Category Archives: Culture
Eat. Fast. How does a Christian relate to food?
by Steven Smith on December 15, 2014 in Christian Life, Culture, Virtues
Self-orientation, in any form is spiritually devastating. The desire to orient all of life around myself is encouraged by a culture that tempts us to rip the governor off any pursuit of pleasure. In this way a good gift like food becomes a hedonist entitlement; my right to have m... Read More »
One Race
by Steven Smith on December 5, 2014 in Christian Life, Culture, Current Events, Ethics
Recently I called two friends who pastor in NYC: one in the Upper West Side of Manhattan and the other in the Bronx. My questions are about the spiritual climate in NYC in light of the non-indictment in the Eric Garner case. My phone call itself is telling. It assumes that I need... Read More »
Five Basic Questions about Homosexuality and the Bible: Can we bear the burden of answering these questions?
by Steven Smith on October 31, 2014 in Christian Life, Culture, Current Events, Ethics
This week I had the privilege of attending the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission’s National Conference and speaking on a panel discussion with Thomas White, Jason Allen and Randy Stinson. The panel was led by Phillip Bethancourt on Preparing Next Generation Leaders for a ... Read More »
Connecting the Truth of Scripture to Cultural Issues
by Steven Smith on August 26, 2014 in Culture, Ethics, Religious Liberty
Almost every cultural issue that a pastor will face today involves gender roles. Whether abortion, pornography, sex trafficking, or the advance of the homosexual platform, every issue revolves around gender and God’s plan for marriage, and on these the Bible is not silent. ... Read More »
Good News about the Bad News
by Steven Smith on May 15, 2014 in Christian Life, Culture, Evangelism
The Gospel is the message that the wrath of God toward sinners has been re-directed to Christ on the cross, who will graciously forgive all sin for those who will come to him in faith and repentance. This is good news. Yet often when we talk about the good news, it is coupl... Read More »
“Noah” Movie as Typical Sermon: How Darren Aronofsky Directs Movies Like We Preach Sermons
by Steven Smith on May 2, 2014 in Culture, Current Events, Preaching
The movie “Noah” represents some profound acting and directing in one really strange movie. In so much as Darren Aronofsky is a director, he is typical of Hollywood: very gifted and a little bizarre. Oddly perhaps, as an exegete of Scripture, Aronofsky is typical of much evan... Read More »
Immigration Reform: Desperately needed in the church
by Steven Smith on May 1, 2014 in Culture, Current Events
Heaven is many ethnicities worshipping as one race. So protect the race. There is a great joy in strolling the campus of Southwestern Seminary and seeing the many races interact with one another, and in our chapel services worship with one another. Asian, Anglo, Indian, Hi... Read More »
ENDA and The Superiority of Men
by Steven Smith on November 11, 2013 in Culture, Current Events, Family
Congress is currently considering the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2013 (ENDA). For review of the issues see the helpful ERLC piece here. The bill would require employers to hire without consideration of an employees’ sexual orientation. The truth is that a person’s a... Read More »
How You can Vote Like a Christian and Then Go to Sleep: A plea for confidence and clarity
by Steven Smith on November 2, 2012 in Christian Life, Culture, Current Events
I voted today. With a clear conscience I voted for the candidate that I thought would protect freedom, protect life, and uphold the ideals of our nation. However, there was not one candidate that had as his platform to uphold the Gospel. In fact, one candidate denies the Gosp... Read More »