Producer's Desk — culture

Come see Richard Land in Richmond, VA on Saturday, Feb 13.

He’ll be speaking at Grove Avenue Baptist Church at the In God We Trust conference. Other guests include, David Barton, Steven McDowell, Craig Parshall.

Register here. (Conference & lunch = $24, Conference only = $17)

Richard will broadcast Richard Land LIVE at the conference.

Marvin Olasky (World Magazine has published highlights from a discussion at The King’s College (NY) with Richard Land and Eric Metaxas.

Excerpt:

Land: When we look at our culture today, we have to try to understand, and ask God to help us learn, how to explain the gospel to people who don’t have ready biblical references. I read an article in Time magazine about the lack of religion in some parts of America. One couple came to see an Episcopal priest after they had been to a service, and they said, “Our teenage son wants to know who the man is hanging on the plus sign.” They didn’t know it was Jesus and they didn’t know it was a cross. That sounds far-fetched to some of us, but I’ve been some places in our country where it’s not as far-fetched as you might think.

We have an obligation and a responsibility to live a whole gospel before that world out there. The idea that there’s a social gospel and a spiritual gospel is an invention of the devil. There is only one gospel, and it is a whole gospel for whole people. It is blasphemous to go out and seek to feed the hungry and not tell them about the bread of life, or to seek to house the homeless and not tell them that in our father’s house are many mansions, or to seek to give water to the thirsty and not tell them about the rivers of living water. It is also a denial of the incarnation to go preach the gospel and ignore the fact that people are hungry and thirsty and naked and homeless. We are to do both.

“I was delighted to read that Fireproof debuted at No. 4 on the most-viewed movie list of this past weekend. Fireproof opened with $6.8 million in box office receipts. The film was on 839 screens across the country, for a per-screen average of $8,111.00, which is the second-highest weekend box office average of 2008 for films released on less than 1,000 screens…”

Read the complete post…

A Conscience for the State

Short clips are listed and available to watch at Bloggingheads.tv

Hope you enjoy!

My latest post at Casting Stones:

“As late as the early 1960’s, when Tim Russert was in his early teens, only 2.3 percent of white children and 24 percent of black children were born to single mothers. Now, approximately 28 percent of our nation’s children live in a household without their fathers, up from 14 percent in 1970. The vast majority of such boys and girls see their fathers less than once a month if at all. For such children, Father’s Day is more of an illusion than reality…”

Read the rest…

My latest post at Casting Stones:

I was getting very sleepy as I drove across middle Tennessee the other day, so I stopped to get some coffee at a Waffle House in a rural area.

As I sipped my coffee, I eavesdropped on a conversation among some male blue-collar workers who were raising their cholesterol levels while solving the world’s problems. Sen. Obama’s clinging comments came up and one middle-aged man in bib overalls and work boots said, “I hate to say it, but he sounds like just another limousine liberal to me!”

Does this “cling-gate” story have a shelf life—Yep!

Read the complete post at Casting Stones…

Life Should Be Valued, Not Neglected

Has the buckle of the Bible belt become the Mecca of gambling?

Churches have contributed to the success of America by encouraging virtue, but social science research has also shown that churches provide direct and indirect economic and social benefits to communities.

Also, some states reconsider Sunday alcohol laws and increasing the alcohol content of beer.

Richard posts at Casting Stones.

I’ve posted a new entry at the Newsweek/Washington Post On Faith blog in response to this question:

“According to a new Pew Forum survey, more than 4 in 10 Americans have switched their religious affiliation since childhood or dropped out of any formal religious group. Is this a mark of the health or sickness of American religion?” - Sally Quinn and Jon Meacham

• Read my response to this question.
• Listen to related commentary on the most recent Richard Land LIVE! broadcast.
• My OnFaith Archive

“It now appears almost certain that the presidential contest in 2008 will be between Sen. McCain and either Sen.Clinton or Obama. I have been asked on many occasions which contest I would prefer….The country does not need yet another round of that bitter debate in which no one wins and everyone loses…”

Read on at Casting Stones (Beliefnet.com)