This Washington Post article caught my eye: “I’m not passing my parents’ religion on to my kids, but I am teaching their values.”

The author is Jared Bilski, a writer and comedian based in Pennsylvania. He tells of growing up in the Catholic church, attending Catholic school from kindergarten through high school, and serving as an altar boy and a church reader. He says he “even strongly considered going into the priesthood.”

However, Bilski writes, “I lost faith in my faith. There were too many unanswered questions, too many problematic absolutes, too much fearmongering and way too much hypocrisy. For a religion that placed such a premium on loving thy neighbor, it sure had a lot of restrictions on whom you were allowed to love.”

The clergy-abuse scandal was the last straw. When it broke, Bilski says, “I knew I’d never return.”

However, he wants his two children to have “a solid understanding of all religions” and “respect for what others believe.” He explains: “After all, the Golden Rule is something that should be instilled in all children, regardless of their religion or lack thereof.”

As a result, Bilski and his wife intend to “expose our children to everything, spiritually speaking, to honestly answer any questions they may have about God and religion, and to let them choose for themselves.”

Continue reading Denison Forum – Washington Post writer leaves the faith, speaks for millions: 4 responses →

Adrian Salgado is a gardener in Santa Ana, California, a suburb of Los Angeles.

When thieves stole his truck, cell phone, landscaping equipment, and a thousand dollars in rent money, he lost his only means of supporting himself and his family. With the money gone, he had no way to replace his tools.

Police were able to recover Salgado’s truck, but his equipment—including a lawnmower, edger, hand tools, and leaf blower—was gone.

The police officers felt they had to do something to help. They pooled their resources, obtained money from their police association, and went shopping. Home Depot chipped in another hundred dollars and offered military discounts to the officers who serve as reservists.

The police officers gave the new tools to Salgado, who immediately went back to work. One officer said, “I’ve been doing this job for twenty-seven years. Every so often it’s a good day. That was a good day.”

Does God understand?

It is gratifying to see police officers caring so personally for those they serve. In our broken world, there are times when we may wonder if God feels the same way about us.

Over the weekend, a teenager was fatally shot after knocking on the wrong door in Atlanta. A father of four is on life support after a fight with another man in the parking lot at Dodger Stadium left him with a fractured skull. A South Carolina student got into a car, erroneously thinking it was her Uber ride and was later found dead. The driver has been arrested on charges of murder and kidnapping.

Each day’s news gives us reason to question whether the Creator cares what happens to his creation. For assurance that he does, let’s explore a question many of us may not have asked before.

Why was Jesus born?

If I asked you why Jesus came to the earth, you’d say: to die for our sins.

You’d be right, of course.

But what would you say if I asked you why he had to be born to die?

We know that his virgin birth in Bethlehem fulfilled prophecy (cf. Micah 5:2; Isaiah 7:14). But why did God make these predictions?

If Jesus’ only purpose in coming was to die, why couldn’t he appear as an adult and immediately die on the cross for our sins?

We know that Jesus’ earthly ministry included healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and raising the dead. It initiated the apostolic movement that carried the gospel forward to the “ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

Jesus’ incarnation also caused him to experience hunger in the desert (Matthew 4:2), thirst on the cross (John 19:28), weariness at Jacob’s well (John 4:6), and grief at Lazarus’ tomb (John 11:35). He was tempted in the wilderness and beyond. As a result, we know that “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

But here’s a further question: Did Jesus have to go through his incarnation to understand the human condition?

What did God learn about us?

Are we saying that the omniscient Lord did not know as much about us before Christmas as he did after Easter? That the Father does not understand us as well as the Son? That the God of the Old Testament does not know us as well as the God of the New Testament?

Remember that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). His Father says of himself, “I the Lord do not change” (Malachi 3:6). The immutability of God is a fact woven all through Scripture.

As is the omniscience of God. He knows “the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done” (Isaiah 46:10). Jesus is “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Hebrews 1:3) so that the Son does not know anything the Father does not know.

What did we learn about God?

All this to say, God did not learn something about us because of the incarnation. But we learned something about him.

