Juneteenth—Something We Can All Commemorate

06/18/2021

Tomorrow, however, offers us an opportunity to come out of our ideological and political corners and agree to commemorate a significant day in American history. Every American, regardless of politics or background, should reflect on a day marked in many African American communities for over 150 years. Tomorrow, June 19th, is Juneteenth, the anniversary of the day in 1865 in which the particularly vicious evil of chattel slavery effectively came to an end in this country.

Your Body, Whose Choice?

06/17/2021

The very concept of “bodily autonomy” was originally a Christian contribution to an often cruel and barbaric world. Far from suggesting that our bodies are mere heaps of matter for us to do with what we will, the Christian view was that to defile the body, either our own or another’s, is to violate the image of God. Regardless of how old, how young, how healthy, or how sick, a Christian view is that our bodies are not our own. “You were bought with a price,” Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, “therefore glorify God in your body.”

Shi Meiyu and the Image of God in Chinese Healthcare

06/16/2021

In China, Western medicine was an essential ingredient of the growth of Christianity.

Clarity, Confidence, and Courage for Confusing Times

06/15/2021

There are certain moments in history when it’s obvious how much the cultural ground has shifted. Cultural norms that worked before to foster social cohesion no longer suffice. Certain ideas and shared ways of thinking can no longer be taken for granted. At these “hinge points,” Christians are forced to remember who we are and to rethink our place in the overarching story of redemption. This is one of those hinge points.

Banning Critical Race Theory?

06/14/2021

The root problem with critical theory is not how the American story is told, but in pre-empting any critique or debate. That sort of thinking cannot be successfully countered by emulating it. The only way to fight bad ideas is with better ones.

Confused Souls Find Rest in God's Image

06/11/2021

I have tremendous empathy for young people who live in confusion in a chaotic, messy culture. I believe that if I was young today being called “sir,” I might wonder if I was supposed to be a boy. I have empathy for these kinds of teenagers and young adults.

Politics Makes a Lousy Worldview

06/10/2021

Our politics today is merely a show, a reality show that doesn’t give us the reality about us, or about the world. And let’s be honest, the show is getting embarrassing. On the other hand, the way of Jesus is abundant life, and it’s not single-pixel, one-dimensional, or fake.

Deconversion, Deconstruction, and Repentance

06/09/2021

In a somewhat recent innovation, many have embraced "deconstruction", or deconversion. In and of itself, to self-examine faith is a good thing. The eleventh-century Christian philosopher Anselm of Canterbury spoke of "faith seeking understanding," which is "an active love of God seeking a deeper knowledge of God." Unfortunately, this is not the kind of faith seeking understanding that's going on in much of the deconstruction stories today.

Jesus Is Inviting You

06/08/2021

One of the most important effects of embracing a deliberate, self-conscious Christian worldview, and losing the sacred-secular distinction so many Christians have absorbed from the world around us, is seeing the depth, the breadth, and the width of the Lordship of Jesus Christ in every sphere of life. Once we see life this way, our understanding of serving Jesus is radically re-shaped in light of the unassailable, undefeatable, and advancing Kingdom of God.

Beijing's Nebuchadnezzar Moment

06/07/2021

Several sources are reporting that yet again, Beijing has increased pressure on religious groups. Beginning this year, all “approved” religions must conform to its new Administrative Measures for Religious Institutions.

Kids, COVID-19, and Preparing for Storms

06/04/2021

While everyone was “flying blind” at the beginning of the pandemic, it is becoming more and more clear that, in the noble interest of protecting bodies, many public officials neglected to adequately consider the mental, emotional, and even spiritual aspects of our lives together. For kids, a full year without school and extracurricular activities has done terrible damage.

Jane Goodall Sees Intelligent Design but Misses God's Image

06/03/2021

Jane Goodall recently won the 2021 Templeton Prize. The prize honors those who "harness the power of the sciences to explore the deepest questions of the universe and humankind’s place and purpose within it." Goodall is a longtime supporter of the Great Apes Personhood project, which seeks to confer human rights on primates. For all Goodall's talk of "intelligence," "purpose," and a "spark of divine energy" in living things, she seems to miss the utterly unique place of human beings in creation.

Nothing New Under the Sun

06/02/2021

Although the details are different from ancient Gnosticism, our culture is awash with Gnostic concepts. It starts with the idea that we need to be true to ourselves, that if we follow the secret knowledge within us we will live a happy and authentic life. External rules about behavior shouldn’t hold us back from the things we know in our soul will make us happy.

