Noah Stokes and Khrystya Gordon were crowned Homecoming King and Queen last Friday at Arapahoe High School in Littleton, Colorado. They were honored in the Homecoming parade and dance the next day.

Why is their story so newsworthy? Because both Noah and Khrystya have Down syndrome.

I cite their story in light of a National Review article reporting that 61 to 93 percent of US women choose abortion after a Down syndrome diagnosis.

Fortunately, federal legislation has been introduced that forbids abortion providers from performing abortions sought because the fetus has been diagnosed with Down syndrome. Tragically, a Gallup survey shows that 49 percent of Americans favor such abortions in the first trimester (though support drops to 29 percent in the third trimester).

99 percent of this group is happy with their lives

A study published in the American Journal of Medical Genetics asked people with Down syndrome ages twelve and older about their self-perceptions. Nearly 99 percent indicated that they were happy with their lives; 97 percent liked who they were; 96 percent liked how they look; and nearly 99 percent expressed love for their families.

The participants “encouraged parents to love their babies with Down syndrome, mentioning that their own lives were good.” The study concluded: “Overall, the overwhelming majority of people with Down syndrome surveyed indicate they live happy and fulfilling lives.”

Continue reading Denison Forum – What makes this Homecoming King and Queen so special? Valuing every life as much as God does →

Kanye West is one of the best-selling artists of all time, with more than 140 million records sold. He has been described as a “rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur, and fashion designer.”

His latest album, Jesus Is King, debuted at No. 1 on the charts. Every song on the album has appeared on Billboard’s Hot 100 this week as well.

His faith is making as many headlines as his albums.

West launched Sunday Service, a Christian worship group, earlier this year. Its first public performance was on Easter Sunday. At a service this past Friday, more than a thousand people reportedly raised their hands to commit their lives to Christ. A pastor who attended the service called it a “new wave of revival.”

West explained the purpose behind Jesus Is King: “Music is my job. That’s why I’m putting out the album. Serving God in everything that I can do is my job. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I’m on the planet is to be in service and in fear, love, and service to God.”

“He’s in the Bible. He’s in prayer.”

West has struggled with mental health issues over the years, at one point telling David Letterman that he has bipolar disorder. His wife, Kim Kardashian West, told The View that her husband’s new album was instrumental in his becoming a Christian.

“Kanye started this to really heal himself and it was a really personal thing, and it was just friends and family,” she said. “He has had an amazing evolution of being born again and being saved by Christ.” He has reportedly announced that he will only make gospel music going forward.

Criticism has been swift and sharp.

Referring to the financial contributions West is making to Sunday Service, Rolling Stone calls his new album “a megachurch masquerading as a 12-song tax-shelter bar bonanza.” An article in the New Yorker headlined: “Kanye West’s Sunday Service Is Full of Longing and Self-Promotion.” Another writer called the service “a private affair that looks more like a celebrity cult.”

However, the pastor who is traveling with West and speaking at Sunday Service meetings says Kanye West’s new faith is genuine. According to Adam Tyson, West is “living and walking with God.” The pastor has seen noticeable changes in the rapper’s life: “He’s in the Bible. He’s in prayer.”

When Tyson shared the gospel with West at their first meeting, the artist responded: “I’ve been radically saved. I believe that message and I want to get that message out to the world.”

“People want to see him fail at Christianity”

Our first biblical responsibility to Kanye West and other celebrities who come to Christ is to pray for them. Paul wrote: “I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions” (1 Timothy 2:1–2). We are required to pray for each other and for those in positions of cultural influence.

Actress Patricia Heaton, an outspoken Christian, says she is praying for Kanye West because she believes people want to see him fail in his new faith. “It’s very hard,” she explains. “I think when someone of his stature in the industry and someone who has his amount of fame makes that kind of proclamation, people then really watch and scrutinize everything he does to catch him falling down.” She warned that “people want to see him fail at Christianity.”

Writing for Faithwire, Tré Goins-Phillips offers these suggestions as we pray for and encourage celebrity Christians: don’t expect instantaneous maturity; don’t anticipate perfection; stop idolizing fame; allow for missteps; and be understanding and trust God.

“Don’t be like the prodigal son’s brother”

Our second biblical responsibility to celebrity converts is to serve them by “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15).

Pastor Hans Fiene notes that “Christians shouldn’t be afraid of getting burned by Kanye West because our faith isn’t rooted in the fidelity of Christians but the faithfulness of Christ.” As a result, he counsels us, “Don’t be like the prodigal son’s brother.”

The pastor explains: “God has not called you to be Kanye West’s faith auditor. He’s called you to be Kanye West’s brother. So instead of trying to keep him outside the feast of salvation until he’s proven himself worthy, rejoice to enter with him into the feast where all formerly unworthy sinners are invited to eat and drink the worthiness of Jesus Christ.”

As “formerly unworthy sinners,” we are called to help each other live biblically and redemptively: “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness” (Galatians 6:1a). But we are also to “keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted” (v. 1b).

In short, we are to “bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (v. 2).

“Compassion will cure more sins than condemnation”

I cannot determine the genuineness of Kanye West’s faith. Or of yours. Or you of mine.

But I know this: How we treat Kanye West tells the unbelievers we know how we will treat them if they join our faith.

Our Father calls us to pray for each other and help each other follow Jesus. And he calls us to model community that expects the best of one another and encourages one another when we fall short.

Henry Ward Beecher noted that “compassion will cure more sins than condemnation.” And it will lead more sinners to the Savior.

Who needs your compassion today?

Denison Forum

An intoxicated man fell onto a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) track in Oakland last Sunday afternoon. He landed in front of an approaching train. A BART employee named John O’Connor grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him to safety.

The now-viral video shows how close the man came to death.

