Illinois

For too many evangelical pastors, the Old Testament is a “foreign book” that is better left alone or used only as background knowledge, lamented prominent theologian Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr. on Tuesday. But preachers who neglect the Old Testament do so at the risk of “robbing” their congregation of fully understanding Jesus Christ.

“I’ve actually heard some preachers state as a matter of principle that they preach from the New Testament because it is the Christian book,” said Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., during the first plenary session of The Gospel Coalition’s national conference in Chicago. “How they are robbing their people of the knowledge of Christ from the scriptures. How impoverished is that preaching. How undernourished are those congregations.”

Mohler, whose session was titled “Studying the Scriptures and Finding Jesus,” contends that Jesus and the gospel are found throughout the Old Testament and therefore not teaching from those books would be failing to tell the full story of Jesus. more >>

Prominent evangelical pastors and theologians, including Tim Keller and John Piper, will kick off the fourth annual The Gospel Coalition national conference on Tuesday.

Some 5,300 people have registered for the conference where Christians that seek to uphold and live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ can learn and network. The three-day conference, held in Chicago, will feature more than 70 speakers and focus on the theme "They Testify about Me," about preaching Jesus and the Gospel from the Old Testament.

On Tuesday morning, one of the GC speakers James MacDonald, senior pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel in the Chicago suburb, retweeted Elevation Church Pastor Steven Furtick's tweet: "Let the text shape the sermon. Let the text shape the sermon. Let the text shape the sermon." more >>

Televangelist Joyce Meyer taped her trial testimony in cooperation with prosecutors preparing to try Meyer’s former bodyguard, Christopher Coleman, for the murder of his wife and two sons.

Meyer and her son, Dan, answered lawyers’ questions on Wednesday in a taped evidentiary deposition at the Monroe County Courthouse in Illinois. The head of Joyce Meyer Ministries participated in the hearing because she would not be available to testify in person at the April 25 trial. Her ministry website reveals that she is scheduled to appear in a conference tour though Texas and Virginia this entire month.

The deposition was closed to the public; but she offered some words to the media. Meyer spoke briefly with The Associated Press about her hearing. “The state’s attorney asked me to testify and I just did,” she said. “I answered the questions honestly and truthfully and I’ve cooperation fully all the way through.” more >>

The same pro-life group behind the controversial New York City billboard that was recently forcefully removed is putting up another attention-grabbing, anti-abortion ad in Chicago, this time featuring the likeness of President Barack Obama.

Life Always, the group behind the SoHo neighborhood’s “most dangerous place” billboard, is hosting a press conference Tuesday to unveil 30 new billboards featuring the image of Obama, the first African-American president. The billboards will be placed throughout Chicago and will state, “Every 21 minutes, our next possible leader is aborted.”

The billboards’ message is taken from polls showing that black women have more abortions than their white counterparts. In a 2008 poll, the sexual health research organization Guttmacher Institute examined abortion rates in the U.S. between 1974 and 2004 and found that Hispanic and black women were three to five times more likely to have an abortion than white women. more >>

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An anti-porn advocate and teacher decried a Northwestern University professor's in-class, live sex show as a "cheap shot" that displayed a blatant disregard for students' well-being.

Dr. Gail Dines, author of Pornland: How Porn has Hijacked our Sexuality, said Friday that human sexuality professor John Michael Bailey crossed the line as an educator last week by "turning his class into a live slideshow" with a real sexual act involving a woman, a man and a motorized device. more >>

Corrections Appended

 A proposed Illinois bill to mandate homeschool student registration was tabled after 4,000 home school supporters flooded the state capitol to protest.

Homeschoolers and advocates from several state groups including Illinois Christian Home Educators (ICHE) and Home School Legal Defense showed up at Tuesday’s hearing to urge state lawmakers to leave them alone. The overwhelming response against the bill led lawmakers to reconsider the proposal. more >>