Thursday, May 18, 2023 marks the 1,993rd anniversary of the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven. Unlike Christmas and Easter, this celebration of the culmination of our Lord’s earthly ministry does not receive much attention culturally. In some nations, Ascension Day was a public holiday, but in our post-Christian era, we have adopted new “holy” days.

God is loving, we are told, and thus accepts us as we are.  The idea that God will judge people for their sins is now so unpopular that few are willing to state it publicly, and many pastors have sadly bowed to the pressure to present a palatable God, a doting “Grandpa” who silently approves of His children regardless of their conduct. 

It’s incredibly awkward when you’re in an important worldview conversation with a friend, and you don’t know what to say. You can’t figure out the right facts or convincing words to combat their argument, and worse, the conversation ends with you questioning your own beliefs.

This Sunday, Americans will celebrate another Mother’s Day. Since everyone has a mother, it’s an important proposition to honor them. Biblical, too. You know, “honor your father and mother” is one of the Big Ten. 

We've all seen the bumper sticker that spells COEXIST by combining the symbols of major world religions in a convenient order. The bumper sticker seems reasonable; after all, isn't it just representing the world as it is—people of many religions all existing side by side in the same space? If that were all the bumper sticker meant, then I might consider putting one on my car; it's an obviously true fact about the world. However, the sticker means much more than that...

One of the greatest activities in which a person can participate in is this world, is prayer. Far from being a dull or boring exercise, we must recognize prayer for what it really is, an audience with God Himself! Perhaps you may not think of prayer in this way. Perhaps for you, it is a tedious endeavor, but it shouldn’t be. The reality is, it is the greatest privilege and honor to be able to pray to the Lord.

It is one thing to reject the authority of the Bible entirely, claiming that it is not the inspired Word of God. It is another thing to appeal to the authority of Scripture while at the same time claiming that the biblical writers didn’t understand certain aspects of human nature or spiritual truth. That makes no sense at all, yet it is a common practice of “progressive” Christians.

If you’ve never heard of Jimmy Donaldson, more commonly known by the moniker Mr. Beast, ask your child who he is. He (or she) likely knows. Mr. Beast is a highly popular YouTuber with multiple channels dedicated to various things, such as friendly competitions, gaming, and philanthropy... Chris Tyson is a member of Mr. Beast’s cast of friends. Over the past couple of months, viewers noticed that Tyson has started to look and act differently in videos. The reason why became clear when Tyson revealed on Twitter that he has been going through hormone treatments to try and ‘transition’ into a girl. What makes this even sadder is that Tyson has a wife and son, who now must deal with the inevitable fallout of Tyson’s decision.

Many years ago, I asked a gentleman from Japan why he had come to the United States.  His reply startled me. He said that he had come to the U.S. to find Christianity because it is the religion of love and therefore had to be the right religion!  He saw a connection between Christianity, the love it manifested, and the United States.

America is being turned upside down.  As it is going, the country will soon be unrecognizable, with personal freedoms limited if not erased and our Christian heritage and principles obliterated.  Despite the Leftists proclamations that they are the defenders of democracy, what they are promoting will eliminate democracy, for it destroys its foundation. 

We’re likely all familiar with the phrase, "there’s only two things you can’t avoid in life: construction in Illinois and car warranty calls." No…wait. I think the answer is supposed to be death and taxes. Of course, in Illinois we love our taxes. We must. That’s why they keep finding new ones for us!

Our world seems to be getting darker by the minute. At the time this article is being written, there have been 496 shootings, and 19,375 overall violent crimes this year in the city of Chicago alone. These are simply staggering numbers. According to the Chicago Police crime statistics website, the violent crime rate in the city is up 45 percent from last year, and 95 percent from the year before.

I was, for a short time during college, a volunteer fireman, and my responsibility was to operate the equipment while more experienced firemen entered the burning building.  Following a fire at one house, another student who had gone inside told me how he stood in the smoke-filled kitchen spraying water at the flames to no avail.  It wasn’t until he realized that he was facing a mirrored wall and that the flames were actually behind him that he turned and was able to extinguish the fire.  As long as he was sending water in the wrong direction the fire continued unabated.

America’s children are being targeted by sex predators. Their recruiters are already in our schools and libraries. These “transgender” people need your children as converts. Consider: Children returning from school carrying "gender unicorn lessons," which teach strange ideas of sex and gender; Public libraries are conditioning your children through “drag queen readings" to get children familiar with these recruiters; Schools are hiding from parents that they're giving puberty blocking drugs to their children.

As a pastor, I feel like every sermon could be turned into two calls to action – make sure you are reading your Bibles and keep praying. These acts of faith in no way help us earn or deserve our salvation, which is all of God’s free grace. However, it is easy to be slack in these two aspects of the Christian life.