For the last century, the United States of America has engaged in a great secular experiment: what if we pretended that God was irrelevant? What if we pretended that we could make laws that ignored God? Could the ‘public square’ be a place of free, rational discourse—free from claims about the implications of Christian theism on public life? This pretended neutrality has served to reveal one thing: that the line between secularism and paganism is dangerously thin.

In Proverbs 8:36, Lady Wisdom declares that “All who hate me love death.” Those who scorn wisdom, who are wise in their own eyes, are not merely prideful, they have a death wish. Wisdom comes to us in many forms. Principally through God’s Word and his Church, but also through the traditions of our family, culture, and nation (Prov. 6:20, 22:28). When a nation rejects these forms of wisdom, it will be a nation soaked with blood.

On February 9, the Illinois General Assembly introduced two bills—one in the House, one in the Senate—both entitled the “Deceptive Practices of Limited Services Pregnancy Centers Act.” The contents of HB 2463, introduced by State Representative Terra Costa Howard (D-Lombard) and  SB 1909, introduced by State Senator Celina Villanueva (D-Chicago) are identical, and both bills seek to radically curtail the operations of “limited services pregnancy centers.”

Illinois’s recent assault weapons ban has provoked more than a little consternation across the state—as it should. The ban, passed by Governor Pritzker on January 10 of this year, immediately banned the sale of “assault weapons” and magazines with a capacity greater than ten rounds. The ban also requires current firearm owners to register their now-illegal weapons with the Illinois State Police. There’s only one problem for Pritzker: The vast majority of Sheriffs in are not on board.

We’ve all grown accustomed—even jaded—to our culture’s sexual decline. But whatever the solution is, it doesn’t appear to be coming from the evangelical church.

Dr. Erwin Lutzer, senior pastor emeritus of The Moody Church in Chicago, was the keynote speaker at IFI’s 2021 annual banquet. Dr. Lutzer, a stalwart defender of biblical values and an outspoken champion of pro-life and pro-family causes, is the author of several award-winning books, including The Church in Babylon, When a Nation Forgets God, and Hitler’s Cross.

The looming threat of a Republican-led U.S. has sparked a movement among U.S. Senators from both sides of the aisle. Pro-pot federal lawmakers are currently pushing to get two pieces of cannabis banking legislation passed before year-end: the SAFE act and the HOPE act.

Right on schedule, the new year will bring (yet another) onerous increase in gas taxes for Illinoisans: the gas tax is set to be increased to 42.5 cents per gallon, effective January 1, 2023.  The state gas tax was 19 cents per gallon before J.B. Pritzker took office—meaning the gas tax has more than doubled in the last four years. 

As you’re probably aware, the term “Christian Nationalist” has been getting quite a bit of airtime in the last couple years. However, of the hundreds (yes, hundreds) of articles being written about the deadly threat that Christian Nationalism supposedly poses to the United States, most seem unconcerned about offering a strict definition.

Are today’s journalists and news outlets doing their jobs well? According to journalists themselves, yes. According to the public, no.

What do you expect from your church? Biblical preaching? A community where biblical values are exemplified by clergy and laity alike? A recent poll from George Barna’s Cultural Research Center (CRC) indicates that these are no longer reasonable expectations in American churches.