We are all in this story. We are the man who is about to die, or the man who did what he could to save him, or the people who did not try to help.

“The antagonism between life and conscience”

I recently read a statement by Randy Alcorn that has bothered me ever since. He quoted Leo Tolstoy: “The antagonism between life and conscience may be removed either by a change of life or by a change of conscience.”

Alcorn then commented: “Many of us have elected to adjust our consciences rather than our lives. Our powers of rationalization are unlimited. They allow us to live in luxury and indifference while others, whom we could help if we chose to, starve and go to hell.”

His assessment seems harsh. Surely, I would not let someone starve or go to hell if I could help them. But Alcorn forces me to ask: Am I giving all I should to help those who are starving? Am I doing all I should to share Christ with those who are going to hell?

Are you?

“Let’s Call ‘Religious Freedom’ by Its Real Name”

I’m not sure Christians in America have ever been as tempted to privatize our faith as we are today.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Employee saves man who falls on train track, video goes viral: The irony of sacrificial courage →

Last Friday, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed a rule that would end discrimination against Catholics and evangelical Protestants in adoption services.

Regulations put in place at the end of the Obama administration bar organizations that believe marriage is between a man and a woman from federal child-welfare programs. The new rule would allow such ministries to place children for adoption without violating their religious beliefs.

Of course, this is not how many in the media are reporting the news.

Who are the true victims of “discrimination”?

CBS News leads its coverage: “The Trump administration is proposing a new rule that would allow faith-based adoption and foster organizations to deny their services to LGBTQ couples.” CNN casts the rule in a similar anti-LGBTQ light.

Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, has an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that gives the rest of the story. Dr. Moore notes: “This is not a narrowing rule that excludes gay people and others from serving children. Instead, the regulation merely ensures that no one is kept from serving, while ending an attempt to stop religious organizations from doing so consistent with their convictions.”

It’s hard for me to see how the new rule discriminates against LGBTQ couples who wish to adopt since the religious organizations it would permit to offer such services are presently excluded from doing so. In other words, LGBTQ couples would not be less able to adopt now than they were previously.

Coverage focusing on LGBTQ “discrimination” overlooks discrimination against those whose religious beliefs lead them to view marriage biblically. And it overlooks the real winners here: the children.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Will new adoption rule ‘discriminate’ against LGBTQ people? The best way to prepare for the future →

Matthew McConaughey made headlines recently, but not for a new movie or television commercial. He joined other volunteers last Friday in preparing eight hundred turkey dinners for firefighters in Los Angeles battling wildfires. His team prepared an additional eight hundred dinners for local homeless shelters.

Our culture will remember McConaughey for his Academy Award-winning acting career. These firefighters will remember him for his kindness.

“Three things that are important in life”

Frederick Buechner: “When Henry James, of all people, was saying goodbye once to his young nephew Billy, his brother William’s son, he said something that the boy never forgot. And of all the labyrinthine and impenetrably subtle things that that most labyrinthine and impenetrable old romancer could have said, what he did say was this: ‘There are three things that are important in human life. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. The third is to be kind.’”

Nancy Pelosi would agree. While I disagree strongly with the self-described “left-wing San Francisco liberal” on a wide range of issues, I agree with the advice she gave political candidates recently: “Show [voters] what’s in your heart, your hopes and dreams. It’s not about you. It’s about them.”

Now let’s hear from the opposite side of the spectrum.

Victor Davis Hanson is the author of The Case for Trump and a well-known conservative commentator. Responding to the “culture wars” of our day, he notes that “almost every cultural institution—universities, the public schools, the NFL, the Oscars, the Tonys, the Grammys, late-night television, public restaurants, coffee shops, movies, TV, stand-up comedy—has been not just politicized but also weaponized.”

In the most polarized and politicized culture of my lifetime, Henry James’ advice is more urgent than ever.

How to be “sons of your Father who is in heaven”

On one hand, it is obviously urgent that Christians speak up and stand up for truth today. It’s difficult to identify an issue on which our culture is not moving further from biblical morality by the day.

On the other hand, it is urgent that Christians speak up and stand up for truth in a way that leads people to the Truth.

Jesus taught us to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). The second imperative amplifies and applies the first. It is hard to hate someone for whom we are praying. The more we pray for them, the more we come to love them. And the more we love them, the more we will pray for them.

Our Lord then explained why such kindness is so important: “So that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven” (v. 45). Just as a father loves his children whether they love him or not, so we must love each other whether they love us or not.

It’s easy to love those who love us: Jesus asks, “Do not even the tax collectors do the same?” (v. 46). And when you “greet only your brothers,” Jesus asks, “What more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?” (v. 47).

But when we love those who do not love us, we stand out in a way people cannot forget.

Let’s join “Golden Rule 2020”

Yesterday marked exactly one year before the next presidential election. In that light, a campaign that began Sunday is especially significant.

The movement is known as “Golden Rule 2020: A Call for Dignity and Respect in Politics.” Its organizer explained that the goal is “to remind Christians that our faith has something to say about how we talk to each other and that these insights are relevant to our political discussions—particularly in difficult times like these.”

The campaign is supported by a remarkable coalition, including the National Association of Evangelicals, the Episcopal Church, a department of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the Presbyterian Church USA. It encourages Christians to “pray for God’s help in healing our country” and to “promote the use of the Golden Rule in political discussions and election activities throughout the 2020 campaign season.”

As a result, “there will be a focus on the practical application of the Golden Rule and how politics in 2020 could be different if Christians practice Biblical teachings about how to treat people who disagree with them.”

Let’s join Golden Rule 2020 today, to the good of our country and the glory of God.

The truest test of character

It has been said that the truest test of character is how we treat people we don’t have to treat well.

When people hurt us, our society tells us we have the right to hurt them in return. Jesus says we have the privilege of loving them by praying for them. When Christians decide that Christ is right and culture is wrong, the culture is drawn to Christ.

