My mother died of cancer, as did my wife’s father. Our older son survived cancer only through surgery and intensive radiation. Since cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the world, chances are good that you have been touched personally by this terrible disease as well.

Now comes an astounding announcement from a team of Israeli scientists: They might have discovered the first true cure for cancer. One of them told the Jerusalem Post, “We believe we will offer in a year’s time a complete cure for cancer.” He added, “Our cancer cure will be effective from day one, will last a duration of a few weeks and will have no or minimal side-effects at a much lower cost than most other treatments on the market.”

The scientists describe their discovery as a kind of cancer antibiotic. It uses a combination of compounds called “peptides” that kill cancer cells in a way that is unaffected by mutations. Their treatment attacks cancer stem cells and targets cancer cells so specifically that side effects are minimized. It can also be tailored to the specific cancer it is fighting.

The company will soon begin clinical trials that could be completed within a few years and would make the treatment available for specific cases.

As a medical officer with the American Cancer Society notes, it is far too soon to know if this revolutionary treatment is the cure its developers hope it will be. But imagine for a moment that it is. If you created such a drug, wouldn’t you want to give it to the world? Wouldn’t cancer patients everywhere want to try it?

The best possible news

“Gospel” translates the Greek word euangelion, meaning “good news.” Jesus began his public ministry by calling people to “repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).

The Christian “gospel” is the best possible news: You can be saved from an eternity in hell for an eternity in heaven as the transformed child of your Father. The God who made you loves you so much he considers your eternal life worth the death of his Son. If you will repent of your sins and believe in this good news, asking Jesus to forgive your sins and make you the child of God, he will always answer your prayer.

Everyone needs to hear this good news. Everyone deserves to hear it.

But there’s a catch.

“Lord, let our eyes be opened.”

As Jesus was traveling toward Jerusalem and the cross, he came upon “two blind men sitting by the roadside” (Matthew 20:30a). When they heard that Jesus was coming, they cried out to him, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” (v. 30b). The crowd rebuked them, but they repeated their cry to Jesus (v. 31).

Our Lord stopped and asked them, “What do you want me to do for you?” (v. 32).

They replied, “Lord, let our eyes be opened” (v. 33).

And “Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him” (v. 34).

Lost people are as blind spiritually as these men were physically: “The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4). But unlike these men, most lost people don’t know that they are lost.

Growing up in a family that never attended church, this was my story. I assumed that if there is a God, my “good” life would be good enough to get me into his heaven. I had no idea I was destined for hell and would have been offended if you told me so.

This is why so many Americans are lost in a country where the gospel is so accessible. If they understood their peril, they would change. This is part of the enemy’s deception.

Four steps to spiritual sight

Spiritual blindness is a good metaphor for our culture. We are all born with such blindness. But like the men on the road to Jerusalem, some of us meet the Great Physician and our eyes are healed. Now it’s our job to “pay it forward,” helping those who are blind meet the One who can do for them what he did for us.

But if a blind man won’t admit that he’s blind, he’s likely to resist and reject our message in the belief that he doesn’t need what we are offering and that we are trying to impose ourselves on him. This is inevitable and logical. We feel the same way when Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses knock on our door.

What would cause such a blind person to welcome our help? Consider four steps.

First: Build a relationship with him so that he knows we care genuinely for him. We must earn the right to tell him what he does not want to hear.

Second: Live in such a way that he wants what we have. If we claim to be sighted but stumble as much as he does, why would he want to be like us?

Third: Be present in his life when the burden of his blindness becomes so great that he is willing to consider our offer of sight.

Fourth: Lead him to the Great Physician. Help him confess his blindness to Jesus and ask for his forgiveness and grace. Then celebrate with our friend as his eyes are opened and his eternity is transformed.

There are only two kinds of people in the world

If you discovered the cure for cancer, you’d do what the Israeli scientists are doing: You’d announce it to the world, believing that everyone deserves what you have found. In fact, you have discovered a far greater cure, one that prevents eternal death and gives eternal life.

What will you do with what you have found?

Craig Denison: “God believes that you are worth the death of his Son, and there is nothing you can do to change his mind.” The same is true for every person you meet today.

There are only two kinds of people in the world: those who are spiritually blind, and those who can see and are therefore responsible to help those who cannot.

Which are you?

Denison Forum

Did you hear about the Pennsylvania man who has a registered emotional support alligator?

Joie Henney says his pet, Wally, likes to give hugs. Henney told reporters that his doctor gave him approval to use the five-foot-long alligator for emotional support rather than go on medication for depression. He frequently takes Wally to senior centers and minor-league baseball games. “He’s just like a dog,” he told a woman recently. “He wants to be loved and petted.”

When I read about Wally, I thought of an Indonesian woman who was keeping Merry, a fourteen-foot crocodile, as a pet. Earlier this month, she was killed and partially eaten by the animal.

