The movie Pretty Woman came out thirty-one years ago yesterday. The film’s subtitle describes the plot: “She walked off the street, into his life, and stole his heart.”

People magazine reports some facts you may not have known about the popular film: Burt Reynolds was initially offered the lead role that Richard Gere made famous; the director’s son plays a drug-dealing skateboarder in the movie; and the film was originally titled 3000—the price of one night with Vivian, the prostitute played by Julia Roberts.

Here are some facts the article leaves out: the homicide rate among active female prostitutes is seventeen times higher than that of the age-matched general female population; the average prostitute is physically attacked once a month; one study found that 89 percent of women in prostitution want to escape but are trapped.

An article I hope you’ll read

The glorification of prostitutes in popular media is just one example of our broken sexual ethic. Yesterday, we discussed our culture’s clear rejection of biblical morality with regard to sex outside of marriage. I stated my intention to look today at “the practical consequences of the sexual revolution: broken lives, broken homes, and broken souls.”

We will do so with the help of the finest article on the subject I have found, one I encourage you to read today.

Steven R. Tracy, PhD, is professor of theology and ethics at Phoenix Seminary, where he has taught since 1995. He has also served as a church pastor for fifteen years and is the author of seven books and numerous journal articles.

His article on premarital sexual abstinence and the Bible shows clearly that God intends us to abstain from all sexual relations outside of marriage. He counters the argument that the New Testament does not actually condemn non-married adults having consensual sex and the claim that the biblical authors wrote from a pre-modern perspective which need not be accepted wholesale by Christians today.

As he demonstrates, “The overwhelming consensus of historical Christian teaching, as well as modern evangelical biblical scholarship, is that sexual relations are only appropriate in marriage.”

Five consequences of disobeying God’s word

Dr. Tracy’s article is especially helpful with regard to the consequences of disobeying the biblical ethic regarding premarital sexual relationships. Consider five examples.

One: “In terms of marital satisfaction, one of the most widespread modern myths is that couples need to live together before they get married to see if they are sexually and relationally compatible and thus to enhance future marital health and satisfaction. In reality, research shows that couples that live together before marriage have higher infidelity rates, lower marital satisfaction rates, and higher divorce rates than those who don’t live together before marriage.”

For instance, a study of 1,425 couples found that those who cohabited before marriage “reported poorer marital quality and greater marital instability.” A study of over four thousand Swedish women reported that women who cohabit before marriage have an 80 percent higher marital failure rate than those who did not cohabit with their future spouse. Dr. Tracy adds: “This dynamic of cohabitation having a negative impact on subsequent marriage has been replicated in so many different studies that some social scientists have labeled it ‘the cohabitation effect.’”

Two: Cohabiting couples are much more likely to physically abuse each other than are non-cohabiting dating couples or married couples. A Department of Justice report notes that unmarried women are almost five times more likely to experience violence at the hands of their sexual partner than are married women.

Three: Cohabitors have been found to be almost twice as likely to be unfaithful to their partner as those who were married.

Four: Sexual abstinence before marriage is the only 100 percent effective method of birth control, guaranteeing that women will not have to deal with an unplanned pregnancy. Since many researchers consider out-of-wedlock births to be the single most significant factor influencing long-term poverty in America, this is a very significant issue.

Five: Sexually transmitted diseases in the US are among the highest in the industrialized world. In addition to their health consequences, they create a great economic burden, with direct medical costs in the US of $15.5 billion.

Grace is “supernatural empowerment not to sin”

The consequences of breaking God’s word are all around us today, from the public health crisis that is our pornography epidemic, to the threat of rising sexually transmitted infections as the coronavirus pandemic lessens, to the explosion of child pornography on the internet.

Once again, God’s word is right. As I have noted in the past, human nature does not change, which means that we still face the same issues our ancestors faced in biblical times. Divine nature does not change, which means that God’s answers to our issues are the same today as when he first revealed them. Today and every day, his word is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

If you are struggling with sexual temptation or sin, I urge you to act now. Speak with your pastor or another trusted counselor. Develop an accountability relationship with someone who will help you think and live biblically. Take all necessary steps with regard to software and technology protections for you and your family.

If this is not a “besetting sin” for you, identify those that are. Take them to the cross, claiming Jesus’ atoning sacrifice as payment for your debt. Ask for his forgiveness and cleansing grace (1 John 1:9). And claim his strength in partnership with others to “be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter 1:15).

Randy Alcorn is right: “Grace doesn’t make people less holy—it makes them more holy. Grace doesn’t make people despise or neglect truth—it makes them love and follow truth. Grace isn’t a free pass to sin—it’s a supernatural empowerment not to sin. . . . Grace raises the bar—but it also enables us to joyfully jump over that bar.”

What “bar” do you need to “joyfully jump over” today?

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Officer Eric Talley was one of ten people killed yesterday afternoon when a shooter attacked a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado.

Officer Talley joined the Boulder police department a decade ago. He had seven children; the youngest was seven years old. According to his father, “He loved his kids and family more than anything. He was looking for a job to keep himself off the front lines and was learning to be a drone operator. He didn’t want to put his family through something like this and he believed in Jesus Christ.”

Nonetheless, Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold told reporters that Officer Talley “was the first on the scene, and he was fatally shot.” Holding back tears, she added, “My heart goes out to the victims of this incident. And I’m grateful to the police officers that responded. And I am so sorry about the loss of Officer Talley.”

His father said, “Didn’t surprise me he was the first one there.” Chief Herold called Talley’s actions “nothing short of heroic.”

A friend described him: “He was a devout Christian. He had to buy a fifteen-passenger van to haul all his kids around, and he was the nicest guy in the world.”

Willing to die that we might live 

CNN reports that the Colorado tragedy is the seventh mass shooting in the US in the past seven days. According to Wikipedia, there have been 107 mass shootings in the US so far this year, killing 122 people and wounding 325 others. There have only been five days this month without such a tragedy.

The Officer Down Memorial Page lists seventy-nine police officers who have died in the line of duty so far this year. Sergeant Gordon William Best of North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was the first. He was killed in a vehicle crash while responding to a call at about 4 a.m. on January 1 and is survived by his wife and two children. Officer Talley is the last, so far.

There are more than eight hundred thousand sworn law enforcement officers serving in the US. Since the first recorded police death in 1786, more than twenty-two thousand have been killed in the line of duty.

What kind of courage is required for police officers to risk their lives every day for people they do not know? What depth of commitment to their shared calling enables their spouses and children to watch them leave each day with no assurance that they will return?

What kind of person runs toward a shooting when everyone else is running away?

Each police officer and each officer’s family member deserves our deepest gratitude and highest respect, today and every day. The next time and every time you see a police officer, please thank them for their courageous service. They are willing to die that you might live.

Do you know your cross? 

I do not expect to risk my life today in the service of others. But I should be willing to do so or to pay any other price to fulfill God’s calling in my life.

Luke 9:23 records that Jesus “said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.’” Note that this is said to all, not just some. There is a cross for everyone who would follow Jesus.

• It is a personalcross: “take up his” Your cross may not be mine, and mine may not be yours.
• It is a constantcross: “take up his cross daily.” This is a decision we must make every day of our lives. There is a cross for us every day that we live.
• It is an imperativecross: Jesus said that we must take up our cross in order to “follow me.” We are not following Jesus unless we are bearing a cross to do so.

Do you know your cross? It might be a temptation you must pay a price to refuse, or a calling you must pay a price to fulfill, or both. Would you ask the Lord to identify your cross today? Then would you ask him to give you the strength to bear it?

“Well done, good and faithful servant” 

John 21:15 reads: “Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.’ He said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’”

In today’s First 15, Craig Denison responds: “Jesus is looking for disciples who will say yes to that which is greater than they could have ever imagined doing. He’s looking for friends like Simon Peter who will follow him wherever he leads, even it if means to their death. He’s looking for those who are so in love with him that at a single statement from his lips we willingly and obediently respond by taking up our cross as he did and living a surrendered, purposeful life.”

Craig then invites us to “assess whether Jesus truly is your greatest love. If he isn’t—if you wouldn’t follow him anywhere—take time to surrender anything you’ve placed above him. Confess any idols you have in your life that he might truly be crowned King of your heart today.”

Officer Eric Talley paid the highest price to fulfill his calling on behalf of those he served. The best way I know to honor his commitment is by emulating it. Then, one day, I hope Jesus will say to me what I am confident he said to Eric Talley yesterday: “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23).

By his courage and his sacrifice, Officer Eric Talley was a “good and faithful servant,” indeed. How will you follow his example today?

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Aaron Fischer is coming to comic books in June. Part of the “United States of Captain America” series, he is the “Captain America of the Railways,” protecting runaways and homeless youth. He is also openly gay. The comic featuring him will be published in June for Pride Month.

My point is not that the first LGBTQ-identifying Captain America will soon enter popular culture. Nor is it that we should be shocked, or that we should be shocked if we’re not shocked. It is that introducing a gay Captain America in a comic book aimed at youth is nothing if not strategic.

In other news, the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, home to Harvard University, has officially recognized polyamory. It is the second city in the state to do so. The Polyamory Legal Advocacy Coalition gave input concerning the change in Cambridge and hopes that it “will be a wave of legal recognition for polyamorous families and relationships in 2021.”

Meanwhile, a Canadian father was jailed for contempt of court after publicly objecting to his young daughter taking testosterone. A judge earlier warned him that if he did not affirm his daughter as male, he would be implicated in the criminal offense of “family violence.”

“That the next generation might know” 

Let’s think about what these stories mean not for the present but for the future.

Comic books normalizing and glorifying gay characters are strategically intended to persuade our children and grandchildren in intuitive and emotive ways. Polyamory proponents want a world in which children are brought up in polyamorous families and thus accept such relationships as normal and healthy. Courts that threaten parents who oppose their children’s gender transitions send signals far beyond the parents themselves.

Just as proponents of the sexual revolution intend to impact future generations with their version of sexual morality, so we must do the same. Such thinking is not only strategic for God’s people—it is biblical.

In words that could have been written last week, the psalmist reported that God “established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments” (Psalm 78:5–7). This was so “they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God” (v. 8).

The only way the next generation will not follow this generation’s slide into moral relativism and decadence is if you and I act strategically and courageously to change their spiritual trajectory.

Four biblical responses 

What are some biblical ways we can use our influence to intervene for the sake of our children and their children?

The first is obvious: defend the unborn. 

In the face of plans to expand federal funding for abortion, it is vital that we stand and pray for life at its most perilous stage in our culture. The psalmist testified: “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:16). Ronald Reagan was right: “I’ve noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born.”

