The first two commandments God gave Israel are theologically very significant. Yahweh alone, the Triune God, was to be recognized and worshipped by Israel. And the only true God was not to be captured by human imagination and expressed through man’s ingenuity and creativity. All idols or images of the true God and all false gods were and are totally abhorrent.

“Amazing grace! how sweet the sound-that saved a wretch like me!  I once was lost but now am found. . . .” These opening words from John Newton’s famous gospel song acknowledge the reality of our lost condition without Jesus Christ.

Perhaps you’ve never heard of Allie Phillips. She is one to keep your eye on. Her story may help determine the fate of babies in Tennessee and elsewhere. 

January first is often considered the time for “New Year’s Resolutions,”  “turning over a new Leaf,” or launching a new “self-help program.”  Such things may have some benefits but have generally been nothing more than filler for newspapers and TV shows during the slow time following the holiday season. However, because I see our country floundering and confused, divided and drifting, I have a recommendation: How about a change of hearts in America where, for starters, we make truth normative, and children loved? 

It's been about 18 months since Dobbs was handed down, and I still remember the elation mixed with near-disbelief that I felt when I first heard the news. As with many of the most important memories in life, I even remember where I was when I was told—standing in the dining room of a summer retreat center on a sunny June day.

No one likes to talk about cancer.  I lost both my parents to the killer as well as numerous friends. My wife and I are now praying for several who are fighting for their lives against it. We hate it, but we talk about it virtually every time we get together with those who are dealing with it, partly because you can’t ignore the “elephant in the room” and partly because you will never defeat it by ignoring it! 

As a Christian and a pastor, I have spent a lot of time getting to know God. It goes with the territory! But the more I understand the goodness of God, the more difficult it is to understand the hatred so many have for God, especially as we consider that Christmas, “the most wonderful time of the year” is rooted in a knowledge of God’s grace.

Four days after Hamas’ brutal, barbaric attack on the nation of Israel, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) of the Southern Baptist Convention released an “Evangelical Statement in Support of Israel.”

This past week, I’ve been dealing with a lot of media being interviewed by publications like The Washington Post, The Detroit Free Press, a CBS TV affiliate, an ABC radio affiliate, etc.

We're in a curious position in this twisted world of ours. It’s like we’ve burned down the baseboards of our house, and then we realized that the rest of the house doesn't match the charred and disintegrating baseboards.

The Biden administration’s Department of Health and Human Services Department (HHS) believes that Christians and others who hold traditional, moral values are not “safe” for children in foster care. At the end of September, they released a proposed rule of “safe and appropriate foster care placement requirements.”

In Acts 20, Luke records a powerful and poignant gathering of the Apostle Paul and elders of the church in Ephesus that took place in the town of Miletus. This would be the final time that Paul met with the leaders of this important congregation. Part of the purpose of this meeting was to give a crucial warning.

Social graces, such as saying, “please” and “thank you” are the “Oil of Civilization,” but they are far more than that. They are not just a matter of being nice. Gratitude, being genuinely thankful, carries with it blessing, maturity, and even spiritual growth and strength. Most important, it is a matter of obedience to God!

Perhaps like me, you’ve wondered… “What would the Pilgrims think of our modern day celebration of Thanksgiving?” Or, maybe that’s never crossed your mind. Maybe your Turkey Day “to do” list has priority. First, the Pilgrims, who referred to themselves as the “Saints,” would have been very sad to learn that the New York Times was fairly clueless on the real events of life in the early 1600s. The paper tried to “help us” get educated with their 1619 Project, which came out a few years ago.

Mariyah Green, a 2020 graduate of Bogan High School (a part of Chicago Public Schools), was awarded $150,000 by the Clerk of Court from the Northern District of Illinois on October 23 because when she was a student, she was forced to participate in Hindu meditation which violated her Christian faith.