There’s an old story about a scorpion and a frog who met on the bank of a stream. The scorpion asked the frog to carry him across the water on its back.

The frog asked, “How do I know you won’t sting me?”

The scorpion said, “Because if I do, I will die too.”

The frog was satisfied, and the two set out across the water. Midstream, the scorpion stung the frog.

As the frog started to sink, knowing they would both drown, it gasped, “Why?”

The scorpion replied: “It’s my nature.”

The danger of euphemisms Continue reading Denison Forum – The key to serenity in a chaotic culture →

Yesterday was Holocaust Remembrance Day. Survivors marked the seventy-fourth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, where more than a million people were killed. Six million Jews in total died in the Holocaust.

Closer to home, Dakota Theriot was captured yesterday afternoon at his grandmother’s home in Virginia. The twenty-one-year-old is believed to have killed his parents, his girlfriend, and her father and brother.

In other news, at least fifty-eight people are dead and at least three hundred are missing after a dam collapsed in Brazil on Friday. This morning’s Wall Street Journal reports that the rushing wall of mud was enough to fill a football stadium more than six times.

And ISIS has now claimed responsibility for the bombing of a Catholic cathedral in the Philippines during Sunday Mass. At least twenty people died in the double bomb attack.

Skeptics often ask what difference Christianity makes in a world like ours. If our God apparently cannot “fix” the world he made, how does faith in him change anything? Isn’t religion just the “opium of the people,” as Marx claimed?

In fact, isn’t religion not just irrelevant but dangerous to our progressive society?

Is religion dangerous?

When Christians like Karen Pence choose to follow biblical morality in ways the culture finds offensive, the outcry is deafening. Commentator Matt Walsh: “Gone are the days when leftists pretended to see religion as a thing that should be relegated to homes and churches and private schools. That very small amount of extremely limited and qualified ‘tolerance’ is gone. They will not tolerate Christianity in any forum, especially a private school” (his emphasis).

The “religion is dangerous” movement has been gathering momentum for several years. Critics such as Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris claim that religion is not just irrelevant and outdated but positively dangerous to society.

Religion flies planes into buildings and causes 9/11s, we’re told. It creates clergy abuse scandals and spends billions on buildings rather than people. It’s homophobic, racist, etc.

Of course, any group can be caricatured by blaming it for the sins of people who misrepresent and corrupt its teachings. Atheistic Communism has been responsible for 100 million deaths around the world. Are we to blame Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris for these atrocities?

When Christians were charged with cannibalism

We’ve been here before.

Early Christians were accused of being heretics since they would not worship the emperor and gods of Rome. They were charged with cannibalism for eating the “body and blood” of Jesus, with incest for loving each other as brothers and sisters, and with sorcery for performing miracles.

Apologists such as Justin Martyr, Athenagoras, and Tertullian responded by defending their faith rationally. But they emphasized as well the good lives and works of those they defended.

For instance, Athenagoras stated that Christians, though sometimes “unable to prove in words the benefits of our doctrine, by their deeds . . . exhibit the benefit arising from the possession of its truth.” Justin Martyr claimed that Christians are the empire’s “best allies in securing good order.” He noted that Christians pay taxes (Matthew 22:15-22) and submit to governing authorities (Romans 13:1-5) and even pray for the emperor as part of their worship (1 Timothy 2:1-2).

Then as now, our lives are our best defense. The culture may condemn us for obeying Scripture regarding same-sex relations, for instance, but it takes note when we work to eradicate AIDS. Skeptics try to dismiss our faith as dangerous, but they must account for the fact that Christians have contributed more to education, healthcare, the welfare and protection of children, and care for the impoverished than any other group in history.

“The victory that overcomes the world”

The more broken our world, the more relevant our faith. When you and I find positive ways to make a practical difference in the lives we influence, we sow the seed of the gospel and plant trees we may never sit under.

All the while, we should remember that “this is the victory that overcomes the world–our faith” (1 John 5:4). Our eternal victory in Christ is certain.

Saturday morning, I watched the women’s finals of the Australian Open. It was a terrific match between Petra Kvitova and Naomi Osaka. The momentum shifted back and forth. The television cameras repeatedly showed Osaka’s family, coaches, and friends reacting to the stress of the competition.

I, however, watched the match in complete calm. That’s because I was 100 percent certain that Osaka would win. And that’s because the match was over before I watched it.

Since Sydney, Australia, is seventeen hours ahead of us in Dallas, the match began at 2:30 a.m. our time. ESPN tape-delayed its coverage to later that morning. But a news prompt on my cell phone told me the results of the tournament before the television coverage began.

As a result, I watched two players compete for a prize one of them had already won.

