Gene Hackman, the two-time Oscar-winning actor, and his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, were found dead yesterday afternoon in their New Mexico home. Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza reported just after midnight Thursday that the couple had died along with their dog. He said there was no immediate indication of foul play, though he did not provide a cause of death or say when the couple might have died.

Celebrities make the news daily. It can be tragic news, such as the death of actress Michelle Trachtenberg at the age of thirty-nine. It can be good news, such as late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel’s update on his son Billy’s third open-heart surgery, saying the seven-year-old is now “in perfect health.”

It can even be mundane news: Kansas City Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes got a new hairstyle after his team lost the Super Bowl. And famed Chiefs tight end (who’s even more famous for his girlfriend) Travis Kelce shaved his beard after the loss.

What makes celebrities so famous (despite the obvious fact that they are by definition)?

One factor is our desire to look up to authority figures. This is good when we’re being protected and mentored by our parents or other people in positions to benefit us. However, the explosion of social media, coupled with a decline in religious interest, has made celebrities the new authority figures for many.

In addition, celebrities serve as aspirational heroes for those who see them as successful and wish to emulate and imitate them as a result. And there’s a bit of escapism in celebrity culture today: following their lives can relieve the monotony and stress of ours.

Has the decline of Christianity in the US “leveled off”?

By now you’re perhaps wondering what any of this has to do with an article that is supposed to discuss cultural issues in the context of spiritual truth. For the answer, let’s turn to good news on spirituality that may not be as good as it seems.

Pew Research Center has just published a study that is generating headlines this morning. Titled “Decline of Christianity in the US Has Slowed, May Have Leveled Off,” it reports that the Christian share of the US population has stabilized after years of decline, increasing from 62 percent to 63 percent (though down from 79 percent in 2007).

In addition, large majorities of us say we have a spiritual or supernatural outlook on the world. Quoting from the report:

• 86 percent believe people have a soul or spirit in addition to their physical body.
• 83 percent believe in God or a universal spirit.
• 79 percent believe there is something spiritual beyond the natural world, even if we can’t see it.
• 70 percent believe in an afterlife (heaven, hell, or both).

Here’s what bothers me: Many “spiritual” Americans treat God like another celebrity. We view him as an authority figure and see Jesus as an aspirational hero we want to emulate.

But all of this spirituality is on our terms.

No one forces us to go to movies or otherwise pay attention to the celebrities of our day. We do so only when we think doing so will be to our benefit. It is much the same for much of American Christianity. We separate the spiritual from the secular and religion from the “real world.” We are spiritual to the degree that spirituality benefits us and not when it does not.

In a day when only 22 percent of Americans are satisfied with our nation’s “moral and ethical climate,” how’s this working for us?

“An aspirational desire for tolerance of everything”

In their new book The Technological Republic: Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West, technology billionaire Alexander C. Karp and his deputy Nicholas W. Zamiska lament:

A significant subset of our leaders, elected and otherwise, both teach and are taught that belief itself is the enemy and that a lack of belief in anything, except oneself perhaps, is the most certain path to reward. The result is a culture in which those responsible for making our most consequential decisions—in any number of public domains, including government, industry, and academia—are often unsure of what their own beliefs are, or more fundamentally if they have any firm or authentic beliefs at all.

They warn that this “abandonment of belief” has “left us unable to confront issues with moral clarity.”

Karp and Zamiska trace our secularism to Sigmund Freud’s depreciation of religion and especially to those in elite universities who have conflated belief in objective truth with “colonial” oppression (they particularly cite Edward Said’s very influential book 1978 book Orientalism). Then they show that communal commitment to the common good has been replaced by what Michael Sandel of Harvard describes as “market triumphalism”—we work not to improve the nation but our corporate and personal bottom line.

As a result, “An aspirational desire for tolerance of everything has descended into support of nothing.”

Their theme seems like something a Christian philosopher like me would write, doesn’t it? But even secular publishers like Penguin Random House can recognize our need for “moral clarity” and the consequences when it is abandoned.

“When they saw the boldness of Peter and John”

“Spirituality” on our terms is not enough. Treating God like a celebrity we can follow as we wish is not enough.

What every human soul needs is the relationship for which we were created with the God who created us. Nothing less than intimacy with the living Lord Jesus can transform us into the Christlike people our fallen society needs us to be.

In words that serve as a thoughtful critique of our celebrity culture, the British writer Nick Hornby noted:

“It’s not what you like but what you are like that’s important.”

I would amend his assertion to read, “It’s who you are like that’s important.”

For example: “When they saw the boldness of Peter and John . . . they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).

Will someone be “astonished” by you today?

Quote for the day:

“By opening our lives to God in Christ, we become new creatures. This experience, which Jesus spoke of as the new birth, is essential if we are to be transformed nonconformists. . . . Only through an inner spiritual transformation do we gain the strength to fight vigorously the evils of the world in a humble and loving spirit.” —Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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What the war with Russia says about the future of war

Kyiv and Washington agreed yesterday on the terms of a draft minerals deal that Ukrainian officials hope will improve relations with the Trump administration and pave the way for long-term security commitments by the US. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky now plans to travel to Washington on Friday to see President Trump and formalize the deal.

There was a day when such incentives were ideological rather than economic as the West opposed the Soviet Union’s drive to impose Communism on the world. But Russia is not the USSR. It is a nation-state doing what Vladimir Putin thinks is in Russia’s (and his) best interest.

Understanding this shift from ideology to pragmatism is vital to understanding the world today—and finding peace with God, others, and ourselves.

“A reordering moment in international relations”

The Nobel Prize-winning economist Gary Becker theorized that all human behavior consists of maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain. As a result, the decision to commit or refrain from a crime depends entirely on our weighing the benefit against the expected punishment.

According to Becker, “Some persons become ‘criminals,’ therefore, not because their basic motivation differs from that of other persons, but because their benefits and costs differ.” Accordingly, there are no crimes in a moral sense, just violations of arbitrary laws.

This amoral approach to morality absent of objective authority applies not just to individuals but to nations as well.

In his famous book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, Harvard political scientist Samuel Huntington predicted that group identities based on cultural distinctions would come to dominate geopolitics as the universalizing worldviews of the Cold War waned. In other words, the world would be dominated less by the conflict between Western values and Communist ideology than by nation-states pursuing their individual goals.

Recent years have proven him right. From Russia’s invasions of Ukraine to Iran’s aggression in the Middle East, China’s threats against Taiwan, India’s rising nationalism, and Europe’s growing populist movement, we are seeing what Foreign Policy calls “a reordering moment in international relations.” None of this is driven by what is objectively right; what seems to matter now is what is right for a particular nation (or ruler) in competition with the rest of the world.

“Temptation yielded to is lust deified”

I would very much like to claim that none of this applies to me personally. Since I know the Bible to be objectively true and biblical morality therefore to be incumbent upon me at all times in all circumstances, I strive always to do what is right because it is right and to refuse what is wrong because it is wrong.

But you already know that this is not really true for me any more than it is for you.

Paul’s transparent psychological reflections are helpful here. In Romans 7 he admitted: “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” (v. 15). We can all agree that we sometimes (perhaps more often than that) do the same.

But then he added: “Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good” (v. 16). This is interesting. The fact that I do not “want” to do what is wrong shows that I know it to be wrong and that I agree with the “law” in this regard. If I do not want to lie, cheat, and steal, this shows that I know lying, cheating, and stealing to be objectively wrong.

But such knowledge is not enough, as Paul admitted: “I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out” (v. 18).

Oswald Chambers’ convicting observation is right: “Temptation yielded to is lust deified and is a proof that it was timidity that prevented the sin before.” The devil’s enticement is both simple and insidious: To make our supposed morality our fear of the consequences of immorality. Then we will do what we want to do, whether it is objectively right or wrong, based on what seems right or wrong for us at the time. And biblical truth and morality are jettisoned along the way.

So Becker is correct: Our behavior is often motivated by a fear of consequences rather than a commitment to biblical morality. What self-driven nation-states are doing in our fallen world, we are tempted to do as well.

Does any of this feel familiar to you?

“To set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace”

The answer to our dilemma is not in being more religious or trying harder to do better. If that didn’t work for the Apostle Paul, it is unlikely to work for you and me.

Rather, it is embracing what Paul discovered: “The law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2). Jesus’ death paid the penalty for all our sins (v. 3). Now we can “walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (v. 4). When we do, “to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace” (v. 6, my emphasis).

Here’s how I understand this process to work. If we submit each day to the Spirit of God, asking him to take control of our mind, emotions, and will (Ephesians 5:18), he will manifest his “fruit” in our lives (Galatians 5:22–23) as he molds us into the character of Christ (Romans 8:29). He empowers us to choose what is right because it is right, not simply to avoid the consequences of doing what is wrong. He enables us to live in victory over the temptations of the enemy (1 Corinthians 10:13) as “more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).

But we must stay submitted and connected to him. This is why we are urged to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and to “give thanks in all circumstances” (v. 18). It is why we are warned, “Do not quench the Spirit” (v. 19) through sinful thoughts, words, and actions (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:5).

“Cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers”

The Spirit enables us to experience God’s love for us and to love him in response (cf. Romans 5:5). And, as we noted yesterday, when we love someone, we want only their best—whatever the cost to ourselves.

It was because Paul loved the people he served that he assured them, “I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls” (2 Corinthians 12:15) and could even “wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Romans 9:3).

This is what it means to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). It is what happens when the Spirit produces the “fruit” of love in our lives (Galatians 5:22).

This is the only cure for the self-centered amorality of our nations and our souls. As a result, it is the only path to true peace in our war-torn world. Accordingly, it explains the old aphorism,

“Know God, know peace. No God, no peace.”

Will you “know peace” today?

Quote for the day:

“We look forward to the time when the Power of Love will replace the Love of Power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace.” —William E. Gladstone

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Why we seek “something larger than the material world”

What do these headlines in today’s news have in common?

• “Pope Francis shows slight improvement and resumes some work, while still critical, Vatican says”
• “World leaders flock to Kyiv to declare support on Ukraine war anniversary”
• “Roberta Flack, Grammy-winning ‘Killing Me Softly’ singer with an intimate style, dies at 88”
• “Lester Holt to Step Down as Anchor of ‘NBC Nightly News’”
• “Starbucks to Lay Off More Than 1,000 Workers”
• “American Airlines flight from NYC to New Delhi diverted to Rome, escorted by military jets”

One answer is that in recent years, we’ve seen versions of them all:

• Popes Benedict XVI and John Paul II faced significant health declines toward the end of their lives.
• Yesterday marked the third anniversary of Russia’s horrific invasion of Ukraine, but this was not the first time Vladimir Putin invaded their land, much less the first invasion in their war-torn history.
• Wikipedia’s “List of 2025 deaths in popular music” had fifty-one entries before adding Roberta Flack.
• Norah O’Donnell ended her tenure as CBS anchor earlier this year.
• Applebee’s, IHOP parent Dine Brands, Panera Bread, and Outback Steakhouse parent Bloomin’ Brands have all laid off employees recently.
• Bomb threats have recently disrupted one hundred flights to India.

Connecting to a “transcendent realm”

Here’s one more fact that hasn’t changed: You have likely filtered everything you’ve read thus far through a prism labeled, “What does it mean for me?”

This is because you were made for a meaningful life and don’t want to waste your time on what doesn’t matter. Unlike everything else God invented, you were fashioned to partner with him by protecting and promoting his creation (Genesis 2:15). Next to fears related to survival and family, your greatest concern is that your life won’t have been significant when it’s done, that you won’t have made a difference that matters.

I’m the same way. So, according to psychologists, are we all.

That’s why one cultural psychologist encourages us to develop close relationships, connect to a larger community, engage in work that provides a sense of purpose and mastery, and especially connect spiritually with a “transcendent realm” so that we feel we are part of “something larger than the material world.”

This spiritual connection has been especially on my mind in light of some passages I encountered recently in my personal Bible study.

If Zeus told you to give away your home

In Exodus 5, Moses told Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness’” (v. 1). However, Pharaoh responded, “I do not know the Lᴏʀᴅ, and moreover, I will not let Israel go” (v. 2).

This is to be expected. If Pharaoh does not “know” God (the Hebrew means to “know personally” or “understand”), why would he respond to a message purportedly from him? If someone told you that Zeus commanded you to give away your home, would you do it?

Jesus similarly told Pilate, “Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:37), but Pilate responded, “What is truth?” (v. 38). Because the Roman governor did not believe in “the truth,” or at least that Jesus spoke it, he put himself before his Savior and condemned Jesus to crucifixion.