Max Lucado: “Why did God leave us one tale after another of wounded lives being restored? It isn’t to tell us what Jesus did. It’s to tell us what Jesus does.” It’s to prove to us that the sovereign God of the universe understands what it is to hunger, thirst, grow weary, suffer grief, and face temptation.

To repeat Hebrews 4:15, we know that “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Here’s the consequence: “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (v. 16).

What will you bring to God?

The gospel is relevant to our post-Christian, secularist, relativistic culture because Jesus is relevant to our post-Christian, secularist, relativistic culture. In all of human history, no one else has proven so fully his solidarity with the human race. No one else has proven so powerfully his understanding of our condition and compassion for our needs.

This is why you and I must share his grace in our love and speak his truth to our times. We represent the only One who meets every need of every person we know.

And it’s why we must resist the self-reliance of our culture by coming to Jesus with our needs and challenges, questions and struggles. When we do, we will “receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Every time.

What do you need to bring to the throne of grace today?

Denison Forum

If you’re like most of us, you’d rather not read another article about abortion this morning.

The subject is divisive, the debate vitriolic. If you haven’t had an abortion, if you don’t love someone who has, or if you’re not considering an abortion personally, it can be tempting to ignore the issue.

Then comes a movie that changes everything.

Startling abortion statistics

Unplanned is being released today. My wife and I were invited to attend an advance screening of the film a few weeks ago. It makes the issue of abortion so real and relevant that everyone should see the film.

Here’s what I mean.

According to Planned Parenthood, one in four American women will have an abortion by the age of forty-five. How many actual women is this?

Here are my calculations:

• The Census Bureau reports that 77.4 percent of the American population is over the age of eighteen, which equates to 253,252,800 people.
• 50.8 percent of this population is female, which equates to 128,652,422 people.
• According to the Kaiser Foundation, 34 percent of this population is between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, which equates to 43,741,823 people.
• One-fourth of this population (the number who have had abortions, according to Planned Parenthood), is 10,935,455 women.

In other words, only 8.5 percent of the American female adult population and 4.3 percent of the entire American adult population has personally experienced an abortion.

Continue reading Denison Forum – ‘Unplanned’: A movie about abortion that changes everything →

When you’re in London, Düsseldorf, Germany, is 357 miles to the east. Edinburgh, Scotland, is 403 miles to the north. If you’re flying to Düsseldorf, you’d not expect your airplane to land in Edinburgh.

But that’s just what happened Monday.

The aviation company operating British Airways Flight 3271 filed the wrong flight plan, sending the jet to Edinburgh. The pilots, cabin crew, and air traffic controllers thus assumed the plane was supposed to go to Scotland.

When they landed, confusion ensued. Flight attendants asked for a show of hands of passengers who thought they were traveling to Düsseldorf. When every hand went up, they realized that every passenger was now in the wrong place.

We can be both sincere and wrong

There are many ways to be sincerely wrong today.

Same-sex marriage supporters are convinced that biblical, moral, or religious liberty objections are irrelevant or wrong. The same is true with abortion advocates. Their claims seem simple and persuasive: “Everyone should be able to love who they love,” “A woman is the best person to decide what to do with her own body,” and so on.

But as British Airways proved, it’s possible to be both sincere and wrong. Another topic making today’s news illustrates the same point.

Underwater hotels and restaurants are being built for the ultra-wealthy. One submerged hotel offers an underwater villa for $50,000 a night. “Billionaire bunkers” are being constructed around the world, enabling the wealthy to survive nuclear attacks and other catastrophes.

But all is not well on the wealth frontier.

As Bloomberg reports, deceptive billing for private and corporate jet users is escalating. The Department of Education has opened a probe into the $25 million college admissions cheating scandal in which fifty people were criminally charged. And the ex-wife of a man who won a $273 million jackpot does not want him back, telling reporters: “I have morals.”

Another story on our theme is being reported by the New York Times: “Human Contact Is Now a Luxury Good.” The wealthy are discovering that human engagement is vital to their well-being. They are spending on experiences such as luxury travel and dining rather than technology and other goods.

Clearly, possessions cannot produce happiness, even when we sincerely think they will.

