By Mark Elfstrand, Cultural Affairs Writer
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02.17.24
Movie buffs will recognize the title of this article as also being the title of a movie from 1993 starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. The two aging retirees were next-door neighbors. Living in Wabasha, Minnesota, the two feuded constantly. While living alone, they seem to find joy in ice fishing, trading insults, and playing practical jokes on each other.
By Rev. Thorin Anderson
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02.14.24
If there is one thing that our cultural leaders are not very earnest about anymore, it is marriage. There is much ado made about dating and the wedding ceremony itself, but how to succeed in marriage itself is given little attention. Statistics indicate that approximately half of marriages end in divorce. This is more than scandalous, it is destructive to the nation and dreadfully harmful to children, to say nothing about how God vies such things!
By Mark Elfstrand, Cultural Affairs Writer
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02.13.24
It was 1995 and I was hosting an afternoon talk show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A buzz had formed around an announcement that the Pittsburgh mayor had planned to conduct a feasibility study of proposed riverboat gambling on the city's three rivers. This study would generate estimates of how many outsiders would travel to Pittsburgh to gamble.
By David E. Smith
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02.11.24
Did Jesus have anything to say about homosexuality? Do we have any authority to say that any sin is worse than another? Just how important is the issue of homosexuality to the church today? In the video below, Dr. Robert Gagnon sets the record straight during his session at the IFI Worldview Conference in 2022...
By Calvin Lindstrom
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02.10.24
The first two commandments God gave Israel are theologically very significant. Yahweh alone, the Triune God, was to be recognized and worshipped by Israel. And the only true God was not to be captured by human imagination and expressed through man’s ingenuity and creativity. All idols or images of the true God and all false gods were and are totally abhorrent.
By Mae Arthur
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02.08.24
We are expecting our third child, due to join us in about a month. Life is full, a little stressful, often mundane, and infinitely more purposeful and joyful than it would be without our kids. I’m tired a lot of the time, but that’s a small price to pay in exchange for my daughter’s unbelievable sense of humor, the weight of my son on my chest when he snuggles after his nap, and the rolls and kicks I feel in my abdomen as I write.
By Mark Elfstrand, Cultural Affairs Writer
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02.07.24
Jesus forgave the sinner. He didn’t accommodate the sin. We read about this in John, Chapter 8 — often referred to as the “Woman caught in the act of adultery.” (John 8:2-11) Any of us who have read or heard this story about the adulterous woman should be asking why the Pharisees were not so hot on the idea of dealing with the sin of the adulterous man. And we should clearly see that Jesus is a God of mercy and forgiveness. Does He then excuse adultery? Hardly.
By Ecce Verum
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02.06.24
Online sports gambling has been around for a while, but it has really put the pedal to the floor over the last few years. This is partly because the activity enjoys much more legal leeway now than it has in the past. Only just a few years ago, states were forbidden by federal law from operating or sponsoring sports lotteries, but the Supreme Court struck down that law in the case Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association (2018).
By David E. Smith
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02.06.24
One of my favorite Bluegrass Gospel renditions is sung by a group known as Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. The song is titled, “He’s In Control” and the beginning reminds us: "There are days that darkness seems to gather in from every side. But my Lord is in control."
By Oliver Perry
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02.05.24
Would you like a government that reflects your Christian beliefs? If so then congratulations, you’re a threat to democracy! Or so says Rob Reiner, who produced a movie meant to alarm you about Christian nationalism, He even tweeted that Christian nationalism is “a danger to Christianity itself.” His message, and his movie, joins an already noisy crowd just dying to tell you that applying Christianity to politics is wrong.
By Rev. Thorin Anderson
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02.03.24
“Amazing grace! how sweet the sound-that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found. . . .” These opening words from John Newton’s famous gospel song acknowledge the reality of our lost condition without Jesus Christ.
By Ecce Verum
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02.02.24
Every school has to know at least a little bit about the students it is teaching, and every school has to provide at least something of value to its students. But there's a flipside—in pursuit of these goals, schools should not pry into areas of family life beyond their proper purview. While every family will have slightly different standards about what is appropriate for schools to inquire about or provide for their kids, I think that concerned parents and observers of the education system may soon sound the alarm that schools are becoming too intrusive.
By Brandon Myers
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02.01.24
In a recent American Reformer article detailing the decay of doctrine among Evangelicals, the point that generated the most attention by far concerned popular pastor Alistair Begg’s counsel from September of last year in which he advised a woman to attend her grandchild’s transgender “wedding.”
By Mark Elfstrand, Cultural Affairs Writer
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02.01.24
February has some interesting distinctives. Back in the olden days (when I was growing up), we celebrated TWO presidential birthdays this month: Abraham Lincoln’s and George Washington’s. Now we celebrate only one—a generic President’s Day for our Monday holiday benefit.
By Ecce Verum
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01.27.24
Does it ever seem if the cultural left's calls to action are often aimed at problems that seem—at least somewhat—manufactured? Does it seem almost as if, in a world that isn't run their way, we wouldn't have to face the kinds of issues that they’re trying to fix?