President Biden's Stutter and the Image of God

06/01/2021

In this cultural moment where everything from movies to sports to even the church is politicized, it’s too easy to let our partisan team spirit shape whether or not we obey God and love our neighbors. But this part of the great commandment isn’t optional.

You ARE a Body, Not in One

05/28/2021

In place of a Christian understanding of creation, many have instead embraced a new form of an ancient heresy. Gnosticism is the faith that just won’t die. It both rejects the inherent goodness of the physical world and elevates inner knowledge as being special and spiritual and true.

Christianity Is Not a Means to an End

05/27/2021

A new Gallup poll showed a massive 20-year drop in church attendance in America. While some believers are worried about these findings, others see them not as the demise of true faith, but of “cultural Christianity.” And, they add, good riddance to it.

Does Advocating Religious Liberty Hurt Religious Freedom?

05/26/2021

Sometimes people think that Christians who advocate for religious liberty do so at the cost of their Christian witness. They assume that defending religious freedom is motivated by fear, and distracts from the Gospel. Since Christians are supposed to be fearless and self-sacrificial, doesn’t defending religious liberty compromise our Christian witness? No, and here are three reasons why.

Can Anything Good Happen on TikTok?: Christian Influencers and the Gospel Message

05/25/2021

TikTok, a short form video social media platform, has become a home for Christian evangelism and discipleship. But sharing the Gospel online cannot replace sharing it in real life. The key lesson here is to allow new technologies to do what they can do, but not expect them to do what they cannot do. The internet can disperse sermons and teaching materials like no other platform the world has ever seen. It cannot be the kind of gathering place required for church.

McLaughlin Reminds Us a Woman's Highest Calling Is Following Jesus

05/24/2021

During her talk at the Wilberforce Weekend, author Rebecca McLaughlin asserted that a woman's highest calling is not getting married and having children but following Jesus.

Two Visions of Religious Freedom

05/21/2021

In a recent article in Christianity Today, Judd Birdsall of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University compared how the Biden and Trump Administrations handled religious liberty concerns.

Sweden Ends Puberty Blockers for Minors

05/20/2021

What if the next step in the sexual revolution is not inevitable. What if a backlash to a transgender dogma that’s clearly overstepped legal and parental authority is in the air.

3 Scientific Discoveries That Call for a God Hypothesis

05/19/2021

Three key twentieth-century discoveries, argues Cambridge-educated philosopher of science Stephen Meyer, challenge materialist assumptions and point, not just to an intelligent designer, but to a transcendent God.

The Limits of Artificial Intelligence

05/18/2021

Evolution Evangelists Skirt Evidence, Commemorate Darwin's Descent of Man

05/17/2021

When asked how we can know that the current evolutionary narrative is true, scientist explainers quickly point to the fossil record and our nearest animal relatives, the great apes. However, as a recent study in the journal Science points out, the actual physical evidence for what the late philosopher Michael Stove has called “fables of evolution” is in scant supply.

The Image of God in the Face of Persecution

05/14/2021

The 2020-2021 Wilberforce Award recipient, Bob Fu, is a champion for the image of God, tirelessly engaged in defending the right to life of so many of our brothers and sisters in China.

New York Celebrates Death with Abortion Exhibit

05/13/2021

Bloomberg Quicktake recently featured a video on an art exhibit in New York City called “Abortion is Normal,” in which over 50 artists celebrate and defend the so-called “right to choose” in bizarre and even grotesque ways.

How to Stay When the World Says Leave

05/12/2021

The Church is not above our critique, of course, but too many who embrace the habit of criticizing her soon find themselves as no longer part of her. Make no mistake, the Church is Christ’s bride. She will outlast the world. As her members, we work toward her sanctification, but we should be incredibly wary about shouting her imperfections from the pews, especially to those outside the building. We heckle this Bride at our eternal peril.

Leave Loud, Blaming Churches

05/11/2021

According to a new Gallup poll, the number of Americans who belong to a church, synagogue or mosque has fallen below 50 percent for the first time since 1937. Moreover, many of the people who have left the church have abandoned religion altogether.

Organ Shopping Is Big Business

05/10/2021

The number of people worldwide seeking organs for transplant significantly outpaces the number of organs available. This has created a morbid lesson about “supply and demand" and has resulted in a thriving black market for transplantable organs.

How Hopeful Gene Editing Tech Fails with Broken Philosophy

05/07/2021

In this week’s What Would You Say? video, my colleague Brooke McIntire walked us through ways Christians can think about gene editing, and here’s what she had to say:

The Supreme Court Doesn't Get the Last Word

05/06/2021

In a crucial chapter in his important book, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, Carl Trueman shatters the notion of political neutrality within the Court, as well as the notion that the Court is impervious to cultural pressure.