Second, defend girls and women. 

Female athletes, survivors of domestic violence, and civil rights for women and girls are all at greater risk because of recent governmental actions and the so-called Equality Act. God made “male and female” equally in his image (Genesis 1:27). We should pray and work for equality and opportunities for both.

Third, defend our children from immorality in our culture. 

The most recent Grammy Awards featured immorality I will not describe here. The good news is that advocates for sexual abuse survivors were quick to protest the show’s promotion of prostitution and pornography. We are called to “flee from sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18) and should do all we can to protect our children from the decadence of our culture.

Fourth, defend freedom of speech in our schools. 

According to a recent report, 62 percent of college students surveyed “agreed the climate on their campus prevents students from saying things they believe.” The “Civics Secures Democracy Act,” educational legislation recently introduced in Congress, has been described as “a massive boondoggle in support of politicizing students and teaching them to trade away equality and individual liberty for identity politics” and “imposing a de facto national curriculum on the states.” The author calls this challenge “the greatest education battle of our lifetimes.” We are to “live as people who are free” and extend this freedom wherever we can (1 Peter 2:16).

A prayer worth praying every day 

We will say much more about these priorities in the future. For today, let’s close with a familiar prayer that has become very special to me in recent weeks.

You’ve no doubt seen a famous prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi; it has been set to music and published in a wide variety of media over the years. I have begun praying it every day, slowly and with attention to each word, and have found it to be encouraging and empowering. I invite you to pray these words intentionally with me today and in the days to come:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

Denison Forum

Our mission at Denison Forum is to create culture-changing Christians. So, earlier this week, we were honored to help break the news about one such culture-changing Christian.

1. Michael Lindsay, who happens to be a longtime friend of Dr. Denison, was appointed the president of Taylor Universityon Tuesday. He and Dr. Denison had a thirty-minute discussion on his new role, his new book, Hinge Moments, and why a Christian higher education is crucial today.

We encourage you to watch the entire interview, but, if you’re pressed for time, consider watching the final question: What should Christians be preparing for today? Michael’s answer reveals why he’s a culture-changing Christian who’s working to prepare tomorrow’s Christian leaders today.

We also celebrated another culture-changing Christian this week, though his work occurred centuries ago. Dr. Denison wrote about why St. Patrick is a hero we need to emulate today. (And, if you’re interested in why we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, see “Who was St. Patrick? What does the Bible say about luck and divine providence?”)

This week’s news also brought forth concerning issues:

• The alleged shooter in the tragic Georgia massage-parlor murders was active in a Southern Baptist Church.
• A Christian private school in Manhattan is encouraging its students to stop using the terms “mom,” “dad,” and “parents”.
• The least-watched Grammys ever was concerningboth for its immoral content and the lack of backlash.

But there is still good news in the news, like the fantastic story of the Southwest agent who returned a Buzz Lightyear to its two-year-old owner—but only after making it seem as if Buzz had been on a great adventure while he was away from his owner.

Whether the news is good or bad, our calling as culture-changing Christians remains the same: be aware of what’s happening in the world, speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), and live your faith courageously.

Remember Moses’ words to the people of Israel: “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. . . .  It is the Lord who goes before you” (Deuteronomy 31:6, 8).

Hear Dr. Denison

Dr. Denison is routinely interviewed on radio shows and podcasts. Here’s where you can hear him from this past week:

• March 18: Was the Cross Really Necessary? What Does the Bible Say About Easter?, Mornings with Eric & Brigitte
• March 17: Addressing and engaging in grace and love the latest aspects of the sexual devolution(starts 25:00 marker), Mornings with Carmen LaBerge
• March 17: Who does CNN’s Don Lemon think he is to say what God is about?(Hour 2), Bill Martinez LIVE

As always, you can find Dr. Denison’s archive of interviews here.

What you may have missed

The Vatican made headlines this week when they declared same-sex unions cannot be blessed. Ryan Denison writes why this decision is loving and gracious.

Tomorrow is National Fragrance Day, and Minni Elkins considers how such a day has a very different impact during COVID-19, as well as what creating “an aroma of Christ” means for us.

Notable Quotables

• “It’s human nature to want God to bless our desires instead of his when they stand in opposition to one another, and that’s not likely to change any time soon. But for a blessing to have any power or influence, it must come from the Lord.” —Ryan Denison
• “The rain is falling, the floods are rising, and the winds are blowing. The time to build your house on the rock is now.” — Jim Denison
• “This is our present crisis—not an external threat from terrorists or warlike nations or a viral pandemic, but a decline of faith, truth, and morality. It is hollowing out our society from within.” —Michael Youssef, Hope for This Present Crisis

Parting thought

You may have noticed that The Daily Article video edition is now included in each Daily Article email. However, if you’d like to be notified as soon as these videos are published, subscribe to our YouTube channel at youtube.com/denisonforum and click the notification bell. And please consider sharing these videos on social media. That’s a simple way to help change the culture!

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Delaina Ashley Yaun and her husband were on a date last Tuesday and decided to get a massage. They went for the first time to Young’s Asian Massage Parlor near Woodstock, a town north of Atlanta. When a gunman attacked the parlor, Delaina and three others were murdered.

“I’m lost, I’m confused, I’m hurt. I’m numb,” her mother later told reporters.

Two other Atlanta-area massage parlors were also attacked; eight people died in all. Authorities charged Robert Aaron Long in the worst mass killing in the US in almost two years.

This story is tragic on so many levels. Six of the victims were women of Asian descent and died amid a rising tide of anti-Asian incidents across the country. The suspect told investigators that he targeted the businesses because he blamed them for “providing an outlet for his addiction to sex.”

Here’s the part of the story that I’m being asked about: according to his youth pastor, the suspect was active in a Southern Baptist congregation. Brett Cottrell, who led the youth ministry at Crabapple First Baptist Church in Milton, Georgia, from 2008 to 2017, told the Washington Post that Long stacked chairs and cleaned floors at the church as a teenager. Cottrell added that Long’s father was considered an important lay leader in the church; the family attended services on Sunday mornings and evenings, as well as meetings on Wednesday nights and mission trips.

Cottrell considered Long a “typical teenager” growing up in the Atlanta suburbs. He stated that Long was part of a high school group that met for Bible study once a week before school and helped a backyard Bible club with games and songs for kids.

According to authorities, Long’s parents identified their son from surveillance images of the first shooting on Tuesday and alerted the sheriff’s office. “They’re very distraught. And they were very helpful in this apprehension,” the sheriff said. Authorities added that without their help, the carnage could have been even worse.

Man killed in church service this week 

A man was shot and killed Wednesday afternoon inside Emerald City Bible Fellowship Church in Seattle while participating in a church gathering. We have become tragically accustomed to the frequency of such shootings in recent years and often ask why bad things happen to God’s people.

But when church members are the shooters rather than the victims, we are forced to face a different kind of question: What difference does Christianity make when those who claim to be Christians act in horrific ways?

Clergy abuse scandals have rocked the Catholic church for years. However, Catholics are not alone in this: according to a 2019 report, seven hundred people were sexually abused in Southern Baptist churches over twenty years. The Ravi Zacharias scandal continues to make headlines. We could list other evangelical leaders accused of sexual misconduct in recent years.

The Bible promises: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). God’s word says of believers: “You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11).

Why, then, do Christians fail morally, sometimes in horrific ways?

Three biblical responses 

It may seem that, like a medicine that promises to make us well but makes us sick, our faith does not do what it claims to do. If Christians are not more like Christ than anyone else, why follow Christ?

A biblical response is that our faith never promises that Christians will be made perfect in this life. Sanctification requires cooperation, which is why we are to “put to death what is earthly in you” (Colossians 3:5). Even Paul the Apostle admitted, “I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (Romans 7:19). Conversion starts the process of sanctification, but that process is not completed in this world (Philippians 1:6).

Others will say that people who claim to follow Jesus but sin in horrific ways are not true Christians. That may well be true for specific individuals, but the Bible teaches, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). If Jesus was tempted, we will be tempted (Hebrews 4:15). If Peter could fail, we can fail (Galatians 2:11–14).

This reality leads to a third fact: Becoming a Christian does not remove our free will. We were created to love our Lord and our neighbor (Matthew 22:37–39), but love requires a choice. God therefore gives us freedom to choose and honors our freedom. (For more on divine sovereignty and human freedom, please see my website article on luck and providence.)

When Christians sin, the fault is not with Christ but with us. The Holy Spirit will give us the strength to defeat temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13), but we must seek his help daily (Ephesians 5:18).

Three practical responses 

Let’s close with these practical responses to the tragedy in Georgia:

One: Pray for the families of the victims, asking God to grant them his “peace that passes understanding” (Philippians 4:6–7) and to raise up Christians who will minister to them with his compassion and grace (1 Corinthians 12:27). Then volunteer to help the hurting people you meet today in the spirit of Jesus (Mark 10:45).

Two: Ask God to reveal any areas where you need to repent of sin today, remembering that “sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (James 1:15). The best time to repent of sin is now.

Three: Submit your day to the Holy Spirit, asking him to manifest his “fruit” in your life (Galatians 5:22–23) and to “sanctify you completely” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Leave no area outside his control and power.

The Scottish theologian John Baillie offered a morning prayer to God that I invite you to pray with me: “By your grace, O God, I will go nowhere today where you cannot come, nor seek anyone’s presence that would rob me of yours. By your grace I will let no thought enter my heart that might hinder my closeness with you, nor let any word come from my mouth that is not meant for your ear. So shall my courage be firm and my heart be at peace.”

Will your “courage be firm” and your “heart be at peace” today?

NOTE: I’m excited to let you know that we’ve just re-released my foundational book, Blessed: Eight Ways Christians Change Culture, with the inclusion of the new, bonus Blessed Small Group Study Guide. This resource focuses our attention on the Beatitudes, and the goal of exploring these timeless principles is simple: to align our lives with their truth so fully that they define our character—and empower our influence as culture-changing Christians. So please request the special Blessed resource when you give today. It’s my gift to thank you for your generosity to help more Christians discern the news differently.

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Here’s the best story I’ve seen in a while: the Washington Post is reporting that a Southwest Airlines employee returned a toy left on an airplane to its owner. How he did what he did, and why, is worth our time today.

Two-year-old Hagen Davis was flying with his family from Sacramento to Dallas to attend his great uncle’s funeral. He left his beloved Buzz Lightyear action figure on the plane. The aircraft then flew to Little Rock, Arkansas, where Beth Buchanan, a Southwest Airlines operations agent, discovered it. She noticed the name “Hagen” on the bottom of Buzz’s boot and decided to scan the passenger list.