Again, we should not be surprised. If a Muslim told you that the Qur’an was “the truth,” would you join her for Ramadan this Friday?

By contrast, Jesus declared: “Blessed . . . are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Luke 11:28, my emphasis). It is not enough to “hear” (the Greek means to “receive news of”) God’s truth as did Pharaoh and Pilate; we must “keep” it (the Greek means to obey as a lifestyle).

Here’s the catch: for fallen humans to “keep” God’s word, we need the help of God’s Son.

Don’t be distracted by this Daily Article

In Mere Christianity, CS Lewis wrote:

What Satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could ‘be like gods’—could set up on their own as if they had created themselves—be their own masters—invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside of God, apart from God. And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history—money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery—the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.

However, if we’re not careful, “something other than God” can include God.

Here’s what I mean: If we’re settling for anything less than a daily, transforming, intimate relationship with the living Lord Jesus, we’re not really experiencing God. We may be experiencing a religion about him, but we’re missing a relationship with him.

In this sense, all the Bible studies and worship services and Daily Articles in the world can be a distraction from the real thing—actually, the Real One. They are words about God rather than an engagement with him.

And like fishermen who study fish but never go fishing, our time hearing the word of God keeps us from keeping it.

By contrast, Oswald Chambers explained Paul’s transformation in this way:

“The mainspring of his life was devotion to Jesus.”

Paul did not just love the Lord—he was “in love with Jesus Christ.” And this changes everything.

When we are truly in love with someone, we love what they love and hate what harms them. We seek their best over our own. We would do anything to serve them—whatever it takes, whatever the cost.

So, may I ask: Would Jesus say you are “in love” with him today?

If not, why not?

Quote for the day:

“Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the mornings, what you will do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love [with God], stay in love, and it will decide everything.” —Joseph Whelan, SJ

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The peace talks between America and Russia continue to dominate headlines, with leaders in Europe and Ukraine increasingly wary of how they’ve been excluded from those discussions. While President Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and even Russian President Vladimir Putin have all acknowledged that Ukraine will be part of the negotiations when they begin in earnest, that is not how much of the Western world has seen this week’s events.

It didn’t help that the conversations with Russia’s representation have already essentially acknowledged that Ukraine will likely not be able to join NATO and that Russia will keep much—if not all—of the land they have taken so far in the war. Couple those accessions with Trump’s recent rhetoric in which he called Ukrainian President Zelensky a dictator and implied that Ukraine bore responsibility for starting the war, and it’s not difficult to see why many are wary of America leading the push for peace.

After all, one of Trump’s most frequent claims throughout his campaign was that he would bring an end to the war in Ukraine and that he would do it quickly. While he’s already missed his first deadline of having an agreement in place before he took office, the goal remains to achieve peace as soon as possible.

Most would agree that it’s better for the war to end sooner rather than later, but America’s allies—Ukraine most of all—are wary of prioritizing speed over justice and a peace that lasts.

What is the Munich Agreement?

An increasingly common refrain among many in the West in the wake of this week’s conversations is that the negotiations are a repeat of the same mistakes that enabled Hitler during the buildup to World War II.

After absorbing Austria in March of 1938, Hitler began to covet Czechoslovakia and made plans to take the Sudetenland—a region of roughly three million people of German origin—next. As his aggression escalated, France and Britain, both of whom had pledged to protect the country in the aftermath of World War I, did not feel prepared for a full-scale war with the Nazis. Instead, they prioritized peace.

The result was the Munich Agreement, in which European leaders essentially allowed Hitler to absorb parts of Czechoslovakia in exchange for promises to leave the rest of Europe alone.

British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned home to declare that he had achieved “peace with honor,” adding “I believe it is peace for our time.”

Winston Churchill famously retorted “You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor and you will have war.” Churchill was proven right when Hitler proceeded to take the rest of Czechoslovakia the next year.

But while the parallels to America’s current conversations with Russia are easy to see, is Trump heading toward the same mistake? That question is a good bit more difficult to answer.

Living in reality

You see, the primary reason why the Munich Agreement failed to do more than provide a brief pause in the conflict that culminated in World War II is that France and Britain were not prepared to go to war with Germany. They needed peace more than the Nazis, even if that peace was not to last.

The situation in Ukraine is much the same: Ukraine needs peace more than Russia. The last three years have made clear that the most likely outcome of simply giving Ukraine more money and munitions is a slower pace of defeat. Victory is not a realistic option unless the US and its European allies are willing to take a more active role in the fighting.

So, as much as Ukraine may want to act like it is negotiating from a position of strength or should continue fighting until they are, that is never going to be the case in the current conflict.

As such, when Trump began his conversations with Russia by essentially ceding Ukraine’s ability to join NATO or reclaim all the land they’ve lost, he didn’t really give up anything that was within their power to keep.

Putin’s desires to maintain a buffer between his borders and those of NATO while also retaining control over the fertile lands of Eastern Ukraine have long been among his primary motivations for waging this war. He has little reason to come to the table if those are not part of the agreement.

The sanctions currently crippling the Russian economy, however, were notably absent from those early negotiations. While Secretary of State Marco Rubio implied they could be removed once peace was achieved, he also seemed to indicate that they would remain in place until that point.

Moreover, Trump recently declared that he is “all for” European peacekeepers in Ukraine after the war, calling such promises “a beautiful gesture” from France and Britain. The prospect of NATO troops on Ukrainian soil is particularly notable since Russia considers it an unacceptable condition for peace.

So, while it is certainly possible that any treaty with Russia will end like the Munich Agreement and simply delay a much larger conflict, it would be a mistake to presume that will be the case. There is still too much left undecided to know what the final agreement will look like.

What is clear is that there can be no peace unless everyone involved approaches the negotiations with a recognition of the fact that the West is not in a position to dictate the terms of that agreement. The only way to stop the bloodshed and wanton destruction that has already killed or injured nearly a million people is to recognize what is realistic to achieve.

As a culture not accustomed to losing in geopolitics and war, that is an understandably hard pill to swallow. Yet it remains the reality in which everyone involved must operate. And that need to accept reality applies to each of us as well.

Why “lies are the root of evil”

One of Satan’s most effective tactics is convincing people to trust the narrative they prefer to believe rather than the reality in which they live. If we claim to serve the God who is truth, then rejecting that truth in favor of a more palatable lie undermines the very foundation of who Christ has called us to be. And make no mistake, there are few things more detrimental to both our witness and our walk with God than living in a lie.

As Dennis Prager once warned, “Lies are the root of evil more than any other of the sins that we commit because people who believe lies don’t know that they’re doing evil. That’s why it’s so terrible.” He goes on to give examples from the holocaust and slavery to illustrate the principle that lies are a necessary prerequisite to the belief that it is permissible to commit such atrocities.

And while most of the lies we accept as truth will not have consequences so grave as those, each one that we believe takes us further away from the Lord.

So where have your beliefs diverged from reality? Are there any lies you’ve accepted as truth?

If so, today is a great day to confess them to the Lord and embrace his truth as the guiding light for every facet of your life.

Will you start now?

Quote of the day:

“Self-awareness is indispensable to seeing the lines between what you want to be true and what is actually true.” —Jonah Goldberg

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Why this matters and what it means for faith

As every schoolchild knows, there are eight planets in our solar system. (I was taught that Pluto was the ninth planet, but alas, it was reclassified as a “dwarf planet” in 2006 because it shares its orbital space with other large objects in its vicinity.)

Later this month, those of us on the third planet from the Sun can see the other seven in the night sky. Known as a “planetary alignment,” this is what happens when the planets align on the same side of the Sun. You can click here for a guide to seeing them; Uranus and Neptune will require a pair of binoculars or a small telescope.

This planetary alignment makes no practical difference to us since there is no significant gravitational force between the planets. Some hypothesize that planetary alignments might impact solar activity, but much more research is needed.

However, such alignments can be very practical for interplanetary spacecraft, which use the specific positioning of planets to perform gravity assists that slingshot them with a speed boost toward their final destination. Voyagers 1 and 2 took advantage of an alignment of the large planets, for example, with Voyager 2 getting boosts from Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

Here’s the part of the story that interests me: while planetary alignments have no practical impact on our physical planet, they were highly significant for ancient cultures that tried to use them to forecast the future. Here we see the difference between astronomy (the scientific study of celestial objects) and astrology (a non-scientific belief system that uses celestial bodies to predict future events or personality traits).

People who read their horoscopes practice astrology. People who study the stars and planets using the scientific method practicice astronomy.

The chasm between the two suggests significant principles for faith in our post-Christian culture.

Walking the altar-lined streets of Ephesus

When Paul made his way to Athens as part of his second missionary journey, he had a right to expect highly reasoned conversations with some of the intellectual elites of his day. And in fact he encountered Epicurean and Stoic philosophers and “conversed” with them (Acts 17:18)—the Greek word means to dialogue, debate, ponder together.

But he also discovered that “the city was full of idols” (v. 16). In fact, he used their altar to “the unknown god” as a springboard to preach the gospel: “What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you” (v. 23).

Why would such brilliant people be so susceptible to the mythologies and traditions of their polytheistic religion?

From Cain to today, humans have sought to use religion to leverage the blessing of God or the gods (cf. Genesis 4:4–7). This is an expression of our “will to power” that seeks to be our own god (Genesis 3:5). Paradoxically, we use God to replace him as god, engaging in transactional religious practices by which we do what he wants so he will do what we want.

We see this across the ancient Roman Empire. I have walked the streets of Ephesus lined with altars to the various gods of their day, witnessed vast temples in Corinth and Rome dedicated to the same purpose, and visited what we would call “pagan” temples across modern-day Turkey that were similarly transactional in nature.

Christians are by no means immune. When we begin the day with Bible study and prayer in the hope that God will then bless our day, when we pray to get what we want from the Lord, and when we serve him and donate to his causes so he will serve us, we are engaging in transactional religion.

Like astrologers of old and today, we are seeking power over our surroundings and our future. To predict the future through a horoscope is to gain a measure of control over it. To sacrifice to a God, known or unknown, as a means to our ends is to do the same.

“The greatest day that a Christian can ever experience”

The paradox is that the God who created the planets of our solar system and the rest of our vast universe is much more of a blessing to us in a transformational relationship than in a transactional religion. The best gift he can give us is the privilege of being a “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17) who manifests the character of Jesus (Romans 8:29) by demonstrating the “fruit” of his Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23).

When we worship God because he loves us rather than so he will, we experience him in intimate ways that draw us closer to the people we are created to be. When we serve him because he has served us rather than so he will, we offer gratitude for grace that transforms us and those we influence.

The Creator who measures the entire universe with the palm of his hand (Isaiah 40:12) now holds his children in that same hand (John 10:29). The gift of all gifts is that he wants a personal relationship with us. Not because we deserve such mercy, but because he “is” love (1 John 4:8).

Then, one day, we will step from this fallen world filled with transactional religion and works-driven righteousness into a perfect world filled with transformational relationship and worship-driven joy. RC Sproul noted:

The day of one’s birth is a good day for the believer, but the day of death is the greatest day that a Christian can ever experience in this world, because that is the day he goes home, the day he walks across the threshold, the day he enters the Father’s house.

In the meantime, our calling is to embrace the grace of Christ and to share it with everyone we can. In Simply Good News: Why The Gospel Is News and What Makes It Good, the brilliant theologian NT Wright assures us:

Many people today assume that Christianity is one or more of these things—a religion, a moral system, a philosophy. In other words, they assume that Christianity is about advice. But it wasn’t and isn’t. Christianity is, simply, good news. It is the news that something has happened as a result of which the world is a different place.

How will this news make your “world” a “different place” today?

Denison Forum

Wicked star Cynthia Erivo will play Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar at the Hollywood Bowl this summer. The musical is already offensive to many Christians as it suggests a romantic relationship between Christ and Mary Magdalene and puts Judas in a more sympathetic light than Scripture portrays.

Now our Savior will be played by a woman who came out as “queer” a few years ago. One fan called the decision for a female to play Christ “downright disrespectful,” adding that her opinion “has nothing to do with color, [it] has to do with the fact that the Son of God is a man.” The fan also stated, “If this was another religion, you would not do it out of respect.”

In news closer to home for me, the United Church of Christ Cathedral of Hope in Dallas hosted a service last Sunday dedicated to celebrating drag performers and transgender individuals. A “drag king”—a woman wearing a bedazzled beard and religious garments—was among the performers.

