In Part 4 of Pastor Derek Buikema’s interview with author Rod Dreher, they discuss the critical importance of Christians being involved in politics with Rod warning that while Christians may not be interested in politics, “Politics is interested in” Christians. He further warns that the growth of “LGBT rights can only come at the expense of religious liberty.”

What would happen if church members from around Illinois came to Springfield and sat praying in the House gallery each time it met during the spring 2020 session? What could God do in Illinois? That’s what Illinois State Rep. Dave...

In Part 3 of Pastor Derek Buikema’s compelling interview with author Rod Dreher, they discuss the difference between a cowardly retreat from culture and a “strategic retreat” intended to strengthen the faithful for the persecution that is coming to an increasingly anti-Christian world, including America.

In his recent Christianity Today (CT) blog post, New Testament scholar Scot McKnight defends recently retired CT president Mark Galli’s hubristic diktat about the necessity—in Galli’s view—of Trump’s removal from office: Whether Mr. Trump should be removed from office...

In Part 2 of Pastor Derek Buikema’s interview with author Rod Dreher, they discuss his book, The Benedict Option... Rod describes what the Benedict Option is and, equally important, what it isn’t.

IFI has a special treat for our readers. Recently, Derek Buikema, senior pastor of Orland Park Christian Reformed Church, interviewed Rod Dreher, senior editor at the American Conservative and author of The Benedict Option, when Rod spoke at the Touchstone ...

I’d like to offer a few words about the separation of church and state—a concept long abused by “progressives.” The religion clauses of the First Amendment were intended to protect religion from the intrusive power of the state, not the reverse. The Establishment Clause states that “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion.” That does not mean religious convictions are prohibited from informing political values and decisions...

More than 60 years ago, in “The Abolition of Man,” C.S. Lewis challenged his readers to enter the town square and the marketplace of ideas with boldness and confidence. He argued that in failing to do so, we would become “men without chests;” a culture of heartless people divorced from any agreement of what is right and wrong; a society of disconnected individuals who care little for what is enduring, accurate or true.

President Trump is a lightning rod for opinions in American Christianity. As a pastor, I know. Some of my Christian friends love Donald Trump’s personality, while others find it appalling. Some strongly support his policies, while others think he is...

My wife and I recently took our four children to see the Festival of Lights in East Peoria. If you’ve never been, it’s said to be one of the Midwest’s “largest lighted holiday events.” Some individual displays (such as the steam train) are comprised of tens of thousands of lights, with the total number of lights running into the millions.

For the last few years the fastest growing group in religion are the “Nones.” Not the kind that wear black and white habits, but the kind that don’t identify with any religion at all. According to the American Family Survey...

In 1 Corinthians 13—the famous Love Chapter—the Apostle Paul tells us many things about what love is, what it does, and what it doesn’t do. Most of us love our families deeply. We would do virtually anything for our spouse...

Last year, the Secretary of State’s office at the Illinois Capitol in Springfield allowed the Satanic Temple in Chicago to display a monument, which was placed next to the Christmas Nativity scene and the Jewish Menorah to mark Hanukkah. With...

Next time you hear some arch-defender of the a-constitutional “wall” of separation between the church and state whose knickers are in a twist because a school allows ten seconds of silence during which students may pray, remember this story, reported...

There are valuable lessons to be learned from the first Thanksgiving but the first grade class of Stone Bank Elementary School in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin won’t be learning them. Even though no one had complained, school administrators sent the following message to disappointed parents, “Out of respect for Native Americans, and the sensitivity of this time in our history, we are not going to reenact the first Thanksgiving story.”