Maya Angelou: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

How will you make people feel today?

Denison Forum

Joe Biden is a lifelong Roman Catholic, a commitment he has made public on numerous occasions across his long career in public service. He and his wife regularly attend Mass at a Catholic church in Greenville, Delaware.

However, he is also a strong supporter of abortion on demand. Earlier this year, he even reversed his support for the Hyde Amendment, legislation that bars federal funding for abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or risk to a woman’s life.

When the presidential candidate was campaigning in South Carolina last weekend, he attended Sunday Mass at St. Anthony Catholic Church in the Diocese of Charleston. However, the priest later stated that he “had to refuse Holy Communion” to the former vice president. The priest explained: “Holy Communion signifies we are one with God, each other and the Church. Our actions should reflect that. Any public figure who advocates for abortion places himself or herself outside of Church teaching.”

Backlash was quick and severe. An Esquire article suggested, “Maybe the Catholic church should worry less about Joe Biden and more about the abuse of children.” A liberal group launched an online petition calling on South Carolina’s bishop to direct the priest to apologize to Biden and direct other priests in the state not to deny communion based on politics.

“A crucial eccentricity of the Christian faith”

Today is All Saints Day. As we noted yesterday, the term saints in the Bible applies to all Christians. Scripture teaches that we are all saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8–9).

Frederick Buechner: “A crucial eccentricity of the Christian faith is the assertion that people are saved by grace. There’s nothing you have to do. There’s nothing you have to do. There’s nothing you have to do” (his italics).

Continue reading Denison Forum – Joe Biden denied communion because of abortion stance: Speaking truth in a ‘post-truth’ culture →

John MacArthur is a prominent Baptist pastor and biblical scholar who is currently celebrating fifty years in pulpit ministry at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California.

Sadly, that legacy is only part of why he’s in the news today.

Last week, MacArthur took part in a panel discussion at a Truth Matters Conference hosted by his home church. Emcee Todd Friel asked the panel for a one-word or “pithy” response to certain names.

Friel then started the discussion by saying “Beth Moore,” in reference to the prominent Southern Baptist author and speaker who has made waves recently by teaching at churches on Sunday mornings.

MacArthur responded by simply but clearly saying, “Go home.”

Those in attendance responded with laughter and applause.

While some might be tempted to dismiss MacArthur’s statement as playing to the crowd or the result of poor judgment in the moment—it certainly fit the “pithy” characterization that Friel was looking for—it’s important to note that the pastor took more than thirty seconds to craft his response. It was clear, in both his answer and the later explanation, that his words represent what he believes.

My purpose today is not to expound upon the proper role of women in the ministry (for more on that question, see Dr. Denison’s “What should be the role of women in Church?“). Rather, it’s to look at the way John MacArthur delivered his indictment and see what lessons we can learn regarding how to better disagree with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Can we still agree to disagree?

As Dr. Todd Still wrote concerning MacArthur for the Baptist Standard, “Even if MacArthur were to be correct in his assertions and assessments, in his disparaging remarks and condescending comments regarding Moore he fails to follow the very Scripture he proclaims.”

Dr. Still is correct, and I encourage you to read the entirety of his response.

We cannot afford to miss his point considering that, both inside and outside of the church, we seem to have forgotten how to disagree with people without vilifying them in the process. If we cannot engage with different views on their merits alone, then it speaks volumes to just how loosely and poorly we hold those views.

Continue reading Denison Forum – John MacArthur tells Beth Moore ‘Go home’: 3 ways to disagree better →

Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, are no strangers to the media. As part of the royal family, Harry and his brother have been lightning rods for global attention since their birth. That attention only increased after their mother, Princess Diana, died in a car accident while trying to get away from the paparazzi.

As an actress prior to becoming a princess, Meghan Markle was also no stranger to being the center of attention, whether it was wanted or not. As a recent interview with British television channel ITV demonstrates, however, experience with being trapped in the public eye does not make it any easier to bear.

The couple recently took a ten-day trip to Africa to work with several charities and check up on much of the work that Harry’s mother began prior to her tragic death. They spoke excitedly about all the progress being made and the joy they felt in getting the chance to be part of it, but there were also candid moments of grief when the conversation veered toward their strained relationship with the media. The most poignant was Meghan’s reply to anchor Tom Bradby’s question regarding how she was holding up after recently giving birth to the couple’s first child.

The Duchess replied, “Thank you for asking because not many people have asked if I’m OK, but it’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes.”

Bradby followed up with “Would it be fair to say, not really OK, as in it’s really been a struggle?” to which she simply responded yes.

The exchange was a fairly minor part of the larger documentary, but it’s received quite a bit of attention, with the hashtag #WeLoveYouMeghan trending on Twitter and hundreds of thousands expressing their support for the princess.

And while we probably shouldn’t be surprised that there would be an outpouring of love for such comments, the degree to which people genuinely seem to feel for the Duchess is worth noting. CNN‘s Kara Alaimo spoke for many when she called the interview “gut-wrenching.”

Low-hanging fruit

It’s easy for any parent to sympathize with the trials that come from having a newborn in the house. Those relatively sleepless nights, constant demands on your time and attention, and the way that anyone else who has ever even seen a baby can feel entitled to tell you how to better raise yours make it an inescapably trying time, even though it’s still worth every second.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Meghan Markle’s ‘gut-wrenching’ interview: How to notice the hurt in others →

Attorney General William Barr is making headlines for a speech he delivered at Notre Dame University’s law school last Friday. Barr, a devout Catholic, told faculty and students that “the problem is not that religion is being forced on others, the problem is that irreligion is being forced—secular values are being forced on people of faith.”