A ramp agent named Jason William Hamm saw the toy sitting on his colleague’s desk. They confirmed that Buzz belonged to Hagen, and Hamm decided to get it back to him. He emailed the family to let them know he had located Buzz and to ask for their address so he could return the toy to them. Then he decided to convince Hagen that Buzz had been on a mission before returning home.

So Hamm, an aviation photographer, took pictures of Buzz in front of an airplane, an engine, and a cockpit. He wrote a letter from Buzz to Hagen explaining his “mission” and the photos. He decorated a cardboard box with drawings of Buzz, stars, planets, and classic Toy Story sayings, including “To infinity and beyond!” Then he mailed Buzz, the letter, and the photos to Hagen.

Why did Hamm go to such lengths? “I have an autistic son, and he gets attached to toys. If he loses a toy, I know how hard it is for him,” he explained. “It’s the dad in me, I guess you could say.” Hagen’s mother said, “For Jason to go above and beyond for someone he did not know, and to take that much time and effort, it’s just incredible.”

Polygamy is here 

From good news to bad: the New Yorker is carrying a very long and very supportive article on “how polyamorists and polygamists are challenging family norms.”

When the Supreme Court discovered a constitutional right to same-sex marriage in 2015, Chief Justice Roberts noted that the majority’s reasoning “would apply with equal force to the claim of a fundamental right to plural marriage.” Many of us have been warning that polygamy and polyamory were the next stages of this devolution from marriage. Same-sex marriage activists have dismissed such fears as “scare tactics.”

Unfortunately, we were right.

How can evangelical Christians most effectively persuade those who reject biblical morality that biblical morality is best for them?

The key to persuasion 

In The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, author and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt notes that “people bind themselves into political teams that share moral narratives. Once they accept a particular narrative, they become blind to alternative moral worlds.” As a result, “We do moral reasoning not to reconstruct the actual reasons why we ourselves came to a judgment; we reason to find the best possible reasons why someone else ought to join us in our judgment” (his emphasis).

Consequently, persuading someone that they are wrong is especially difficult when they are convinced that they are right. I am just as adamant that polygamy is wrong for the polygamists in the New Yorker article as they are adamant that it is right for them.

The key to persuasion, according to Haidt, is relationships. We must earn the trust of the person with whom we disagree on a level that lowers the defensive barriers to genuine discussion and debate. This requires that we listen to the other person, not to point out where they are wrong but to learn why they think as they do and to find places where we can agree.

Haidt quotes Henry Ford: “If there is any one secret of success it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from their angle as well as your own.” On this basis, we can build a foundation on commonalities as a bridge to constructive dialogue and perhaps transformation.

Four transforming steps 

Jason Hamm saw Buzz Lightyear through the eyes of Hagen Davis and created a memory for his family that will last a lifetime. According to tradition, St. Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Trinity to the Irish.

When Jesus called fishermen to be disciples, he promised to make them “fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). When he met a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, he started their conversation with water and led her to his “living water” (John 4:7–10). When Paul preached in synagogues, he quoted from the Hebrew Bible (cf. Acts 13:17ff); when he spoke to Greek philosophers, he quoted Greek philosophers (Acts 17:28).

As I noted yesterday, CNN commentator Don Lemon made headlines this week by telling the pope and the Vatican that they were wrong about God. Lemon added a suggestion, however, that we would do well to hear: “Instead of having the pew hinder you, having the church hinder you, instead of being segregated in the church or among yourselves, go out and have a barbecue and meet people and start breaking bread with people and getting to know them.”

Once we decide to build relationships with those with whom we disagree, we should take four biblical steps:

1. Ask the Lord where and how to begin, confident that he will lead us to those he is already preparing for our initiative (cf. Acts 16:9–10).
2. Pray for the humility to learn what we do not know and to change what we need to change (Philippians 2:3; Proverbs 18:12).
3. Ask for the words to speak and the grace with which to share them, knowing that life transformation is not our work but that of the Spirit (John 16:7–11).
4. Trust the results to the God who knows our hearts and loves us unconditionally (1 Samuel 16:7; Romans 5:8).

A prayer for protection Jesus always answers 

The Stoic philosopher Epictetus was right: “It is impossible for a person to begin to learn what he thinks he already knows.”

Would you join me in praying for the humility to learn from those with whom you disagree and the courage to share biblical truth with them? Would you ask the Lord to lead you today to the people he has already prepared for your engagement? Would you trust him to use you to plant trees you may never sit under and to use your faithfulness for his glory and their eternal good?

As you go, Jesus goes with you (Matthew 28:20) and you can make St. Patrick’s prayer for protection your own:

Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise. 

This is a prayer Jesus always answers, to the glory of God.

Denison Forum

CNN commentator Don Lemon made headlines last year with his announcement that Jesus “was not perfect when he was here on this earth.” Now he’s back in the news for his attack on the Vatican’s refusal to bless same-sex marriages.

In an interview he gave last Monday, Lemon stated that the Catholic Church and other churches should “reexamine themselves and their teachings because that is not what God is about. God is not about hindering people or even judging people.”

Lemon’s belief that he can dictate theology to the Catholic Church reflects the postmodern claim that personal beliefs are truth. If he says that God is “not about hindering people or even judging people,” it must be so, at least in his mind.

This despite the biblical fact that “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Corinthians 5:10). And the biblical fact that “it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). We could go on (see Revelation 20:12; Matthew 25:46; 1 Peter 4:17; 1 Corinthians 4:5; Revelation 22:12).

Lemon’s belief that his beliefs reflect reality is akin to the man who once told me “I don’t believe in hell” as though his belief changed the existence of hell. If I were to claim that “I don’t believe in Canada,” does that change the existence of Canada?

But there’s a larger story behind this story, one that we urgently need to understand.

The “god” of American culture 

Dr. Albert Mohler published an article this week in Public Discourse that every Christian should read. Titled “The Equality Act and the Rise of the Anti-Theological State,” it sets out in stark terms the unprecedented threat this radical legislation poses for all religious freedoms in America. I have issued the same warning repeatedly in the past.

Here is how the Equality Act’s attack on religious liberty and Don Lemon’s attack on the Vatican are related: if we agree with the latter, we are exempt from the threat of the former.

Don Lemon’s “god” is the god of American culture today. He said in his interview, “I respect people’s right to believe in whatever they want to believe in their God, but if you believe in something that hurts another person or does not give someone the same rights and freedoms—not necessarily under the Constitution because this is under God—I think that that’s wrong.”

I am certain that a large number of Americans would agree. You are welcome to your beliefs in God unless someone disagrees. If anyone considers your beliefs to be hurtful to anyone, they must therefore be hurtful. And if they are hurtful, they must be disallowed.

The Equality Act poses no threat to such a religion. Rising opposition to biblical morality as homophobic and dangerous poses no threat to those who abandon such morality. The simplest, easiest thing for Christians to do in the months and years to come will be to agree with Don Lemon.

“We must obey God rather than men” 

This choice between compromise and courage is not new for God’s people.

Think of the prophet Jeremiah, imprisoned in a cistern because he would not stop preaching God’s word (Jeremiah 38:1–6). Remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3), Daniel in the lions’ den (Daniel 6), Peter in Herod’s prison (Acts 12), and John exiled on Patmos (Revelation 1).

The compromise we will be encouraged to make was just what the apostles were ordered to do by the supreme court of their day: “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching” (Acts 5:28). If these believers would keep their beliefs to themselves and go along to get along, they would get along.

However, the apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men” (v. 29). When the council then “beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus” (v. 40), they left “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name” (v. 41).

The real story of St. Patrick 

Such courageous faith is on display around the world today, though most don’t know it.

St. Patrick’s Day is being celebrated with green rivers and beer, shamrocks and Irish folklore. But many do not know that the historical St. Patrick was a hero for his time and ours.

Patrick was born in England around AD 389 but enslaved at the age of sixteen and sold to a farmer in Ireland. Somehow, he came to faith in Christ. Six years later, in response to a vision from God, he risked his life and returned home to England.

However, God gave him a deep burden for the salvation of the Irish people.

He spent seven years in Bible study, then returned to Ireland, not as a slave but as a missionary. He founded two hundred churches and led one hundred thousand people to Christ over his career, surviving twelve attempts on his life along the way. His death on March 17, 461, is the historical reason today is St. Patrick’s Day.

Patrick’s courageous compassion for people who had enslaved and threatened him is a model God invites us to imitate today. (For more, see my paper, Who was St. Patrick? What does the Bible say about luck and divine providence?)

“I am greatly a debtor to God” 

Tomorrow, we’ll explore practical ways we can emulate St. Patrick.  For today, we’ll close with a call to the humility that empowers courageous compassion.

Standing for biblical truth does not mean that we condemn others or consider ourselves to be better than them. It means that we love them enough to tell them the truth even—and especially—when they do not want to hear it. It means that we share with them the good news that has given us hope in the belief that it will do the same for them.

In his Confessions, Patrick made such humility clear: “I am greatly a debtor to God, who has bestowed his grace so largely upon me, that multitudes were born again to God through me. The Irish, who had never had the knowledge of God and worshiped only idols and unclean things, have lately become the people of the Lord, and are called sons of God.”

St. Patrick said of his ministry, “Let it be most firmly believed, that it was the gift of God.”

How will you share your gift today?

Denison Forum

Evangelical Christians are facing opposition on a level unprecedented in American history. Our religious liberty is under attack; biblical morality is being assailed as bigoted, homophobic, and dangerous.

It should not surprise us that God is raising up evangelical leaders “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14).

The great need of our day is for Christians who are equipped to use their influence in engaging and shaping the culture for Christ. If these leaders have credentials and capacities that our secular culture honors, all the better. And if these leaders are investing not just in the present generation but in generations to come, their calling and influence are even more crucial.

It is in this context that we are publishing today’s Daily Article Special Edition highlighting the ministry of Dr. D. Michael Lindsay. 

With degrees from Baylor University, Princeton Seminary, Oxford University, and a Ph.D. from Princeton University, he is one of the most significant and celebrated thought leaders of our day. His first solo book was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize; he has lectured on six continents.

He was an honored professor of sociology at Rice University before being chosen ten years ago to lead Gordon College as president. Gordon is one of the leading educational institutions in America and the only evangelical college in New England.

And he is my dear friend. I have known Michael and his wife, Rebecca, for many years. I know them to be deeply passionate Christians with a fervent commitment to equipping the present and future generations to think biblically and act redemptively.