Evangelicals & Casual Sex

05/05/2021

According to a Pew Research Center survey, less than half of evangelicals surveyed were willing to say that casual sex is never acceptable. Seventeen percent said that casual sex was “rarely” acceptable. Twenty-four percent said that it was sometimes so, and twelve percent (one in eight!) said that casual sex was always acceptable.

Biden Scraps the 'Protect Life' Rule: We Need Cultural Change, Not Political Games

05/04/2021

The term "political football" is a perfect description for how the executive branch of the federal government handles abortion. There are two “teams,” pro-life and pro-choice, who toss the issue back and forth from administration to administration. Neither decisively wins, at least in the long run.

Is Christian Cohabitation the New Norm?

05/03/2021

Earlier this month, David Ayers at the Institute for Family Studies found that nearly half of evangelical Protestants aged 15-22 who were not currently cohabiting or married, said that they would probably or definitely cohabit in the future.

Loving Our Neighbors By Refusing to Lie

04/30/2021

Among the reasons that Christians cannot sit out our culture-wide conversations about sexual orientation and gender identity is that it is based on a lie about the human person, a lie that has convinced many. To relinquish the belief in a reality that exists outside of ourselves is to give up more than we might realize. If men can be women, if laws which expand voting access in Georgia can be renamed as bringing back Jim Crow, then what is real? If Christians give in to lies, why would we be trusted to tell the truth about God?

Lecrae and Bieber Give Gospel Picture in Prison

04/29/2021

Some top names in pop culture have become active in prison ministry as Covid restrictions loosen in many places around the country.

What Every Christian Needs to Know

04/28/2021

If the Church exists to proclaim and bear witness to the rule and reign of Christ, we may find that our culture’s woes aren’t as much the result of a secular occupation as they are the result of a Christian evacuation.

In California, Hundreds of Men Transfer to Female Prisons

04/27/2021

To ignore biological reality in the context of punishment and rehabilitation is not wholly different than a doctor or nurse treating a patient according to a perceived identity that conflicts with biological reality. Such medical care would not be helpful or loving. It would be malpractice.

Will Medical Professionals Be Forced to Perform Transgender Surgeries?

04/26/2021

Earlier this month, the Biden administration filed an appeal in a case that could force “religious doctors and hospitals to perform potentially harmful gender-transition procedures against their conscience and professional medical judgment.”

A Victim of Bad Ideas Is Frozen out of Fertility

04/23/2021

Ideas have consequences and bad ideas have victims. Seven years ago, Bloomberg Businessweek’s cover story told of a woman in her late 30s, single and successful in her career, who spent $19,000 to have her eggs frozen. She planned to focus on a career now and keep open the possibility of marriage and kids later. It didn’t turn out that way. Still single on her 45^th birthday, she decided to have a child with the help of a sperm donor. However, her eggs failed to produce a child. She was crushed.

Planned Parenthood's Reckoning with Margaret Sanger's Racism Doesn't Go Far Enough

04/22/2021

Planned Parenthood is the most obvious example there is of systemic racism, a concept many people reject out of hand but shouldn’t.break

Remembering New Life for Chuck Colson on the Anniversary of His Passing

04/21/2021

 Today, on the ninth anniversary of Chuck Colson's passing, I want you to hear him describe his own conversion, as he did on a BreakPoint that was on the thirtieth anniversary of that conversion.

How Christians Ended Foot Binding in China

04/20/2021

Social scientists have learned crucial lessons from the success of anti-foot binding campaigns in the early to mid-1900s. For example, the missionaries that began the fight against foot binding did not try to lead the movement. Instead, they recruited and helped organize local Chinese people to lead the movement. Though not all of these indigenous leaders and participants in the campaign were Christians, many were. The movement effectively drew in non-Christian intellectual leaders like Kang Youwei by using arguments grounded in the understandable Chinese desire for respect from other nations.

The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Sex, Identity, and the Image of God

04/19/2021

Just as a plane is made to fly, a book is made to be read, and a fish is made to swim, our purpose is to image and glorify God. If we hope to thrive as individuals and as a society, we must live in alignment with that design. Otherwise, we are fighting, not just against God, but against our very natures.

The 2021 Engage Art Contest

04/16/2021

Enjoying, engaging in, reflecting on, and creating art is a profoundly divine activity. God is, as theologian T. M. Moore puts it, “the Great Artist.” Made in His image, humans are also creators. Artistic creativity is, in fact, an integral and distinguishing capability of being human.