While it is true that “for [God’s] sake we are being killed all the day long” (Romans 8:36), it is also true that “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (v. 37).

Let’s claim–and share–our victory today, to the glory of God.

Denison Forum

Let’s begin with this shocking headline: “America’s favorite Valentine’s Day candy is unavailable this year.” Necco, the original producer of Sweethearts candy, went out of business last July. The candy’s new owner promises to have the candy back on shelves next year.

I wish this were the only bad news in the news.

New York legislators approved a bill this week protecting abortion in case the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. There was loud cheering in the New York State Senate chamber when the bill passed.

The legislation, which was signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, allows non-physicians such as licensed midwives, physician assistants, and licensed nurse practitioners to perform abortions. It expands late-term abortions and could compel doctors to perform abortions or risk losing their license to practice.

Meanwhile, details are emerging about Zephen Xaver, the man who allegedly killed five people inside a SunTrust Bank in Sebring, Florida, two days ago. His ex-girlfriend has told reporters that Xaver had an obsession with guns and death. “He was pretty open about the fact that he wanted everybody to die. All he talked about was killing people,” she said.

When you read stories like these, don’t you feel an urge to do something to help? Something to protect unborn children and victims of senseless crime? Something to make the world better than we found it?

“What counts in life”

Nelson Mandela: “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”

Continue reading Denison Forum – NY abortion ruling: How to move from success to significance →

Savannah Guthrie, one of the anchors on NBC’s Today show, interviewed Covington student Nick Sandmann yesterday morning. I watched the interview, then watched the response. It was as though two completely different conversations took place.

Critics on the left lambasted the show for giving Sandmann a platform to tell his side of the story. Critics on the right castigated Guthrie for asking the young man if he felt he did anything wrong or owed anyone an apology.

Meanwhile, his Catholic school reopened later in the morning under extra security measures as the students face continued criticism and threats.

How the media covered the DC conflict

I described last weekend’s confrontation in Washington in yesterday’s Daily Article. One factor the conflict made clear is that media coverage of news events seems more biased than ever.

When video of the confrontation first emerged, it seemed to show white students wearing Make America Great Again hats instigating the clash. Liberal media outlets and celebrities were quick to brand Sandmann and his fellow students as racists.

When longer videos emerged that faulted others, conservative outlets and celebrities rose to the students’ defense and condemned liberal media for their earlier response.

Is this an isolated event, or is media bias real and growing?

Is media bias real?

Our ministry is nonpartisan and attempts to be as objective as possible. However, the facts indicate a clear bias in the media favoring liberal candidates and agendas. For instance:

Only 3 percent of major newspapers who endorsed a presidential candidate in 2016 endorsed Donald Trump.

A recent study found that over the last fourteen years, employees at Google gave 90 percent of their political donations to Democrats. Amazon, Apple, and Facebook employees gave to Democratic candidates at similar rates.

Social media companies use algorithms that seem clearly biased against conservative sources. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey recently admitted that conservative employees “don’t feel safe to express their opinions at the company.”

Even financial journalists, long considered the most objective members of their profession, are more liberal than many thought. In a recent survey, only 4.4 percent said they were “very conservative” or “somewhat conservative.” By contrast, 58.47 percent said they were “very liberal” or “somewhat liberal,” while 37.12 percent claim to be “moderate.”

In other words, the ratio is one conservative to thirteen liberal/moderates.

One journalism expert has classified eight different types of media bias, with specific examples of each. According to a Wall Street Journal reporter, liberal media bias has been an issue in America for more than five decades. Of course, liberals consider conservative media to be biased against their agendas as well.

Unsurprisingly, Gallup has found that 62 percent of Americans believe news media to be biased. Today, 66 percent of Americans believe most news media do not do a good job separating fact from opinion. In 1984, 42 percent held this view.

Why is the media biased?

Media bias is a large and complicated issue, but we can identify two trends that are relevant for Christians in our post-Christian culture.

One: Postmodern relativism claims that there is no objective truth, only “your” truth. In such a world, we interpret the news through the prism of personal security and fear. (A perceptive CNN article noted that “Our reptile brains were triggered by MAGA hat video.”)

Liberals fear that conservatives will force “their” morality on the culture. Conservatives fear that liberals will limit their freedom of speech, worship, and life. Thus, both are motivated to report and interpret stories that reinforce their bias.

Two: Information technology has remade the rules for the media business. Anyone can be in the media now (for instance, Apple says there are more than 550,000 active podcasts today). With so much content, platforms and consumers must segment what they report and we consume. We use technology to curate the news, limiting our feeds to the sources we want to hear or read.

Media outlets derive much of their income from advertisers. Advertisers know which market segments they want to capture. As a result, news outlets increasingly tailor their reporting to the biases and agendas of the markets their advertisers are paying them to reach. The result is the demise of objective reporting and the escalation of agenda-driven media.

