pb'sbabbles

“Pastor John, do you believe there is a difference between film nudity versus pornography? I know many Christians who are against porn, but they have no issue watching movies or TV shows that show graphic nudity.” A young woman named Emily emailed this question to the  Ask Pastor John  inbox. A day later, Adam emailed to ask, “Pastor John, what would you say to a Christian who watches the cable TV show  Game of Thrones ?” This is a television series rated TV-MA, and has become rather infamous for its explicit nudity and sex scenes, and for graphic scenes of rape and sexual violence against women.  Game of Thrones  is now the most popular series in HBO history, with an average audience of more than 23 million viewers. What follows is a lightly edited transcript of John Piper’s response. The closer I get to death and meeting Jesus personally face-to-face and giving an account for my life and for the careless words that I have spoken ( Matthew 12:36 ),...

The following article tells believers in America why we should not have a state sponsored church. It also tells us that the Government should get out of the marriage business. If we allow them to set the standards we will suffer.  The Swedish government has told the Church of Sweden that ministers cannot refuse to marry same-sex couples. The Christian Institute reports  that Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven announced that ministers of the Church of Sweden should be required to marry same-sex couples, regardless of their opinions on homosexuality and gay marriage. “[N]o priest in the Swedish Church can refuse to marry same-sex couples,” stated Löfven. “If you work as a midwife you must be able to perform abortions, otherwise you have to do something else. It is the same for priests who do not want to perform same-sex marriages,” he added. Currently, ministers in the Swedish state church are allowed to opt out of performing weddings, baptisms, and funerals for any reason ...

Jesus always seems to say things that hit straight at the heart and make you squirm. For as long as I can remember, I had been extremely bothered by one of His affirmations: “If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit…” “Much fruit,” He says. But does He explain what He means by fruit? Does He tell us what He even means by the puzzling conditional of “remaining” in Him? Does He tell us where to get the fruit? Not so clearly. Yet He does expect not just “some fruit,” but “much fruit.” A few verses later, in John 15:8, Jesus will go as far as saying that bearing “much fruit” will serve as a sign of a true disciple because the plentiful harvest will bring much glory to the Father. A couple years ago I had been pastoring full time for almost a decade and my heart was beginning to feel a deep sense of anxiety. I was awakening to my lack of competency and my scattered focus. I was truly bothered by this lack of “much fruit.” Don’t misunderstand me. For ou...