Barr adds: “Among the militant secularists are many so-called progressives. But where is the progress? We are told we are living in a post-Christian era, but what has replaced the Judeo-Christian moral system? What is it that can fill the spiritual void in the heart of the individual person? And what is the system of values that can sustain human social life?”

The attorney general said of the moral problems we are facing, “This is not decay. This is organized destruction. Secular forces and their allies have marshaled all the forces of mass communication, popular culture, the entertainment industry, and academia, in an unremitting assault on religion and traditional values.”

I believe Attorney General Barr is absolutely right.

Here’s why we are here: Many in our culture believe the lie that all truth claims are subjective impositions of personal power on others. Tolerance of all viewpoints must therefore be mandated, except, of course, for viewpoints deemed intolerant.

According to this agenda, the freedom to express religious beliefs ends where such freedom is deemed harmful to or by another person. Any person. Of course, the harm done to the person expressing his or her religious beliefs is ignored.

How to “experience the strongest opposition”

In such times, answering God’s call to be culture-changing Christians requires both urgency and courage. The higher the summit, the harder the climb.

A dear friend recently shared with me this statement from seventeenth-century theologian John Owen: “There is no duty we perform for God that sin does not oppose. And the more spirituality or holiness there is in what we do, the greater the enmity to it. Thus, those who seek the most for God experience the strongest opposition.”

Peter would agree.

Continue reading Denison Forum – William Barr’s statement at Notre Dame: My perspective and God’s call to courage →

Montgomery, Alabama, was known as the first capital of the Confederacy in the early Civil War period. Richmond, Virginia, served as the Confederacy’s second capital from 1861 to 1865. Danville, Virginia, was the capital for eight days after Richmond fell.

With the election of Steven Reed in Montgomery last week, all three cities now have black mayors for the first time.

Martin Luther King Jr. believed that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” However, Dr. King did not mean that the “arc of the moral universe” can be trusted to bend itself. That’s why he devoted his life to seeking justice for African Americans and the poor.

And it’s why Christians must take Christ to our culture as passionately and compassionately as we can. Let me illustrate.

Bride includes husband’s girlfriend in her wedding

This New York Times headline caught my eye: “Happily, Ever Open. What’s the wedding like when the couple is in an open or polyamorous relationship?” The article tells us that a woman named Daley South had six bridesmaids in her wedding to Logan South; one of them was her husband’s girlfriend. “I really enjoyed having her be part of our big day,” the bride said.

At another wedding, this one inside a New Hampshire church two days ago, a gunman shot the presiding bishop in the chest and the bride in her arm. Guests then tackled the shooter and pinned him to the ground until police arrived. Bishop Stanley Choate is in critical condition in a Boston hospital; Claire McMullen was expected to be released from the hospital yesterday.

The day before, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill requiring public universities to provide medical abortion on their campuses. Since these universities are funded by California’s taxpayers, abortions are now being funded by California’s taxpayers, whether they object personally or not.

Scientists have discovered twenty new moons around Saturn

Reading the news can be discouraging. It seems easier to retreat from the “culture wars,” but the wars will not retreat from us.

Continue reading Denison Forum – All three capitals of the Confederacy now have black mayors: Bending the ‘arc of the moral universe’ →

There is something in us that wants to help people who need help.

Time tells the remarkable and sometimes gruesome story of three sisters who fought the Nazis as part of the Dutch resistance in World War II. One explained why she became involved in the conflict: “While I was biking, I saw Germans picking up innocent people from the streets, putting them against a wall and shooting them. I was forced to watch, which aroused such an enormous anger in me, such a disgust. . . .

“You can have any political conviction or be totally against war, but at that moment you are just a human being confronted with something very cruel. Shooting innocent people is murder. If you experience something like this, you’ll find it justified to act against it.”

Two sisters help Iranian immigrant

Hassan Nezhadessivandi has spent the last five years distributing Express, a publication of the Washington Post. Mr. Nezhadessivandi immigrated from Iran in 1978 to go to college, but unrest in his homeland cut off his funds. He has been working odd jobs for many years to support himself.

He stood at the same spot in Washington, DC, for four hours every morning, passing out the newspaper to the commuters who passed by. He did his job in the snow, rain, or heat.

When the Post announced last Wednesday that the last copy of Express would be distributed the next day, many of the commuters realized they would no longer see Hassan. At the age of sixty-five, he was not sure how he would make ends meet.

Then, two sisters started a GoFundMe account for him. They spread the word by placing a poster board at the station, printing fliers, and sharing the link on social media. The fund has raised nearly fifteen thousand dollars so far.

“I have already been given a taste of God”

Part of being made in our Father’s image is sharing his heart for his children. This impulse to make the world better shows that we intuitively believe in a better world.

Henri Nouwen:

“I know that the fact that I am always searching for God, always struggling to discover the fullness of Love, always yearning for the complete truth, tells me that I have already been given a taste of God, of Love, and of Truth. I can only look for something that I have, to some degree, already found. How can I search for beauty and truth unless that beauty and truth are already known to me in the depth of my heart?

“It seems that all of us human beings have deep memories of the paradise that we have lost. Maybe the word innocence is better than the word paradise. We were innocent before we started feeling guilty; we were in the light before we entered into the darkness; we were at home before we started to search for a home.

“Deep in the recesses of our minds and hearts there lies hidden the treasure we seek. We know its preciousness, and we know that it holds the gift we most desire: a life stronger than death.”

As we work, God works

The fact that we were made for a better world, however, does not exempt us from seeking to better this world.

Darian Thompson started at safety for the Dallas Cowboys in their 31–6 win over Miami last Sunday. After overcoming numerous injuries and setbacks, he is following his dream in the NFL.

He told a reporter, “I’m thankful for God allowing me to do this. But also, it’s a testament to me and my work and the time I’ve put in.”