Three steps to take now

The purpose of this Daily Article is not to condemn the media. Rather, it is to help us recognize media bias and understand the news effectively.

In today’s culture, discerning Christians can take three important steps.

One: Identify our beliefs and biases. They will influence our decision to consume or reject reporting and social media. We want to be sure we are seeking truth rather than reinforcing our opinions.

Two: Read across the spectrum and especially for viewpoints that counter our own. As we have seen, no news or social media platform is neutral. We need to know the agendas that drive the various outlets (click here for a helpful guide).

Then we need to seek out a variety of positions and to consider viewpoints that contradict our own. For instance, I read the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times early each morning, then check reporting on particular stories from sources as varied as The Blaze and HuffPost.

Three: Pray for the wisdom to interpret the news and world biblically. Scripture promises: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him” (James 1:5).

Our goal should be to imitate our Lord, about whom even his enemies testified: “We know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances” (Matthew 22:16).

The tribe of Issachar included “men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do” (1 Chronicles 12:32).

Will you join them today?

Denison Forum

Nathan Phillips is a Native American who attended the Indigenous Peoples March in Washington last Friday. He told the Washington Post that he was there to beat his drum while urging participants to “be strong” against colonialism.

According to Phillips, a throng of young, mostly white teenage boys, several wearing “Make America Great Again” caps, swarmed around him and began to chant, “Build that wall, build that wall.” One of them “blocked my way and wouldn’t allow me to retreat,” Phillips said.

He told the Detroit Free Press a different story. This time, he said that the students became upset by a group of Black Israelites. “They were in the process of attacking these four black individuals,” he said. So, “I put myself between beast and prey. These young men were beastly and these old black individuals was their prey.”

Phillips stated that the students had a “mob mentality” that was “ugly, what these kids were involved in. It was racism. It was hatred. It was scary.”

Video of the event went viral. News outlets around the country condemned the students. One image of a student with a Make America Great Again cap smiling at Phillips became an icon for the event. Filmmaker Michael Green tweeted: “A face like that never changes. This image will define his life. No one need ever forgive him.”

Now we know the rest of the story.

“I am being called every name in the book”

Continue reading Denison Forum – The ‘racist’ confrontation in DC: 3 biblical responses →

Today is National Sanctity of Human Life Day in the United States. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan issued a proclamation designating January 22 as the first such day. (January 22, 1973, was the day Roe v. Wade legalized abortion-on-demand in all fifty states.)

Since that time, Presidents George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump have issued similar declarations. Presidents Clinton and Obama did not.

Forty-six years after Roe v. Wade, we’re still debating abortion in this country.

Last Friday, the March for Life 2019, described as “the world’s largest pro-life event,” was held in Washington, DC. Vice President Pence and his wife made an appearance; President Trump spoke to the group via video.

The next day, the 2019 Women’s March gathered in our nation’s capital to advance several agendas, including the protection and expansion of abortion rights. The day after, thousands of churches across America observed Sanctity of Life Sunday. They prayed for an end to abortion, advocated adoption, and supported the sanctity of all human life.

Since 1973, nearly sixty-one million babies have been aborted in America, more than 54,000 so far this year.

Americans are confused about abortion

The logic against abortion seems simple. Ronald Reagan: “I’ve noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born.” Pope Francis states the case succinctly: “The right to life is the first among human rights.”

Continue reading Denison Forum – What Martin Luther King Jr.’s niece says about abortion →

After 256 regular-season games and ten playoff games, we now know that the Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots will play in Super Bowl LIII on February 3. This will be the Patriots’ fifth Super Bowl appearance in the last eight years and third straight.

We also know that the game, as important as it is for the two teams, their cities, and football fans around the country, will change little about the world.

Meanwhile, North and South America witnessed last night the last total lunar eclipse of the decade. It was called a “super blood wolf moon” because the moon appeared slightly larger than normal (“super”), it was a full eclipse (thus traditionally called a “blood” moon), and it was in January (thus called a “wolf” moon in Native American and early Colonial times).

But like the Super Bowl, this interesting event will leave no lasting effects on the world.

How can you and I leave a legacy that matters?

For the answer, let’s turn to a man who was assassinated fifty years ago but “being dead yet speaketh” (Hebrews 11:4 KJV).

Give everything to something

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the United States. This annual observance is held on the third Monday in January, in proximity to Dr. King’s January 15 birthday. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill making the day a federal holiday.

As a young man, Dr. King had many options. He was an outstanding student, skipping both the ninth and twelfth grades of high school and entering college at the age of fifteen. He became a pastor at the age of twenty-five and completed his PhD at Boston University the next year.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Martin Luther King Jr.: How to leave a legacy that matters →

Karen Pence taught art at Immanuel Christian School in Virginia for twelve years while her husband served as a congressman. Her office announced Tuesday that she “missed teaching art” and will be returning to her part-time position.

