9 Things You Should Know About the Boston Marathon Bombing
Joe Carter, The Gospel Coalition

Last week an attack during the Boston Marathon killed three people and wounded more than 180. Here’s what you should know about the terrorist bombing incident.

Boy Scouts proposal: let in gay youth, keep out gay adults
Atossa Araxia Abrahamian, Reuters

The Boy Scouts of America on Friday proposed lifting a ban on gay scouts but maintaining a prohibition on gay adults from leading troops, a compromise that attempts to end a fight that has split the century-old American institution into bitter factions.

Kermit Gosnell and the Politics of Abortion
Ross Douthat, New York Times

The only things missing from this clean, airtight, entirely consistent argument are, well, all the dead babies in the Gosnell clinic.

The Devil They Know: Regime Change and Christian Persecution
John Stonestreet, Christian Post

Democracy is a good thing, but the persecution of Christians that can result from democracy is not.

Same-Sex Marriage Fever: Prohibition Parallels
Doug Mainwaring, Public Discourse

Media voices and progressive activists for same-sex marriage are appealing to judicial fiat because they know they won’t always have public opinion on their side.

The Human Egg Rush
Wesley J. Smith, First Things

Thanks to tremendous advances in biotechnological prowess, living human bodies—or rather their constituent parts and biological functions—are increasingly being looked upon as valuable commercial commodities. Human eggs (oocytes) are a prime example.

Easter on way for the Orthodox

Andrew Estocin, Albuquerque Journal

Most Americans identify Orthodox Christianity with an ethnic group such as Greeks or Russians. However, in New Mexico, Orthodox Christians are a diverse group that prays and worships in English.

Why Study the Didache?

Tom O’Loughlin, Nottingham University

The earliest Christian community at work and in prayer. The first how-to manual for the Church.

From Roe to Gosnell
James Taranto, Wall Street Journal

The case for regime change on abortion.

Religion: A Public or a Private Right?
Susan Hanssen, Public Discourse

Our public debate about religious liberty is missing a clear definition of religion. The absence of that definition has generated confusion, frustration, shrill voices, and short tempers.

New Research: Spiritual Maturity Tied to Strong Doctrinal Beliefs
Ed Stetzer, Lifeway Research Blog

Consumers in America are accustomed to having endless combinations of choices for every want in life. Biblical truth is radical because it teaches that eternal life is a relationship with God through Jesus Christ alone.

The Main Reason for Declining Church Attendance: Children’s Sports?
Melissa Steffan, Christianity Today

Sunday used to be a day reserved by many Christians for attending worship services, but new research indicates the extent to which American churches today are competing against myriad other activities.

To Whom Do Children Belong?
Melissa Moschella, Public Discourse

Children’s relationship to the political community is fundamentally different from that of adults, because it is mediated through their belonging to a family and living under the authority of their parents.

A Look At The Jewish Diaspora
Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon, Preachers Institute

Why was there a Diaspora? Well, during the period of Judah’s Babylonian Captivity (597-538)—an exile in the strict sense—most of the deported Jews settled down peaceably in Mesopotamia where their captors had brought them.

I Am Not Abraham’s Mistake
Derek Rishmawy, The Gospel Coalition

Our Arab and Palestinian neighbors aren’t beyond the gospel’s reach.

Renewed minds, Luter says, ‘think biblically’
Matt Damico, Baptist Press

Calling on Southern Baptists to cultivate a renewed mind, Luter said, “None of us are exempt from the tactics of the enemy.”

Love and the Inhumanity of Same-Sex Marriage
Jonathan Leeman, The Gospel Coalition

To condemn sexual freedom in America today is to condemn one of the nation’s favorite altars of worship.

Kermit Gosnell and the Gospel
Russell D. Moore

The gospel isn’t a mere matter of God exempting people from consequences.

5 Things To Know About the Obama Administration and Human Trafficking
Elise Hilton, Acton PowerBlog

President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships has released its recommendations to the president on Building Partnership to Eradicate Modern-Day Slavery. Here are some things you need to know.

Study of Babies Did Not Disclose Risks, U.S. Finds
Sabrina Tavernise, New York Times

A federal agency has found that a number of prestigious universities failed to tell more than a thousand families in a government-financed study of oxygen levels for extremely premature babies that the risks could include increased chances of blindness or death.

