The massive wave of illegal immigration coming across the U.S.-Mexico border is hitting Illinois and Chicago particularly hard, with authorities considering a plan to erect giant “refugee” tent cities to handle the influx. More than 1,500 migrants are currently staying in police stations across Chicago and ten times that many are spread across 16 shelters operated by the city.

Earlier this week, Governor Pritzker and U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona visited an after-school program at Fairview Elementary School in Springfield. This was just one stop on Cardona’s five-state midwestern bus tour to promote the Biden Administration’s new “Raise the Bar: Lead the World” education agenda.

“If I am to be effective, which I believe I am, we must always see the hurting human in front of us and compassionately, sensitively, truthfully confront that person with the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ.” These are the honest and sincere words of Reverend Stephen Lee, also known as America’s Pastor. Recently, Reverend Lee was indicted in Georgia for so-called election interference, along with 18 others, including former president Donald Trump. The state alleges Lee and others “unlawfully conspired and endeavored to conduct and participate in a criminal enterprise in Fulton County, Georgia, and elsewhere.”

Gender-affirming care is the current standard for dealing with any child who is gender non-conforming, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The primary proponent of that standard in the administration is Rachel Levine, the transgender Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services. Levin claims that any other approach endangers the welfare of the transgender child. He said: “There is no argument among medical professionals – pediatricians, pediatric endocrinologists, adolescent medicine physicians, adolescent psychiatrists, psychologists, etc. – about the value and the importance of gender-affirming care.”

In recent articles, we've addressed how the very presence of legal abortion in society disempowers women, and recent studies show that up to 70% of women who have abortions feel at least somewhat coerced or pressured into the decision. However, while boyfriends and family are common sources of this pressure, they aren't the only ones. The abortion industry itself—paragon of "choice" that it is—is sometimes guilty of pressuring women into abortion.

Let’s face it. The unseen forces of evil are all around us. And because of sin, they always have been. And always will be. Prudence dictates that we don’t allow evil unnecessary opportunities to strike. We cannot be fully protected. But we can act wisely to protect those we love.

In the Bible, Judges 21:25, we read that when there was no king (authority) in the land of Israel, everyone “did what was right in their own eyes,” meaning lawlessness became the norm. Sounds like America today! Lawlessness is the antithesis of God, for He created order in the universe; and that order is beneficial! Mankind’s lawlessness originated with Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden (“Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and all sin is lawlessness,” I John 3:4 NKJV).

Most people, if given a glimpse of a future event that was going to cause harm to their friends, family, community, and nation, would use every means possible to alert those around them to the danger. From time to time, there are real, best-case scenario examples of this, such as when someone shares a tip with law enforcement or the intelligence community and a mass killer or terrorist is stopped before he can enact his deadly plan.

As Christians, we have the amazing freedom of coming before the throne of the Almighty, Holy, Omnipresent, All-Powerful Creator of the universe to petition Him in prayer – without being destroyed – because of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. It’s an incredible privilege, and what’s more, we’re told in James 5:16b that “the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” Prayer is powerful because we are talking to a powerful God. As we wrestle against “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12), prayer is one of the strongest weapons we have.

Four principles of manhood that our society is attacking vigorously: #1: Men are to take dominion over the earth (Gen. 1:28). This was included in God's first set of commands to Adam and still remains a central imperative for men today. On the contrary, our culture provides little support for men who are serious about exercising dominion over what God has placed under their control, and instead provides many escapes from a man's true obligations.

In late June of this year, the Brown University newspaper published a startling statistic: the percentage of LGBTQ+ students at this Ivy-League school has doubled since 2010. While the numbers from the fall of 2010 showed the student population at 86% heterosexual and 14% homosexual/bisexual, the most recent data from last spring reveals that the school is now only 60% heterosexual. The last 40% is a veritable miscellany of designations, including homosexual, bisexual, queer, questioning, pansexual, asexual, and "other."

Two weeks ago, Governor Pritzker signed a bill, Public Act 103-0518, allowing any multiple-occupancy restroom to be identified as an all-gender multiple-occupancy restroom at the discretion of the building owner or leaseholder. Anyone of any “gender” could use it. Why was this law introduced, why did it pass?

It was a Lifeway Research report earlier this spring that “triggered” my interest on church security. Most of us in the faith community seem to go about our weekly church business not too concerned about safety at our house of worship. Fortunately, others take this quite seriously. Church security is a broader topic than one might think. I recall my membership in a Dallas megachurch in the 1980s where building and parking garage security was a must. Occasional visits from relatively non-threatening types often needed to be escorted from the premises. Even the pastor had a personal security detail present before and after services. Times have changed.

I recently had a speaking tour through three South American countries. As I talked with many Christians in these nations, I heard a lot of discouragement. They feel they simply don’t have the influence they need to see positive change occur. In some of the countries, Marxism has taken root and has a stranglehold on politics and economics. Many Protestant Christians I talked to there are hoping to start Christian schools and desire to legalize homeschooling. This seems daunting as Protestants make up only 10-20% of the population.

In a recent article, I addressed the claim that abortion gives women the power to avoid a family burden when they don’t want it. I showed the other side of the story that is rarely, if ever, mentioned: accessible abortion strips women of the power to demand family security when they need it. Drawing analysis from a 1994 study co-authored by the current (pro-choice) U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, I explained how an industry based on "choice" doesn't always give that choice to the mother.