Here’s the problem: this Christian school teaches and operates by a Christian code of conduct.

Immanuel requires parents to agree that they and their children will not act in opposition to “the biblical lifestyle the school teaches.” Examples include “participating in, supporting, or condoning sexual immorality, homosexual activity or bi-sexual activity.”

The school’s employment application requires employees to affirm “that the term ‘marriage’ has only one meaning; the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive covenant union.” It defines “moral misconduct” that would disqualify employees as “heterosexual activity outside of marriage (e.g., premarital sex, cohabitation, extramarital sex), homosexual or lesbian sexual activity, polygamy, transgender identity, [and] any other violation of the unique roles of male and female.”

According to a CNN opinion writer, “This language is disgusting.” He’s not alone in his outrage, but his argument is so important and so popular that I’d like to explore it with you today.

The problem with acting on your faith

The writer claims that Immanuel’s stance “insults millions of taxpaying American citizens, many who have served their country. That it is acceptable to the wife of the man who is a heartbeat away from the presidency should horrify and alarm all Americans.”

Continue reading Denison Forum – CNN writer calls biblical morality ‘disgusting’ →

Christians in Israel are protesting a sculpture in a museum depicting Ronald McDonald as “McJesus.” The artwork displays the clown crucified on a wooden cross. It is part of an exhibition called “Sacred Goods,” which is intended to highlight ways our faith is dominated by the consumer culture.

Christians have been demonstrating in front of the Haifa Museum of the Arts, demanding that it remove the artwork. In response, the museum posted signs at the exhibit entrance warning that it contains content some might find disturbing.

As usual, relational challenges are dominating the news.

Citing security concerns, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has asked President Trump to reschedule his State of the Union address or deliver it in writing if the government remains shut down. The spouses of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez reportedly knew about their affair for months before it was made public. And The Bachelor‘s Colton Underwood has told reporters that gymnast Aly Raisman was his “first love” and “worst heartbreak.”

Are your friends really your friends?

Relational health is more important to our health than we might imagine.

Think of those you consider to be friends. Studies show that only 34 percent to 53 percent feel the same way about you.

This is important for obvious reasons related to honesty and psychological well-being, but also to physical health. Research indicates that those with stronger social relationships are 50 percent more likely to live longer.

A new report further documents the link between relational health and physical health. It shows that international students moving to an unfamiliar socio-cultural context can experience significant anxiety. That’s not news. But this is: such anxiety is correlated to systemic inflammation in their bodies, which can lead to cardiovascular disease and poor overall health.

Why am I afraid to tell you who I am?

Our greatest desire is to be fully known and fully loved. But our culture teaches us that the two are adversaries. The more you know me, the less you will love me. The more you love me, the less you know me.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Ronald McDonald depicted as ‘McJesus’ on a cross →

Thirty years ago, Gillette made famous the tagline, “The Best A Man Can Get.” The company launched the slogan at Super Bowl XXIII in January 1989, kicking off an $80 million campaign in nineteen North American and European nations. The slogan was translated into fourteen languages.

Procter & Gamble acquired Gillette in 2005 and continued to use its iconic tagline. This week, the company released a new ad calling on men to reject bullying and sexism. “The Best a Man Can Be” is the theme.

Reaction has been overwhelmingly negative. The ad currently has more than twice as many dislikes as likes. Critics say it insults men and is filled with stereotypes. And, as Forbes notes, consumers are skeptical of profit-motivated companies telling them how to behave.

Is “traditional masculine ideology” the problem?

The Gillette ad is just the latest skirmish in a growing battle over masculinity in America. The facts are alarming:

• Men commit 90 percent of homicides in the US and represent 77 percent of homicide victims.
• More than 73 percent of those arrested in the US are male. Men outnumber women in prison by more than ten to one.
• They are 3.5 times more likely than women to die by suicide. Male suicides have risen from about 20,000 a year in 1981 to 35,000 in 2016.
• Life expectancy for men is 4.9 years shorter than for women.
• Men are more likely than women to use illicit drugs.

In response, the American Psychological Association recently released “Guidelines for the Psychological Practice with Boys and Men.” The APA’s publication is founded on the postmodern belief that “masculinities are constructed based on social, cultural, and contextual norms.”

According to the APA, “It is critical to acknowledge that gender is a non-binary construct.” In other words, we are not simply men or women–gender is “fluid” and determined by a host of factors, only one of which is a person’s biological sex at birth. As a result, the APA wants to help men “create their own concepts of what it means to be male.”

The APA identifies the problem as “traditional masculinity ideology,” which it characterizes as “anti-femininity, achievement, eschewal of the appearance of weakness, and adventure, risk, and violence.”