Applying Christian Worldview to the World Around Us

04/15/2021

Christians often say, "I've invited Jesus into my life," but the reality is that Jesus is inviting us into His life, His purpose, His restoring work in the world He created.

What's Behind Declining Sperm Counts and Fertility?

04/14/2021

According to a new book by Shanna Swan, an epidemiologist at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, between 1973 and 2011 sperm counts in Western males dropped by 59 percent. In the ten years since then, things have gotten worse. As Swan writes, “If you look at the curve on sperm count and project it forward — which is always risky — it reaches zero in 2045 ... That’s a little concerning, to say the least.”

Join in 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World

04/13/2021

Individuals from the Islamic world are reporting conversions – sometimes through dreams, sometimes through missions, sometimes through other means. Regardless of the means, it has been what one missiologist called a remarkable movement of the Holy Spirit.

Turning Chemicals into Code: $10 Million to Do the Impossible

04/12/2021

How difficult is it to produce a living cell from scratch? A while back, Shane Morris asked synthetic-organic chemist James Tour this very question. Dr. Tour replied that anyone who claims we’re close to building a cell, even in the most ideal of circumstances, “has no idea what they’re talking about.” The bottom line? The origin of life and of the information that makes it possible remain the most significant challenge to a naturalistic worldview. The only plausible explanation for how these incredible systems came into being is intelligent design.

Losing Ourselves

04/09/2021

There is an essential question for Christians to answer. If we are to frame our worldview without being pulled here-and-there by the various deceptions of our culture while also having a strong enough cultural witness that is big enough for the questions of the challenges of this time in human history, then answering this question must involve a deep dive into the issue of the image of God. In other words, the Christian view of what it means to be human.

Why Compromising with the Equality Act Falls Short

04/08/2021

In light of the very real threat posed by the Equality Act, a number of Christians have offered compromise solutions, most notably the Fairness for All Act. FFA would carve out exemptions for churches and certain religious organizations, though it’s unclear which ones. It would not, however, protect the religious freedoms of private Christian citizens who are medical professionals, business owners, bakers, florists, photographers, and so on.

The Essential Hope: God's Image for Today's World

04/07/2021

 Our lack of understanding and our inability to articulate what the image of God means, and what difference this doctrine makes, is an incredibly debilitating oversight in the Church right now, and this is for at least three reasons.

Why the Church Must Fight Anti-Semitism in All of Its Forms

04/06/2021

Hatred of the Jews is perhaps the oldest hatred in the world. Typically, anti-Semitism is perceived as coming from far-right, white supremacists or radical Muslim extremists. However, according to a new student group called the New Zionist Congress, anti-Semitism is increasingly found on college campuses, notably among the far-left.

Truth and Love vs. Truth or Love: The ACLU's Twitter Problem

04/05/2021

Truth matters, ideas have consequences, and bad ideas have victims. This is why we cannot love someone without speaking the truth.

'If You Don't Affirm Me, You Don't Love Me': What Maundy Thursday Can Teach Us about Truth and Love

04/01/2021

Though the volume has increased in recent years, the American Church has been dividing over whether it should be primarily about proclaiming truth or about serving others since at least the mid-20^th century. But, it’s an unnecessary choice to make. These two things need never be separated and should never be separated. On the same night Jesus commanded us to remember how His broken body and shed blood rescues us from sin (that’s the truth), He commanded us to demonstrate our new life by serving others (that’s love).

Is the Resurrection Story Borrowed from Pagan Myths?

03/31/2021

Christians worldwide are preparing to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The resurrection is the central event in the Holy Scriptures, the pivotal moment of the story of Christ, and the foundational belief of a Christian worldview. Even more, if it happened, it is the pivotal event in all of human history. Some skeptics, however, find the story hard to believe. A few have even gone so far as to assert that the story of Jesus’ resurrection was simply borrowed from pagan myths.

Caring for Children Is What Sets the Church Apart

03/30/2021

The life and work of Christian children's rights activist Pandita Ramabai is an example that we must take seriously today. To live in a pagan society is to encounter victims of bad ideas. Often, especially in our culture, these victims are children.

Men and Women Are Different, and That's a Good Thing

03/29/2021

 Congress halted the rollout of the Army’s new Combat Fitness Test. Unlike the old test, the new test requires men and women to meet the same standards of physical fitness. The problem is, so far, 54 percent of women have failed this new gender-neutral test.

The Curious Case of Kristi Noem

03/26/2021

South Dakota Governor Kristie Noem shocked conservatives when she vetoed a proposed bill banning transgender athletes from competing alongside biological girls. 