A “drag queen”—a man dressed to appear as a woman—performed at a fundraiser following the service. He proceeded to criticize Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a paraplegic, for approving conservative laws and recommended stopping him by taking away wheelchair ramps.

If Dallas is “the Buckle of the Bible belt,” the belt seems to be in disrepair.

People want hope from their leaders

One reason such stories are discouraging is that we’re not sure what, if anything, we can do in response. And we instinctually want answers to our questions and solutions for our problems.

This is because our culture rewards those who try harder and work longer, “refusing to take no for an answer” and striving for perfection. There’s even a name for this: the “Nirvana fallacy” assumes that all problems can be solved perfectly.

As a result, when we read frightening stories about a potential bird flu pandemic or asteroid strike, we keep reading to see if authorities have prepared vaccines or taken steps to keep the asteroid from killing us. When we learn that psychological distress among youth globally accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are not surprised but we want to know what is being done in response.

It is basic human nature to seek hope in hard times. When Gallup asked people what they wanted from their leaders, they ranked “hope” far above all other responses.

So, where do we find the hope our hearts need today? The answer is not where many in our self-reliant culture are looking.

How to build an unshakable house

Jesus said, “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40). Let’s consider each Greek word in turn:

• Disciple means “pupil, apprentice.”
• Not above means “not superior to.”
• His teacher refers to the master of his school, the instructor guiding the student.
• Everyone allows for no exceptions.
• When he is fully trained could be translated, “when he is thoroughly taught and qualified.”
• Will be like his teacher could be rendered, “will think, act, and live in the same manner as his teacher.”

As a result, our lives produce words and works that glorify God and bless others. Jesus promised: “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good . . . for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (v. 45).

In addition, our obedience prepares us to triumph amid the storms of life. Jesus stated that everyone who “hears my words and does them” is “like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against the house and could not shake it, because it had been well built” (vv. 47–48).

Conversely, “The one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great” (v. 49).

“You are much stronger than you think you are”

It only makes sense that people who emulate and are empowered by the perfect Son of an omnipotent Father would have the resources necessary to withstand the storms of life.

Paul Powell writes that after Martin Niemöller was imprisoned by the Nazis for three years in solitary confinement in Dachau, an interviewer asked him, “How could you stand it without losing your sanity?” Niemöller answered: “You can stand far more than you think you can. You are much stronger than you think you are . . . if God is dwelling in your life.”

This, in fact, is how we were designed by our Creator.

In Mere Christianity, CS Lewis explained:

God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on petrol, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human engine to run on himself. He himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.

That is the key to history. Terrific energy is expended—civilizations are built up—excellent institutions devised; but each time something goes wrong. Some fatal flaw always brings the selfish and cruel people to the top and it all slides back into misery and ruin. In fact, the machine conks. It seems to start up all right and runs a few yards, and then it breaks down. They are trying to run it on the wrong juice. That is what Satan has done to us humans.

What “fuel” will your spirit “burn” today?

Quote for the day:

“Those who understand God’s sovereignty have joy even in the midst of suffering, a joy reflected on their very faces, for they see that their suffering is not without purpose.” —R. C. Sproul

Our latest website articles:

• “Israel agrees to negotiations to end war in Gaza: Why doesn’t Israel take Palestinian hostages?”
• “Healthy sodas, home air pollution, and the pope’s future: Two ways to experience God’s providential best”
• “Is your Jesus too American? A conversation with pastor and author Steve Bezner”
• “A flying beer can and the Lombardi Trophy: Joining God in redeeming all we experience”
• “The civil war in Congo could soon reach a tipping point: How one of the world’s longest-running conflicts has roots beyond its borders”

Denison Forum

Why changing our intentions can change the world

“We were upside down hanging like bats.” This is how one passenger described what happened when a Delta flight made a hard landing Monday afternoon in Toronto, lost a wing, burst into flames, and flipped onto its roof. Delta said twenty-one injured people were taken to local hospitals; nineteen were released by the next morning. Three had critical but non-life-threatening injuries, one of whom was a child. However, there were no fatalities.

If you’re like me, the last sentence changes how you read the rest of the paragraph.

In other news, a supercomputer simulation has predicted when humanity will go extinct. It foresees a day when rising temperatures, volcanic chaos, and an unrecognizable climate will make most of our planet uninhabitable for mammals. However, this cataclysmic apocalypse will not occur for another two hundred and fifty million years.

Again, if you’re like me, the last sentence changes how you read the rest of the paragraph.

One more example: US shoppers are dumping favorite brands over their political stances. According to a new poll, four in ten Americans have shifted their spending in recent months to align with their moral views. Unsurprisingly, boycotts usually come from the consumer base whose party is not in power in Washington.

Customers are therefore evaluating products through the lens of personal ideology rather than the product itself. For example, the backlash against Bud Light when it partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney cost the parent company $395 million but had nothing to do with the taste of its beer.

“This is the hope of our calling”

It is human nature to focus on those parts of nature that affect us as humans. Evolutionary psychology would explain this as a manifestation of our instinct for survival. Pragmatists would encourage our focus on the parts of the world that work for us personally. Postmodern existentialists would say that the only dimension of the universe we can experience is that which directly affects us, so we naturally experience it on a more visceral level.

However, I think there’s another way to see the way we organize and manage our engagement with the larger world.

Jesus told his disciples, “I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit” (John 15:16). God intends us to be “a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work” (2 Timothy 2:21, my emphasis).

We know that our salvation is by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8) and “not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (v. 9). However, the next verse states, “We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (v. 10, my emphasis).

“For good works” could be translated as, “for the purpose of accomplishing the works for which we are intended.” One scholar comments, “God marks out for each in his purposes beforehand the particular good works and the time which he sees best. God both makes ready by his providence the opportunities for the works, and makes us ready for their performance.”

In addition, “that we should walk in them” could be rendered, “that we should continue to accomplish them until they are completely fulfilled.” John Chrysostom (died AD 407) noted:

We need a virtue which shall last throughout and be extended on to our dying day. If we had to travel a road leading to a royal city, and then when we had passed over the greater part of it, were to flag and sit down near the very close, it were of no use to us. This is the hope of our calling . . . Otherwise it would profit us nothing.

All actions derive from a prior intention

God created you and me for “good works” specific to our personal lives and our place and time in the world. It is therefore only logical that we would focus more specifically on those events and circumstances which not only affect us but which we can affect.

Jesus was always present in the moment, wherever he went. The One who came to save the world ministered to one broken body and sinful soul at a time.

Here’s the problem: You and I are inundated every day with news from literally around the world. And fear-based programming is proven to attract attention and generate profits, in large part because our “negativity bias” instinctually looks for risks so we can avoid them. All of this in a time when we see more news in a day than our ancestors confronted in a lifetime.

Here’s why this matters.

John Locke, the famed British philosopher, argued that all actions derive from a prior intention. Unless external obstacles prevent us, he observed, “What follows after that follows in a chain of circumstances, linked one to another, all depending on the last determination of the will” (his emphasis).

However, when our intention is to better the world, the actions that are required feel as overwhelming as the task itself.

If the devil can’t make you bad

This is one way Satan uses our faith-driven compassion for the world against us. As the saying goes, if the devil can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy. If he can use the cacophony of bad news that swirls around us to distract us from the “good works” our Lord intends for us today, he’ll keep us from impacting our culture for Christ.

And, over time, he may convince us to abandon the effort of cultural transformation altogether.

When the entire universe feels dark, your light may seem inconsequential. If you then “put it under a basket,” everyone in your “house” loses (Matthew 5:15). Including you.

So, to employ Locke’s assertion, let’s begin the day by reframing our “intention.” Leo Tolstoy observed:

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”

If our intention is to be more like Jesus today, and if we then ask God’s Spirit to transform us into the character of his Son, we can never be the same. Over time, the actions that derive from our intentions will impact the people we influence. And they will touch the people we cannot until a movement of culture-changing Christians multiplies around the world.

If you’re thinking God could never use your life in such a transformative way, that you’re too busy and the world is too broken to make a difference that matters, guess where that thought is coming from.

Quote for the day:

“Preachers are not salesmen, for they have nothing to sell. They are bearers of Good News.” —Billy Graham

Our latest website articles:

• “A flying beer can and the Lombardi Trophy: Joining God in redeeming all we experience”
• “The surprising reason young adults are more pro-marriage: A St. Valentine’s Day meditation on truth and transformation”
• “The civil war in Congo could soon reach a tipping point: How one of the world’s longest-running conflicts has roots beyond its borders”
• “A long, joyful obedience”
• “A review of ‘Dominion’ by Tom Holland: A secular humanist’s guide to how morality comes from Christianity”

Denison Forum

The power of a worldview to shape the world

High-level delegations from the US and Russia have begun meeting in what the Wall Street Journal calls the “highest-profile Russia talks since [the] Ukraine invasion.” Today’s discussions in Saudi Arabia could lead to an eventual summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The State Department described the talks as an opportunity to explore Russia’s intentions on the Ukraine conflict and other central issues rather than the start of a detailed negotiation over Kyiv’s future.

According to international relations scholar Michael C. Horowitz, Mr. Putin’s “intentions” center in his belief that an independent, democratic Ukraine is a threat to him and to Russia. Three years ago, he began the largest land invasion in Europe since World War II in response.

Mr. Putin alleges that NATO and the West broke promises in 1990 not to expand eastward beyond Germany, a claim Western leaders dispute. The flatlands to Russia’s west have enabled several invasions from Europe over the last five centuries; Putin therefore views NATO’s “encroachment” into Ukraine as threatening his nation’s security.

Ukraine and the West vehemently disagree, seeing Putin’s immoral and illegal invasion as a part of his metanarrative to elevate “Mother Russia”—and himself—on the world stage.

“Whatever does not kill you makes you stronger”

In other news, Israel yesterday eliminated Muhammad Shaheen, the head of Hamas’s Operations Department in Lebanon. According to Israeli security forces, Shaheen was planning attacks not only against Israeli citizens but also against Jewish targets outside of Israel.

As with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, once again we see the power of a worldview to shape the world. Hamas is not only convinced that Israeli citizens are complicit in a perceived theft of their land from its “rightful” Palestinian owners; they also view Jews themselves as “apes” and “pigs” (Qur’an 5:60; 2:65; 7:166) and claim that they control the world media. They blame Jews for “most of the revolutions we heard and hear about” and allege that they were behind World War I and World War II.

In short, Hamas is convinced that Jews are hostis humani generis, the enemies of humankind itself. Killing Jews anywhere in the world therefore advances their ideological agenda.

As a third example of the power of worldview, my wife and I recently watched the Netflix excellent limited series, All the Light We Cannot See. Based on Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller, it is set in Nazi-occupied France.

At one point, a young man is being groomed for Hitler’s SS through physical abuse and mental torture, all under the guise of Friedrich Nietzsche’s dictum, “Whatever does not kill you makes you stronger.” The Germans are portrayed as fanatically committed to Nietzsche’s Übermensch doctrine, by which our highest aspiration should be to become an “overcomer” who rules the passive nihilists that make up most of humanity.

This doctrine, coupled with Hitler’s fervent belief that the Jews were responsible for Germany’s defeat in World War I, motivated the rise of Naziism and the murder of six million Jews.

“A watchword, magnificent and mighty”

According to Scottish biblical scholar James Stewart,

Every new idea that has ever burst upon the world has had a watchword. Always there has been some word or phrase in which the very genius of the thing has been concentrated and focused, some word or phrase to blazon on its banners when it went marching out into the world. Islam had a watchword: “God is God, and Mohammed is his prophet.” The French Revolution had a watchword: “Liberty, equality, fraternity.” The democratic idea had a watchword: “Government of the people, by the people, for the people.”

Then he added:

The greatest idea that has ever been born upon the earth is the Christian idea. And Christianity came with a watchword, magnificent and mighty and imperial; and the watchword was, “the Kingdom of God.”

Stewart was right:

• Jesus announced, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17).
• He taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10) and to “seek first the kingdom of God” (v. 33).
• The Lord said of himself, “I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psalm 46:10).

The psalmist declared, “God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne” (Psalm 47:8). Note the present tenses. No matter the circumstances or appearances, God is right now “the King of the ages, immortal, invisible” (1 Timothy 1:17).