I am honored to speak with Dr. Lindsay in the video below about his new appointment as president of Taylor University—news that will make headlines later today in the evangelical world. 

As you watch him engage the challenges and opportunities of our day, I believe you will be encouraged and inspired to use your influence more effectively to the glory of God.

Paul’s prayer for the Philippians is my prayer for you as you watch our video:

“It is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:9–11).

Denison Forum

A private school in Manhattan is encouraging its students to stop using the terms “mom,” “dad,” and “parents” because the words make “assumptions” about kids’ home lives. Instead, children are encouraged to use the terms “grown-ups,” “folks,” “family,” or “guardians” as substitutes.

In its push for gender inclusion, the school wants its students to substitute “people” for “boys and girls.” Rather than lining up as boys and girls, they are to line up alphabetically or by types of shoes. If someone says, “a boy can’t marry a boy,” they are encouraged to respond by saying, “People can love and commit to whomever they please, it’s their choice who they marry.” Instead of wishing each other “Merry Christmas!” or even “Happy Holidays!,” they are to say, “Have a great break!”

When I saw the story, I assumed it was about another highly secularized school at war with Judeo-Christian morality. Multiple examples of such conflicts are in the news these days. For instance, a curriculum being considered in California seeks to displace Christian culture and recommends that teachers instead lead students in a series of songs and chants to the Aztec gods (whom the Aztecs traditionally worshiped with cannibalism and human sacrifice, by the way).

It turns out, the school in Manhattan is Grace Church School. A school official explained their language policy: “As part of our Episcopal identity, we recognize the dignity and worth common to humanity.”

Why we must be spiritual “fruit inspectors” 

There are two kinds of threats in our fallen world: those we can identify and those we cannot.

Examples of the former abound: a New York bill that could force schools to teach sex education to kindergartners and gender identity to second graders; the escalation of forced marriages and physical violence against Christian women around the world; and the Biden administration’s push for taxpayer-funded abortions, for instance. Like an Eiffel Tower-sized asteroid that missed our planet on March 5 but will return in eight years, we can see these threats coming.

Other threats are not obvious until they are dangerous, like a meteor that caused “Earth-shaking booms” over Vermont on March 7. Such threats are especially insidious because, by the time we know we are in a conflict, it can be too late to respond.

This is true medically of cancer, heart disease, and other ailments. It is true geopolitically with rising threats from China and elsewhere. And it is true spiritually as well.

In fact, I fear threats from within the body of Christ far more than those from without.

Jesus warned us to “beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15). How are we to identify them? He told us, “You will recognize them by their fruits” (v. 16). Ultimately, our Lord assured us, “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (v. 19).

In the meantime, it is vital that we be “fruit inspectors” of those who claim to serve and represent our Lord.

The Bible is an anvil 

Grace Church School is an example of this challenge. I wholeheartedly agree that we should “recognize the dignity and worth common to humanity.” Every human is created in the image of our Creator (Genesis 1:27), someone for whom Jesus died (Romans 5:8) and therefore a person of sacred worth.

However, we do not “recognize the dignity and worth common to humanity” by violating God’s word and will for humanity. Scripture not only tells us that we are loved by God (John 3:16)—it also tells us how to live our best lives and how to relate to others in truthful, redemptive ways. When we alter or reject biblical revelation on sexuality or any other issue, however kind our motive might seem, we do far more harm than good.

The Bible has been likened to an anvil—we do not break God’s word; we break ourselves on it.

This threat of internal compromise in the body of Christ is growing exponentially today. As I have written previously, for the first time we are facing widespread claims that religious freedom is being used by evangelicals to harm others and thus should be disallowed. We are being caricatured as homophobic, bigoted, and dangerous. We are seen as the majority oppressing the minority. If we stand for biblical truth, increasingly we will stand alone.

Such pressure is especially difficult for those whose institutional futures are in question. Religious schools who affirm biblical morality could risk the loss of Title VI federal assistance for their students, inclusion in the NCAA and other organizations, and even their tax-exempt status. Trustee boards composed primarily of businesspeople will be sorely tempted to concede their moral codes rather than risk their institution’s financial health. Similar risks await religious hospitals, adoption agencies, churches, and other ministries.

The time to choose is now 

Tomorrow, we’ll discuss practical responses for pastors and other evangelicals, focusing on an outstanding book I will review and recommend. Today, let’s close with this prediction by Jesus: “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock” (Matthew 7:24–25).

However, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it” (vv. 26–27).

The rain is falling, the floods are rising, and the winds are blowing.

The time to build your house on the rock is now.

Denison Forum

If you’ve read any article on our website at DenisonForum.org, you’ve likely seen the feedback form at the end of each page. This allows readers to both rank their thoughts on the article via emojis and leave written feedback that our staff reviews.

For instance, in response to Dr. Denison’s one-year retrospective on COVID-19, one reader wrote that “it made me keenly aware of being ready to share my love for our Lord and Saviour”—a timely reminder for us all.

The reader’s feedback also echoed what Dr. Denison wrote just yesterday in response to the hope of a “historic” summer: “the most important lesson I believe we should learn from the pandemic is spiritual rather than medical, eternal rather than temporal. In short: we need faith in God on a level most of us do not experience each day.”

The somber COVID anniversary wasn’t the only event to make news this past week.

In his response to Oprah’s interview with Harry and Meghan, Dr. Denison wrote of three ways we can “respond biblically and redemptively to the vital issues we face”:

1. Practice biblical discernment.
2. Seek the constant guidance of the Spirit.
3. Aspire to be redemptive rather than reactive.

These are appropriate steps to take every day given the world we live in, when issues such as the cancellation of Dr. Seuss and the legal ability of three gay men to parent two children bring our culture into stark relief against biblical truth.

Right now, consider your response to the issues of the day: Are you being reactive, or redemptive?

Let’s work against the current of culture and choose the latter over the former.

P.S. Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? Please consider doing so. We’re releasing The Daily Article as a video podcast every Monday through Friday morning. When you subscribe to our YouTube channel and click the notification bell, you’ll be the first to know when a new video is published.

Hear Dr. Denison

Dr. Denison is routinely interviewed on radio shows and podcasts. Here’s where you can hear him from this past week:

• Why canceling Dr. Seuss is a threat to all evangelicals, The Bill Martinez Show(Hour 2)

As always, you can find Dr. Denison’s archive of interviews here.

What you may have missed

Peeps—yes, that Peeps—has released Easter-themed makeup. But that has contributing writer Minni Elkins wondering about the other colors of Easter.

“Our world has more and more information, but less and less wisdom.” If you agree, you’ll want to read Steve Yount’s review of The Wisdom Pyramid by Brett McCracken.

Notable Quotables

• “God’s word is ‘a lamp to my feet and a light to my path’ as much today as when it was first inspired (Psalm 119:105). This is because neither human nor divine nature change. What was true is still true. Thus, we need to view everything we experience through the prism of biblical revelation. Look for what God says about the issues you face, for that’s the truth you need.” — Jim Denison
• “After a year of hiding everything on our faces but our eyes, it’s no wonder people are embracing new ways to accent them. As spring approaches, Easter is not far behind. Spring break has already begun for many students and parents. And for most, not a moment too soon! We all need ‘spring breaks.’ But so do our souls.”  —Minni Elkins
• “We should live with such integrity, consistency, and compassion that others see the difference Jesus makes in our personal lives (Philippians 4:8; 1 Peter 3:16). Our opponents are not our enemies but people who need the same grace we have experienced and are called to share.” — Jim Denison

Parting thought

Our next book releases in a few days. We hope you’ll be blessed by it!

Denison Forum

“The summer of 2021 is shaping up to be historic.” This is the first sentence of an Atlantic article titled, “A Quite Possibly Wonderful Summer.”

The writer points to rising numbers of vaccinations and plummeting rates of coronavirus illness and death. He suggests that “pre-pandemic norms could return to schools, churches, and restaurants. Sports, theater, and cultural events could resume. People could travel and dance indoors and hug grandparents, their own or others’. In most of the US, the summer could feel . . . ‘normal.’”

We all look forward to that day.

However, as I noted yesterday, millions will forever grieve those we lost during the pandemic. Some survivors are still experiencing “long-haul” COVID-19 symptoms. The economy, schools, and much of our world have been altered in ways that will long persist into the future.

At the same time, we should mark what good we can find from a terrible year. Not only so that we do not “waste the hurt,” but so we can prepare for a better future today.

Preparing now for the next pandemic 

Scientists tell us that genetic vaccines developed in response to COVID-19 “surpassed health officials’ highest expectations.” Going forward, once scientists determine the genetic sequence of a new pathogen, they can design such vaccines in days and manufacture millions of doses within months.

This is essentially what happened with the coronavirus pandemic. Such vaccines are also better able to respond to mutations. Now researchers hope that gene-based vaccines could provide a vaccine for malaria or HIV, cure cancer, and be ready to stop the next pandemic.

A second scientific response to the pandemic is the acceleration of wearable technology that can aid in early illness detection. Such devices can be predictive of a number of potential illnesses or other health changes.

A third response is the development of “protein networks” to develop new pharmaceutical responses to disease. One drug discovered in this way, currently being used to treat cancer, turns out to be 27.5 times more potent than remdesivir in treating COVID-19 and is now in phase three clinical trials for this application.

Experts warn that the current pandemic won’t be the last. Deforestation, our growing interactions with wildlife, and industrialized food production make more zoonotic (animals to humans) transmissions likely. Oral language broadcasts viruses that replicate in the upper respiratory tissues. Our propensity for social interaction and rising population densities make it easier than ever to spread contagious diseases.

As a result, strategies are being developed now to mark what we have learned from this pandemic in preparation for the next one. Yuval Noah Harari’s article in the Financial Times surveys cultural developments that led to the present pandemic and urges us to safeguard our digital infrastructure, invest more in our public health systems, and establish “a powerful global system to monitor and prevent pandemics.” In these ways, “the shock of COVID-19 might actually result in pandemics becoming less common.”

“Yet I will rejoice in the Lord“

Our lives have changed in dramatic ways over the last year. Work, exercise, shopping, schooling, childcare, and even our interactions with nature have been affected, sometimes for the better. But the most important lesson I believe we should learn from the pandemic is spiritual rather than medical, eternal rather than temporal.

In short: we need faith in God on a level most of us do not experience each day.

I recently heard Pastor Jack Graham wisely define faith as trusting God regardless of our circumstances or our consequences. The latter part of his definition especially struck me as countercultural. You and I live in a world built on actions and consequences: we work to receive payment and other rewards; we engage in entertainment to be entertained; we develop relationships for the benefits such relationships seem to offer.

