I can't help but think of the Jews who fled Nazi Germany in 1939 on the MS. St. Louis only to be turned away by my country because they were deemed a security risk. A Nazi spy previously tried to enter the U.S. pretending to be a refugee. This led to fear and paranoid fueled by the media, and thus these Jewish refugees were denied sanctuary and forced to return to Europe. Out of the 900+ passengers on the St. Louis, 254 were killed during the Holocaust.

Most trafficking in teens is for sex slavery. The average age a teen enters the sex trade in the U.S. is 12 to 14-year-old. According to Shared Hope International, children exploited through prostitution report they typically are given a quota by their trafficker/pimp of 10 to 15 buyers per night, though some service providers report girls having been sold to as many as 45 buyers in a night at peak demand times, such as during a sports event or convention. Utilizing a conservative estimate, a domestic minor sex trafficking victim who is rented for sex acts with five different men per night, for five nights per week, for an average of five years, would be raped by 6,000 buyers during the course of her victimization through prostitution.

Compromise with SOGI laws leaves Christians other adherents of traditional morality in an untenable and finally incoherent position. If Christians cannot contribute to sinful behavior and yet remain faithful to God, then not only Christian institutions but also individuals in business and the professions cannot facilitate sinful behavior without being unfaithful to God. When there is no protection from SOGI laws in a given occupation, then that occupation is effectively closed to faithful Christians.

But here’s the deal. Do not think that just because a pastor doesn’t make abortion his No 1, front burner issue, that it is justification to judge, or worse, vow never to sit in a pew again. The context of the pastorate, particularly for solo pastors, simply does not permit any one man to make... Continue Reading

The sacred place of abortion – we will fight to protect reproductive rights” read a large banner – is a modern expression of ancient pagan Gnosticism. Behind the “correct” PC language, total amoral sexual freedom is today’s goal. Many of these “rights” are a rejection of normative creational sexuality, which is exactly what the Gnostics... Continue Reading

We have to be honest with ourselves and ask some hard questions: Is my passion to see the kingdom come and the church grow or is it mainly to see my side win elections? Do I think revival and spiritual renewal come mainly through political victories? Am I blinded by disgust for the bad guys (whether that’s Fox News, MSNBC, The New York Times, National Review, Hollywood, flyover country, or whatever) that I’ll defend to the death whatever they seem to be against?

The Spirit used these words to draw me to Zephaniah 3:17Open in Logos Bible Software (if available) and Psalm 103. Places that have been a life line for me time and time again. And again I noticed in Psalm 103 how God’s love for me, His dealings with me, is not fundamentally determined by my performance but by His settled decision to cast unremitting and eternal love upon me. That’ll blew me away. And the clouds started to lift.

Hodge continues, “The interpretation of Divine providence is indeed often a matter of great difficulty and responsibility. It requires humility and caution.  Some of His dispensations are, as to their design, perfectly clear, others are doubtful, and others to us and for the present inscrutable.” Then Hodge comes out with evidence that he is willing... Continue Reading

Try to be constructive and positive, especially if you are going to offer a criticism. It is easier for someone to hear criticism if they know you have goodwill towards them. Can you say something good about the introduction or the conclusion? (Don’t say “the best bit was the end!”) Were important words explained and illustrated? Was the structure based on the text and memorable?

The biblical grounds for the pro-life argument have nothing to do with a person’s “usefulness” to a family or society. The Bible calls us to the pro-life position based on the reality that all persons are made in the image of God, that God has created us equal, and that therefore all life is precious, whether... Continue Reading