A sign along the highway in Wisconsin states, “Lies are destroying America.” It is ironically true. Truth matters, and so do lies. How did we get to the point where virtually everything we hear must be analyzed to determine whether it is true or not? How did so many Americans come to accept lying as normal? And worse, how have so many bought into “Wokism,” which is all out war against Truth!

A powerful story of forgiveness is found in John 8, involving Jesus and the woman caught in adultery, wherein He famously said, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” Her accusers quietly leave, one after another. Jesus then tells her that neither does He accuse her, “But go and sin no more”—a part often ignored today by our “tolerant” society.

But now, if the Chinese Communists have their way, the whole story of Jesus and the adulterous woman will be completely turned on its head.

A couple of weeks ago, I was scrolling through Not The Bee when I came across an article entitled “They Want Narnia Without Aslan.” My heart skipped a beat, and I hastily clicked the link to discover a ScreenRant article titled “Netflix’s Chronicles of Narnia Using the Original Books’ Ending Would be a Huge Mistake.”

Going back to my great grandparents my family was involved in the Evangelical Free Church of America. Personally, I was born, dedicated, baptized, and even pastored in the Free Church until I started at Eureka Baptist over six years ago. This history makes it difficult for me to see where the EFCA is today. The decline of the Free Church was displayed this past month at the EFCA National Conference in California.

Can you name the famed characters of Looney Tunes? Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck, Barnyard Dawg, Foghorn Leghorn, Sylvester, Yosemite Sam, Porky Pig, etc. And a personal favorite…Bugs Bunny. Their antics were crazy. Even…looney. The word “looney” has an ample number of synonyms. Silly. Stupid. Crazy. Even the softer "strange.” Our world is rampant today with looney-ness.

If you keep wondering how bad laws get made in Illinois, SB 1909 is a very good example. Yes, pundits have always compared law-making to sausage-making – a messy and unsavory process. But lawmaking in Illinois has reached a whole new level of butchery as a way to disguise or mask the quality of their work – it is so different from your “normal” backroom deals (which still happen, by the way).

In 2021 the Illinois government refreshed the The Illinois Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading Standards. These mandate that teachers become experts in “social emotional learning” (SEL). School districts have enthusiasm to implement SEL across their schools, and we soon expect to see students graduate from SEL programs. But what sort of young adults will these former students be? Because of what SEL actually teaches, expect a generation of angry agitators for socialism. The problem is that SEL has been changed to be centered around Marxist concepts...

Accessible abortion gives women power, or so they say. As they put it, a baby on the way potentially jeopardizes a woman's professional career or even her social life. In short, if women aren't able to decide when to—excuse the euphemism—"terminate their pregnancies," then they are necessarily reduced to second-class citizens who cannot control their future.

If there is one emotion that has risen to the surface in recent years in America, it is anger. There is anger on the streets. There is anger online. There is anger wherever we turn. What is the source of it?

I have had many people tell me that they cannot believe how quickly the Left has been able to bring death and destruction to American cities the last several years, and worse, that so many shrug it all off as nothing.  But those of us who have kept a finger on America’s cultural pulse know that this has been a long time coming. 

The Christian faith is monotheistic – that is – we believe in only ONE God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We can say “Amen” to the Shema of Deuteronomy 6:4, “Sh'ma Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Ecḥad - "Hear, O Israel: the LORD is our God, the LORD is One."

In our recent discussion of fatalism contrasted with the biblical worldview, we saw that physical resources are only as good as the theology that wields them. That is, some otherwise wealthy cultures are shackled by fatalist worldviews positing that there is little point in trying to improve anyone’s lot in life—people are irrevocably bound by their social class or by their circumstances. Societies like these might be given the resources to help those in need, but if they fatalistically refuse to help the lowly or distressed, the suffering may very well go on suffering.

As readers may remember, in 2021 far Left activists were successful in pressuring several suburban governments to either fly the LGBTQ+ flag in June or pressure city councils to pass a "Pride" Resolution for the month of June. For three years the Arlington Heights city council has passed a resolution declaring June to be Pride Month.

In articles like these, I, and other writers, tend to focus on the alarming decay of the Christian worldview and value system in the United States. And, since the enemy's attacks on our culture truly are alarming, we are indeed making good use of our time in exposing them. However, it's also important to step back and consider just how much Christianity has influenced—and still persists in influencing—our culture. We still have many blessings to thank the Lord for, and there is still much to defend.

In my basement sits a large, three ring binder. The contents are the handouts provided during a week long "Christian discipleship" course I attended in May of 1970. At the time, it was known as the "Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts." All the sessions were designed and taught by one Bill Gothard.