Nearly every dimension of our lives is measured by its outcome. If reading my articles does not benefit you, you’ll stop reading them. If enough people stop reading them, I’ll stop writing them.

By contrast, biblical faith trusts in God even when the consequences of such faith do not seem to merit our continued trust. For example, remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego standing before the king of Babylon. When he threatened to throw them into a fiery furnace if they would not worship a golden image he had constructed, they responded: “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up” (Daniel 3:17–18, my emphasis).

Another example comes from one of my favorite texts: “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation” (Habakkuk 3:17–18, my emphasis).

Choosing the faith that sustains us 

International evangelist Luis Palau died yesterday. As I wrote recently, he was one of the most joyful, vibrant, courageous Christians I have ever known. He once encouraged us: “Don’t pray for an easier life. Pray instead to be a stronger man or woman of God.”

Luis knew that it is not the strength of our faith but the object of our faith that counts. We can have faith in spoiled food and become sick after eating it. We can have faith in wrong directions and get lost as a result.

Here’s a fact: Whether another pandemic strikes or not, God is still God. Whether he answers our prayers for healing in this world or the next, he is still Lord. The faith that sustains us in the hardest places is faith in a sovereign King (Psalm 22:28) who is love (1 John 4:8). Circumstances and consequences cannot change his character (Malachi 3:6).

And all of our sovereign Lord there is, is in this moment.

How fully would he say you are depending on him today?

Denison Forum

You may not remember the name of Sandra Lindsay, but future generations will. The intensive care nurse received America’s first FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine last December 14 in Queens, New York. As Smithsonian Magazine reports, this event “marked a turning point in fighting the pandemic that has killed more than 535,000 Americans. And it made history.”

Now that history will be preserved for generations to come. The first (now empty) tiny Pfizer-BioNTech vial has been acquired by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. It will be displayed along with Lindsay’s vaccination card, her scrubs, and her hospital ID.

This announcement comes as we mark the one-year anniversary of the pandemic today.

Nearly a fourth of Americans have lost a friend or family member 

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak to be a “pandemic.” On that day, confirmed worldwide coronavirus cases stood at 125,000, with reported deaths at fewer than five thousand. A poll conducted at the time found that 44 percent of Americans considered the threat of the virus to be “exaggerated.” Nearly everyone (88 percent) predicted that fewer than ten thousand Americans would ultimately die from the disease.

This morning, Johns Hopkins confirms that more than 118 million people have been infected, more than 29 million of them in the US. More than 2.6 million people have died, including more than 529,000 Americans.

And nearly a quarter of all Americans (23 percent) say a close friend or family member has died of the disease.

Of America’s 19,502 towns and cities, only thirty-seven have a population exceeding the number of Americans who have died of COVID-19. On a tragic anniversary unlike any other in our nation’s history, where can we turn for hope in heartache and strength in suffering?

Hope for those who have died 

God’s word offers hope beyond human comprehension for those who have died in Christ.

At the grave of Lazarus, Jesus assured his dead friend’s grieving sister, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25–26).

When a Christian dies, they don’t. When they take their last breath here, they take their first breath there. They close their eyes in this fallen world and open them in God’s perfect paradise. They are well and they are home.

This is because, “If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8). Now and forever.

Hope for those who are hurting 

While millions have died of this horrible disease, many millions more are grieving their deaths. In addition, a third of COVID-19 survivors have “long-haul” symptoms. Fever, cognitive confusion, debilitating exhaustion and fatigue, difficulty sleeping, heart rhythm abnormalities, breathing issues, and other symptoms can arise, sometimes weeks or months after the initial diagnosis. Some “long-haul” patients are still struggling with such symptoms months later.

In addition, economic trauma persists for millions who have lost their jobs or otherwise experienced financial setbacks because of the pandemic. The negative effects of school closures are expected to be “profound and generational.” “Pandemic trauma” is afflicting millions of Americans. Survivor’s guilt is a growing issue for many. And more than thirty million frontline workers continue to risk their lives to serve us with sacrificial courage.

To all who suffer, God promises his presence and empathy (cf. John 11:35). Jesus feels all we feel and suffers as we suffer. Theologian Jürgen Moltmann famously described our Savior as the “crucified God.”

In addition, to “those who love God” he promises that “all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28). We can know that “the sufferings of the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18) and that “this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

“The Lord delivered me out of deep waters” 

Tomorrow we’ll focus on some ways God is redeeming this tragic pandemic. For today, let’s claim the promise that he is.

If you have suffered loss due to COVID-19, I invite you to claim the promises we’ve discussed. If you have not, I encourage you to share them with those who have. It may be that claiming these promises will lead to a different kind of anniversary—one that marks not our crisis but our transforming encounter with God’s grace.

Yesterday was one such day for the author of “Amazing Grace.”

I will never forget visiting John Newton’s grave in England and reading the epitaph he wrote: “John Newton, clerk, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he had long laboured to destroy.”

Newton was converted to Christianity during a huge storm at sea and later testified: “That 10^th of March is a day much to be remembered by me; and I have never allowed it to pass unnoticed since the year 1748. For on that day the Lord came from on high and delivered me out of deep waters.”

Are you in “deep waters” today?

If not, how will you help someone who is?

Denison Forum

I was not one of the twenty-eight million people who watched Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Here’s been my problem in the days after the interview aired Sunday night: there were actually multiple interviews, or so it would seem.

One version sees Meghan as a brave woman willing to fight for her marriage, her mental health, and her children against the prejudice and opposition of some in the royal family. Another version sees her as a vindictive outsider who did not get what she wanted and is trying to “take down” the royal family.

Some view Harry as the oppressed son of a distant father, but others view him as a troublemaking rebel seeking attention in all the wrong ways. Some viewers saw the couple as courageous trailblazers making a new way forward for royalty in the twenty-first century. But others saw them as capitalizing on Harry’s inherited platform and fortune.

It all depends on which reports you believe.

We can do this with nearly any story in the news.

• Is the growing immigration problem on our southern border the fault of the former administration, the present administration, neither, or both?
• Will President Biden’s COVID-19 relief plan make things better or worse for Americans?
• Should Governors Cuomo and/or Newsom be impeached?
• Did Dak Prescott win his contract battle with the Dallas Cowboys, or did the team?

Depending on the network you watch or the social media you consume, all are options.

My purpose is not to berate the media for its bias. Rather, it is to explain why we are where we are and to offer three biblical ways to find the truth we need in the chaos we face.

Who was “the most trusted man in America”? 

Columnist Jonah Goldberg notes that well into the nineteenth century, “people—particularly non-affluent, non-city-dwelling folk—got their news monthly or even seasonally. And the interval has been shrinking ever since. Even taking into account radio, TV, and cable news, most people in the pre-internet age got their fill of journalism in the morning and then got a brief update at the end of the day with the nightly news, or maybe the evening edition of a newspaper.”

I am old enough to remember those days well. The morning paper brought the morning’s news. The evening paper (if there was one) brought the evening news. More likely, people watched the network news for thirty minutes (usually at 5:30 p.m. CT; I grew up in Texas) and then the local news for thirty minutes (usually at 6:00 p.m.). If they really cared about what was going on, they might stay up for the 10:00 p.m. local news as well.

We had three networks and thus three news options. Walter Cronkite at CBS was our favorite, known as the “most trusted man in America” because of his objectivity. “And that’s the way it is” was his nightly sign-off. We believed him.

Then came the internet.

Now most of us get our breaking news via Twitter, Facebook, other social media, or notifications from news outlets. By the time we get around to reading, watching, or listening to the news, we mostly know what has happened. But news stations have to fill column inches, screens, and air time in order to sell ads and otherwise make a profit. Many are now doing so 24/7/365.

As a result, “news” is more opinion on the news than reporting of it. Many news programs are more entertainment than information. Analytics drive ads which drive profits, and digital media are more sophisticated than ever in tracking them. They know the time we spend on an article on our computers, our viewing habits on television, our listening habits on radio, and all the other ways we consume their content. They tailor what we see/hear/read to our preferences so they can get us to consume more content, see/hear/respond to more ads, and thus make them more profits.

We can like this, hate it, or ignore it, but it’s the way it is and the way it will be for the foreseeable future.

Three biblical responses 

What does any of this have to do with my mission as a cultural apologist to equip evangelical Christians to respond biblically and redemptively to the vital issues we face? How does today’s article relate in practical ways to you? Let’s consider three biblical imperatives for our day.

One: Practice biblical discernment. 

God’s word is “a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” as much today as when it was first inspired (Psalm 119:105). This is because neither human nor divine nature change. What was true is still true. Thus, we need to view everything we experience through the prism of biblical revelation. Look for what God says about the issues you face, for that’s the truth you need.

Two: Seek the constant guidance of the Spirit. 

Jesus promised that the Spirit “will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13). He has a word for us for every moment and circumstance of our lives. Not just the “spiritual,” but the “secular.” Not just for Sunday, but for Monday. Ask him to show you the truth you need and know that he will always lead those who will follow.

Three: Aspire to be redemptive rather than reactive. 

The God who “sent redemption to his people” (Psalm 111:9) is constantly at work redeeming the bad for good and the present for eternity. Look for ways to respond rather than react to the events of our world, seeking ways to lead people to Jesus and his transforming grace (John 3:30).

“No regrets. Pure joy.” 

Luis Palau is one of the most joyful, winsome Christians I have ever met. I have been privileged to work with him in a variety of contexts and have always found him a model of Spirit-led discernment and redemptive grace.

These days, the world-renowned evangelist is battling lung cancer. Shortly after the announcement that he had been placed in hospice care, his son Andrew left his side to lead a major evangelistic event in Florida.

This might seem uncaring, except that the son was doing precisely what his eighty-six-year-old father asked him to do: “Go, Andrew. We’ve said all we need to say. No regrets. Pure joy. Now don’t let me get in the way of you preaching the Good News!”

If Luis had gone to heaven while Andrew was showing others how they can go to heaven, nothing would have made him happier. That’s because, as he told his son, he has “no regrets.”

Can you say the same? If not, why not?

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Ian Jenkins and his partners, Alan and Jeremy, were recently named the legal parents of two children. The babies were conceived through an egg donor and two surrogate mothers.

The CNN article that tells their story calls them “one extraordinary household” and could not be more upbeat and affirming. It clearly advocates for a culture in which polyamory is normal and any kind of “family” should create and raise children in any way they wish.

If someone claims in response that God made us “male and female” and that “a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife,” that person would face charges of being hateful, bigoted, and dangerous to society. Even if that person is Jesus (Matthew 19:4–5). Or someone who follows him as Lord.