Noah built the ark, and God closed the door (Genesis 7:16). Moses held his staff over the Red Sea, and God parted the water (Exodus 14:21). Joshua led the people to step into the flooded Jordan River, and God stopped the water (Joshua 3:14–17). Peter preached at Pentecost, and the Spirit led three thousand souls to Christ (Acts 2:41).

As we work, God works. As we give our Father our best, we position ourselves to experience his best.

A man spent a year turning an overgrown, weed-infested field into a beautiful garden. When he showed it to his pastor, the pastor exclaimed, “What a beautiful creation of God.”

The man replied, “You should have seen it when God had it all to himself.”

“You will set the world on fire”

Denison Forum seeks to build a movement of culture-changing Christians because we are convinced that such a movement is the greatest need of our day. God has entrusted to each of us a Hassan Nezhadessivandi or a weed-infested field—ways we can use our gifts and influence to help someone follow Jesus.

Helping hurting people has been at the heart of the Christian mission from its beginning until today (cf. Acts 2:45). Our most powerful witness to a skeptical culture is our compassion for those in need.

Such compassion is not only our gift in God’s name—it is also God’s gift to us.

Ralph Waldo Emerson: “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”

St. Catherine of Siena went further: “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.”

What part of the world will you set on fire today?

Denison Forum

Game of Thrones won for Outstanding Drama Series at last night’s Emmys, making it the most-awarded narrative series in the history of the Emmys. Fleabag won for Outstanding Comedy Series. Jodie Comer and Billy Porter received Outstanding Lead Actress and Lead Actor in a Drama Series.

Here is what I noted: Except for a few minutes watching a late-night talk show here or there, I did not see a single show that was nominated. Not one.

Advice I wish I always followed

Part of the explanation could be that much of popular culture is aimed at people half my age. Another factor is that I have to go to bed early each night to finish this article early the next morning.

But I suspect the largest reason for the disconnect between the 2019 Emmys and my television-watching habits is that Janet and I choose to watch shows that do not dishonor the Lord and his word. I’m not suggesting that every nominated show fails this standard, but many do.

Scripture calls us to “be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter 1:15). In that light, we should heed the warning of the eighteenth-century scientist G. C. Lichtenberg: “Never undertake anything for which you wouldn’t have the courage to ask the blessing of heaven.”

I wish I could tell you that I always follow his advice. But I do recognize the truth of his assertion.

“The euthanasia of Christianity”

The popularity of television shows that contradict the biblical worldview reveals that many people do not realize there is a biblical worldview.

God’s word speaks to every dimension of every moment of life, not just our Sunday worship or Monday prayers. Abraham Kuyper was right: “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!”

Continue reading Denison Forum – The latest on the Emmy Awards: How to win the ‘crown of life’ →

Hurricane Dorian turned north overnight and is about one hundred miles off of Florida’s east coast this morning. At least seven people were killed in the Bahamas; dozens are still being rescued from floodwaters.

The Category 2 storm, with winds of 110 mph, is lashing central Florida’s east coast today. Flash floods and a life-threatening storm surge are expected. More than two million people in Florida, Georgia, and North and South Carolina have been warned to evacuate.

Not everyone is leaving, however. Employees of the Hunkerdown Hideaway in downtown Cocoa Beach, Florida, vow to remain open “till the police shut us down.” Some say that the expense of evacuating and the income they would miss make leaving almost impossible for them.

Their dilemma could be solved if they knew where (or if) the hurricane would strike land. It’s an astounding fact in our day of remarkable technological sophistication that such vital and practical information is unavailable to those who need it most.

How many people work for the National Weather Service?

Our problem is not that our best people aren’t doing their best. The National Weather Service employs 2,600 operational meteorologists and hydrologists; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 2019 budget exceeds $5 billion.

And yet, using the most advanced technology in history, our best meteorological scientists are still unable to predict the precise path of a hurricane. The consequences of this fact are staggering.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates government costs for hurricanes at $28 billion a year. Coastal shoreline counties generate 40 percent of America’s jobs and are responsible for 46 percent of our gross domestic product.

Clearly, our best experts are doing all they can. But their limits show us our own.

“Life has never been normal”

Researchers predict that cancer will become the leading cause of death in the US by next year. And yet the National Cancer Institute’s budget for this year is $5.74 billion. As the father of a cancer survivor and the son of a cancer victim, I wish it were more.

My point is that disasters and diseases demonstrate the finitude of fallen humans.

We can do so much more in the world than ever before. For instance, distributing this article without email would require $90,000 in postage and would render today’s column outdated by the time it arrived in your physical mailbox.

But the issues that matter most are beyond our capacity to influence or even predict. I don’t know if I’ll be alive to write Thursday’s Daily Article; you don’t know if you’ll be alive to read it if I do.

In this sense, the unpredictability and devastation of Hurricane Dorian is nothing new on our fallen planet. What C. S. Lewis said of war can be said of a hurricane: It “creates no absolutely new situation; it simply aggravates the permanent human situation so that we can no longer ignore it. Human life has always been lived on the edge of a precipice. . . . We are mistaken when we compare war with ‘normal life.’ Life has never been normal.”

“The wind ceased, and there was a great calm.”

When we face a foe stronger than we are, it’s wise to trust in a power stronger than it is.

Scripture says of the Lord: “It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens. When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth” (Jeremiah 10:12–13).

When Jesus “rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’” here’s what happened: “The wind ceased, and there was a great calm” (Mark 4:39). The God who parted the Red Sea and stopped the flooded Jordan River is more powerful than Dorian or any other disaster.

Of course, it’s human nature to ask why this omnipotent God didn’t stop Dorian from devastating the Bahamas. When our son was diagnosed with cancer several years ago, I asked the Lord why he didn’t answer my daily prayers for Ryan’s health. Eventually, I came to peace with the fact we discussed yesterday: my fallen mind cannot comprehend God’s “higher” thoughts and ways (Isaiah 55:8–9), so turning from my Father when I need him most only makes suffering worse.