Mass Shootings and a Culture Without a Conscience

03/25/2021

America has become, to borrow words from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s 1978 speech at Harvard, a place with “little defense against the abyss of human decadence…such as the misuse of liberty for moral violence against young people, such as motion pictures full of pornography, crime, and horror.” Even stricter laws, Solzhenitsyn went on to say, would be powerless to defend a people against such moral corrosion.

Did Jesus Really Exist?

03/24/2021

Each year as Easter approaches, pseudo-scholars, newspapers, and cable networks make headlines claiming to offer the real story about Jesus. Their accounts assume that much of the Jesus story contained in the Gospels, especially anything miraculous is largely a myth created and propagated by, first, His followers, and then, Church leaders seeking to expand their power. Despite the skepticism, few suggest that Jesus never existed. Online, of course, that is a different story. So, what if you find yourself in a conversation with someone who says: “No one really knows whether Jesus existed or not.”

Betting on March Madness: The Problem with Young Men

03/23/2021

The legalization and growth of online gambling has coincided with the legalization of recreational marijuana. This is no coincidence. After all, laws are mostly downstream from the larger culture, and these laws do far more to expand personal license. Rather, they reflect and reinforce an unmistakable message, especially to young men, to aim low, to think short-term thoughts about life and the world, to pursue immediate gratification, and to not aspire to too much.

How the Church Can Mend the Tears in Our Social Fabric

03/22/2021

According to a recent poll published in Reason magazine, trust in American political parties is at a historic low. For the first time, more than 50 percent of the electorate now identifies as Independent, as opposed to Republican or Democrat.

Gripping Grace, Avoiding Sin

03/19/2021

In recent weeks, we’ve learned of abuse committed on a staggering scale, but it didn’t come from nowhere. It came from a long-term trajectory of compromises made possible by a perfect storm of failures – of accountability, of honesty, of tolerating, hiding, and abetting temptation. It is a gift of God that so few of us are in such a position to commit evil on this scale.

Ascending Mars Hill

03/18/2021

As Paul, in a city overrun with religious vanity, unapologetically ascended Mars Hill and graciously spoke the truth, can we face our own Mars Hills of unbelief and do likewise?

Ending Organ Transplant Discrimination Against Those with Disabilities

03/17/2021

Today, 16 states ban the discrimination of people with intellectual disabilities, with similar measures pending in eight other states and in Congress. Still, these laws face an uphill battle, even if passed. As the head of the National Council on Disabilities admitted, the real goal of these laws is to inspire “a change of heart so people understand that they are discriminating.”

What We Must Learn from Amy Carmichael, Missionary and Defender of Children

03/16/2021

In nearly every sector of society—media, education, medicine, public policy, even sports—children are now subjects of social experimentation. As fundamental realities of life such as sex, marriage, and parenting are reimagined, we say to ourselves, “Oh, the kids will be fine.” Overwhelming evidence suggests they aren’t.

'Peace and Security' for the Ancient Church in Iraq?

03/15/2021

After Pope Francis recently visited Iraq, it became clear by some of the media coverage just how little the press “gets religion." Still, this visit was full of meetings that mattered, such as the Pope’s meeting with the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the leader of the Shiites in Iraq. This meeting took place in Najaf in what is called the “Plain of Ur”. In a statement issued after the meeting, the Ayatollah affirmed “his concern that Christian citizens [of Iraq] should live like all Iraqis in peace and security, and with their full constitutional rights.”

Meanwhile in Hong Kong ... The Tyranny Expands

03/12/2021

For months, the Communist leadership tried everything from coercion to concessions, to squash the pro-Democracy protests in Hong Kong, but the protests only intensified. By late summer 2019, the movement, which had started over a law that allowed Hong Kong citizens to be prosecuted under the mainland’s jurisdiction, had become about much more than that. It was now about preserving a free Hong Kong. But when the headlines from changed from protesters to a virus and the world economy ground to a halt, other nations and their governments turned inward.

The COVID Baby Bust Reflects a Disturbing Cultural Reality

03/11/2021

At the start of the pandemic, many expected the lockdowns and quarantines to lead to a “baby boom.” Well, the data is in. Instead of a “boom” it’s been a “bust.” As CBS recently reported, records from more than two dozen states show a “7% drop in births in December — nine months after the first lockdowns began.” If COVID isn’t the cause, how did we get here? Ideas … bad ones with consequences and victims.

