Walton apparently was rescued quickly, thanks to CIA intelligence and collaboration from Nigeria and Niger, partly out of fear that his kidnappers could sell him to Islamist militants common in Niger and northern Nigeria. Christian aid worker Jeffery Rey Woodke has been captive four years since kidnapped also in Niger. Italian Catholic priest Father Pier... Continue Reading

One class—one student—at a time, teachers possess amazing power to shape a life and a belief system. Mrs. Drew did that for me. She told of a country that aspired to unimagined heights despite a terrible birth defect. At no point did she ever recommend destroying the country any more than parents of a special-needs... Continue Reading

A few years ago, I never thought that I would be coming out to the world through my school newspaper at my Christian university…But my legacy will invariably be different, because I am Calvin University’s first openly LGBTQ student body president. I’m bisexual. I’ve also questioned if I was a lesbian in the past. Usually,... Continue Reading

Third, not just abortion but poverty, lack of health coverage, racism and climate change are also pro-life issues. The statement notes that the official public policy document of the National Association of Evangelicals (For the Health of the Nation) says: “Faithful evangelical civic engagement and witness must have a biblically balanced agenda”. Therefore the new... Continue Reading

Everyone tries to save themselves, and every one fails to do so. The scriptural story repeats this idea through its narratives—kings rise, kings fall. And it took Jesus to liberate us from the fear of death. As Hebrews notes, humans “were held in slavery by their fear of death” until Christ came (Heb 2:15). Ernst Becker... Continue Reading

The first is that we’ve backed away from a biblical definition of a leader—humble, gentle, kind, faithful, loving, servant… There’s a second thing: we’ve diminished and devalued the importance of a strong, watchful, comforting, confronting leadership community around a leader.   The Church’s Leadership Crisis There are two things that are at the heart of... Continue Reading

Spurgeon was both widely read, and shaped by the content of his reading. He had a unique ability to assimilate vast amounts of information with accuracy and permanence, and to retrieve that information for concise use in his sermons and writings. Nevertheless, he avoided the appearance of intellectual superiority, despised pretention, and felt that including... Continue Reading

Mrs. James almost sputters—“You can tell that I struggle even to find the words”—when I ask what she thinks of the New York Times’s “1619 Project,” which attempts “to reframe the country’s history, understanding 1619,” when the first slaves were brought to Jamestown, Va., “as our true founding.” That dubious history, Mrs. James says, hurts... Continue Reading

One of the primary tasks of middle adolescence is to learn to be appropriately independent. It is a necessary step toward growing up and being on one’s own, in the way God intends. In some families, however, adolescents learn in a stormy way, accompanied by all manner of rebellion against parental authority. They need not,... Continue Reading

In 1719-1720 Zinzendorf had his Wanderjahr, a year of traveling abroad to complete his education. While at the magnificent art gallery in Dusseldorf he viewed many masterpieces. The painting that impacted him the most was of the thorn-crowned Christ after he had been flogged by Pontius Pilate. Beneath it was the Latin inscription: “This I... Continue Reading