For today, let’s consider that the unpredictability and danger of natural disasters and diseases should remind us daily of our frailty and limitations. The more advanced our technology becomes, the more tempting our hubris.

“Living your life as an offering of thanksgiving”

What Hurricane Dorian does this week is beyond our control. But how we respond to that fact is not.

When we remember that this world is not our home and that all we “own” actually belongs to the One who made it, we are free to live for heaven on earth and trust the results to our Father.

Curtis Almquist of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist offers this advice: “All the things which you could call your ‘possessions’—both the tangible and the intangible—give them up. I’m not saying to disregard or devalue them; quite to the contrary, I’m speaking of ‘giving them up’ like an offering, acknowledging to God how God has acknowledged you in them. In the ancient vocabulary of the church, this is called ‘an ablation,’ living your life as an offering of thanksgiving.”

Will you offer your ablation to God today?

Denison Forum

“This is Odessa, Texas. Things like this don’t happen here. This is small-town Texas.”

This is what Senior Pastor Del Traffanstedt told his congregation Sunday morning after a shooter killed seven people and injured twenty-two in his community. His church is within sight of the movie theater where the violent chase ended.

Then the pastor added: “The reality is, things like this happen all over planet Earth all the time.”

The latest on Dorian

The apparent randomness of the attack in West Texas underscores the threat it represents. It seems that anyone, anywhere, can be a victim of violence.

The same is true of natural disasters. As of this morning, Hurricane Dorian has killed at least five people in the Bahamas and left countless people homeless. The National Hurricane Center warns that the storm will get “dangerously close” to the Florida coast late today through Wednesday and will threaten Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina by Thursday.

In other news, a dive boat caught fire off the Southern California coast Monday morning, leaving at least twenty-five people dead and nine others missing. A twenty-seven-year-old minor-league catcher for the Detroit Tigers died yesterday from injuries sustained in a skateboarding crash.

A five-year-old girl was killed in Brooklyn when a decorative stone fence fell on her. Earlier this summer, a fifteen-year-old Tennessee girl was killed on a church mission trip in Mexico when a tree fell on her group’s van.

Why do optimistic people live longer?

You and I can neither predict nor control the future, but we can control how we respond to its unpredictability. Our response, in turn, plays a pivotal role in our personal future.

A new study suggests that people who tend to be optimistic are likelier than others to live to be eighty-five years old or more. Researchers from Boston University and Harvard found that the most optimistic men and women demonstrated, on average, an 11–15 percent longer lifespan.

How can we become more optimistic? A clinical health psychologist explained that she works with patients to “uncover systems of beliefs and assumptions people are making about themselves in their lives” so they can “begin to change those.”

When we begin making optimistic assumptions, our attitudes toward our experiences become more positive, our stress levels respond, and our physical health can improve as well. In other words, when we choose to view life positively, life often responds in kind.

The key to relational truth

This psychological principle also holds true spiritually.

When tragedy strikes, it’s human nature to cry with Christ from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). We want God to explain his ways so we can decide whether or not to trust him with our pain.

But what if we cannot experience his help until we trust his heart?

Relational truth must be chosen to be experienced. You cannot prove you should get married until you get married. You cannot prove you’ll recover from surgery until you trust the surgeon.

You should examine the evidence, but then you must step beyond the evidence into a relationship that becomes self-validating.

“Thy sea is so great and my boat is so small”

So it is with God. He wants us to develop and use our intellectual capacities as fully as possible (cf. 2 Peter 1:5; Matthew 22:37). But when it comes to understanding the mind of God, he tells us, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” (Isaiah 55:8). Our finite, fallen minds may not be able to comprehend his perfect will until we are with him in heaven (1 Corinthians 13:12).

And as long as we hold our Father at arm’s length while we wait for explanations that may not help us, we forfeit the mercy that will.

President John F. Kennedy kept on his desk a block of wood inscribed with the words, “O God, Thy sea is so great and my boat is so small.” They were adapted from this poem by Winfred Ernest Garrison:

Thy sea, O God, so great,
My boat so small.
It cannot be that any happy fate
Will me befall
Save as Thy goodness opens paths for me
Through the consuming vastness of the sea.

Thy winds, O God, so strong,
So slight my sail.
How could I curb and bit them on the long
And saltry trail,
Unless Thy love were mightier than the wrath
Of all the tempests that beset my path?

Thy world, O God, so fierce,
And I so frail.
Yet, though its arrows threaten oft to pierce
My fragile mail,
Cities of refuge rise where dangers cease,
Sweet silences abound, and all is peace.

Will you trust your boat to your Lord today?

Denison Forum

Here’s a sign of the times: a high school in western Michigan has been renovated to protect against a mass shooting.

The design takes a cue from World War I trenches that were dug in zigzag patterns so the enemy could not shoot in a straight line down the trench. In a similar fashion, the Michigan school added curved hallways to reduce a gunman’s range, barriers to provide cover and egress, and classrooms that can lock on demand and hide students in the corner, out of a killer’s sight.

In related news, a school district in Colorado has provided buckets and cat litter for teachers to have on hand in case children need to relieve themselves during a prolonged active-shooter lockdown. The district has also supplied sharpies for writing the time tourniquets were applied.

“The greatest catastrophe since the dawn of civilization”

It is obviously important to do what we can to minimize tragedies before they strike. But there’s only so much we can do to prepare for the unpredictable.

Nature is a regular threat. For instance, lightning struck a tree at the Tour Championship in Atlanta Saturday. The tree exploded, injuring six spectators with debris.