The Myth of the Underdog

03/10/2021

The fatal flaw in our current cultural discussions on oppression and justice is a misunderstanding of our common humanity: our common dignity as created in God’s image, our common frailty as fallen from His grace, our common foolishness after the fall, and our common reliance on His grace for wisdom and help.

Should Singles Adopt? Redeeming Brokenness Instead of Creating It

03/09/2021

The fundamental assumptions of a Christian worldview are straightforward. Applying the fundamental truth of a Christian worldview, particularly in this cultural moment, is not so straightforward. For example, this past week we heard from a single woman wrestling with whether or not to go through with an international adoption.

Rescuing the Victims of the Sexual Revolution

03/08/2021

The results of the sexual revolution are in: Children are the victims of our bad ideas. In response, Christians are called to be agents of restoration in whatever time and place they find themselves. For us, now, that means advocating for children’s rights.

Persecution and Failed States Go Hand in Hand

03/04/2021

Around the world, many of our brothers and sisters don’t have the option of living the kind of “quiet and peaceable” lives we take for granted. Let's pray for our brothers and sisters in Nigeria and around the world who have, in recent years, experienced extreme persecution.

British Doctors Order 'Do No Resuscitate' Those with Mental Disabilities

03/03/2021

During the first wave of the pandemic in Great Britain, various facilities that care for people with intellectual disabilities, what the Brits call “learning disabilities,” issued blanket “Do Not Resuscitate” orders. These orders came, according to one source, directly from doctors, without consulting the patients or their families.

Our Work Is Our Worship: One Woman's Faithfulness in the Little Things

03/02/2021

Christians should be with God’s people and serve wherever we can. At the same time, Scripture is clear that everything done well to God’s glory is also worship.

A Promise to America's Children: We Will Put Their Needs First

03/01/2021

Thirty years ago, the idea of socially and medically experimenting on children to advance a controversial and unproven ideology was unthinkable. Today, it’s considered by some to be unquestionable.

Britney Spears Is Not a Thing (She's a Person)

02/26/2021

Celebrity-ism is as much a problem in the Church as out. We can be grateful for YouTube access to the teachings, articles, and sermons of our favorite pastors and for the inspiration from our favorite Christian authors or artists through Instagram. But are we idolizing? Are we angry if they say something we don’t like, commenting as if they’re not real people or as if their job is always to agree with us? Do we assume a level of intimacy that is not appropriate with someone we actually don’t know? Do we use them to replace local churches or to provide spiritual authority in our lives, when that is not their place nor role?

Harriet Tubman, a Woman of Faith and Courage

02/25/2021

Harriet Tubman is set to replace former President Andrew Jackson on the front of the $20 bill.

The Equality Act: What to Know and What to Do

02/24/2021

Late last week, Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives introduced the Equality Act, a grave threat to religious liberty and conscience rights that would, in effect, erase all legal distinctions between male and female in public life.

Amazon Blocks Sale of Book Exposing Transgender Ideology: When Harry Became Sally

02/23/2021

In recent months, Amazon began blocking the sale of books they deemed “dangerous” to LGBTQ people. Some of these books, to be frank, were hateful and demeaning. Others were deemed hateful for simply questioning the dominant narratives about homosexuality, gay marriage, or gender dysphoria. The most recent banned book, When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment, is among the most scholarly and thoroughly researched on the issue of transgenderism.

French Postmodern Chickens Come Home to Roost

02/22/2021

The spectrum of postmodern thought ran between an uncertainty of knowledge to a focus on power. Describing this way of thinking, Angela Franks recently wrote in First Things, “[W]e are not controlled by a puppet master. Rather, we live in a vast network of demands, commandments, inducements, sorting mechanisms, disciplines, and more. ‘Power’ has no center. It is the aggregate of multiple, shifting relationships.”

Redeeming Gender In an Increasingly Gender-Hostile World

02/19/2021

The biblical vision of male and female is beautiful. Men and women were made differently but point to the same dynamic God. When God created both Adam and Eve, He said they both were created in His Image and were “very good.” It’s notable that before the author of Genesis reveals Eve’s name, he reveals she also was made in the image of God.

Jack Phillips Legal Battles Continue

02/18/2021

Masterpiece Cake Shop owner Jack Phillips is once again embroiled in a legal battle after he refused to make a transgender gender transition cake.

Frederick Douglass and the Imago Dei

02/17/2021

Frederick Douglass’s life was a marvelous fusion of biblical teaching, conversion, personal piety, and social action. His life and work had a profound impact on the United States and beyond, and was shaped by his conviction that we are all made in the image of God.