What to do when we’re afraid

Jesus came to “preach the good news of the kingdom of God” (Luke 4:43). Why is this kingdom “good news”? It tells us:

1. We have a king. Despite the tragedies and challenges of this broken world, there is purpose and order to the cosmos (cf. Colossians 1:16–17).
2. Unlike the autocrats and terrorists who seek to rule by force, this king knows and loves us (Psalm 139:13–16; Romans 5:8).
3. We can have a personal relationship with him that will save and transform us (John 1:12; 2 Corinthians 5:17).
4. He will bring this fallen world to an end one day when Jesus returns as “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16).

Accordingly, we can pray with David,

“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you” (Psalm 56:3).

Of what are you “afraid” today?

Quote for the day:

“Christ liveth in me. And how great the difference—instead of bondage, liberty; instead of failure, quiet victories within; instead of fear and weakness, a restful sense of sufficiency in Another.” —Hudson Taylor

Our latest website articles:

• “The surprising reason young adults are more pro-marriage: A St. Valentine’s Day meditation on truth and transformation”
• “The civil war in Congo could soon reach a tipping point: How one of the world’s longest-running conflicts has roots beyond its borders”
• “A long, joyful obedience”
• “A review of ‘Dominion’ by Tom Holland: A secular humanist’s guide to how morality comes from Christianity”
• “What does the Bible say about love?”

Denison Forum

Should celebrities tell us how to vote?

Singer and songwriter Sheryl Crow made headlines over the weekend by posting an Instagram video in which she waves goodbye to her Tesla as it is driven away. She explained: “There comes a time when you have to decide who you are willing to align with. So long Tesla.”

She added: “Money donated to @npr, which is under threat by President Musk, in hopes that the truth will continue to find its way to those willing to know the truth.” She included hashtags for “PresidentMusk” and “ProtectTheConstitution.”

Actor Gabriel Basso, who stars in the Netflix thriller The Night Agent and played a young JD Vance in Hillbilly Elegy, takes a different approach. “I don’t believe that actors should be famous,” he said, speaking out against celebrities who use their platforms to deliver political messages. “We’re saying words that we’re told to say,” he stated. “We’re told how to say them, we’re told where to stand. And then we’re telling people how to vote?”

He believes that an entertainer’s job is “illegitimate in that way.” In his view, “We’re court jesters. We’re entertaining. We’re public servants. We’re there to perform, to entertain. And then all of a sudden, the jester, because he’s in the courtroom, starts to be like, ‘I might want to go sit on the throne!’”

 “The man who would not be king”

The preponderance of celebrities seeking political influence across the partisan spectrum stands in sharp contrast with the hero our nation celebrates today.

Presidents’ Day (sometimes spelled President’s Day or Presidents Day) is officially Washington’s Birthday at the federal level. Since 1879, the US has honored George Washington in this way. And appropriately so: He led the Continental Army to victory in the American Revolutionary War, presided at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and served as the first US president from 1789 to 1797.

However, he was in many ways a reluctant hero who avoided celebrity whenever he could.

When asked to lead the army, he responded, “I do not think myself equal to the Command I am honored with.” After winning the War for Independence, he was reluctant to lead the Constitutional Convention lest he be perceived as grasping for power. When elected president, he lamented that he lacked the “competency of political skill . . . necessary to manage the helm” and said, “Integrity & firmness is all I can promise.”

When he voluntarily stepped down after his second term as president, a dumbfounded King George III proclaimed him “the greatest character of the age.” Historian Matthew Spalding calls him “the man who would not be king” and notes that “no one walked away from power with more dignity.”

Washington exhorted his fellow citizens: “The name of ‘American’ which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism.” But his sacrificial and humble patriotism made him the “father” of our nation in ways no words could.

Now it’s our turn.

We must be the change we wish to see

An article on the proliferation of pornography in popular culture notes: “The logical endgame of the sexual revolution has been to turn sex into a recreational activity whose only meaning is defined by the people experiencing it, and whose only moral issues center around consent.”

The facts regarding the devastation of pornography are clear, from its ties to sex trafficking and child abuse to the brain damage it causes. However, given its pervasiveness, if Christians want our broken culture to adopt biblical morality regarding sexual purity, we will first have to model it ourselves. Only when we “remain faithful to one another in marriage” (Hebrews 13:4 NLT) can we expect others to follow our example.

In other news, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul rejected a request from Louisiana to extradite a doctor who prescribed abortion pills to a pregnant minor in their state, violating their strict anti-abortion law. According to Louisiana authorities, the girl who received the pills experienced a medical emergency and had to be transported to the hospital.

The facts regarding the devastation of abortion are clear, from its emotional damage and medical risks for mothers who choose it to the tragedy that more than sixty-three million babies have lost their lives since the procedure was legalized in 1973. However, despite bans in many states, the number of abortions in the US actually increased in 2023.

Given the pervasiveness of abortion, if Christians want our broken culture to adopt biblical morality regarding the sanctity of life, we will first have to model it ourselves. Only when we “bless” children as Jesus did (Mark 10:16) by encouraging adoption and caring for women with at-risk pregnancies can we expect others to follow our example.

I could go on, but you understand the point. In a secularized culture that rejects biblical authority, we must be the change we wish to see. This is only fair: If we claim that Jesus transforms people into “new creations” (2 Corinthians 5:17), the world has a right to expect such transformation in us.

How “Christ takes shape in a believer”

Imagine the difference in America if every American Christian imitated Jesus; where we asked, “What Would Jesus Do?” and lived accordingly. Consider the evangelists we would become, the ministry we would share, the obedience we would model.

Here’s what makes imitating Jesus different from emulating any other laudatory figure of history: Jesus will help us do so.

St. Augustine observed:

Christ takes shape in a believer through the faith that is in his inmost soul. Such a believer, gentle and humble of heart, is called to the freedom of grace. He does not boast of the merit he gains from good works, for they are worth nothing. It is grace itself that is the beginning of merit . . . [as] Christ is formed within the believer who accepts the form of Christ, who comes close to Christ by means of spiritual love.

How can we “come close to Christ” today?

1. Make it our ambition to imitate Jesus (cf. Romans 8:29). This and nothing less must be our highest purpose in life.
2. Admit we cannot imitate Jesus without his help. Ask his Spirit to “fill” and control us (Ephesians 5:18), manifesting the “fruit” of his character in our lives (Galatians 5:22–23) and using us to demonstrate Christ to the culture.
3. Join the Spirit in our sanctification through prayer, Bible study, worship, and other spiritual disciplines. These position us to experience the transformation only God can make in our lives.
4. Measure success by service. As with Jesus’ earthly ministry (Matthew 20:28), the consequences of our faithfulness will far outlive our obedience.

St. Augustine assured us:

“The believer who imitates Christ becomes . . .  the same as Christ whom he imitates.”

Will you seek to become “the same as Christ” today?

Quote for the day:

“Almighty and eternal Lord God, the great Creator of heaven and earth, and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, look down from heaven in pity and compassion upon me thy servant, who humbly prostate myself before thee.” —George Washington

Our latest website articles:

• “The surprising reason young adults are more pro-marriage: A St. Valentine’s Day meditation on truth and transformation”
• “The civil war in Congo could soon reach a tipping point: How one of the world’s longest-running conflicts has roots beyond its borders”
• “A long, joyful obedience”
• “A review of ‘Dominion’ by Tom Holland: A secular humanist’s guide to how morality comes from Christianity”
• “What does the Bible say about love?

Denison Forum

San Francisco has long been one of America’s most irreligious cities, with Silicon Valley at the center of that resistance to faith. For most of the last decade, roughly half of tech workers identified as either atheist or agnostic. Yet, that resistance to God—and the gospel in particular—has begun to soften in recent years.

Christians have always been present within the tech industry but, for a time, most felt the need to keep their faith private lest it make them an oddity at best and a pariah at worst. Or at least that was the perception. Believers like Trae and Michelle Stephens felt a greater degree of comfort living out their faith than most, though even they recall often feeling like the “token Christians in the room” when among their peers.

That feeling is part of what led the couple to help start the ACTS 17 Collective last year.

ACTS 17 is both an acronym—Acknowledging Christ in Technology and Society—as well as a callout to the passage in Acts where Paul shares the gospel at the Areopagus. Their hope is to take a similar approach in reaching out to the intelligentsia of their day, and God has been using them to do just that.

 “The powerful need Jesus just as much”

As Michelle Stephens notes, the group’s mission to target the wealthy and influential within the tech industry may seem like “a somewhat counterintuitive Christian calling” to many. In an interview with Emma Goldberg of the New York Times, Stephens describes how “We are always taught as Christians to serve the meek, the lowly, the marginalized . . . I think we’ve realized that, if anything, the rich, the wealthy, the powerful need Jesus just as much.”

To that end, the Collective says they are “redefining success for those who define the culture.” And their approach matches that ambition well.

Through events centered on high-profile, Christian speakers who appeal to the tech community—even if some are controversial—the group has built an environment that often appeals more to those who are looking to network with the elite of their industry than to those who are looking to know more about Jesus. And the Stephens are fine with that:

“After an ACTS 17 event, all we would like is for folks in attendance to take a next step in their faith journey. Maybe they’d never heard of Jesus, and a next step is reading the Bible.”

They understand that, for many, the very notion that some of the industry leaders they respect could be Christians is a novel concept. As such, expecting them to jump right into attending church and declaring Jesus to be Lord is relatively unrealistic. So, instead, they meet people where they are, offering something of value in exchange for the chance to tell them about Christ.

It’s an exchange that many in the tech world seem happy to make, and the early results have been promising.

In addition to events in Silicon Valley, seventeen other cities in the US have shown interest in hosting the group. Yet they have also engaged with nations beyond America’s borders, holding two events last November in Abu Dhabi and Dubai about how the Christian faith can impact career planning, as well as how it impacts their views on AI and national defense.

However, regardless of the nature of the topic or the location in which it’s given, the basic approach of using their expertise and gifting to earn the right to share the gospel remains the same. And that approach demonstrates an important lesson for each of us today.

Satan is fine with us making the world a better place

People come to Jesus for a variety of reasons. For some, he’s a great moral teacher who espouses the kind of ethic they want to see in their own lives and the culture at large. Jordan Peterson has made headlines in recent years for largely adopting this approach to the Bible, yet he seems to stop short of seeing Christ’s sacrificial death as the literal path to salvation.

Those who see Christ’s message to the poor and needy as the central pillar of the gospel make a similar mistake. While social justice movements have done a great deal to point out our society’s longstanding sins and call believers to action, it can be tempting for that message to become more prominent than our innate need for Jesus to save us. Yes, we are called to pursue justice and help those in need, but in Christ’s name and power rather than our own.

As Skye Jethani described on a recent Denison Forum Podcast, the ethical principles and social actions to which Christ calls us do not have to be either/or concepts.

Jesus did come to set a moral example for us to follow and he did teach us to care for the poor and the needy. But our first priority needs to be seeking the kingdom of God and his righteousness, as it’s only then that we will have our priorities properly aligned to fulfill the rest of his calling for our lives (Matthew 6:33).

As Christians, it can be easy to get our priorities out of line, particularly when there’s a cause we care deeply about. But while people can come to Jesus from various places and with various goals in mind, our presentation of the gospel must center on Christ above everything else.

Social justice, personal advancement, or becoming a better person can be helpful and worthy steps along that path, but we can’t stop there if we want to get to salvation. At the end of the day, a gospel that doesn’t end with the call to recognize Jesus as Lord is not the gospel—no matter how similar it may be to aspects of the message he taught.

Satan is fine with us making the world a better place, and even doing so in the name of Christ, so long as we stop short of recognizing Jesus as Lord.

So how well are your priorities aligned today? When you think about Christ’s call for your life, is knowing him as your savior and Lord at the top of your list?

Helping others to know Jesus as Lord is far more difficult if he isn’t your Lord first. Make sure he is today.

Quote of the day:

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” — A.W. Tozer

Our latest website articles:

• The surprising reason young adults are more pro-marriage
• The civil war in Congo could soon reach a tipping point
• A long, joyful obedience
• Israel-Gaza update, Baldoni vs. Lively drama, Super Bowl recap & a crypto question
• Father wins “Wheel of Fortune” with help from dyslexic son

Denison Forum

“It is in the face of death that the riddle of a human existence grows most acute”

President Trump announced on Truth Social yesterday that he had “a lengthy and highly productive phone call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia” as they discussed ending the war in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later said he had also spoken with Mr. Trump about a “lasting, reliable peace.”