The Colson Center’s John Stonestreet responds: “That’s not how I define traditional masculinity. Anti-femininity? Violence? That sounds like being a jerk.”

He’s right.

“It is not good that the man should be alone”

David French notes in National Review that “grown men are the solution, not the problem.” He calls on men to shape their inherent aggression, sense of adventure, and default physical strength for virtuous ends.

In his view, we need more fathers to raise sons with discipline, respect, and encouragement. I encourage you to read his thoughtful analysis in its entirety.

While I agree with French, I’d like to point to a biblical balance vital to the well-being of all people.

On one hand, “the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). Work and keep translate Hebrew words meaning to improve and guard. Men were created to produce and protect, to work and provide.

On the other hand, men were not intended to be self-sufficient. Immediately after creating the first man, God created the first woman, explaining: “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him” (v. 18). To fulfill their life purpose, men need women, other men, and especially their Father.

“One thing a clenched fist cannot do”

Self-reliance is a destructive illusion. “No man is an island” is not just a poem–it’s a fact.

As I have often noted, self-sufficiency is spiritual suicide. It cuts us off from the only true source of abundant life (John 10:10).

Frederick Buechner: “To do for yourself the best that you have it in you to do–to grit your teeth and clench your fists in order to survive the world at its harshest and worst–is, by that very act, to be unable to let something be done for you and in you that is more wonderful still. The trouble with steeling yourself against the harshness of reality is that the same steel that secures your life against being destroyed secures your life also against being opened up and transformed by the holy power that life comes from.”

Buechner adds that “the one thing a clenched fist cannot do is accept, even from [God] himself, a helping hand.”

How to become “the best a man can be”

Jesus Christ was the perfect male.

He was strong enough to drive money changers from the temple (Matthew 21:12) but gentle enough to embrace children (Matthew 19:13-15). He was courageous enough to confront the corrupt leaders of his nation (Matthew 23) but compassionate enough to weep for them (Luke 19:41).

Now he is praying for us (Romans 8:34) as his Spirit works to transform us into his character (v. 29). He is ready to help every man become “the best a man can be.” And every woman to become the best she can be as well.

Nick Foles is proof. The Philadelphia Eagles quarterback is anyone’s definition of a “true man.” He has set NFL passing records, been named Offensive Most Valuable Player in the Pro Bowl, and won last year’s Super Bowl, where he was the game’s Most Valuable Player.

He wore his WWJD bracelet in the championship game. More than 100 million people saw his faith on display. I noticed the bracelet on his wrist again during last Sunday’s playoff game with the Saints. Foles plans to become a student pastor when he retires from football one day.

Let’s ask “What would Jesus do?” all through this day. Then let’s ask him to help us do it. We will be our best and the people we serve will be blessed, to the glory of God.

Denison Forum

Meghan Markle is having twins, or she’s not. Her baby will be named Victoria, or it will be named Diana, or Albert, or Philip. Her sister-in-law is pregnant with her fourth child, or not.

Now we have more “news”: Meghan is due in late April or early May. Or so we’re told.

Expect much fake news about the royal family in the coming months. And about nearly everything else in the news as well.

Unsurprisingly, only 45 percent of Americans say they trust the mass media. Like nearly everything else today, our opinions fall into political categories: 76 percent of Democrats say they trust the media, while only 21 percent of Republicans and 42 percent of Independents agree.

Fake news can be used to inflame or suppress social conflict. It undermines trust in the media and in government. Fake news aimed at senior adults is such a problem that the FBI has created a web page designed to protect seniors against this threat.

In an age that declares all truth to be subjective, we should not be surprised when our “news” is subjective. This is not just a problem for today–it is an issue that affects eternity.

But in the chaos of our times, there’s a path to the unchanging truth we need today.

What ideology caused 100 million deaths in the 20th century?

According to Pew Research Center, 80 percent of Americans believe in God. That’s the good news.

Continue reading Denison Forum – When is the next royal baby due? →

Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, has reportedly been dating an actress and helicopter pilot named Lauren Sanchez for four months. The problem is, Bezos has been married to his wife, MacKenzie, for twenty-five years.

Yesterday, the two announced their plans to divorce. Bezos is worth $137 billion. Since the couple has no prenuptial agreement, their divorce settlement may be the largest in history.

In other news, officials have determined that a sinkhole that cost $75 million to fix was caused by human error.

Water was released too quickly into sewage pipes, eventually causing the ground to collapse into a sinkhole that grew to 100 feet wide and 250 feet long. Nearly two dozen homes in a neighborhood north of Detroit were evacuated; a major roadway was closed for almost a year for repairs.

We may not see the consequences of our sins today, but that makes them no less dangerous.