How Critical Race Theory views the world 

Yesterday, we discussed censorship in the context of Dr. Seuss’ books and focused on one book being criticized for advocating equality without acknowledging “structural power imbalances” or “encouraging young readers to recognize and take action against injustice.” I then stated my plan to discuss the worldview behind this movement in today’s article. We’ll do so as succinctly as possible, then offer biblical and practical responses.

Postmodernism has taught our secular society that truth claims are personal and subjective. Since, in this view, no one can claim objective or absolute authority for their beliefs, tolerance is now our highest cultural value. To suggest that lost people need Jesus or that the Bible is God’s authoritative word is seen as intolerant and oppressive.

In this context, a worldview called Critical Race Theory (CRT) has gained enormous ascendency in our culture. CRT was influenced by a Marxist ideology that views the world in terms of power dynamics. Social evils such as crime, poverty, and oppression result not from human failures and sin but from Euro-Americans seeking to secure and increase their economic and social power.

CRT is complex and multifaceted, but many of its adherents claim that people experience society either as an oppressed minority or as an oppressing majority. Social structures perpetuate and exacerbate these realities. Some Black evangelicals are using this approach effectively in exposing systemic racism in our culture.

In addition, seeing oppressed people as equals or offering equality of opportunity is not enough, since social structures enacted by oppressors continue to oppress them. As a result, some CRT advocates believe that those who benefit from systems enacted by oppressors should make reparations to victims of these systems, offering not just equality but equity to them. And we should all work proactively to remove systemic injustices that continue to oppress minorities.

The future for evangelicals 

It is beyond the scope of this Daily Article to respond to CRT in depth, but I will offer three biblical observations.

One: Systemic racism exists. 

(For multiple examples, see my paper, “What does the Bible say about racism?“)

It is not enough to seek a color-blind society that does not recognize ongoing inequalities or work for a just society for all. God’s word is still his will: “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24). We should work to end systemic racism wherever we find it and to care for those oppressed by society (cf. Acts 6:1–6; James 1:27).

Two: The gospel is the ultimate solution to our social challenges. 

As I have noted, many Black evangelicals are using CRT to expose systemic racism in our culture. However, because CRT views humans through the prism of race and gender rather than as individuals, some of its other adherents can minimize the biblical responsibility of persons and their sacred value as God’s creation. The fact is, we are all sinners (Romans 3:23) in need of salvation by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8–9). The ultimate solution to all our social problems lies in transformation by God’s Spirit (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Three: We must prepare for a growing threat to religious freedom. 

God cares deeply for the poor and the marginalized (cf. Proverbs 17:5). At the same time, a worldview that views minorities as oppressed and majorities as oppressors can be used to claim that evangelicals who defend biblical morality are oppressing those with whom they disagree. This is not an assertion of CRT per se, but it can be an application of its worldview to “moral minorities.”

As we have noted in recent articles, many claim today that evangelical appeals to religious freedom should be disallowed if they are viewed as harmful to others. The so-called Equality Act is an example with regard to LGBTQ persons. This denial of religious freedom can be extended to abortion, “death with dignity,” and a host of other civil “rights.” In this future world, Christians would not be able to appeal to their faith in refusing to perform an abortion, sex-change surgery, same-sex wedding, or a variety of other services.

Three reminders and a fascinating interview 

We should continue to monitor and engage the cultural trajectory we have discussed today with biblical clarity. To that end, I’ll close today with three biblical reminders.

First, we should live with such integrity, consistency, and compassion that others see the difference Jesus makes in our personal lives (Philippians 4:8; 1 Peter 3:16). Our opponents are not our enemies but people who need the same grace we have experienced and are called to share.

Second, we should show our culture the compelling logic and positive outcomes of the biblical worldview apart from personal religious beliefs (1 Peter 3:15). We seek not the “right to be wrong” but the “right to be right.” I’ll say more about this in the days ahead.

Third, we should pray and work for the spiritual awakening that will change hearts and minds before it is too late (2 Corinthians 3:18). In this context, a recent interview in Christianity Today greatly impressed me.

Michel Abs was selected last fall as the new leader of the Middle East Council of Churches. He discussed the persecution of believers in his part of the world and his vision for the future. He stated, “We are the salt of the earth; we should be everywhere and spread good things. When salt is kept in its jar, it hardens and becomes like a stone, unusable.”

He also noted: “The Muslim is not our enemy. Maybe at times he could be our rival. But he is my neighbor, and Christ told us to love our neighbor.”

How usable is your salt?

Asked differently: How well will you love your neighbors today?

Denison Forum

Theodor Seuss Geisel (1904–91) wrote and illustrated more than sixty books under the pen name Dr. Seuss. By the time of his death, his books had sold more than six hundred million copies and had been translated into more than twenty languages.

Geisel was a graduate of Dartmouth with graduate studies at Oxford. His work received two Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award, and the Pulitzer Prize. For decades, Read Across America Day has celebrated his birthday while encouraging children to read. Like millions of others, I read Dr. Seuss’ books as a child and then read them to our children.

Then came recent accusations that some of his books depict characters in racist ways. A school district in Virginia dropped Read Across America Day as a result. While President Obama marked the Day with a proclamation calling Dr. Seuss “one of America’s revered wordsmiths” and President Trump cited his “motivational words,” President Biden omitted any reference to Dr. Seuss in his recent proclamation marking the day.

In response to this controversy, the company that oversees the author’s estate announced that it would no longer publish six of his books, citing what it called “hurtful and wrong” images.

The company did not elaborate, but the New York Times reports that one of the books portrays a “Chinaman” with lines for eyes who is wearing a pointed hat and carrying chopsticks and a bowl of rice. Another book depicts two characters from “the African island of Yerka” as shirtless, shoeless, and resembling monkeys. National Review notes that another Dr. Seuss book seems to have been targeted for a depiction of an Eskimo and still another for an Arab-looking character.

Then eBay joined the controversy, announcing that it would purge all listings for the six books from its site. Notably, the e-commerce giant will still allow you to sell pornography, Mein Kampf, and Chairman Mao’s Little Red Book.

The Sneetches and the United Nations 

I understand the sentiment against cartoons depicting ethnicities in unflattering or discriminatory ways, especially in books that could be influential for children. When the company that owns the formerly branded Aunt Jemima pancake and syrup products changed the brand and dropped a logo known to perpetuate racist stereotypes, I wrote an article supporting their decision.

However, there’s more to the story, a dimension that affects every evangelical Christian in America.

Writing for National Review, Dan McLaughlin focuses on one of the “canceled” books, The Sneetches. He describes the plot: The Sneetches are identical birds, except that some have stars on their bellies while others do not. The star-belly Sneetches look down on the star-less Sneetches. Then a monkey named Sylvester McMonkey McBean offers to add stars to bellies for a fee.

Now that the star-belly Sneetches are no longer superior, McBean talks them into removing their stars so that they can declare star-less bellies to be the new grounds for supremacy. Eventually, everyone loses track of who had what, while McBean makes off with all their money. Poorer but wiser, the Sneetches abandon star-based classification altogether and live in star-blind harmony.

The moral is clear and compelling: we should not discriminate against others based on their appearance. A “star blind” culture is best for all. Everyone deserves the same opportunities as everyone else. The book is so persuasive and its message so positive that in 1998, NATO and the UN distributed copies of the book in Bosnia in the midst of the ethnic conflicts being waged there.

This was essentially the approach of the civil rights movement. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 ensured that all Americans have the equal right and access to vote.

The goal was a culture in which everyone had the same rights and opportunities as everyone else. A “star-blind” society, in other words.

The NEA recommends a book about a cross-dressing prince 

That was then; this is now.

McLaughlin quotes the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) with regard to The Sneetches: “The solution to the story’s conflict is that the Plain-Belly Sneetches and Star-Bellied Sneetches simply get confused as to who is oppressed. As a result, they accept one another. This message of ‘acceptance’ does not acknowledge structural power imbalances. It doesn’t address the idea that historical narratives impact present-day power structures. And instead of encouraging young readers to recognize and take action against injustice, the story promotes a race-neutral approach.”

Here’s the point: it’s no longer enough to seek a world in which all Americans have equal opportunities with regard to voting, education, employment, or other civil rights. Now we must be proactive in “canceling” any oppression as defined by any person considered to be oppressed. We must identify “structural power imbalances” and “take action against injustice” as defined by the SPLC and similar groups.

For example, the National Education Association has provided a list of books to consider as replacements for those by Dr. Seuss that have been canceled. It includes Julián Is a Mermaid, about a boy who wants to be a mermaid, and The Prince and the Dressmaker, about a cross-dressing prince.

Why we must “be strong and courageous” 

Tomorrow, I plan to explain the worldview behind this movement. For today, let’s note its danger for evangelicals. If you disagree with this ideology, you’re among the oppressors. If you defend biblical morality against an LGBTQ agenda, for instance, you’re an oppressor of the persecuted oppressed. This mentality applies to “minority rights” across the age spectrum from abortion to euthanasia.

This ideology is only going to become more pervasive in a culture that is deteriorating from our Judeo-Christian heritage to post-Christian to now anti-Christian worldviews. We must not compromise our biblical convictions or treat our opponents as our enemies. Instead, we must pray now for the courage to stand for biblical truth with biblical grace.

As we do, we can claim Moses’ word to the Jews confronting the dangers they faced as God’s word to us: “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6).

Will you take your Lord at his word today?

Denison Forum

For many, March 2021 means that we’ve been living with the specter of COVID-19 for a year. Last year, some believed that the virus wouldn’t hit US shores. Or that it would only affect our lives for a few weeks.

But, as the months wore on, we realized that the fight against COVID was not going to be a sprint, nor a marathon, but a daily race we’re all running together.

Yet we’re prayerful that the finish line (i.e., sustainably lower numbers across the board) comes sooner than we think, especially as vaccinations continue to increase in the US and abroad.

Speaking of vaccinations, should you avoid the Johnson & Johnson vaccine?

Dr. Denison considered that question in his Thursday edition of The Daily Article—which is also now available in a video edition.

Another notable news story this week, which could have far-ranging ramifications, is Bethany Christian Service’s decision to allow adoptions by LGBTQ parents. Dr. Denison relates that this tragic announcement proves at least three points:

1. Government intrusion on religious liberty is escalating.
2. Our culture and civilization are at stake.
3. We need to support ministries who stay faithful to their mission.

