(OPINION) Some of historian Tom Holland’s insights are surprising, including his contention that modern developments — including the transgender rights movement and a recent spike in atheism — probably wouldn’t exist were it not for the West’s Christian philosophical and moral foundations.
Read More(OPINION) The first vote I ever cast was against Jimmy Carter in the 1976 presidential election. I was 20 and in college, trying to leave behind my strict Southern Baptist upbringing. Carter seemed to embody much of what I hoped to escape. It took me a while to realize how mistaken I’d been about the man.
Read More(OPINION) It is seldom that one enters a film that resonates with one own’s life. For me, “The Brutalist” is such a film. It combines the themes of the Holocaust, Israel, immigration, capitalism, architecture, and the struggles to make sense of it all. The film depicts a successful Bauhaus-trained Hungarian architect who reaches the shores of America after his incarceration in concentration camps.
Read More(OPINION) The media and the public are now accustomed to hearing athletes thank God for the abilities he has given them. But that wasn’t always the case. In baseball in the 1950 and ‘60s, it was extremely rare to hear such pronouncements from athletes. Then, during the 1970s in San Francisco, one of the great culture clashes between religious athletes, the media and the fan base erupted over a group of born-again ballplayers.
Read More(OPINION) David Brooks grew up Jewish, but as a kid also attended a Christian school and camp. As an adult, he kept kosher and sent his kids to Jewish schools, “but all that proximity still didn’t make me a believer.” His essay on his journey from agnosticism to faith is just beautiful.
Read More(OPINION) God’s always in the business of loving and healing the world. But given the state of humanity, healing rarely follows a straight line. There are complications and mistakes and delays. The wondrous thing is, though, that nobody gets turned away.
Read More(OPINION) I’ve seen a whole bunch of religion, good and bad. Maybe the one thing I’ve come to understand is what good faith looks like. You may or may not agree, which is your privilege, but here are my signs any particular religious organization — megachurch or storefront, famous or obscure — is spiritually healthy:
Read More(OPINION) Usually, if we focus on the commonalities, we begin to find the hand of God working among us. If we major on our differences, we not only help the devil, but may come to imagine the other person is the devil.
Read More(OPINION) Today, in 2024, with centuries of historical evidence to show witchcraft accusations as false, nonfactual and harmful superstition, there are thousands of innocent people accused of witchcraft who are tortured and killed annually. Most of the accused are children, a few elderly women and people who can’t physically defend themselves.
Read More(OPINION) The fall of Assad highlights a classic case of unintended consequences. Israel — like the West — was long ambivalent about the fate of the despotic Syrian regime, which was a bitter enemy, but a weakened one that seemed to have made peace with Israel’s usurping of the strategic Golan Heights.
Read More(OPINION) Allow me to direct your attention to a long, thought-provoking article that appeared in the New York Times recently under the headline, “‘A God Who Continually Surprises Us’: A Q&A With a Theologian Who Changed His Mind About Gay Marriage.” Changing your mind about what the Bible, the church and God have said is always complicated.
Read More(OPINION) A thorough analysis of the autopsy reports for the 10 Kuki-Zo “village volunteers” killed in Manipur during an alleged gunbattle with the Central Reserve Police Force suggests that the young men were shot from behind or from multiple directions and at close range. Some of them also sustained injuries that cannot solely be attributed to gunfire.
Read More(OPINION) And so, friends, we find ourselves again amid the season when we’re called to give thanks, to celebrate joy unspeakable and full of glory, to count our blessings. Of course we might give thanks and be filled with joy the whole year. But we forget. We get distracted. We grow tired, cross and hard-bitten. Irritations grind us down.
Read More(OPINION) On a certain level, things just got a lot more simple. That’s because it will become increasingly difficult for the church to look to Trump to lead the way on key moral and cultural issues. To be sure, he has chosen his battles carefully, highlighting the destructive extremes of radical transgender activism while distancing himself from Project 2025.
Read More(OPINION) Our grandson Connor made a very interesting comment when he was a little boy. His parents (our daughter and son-in-law) were praying for him when he was fighting some minor illness, asking God to heal him. When nothing happened, he said, “Jesus doesn’t have enough hands to heal everyone.”
Read More(OPINION) When Jesus told Pilate, “My kingdom isn’t of this world. If it were, my followers would be fighting,” he was saying, in effect, there’s no kingdom on this planet — including yours, Pilate — that operates according to the rules of the kingdom I proclaim. Today we fail to see how cosmically revolutionary Jesus, his kingdom and his early followers were.
Read More(OPINION) Have you ever considered that we could be thankful and never give thanks? Imagine having a heart full of gratitude but never expressing your thankfulness. A search of the New Testament for the words “thanks,” “thanksgiving” and “thankful” reveals some interesting finds.
Read More(OPINION) As someone who battled unhealthy eating habits the first 59 years of my life, I am the last one to criticize someone for trying almost anything to lose weight. These are difficult battles, and many of us will take a lifeline wherever we find it. So, to repeat, I am the last one to criticize.
Read More(OPINION) So what are we to do? Wring our hands and swallow nerve pills like they’re Pez? Stay hopping mad at those on the other side of our political barricades? That’s sure no way to spend the next four years. That’s a recipe for madness, both personal and societal.
Read More(OPINION) It was all the rage back in 2020. A chorus of prophetic leaders announced with certainty that Donald Trump would be reelected and serve a second term in the White House, but he did not — at least, not in 2020.
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