The famous quote often misattributed to Albert Einstein defines insanity as “Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Living as Christians in the rebellious state of Illinois often feels like we are surrounded by insanity.

I am hearing that December was Chicago’s coldest month in about forty years. It was bitter! But it is not just this winter I feel is cold, it is winter in general. Having spent several years in Alaska as a boy, cold did not affect me much until recently, as my age caught up with me. Lately, I have been looking at winter a little differently, and realized that it is like an annual message from God.

IFI was honored to secure an interview with theologian, pastor, and author Dr. Carl Trueman earlier this year. In this interview with moderator Pastor Derek Buikema of Orland Park Christian Reformed Church, Dr. Trueman is asked a pressing question– “How did we get here?” Dr. Trueman tracks the intellectual genealogy of how the culture has come to the current position that it finds itself in. 

Christians who care about America’s future will seek to increase our individual devotion to God, as well as our collective obedience to Bible teachings. But now an alarm is raised, claiming that Christians who believe this, and who act on it, are actually dire threats to society.

Next to Jesus Christ and “love,” Christmas is probably the most popular theme for music.  For most Americans, Christmas has been, as the song says, “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!”  But why is this so?

If you are a follower of Jesus today, what kind of person were you before you knew the Lord? Perhaps you were raised in the faith and, as far back as you can remember, you always loved the Lord. 

But others, like me, can sing, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me” – with an emphasis on that word wretch.

We all hunger for paradise. We had it once and it was good!  In fact, based upon the words of the best Judge of such things it was “very good!” (Genesis 1:31). And, considering who He is, that might be an understatement! I can imagine, (and I would have to imagine it for the Scriptures are silent about such things), Adam and Eve enjoying a brilliant and beautiful sunset sipping on a newly discovered beverage we now call coffee or wading into a crystal-clear stream of perfectly tempered water having no fear of drowning. No mosquitoes, no flies, no sunburn to worry about.

Concerned Christians who are troubled by the revolutions that we are seeing in law and in our culture are right to investigate the source of why our nation is so rapidly changing. Evidence points to the failure of Christians maintaining a faithful witness to God’s truth and giving into the wicked pressures of our culture. Even more seriously, many professed Christians are extremely confused about the key doctrines of the Christian faith.

Thanksgiving, especially in recent years, is a neglected holiday. Sandwiched  between Halloween and Christmas, and overshadowed by Black Friday, people know Thanksgiving is there, but many don’t put much thought into it until they have to start planning family, food and travel. In recent years, Halloween has become a more culturally celebrated holiday than Thanksgiving. There was even a fun little trend going around social media where you’d show a picture of yourself on Oct. 31 ready for Halloween, and then on Nov. 1 ready for Christmas with Thanksgiving not even an afterthought. There’s just not much societal excitement for Thanksgiving, which is interesting - but it makes sense. Thanksgiving doesn’t fit the ‘cultural narrative’ of self-focus that has been set up.

Most of us know enough colonial history to remember the “First Thanksgiving,” dated November 24, 1621.  Whether that was actually the first thanksgiving feast on American soil is uncertain, but the date is not as relevant as the fact that those early Pilgrims understood the need, in spite of a horrendous first year, to render thanks to God. Half of the Mayflower immigrants had died the winter following their arrival, and the remaining survived only by God’s grace and His provision of Native Americans like Squanto and the kind Wampanoag people who helped them immeasurably.

Pastor Derek Buikema asks professor, theologian, and author Dr. Carl Trueman to explain a bit about “expressive individualism,” the subject of Dr. Trueman’s important book The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution.

In another brief excerpt from IFI’s interview with Dr. Carl Trueman, author of two books that touch on “trans”-cultic beliefs including Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution, Pastor Derek Buikema asks about the responsibility of Christians in regard to the harm being done to children by “trans”-cultic beliefs.

Have you ever wondered if the Church should continue to engage in the culture wars? After all, we will never eradicate evil from the world, and sometimes it feels like the water is pouring into our boats faster than we can bail it out.

If you are like me, there are three primary thoughts running through your mind following this election: “What happened to the red wave?”  “How can so many people be so fooled by the party of death?” and “What is God doing?”

In this excerpt from IFI’s interview with professor, theologian, and author Dr. Carl Trueman, Pastor Derek Buikema asks what should determine whether Christians stay or leave a church (or denomination) that appears to be moving away from orthodoxy.