The New York Times reports that an eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano would produce a toxic ash cloud that would reach both coasts. It would destroy crops, ruin power lines and electrical transformers, block sunlight, plunge global temperatures, and cause farming to collapse. In short, according to a group of researchers, such an eruption would be “the greatest catastrophe since the dawn of civilization.”

An asteroid missed our planet last week but was undetected by astronomers until it passed us. A study shows that shark attacks in major metropolitan areas have doubled in the last twenty years. And Brazilian troops have been enlisted to fight unprecedented wildfires in the Amazon.

Teenager exposes hundreds to measles at Disneyland

Diseases make the news regularly as well.

Continue reading Denison Forum – High school renovated to protect against mass shootings: The safest way to a joyful future →

s popularity the new prosperity gospel for millennials?

The answer is yes, according to Relevant magazine.

The Great Recession and high student debt have driven many millennials to abandon hope of financial wealth. But the ubiquity of mobile phones and instant access to social media are luring them to redefine success as popularity. Viral videos and massive numbers of followers are how many measure significance.

Yesterday we discussed the growing trend of celebrity endorsements for abortion. Connecting the dots: celebrities are popular; popularity attracts millennials; and millennials are the most likely demographic to consider an abortion.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, 60 percent of women who choose abortion are in their twenties. If having an unplanned child impedes their ambitions, many are making the same decision Alyssa Milano famously chose: career over children.

For those of us who believe God’s word on the sanctity of life from conception to natural death, choosing career, finances, popularity, or anything else over a child is abhorrent. But many in our culture obviously do not share our biblical convictions.

What non-biblical reasons for choosing life can we offer our millennial children and grandchildren (and the larger culture as well)? Let’s consider three facts.

One: Abortion is dangerous for the mother and deadly for the child.

Last March, a woman went in for an abortion in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but was sent to a hospital for emergency surgery and a hysterectomy after the abortion was botched. According to the CDC, 437 women died from abortion complications between 1973 and 2014.

The American Pregnancy Association warns that women who undergo an abortion may experience “abdominal pain and cramping, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and spotting and bleeding.” The website then lists what it calls “serious complications,” including “heavy or persistent bleeding, infection or sepsis, damage to the cervix, scarring of the uterine lining, perforation of the uterus, damage to other organs, and death.”

And abortion has ended the lives of nearly sixty-two million babies in the US since 1973. That’s more than the population of twenty-six American states, combined.

Two: Science increasingly shows that a fetus is a child.

Fox News reports that at least forty babies were born alive after botched abortions across three states since 2016. Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 143 cases between 2003 and 2014 of infants born after attempted abortions. These numbers are likely very low since many states do not report such births.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Is popularity the new prosperity gospel? Millennials, abortion, and the power of God’s word →

Alyssa Milano has made headlines often in recent years for her advocacy of abortion, the #MeToo movement, and various political candidates. Now she has revealed on her podcast that she had two abortions in 1993.

She says she was in a serious relationship and was using birth control both times she became pregnant. She looks back on her decisions without regret: “I would not have my children . . . I would not have my career. I would not have the ability or platform I use to fight against oppression with all my heart. I would never have met my amazing husband.”

In short, Milano knew “she was not ready to be a parent” as she pursued her career. Of course, the Bible says that she became a parent the moment she became pregnant (cf. Psalm 139:13). And that her career came at the cost of her first two children.

Why is George Clooney selling coffee makers?

Our culture has forced me to write often on abortion over the years. (For my in-depth article on the subject, see my “Abortion and the mercy of God.”) Today’s news, however, leads me to make two points I’ve not discussed with you in the past.

First, pro-life supporters must beware the rising tide of celebrity abortion endorsements.

It is obvious in our culture that celebrity sells. Michael Jordan sold basketball shoes and underwear; George Clooney is making TV ads for a coffee maker. There was a day when voice-overs on TV ads were anonymous; today, you can identify nearly every movie star voicing every commercial.

This strategy is called “celebrity branding” and has roots going back to royal endorsements for pottery and chinaware in the 1760s. Advertisers hope the popularity wielded by celebrities will transfer to their product or idea.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Alyssa Milano’s abortion announcement: Two points I’ve not made before on this issue →

Daniel Markovits is a professor at Yale Law School with previous study at the London School of Economics, Oxford, Harvard, and Yale Law School. In The Atlantic, he pulls back the curtain on one of America’s most destructive myths: the harder you work, the happier you’ll be.

The dictionary defines meritocracy as “a system in which the talented are chosen and moved ahead on the basis of their achievement.” According to Markovits, this system has become highly restrictive in America, producing wealthy parents who produce privileged children.

For instance, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, and Yale collectively enroll more students from households in the top 1 percent of income distribution than from households in the bottom 60 percent. Markovits cites a study indicating that only one out of every one hundred children born into the poorest fifth of households will join the top 5 percent. As a sign of the eroding middle class, fewer than one in fifty born into the middle fifth will do the same.

But meritocracy is not only leaving behind those whose family income does not qualify them to participate. In Markovits’ words, it also “devours the elite.”

Are you suffering from “time famine”?

Wealthy students demonstrate higher rates of drug and alcohol abuse than poor students do. They suffer depression and anxiety at rates as much as triple those of their age peers. In a recent study of Silicon Valley High School students, 54 percent displayed moderate to severe symptoms of depression and 80 percent displayed moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety.

Their parents are suffering as well. In 1962, the American Bar Association declared that there are “approximately 1,300 fee-earning hours per year” available to the typical lawyer. By 2000, the number had risen to 2,400 billable hours. According to Markovits, billing 2,400 hours could require working from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. six days a week, every day of the year, without vacation or sick days.

It is unsurprising that roughly two-thirds of elite workers say they would decline a promotion if the new job demanded yet more of their energy. Most Americans who work more than sixty hours a week report that they would prefer twenty-five fewer hours. They complain about the “time famine” resulting from overwork that interferes with their marriages, families, and health.

