“Neither the Bible nor Christian tradition offers definitive guidance on U.S. immigration law in 2013,” Tooley said. “There are sincere people of faith on many sides of this debate. Quoting scripture and citing religious principles in support of a political argument can be fine if done with some humility and recognition that on most political... Continue Reading

Ministers are allowed to exclude the portion of their compensation designated as a housing allowance from their taxable income.  Quite a few people question the constitutionality of this provision and it looks like it may be finally put to the test.  A federal district court has ruled that the Freedom From Religion Foundation has standing... Continue Reading

It is tragic that women have been abused by men maliciously twisting Bible verses and Old Testament laws in order to elevate themselves and assuage their own feelings of inferiority. But just as sexism has infiltrated churches, so have adultery, greed, pride, gluttony, materialism, homosexuality, and murder. Welcome to the Fallen World. This is not... Continue Reading

Your circumstances may be bleak. You may not see a light at the end of the tunnel. You may not see any silver lining. But circumstances and tunnels and silver linings are not the basis of our hope, God is. Don’t be a functional atheist today. The Lord lives. Let’s live in light of that... Continue Reading

But you like your old life. You like your old person and your old purposes. You are happy to live for yourself. You’re going to be somebody. You’re going have something to show for yourself. You’re going to stick it to the man (or the woman, or whatever). You’re on your way. And you’re doing... Continue Reading

Let everyone do their talking about 50 shades of grey, but don’t let anyone talk you out of it: committment is pretty much black and white. Because the truth is, real love will always make you suffer. Simply commit:Who am I willing to suffer for?   So not every guy proposes with lip syncing, rolling cameras, and a... Continue Reading

The unbelieving world will always do “cool” better than the Church. When the Church adopts coolness and relevance as its corporate values, it slavishly agrees to follow, lagging always one step behind the world. (This is why Christian music always ends up ripping off the sounds and styles of their secular counterparts, while Christian film... Continue Reading

Dispensationalist fascination with prophecy has waned in recent years, as Evangelicals seem to be recalibrating to the larger church tradition on eschatology. But I find that in talking to Catholic and Orthodox friends, some of them fear a Rapture of a different kind. They worry that Evangelical Christians will soon evacuate not the earth but... Continue Reading

Readers of the Journal of Biblical Counseling and similar publications will gain invaluable wisdom by studying its articles each quarter. As they apply in counseling what they learn, they may see significant results in their counselees in the short term. However, unless their counselees are attending churches which are determined to read, preach, sing, and... Continue Reading

During the era of racial segregation, it was the black middle class that stabilized many of these communities as blacks migrated from the South to the northern cities after World War II. Many of these neighborhoods have had low-income residents for decades but they did not have the same social pathologies and economic degradation that... Continue Reading