Three dead ends to avoid

No one thinks in a vacuum.

You and I inherited our Western culture from the Greeks and Romans. Centuries before Christ, their worldview divided the soul from the body, determining that the former is positive while the latter is evil. This belief led centuries of Christians to venerate monastic withdrawal from the world as the highest form of spirituality.

A second version of cultural engagement we inherited from our cultural ancestors splits religion from the “real world.” As we noted yesterday, transactional religion teaches us to placate the gods so they will do what we want. “Go to church on Sunday so God will bless you on Monday” is the formula today. We are therefore told to live in two worlds: the religious and the secular, valuing each as we wish.

A third view is rising quickly in our culture: there is no soul or supernatural reality, so we are free to focus on the material. According to a new survey, 23.1 percent of the American population has “no religion,” slightly more than Catholics (23 percent) and evangelicals (22.5 percent).

Withdrawing from the culture, separating faith from life, or ignoring the supernatural—none of these is the way God intends us to relate to our world.

“The righteous will flourish like a green leaf”

I am studying Proverbs these days and found chapter 11 especially relevant to today’s conversation. Solomon, one of the wealthiest men of all time, warned us: “Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death” (v. 4). He added: “Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf” (v. 28).

If we are not to trust in material wealth, how are we to relate to the material world?

• We are to be righteous so that God can bless the fallen culture through us: “By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown” (v. 11).
• We are to offer biblical wisdom to others: “Where there is no guidance, a people falls” (v. 14).
• We are to be generous with all: “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want” (v. 24).

In short, we are to use the material for the spiritual, the temporal for the eternal.

Those we know who do not know Jesus may well be sincere in their unbiblical beliefs, from denying God’s existence to rejecting Jesus’ divinity to questioning the truth or relevance of Scripture. The fact that they are sincerely wrong means they don’t know how wrong they are.

And it means they need our witness and ministry much more than they think they do.

Torn up Bibles and lost souls

Ben Malcolmson played on the 2006 University of Southern California football team that won the Rose Bowl. He told Fox News yesterday, “From the moment I made the team, I knew God had a purpose for me there. I started pressing into that mission from day one.”

But he didn’t know how hard it would be to help his teammates meet his Lord.

He started a Bible study, but no one came. He began a prayer group, but no one joined him. He then placed Bibles at each of his teammates’ lockers on Christmas Eve, days before the team was to play in the Rose Bowl. When he returned to the locker room two days later, he found the Bibles torn up and shredded.

“It was the culmination of a season full of discouragement,” he said.

Nearly four years later, working as an assistant to Coach Pete Carroll of the Seattle Seahawks, an old friend connected with Malcolmson. He told him that one of the Bibles he gave his fellow players had been picked up and read by a teammate who accepted Christ three days before passing away.

Malcolmson concluded, “Even when I couldn’t see [God’s] hand in the moment, he truly was at work all along.”

How will you follow his example today?

Denison Forum

Following a day of relative calm, the Israeli military carried out a series of strikes on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip overnight. According to the army, the strikes were in response to incendiary balloons and rockets fired earlier toward Israel by Hamas.

In other news, police say fifty-nine gravestones at a Jewish cemetery in Massachusetts were defaced with anti-Semitic graffiti. Two of the gravestones had been knocked over. The stones were desecrated with swastikas and phrases including “Hitler was right.”

According to experts, America is experiencing a resurgence of anti-Semitism that is unprecedented in the last half-century. Anti-Semitism is also rising sharply across Europe: France reported a 74 percent increase in the number of offenses against Jews, while the number in Germany surged by more than 60 percent.

As I noted yesterday, discrimination is also escalating in America against those who affirm biblical morality. We are certainly not facing aggression on a level experienced by Jews around the world, but Jesus’ prediction for his followers is nonetheless true for us: “The world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (John 17:14).

It would be easy to abandon hope for our culture. But it’s always too soon to give up on the future because it’s always too soon to give up on God.

“Let this cup pass from me”

I led a study tour of Israel last week. On Thursday, our group spent a very moving hour in the Garden of Gethsemane. I read from Matthew 26, where Jesus pled with his Father, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me” (v. 39).