According to Mr. Trump, a meeting is being set up for tomorrow at an annual security conference in Munich, with talks led by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

If a just end could be found to this horrific war, millions in Ukraine and Russia would obviously be spared further violence. However, unless you live in those nations, you are probably reading this news more out of general interest than existential engagement.

By contrast, this ABC News headline is guaranteed to catch everyone’s eye: “Chances of asteroid striking Earth in the next decade has nearly doubled, NASA says.” The asteroid, discovered just after Christmas, could strike our planet on December 22, 2032. The rock measures as much as a football field in diameter. If it were to directly hit a city, millions could die. There’s no way to be sure you and I won’t be in that number.

Here’s the part the headline leaves out, however: the odds of being impacted by the asteroid have only risen from 1.3 percent to 2.1 percent. But still, you’d rather they be 0 percent, as would I.

Why our unconscious “behaves as if immortal”

Over the next seven years, we’ll have plenty more to worry about, from the threat of a bird flu pandemic to fears of nuclear war, annihilation by AI, and who knows what threats we don’t yet know. We didn’t know about the COVID-19 pandemic until we did, and it caused life expectancy to drop across the US.

According to Sigmund Freud, “Our unconscious does not believe in its own death; it behaves as if immortal.” Tragically, the COVID-19 pandemic made the fact of our mortality both real and terrifying for millions. “Death anxiety” rose significantly during this time, which is understandable given the horrific way many victims died alone in isolation wards, separated from family and friends.

However, according to researchers, humans fear the way we die less than what happens when we die: “The origin of death anxiety is fear of annihilation, the struggle of a living being with nothingness.” I would have thought that our death anxiety would be related to the pain of physical death, separation from loved ones, or grief that our earthly lives are coming to an end too soon. But studies clearly indicate that “humans are afraid of losing themselves and becoming nothing.” This is why, in Freud’s words, our unconscious “behaves as if immortal.”

“He bears in himself an eternal seed”

A perceptive essay produced by the Second Vatican Council in 1965 agrees with the research I cited:

It is in the face of death that the riddle of a human existence grows most acute. Not only is man tormented by pain and the advancing deterioration of his body, but even more so by a dread of perpetual extinction. He rightly follows the intuition of his heart when he abhors and repudiates the utter ruin and total disappearance of his own person.

The essay explains why this is so:

He rebels against death because he bears in himself an eternal seed which cannot be reduced to sheer matter. All the endeavors of technology, though useful in the extreme, cannot calm his anxiety; for prolongation of biological life is unable to satisfy that desire for higher life which is inescapably lodged in his breast.

This longing for a “higher life” is an example of what sociologist Peter Berger called “signals of transcendence,” which are dimensions of our lives that point to realities that transcend us. C. S. Lewis observed, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”

And so, paradoxically, the death anxiety that prompts us to read about a potential asteroid collision, the possibility of a bird flu pandemic, or the threats of nuclear war or AI annihilation is itself evidence that this fallen and fearful world is not all there is. We instinctively do not want our lives to end because, unlike every other species in creation, we were made for endless life.

Here’s the good news: For followers of Jesus, that life has already begun.

The part of John 3:16 people miss

Christians often say that a person who trusts in Christ will receive eternal life when they die, but this is not so. The most famous verse in the Bible contains an often-overlooked dimension: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, my emphasis).

Christians receive “eternal life” the moment we trust Christ as our Savior. His eternal Spirit moves into our lives in that instant (1 Corinthians 3:16), making us the children of God (John 1:12), “and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17).

This is why Jesus could say so adamantly, “Everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:26, my emphasis). Physical death for us is merely the door through which we step into the eternal presence of God. When we take our last breath here, we take our first breath there. When we close our eyes here, we open them there.

The fact that we already have eternal life is the antidote to the fear of annihilation that is instinctual to our fallen natures. It empowers us to serve Jesus at any cost to ourselves, knowing that the worst that can happen to us leads instantly to the best that can happen to us: “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).

This assurance infuses us with peace in the face of peril, constituting a powerful witness to those without such peace. For example, John Wesley was so impressed by Moravian missionaries who sang in worship through a terrifying storm that their astounding calm became a significant step on the path to his own conversion.

Ronald Reagan observed,

“Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid.”

Will you be “unafraid” today?

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Quote for the day:

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.” —Winston Churchill

Denison Forum

Three viewpoints and “the core truth of our existence”

Hamas stated Monday that it would postpone the release of three hostages scheduled to be freed this weekend to protest delays in deliveries of humanitarian goods. President Trump then warned Hamas to release all its Gaza hostages by Saturday or “all hell is going to break out.”

Yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined Mr. Trump’s demand: “If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon, the cease-fire will end and the IDF will resume intense fighting until the final defeat of Hamas.”

Yesterday, I was privileged to meet one of my longtime Israeli friends for lunch. He and I have led more than thirty study tours in the Holy Land together over the years and have been together often in the States. He is currently in the US on a speaking tour. I asked him for his thoughts on the hostage crisis and, as usual, his perspective was both brilliant and enlightening.

What’s more, I found his thoughts relevant to an even larger context that touches us all. To make this point, let’s put my friend’s response into a larger cultural context.

How Hamas views the hostages

What we have learned about Hamas from the hostages that have been released thus far confirms US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s assessment: “This is an evil organization. Hamas is evil. It’s pure evil. These are monsters. These are savages. That’s a group that needs to be eradicated.”

Making his point, last Saturday Hamas released what the Associated Press describes as “three gaunt, frail-looking Israeli hostages.” Gideon Saar, Israel’s foreign minister, said they “look like Holocaust survivors.” A doctor reported that one was returned “in a severe nutritional state.”

A mother whose son is still being held by Hamas learned from military sources that he is receiving very little food and no medical care for multiple injuries, including an eye injury that has left him partially blinded. He has been bound for much of the time and tortured.

“It was not easy to hear,” she said. “I must say that I even fainted.”

How Hamas views the Palestinians

Twelve days after Hamas’ October 7 invasion, their leader Khaled Mashal suggested that to achieve the dream of Israel’s destruction, millions of Palestinians might have to die. They use their schools to radicalize the people, turning them into terrorists against the Jewish state. They steal humanitarian aid, sell it to the population, then use the money to finance terrorist recruitment.

According to NATO, Hamas has been using the Palestinians in Gaza as human shields since 2007. They fire rockets, artillery, and mortars from civilian areas, locate military infrastructures in schools, hospitals, and mosques, and use civilians and hostages to protect themselves. The terrorists have built hundreds of miles of tunnels under civilian structures to hide, transport, and shield their soldiers and munitions while refusing to allow civilians to use them for protection.

As I have written, Hamas exists not to serve Palestinians in Gaza but to eradicate Israel. In its view, the deaths of Palestinian civilians are a means to this end. They view Muslim casualties as “martyrs” who will be rewarded in heaven and use their plight to marshal Arab nations and the larger world against Israel.

How Israelis view the hostages

By contrast, as my friend explained yesterday, Israelis view the hostages as vital to their nation and its future for three reasons.

First, many of them know some of the hostages or someone in their extended families. Israel is a tiny country. In my many visits over the years, I have been consistently surprised at how interconnected their society is. For many, the hostages’ plight is deeply personal.

Second, some of the hostages are Israeli military personnel. For Israel to abandon them would say to the entire IDF, “If you fight for us and you are captured, we won’t come for you.” As my friend noted, this would undermine the viability of the army. For a small nation surrounded by enemies that seek its destruction, the IDF is vital to its survival and its future.

Third, many of the hostages are Israeli civilians. For Israel to abandon them would say to the rest of the population, “If terrorists take you hostage in the future, we won’t try to get you back.” Such a threat would understandably cause many to abandon the nation.

This is why Israel has historically been willing to trade huge numbers of Palestinian prisoners for a few hostages, and why they are doing the same again now. And it is why the IDF has been so careful to protect the hostages while trying to eradicate the terrorists who hide behind them.

Such an approach to the hostages severely restricts Israel’s military and its governmental leaders. But it is foundational to the nation’s ethos and future.

How God views you

Here’s why I found my friend’s explanation to be relevant even beyond Israel: Our Father loves us even more passionately than Israel loves its hostages (1 John 4:8). In fact, he loves us even though we treat Jesus as Hamas treats the Jews. Our sins tortured and murdered God’s Son (Isaiah 53:6; Romans 5:8). Even when we trust him as our Savior, our sins grieve his Spirit deeply (Ephesians 4:30).

And yet, as St. Augustine famously observed, God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.

If you were the only person who had ever sinned, the only soul held hostage by Satan, Jesus would have died just to liberate you. His Father loves you right now as much as he loved you when he sent his Son to die in your place (John 17:23; 2 Corinthians 5:21). As Timothy Keller observed, “The gospel is that Jesus Christ came to earth, lived the life we should have lived, and died the death we should have died.”

Henri Nouwen therefore claimed:

“Being the Beloved constitutes the core truth of our existence.”

Do you agree?

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Quote for the day:

“Come and see the victories of the cross. Christ’s wounds are your healings, his agonies your repose, his conflicts your conquests, his groans your songs, his pains your ease, his shame your glory, his death your life, his sufferings your salvation.” —Matthew Henry

Denison Forum

A reflection on Super Bowl LIX and life’s ultimate purpose

Trey Howard, age ten, shielded his toddler sister when a medical jet crashed in northeast Philadelphia on January 31, killing seven and injuring twenty-four others. His bravery landed him in the hospital with a severe head injury.

When he woke up after emergency brain surgery, the die-hard Eagles fan’s first words were, “We didn’t play yesterday, did we?” When he was assured that he had not missed the Super Bowl, he then asked, “Daddy, did I save my sister?”

Eagles star wide receiver A. J. Brown, when he heard about Trey’s bravery, responded: “Speedy recovery! You are a Hero young man! I’m going to come see you when I get back. Hopefully with some hardware. Playing for you on Sunday my man.” Two Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders also visited him in his hospital room to bring him team paraphernalia for the big game.

Trey must be a happy young man this morning after Brown and his teammates scored a decisive victory in last night’s Super Bowl. His love for the Eagles and their support for him will hopefully expedite his quick and full recovery.

Watching the game with fifty friends

More than 119 million people were expected to watch last night’s contest. In a listing of the one hundred most-watched primetime television shows in 2024, the top eleven are all NFL games. By a wide margin, Americans say football is “America’s sport.”

Cognitive psychologists at Cornell University would not be surprised. They explain the continuing popularity of the league by noting that professional football is engrained in popular culture, the league’s parity keeps things interesting, and fantasy football and betting on games make the outcomes highly personal for fans.

Their explanation that most resonated with me, however, was the fact that “relationships are built through the love of the NFL.” Families and friends gather to watch games; fans rejoice or grieve together with their teams as they win or lose.

My wife and I witnessed this personally last night as we watched the game along with fifty friends from our Sunday school class. I cannot think of another event that would have brought so many of us together.

Eating what our friends are eating

There’s another aspect to the popularity of the Super Bowl that the Cornell psychologists did not note. For this, we turn to one of history’s most influential philosophers.

In Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche identified the “will to power” as an innate drive in all humans. He was right: from Satan’s appeal to the first humans to “be like God” (Genesis 3:5) to today, each temptation and decision we face is a variation on the same theme (cf. James 1:14–15).

Even now, I am tempted to exercise my “will to power” by impressing you with what I am writing. You are perhaps hoping that what I write will somehow empower you as you go about your day.

In Nietzsche’s view, this is as things should be. He wanted us to strive to be an Ũbermensch, an “overcomer” in life. But he lamented that most choose to be what he called the “last man”—passive nihilists who are tired of life, take no risks, and seek only security and comfort. Such a way of life brings humanity’s progress to a grinding halt, making us the “last” of the race.

Imagining Nietzsche watching last night’s game, I think he would identify the players on the field as “overcomers” and the fans in the stands and on their couches at home as the “last men.” We express our innate “will to power” vicariously by watching athletes do what we cannot do, but this brings us no closer to being an Übermensch in reality. Nietzsche would add that the community by which we experienced the game together only adds to our largesse as it endorses and encourages conformity to the collective.

For example, studies show that we consume more food when we eat with overweight people as we conform to the dietary norms around us. You can try this for yourself: If you watched the Super Bowl with friends, did you tend to eat and drink what they ate and drank, even if you wouldn’t do so on your own?

Is there a third option?

Where does this leave us?

It would seem we have a binary choice between being a self-driven “overcomer” and a passive “last man.” There were only two kinds of people in the New Orleans Superdome last night: the world-class athletes who played in the game and those who watched them.

