"One of the concerns that I have, obviously, is that a disproportionate number of people who consistently buy lottery tickets tend to be lower-income and working-class people who can least afford it," he said. "Even if they're not compulsive gamblers, they are probably spending money that they don't necessarily have." ~ B. Obama

Tax incentives make more and larger gifts possible, and they do have an impact on donors. A recent 2012 study found that 33 percent of donors surveyed would reduce their giving if the charitable deduction did not exist. A survey conducted earlier this year showed three out of four Americans say they do not favor cutting, capping or limiting the charitable tax deduction

…the surge in evangelical devotion to their faith began in the early 1990s and coincided with their growing presence in the public square. Other experts have noted that political battles can rally the faithful of a particular religious community, and even political losses can unite them in a shared sense of exile

The obscure book's margins are virtually filled with clusters of curious foreign characters -- a mysterious shorthand used by 17th century religious dissident Roger Williams.

Even after God saves us, there is no part of us that becomes sin free–we remain sinful and imperfect in all of our capacities, in the “totality” of our being. Even after God saves us, our thoughts, words, motives, deeds, and affections need the constant cleansing of Christ’s blood and the forgiveness that comes our way for free

Francis Turretin…argued that the Great Commission was grounds for baptizing both adults and infants. I did not see how that was possible until I considered the Greek, but it was not as if only paedobaptists recognized the construction of the Greek grammar. Baptists fully acknowledged it, too

[Marriage] is a discipline of hard work, persistence, curiosity, diligence, systematic study, recording results, experimentation, and pursuit of good answers. So, if this is chemistry, what does it mean that marriage doesn’t work because “chemistry” is missing?   Marriage is an institution under assault, a relational commitment on the decline in our society. Statistics bear... Continue Reading

KnockTV is an emerging leader in a new category of Christian television. This new Internet television network will make SURRENDER THE SECRET available on computers, mobile and handheld devices, on-demand (24 hours a day - 7 days a week) once an episode is released on the network’s website.

The Rev. Scott Sauls, pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, said his city, like the rest of the country, is becoming more secular. But believers don’t necessarily need to fear that. Sauls, who spent several years as a pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, said being in a culture where Christianity is normal can cause people to take faith for granted. In New York, he said, few people attend church on a regular basis. Nashville is different.

In his book, UnChristian, David Kinnaman cites a Barna Research study that asked non-Christians whether they viewed the role of Christians in American society in a favorable or unfavorable way. In 1996, 85% viewed Christians favorably. Ten years later, that approval rating had dropped to just 15%.   After the election, I published an article... Continue Reading