Why did our Savior seek so fervently to avoid the “cup” that awaited him?

Continue reading Denison Forum – Conflict in Israel and a Jewish cemetery desecrated in Massachusetts: Why should we have hope for our culture? →

The San Antonio City Council recently voted 6–4 to prevent Chick-fil-A from opening a restaurant at the city’s airport.

Councilman Robert Trevino, who made the motion to exclude the restaurant, stated: “With this decision, the City Council reaffirmed the work our city has done to become a champion of equality and inclusion. San Antonio is a city full of compassion, and we do not have room in our public facilities for a business with a legacy of anti-LGBTQ behavior.”

Chick-fil-A responded: “The press release issued by the councilmember was the first we heard of his motion and its approval by the San Antonio City Council. We wish we had the opportunity to clarify misperceptions about our company prior to the vote. We agree with the councilmember that everyone should feel welcome at Chick-fil-A.”

The statement added, “In fact, we have welcomed everyone in San Antonio into our 32 local stores for more than 40 years.”

“Everyone has a place here”

This is not the first time the Cathy family’s commitment to biblical morality has cost them business.

Continue reading Denison Forum – San Antonio city council bans Chick-fil-A from airport →

While I was flying home from Israel yesterday, US Attorney General William Barr released his summary of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller’s two-year-long investigation into President Trump and his aides.

The summary addressed the question America has been asking for the last 676 days: Did the president, or anyone working for him, conspire with Russia to influence the 2016 election in his favor? Further, did he or those working on his behalf attempt to obstruct federal investigations into this matter?

The significance of the Mueller report is enormous. If the special counsel determined that such collusion or obstruction took place, the ramifications for our democracy would be foundational and tragic.

What the report tells us

Mr. Mueller’s report was presented to the US attorney general, who in turn issued his summary. He noted that the special counsel employed nineteen lawyers who were assisted by approximately forty FBI agents, intelligence analysts, forensic accountants, and other professional staff. The special counsel issued more than 2,800 subpoenas, executed nearly five hundred search warrants, and interviewed approximately five hundred witnesses.

The special counsel’s investigation determined that a Russian organization known as the Internet Research Agency attempted to conduct disinformation and social media operations in the US “with the aim of interfering with the election.”

It also found that “Russian government actors successfully hacked into computers and obtained emails from persons affiliated with the Clinton campaign and Democratic Party organizations, and publicly disseminated those materials through various intermediaries.”

However, Mr. Mueller “did not find that the Trump campaign, or anyone associated with it, conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in these efforts, despite multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign.”

With regard to obstructing the investigation, the special counsel “did not draw a conclusion—one way or the other—as to whether the examined conduct constituted obstruction.” Instead, Mr. Mueller sets out evidence on both sides of the question and states that “while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”

This decision “leaves it to the Attorney General to determine whether the conduct described in the report constitutes a crime.” Attorney General Barr, in consultation with other officials, determined that “the evidence developed during the Special Counsel’s investigation is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.”

A threat that should concern every American

The essence of fallen human nature is the enthronement of self. It is seeking what is best for me at the expense of what is best for you.

Russian actors obviously felt it was in their personal and/or national best interests to interfere in our democratic process. Last year, the Mueller investigation charged twenty-five Russian intelligence operatives and social media manipulation experts. The final report makes clear their intent to influence the 2016 election.

This is a threat that should concern every American. Our right and ability to elect our leaders is foundational to our democracy. If foreign countries and actors can influence our votes and elections, our democracy is imperiled.

Closer to home, the responses we are seeing to Mr. Barr’s report are predictably partisan.

Republican leaders are claiming total vindication for the president. Congressional Democrats are calling for the attorney general to turn over all files related to the investigation; a co-founder of a Democratic support organization wrote on Twitter that Mr. Barr’s summary “is pure propaganda.”

It is unlikely that the Mueller report will change many minds. As the New York Times notes, “Opinions have hardened over time, with many Americans already convinced they knew the answers before Mr. Mueller submitted his conclusions.”

