Blog & Mablog

So the war in Iran has been going on for a little over a month now, and enough of it has unfolded that I am now being asked on the regular what I think of the big picture....There is an additional factor in all of this in bello discussion. Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of War, worships as part of our church service in Washington D.C. How does that factor into all of this?...On the one hand, some critics want us to intervene and “make Pete stop it.” But then, think for a minute. Do these same critics really want me or any of my fellow pastors—with no background on the intel, with no military training at this level, with no security clearance, and with no basis for sticking our noses into the internal workings of the Pentagon—to be giving Pete any specific policy advice?For more from Doug, subscribe to Canon+: https://canonplus.com/  

One of the ways to test whether truth is a person’s absolute, as opposed to whether his tribal loyalty is, would be by seeing whether he ever acknowledges that his political opponent, the one who is against his tribe, has ever made a fair point. Or is he wrong about absolutely everything? This is how our polarization has come to pass; this is where it comes from. Far from making everyone more tolerant, relativism pushes people into the assumption that anyone who differs must be an orc.For more from Doug, subscribe to Canon+: https://canonplus.com/  

AI is a very slick search engine. You need to be careful with this one though. When you use google to search, it gives you a column of links, and the clear implication is that you need to evaluate the claims made on your own. “These are places that talk about your question, and now you are on your own.” But AI responds to you with an authoritative voice, telling you that this is the way it is. But it got that info by scrubbing the entire web, and there is a lot of bum dope out there. In addition, AI doesn’t just search for things, it just flat makes things up. More than one attorney has gotten busted for submitting a brief with non-existent court cases in it. AI is not a truth machine, but rather a consensus machine, so take care.For more from Doug, subscribe to Canon+: https://canonplus.com/  

If you are anything like me, you may have wondered from time to time about the precise nature of the argument between Job and his three friends. Everyone in the book speaks a lot about the greatness of God, but in all the back-and-forth, what was the nub of the issue exactly?... His three friends thought that he should take responsibility in some way, but for what exactly? This Job refused to do, but what was he refusing to do exactly? Was it simply a matter of did too/did not? What were their arguments revolving around exactly?For more from Doug, subscribe to Canon+: https://canonplus.com/  

So here is what happened—in case you are not up to speed. My friend Brooks Potteiger was on a podcast with Joshua Haymes and the topic of James Talarico, a death angel from Texas, came up. Now to be fair, he doesn’t look like a death angel. As one meme put it, he looks like a walking embodiment of that COEXIST bumper sticker. But despite the choir boy appearances, he is a card-carrying member of the abortion death cult. For more from Doug, subscribe to Canon+: https://canonplus.com/  

We have already had suicides of young people guided to it by chatbots. We already have had a pastor setting up chatbot hot line, with the semblance of his voice, so that parishioners can call and get comfort and counsel from something that is no more than a souped-up answering machine. As things currently stand, we are not ready for what is coming. People who worship the way we currently do are exposed and vulnerable….A people without worldview wisdom are not prepared for what is coming. It all seems ridiculous for those who are running along on common sense, but then absurd claims are advanced, and we discover that we have no grounded answers. Is a married man who has intercourse with a sexbot an adulterer? Scripture please. For more from Doug, subscribe to Canon+: https://canonplus.com/  

To be frank, this entire interview occurred in the middle of a rather intense fever dream, which is probably the only reason it went as well as it did. For more from Doug, subscribe to Canon+: https://canonplus.com/  

So I want you to follow me closely here. A hypothetical Protestant republic, centuries from now, would be . . . chock full of Protestants. That would be the ethos of the whole place. Gaming it all out is how you test the principles of the various systems. What would still be there, and what would be long gone? Pride parades would be long gone. Catholic church bells would not be. Why and how come? Let’s talk about it. For more from Doug, subscribe to Canon+: https://canonplus.com/  

Now with this literalist hermeneutic, it was natural that dispensationalists would interpret the many passages in the Old Testament that prophesied a glorious future for Israel as being about the literal nation of physical Israel (“literal unless absurd”)...And so this is one of the central reasons why evangelicals tend to have a default setting in support of Israel. However and whenever the world ends, Israel is going to be right in there, and very much a part of it. For more from Doug, subscribe to Canon+: https://canonplus.com/  

The theology of a slut walk, however, by its outrageous embrace of slutty dress, behavior, and thought, absolutely and definitively rejects any level of moral responsibility for anything. Now lest I be misunderstood at this point — which I understand has happened before! — let me hasten to add that I am not seeking to minimize or excuse violent sexual behavior, or otherwise absolve rapists in any way. For more from Doug, subscribe to Canon+: https://canonplus.com/  

In the biblical worldview, the seed of the woman is justified and the seed of the serpent is not....When you read about some incident, or see some appalling footage on the tube, and you immediately start thinking in terms of approved and justified groups—congratulations, you’ve just been ejected from every sane jury pool. You were applying the categories of one realm to the other one, and the seed of the woman are always called to keep them distinct and separate. For more from Doug, subscribe to Canon+: https://canonplus.com/  

Let us begin with the death penalty. Because we refuse to execute the dangerous people who really should be executed, we wind up having to protect the general population by locking them up, and this has drifted into the practice of locking everybody up. This creates a huge apparatus of injustice. For more from Doug, subscribe to Canon+: https://canonplus.com/  

So it appears that events in the Middle East have, once again, overtooken us. The United States and Israel have launched a joint operation to topple the Iranian regime, and to date have successfully killed the Ayatollah and a number of other regime leaders. From a military standpoint, the early returns all point to a successful operation....what are we to make of it? For more from Doug, subscribe to Canon+: https://canonplus.com/  

For more from Doug, subscribe to Canon+: https://canonplus.com/  

So let us talk about all of this some more, shall we? It is quite apparent that we really need to. Can you believe it? Can you believe we still need to? For more from Doug, subscribe to Canon+: https://canonplus.com/  

Jesse Jackson died yesterday, at the age of 84. He was hailed at his passing for being a civil rights icon, but this brings up a delicate issue. Jackson has now gone to meet his Maker, but the definition of “rights” that he fought so hard to establish——and in many ways successfully—was a truly destructive view of rights. One of the very best things we could possibly do for everyone—blacks especially—is repeal the 1964 Civil Rights Act. For more from Doug, subscribe to Canon+: https://canonplus.com/  

The Resurrection of Christ was not a standalone resurrection; it was a harbinger resurrection; it was a portent resurrection, a down-payment resurrection. Out of all of the people who are going to be raised from the grave, that is to say, all of us. Jesus Christ was the very first one For more from Doug, subscribe to Canon+: https://canonplus.com/  

For more from Doug, subscribe to Canon+: https://canonplus.com/  

I grew up in a musical home, sort of. Neither of my parents played any instruments, but music was quite important to them. This came out primarily in their love of hymns and gospel songs. They also had what was in those days called a HiFI, and the playing of records was common—gospel, hymns, Gilbert & Sullivan, and folk songs. No, no, not Bob Dylan . . . more like Stephen Foster....I had a few short stints in some choirs—one at church, and the other one with my public school. I enjoyed it, but nothing earth-shaking For more from Doug, subscribe to Canon+: https://canonplus.com/  

For more from Doug, subscribe to Canon+: https://canonplus.com/