But perhaps there’s a third option.

Perhaps there’s a larger purpose behind our existence, a cause so great that no human, not even an “overcomer,” can achieve it. This higher calling would necessarily require an Übermensch greater than humans who calls us to submit our lives to him (Romans 12:1) and then to “toil . . . with all his energy that he powerfully works within [us]” (Colossians 1:29).

Perhaps this “energy” is given to us in community with others as we labor collectively to accomplish a larger purpose than any individual can fulfill (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:27). Perhaps this larger purpose is so eternally significant that it is worth all temporal sacrifice.

If we commit ourselves to this purpose by loving our Lord and our neighbor unconditionally (Matthew 22:37–39), we will serve others as sacrificially as Trey Howard protected his little sister. And long after the Eagles’ historic win last night, our lives will make an impact that changes souls and echoes in eternity.

Rick Warren observed,

“You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that, life will never make sense.”

Will your life “make sense” today?

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• “Is DeepSeek AI a ‘Sputnik moment’? How pressure leads to growth”
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Quote for the day:

“There is no one insignificant in the purposes of God.” —Alistair Begg

Denison Forum

“For decades, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has been unaccountable to taxpayers as it funnels massive sums of money to the ridiculous—and, in many cases, malicious—pet projects of entrenched bureaucrats, with next-to-no oversight.”

That is how President Donald Trump recently described the agency overseeing the vast majority of the government’s humanitarian efforts. Those thoughts have been echoed across numerous press conferences, television appearances, and posts on social media by both Trump and people working closely with him on this issue.

However, given that USAID disbursed somewhere in the neighborhood of $72 billion of assistance in 2023—the last year for which we have concrete numbers—some waste is unavoidable. The more pressing question is to what extent that waste represents the true mission and functionality of the agency. Unfortunately, that’s where things start to get a bit murky.

Before we get too far down that road, though, it’s worth taking a moment to better understand what USAID was founded to do so we can then discern the degree to which that purpose is both necessary and relevant today.

USAID was started by President John F. Kennedy as an independent agency tasked with countering Soviet influence abroad by granting aid to the nations most likely to join the communist cause. Its independence was intended to help it circumvent the bureaucracy that plagued the State Department at that time. Congress made the agency official when it passed the Foreign Assistance Act in 1961.

USAID attempted to build security by fostering dependency through a number of truly worthy endeavors—such as its work combatting global hunger, AIDS, malaria, and a host of other problems. However, its history also includes a number of acts of which we should be less proud.

In other words, it falls right in line with most government programs in that it is plagued by corruption while still serving an important purpose.

A big part of the problem is that USAID does not directly fund or manage many of these humanitarian efforts. Instead, as Ari Weitzman describes, it “takes taxpayer dollars and gives them to an independent organization that decides what it wants to focus on, then distributes those dollars to other third-party organizations” (emphasis his).

The result is a massive budget that has proven difficult to track and even more difficult to hold accountable for how those dollars are spent. And while those funds represent less than 1 percent of the federal budget, it’s still the most of any country and nearly double what the European Union spends on humanitarian aid. As such, what the president and the rest of the government decide to do with the agency will have massive repercussions around the world.

Unfortunately, unpredictability is a hallmark of Trump’s governing strategy, so understanding what’s likely to come next is dubious at best. That said, his actions this week—and the response they’ve generated—do provide some clues.

Why it’s not enough for the good to outweigh the bad

Both President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have advocated for USAID losing its independence and becoming absorbed into the State Department. In fact, Trump has already taken steps in that direction, giving Rubio authority over the agency earlier this week.

What is less clear, though, is if he actually has the authority to do that. Many in Congress have claimed otherwise, and this is likely to end in yet another custody battle over who gets final say in USAID’s fate. Regardless of whether or not the agency remains independent, it’s difficult to see anything resembling the status quo being part of the end result.

And whatever you may think of Trump, USAID, or those involved in the investigation, it seems obvious that at least some measure of change is needed.

While some reports of waste—such as claims that USAID funded Politico and other news organizations—have been either fabricated or exaggerated, far too many questionable projects still exist:

• $20 million for a new Sesame Street show in Iraq
• More than $19 million to promote “inclusion” in Vietnam
• $1.5 million to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in Serbia

These are only a few examples that have come to light, and they are far from unique.

Moreover, even the aid that was intended to help those truly in need suffered because of corruption and theft. For example, USAID spent over $12 billion in Syria to help those suffering from the civil war that raged until recently. Yet millions of dollars were stolen and diverted to armed combat groups instead of the refugees.

Similarly, in Afghanistan, USAID spent an estimated $17 billion on efforts that failed to bear much fruit, such as $335 million on an underutilized diesel-fueled power plant, $486 million on planes that seldom—if ever—left the ground, and $106 million on an unused consulate.

Again, some waste and corruption are unavoidable given the scope and scale of USAID’s efforts, and the agency still does many truly great things throughout the world. It’s important not to lose sight of those facts. Yet, just because the good may outweigh the bad does not mean the bad should go unnoticed and unaddressed.

Many disagree with the manner in which President Trump and his people are attempting to solve these problems, and all of us would benefit from taking a step back to evaluate why we hold our opinions on this subject. As I wrote yesterday, stopping to ask the simple question “What if Biden did it?” can be a helpful tool in that regard.

Our opinions of Trump, his policies, and his approach do not change the fact that there are problems within USAID that desperately need to be addressed. And there’s an important lesson in that fact for each of us today.

Is it one fruit or many fruits?

One of the best-known concepts within Christianity is the fruit of the Spirit that Paul describes in Galatians 5: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22–23). However, something that often gets lost in translation is that the “fruit” of which Paul writes is singular rather than plural. In English, we use the same word for both, but the Greek is more specific.

It’s important to understand that when Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit, he’s describing a single, unified concept rather than several individual characteristics because, for most of us, some of these qualities come more naturally than others. As such, it’s often tempting to think that being faithful and kind can make up for the times when we lack gentleness and self-control. By the same token, having joy and peace in the good times does not make up for a failure to love and be patient when our circumstances grow more difficult.

In short, we can never be good enough at any of these qualities to compensate for a deficiency with others. God expects us to grow in each and to recognize that change is needed when we fail to do so.

Fortunately, Paul is also clear that these are not the fruit of effort or discipline—though both do play an important part. Rather, he calls them the fruit of the Spirit because it is the Holy Spirit who helps them grow in our lives as we walk with the Lord.

So how is your walk with God today? Are there any areas where you’ve failed to heed his conviction or tried to compensate for your sins rather than address them? Take a moment to ask the Lord to help you understand the real answers to those questions, then respond accordingly.

Every Christian should exhibit the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control that Scripture describes.

Do you?

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Quote of the day:

“The highest reward for a faithful life is not what you get for it but what you become by it.” —Warren Wiersbe

Denison Forum

“With you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light” (Psalm 36:9)

This Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs will play the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX. The Los Angeles Dodgers won the 2024 World Series; the Boston Celtics won the 2024 NBA Finals; and the Florida Panthers won the 2024 Stanley Cup.

Why does the NFL use Roman numerals when no other league does?

The answer is simple. The Super Bowl is held in the calendar year following the beginning of the league’s regular season schedule. So, would Sunday’s game be the 2024 NFL Championship, even though it’s played in 2025? Would it be the 2025 NFL Championship, even though it culminates the 2024 season? Of course, the league could use common numerals, making this Sunday’s game Super Bowl 58. However, Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt suggested in 1970 that the big game employ Roman numerals instead, lending the game a kind of gravitas as a major event.

Mr. Hunt is also credited with coining the name “Super Bowl.” This was after he helped launch the American Football League to compete with the National Football League (the two merged in 1970, creating the AFC and the NFC). He also established the Dallas Texans, who soon became the Kansas City Chiefs. His son, Clark Hunt, continues to lead the team, turning them into one of the league’s most successful franchises. If the Chiefs are victorious Sunday, they will become the first team in NFL history to win three straight Super Bowls.

And so, in three days the world will participate in the continuing legacy of Lamar Hunt. But in my mind, the remarkable success of the NFL, the Super Bowl, and the Chiefs are not his most significant achievement. It was my privilege to be the pastor of Clark Hunt and his family in Dallas. They are among the most gracious, humble people I have ever known.

Their personal integrity is Lamar Hunt’s most enduring legacy, one that will continue far beyond this Sunday’s game.

Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar

The contest will be significant for other reasons as well:

• Donald Trump is expected to become the first sitting US president to attend the game. He will also tape an interview with Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier that will air during the pregame show.
• The Super Bowl will be played at the New Orleans Superdome, which has hosted more legendary sports moments than any other venue in the country.  The NFL vows that the venue will be the “safest place to be” on Sunday night.
• Music superstar Taylor Swift will be attending, sitting in a suite that costs a reported $2 million per ticket.
• By contrast, Kendrick Lamar, who won five Grammys last Sunday, will perform at the halftime show for free. This is typical for Super Bowl performers; the boost to their careers more than offsets any payment they forego.

However, it’s doubtful that any of this will endure in our collective minds for long. Even the contest itself will be truly memorable only for the winner, and only for a short time for the rest of us. Do you remember who lost last year’s Super Bowl? What about the year before, or the year before that? Who won the game three years ago? Ten years ago?

This is the way of our frenetic, news-driven, constantly changing society. Cultural “vibes,” prizing feelings over facts and mood over meaning, are the currency of our day. “Social proof,” amplified in the digital age, is undoubtedly powerful in shaping our decision-making.

In this regard, there is good news for the good news of the gospel:

• Joe Rogan, considered the most popular podcaster in the world, recently hosted Christian apologist Wesley Huff for a conversation about the truthfulness of our faith. Their discussion has 5.9 million views on YouTube so far.
• Bible sales are booming.
• Noted atheist Richard Dawkins is now calling himself a “cultural Christian.”
• Famed scholars Niall Ferguson and his wife Ayaan Hirsi Ali have become public Christians.
• Popular influencer Jordan Peterson’s latest book affirms the Judeo-Christian worldview as foundational to society and states that the proclamation of “man as an image of God” is “perhaps the greatest idea ever revealed.”
• Young men are showing more interest in religion than in many years.

But as with Sunday’s Super Bowl, today’s headlines can quickly become tomorrow’s old news.

“If we don’t know what kind of God God is”

This is why we need always to remember that “the Lᴏʀᴅ reigns forever” (Psalm 146:10 HCSB). He alone is the king of the universe. He alone has the power to bring us the purpose and significance we long to experience.

To my point: Americans are wealthier than ever but less happy. As sociologist James Davison Hunter has observed, nihilism (the belief that life has no overarching purpose) is the prevailing sentiment of our post-Christian, secularized culture. The only power we truly possess is the capacity to choose how we will respond to our powerlessness.

By contrast, God alone “satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Psalm 103:5).

• Israel’s most beloved king acknowledged this fact as he prayed, “With you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light” (Psalm 36:9).
• The wisest man who ever lived agreed: “Trust in the Lᴏʀᴅ with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (Proverbs 3:5–6).
• Paul was one of the great scholars of Judaism (Acts 22:3) and “blameless” under the law (Philippians 3:6), but he testified that he “suffered the loss of all things” by comparison to “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (v. 8).

When we experience personally a God who is love, our lives are suffused with significance and joy. A. W. Tozer was right: “Faith is confidence in the character of God, and if we don’t know what kind of God God is, we can’t have faith.”

According to the scholar D. A. Carson,

“To know God is to be transformed, and thus to be introduced to a life that could not otherwise be experienced.”

Will you be “transformed” today?

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Quote for the day:

“The Bible was not given for our information but for our transformation.” —Dwight L. Moody

Denison Forum

On January 23, President Trump signed an executive order to declassify all documents related to the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Robert F. Kennedy. While previous administrations have taken action toward declassification, every step has come with a lot of redaction and very little urgency. However, the recent order states that “It is in the national interest to finally release all records related to these assassinations without delay.” So when will these files be made public, and what can we expect to learn?

The Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence will provide the President with a comprehensive plan for the release of these documents by February 7 for JFK and by March 7 for MLK and RFK. From there, clarity will be given as to exactly when documents will be made available.

While some level of mystery surrounds each of these historic murders, the JFK files are expected to garner the most attention. A 1992 act of Congress required all files pertaining to the JFK assassination be released by 2017. However, both President Trump, in his first term, and President Biden delayed the release of a portion of documents, and had others heavily redacted, for the sake of national intelligence and security. All-in-all it is believed that 99 percent of the files have been released. They can be examined in the National Archives.