Three biblical responses

As Christians respond to this controversial issue, it is vital that we resist the temptation to put our political beliefs ahead of our public witness.

The special counsel’s report could help or hinder the spread of God’s kingdom in a variety of ways, but few of them relate directly to the president, Congress, or Russia. God’s plans for our country already took into account the findings of the report. He knew the truth long before Mr. Mueller did, and he knows what will continue to come from the proceedings.

Our Father is now calling on his children to reflect his character. Whether you are a supporter or a critic of the president and his administration, it is vital that you respond in ways that glorify our Lord and draw people to him.

Scripture prescribes three priorities in this regard.

One: We should respect the authority of the offices our leaders hold.

Paul’s injunction was clear: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God” (Romans 13:1). Do your words regarding the president and other elected leaders respect their offices and authority?

Two: We should pray for our leaders.

Paul instructed us: “I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions” (1 Timothy 2:1–2).

When last did you pray for our president and other leaders?

Three: We should hold our leaders accountable to biblical character.

Jesus told his apostles, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all” (Mark 9:35). After washing his disciples’ feet, our Lord taught them, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14).

Are you praying for our leaders to be biblical servants?

Are you modeling such behavior for our culture?

As I often note, winning arguments is less important than winning souls. Frederick Faber was right: “Kindness has converted more sinners than zeal, eloquence, or learning.” As a result, in a culture so riven with partisan vitriol, the words of seventeenth-century English churchman Thomas Fuller are remarkably relevant: “Kindness is the noblest weapon to conquer with.”

How will you use it today?

Denison Forum

President Trump endorsed Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights yesterday, marking what the Wall Street Journal calls a “sharp U.S. policy shift.” The move came during US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to Israel and before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the White House next week.

Why does the region known as the “Golan Heights” matter to Israel and to the world?

An area twice the size of Dallas

The Golan Heights is an elongated, elevated area approximately forty miles long and twelve miles wide. It comprises 690 square miles (about twice the size of Dallas, Texas). The Golan (as it is known) borders Israel and the Sea of Galilee to the west, Syria to the east, Jordan to the south, and Lebanon to the north.

I have visited the area many times over the last twenty-five years. It is a spectacularly beautiful region dominated by hills and valleys. It is also one of the most strategic military areas in the world.

The Golan was part of Syria until the Six-Day War (June 5–10, 1967) between Israel and Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq. During the war, Israel gained control of the Golan and soon began settlements there. In the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Syrian forces overran the southern Golan in a surprise offensive before they were expelled by an Israeli counteroffensive.

Israel and Syria signed a ceasefire in 1974 that left most of the Golan in Israel’s control. In 1981, Israel passed the Golan Heights Law that effectively annexed the territory. The international community rejects Israel’s claim to the region, recognizing it as Syrian territory.

Prime Minister Netanyahu, who has long claimed that Israel must control the Golan to protect its national security, hailed Mr. Trump’s move. Critics say the president’s announcement will jeopardize peace efforts in the region and violates a UN resolution that rules out acquiring territory by war.

Three millennia of conflicted history

I have been leading a study tour to the Holy Land this week. Each time I come to Israel, I am impressed again by the courage of her people amid this chaotic region.

Continue reading Denison Forum – President Trump endorses Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights →

A gigantic meteor exploded over our planet last December. The blast generated energy equivalent to 173 kilotons of TNT, ten times the energy produced by the atomic bomb used in Hiroshima in 1945.

Why are we only now hearing about this? The explosion was over the Bering Sea, a remote location in the middle of the ocean.

Closer to home, a Harvard-led study has found that people who drink two or more sugar-sweetened beverages a day have a 31 percent higher risk of early death from cardiovascular disease. Each additional soda or sports drink increases the risk by 10 percent.

In other health news, daily marijuana use has been linked to an increased risk of developing psychosis. People who used any type of cannabis on a daily basis were three times more likely to have a diagnosis of a new episode of psychosis. The risk increased to five times for daily use of high potency cannabis.

From the cyclone in Mozambique that killed hundreds, to the dangerous storms threatening the Northeast today, to reports that the New Zealand terror suspect planned a third attack before he was apprehended, each day’s news reminds us that we are mortal.

