hollywood has done as much as any cultural institution to demystify sex and turn it into a recreational activity. That is the consistent message of many of its movies. Yet in the Weinstein debacle, Hollywood’s most powerful players are implicitly acknowledging that they have promoted a lie, because sex is more than a game.

It is not just the lack of consent that makes Hollywood types, and all the rest of us, regard sexual assault as so heinous. We instinctively know that to slap someone’s face without their consent, unpleasant as that may be, is not as traumatic as to rape them. Sexual assault is deeply significant because … sex is deeply significant, and intrinsically so—and no amount of pop-culture trivialization can remove this stubborn fact. …

… [E]ven in our ‘sex as recreation’ era, its significance is still acknowledged in the fact that sex crimes are considered by society to be among the most heinous. If any good has come from the crimes of Weinstein, it is in the fact that the champions of sex as recreation are being forced to contradict the philosophy of their own artworks.

Read the entire piece by Carl Trueman here.

Reflections (8/13/17)

August 13, 2017November 26, 2017Kirk E. Miller

The following are reflections are specifically in response to the recent “Unite the Right” rally in Charleston, SC, as well as potential nuclear threat between President Trump and North Korea.

This morning, as South City Church, gathers to worship God, we do so as people embedded in our society, a society torn and plagued by social sins of racism and threats of mass nuclear slaughter. Our worship cannot be removed or detached from our social context. Rather the God we worship and the faith we confess has bearing on our situations.

We grieve the effects of sin on ourselves and on our fellow-image bears. We grieve with a profound sense humility, knowing that we are equally culpable in evil. And we grieve knowing that sin is ultimately an affront to the glory of our God, a God of infinite worth and beauty; the God who created us for so much more — Himself.

We, as Christians, are a part of a much larger community — the Church composed of members from across time and space; a community who heritage and who make up consists of white people alongside people of color.

Today, as much as every other day, we have solidarity with each other. We are members of one body. To inflict one of us is to inflict one of our brothers and sisters. We cannot be apathetic.

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A Mothers’ Day Lament

May 8, 2017November 25, 2017Kirk E. Miller

As we anticipate Mother’s Day this coming Sunday, we are conscious of the ambivalence this day brings for us as a church community.

On the one hand, we rejoice in God’s gift of children to our mothers (and fathers). And we take time to consider the dignity of women and the significance of God-ordained motherhood. This is a time for celebration and thankfulness.

But, on the other hand, as we “mourn with those who mourn” (Rom 12:15), we remain aware of our members for whom this day quite forcefully reminds them — often in silence, secret, and solitude — of their grief, of the desire for motherhood unmet or lost through the experience of infertility, miscarriage, abortion, and a variety of other reasons.

* * * * *

A Mother’s Day Lament:

We recognize on a day like today that everything in God’s creation isn’t as it should be. Sin has broken families and caused deep pain and heartache, and suffering in creation has led to suffering in the flesh—some who long to be parents are unable to experience that joy. Let’s pray together, knowing that God hears us in our pain and sadness:

‘Lord, on this Mother’s Day
we lift up the aching hearts
of all those who long to be mothers,
but mourn the absence of new life within them;
who have conceived,
but suffered loss through miscarriage or abortion;
who have given birth,
but endured the tragedy of burying a child.

Their grief is often hidden from us
or neglected on this day of celebration of motherhood.
We pray that they may experience healing in this church family.

How long, O Lord, must death get its way at the outset of new life?
How long must joy be deferred or interrupted by such cruel sorrow?

Risen Lord of life, grant them comfort and peace,
breathe in us all the breath of new life.
Through Jesus Christ,
who defeated death,
Amen.’
__________
* Written by Nathan Bierma

Christian, Stop Sharing Fake News (Recommended Articles)

January 23, 2017November 25, 2017Kirk E. Miller

Fake News

Unintentionally timely. This week my sermon happened to be on truthfulness, honesty, and integrity.

We live in a society and culture in which truthfulness is severely under attack and corroding quickly.

We can look at our political scene — where this word ‘post-truth’ largely originates — where we have this odd paradox between the rise of fact-checkers and yet the reality that very little seem to care about those facts. We live in our social media echo chambers and simply choose to believe whatever we find convenient. We use to say, ‘You are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts.’ Now it seems like everyone can have their own facts too. ‘Truth’ is flexible and agenda driven.

~ Sermon (An Integrity that Needs No Oaths, James 5:12), South City Church

As Christians, we must be those who resist such things, not succumb to them. #FakeNews #AlternativeFacts

Sanctity of Human Life Sunday: Reflections

January 22, 2017November 25, 2017Kirk E. Miller

Our society worships the gods of sex, convenience, and freedom and makes human sacrifices on the altars of abortion. I know it’s controversial. But we need to call it what it is — murder. And deep down, I’m convinced we know exactly what we’re doing.

At the same time, none of this can be used to ignore for one moment the very real, tough, and distressing situations that many expectant mothers face — the sort of circumstances that prompt so many mothers to consider abortions in the first place. As much as we care for the life the baby, we should care about the welfare of the mother. And we should extend grace to those who have had abortions.

Finally, as evangelicals, we must work towards a more wholistic and consistent ethic of life. “Sanctity of life” should mean all life, certainly pre-born babies’ lives, but not *just* pre-born babies’ lives. Until we do so, our fervent cries on behalf of life will ring hollow with the reverberations of hypocrisy.

Ethics. Compassion. Consistency. #SOHLS