The Tragic Case of Lisa Miller and the Consequences of Redefining Family

02/16/2021

In the early 2000s, Lisa Miller fled the U.S. with her months-old daughter after her former partner, Janet Jenkins, petitioned for partial custody over Miller's daughter.

When the Sperm-Donation System Works (And You Wish It Hadn’t)

02/12/2021

Our felt desire for children is God-given and it is good. Believing we are entitled to children, especially outside of the God’s brilliant and good design, is a perversion.

Critical Race Theory and a Christian Worldview

02/11/2021

Like Marxism, Critical Race Theory is something of a Christian heresy, taking the Christian themes of human dignity and justice and a world remade, and re-orienting these causes under new management. Most pertinently, CRT is slipping into the space where the Church belongs but is too often absent. If we don’t want unbiblical explanations of life and justice sweeping through the Church or culture, we’d better make sure we communicate and embrace the full ramifications of Christian truth for society, and then act justly and love mercy.

How a Holocaust Survivor Thanked the Courageous Christians of Le Chambon

02/10/2021

In late January, Holocaust survivor Eric Schwam passed away at age 90. According to a BBC article, Schwam, a native of Vienna, arrived in Le Chambon in 1943, a refugee along with his mother, father, and grandfather. There, the people of the village kept him and his family safe from the Nazis. After the war, Schwam eventually returned to Austria to live a quiet life. However, he never forgot the people of Le Chambon for saving his life. In fact, he left the town more than $2 million in a bequest.

Children Are Not Chess Pawns

02/09/2021

It is essential that we re-learn that children are a gift from God, unique Image-bearers, and part of God’s good design for the world and not as an item to check off our adulting bucket list.

Why Defining Justice Is Necessary for Doing Justice

02/08/2021

Demands for justice may be getting louder and louder, but that doesn’t mean we are making progress as a society. The only worldview framework solid enough to groundhuman dignity and justice in human history is Christianity. True justice is a matter of honoring God and honoring the image of God inherent in every human person, and is grounded in God’s love for humanity, our love of God, and our love of neighbor.

Meaning and Morality Without God: Atheists Know Better Than They Think

02/05/2021

A recent article in The Guardian, profiles unbelievers and explores what they believe the meaning of life to be.

Pray for Nigeria's Christians (and especially for Leah Sharibu)

02/04/2021

To mark the upcoming third anniversary of Leah Sharibu's abduction, the LEAH Foundation, formed in here honor, is launching a seven-day campaign to draw international attention to her story, and to the plight of Nigerian Christians.

The Void No Robot Can Fill

02/03/2021

Hanson Robotics announced plans to release thousands of what they’re calling “Sophia” robots. Sophia is a “social robot” that can perform rudimentary medical tasks, like taking a person’s temperature, but can also make facial expressions and utter a few phrases. According to company CEO David Hanson, “Sophia” is programmed to offer “human warmth” and is being released this year in order to help especially elderly people who are living in isolation due to the pandemic.

Proverbs: The Wisdom We Need Right Now (and Always)

02/02/2021

The more 2021 resembles 2020, the more Christians should be grounded in those unchanging truths given to us in Scripture. We must rest on those revelations that make sense of our cultural moment: that Christ is risen, that Christ is Lord, and that Christ is making all things new.

Confronting Injustice without Compromising Truth

02/01/2021

One of the great contributions of Christianity to human history is the very idea that all people should be treated justly. As the influence of Christianity spread across the world, God’s instructions for how Israel should treat the poor and the disabled and the unborn and the foreigner spread as well. Today, both inside and outside of the church, demands to address injustices are ubiquitous.

Another Epidemic: Family Gaps Widen over Sex, Tech, Trump & COVID

01/29/2021

Earlier this month, in a piece for The Atlantic, Joshua Coleman described an epidemic that’s not COVID but that’s also afflicting America: family estrangement.

My Octopus Teacher and the God-Shaped Hole in Every Human Heart

01/28/2021

It is a particular discipline to not approach God with what Jesus called "many words," and instead to "be still and know" that He is God.

Finding Meaning in Life Is Good for Your Health

01/27/2021

Living for the One who died and rose again not only removes us from the center of our own universe, but aligns our hearts and minds with what is actually true about the universe: that it belongs to God and that our purpose is given by Him not determined by us.

How COVID Has Enabled Religious Persecution

01/26/2021

The 2021 World Watch List differs from previous years in a very important way...

Christian Nationalism and Christian Hope

01/25/2021

Christians must not abandon the public square just because people say mean things about us.

The Power of Redemptive Suffering: Ask 'What?' Not 'Why?'