But we are immortal as well.

I have often quoted C. S. Lewis’s profound observation: “You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.”

An altar seven hundred years older than Abraham

The intersection of our finitude and our immortality powerfully impressed me yesterday as our Israel study group visited the ancient fortress of Megiddo. A Canaanite altar here dates to 2700 BC—seven hundred years older than Abraham.

Continue reading Denison Forum – A giant meteor explosion and the dangers of sugary drinks and cannabis: We are mortal and immortal →

There’s a reason you can’t name the person who recently won the largest Mega Millions jackpot in US history: she doesn’t want you to.

A South Carolina woman won $1.5 billion last October. However, she did not claim her winnings until March 4. She spent that time researching professionals to help her preserve her anonymity and manage her new fortune. She has decided to keep her identity private for her personal safety.

While she is not revealing her name, we do know what she is doing with her winnings. She donated to the Alabama Red Cross to aid tornado relief; the Ronald McDonald House of Charities of Columbia, South Carolina; In The Middle, a charity that helps women with breast cancer; the City of Simpsonville Art Center; and the One SC Fund for Hurricane Florence relief.

She has not released the amount of her gifts. The only reason she made public the charities she is supporting is to raise awareness for their work. She said recently through her lawyer, “I do realize that such good fortune carries a tremendous social responsibility, and it gives me a unique opportunity to assist, support and contribute to charities and causes that are close to my heart.”

“All of us are here just to be alongside you”

After a gunman killed eleven worshippers at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue last October, Muslim communities around the world held vigils to show their support and raised more than $1.4 million for the survivors.

Now, Jewish communities are reciprocating as Muslims grieve following the deadliest shooting in New Zealand’s history. Fifty Muslims were left dead at two mosques in Christchurch last Friday. In response, Jewish leaders are raising donations for the New Zealand Attack Emergency Relief Fund.

Continue reading Denison Forum – What is an anonymous $1.5 billion lottery winner doing with her money? →

A goat named Lincoln was recently sworn in as honorary mayor of Fair Haven, Vermont.

The town’s government does not include an actual mayor. The Town Manager says the honorary pet mayor idea was conceived to raise funds for a playground, but it became a civics lesson for kids.

On his way out of the town offices, the new mayor defecated on the floor, leaving the cleanup to the police chief and city officials.

In other news from nature, tomorrow we will be treated to a “full worm supermoon.” We understand a “full” moon. Most of us are even familiar with a “supermoon,” where the moon is so close to the earth that it appears larger and brighter in the night sky.

But why a “full worm supermoon”?

According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, Native Americans gave the full moons of the year specific names to track the seasons. The March full moon was called the “full worm moon” because it comes at a time when the ground softens and earthworms begin appearing. They bring robins and other birds to feed, marking the start of spring.

Humans can give names to natural and celestial phenomena, but, as the mayor of Fair Haven reminds us, we cannot always control them.

Greetings from Israel

I am writing this morning from the Sea of Galilee in Israel. Leading study tours to the Holy Land is one of my favorite experiences each year. My wife and I traveled from Dallas through London into Tel Aviv over the weekend to join our group.

A few days earlier, rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel. A Palestinian is suspected in the killing of two Israelis in the West Bank last Sunday.

Continue reading Denison Forum – A goat who became mayor and the full worm supermoon: The eternal purpose of this life →

There is good news in the bad news making news today.

First, the bad news: Large parts of Nebraska and the US Central Plains were underwater over the weekend after a late-winter “bomb cyclone” storm triggered historic flooding. Forecasters warn that more rain is coming tomorrow.

A farmer named James Wilke got a call to assist a stranger during the storm and drove his tractor over a bridge that collapsed. Wilke and his tractor went into the floodwater; he did not survive.

Meanwhile, last week’s shooting in New Zealand continues to dominate headlines as authorities rush to identify the fifty victims and the prime minister promises changes to gun laws. And ceremonies were held in Kenya and Ethiopia for the 157 victims of last week’s Ethiopian Airlines plane crash.