In related news, the Equality Act continues to garner press for its ramifications as well. Dr. Denison writes that he is “adamantly opposed to the Act, as you might imagine. But this is not only because of my concerns regarding religious liberty. It’s also because I am convinced it is bad for those it is intended to protect.”

If you have questions about what the Equality Act may mean for Christians, read this.

This week, Dr. Denison also wrote that an onslaught of cancel culture tends to condition us to look for the negative and overlook the positive. So, when we face opposition for our faith, how can we react with truth in love?

And Dr. Denison wished for a spare $12 million to buy a painting he doesn’t think is all that great—aside from the person who painted it.

As usual, it’s been a busy week at Denison Forum because the news never stops being new. But it’s a race we’re glad to run each day to inspire, challenge, and encourage believers like you to change their culture for God’s glory.

Lastly, as we all continue to run the race against COVID, let’s recall the most well-known passage about racing in the Bible: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1–2, emphasis added).

1. S. Dr. Denison also released a new video titled “Why does God allow the ungodly to persecute the godly?” While you’re there, consider subscribing to our YouTube channel, and click the notification bell to be notified every time we publish a new video.

Hear Dr. Denison

Dr. Denison is routinely interviewed on radio shows and podcasts. Here’s where you can hear him from this past week:

• What is Christian Nationalism?, Point of View with Kerby Anderson
• Thinking through the canceling of Dr. Suess and evangelicals, Mornings with Carmen LaBerge
• What does the Bible say about luck?with Dawn and Steve Mornings
• What does the Bible say about luck?on Bill Martinez Live
• VIDEO: What does the Bible say about humility?GodLife (Global Media Outreach)

As always, you can find Dr. Denison’s archive of interviews here.

What you may have missed

DON’T MISS THIS: Dr. Denison and pastors Tyrone Johnson and Mark Turman held an insightful and ultimately encouraging discussion on “Why Christians should celebrate Black history every month.”

Mark Legg sees a connection between the rise of meditation apps and St. Augustine’s Confessions: He defines Christian meditation and says that the “practice of confessing to God everyday matters, everyday sins, as well as major mess-ups in our lives, can be an act of meditation.”

In our feel-good story of the week, Minni Elkins highlighted the work of a teenager who helped senior citizens sign up for COVID vaccines.

Name any of Wilt Chamberlain’s teammates from the game in which he scored 100 points. That’s the challenge, and the illustration, that Ryan Denison offers in his latest article.

Notable Quotables

• “May we be those who set aside our pride, seek humility, and love others whatever the cost. May we be so bold as to set our eyes on heaven and sacrifice this life for the sake of eternity.” —Craig Denison, First15
• “One of the most tempting ways for Christians to deal with the opposition we face today is to separate our private beliefs from our public actions.” — Jim Denison
• “I think you may judge of a man’s character by the persons whose affection he seeks. If you find a man seeking only the affection of those who are great, depend upon it he is ambitious and self-seeking; but when you observe that a man seeks the affection of those who can do nothing for him, but for whom he must do everything, you know that he is not seeking himself, but that pure benevolence sways his heart.” —Charles Spurgeon

Parting thought

Why do we celebrate St. Patrick?

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Denison Forum – A painting by Winston Churchill sold for $12 million: Finding our true worth in Whose we are

Christie’s employees adjust an oil on canvas painting by Sir Winston Churchill painted in Jan. 1943 called ‘Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque’ during an Art pre-sale photo call at Christie’s auction house in London, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

I have a bust of Winston Churchill on my desk. I purchased it in the gift shop at Blenheim Palace, his birthplace. Several times over the years, I have visited the War Rooms in London where he led England through World War II and the memorial to him at Westminster Abbey.

I have studied many of his speeches in detail, including the famous Iron Curtain speech he delivered seventy-five years ago today. I have given lectures on his life at St. Martin’s Church in Bladon, the place where he and his wife Clementine are buried. I have read four biographies of Churchill and seen three movie biographies of him.

I say all of that to say that I’m a bit of a Churchill fan. And I really wish I had a spare $12 million.

If I did, I would have purchased Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque. This painting depicts a sunset over Marrakech’s largest mosque, which Churchill took President Franklin Roosevelt to see after they participated in the 1943 Casablanca Conference. Roosevelt was so enamored with the sunset that Churchill painted the scene as a gift for him. While Churchill completed more than 550 paintings, this was the only work of art he completed during World War II.

Actress Angelina Jolie and her ex-husband Brad Pitt purchased the painting in 2011; she sold it this week at a Christie’s London auction for nearly $12 million. I wish I had been the buyer.

What Tom Brady did the morning after winning the Super Bowl 

Here’s the part of the story that it pains me to admit: I don’t think Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque is a great work of art. In fact, if its painter had been anonymous, I wouldn’t pay $1,200 for it, much less $12 million. I would guess that the buyer explains to anyone viewing it that it was painted by Winston Churchill; otherwise, they might be as unimpressed as I am.

I say all of that to say this: Our true value lies not in what we do but in who we are. And who we are is best determined by Whose we are.

NBC Sports is reporting that Tom Brady began focusing on next season the morning after he won this year’s Super Bowl. I have no idea how other quarterbacks in the NFL are preparing for next year, but none of them have won seven Super Bowls. Who Brady is makes what he does headline news.

Conversely, our secular culture is built on the belief that what we do constitutes who we are. Winston Churchill’s iconic status as the Greatest Briton in history is largely the result of his leadership credited with saving Great Britain during World War II. Brady’s rank as the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) is the result of his astonishing achievements on the field.

Here’s the problem: if what we do determines who we are, our identity is always the product of our performance, and our performance is never enough. Brady is driven to win another Super Bowl; your work today will not be sufficient tomorrow. This is my last Daily Article for this week, but I will need to write another one Monday.

How to “lay aside every weight” 

God sees us differently. In his view, our status is not found in who we are or in what we do but in Whose we are.

We are each made in his image (Genesis 1:27), which means each of us is as valuable as any of us. We are each loved unconditionally by the God who is love (1 John 4:8), which means that “God loves each of us as if there were only one of us” (St. Augustine). He loves you as much as he loves Paul the Apostle or Mother Teresa. In fact, the Father loves you as much as he loves his Son (John 17:23, 26).

How are we to respond? By returning the favor.

Jesus’ first commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). In a culture that separates Sunday from Monday and religion from the “real world,” God wants to be our “first love” every moment of every day (Revelation 2:4).

This is not for his sake, as if he were an egotist who needs our affirmation or a codependent partner who depends on our love. It is for our sake. He knows that loving him with every dimension of our lives is the best way for us to live our lives.

Our Father knows that when we love him more than anyone else, we will be empowered to love others with his love. When we love him more than ourselves, we will “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely” (Hebrews 12:1) and experience his best for us (Romans 12:2). When we love him more than the world (1 John 2:15), we will show his love to the world (John 13:34).

The question we should ask every day 

As I have written, I believe evangelical Christians are entering an unprecedented period in American history. Biblical morality is increasingly seen as homophobic, bigoted, discriminatory, and otherwise dangerous to society. As a result, the religious freedom that protects such morality is coming under greater attack than ever before.

We will be sorely tempted to respond either by compromising with immorality, rejecting as the enemy those who need the gospel, or withdrawing from the culture.

The key to “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15) will be to experience the love that empowers us to speak the truth. It will be to find our identity in our Father’s love, not our culture’s affirmation or rejection. It will be to love the God who loves us and find in him the security to love others whether they love us or not.

To this end, here’s the question we should ask ourselves every single morning: If I were to be more in love with my Lord today than yesterday, what would need to change?

What is your answer today?

Denison Forum

This story brings “getting a dose of your own medicine” to a new level: months after donating $1 million to help develop the Moderna vaccine, Dolly Parton received her shot of the vaccine this week. She also recorded a version of her classic song “Jolene” before receiving her shot, singing, “Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, I’m begging of you, please don’t hesitate.”

In other vaccine news, the newly approved Johnson & Johnson (J&J) single-dose vaccine is “absolutely” a game changer, according to a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital. “We should all be encouraged that we now have three excellent vaccines available to administer to Americans all across this country,” he said. “I expect we’ll be moving a lot faster with J&J on board.”

However, the archdiocese of New Orleans is urging Catholics to avoid the J&J vaccine, calling it “morally compromised.” Their statement claims that it “uses the abortion-derived cell line in development and production of the vaccine as well as the testing.”

Arguments for and against the J&J vaccine

When the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were developed several months ago, I reported that they used cells from the HEK293T fetal cell line in the testing process, though neither included such cells in the vaccines themselves. This tissue was acquired in the Netherlands in the 1970s, but records pertaining to its origins were lost. As a result, it is not known whether the tissue came from an elective abortion or a spontaneous miscarriage.

By contrast, the archdiocese is now claiming that the J&J vaccine makes “extensive use of abortion-derived cell lines” and urges Catholics to opt for the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines if given the choice. Several Christian leaders wrote to the US Food and Drug Administration in April 2020 warning that Janssen Pharmaceuticals (which produced the J&J vaccine) was developing a vaccine “using old cell lines that were created from the cells of aborted babies.”

J&J responded, asserting that “there is no fetal tissue in our Janssen COVID-19 vaccine.” Other ethicists state that the cells in question are clones and are not the original fetal tissue. They also note that, at this point, most people in the US and elsewhere do not have a choice as to which vaccine they receive. One ethicist warns, “This kind of moral scare-mongering can cost lives, especially among people who might not have access to the vaccine otherwise.”

Numerous moral theologians add that Catholics should feel confident taking the J&J vaccine since it could help protect vulnerable members of society. The president of Notre Dame University, for example, stated, “The Notre Dame community remains committed to doing our part to help fight the pandemic on campus and beyond. The one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be provided to those who meet the state’s age and other eligibility guidelines at the time.”

Since the J&J vaccine is vital to vaccinating all adults in the US, this issue is significant to our nation’s health and future.

What do we do when experts disagree? 

My purpose today is not to offer medical advice or to claim scientific knowledge I do not possess. Rather, it is to ask the question: What do we do when experts disagree?

The New Orleans archdiocese asserts that we should not take the J&J vaccine if given a choice, claiming that it is tied too closely to abortion. But what if we do not have a choice? Are we risking the lives of Americans to protest the taking of lives through abortion? If so, which lives should take precedence: those who have died or those who are still alive?

In addition, scholars seem divided on the degree to which the J&J vaccine is related in any way to abortion. If we assume that the vaccine is tied directly to abortion, we might ask whether, by saving lives, the vaccine is redeeming lives lost to abortion. When a patient receives a heart transplanted from a murder victim, this does not make the patient complicit in the donor’s death.