We must not be “outwitted by Satan”

The Lord warned Adam that he must not eat of the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” for “in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17).

However, Adam did not die on the day he ate from the forbidden fruit. In fact, he lived for a total of 930 years (Genesis 5:5). For many centuries, he might have wondered if God’s warning would come to pass.

A delay in the consequences of sin can tempt us to sin further. Many of our sins are committed in the belief that no one will know, that we will get away with this. The longer we sin without apparent consequences, the more emboldened we become.

This is because we misunderstand the nature of sin and its results.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Jeff Bezos’ affair: The largest divorce settlement in history? →

The New York Daily News responded to President Trump’s Oval Office address on border security with a cover depicting the president as a screaming baby in a temper tantrum. The headline reads: “It’s Wall About Me.” Talk show hosts and Hollywood celebrities also panned the president’s remarks.

Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi came in for ridicule as well. After their response to the president’s speech, one critic likened them to “the creepy twins from The Shining.”

Are you surprised by any of this?

In other news, Rider University in New Jersey recently asked students what fast-food restaurant they would like to see on campus. Once it became clear that Chick-fil-A was their choice, the school’s leaders excluded this option, citing concerns over the company’s alleged attitudes toward the LGBTQ community.

Chick-fil-A’s spokesman responded: “We have no policy of discrimination against any group.”

Clearly, Rider University’s leaders cannot say the same.

“Our iniquities have risen higher than our heads”

We can respond to our divisive, post-Christian culture in one of three ways: we can condemn those who disagree with us, we can condone behavior the Bible forbids, or we can speak the truth with compassion.

Here’s why God’s people should always choose the third option.

Continue reading Denison Forum – University bans Chick-fil-A from campus →

President Trump spoke to the nation last night from the Oval Office, seeking support for building a wall on our border with Mexico. Democratic Party leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer then responded.

From our inception, Denison Forum has been nonpartisan. Our mission is not to endorse political leaders or positions but to apply God’s word to the questions of our day, equipping Christians to change our culture by engaging contemporary issues with biblical truth.

As a result, my purpose today is not to offer my opinion on the border wall. Rather, it is to summarize arguments that have been made for and against the project, then to consider biblical principles relevant to this issue and our larger influence in the culture.

Arguments for the border wall

The southern border shared by the United States and Mexico spans 1,969 miles. Approximately 700 miles of border fencing have been completed as part of the Secure Fence Act of 2006 signed by President George W. Bush. These barriers are mostly near urban areas and international bridges.

The US Customs and Border Patrol uses patrols to guard more remote borderlands. It spends $4 billion a year, utilizing 58,000 personnel, 16,875 vehicles, 269 aircraft, 300 watercraft, 300 camera towers, and aerial drones.

Continue reading Denison Forum – The border wall: Pros and cons and 3 biblical facts →

Do you need a toothbrush that cleans your teeth in ten seconds? Or luggage that follows you, a “smart” trash can, or a car that talks to other cars?

Perhaps you’re in the market for a toilet with a heated seat, flushing, and “dynamic” lighting you can all control by voice. These are just some of the innovations being premiered at the Consumer Electronics Show, which begins tomorrow in Las Vegas.

Humans are capable of astounding achievements, as last week’s flyby of an object four billion miles from Earth demonstrated. Think about the advances we’ve seen in the last century.

Now think about the wars and conflicts we’ve seen since the “war to end all wars” ended in 1918.

Our remarkable capacity for good stems from a single biblical fact. Our horrific capacity for evil stems from ignoring this fact.

Only nine nations have a higher reported abortion rate than the US

“Shout Your Abortion” founder Amelia Bonow recently released a video of her talking with young children about her abortion. She explains to them that doctors “suck the pregnancy out” and compares the procedure to going to the dentist.

Continue reading Denison Forum – A toothbrush can clean your teeth in 10 seconds →

“Poverty around the world is plummeting; half the world is now middle class; and illiteracy, disease and deadly violence are receding.” So reports the Wall Street Journal, probably to the surprise of many.

We might wonder if optimists are reading the same news as the rest of us. The stock market plunged yesterday after Apple warned it would miss its quarterly sales forecast due to weakening growth in China. The standoff over the partial government shutdown continues, with few predicting that today’s talks will make significant progress.

It even turns out that, according to The Smithsonian, the world’s oldest woman might have been her daughter masquerading as her mother.

Was George Washington a failure?

But, as Rick Newman points out in his book, Rebounders, the key to success is not a lack of failure but our response to it. Examples:

• George Washington “lost more battles than he won during the Revolutionary War.”
• Norman Vincent Peale’s wife rescued the manuscript of The Power of Positive Thinking from the trash after it had been rejected repeatedly by New York publishers; it became an all-time bestseller.
• A 1914 fire destroyed Thomas Edison’s manufacturing operations, but the sixty-seven-year-old rebuilt and modernized factories that revolutionized technology.