While man-made tragedies deservedly generate headlines and global sympathy, natural disasters affect millions across the country. The global annual death rate from natural disasters has fallen significantly over the years, but such tragedies affect 218 million people each year and claim 68,000 lives.

However, there is a principle here that promises to liberate us with hope that transcends all hardships.

Theology from a crocodile

The book of Job is not usually considered an uplifting work of literature. Much of it is dominated by Job’s understandable complaints to God about the horrific suffering he endured.

Toward the end of the book, the Lord answers him—not by explaining Job’s pain, but by declaring his own omnipotence and omniscience.

For instance, God asks Job, “Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook or press down his tongue with a cord?” (Job 41:1). Most scholars believe that “Leviathan” in this context is a giant crocodile.

The creature’s creator warns Job: “Lay your hands on him; remember the battle—you will not do it again!” (v. 8). By comparison to this mighty beast, “The hope of a man is false; he is laid low even at the sight of him” (v. 9).

This is just one illustration of our frailty and finitude in the face of God’s creation. There are more examples everywhere we look. As the Lord reminds Job and us, “Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine” (v. 11).

When last were you awed by God?

Here’s my question: If we fear creation (and we should), should we not fear its Creator even more?

Proverbs 1:7 declares, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” “Fear” is our healthy response to the awesome power and might of the one true God.

When Ananias lied to God and died as a result, “great fear came upon all who heard of it” (Acts 5:5). The early church walked “in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit” and “multiplied” as a result (Acts 9:31). By contrast, Scripture says of sinners, “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:18, quoting Psalm 36:1).

Across Scripture, whenever people knew they were in the presence of the one true God, their response was one of awe and reverence.

When Isaiah “saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up,” he cried, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:1, 5).

When Peter realized our Savior’s divine power, “he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord’” (Luke 5:8). John testified that when he met the risen Christ on Patmos, “I fell at his feet as though dead” (Revelation 1:17).

When last were you awed by God?

When we trust God with our fears

What is the most fearsome natural threat you can imagine?

It might be a hurricane or a tornado, a roaring lion or an attacking shark. Now realize that the God who made what makes you afraid is infinitesimally more powerful than his most powerful creation.

When we give him the awe and reverence he deserves, we position ourselves to experience his presence and power in life-changing ways. When we acknowledge that God is more powerful than the most powerful threat in nature, we are also acknowledging that our Father is more powerful than anything that can harm us.

Indeed, he is not only all-powerful—he is all-loving as well. As a result, “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37). Say it with Paul: “I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (vv. 38–39).

When we trust him with our fears, our fearful culture pays attention. When we serve him out of selfless gratitude for his grace, our self-centered society takes note.

A record crowdfunding campaign

Dallas Jenkins is director of The Chosen, the first multi-season television series about the life of Christ. Jenkins says the idea behind the series came after “a significant career disappointment. My previous film had done poorly at the box office, and I was uncertain of my future.”

So, Jenkins decided to create a short film about the birth of Christ “just intended for my church’s Christmas Eve service.” The response was so strong that he decided to make an entire television series about the life of Jesus through the eyes of those who encountered him.

However, his team needed funding for the project. They decided to let the body of Christ help. Roughly 16,000 people around the world responded, giving more than $10 million—a record-setting campaign.

Jenkins trusted his fear to God’s power for God’s glory. Job would encourage us to do the same.

Who or what is your Leviathan today?

Denison Forum

Forty-nine people were killed in shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, this morning. Twenty more were seriously wounded.

Four people, including three men and one woman, have been taken into custody. One man in his late twenties has been charged with murder. He reportedly posted a white-nationalist manifesto on Twitter.

This tragedy was the largest massacre in New Zealand history. It reminds us that Satan “comes to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10). God is weeping with those who weep today and calls us to join him (Romans 12:15).

In other news, Israeli warplanes struck some one hundred Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip overnight, responding to a rocket attack on the Israeli metropolis of Tel Aviv. The fighting broke out as Egyptian mediators were in Gaza working to broker an expanded cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

In a world filled with violence and chaos, we can learn a redemptive lesson from an unlikely source.

