Mike Wittmer

Category: Ethics

  • what the what?

    Several of the women in my neighborhood (ladies is a bit too strong) attended a party last night that celebrated a distinctive male body part (the one responsible for procreation). One of them baked a cake in the shape of this item and called my wife to come over and view it. She declined, saying…

  • sign of the times

    The Reformed Church of America is meeting this week, and an item in yesterday’s GR Press from their report on Synod caught my attention.  Does anyone else find this interesting?  “Also on tap today:  An official declaration of racism as a sin, a report on a three-year homosexuality dialogue and a reconsideration of Friday’s decision to…

  • we don’t discriminate, except when we do

    Every job posting and even the cover of our seminary catalogue states that “Cornerstone University does not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, sex, age or disability in any of its policies and programs.”  This important statement is enforced by our nation’s courts.  Should we ever sin by discriminating “on the basis of…

  • trick or tweet

    That last post was what I would have tweeted if I had a Twitter account, but I don’t and so it’s not.  But in this issue of Time magazine there is an article about churches that encourage their members to tweet during the service (p. 51-52).  It may also be available on-line, but with my…

  • adoption option

    Last weekend I watched Slumdog Millionaire on Saturday, learned about my church’s new ministry to orphans on Sunday, and began reading Russell Moore’s new book, Adopted for Life, on Monday.  So I’ve been thinking a lot about adoption this week.  Should Christian families seek to adopt a child?  Are we being selfish if we don’t?…

  • the swine flu and you

    Here’s hoping it doesn’t come to this, but Martin Luther offers some timely advice in his open letter, Whether One May Flee From a Deadly Plague.  The Bubonic Plague came to Wittenberg in 1527, and Luther responded by closing the university and sending his students home.    When concerned citizens asked how Christians should act…

  • now I see

    In Joe Stowell’s excellent talk on Monday, he distinguished between the Greek terms for good, agathos and kalos.  He said that agathos meant something like moral purity and kalos meant acts of service.  He illustrated the difference by saying that if you pass by a pornographic shop on the street, that is agathos good works,…

  • the evil of inertia

    Our Daily Journey is now up and running, with all of the professionalism and networking ability that you’d expect from Radio Bible Class.  These devotionals are printed in attractive, 3 month booklets, and available on-line–just click on “Our Daily Journey” from the blog roll at the right. Here is a Lenten type devotional that I’m…

  • what’s so great about being a pastor?

    Today is my 42nd birthday, which means I am two years past the date when I said I would re-evaluate whether to remain a professor or look to shepherd a church. I always planned on being a pastor, ever since I was a junior in high school. So I earned a pre-seminary degree in college,…

  • how once upon a time America decreased its abortion rate

    Marvin Olasky shares some key findings from his book, Abortion Rites: A Social History of Abortion in America (Crossway) in the current issue of World magazine.  You may read his provocative article here:  http://www.worldmag.com/printer.cfm?id=14857. Olasky’s surprising discovery is that the rate of abortion relative to the population was higher in America on the eve of…