01/22/2021

What if you’ve learned every conceivable lesson and undergone every imaginable sanctification and the drumbeat of sorrow continues, with no end in sight? What do you do when the spiritual shepherds who assured you God was preparing a weight of glory through your momentary affliction stammer and look away, no longer able to meet your questions? According to Connors, you stop asking “why?” and start asking “what?” That is, “What good can I bring out of this situation?”

Recovering the Lost Virtue of Patience: Cultural Change Won't Come by Force

01/21/2021

The history of Christianity shows that lasting cultural change rarely comes about in ways we are expecting. Christian influence requires that Christians cultivate virtue in both our private and public lives. One virtue that once changed the world is patience.

Inauguration Day 2021: Conscience or the Constable?

01/20/2021

The most recent lawlessness at the Capitol reflects an escalating lawlessness that spans political parties, religious affiliations, age brackets, and social classes. Will a militarized America be the new normal? Will the armed troops protecting the Citadel of Democracy today be patrolling the streets of rioting cities tomorrow? Will the blatant failures of our institutions and our leaders continue to fester to an explosive level of distrust?

A COVID-Free China Still Isn't Free

01/19/2021

Christians, of all people, should be able to clearly and accurately define freedom. Better yet, we must be able to show what freedom is. Our brothers and sisters in China are not free to worship together on Sundays without fear or oversight. American Christians who don’t live Monday to Saturday as if Jesus is Lord aren’t free, either, if freedom ends up being nothing more than enslavement to every passing fad. True freedom is only in Christ, in seeing and living all of life as if it belongs to Him.

Dr. King and the Nature of Law

01/18/2021

As a work of moral philosophy, Colson and the Georges are absolutely correct about their assessment of Dr. King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” It is unparalleled in its clarity about the nature of law, what constitutes an unjust law, and our responsibility to respond to unjust laws. Twenty years ago, Chuck Colson reflected on Dr. King’s legacy, and the most important contributions from his Letter from a Birmingham Jail: Here is Chuck Colson:

Our Politics Is Cracking Under the Weight of a Thinning Civil Society

01/15/2021

As civil society thins and as Americans become less connected to the pre-political aspects of life, the cultural weight lands on politics. To put it bluntly, our politics cannot handle the amount of weight we currently expect of it. As a result, we are experiencing two unsustainable consequences.

Navigating the News in 2021 from a Christian Worldview

01/14/2021

I’m tired of bias, of opinion pieces masquerading as reporting, of buried leads and hysterical fearmongering. Apparently, many Americans are tired of these things, too.

The Ethics of the COVID Vaccine

01/13/2021

In the end, concerns over the COVID vaccines are understandable. Ends do not justify immoral or unethical means, and ethical consideration is absolutely necessary, but it must be informed by truth rather than overtaken by fears or conspiracy theories.

Soul and the Life Well-Lived: Pixar Take on Purpose Is Spot On

01/12/2021

Disney's new film, Soul,  offers a profound and subtle rebuke of one of our culture’s central and mistaken assumptions, that meaning can be measured by paychecks and popularity. In the end, the film echoes one of Christianity’s central insights: that all of life, when lived for a higher purpose, is sacred

What if What We Saw Yesterday at the Capitol Is Us?

01/07/2021

Yesterday, when President-elect Biden said that the actions of the mob did not reflect America, I wish he were correct. But he wasn’t. We are not a moral nation. We are lawless. We are not a nation that cultivates the kinds of families able to produce good citizens. Our institutions cannot be trusted to tell us the truth or advance the good. Our leaders think and live as if wrong means are justified by preferred ends. Our churches tickle ears and indulge narcissism. Our schools build frameworks of thinking that are not only wrong, but foster confusion and division.

Genetic Experimentation on Humans and Animals: Part 2

01/06/2021

Researchers at the Salk Institute recently implanted human pluripotent stem cells, or cells that can produce any kind of body tissue, in pig embryos.

Unexplained Light: The Darkness Has Not Overcome it

01/05/2021

After recently discovering evidence of light in deep space, many scientists were left puzzled and searching for logical answers to what the unexplained glow was. Perhaps, it would be easier to see God in “the heavens” He made, if we weren’t so convinced of our ability to explain everything by purely naturalistic causes or even, as some do, to dismiss all supernatural causes. Maybe our gut instinct to look upward when we encounter the unexplained is the right one. If the heavens indeed “declare the glory of God,” we’d do well to listen.

Where Salome Danced: Archeologists Make a Fascinating Find

01/04/2021

According to a recent article, an archeological team “re-erected two of the columns that had once held up the roof of the courtyard where the princess Salome is said to have danced.”