If you are offered the J&J vaccine, my advice is for you to consult your physician and to seek wisdom from God’s word, God’s Spirit, and God’s people. This is an approach that applies to far more than the vaccine.

Imitating my favorite church 

Over the years, people have occasionally asked me to name my favorite church in the New Testament. My answer is always the same: the Bereans. I have led several study tours to this ancient Greek city; each time, we read that when Paul came to them, “They received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11).

As a result, “Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men” (v. 12).

In a culture that is growing more and more secularized and opposed to Christian morality, it is vital that we imitate the Bereans. News media are distrusted as partisan; the cancel culture of our day is being described as a dangerous “cultural revolution”; the recent public failures of several Christian leaders are causing many to wonder who, if anyone, they can trust.

Here’s the answer: Jesus told his followers, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31–32). “Abide” in (live in, remain in) the word of God, viewing everything you experience through the lens of Scripture. Then you will know the truth, and that truth will set you free.

Jesus’ promise is not that we will never suffer for such biblical obedience—it is that we will experience the freedom and joy of the Lord even when we suffer for him. And our faithfulness, like that of the Bereans, will plant trees we’ll never sit under and make a difference in this world for the world to come.

Three heroes of the faith 

One of the daily readings to which I subscribe is titled “Saint of the Day.” Yesterday’s entry focused on three martyrs named Eutropius, Cleonicus, and Basiliscus.

In AD 308, their pagan governor tried to turn them from Jesus. He invited Eutropius to dine with him, but the Christian refused, quoting the biblical statement, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked” (Psalm 1:1). The ruler offered the three a large amount of silver, but they refused, telling the governor that Judas lost his soul for silver.

The governor then subjected them to torture, but they refused to abandon their Lord. Finally, he crucified Eutropius and Cleonicus, for which they gave thanks that they had been found worthy to die in the same way as Jesus did. Basiliscus was held in prison in hopes that the deaths of his companions would weaken his resolve. When he remained steadfast, he was beheaded.

When we know and live by biblical truth, “the truth will set us free”—in this life or the next.

How free will you be today?

Denison Forum

Bethany Christian Services is the largest Christian adoption agency in the United States. This week, the organization announced that it would begin providing its services to LGBTQ parents nationwide. Their decision is in response to requirements from various states that agencies serve such couples to maintain their governmental contracts.

In 2007, the organization specified that “God’s design for the family is a covenant and lifelong marriage of one man and one woman.” However, two years ago, the Michigan chapter changed its policy to begin placing foster children with same-sex couples.

At the time, the CEO wrote: “At Bethany, we believe the Bible is the living Word of God, and we still believe in God’s plan for marriage and family as it is outlined in the Scriptures. At the same time, it is clear to us that Bethany cannot cede the foster care space completely to the secular world and leave children without the opportunity to experience Jesus through our loving care.” (As we will note below, numerous Christian ministries do not believe this to be a binary choice and are continuing to be faithful to their biblical mission in the face of governmental pressure.)

The organization added: “The mission and beliefs of Bethany Christian Services have not changed. We are focused on demonstrating the love of Jesus Christ by serving children in need, and we intend to continue doing so in Michigan.”

On Monday, Bethany announced that it would make this change nationwide. Bethany’s vice president stated, “Faith in Jesus is at the core of our mission. But we are not claiming a position on the various doctrinal issues about which Christians of mutual good faith may disagree. We acknowledge that discussions about doctrine are important, but our sole job is to determine if a family can provide a safe, stable environment for children.”

Beware of “redefining civilization” 

This tragic announcement proves at least three points.

One: Government intrusion on religious liberty is escalating. 

Jim Daly, head of Focus on the Family, is right: “Bethany Christian Services should not have to choose between holding to their deeply held religious convictions and serving children and families. No government should tell any ministry how to run their ministry, let alone violate deeply held biblical principles.”

Two: Our culture and civilization are at stake. 

Al Mohler responded to the announcement: “The moral revolutionaries are now demanding that every single individual in this society, every single institution, every single school, every single religious denomination, every single adoption and foster care agency must pivot.” He added that “Christians have to understand: If you’re redefining marriage, if you’re redefining parent and family, you are redefining civilization.”

Three: We need to support ministries who stay faithful to their mission. 

Ethicist Russell Moore responded: “The need is great for distinctively Christian adoption and foster care services” who believe that “children need both mothers and fathers.” He added that “many evangelical orphan care ministries are working, and will continue to work, for vulnerable children in need of families, while still holding to the faith.” I am grateful for Buckner International and other Christian agencies who refuse to mortgage their mission in the face of social and governmental pressure.

“The most potent way Christianity is marginalized” 

This story also highlights a critical principle for all Christians seeking to navigate our anti-Christian culture.

Bethany claims to “believe in God’s plan for marriage and family as it is outlined in the Scriptures,” but it will now adopt children to families who reject that plan. The organization claims that their “mission and beliefs . . . have not changed,” but they have adopted policies that clearly violate them. How are we to understand these contradictions?

One of the most tempting ways for Christians to deal with the opposition we face today is to separate our private beliefs from our public actions.

In Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity, apologist Nancy Pearcey states: “The most potent way Christianity is marginalized in modern society is through the division of life into two separate spheres: a sacred realm of prayer, worship, and personal morality against a secular realm of politics, business, academia, and so on.” According to this division, our personal values regarding same-sex marriage or any other biblical moral issue should be kept separate from our public actions in secular society.

This juxtaposition allows us to tell churches, donors, and other supporters that our biblical values remain intact while bowing to cultural pressure to conform to unbiblical requirements. Bethany is not the first ministry to strike such a Faustian bargain; I fear that they will not be the last.

“May we be so bold as to set our eyes on heaven” 

Let’s close by making today’s article personal: Are you being tempted to separate your personal beliefs from your public life?

For example, are your thoughts about others different from your actions toward them? Jesus correlated anger with murder (Matthew 5:22) and defined lust as adultery (v. 28). Paul exhorted us: “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8).

Are you willing to pay any price to share your faith with others? Craig Denison asks, “Are the opinions of others really so important to me that I would withhold from them eternal, abundant life with a God who loves them relentlessly and perfectly?”

He adds: “May we be those who set aside our pride, seek humility, and love others whatever the cost. May we be so bold as to set our eyes on heaven and sacrifice this life for the sake of eternity.”

Will you be so bold today?

Denison Forum

Let’s start with some good news: the late Alex Trebek’s TV wardrobe was donated to men who are homeless or leaving jail. When an H-E-B grocery store near Austin, Texas, lost power in the recent winter storm and was unable to check out customers, employees let them take their goods home for free. A delivery driver’s vehicle got stuck in a client’s driveway when the storm began, so the couple took her into their home for five days.

Have you seen any of these stories headlined in recent days?

Riots in Portland and “negativity bias” 

In other news, cancel culture has come for a Hyatt Regency hotel in Orlando, Florida. The hotel hosted the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) last weekend. Former President Donald Trump spoke, as did a number of other Republican and conservative figures. As a result, critics called online for the hotel to be boycotted.

Cancel culture is also coming for Dr. Seuss on claims of racist stereotypes in his books. A school district in Virginia is just one example. And rioters vandalized several buildings in downtown Portland, Oregon, over the weekend, protesting the Biden administration’s immigration policy and the federal agency Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Unfortunately, such bad news is much easier to find in the news than good news.

“Negativity bias” is the psychological term for our collective hunger to hear and remember bad news. Part of this is schadenfreude, the pleasure we derive from another person’s misfortune. However, studies indicate that we are also conditioned to avoid danger and thus respond more quickly to bad news that threatens us.

This means that we often look for the negative and overlook the positive. As a result, we can make things worse than they are. Our fears become self-fulfilling prophecies and we miss much of the good that surrounds us each day.

Hiding from a king in a cave 

Let’s relate this fact to yesterday’s Daily Article, which focused on the importance of supporting religious freedom while speaking the truth in love with LGBTQ persons and their advocates. Toward the close of the article, I stated my plan to suggest specific ways we can do both.

For foundational guidance, we turn to Psalm 57, David’s prayer when he was hiding from King Saul in a wilderness cave (probably 1 Samuel 22:1, but possibly 1 Samuel 24:3). Here we find four principles that apply when we face opposition to our faith. Each of them calls us to focus on the good in the midst of the bad.

One: Trust God’s presence. 

David begins his prayer: “Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by” (v. 1). He knows that the Lord is sheltering him in the face of mortal peril, even though he cannot see his “wings” at the time.

Two: Trust God’s purpose. 

David continues: “I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me” (v. 2). Note that it is God, not David, who “fulfills” this purpose. The darkness of the tunnel does not contradict the sovereignty of the engineer driving the train.

Three: Trust God’s power. 

David testifies: “He will send from heaven and save me; he will put to shame him who tramples on me” (v. 3, my emphasis). He knows that the King of the universe is more powerful than the king of Israel.

Four: Trust God’s providence. 

David admits: “My soul is in the midst of lions; I lie down amid fiery beasts” (v. 4). Yet he can pray, “Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!” (v. 5). He knows that God knows his challenges and will bring his glory “over all the earth,” including the threat he faces.

Four steps to the spring of the Spirit 

With this backdrop, how can we respond redemptively to those who advocate for causes that threaten our religious freedom and attack our beliefs?

In Crisis in America: A Christian Response, Pastor Garland Hunt offers practical wisdom for this moment in our nation’s history. I would summarize his suggestions for facing opposition in four steps:

• Perception: What is God saying to us through this event?
• Personal accountability: Is there wrongdoing I must admit and change?
• Prayer: How can I intercede for those affected and for God to act for their best?
• Persuasion: What changes are needed? How can I help people make them?

Because God is sovereign in every “cave” of life, we can trust his presence, purpose, power, and providence. We can therefore look for his hand in the challenges we face.

Before we can ask others to change, however, we must ask God what changes we need to make (1 Peter 4:17). Then we can pray for God to work in the minds and hearts of our opponents (Matthew 5:44). Only then can we be effective catalysts for change in our broken culture.

I’ll close with a lesson from the winter storm we recently suffered in Texas. My home in Dallas was blanketed with more snow than I have ever seen in our city. However, when the temperature finally climbed above freezing and the sun came out, the snow began to melt. Not so quickly that you could watch it happen, but slowly over time.

In a day or two, the snow had melted in the sunlight. However, it persisted far longer in the shade.

If we do our job as the “light of the world” (Matthew 5:14), we will make an eternal difference in our winter-gripped world. We may not see the spiritual snow melt today, but the spring of the Spirit is coming.

This is the promise and the invitation of God.

Denison Forum