Could that remaining one percent reveal the long-awaited “smoking gun” and answer all questions related to Lee Harvey Oswald, a potential second shooter, Cuba, and the CIA? Unlikely. Much of what remains is believed to contain sensitive personal details, or perhaps reveal embarrassing details about the intelligence agencies’ knowledge of Oswald but failure to stop him.

While declassification may not unveil a government conspiracy, it is also unlikely to quell the most popular alternative theories about what happened on November 11, 1963. Perhaps only a time machine could do that.

Why the MLK and RFK files could be the bigger story

As for the MLK files, Dr. King’s family has partially been the cause of the delay, hoping that the government might allow them to see the files first and then release them at a later date. Even as one of the most influential figures in the country, Dr. King remained the subject of a significant FBI spy campaign and was not well protected. Dr. King’s family members have raised questions over the years about the convicted killer, James Earl Ray, and the involvement of the intelligence community. At the very least, the MLK files are expected to reveal further incompetence on the part of the FBI.

Though lesser known to the public, the RFK files may be the most revealing. While all of the state and FBI documents have been declassified, the CIA has yet to release any documentation related to the murder, which took place in June of 1968, just two months after the murder of King. The former Senator’s son, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has publicly questioned the official narrative of his father’s death. Much like the other two tragic events, there remains a cloud of mystery around the involvement and knowledge of key intelligence agencies.

With figures like RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard at the forefront of his campaign, and potentially his administration, President Trump has made government transparency an important aspect of his second White House journey. In the home stretch of the 2024 presidential campaign, Donald Trump spoke with Joe Rogan about the JFK files and explained that, in his first term, Mike Pompeo had discouraged him from releasing everything. Pompeo was the Director of the CIA and later became the Secretary of State.

Why transparency is important

Americans should value government transparency highly. While declassifying these documents represents a step forward, considering the size and scope of the federal government, there remains a long way to go. Simultaneously, the list of foreign governments that are completely averse to transparency is long. An increase in transparency is generally met with an increase in public trust.

As Christ-followers, transparency and honesty are critical. Not only should we desire to see such characteristics from our leaders and governing bodies, but they should be the marks of our daily faith walk. Transparency does not necessitate that everyone knows everything, but it elevates truth while eliminating distrust and confusion. Proverbs 28:13 states, “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” Confession, which can be a form of transparency, is also an act of humility. In that posture of humility, we should desire for the Lord to know us fully, refining us to be more like him (Psalm 139:23-24).

Now, we must live out the high calling of being an honest representative of Christ in every relationship, role, and opportunity. Transparency about your life’s challenges, your difficult past, or your beliefs might be a source of freedom for you and a catalyst for someone else to seek Jesus!

Denison Forum

“Hamas is an idea before it is anything else”

President Trump is meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this afternoon. According to Israeli officials, the future of the Gaza hostage release and ceasefire deal is hanging on the outcome of their talks.

Negotiations on the second phase of the agreement were scheduled to begin yesterday, but Mr. Netanyahu chose not to send his negotiating team before he met with Mr. Trump. This phase is supposed to lead to a permanent ceasefire and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, but Hamas wants to end the war while staying in power, which Israel obviously opposes.

If Mr. Netanyahu does not resume the war, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatens to quit, stripping the prime minister of the coalition by which he retains office. If Israel does not move forward with the ceasefire agreement, one Israeli official said there could be at least another year of war in Gaza to topple Hamas.

How to defeat the idea that is Hamas

Israel says it has killed approximately twenty thousand Hamas fighters so far. However, the US estimates that the terror group has recruited up to fifteen thousand new members since the conflict began.

Here’s the problem: As one of my longtime Israeli friends told me, “Hamas is an idea before it is anything else.”

Its idea is that the State of Israel stole its land from the rightful Palestinian owners, constituting an assault on Islam. Palestinians are therefore obligated to act by any means necessary to reclaim the land Allah intended for them. Consequently, according to Hamas, its October 7 invasion was a necessary response to what it says are decades of Israeli oppression.

Of course, no nation would allow a terrorist group pledged to their annihilation to control an enclave on that nation’s border. Clearly, Israel must do whatever is necessary to protect its people from such a threat.

But how does it defeat the idea that is Hamas? With better ideas.

In the case of Gaza, this means rebuilding the region in a way that benefits those who live there. Under Hamas, life in Gaza has been horrific: less than 10 percent of the water is fit to drink, electricity is available only for about four hours a day, and 80 percent of the population depends on charity for food. Creating a better life under governmental leaders who serve the people rather than a terrorist ideology is vital, as challenging as that will be. If Israel and the West aid in this effort, we show that we are not enemies of Muslims and that we want the best for all concerned.

The alternative is to continue feeding the narrative that Israel and the West are a threat to Islam, which will only breed more generations of terrorists in the Middle East and beyond.

Why “Big Gods” are vital to society

Americans face our own “battle of ideas” today.

In his book Mind or Matter, Ernst Lehr calls the Scientific Revolution the “Second Fall.” In the first, Adam and Eve “succumbed to the temptation to acquire knowledge prematurely” at the cost of separating from “the original state of participation in the divine world.” The Second Fall, by contrast, resulted from “human action outrunning knowledge” as we came to grasp and use natural forces we did not yet understand, such as electricity.

We are doing this more now than ever as advances in artificial intelligence and gene editing threaten the future of our species. At the same time, our post-Christian, secularized culture has abandoned absolute truth, objective morality, and our nation’s founding claim that “all men are created equal.” From elective abortion to sex change operations to euthanasia, we are using scientific knowledge whose consequences we cannot yet understand. And we are making life-altering and history-changing decisions, absent of any moral or ideological foundations beyond “tolerance.”

How’s this working for us?

Fewer Americans than ever say they are satisfied with their personal lives. A record low in the US is likewise satisfied with the way democracy is working.

As cultural commentator Jonah Goldberg shows, human governments can, at best, hedge against the worst impulses of human nature. By contrast, intellectual historians have demonstrated that belief in “Big Gods” who threaten divine punishment for human sin has been crucial to the formation of functioning societies.

Roughly 77 percent of the world’s population identifies as Christian, Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist; in all four, moral transgressions lead to consequences in this life or the next. This viewpoint has proven essential to societies that form moral communities. When we jettison our belief in divine accountability, we are unable to govern ourselves or each other.

When enough people experience enough change

Here is where evangelical Christianity offers the best idea of all.

We believe in a Father who “is” love and can only want what is best for us (1 John 4:8). He therefore deals with us as gently as he can or as harshly as he must. When he holds us accountable for our sins, he does so only to lead us to repentance and redemption by his grace.

But our Lord offers not only a moral framework that leads to our best flourishing—he also offers the inner transformation essential to living in that framework. He can make us a “new creation” so that in Christ we become “the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:17, 21). When we submit to his Holy Spirit, he makes us holy people. He uses our transformed lives to attract others to the transformation they can experience by grace as well.

As a consequence, we love as we are loved (1 John 4:19). For example, we love Palestinians devastated by Hamas and the war in Gaza, and we want their best. Our enacted compassion then preaches the gospel in deeds and words, offering to hurting people the hope of a better future and a glorious eternity.

If enough people experience enough change, they become catalysts for changing the world.

“I shall begin to shine as you shine”

To this end, I invite you to pray these words by Cardinal John Henry Newman. Mother Teresa prayed them daily with her sisters, and God answered their prayers in ways that are still changing lives today:

Dear Jesus, help me to spread your fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with your Spirit and life. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of yours. Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel your presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me but only Jesus!

Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as you shine, so to shine as to be a light to others; the light, O Jesus, will be all from you; none of it will be mine: it will be you shining on others through me. Let me thus praise you in the way you love best: by shining on those around me.

Will you praise Jesus in the way he loves best today?

Our latest website articles:

• “What to expect from declassified JFK, MLK, and RFK files”
• “’A Complete Unknown’ earns eight Academy Awards nominations: A jaw-dropping dramatization of Bob Dylan’s vagabond genius”
• “Tragedy over the Potomac: ‘Nothing short of a nightmare’”
• “Why did ‘Emilia Peréz’ actually receive 13 Oscar nominations? What the film about a transgender cartel leader could reveal about our culture”
• “The greatness and tragedy of Winston Churchill: My reflection on a personal hero and his ultimate failure”

Quote for the day:

“Beware of harking back to what you once were when God wants you to be something you have never been.” —Oswald Chambers

Denison Forum

Is the Christian faith a “leap into the dark”?

Normally I’d begin today with headline news such as Saturday’s shocking trade of superstar Luka Dončić by the Dallas Mavericks, last night’s Grammy Awards without a single Taylor Swift win, or this morning’s stock futures tumble as tariff wars begin between the US and key trade partners. However, I’d like to do something different by taking you on a brief journey that may seem to meander a bit, but we’ll get to the point by the end.

Let’s begin with a question: Are the Kansas City Chiefs getting preferential treatment from the NFL?

There was a dubious roughing of the passer penalty against Houston’s Will Anderson Jr. that extended a Chiefs drive in their playoff win over Houston. And a “catch” on a touchdown drive by Chiefs receiver Xavier Worthy on a ball that seemed to hit the ground. Worst of all, it seemed to all the world that Bills quarterback Josh Allen gained the necessary inches to convert a critical fourth-and-one in Buffalo’s loss to the Chiefs that denied them a Super Bowl berth.

Now add this: The Chiefs will wear their white jerseys in Sunday’s game. And teams wearing white uniforms win the Super Bowl 64 percent of the time.

It is undoubtedly good for the NFL when Taylor Swift shows up on national television to support her boyfriend, Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce; presumably, she’ll make another appearance this Sunday. And we all know that professional football is a business before it’s anything else. So numerous voices decrying the league’s “preferential” treatment of the Chiefs are upset. We can expect a crescendo of complaints as the big game nears this week.

Why are the Giants and the Jets so bad?

But here’s the thing: the National Football League is the most valuable sports league in the world, with teams worth a total of $163 billion. The NFL’s chief source of revenue is television money. The league is guaranteed $125.5 billion over the next decade, $3.92 billion per team. But Kansas City is only the No. 34 TV market in the country. New York City is first, but the Giants and the Jets are two of the worst teams in the league.

Meanwhile, the league’s two smallest markets—Buffalo and Green Bay—are perennial playoff contenders. The Dallas Cowboys are reputationally “America’s Team,” but they last appeared in the Super Bowl thirty years ago.

Taylor Swift aside, what would motivate the NFL to risk its reputation—and multi-billion dollar business—to favor the Chiefs?

In addition, it turns out that the Philadelphia Eagles are the “home” team for Sunday’s game (the designation alternates between the NFC and the AFC year by year) and chose to wear dark uniforms. So if there’s a conspiracy involving white jerseys, they’re in on it.

Now imagine the collusion that would be necessary for the league and its referees to cheat in favor of the Chiefs. Seven officials work an NFL game, with an eighth official working replays in the press box. Kansas City is playing in the Super Bowl again this year primarily because they have won seventeen straight one-score games (the outcome is decided by eight points or less). If we believe that the Chiefs are where they are because officials are determining the outcomes of games, that’s a lot of referees who have cheated in a lot of contests.

In June 1972, five men were caught burglarizing the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters in the Watergate complex. They and their two handlers could not keep their conspiracy secret, leading to the eventual resignation of the president of the United States. Are we to believe that scores of referees, their families, and league officials have kept the “Chiefs conspiracy” a secret from the prying 24/7 news media circus for years?

And again, to what end?

Punxsutawney Phil vs. Staten Island Chuck

Speaking of conspiracies, Punxsutawney Phil gave us the bad news yesterday: six more weeks of winter are coming. But Phil is right only 35 percent of the time, ranking #17 among the groundhogs and other animals who “predict” the weather each winter.

Does this mean that a conspiracy exists to keep Phil in the news? His hometown in western Pennsylvania is home to less than six thousand people. I’m going with Staten Island Chuck, who represents the largest city in America and is right 85 percent of the time. Plus, I like his prediction better—he did not see his shadow yesterday, forecasting an early spring.

The origins of Groundhog Day date back to German settlers in the 1800s who celebrated the Christian festival of Candlemas on February 2, the midpoint between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. Early Christians thought a sunny Candlemas meant forty more days of cold and snow.