9 Things You Should Know About the Gosnell Infanticide and Murder Trial
Joe Carter, The Gospel Coalition

Kermit Gosnell, 69, is an abortionist on trial in Pennsylvania for murder and infanticide. Here are 9 things you should know about the Gosnell case.

The Beauty of Life in Small Places
Jake Meador, Christianity Today

City-focused evangelicals have much to learn from Rod Dreher’s memoir of small-town life.

Marry Young? Marry Old? Marry When You Have the Character to Marry
David French, National Review Online

You’re old enough to marry when you possess enough wisdom, character, and emotional maturity to recognize that you are no longer the center of the universe, and you can and should love another person more than you love yourself.

How the Early Church Handled Being Way Too Busy
Loren Pinilis, Life of a Steward

A lot of great and exciting things were happening as the early church was growing. Yet that growth stretched the apostles to their limits, leading to overcommitment and chronic busyness – which led to further and potentially serious problems.

Church of England rejects blessings for same-sex couples
Sam Jones, The Guardian

Report stresses immutable definition of marriage as ‘legally sanctioned relationship between a man and a woman’

Debunking the “Jesus Myth” Myth
Arman J. Partamian, Matins Musings

There is a niche group of religion debunkers that have gained popularity in recent years by promulgating the theory that Jesus Christ was a myth.

Philadelphia abortion clinic horror
Kirsten Powers, USA Today

We’ve forgotten what belongs on Page One.

Homosexual Orientation, or Disorientation?
Daniel Mattson, First Things

Though people may describe themselves by using terms like “gay” or “queer” which are commonly used in today’s culture, as Christians who believe in man created in the image of God, we should ask if these cultural terms are, in fact, true ontological categories of the human person, in accord with the blueprint of human existence.

Margaret Thatcher, the Methodist
Mark Tooley, Juicy Ecumenism

Margaret Thatcher was forever the thrifty Methodist grocer’s daughter of Grantham.

Russell Moore: “I don’t like to think in terms of culture wars.”
Collin Garbarino, First Things

Last week, Russell Moore, president-elect of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, gave C-Span an interview in which he discusses the role of religion in American politics and culture.

The Rise of Evangélicos
Elizabeth Dias, Time

Latino evangelicals are one of the fastest growing segments of America’s churchgoing millions. According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, more than two-thirds of the 52-million-plus Latinos in the US are Catholic; by 2030, that percentage could be closer to half, and many are joining evangelical Protestant ranks.

Gosnell’s “House of Horrors” Abortion Clinic is Not an Exception
Cheryl Sullenger, LifeNews.com

[A]re the conditions described last week by two clinic workers and a Crime Scene Unit Officer really so different that what can be found at abortion clinics across America?

Isaiah, Mark & More On ‘Ransom’ In Biblical Theology
Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon, Preachers Institute

Let us consider what it means that Jesus life was made a ransom “for many.”

How Churches Can Respond to Mental Illness
Ed Stetzer, CNN

First, people with mental illness are often attracted to religion and the church, either to receive help in a safe environment or to live out the worst impulses of their mental illness. Second, most congregations, sadly, have few resources for help.

9 Things You Should Know About Margaret Thatcher
Joe Carter, Acton Institute

Lady Margaret Thatcher has passed away from an apparent stroke at the age of 87. Here are nine things you should know about the former British Prime Minister.

The U.S. and the Murders at the Cathedral
Jonathan S. Tobin, Commentary

[Even though we are still being told that there is no alternative to engagement with Mohamed Morsi’s regime, the escalation of anti-Christian violence ought to shock Americans into the realization that they are subsidizing a regime bent on oppressing religious minorities.

Cross & Death, Cup & Baptism, Servant & Slave
Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon, Preachers Institute

In the Gospel of St. Mark there is a record of Jesus’ three prophecies of the coming drama of Redemption. These are evenly placed in chapter 8-10 of Mark and provide structure for his development of the theme of the Cross.

The Bible vs. the Heart
Dennis Prager, National Review Online

The human heart alone is a terribly flawed guide to social policy.

Cats and Dogs and Marriage Laws
Stephen J. Heaney, Public Discourse

When we define our terms based on the results we want, rather than on the reality of the thing being defined, all hell breaks loose.

Pastor Rick Warren’s son commits suicide
Associated Press

The 27-year-old son of popular evangelical Pastor Rick Warren has committed suicide at his Southern California home, Warren’s church and authorities said on Saturday.