According to Newman, “A whole body of scientific research has shown that overcoming setbacks can make people stronger, smarter, and more durable.”

Continue reading Denison Forum – Was George Washington a failure? →

Conflicting values are generating many of today’s headlines.

For instance, Mitt Romney wrote a Washington Post op-ed advocating decorum in the White House and claiming that President Trump “has not risen to the mantle of the office.” His niece, Ronna Romney McDaniel, chairs the Republican National Committee. She responded in a tweet claiming that her uncle’s editorial “feeds into what the Democrats and media want and is disappointing and unproductive.”

In other political news, President Trump and congressional leaders met yesterday afternoon, but the two sides could not reach an agreement to end the partial government shutdown. The president insists on funding for the border wall; Democratic leaders offered a package of bills without such funds. Talks will resume tomorrow.

Our culture is locked in an ongoing conflict between those who value “civil rights” for LGBTQ persons and those who value religious rights for Americans who affirm biblical morality. Pro-choice advocates value the woman’s right to choose; pro-life advocates value the unborn child’s right to life.

We all view life through the prism of our values. Which leads to the question: What does God value most?

“The seventh day still continues”

Each day of creation ends with the refrain, “And there was evening and there was morning” (cf. Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31). However, after God created the seventh day and “rested from all his work that he had done in creation” (Genesis 2:3), we find no such closing refrain. According to the English Standard Version Study Bible, this fact “prompt[s] many to conclude that the seventh day still continues.”

Across Scripture, God kept working within the universe he created so long ago. He judged sin through the Flood, spoke to Moses in a burning bush, liberated his people from Egyptian bondage, and established the Jewish nation in the Promised Land.

Then the One through whom “all things were created” (Colossians 1:16) entered his creation at Christmas. Now the Holy Spirit continues Jesus’ ministry on earth (John 16:7-14) until the day when “a new heaven and a new earth” replace our fallen world (Revelation 21:1).

All that to say, the Creator is just as present in his creation as when he first spoke the universe into being. Whether we see the Artist in his painting is another matter.

“The sky above proclaims his handiwork”

Frederick Buechner: “There is no event so commonplace but that God is present within it, always hiddenly, always leaving you room to recognize him or not to recognize him, but all the more fascinatingly because of that, all the more compellingly and hauntingly.”

Continue reading Denison Forum – What Mitt Romney’s niece thought of his editorial on Trump →

What do NASA scientists and the lead guitarist for the rock band Queen have in common? A bowling pin-shaped rock four billion miles from Earth that is making world headlines today.

Ultima Thule is a billion miles on the other side of Pluto. The space rock is approximately twenty miles long by ten miles wide and seems to spin like a propeller through space. It could also be two objects in orbit around each other.

The object was discovered by the Hubble Space Telescope four years ago and named 2014 MU69. A public campaign hosted by NASA renamed it–“Ultima Thule” is a reference to the most distant place beyond the borders of the known world.

Yesterday, the NASA spacecraft New Horizons conducted a successful flyby of this remote space object. Over the next few days, scientists expect to receive more photographs of the most distant object ever visited by a spacecraft. Because the probe is so far from Earth, scientists say data on Ultima Thule will continue streaming to us until September 2020.

Brian May, the lead guitarist for Queen and an astrophysicist, is a participating scientist on the New Horizons project. He wrote a song to honor the mission.

Traveling 31,000 miles an hour

We could focus this morning on NASA’s stunning achievement.

New Horizon measures only 7.2 by 6.9 by 8.9 feet. This tiny space probe is blazing through space in excess of 31,000 miles per hour. The scientific ingenuity and sophistication required to engineer and operate such a device are truly remarkable.

Continue reading Denison Forum – The most distant object ever visited by a spacecraft →

Ted Richardson is a ninety-three-year-old veteran. He and Florence met as teens, then he left to serve as a Marine in World War II. But he took her picture with him everywhere he went.

They got married after the war. Ted says Florence always took care of him–for seventy-two years. So, now it’s his turn to take care of her.

Ted visits his wife’s grave six days a week, without fail, taking three buses to get there. He cares for it meticulously, trimming weeds and brushing away leaves. He has already arranged for his church to bring flowers to Florence’s grave after he dies.

He has already visited over 1,300 times. He says it’s worth it to be close to the love of his life.

Adversity is opportunity

As you look back over 2018, what events come to mind?

If you’re like most of us, your challenges and problems loom large. If someone you loved passed away, their death marked your life.

History feels the same way. When we think of David, Goliath is followed immediately by Bathsheba. Our first thought about Abraham Lincoln or John F. Kennedy is usually their assassination.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Veteran visits wife’s grave over 1,300 times →