But here’s the larger story: Candlemas Day is another name for the feast of the Presentation of the Lord. Forty days after Jesus’ birth, Mary and Joseph brought him to the temple for the rites of purification and dedication prescribed by the Torah (Leviticus 12). On that day, a “righteous and devout” man named Simeon took the infant Christ in his arms and proclaimed him “a light for revelation to the Gentiles” (Luke 2:25, 32).

Forty days from December 25 is February 2. Since at least the seventh century, candles have been used on that day to celebrate mass (thus “Candlemas”).

Four transformative facts

Now let’s connect some dots.

One: John’s Gospel calls Jesus “the Word” (John 1:1), translating the Greek word logos. The philosopher Heraclitus (ca. 535–475 BC) was the first to use this concept to describe the overarching Reason and Order that sustains an ever-changing world. Jesus embodies this Principle in ways Heraclitus could not have imagined (cf. Colossians 1:15–17).

Two: John also calls Jesus “the true light, which gives light to everyone” (John 1:9). So we know that he enables all who receive his light to experience the reason and order he best can give.

Three: This is why Jesus calls us to love God with “all” our minds (Matthew 22:37). It is why some of the most brilliant scientists and thinkers in history have been committed followers of Christ. And it is why we can believe in the truth of God’s word and the divinity of God’s Son based on remarkable evidence and compelling logic. Jesus’ resurrection, for example, was no conspiracy—it was a fact of history that has changed billions of lives. The Christian faith is not a “leap into the dark” but a journey into the light.

Four: Now you and I can “walk in the light, as he is in the light” (1 John 1:7). When we do, we will testify with the psalmist, “The Lᴏʀᴅ is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” (Psalm 27:1). We will light the candle of faith as “a sign of the divine splendor of the one who comes to expel the dark shadows of evil and to make the whole universe radiant with the brilliance of his eternal life” (St. Sophronius).

And we will make every day Candlemas, knowing that,

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).

It never will.

Will you “walk in the light” today?

Our latest website articles:

• “’A Complete Unknown’ earns eight Academy Awards nominations: A jaw-dropping dramatization of Bob Dylan’s vagabond genius”
• “Tragedy over the Potomac: ‘Nothing short of a nightmare’”
• “Why did ‘Emilia Peréz’ actually receive 13 Oscar nominations? What the film about a transgender cartel leader could reveal about our culture”
• “The greatness and tragedy of Winston Churchill: My reflection on a personal hero and his ultimate failure”
• “A TB outbreak and a more dangerous bird flu strain: How God redeems death for an even greater good”

Quote for the day:

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out late; only love can do that.” —Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Denison Forum

When to stand on conviction and when to compromise

When President Trump first announced his list of cabinet nominations, his selection of former representative Matt Gaetz to serve as Attorney General garnered most of the attention. By the time he dropped out and Pam Bondi took his place, much of the initial concern regarding three of the president’s other nominations had fallen to the background. However, that changed earlier this week as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Kash Patel, and Tulsi Gabbard all went before their respective Senate approval committees in what proved to be a contentious affair for each.

Kennedy endured two days of questions, as the position for which he was nominated required meeting with both the Senate Finance Committee and the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. Neither proved overwhelmingly receptive, with his past comments on abortion and vaccines dominating much of the conversation. While he still has a path to confirmation, that outcome appears far from certain.

The same could be said for Kash Patel, Trump’s choice to lead the FBI. Going into his hearing, Patel had the reputation of a hard and fast supporter of the president whom many believed—and not without cause—would be willing to use his office to go after those who had opposed the president in the past. But while that outcome is still possible should Patel be confirmed, his time before the committee argued against that notion.

Patel was more than willing to match the confrontational tone of the senators who opposed his nomination, but he also argued that many of the comments that had stoked fears were taken out of context or misunderstood. Listening to him offer those arguments, the truth is likely somewhere in the middle. Important context was missing from what the senators quoted, but that context would not completely absolve Patel of the accusations levied against him.

Still, Patel appears to have enough support among Republicans on the committee that his nomination will likely go forward without issue. However, the same cannot be said for the third of Trump’s controversial selections to appear before the Senate on Thursday: Tulsi Gabbard.

What is FISA 702?

As former Democrats turned Trump supporters, Kennedy and Gabbard were always going to have the greatest difficulty among the president’s nominees in finding acceptance from Senate Republicans. However, Gabbard’s hearing for her nomination to be Director of National Intelligence was particularly interesting in that what many thought would be the most contentious issue—her past stance on FISA Section 702—proved to be something of an afterthought.

As it currently stands, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) allows federal authorities to collect information and conversations without a warrant. But while the Act is ostensibly focused on foreign nationals, the basic framework often ends up capturing the private thoughts of American citizens as well. During her time in Congress, Gabbard repeatedly spoke out against the Act and even attempted to repeal it at one point.

Given that Section 702 provides much of the information with which the intelligence community makes its decisions, Gabbard’s past opposition to the Act put her at odds with those she would be charged with leading should she be confirmed as director of national intelligence. Yet, during the hearing, Gabbard repeatedly claimed that recent changes to the law have put many of those concerns to rest in her mind.

Ironically, it was the man who first revealed much of that government overreach—Edward Snowden—who may prove to be a far greater stumbling block to Gabbard’s confirmation.

Is Edward Snowden a traitor?

When pressed by both Republican and Democratic Senators to denounce Snowden as a traitor, Gabbard refused. Instead, she stated that he had “broken the law” and promised to advocate for steps to ensure that “we can prevent something like this from happening again.”

That response proved insufficient for the Senators who repeatedly pressed her to call Snowden a traitor. Such insistence seems like a strange stance to take considering Snowden has never been charged with treason. Moreover, constitutionally, treason is only possible when a person aids a country with whom Congress has declared war, which hasn’t happened since June 5, 1942.

Ultimately, Gabbard was right not to call Snowden a traitor, though it seems clear that the committee had a more nebulous understanding of treason in mind. Her choice not to do so, however, may cost her the confirmation.

Whether Gabbard’s decision not to denounce Snowden demonstrates courage and conviction or shortsighted obstinance is for each person to decide. And perhaps both can be true to some extent. Either way, though, her choice speaks to a principle that we would all do well to consider today.

Conviction or compromise? 

Some of the most influential people in the history of the church have been those willing to stand up for what they believe to be true regardless of how many people disagreed with them. From the apostle Paul to Martin Luther and a host of others, God has used that willingness to stand on an island to advance his kingdom in remarkable ways.

Of course, what God intends for good, Satan will always try to use for evil.

Many of those same people ended up driving others away or creating unnecessary conflict when they refused to prioritize common ground over relatively minor differences. In such moments, the key to knowing when to compromise and when to stand firm is letting God make that decision for you.

To be sure, there are certain truths to which the Lord has already said we must hold fast. Standing up for these core elements of the gospel with conviction will always be the right thing to do. But even then, the manner in which we share that truth will go a long way toward determining what the Lord can do through us.

For example, Satan is generally fine with us telling the truth so long as we don’t do it in love (Ephesians 4:15). Likewise, he’d surely prefer that we don’t share the gospel, but if our message is delivered with arrogance and derision rather than humility and grace then we are still likely to build barriers between the Lord and those he’s called us to reach.

While you and I are unlikely to ever stand before a congressional committee, God will make sure that all of us are given chances to stand for the gospel. So when your opportunity comes, will you be ready? Today is a great time to make sure your answer is yes.

Our latest website articles:

• The greatness and tragedy of Winston Churchill
• What to do when church members ghost your church
• “Nothing short of a nightmare”: Tragedy over the Potomac
• A TB outbreak and a more dangerous bird flu strain
• Woman still alive two months after receiving a pig kidney

Quote of the day:

“The virtue of courage is a prerequisite for the practice of all other virtues, otherwise one is virtuous only when virtue has no cost.” —C.S. Lewis

Denison Forum

Perception, reality, and transforming grace

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is President Trump’s nominee for secretary of health and human services. If approved, he will become our nation’s top health official and control a $1.7 trillion agency that oversees food and hospital inspections, hundreds of health clinics, vaccine recommendations, and health insurance for roughly half the country.

His confirmation hearing yesterday before the Senate Finance Committee was highly contentious as he faced questions from both parties regarding vaccines, Medicare and Medicaid, and abortion. His hearing before the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee is today.

Caroline Kennedy, cousin of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., wrote a letter to senators calling him a “predator” who is addicted to power. However, another cousin, Patrick J. Kennedy, wrote a letter to the editor of the Washington Post supporting his nomination.

The Gulf of Mexico or the Gulf of America?

In other news, Google announced it will change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on Google Maps following President Trump’s executive order to rename it. However, the president of Mexico says, “For us, it is still the Gulf of Mexico, and for the entire world it is still the Gulf of Mexico.”

The Associated Press will refer to the Gulf by both names. It notes that this is not unprecedented: what the US government calls the Gulf of California, Mexico recognizes as the Gulf of Cortez, so AP uses both names.

Google will also change the name of Denali to Mount McKinley. It notes that since the mountain lies solely in the US and the president has the authority to change federal geographical names within the country, they will recognize this name.

But even this issue is not fully settled: Alaska House members passed a resolution Monday urging the president not to rename the mountain, describing Denali as “a symbol of culture and a symbol of respect.”

Is the “loneliness epidemic” a myth?

Our postmodern culture is convinced that there is no such thing as objective reality, only your reality and mine. In this view, perception is reality.

Given the absolute authority of God as king and the objective truth of his revealed word, I disagree completely, of course. However, it is the case that perception can become reality if we believe the two to be the same.

For example: The US Consumer Confidence Index declined in January as consumers became less optimistic about future business and income conditions. Such pessimism may cause consumers to cut back on spending, which would further weaken the economy and become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The Atlantic recently reported on an ongoing loneliness epidemic, writing that “self-imposed solitude might just be the most important social fact of the twenty-first century.” But another Atlantic article contradicts the first. Titled “The Myth of a Loneliness Epidemic,” it notes that Americans “may not actually feel more desolate than they did in the past.”

My guess is that if you believe yourself to be lonely, you are likely to feel lonely. If you believe yourself to be loved, you are likely to feel loved.

Therein lies my point today.

“The major strategy of Satan”

In Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World, Henri J. W. Nouwen writes that you and I are God’s “Beloved” based not on our merit but on the fact that “God is a Lover.” Our Father loves us because it is his very nature to do so. He loves us right now as much as when he allowed his Son to die so we might live with him in eternity.

However, writer Neil T. Anderson warns:

The major strategy of Satan is to distort the character of God and the truth of who we are. He can’t change God and he can’t do anything to change our identity and position in Christ. If, however, he can get us to believe a lie, we will live as though our identity in Christ isn’t true.

If we can be persuaded that God does not exist, or that he is irrelevant to our daily lives, we will be closed to his transforming love. As a result, we will refuse to believe that such love exists.

And our perception becomes our reality.

In this case, since we were made in the image of the God who “is” love (Genesis 1:27; 1 John 4:8), we will seek to love and be loved in other ways. This is why the decline in religion and rise in sexual immorality across recent decades are related.

Martin Luther was right: “The sin underneath all our sins is to trust the lie of the serpent that we cannot trust the love and grace of Christ and must take matters into our own hands.” This lie explains every sin you and I commit.

The answer is to change our perception so as to change our reality. It is to see God as our loving Father, then trust him to be this in our lives. It is to believe that he answers our prayers with his best, then offer our prayers with confidence. It is to decide that his will is “good, pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2 NIV), then obey it with gratitude.

When we do, our perception becomes our reality.

“Like discovering a well in the desert”

Henri Nouwen assured us:

Every time you listen with great attentiveness to the voice that calls you the Beloved, you will discover within yourself a desire to hear that voice longer and more deeply. It is like discovering a well in the desert. Once you have touched wet ground, you want to dig deeper.

Will you listen to “the voice that calls you the Beloved” today?

(For more on our theme, please see my recent website article, “Court rules that elephants are not persons: A reflection on your deepest purpose and highest joy.”)

Our latest website articles:

• “A TB outbreak and a more dangerous bird flu strain: How God redeems death for an even greater good”
• “Woman still alive two months after receiving a pig kidney: ‘It’s like a new beginning’”

• “Why did Emilia Peréz actually receive 13 Oscar nominations? What the film about a transgender cartel leader could reveal about our culture”
• “Did China damage Taiwan’s internet service? Undersea cables and gray zone conflict”
• “Four reflections on Bishop Budde’s message to Donald Trump”

Quote for the day:

“Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the ‘Beloved.’ Being the Beloved constitutes the core truth of our existence.” —Henry J. M. Nouwen

Denison Forum