Joe Carter

1 week ago | thedissenter.substack.com | Joe Carter

Colorado, ever the progressive petri dish of experimental governance, has once again declared its disdain for Christian convictions—this time by officially categorizing biblical parenting as a form of abuse. House Bill 25-1312, which I wrote about earlier this month, cynically dubbed the "Kelly Loving Act," slithers under the guise of compassion while weaponizing the state against parents who won’t cosign their child’s gender confusion.

1 week ago | thegospelcoalition.org | Joe Carter

First, they targeted a baker. Now, they’re targeting parents. Colorado’s anti-Christian trajectory became apparent in 2012, when Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips declined to create a wedding cake celebrating a same-sex ceremony.

3 weeks ago | theaquilareport.com | Joe Carter

Marriage vows don’t function as rigid laws that condemn us when we fall short. Instead, they can be channels of grace that direct us back to God’s purposes. They remind us that just as God’s love for us isn’t based on our performance, our commitment to our spouse shouldn’t depend on his or her perfection. When we fail—and we will—our vows point us back to the cross, where we find both forgiveness and power to persist. One profound privilege of pastoral ministry is officiating weddings.

4 weeks ago | thegospelcoalition.org | Joe Carter

The text messages and emails began arriving in clusters last month, all with a similar message: “Please pray for me; I’ve been laid off.”I pastor a church near Washington, D.C., where government jobs typically insulate us from economic downturns. Recent policy changes, though, have triggered widespread layoffs among federal employees and contractors, affecting nearly everyone in our congregation.

1 month ago | thegospelcoalition.org | Joe Carter

One profound privilege of pastoral ministry is officiating weddings. It’s always an honor to be asked by a couple to perform their ceremony and help shape one of the most significant moments of their lives. Yet there are five words I dread hearing: “We wrote our own vows.”A primary problem with these self-written vows is that they are rarely vows. A vow, properly understood, is a solemn promise of future action—a binding commitment to specific behaviors and obligations.