Markovits concludes: “It is simply not possible to get rich off your own human capital without exploiting yourself and impoverishing your inner life, and meritocrats who hope to have their cake and eat it too deceive themselves.”

Elites and hillbillies

Markovits’ solution is to make education more inclusive and to favor goods and services that can be produced by workers without elite training and degrees. In this way, “The elite can reclaim its leisure in exchange for a reduction of income and status that it can easily afford. At the same time, the middle class can regain its income and status and reclaim the center of American life.”

These are undoubtedly positive steps. But Markovits’ fascinating essay leaves out a component that I believe is foundational to the kind of flourishing he wants for all Americans.

Consider a book written from the other end of the spectrum. Hillbilly Elegy is J. D. Vance’s story of his family’s roots in Kentucky and Ohio. In many ways, it makes Markovits’ case: many in rural, impoverished America see no future for themselves and have given up hope.

With one exception. Vance reconnected with his biological father after years of family chaos and a “revolving door of father figures.” The reason: his father had become a Christian.

Vance notes: “In this, Dad embodied a phenomenon social scientists have observed for decades: Religious folks are much happier. Regular church attendees commit fewer crimes, are in better health, live longer, make more money, drop out of high school less frequently, and finish college more frequently than those who don’t attend church at all.”

“Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”

Could it be that an obsession with material success “devours the elite” not just because of the time demands it makes and stress it produces but also because it is the wrong answer to life’s most fundamental question? Is it possible that creatures need a relationship with our Creator?

Jesus was clear: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). It is they who “wait for the Lord” who “shall renew their strength” and “mount up with wings like eagles” (Isaiah 40:31).

Would Jesus say you are abiding in him? Would the Lord agree that you are waiting on him?

Paul described the source of his ministry: “For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me” (Colossians 1:29). As we work, God works. When we give our best, God gives his best.

But when we depend on ourselves more than we submit to and rely upon him, we miss all that Almighty God can do in and through us. That’s why I have warned often over the years that self-sufficiency is spiritual suicide.

David’s prayer is essential for us all: “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (Psalm 61:2).

Do you want the impossible?

If you’re part of the meritocracy or aspire to be, take heed. No matter how much you can do, don’t settle for what you can do.

John Piper: “I don’t know how people pray who don’t believe in the sovereignty of God to do the impossible. Because all the things I want to happen are impossible. If they’re possible I’ll do them.”

Do you want the “impossible” today?

Denison Forum

“Any person could be attacked at any minute,” said a surfer who spotted a great white shark off Cape Cod. Researchers have identified at least three hundred of the huge predators in the popular area.

Nine people were injured last night in Pennsylvania when lightning struck a tree, causing it to fall on their tent. Fleas carrying the plague have infested prairie dogs near Denver, threatening humans and prompting officials to close parts of a wildlife refuge. Overseas, the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a bombing at a wedding that killed sixty-three people and wounded 182 others in Kabul, Afghanistan.

With all the bad news in the news, let’s focus today on some good news.

Scientists have taken the next step in developing contact lenses that zoom when we blink. This year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) gave an award to a Bluetooth-connected water bottle that plays music, takes and receives phone calls, and offers caller ID.

CES also recognized a countertop dishwasher that requires no plumbing connections; you load your dishes, add a gallon of water, and turn it on. And the event celebrated a laptop computer with a keyboard that transforms into a writing pad.

Scientific advances are changing our lives daily. For instance, thousands of people have RFID devices implanted in their bodies so they can activate doors and computerized locks. A Tesla owner recently implanted in her arm the RFID chip that starts her car.

Earbuds now offer real-time language translation. Exoskeletons are being tested that enable soldiers to hike long distances without fatigue. A man who is colorblind can detect color through an antenna grafted onto his skull.

What a rocket scientist said about God

Each day’s news seems to report new ways science is improving our lives. By contrast, religious news these days is tragically focused on clergy abuse scandals, hateful rhetoric, and radical ideologies.

It’s unsurprising that Americans trust scientists far more than they trust religious leaders today. But what if deciding between science and religion is a false choice?

Wernher von Braun, the NASA scientist who designed the Saturn rockets: “I find it as difficult to understand a scientist who does not acknowledge the presence of a superior rationality behind the existence of the universe as it is to comprehend a theologian who would deny the advances of science.”

Continue reading Denison Forum – The threat of great white sharks and contact lenses that zoom: God’s call to excellence →

The stock market fell more than eight hundred points Wednesday, the largest one-day drop of the year. It rebounded somewhat yesterday to finish up nearly one hundred points, but concerns about the global economy persist.

The decline Wednesday was precipitated by a “yield curve inversion” that made headlines when it occurred for the first time since 2007. What is this? Why does it matter?

Is a recession coming?

The Washington Post explains that an “inverted yield curve” occurs “when the interest rates on short-term bonds are higher than the interest rates paid by long-term bonds.” In other words, “people are so worried about the near-term future that they are piling into safer long-term investments.”

According to the Post, “the yield curve has inverted before every US recession since 1955, suggesting to some investors that an economic downturn is coming.” The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco has also stated that the yield curve “has a strikingly accurate record for forecasting recessions.”

However, there are also strong reasons to believe the economy will not go into a recession. The labor market is strong—the economy added 164,000 jobs in July as employers say this is a “golden age” to get a job or to ask for better pay and benefits.

One expert stated as recently as July 26, “I don’t see any warning signs right now. It’s hard to be against the economy when the consumer is in such good shape.” Another expert added, “I wouldn’t forecast a recession just on the yield curve. I would want to see other signals that point to that, but we’re not seeing them right now.”

Continue reading Denison Forum – 📉 Recession worries and the ‘yield curve inversion’: 📈 How and why to trust the sovereignty of God →