“The Ides of March are come”

Today is known as the “Ides of March.” In the Roman world, the “Ides” was the midpoint of their months. The date we know as March 15 was marked by several religious ceremonies and was a Roman deadline for settling debts.

This day is especially known to history as the day Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC. The back story is remarkable.

According to the Roman biographer Plutarch (died AD 119), “A certain seer warned Caesar to be on his guard against a great peril on the day of the month of March which the Romans call the Ides; and when the day had come and Caesar was on his way to the senate-house, he greeted the seer with a jest and said: ‘Well, the Ides of March are come,’ and the seer said to him softly: ‘Ay, they are come, but they are not gone.’”

Later that day, Caesar was stabbed to death by as many as sixty conspirators led by Brutus and Cassius.

Most people know the story of his death. But why was Caesar murdered on this day?

And why is his death relevant to our broken world today?

An assassination and stray cats

The Roman Republic was founded in 509 BC. Governed by leaders elected by the people, their representative model influenced the founders of the American republic. Over time, however, the aristocratic leaders of the Republic became less focused on the people and more concerned for their own power and agendas.

Julius Caesar (100–44 BC) rose to power as an accomplished military conqueror. With chaos in Rome, Caesar led his army south across the Rubicon, the northern barrier of Italy, on January 10, 49 BC. By 45 BC, he had become the sole dictator of Rome.

Brutus, Cassius, and the senators who conspired to execute Caesar claimed they were liberating the people from dictatorship. He was killed in a place known as Pompey’s Theater.

The area fell into ruins over the centuries and is currently fenced off from the public and occupied by stray cats. However, the mayor of Rome announced last week that the site will undergo renovation and be opened to the public in 2021.

“We are all slaves of the laws”

What can we learn from the Ides of March?

Mortal Republic: How Rome Fell into Tyranny is a new history of the fall of the Roman Republic. Its author, Edward J. Watts, earned his PhD in history from Yale and has received numerous awards for his research and writing.

He notes that “the men who led the Republic in the third century [before Christ] also understood that their personal achievements had meaning only when they served the larger goals of Roman policy.” There was “a shared understanding that the Republic was a political system subject to no one but the community as a whole.”

To illustrate, Watts cites the famous statement by Cicero: “We are all slaves of the laws so that we might be free.”

Over time, however, Roman political life devolved into “a struggle among individuals seeking honor and power through the complete control of the city and the resources of the empire.” Eventually, Romans would have “a new sort of liberty . . . Freedom from fear, freedom from famine, and freedom from danger now all came from [Emperor] Augustus and Augustus alone.”

When churches and Christians plateau

When the Roman Republic became a means to the end of personal advancement for its leaders, its decline began. The same can happen to us.

When churches are started, they must focus on evangelism and ministry to their communities in order to grow. After a few years, many have gained so many members that some begin focusing on what the church can do for them.

Parents want better programs for their children; adults want programming focused on their needs. The church stops focusing externally on those it is called to reach and starts focusing internally on itself. And it plateaus and often declines.

The same can happen to individual Christians when we focus more on what Jesus can do for us than what we can do for him. We come to church and to God for what we can receive. And we stop fulfilling the Commission to which we are called.

How to experience the joy of Jesus

The good news is that what happened to Rome doesn’t have to happen to us. Churches can renew their commitment to serve the community they are commissioned to reach. Christians can renew our commitment to the One who came not to be served but to serve (Mark 10:45).

Every day, we must decide whether we will live for Jesus or for ourselves (Romans 12:1–2). The tragedies that fill each day’s news show us that this decision is urgent for us and for the broken world we are called to serve.

Here’s the paradox: when we serve God and others, we find a greater significance than we can ever experience by serving ourselves. The disciples received power from the Spirit so they could be witnesses for our Lord (Acts 1:8). When we share the joy of Jesus, we experience the joy of Jesus. When we bless others, we are blessed.

In terms of the Ides of March, we can be an Empire or we can be a Republic, but we cannot be both.

Which do you choose today?

Denison Forum

Felicity Huffman is an Emmy winner and Oscar-nominated actress who is best known for her role in Desperate Housewives. She is also married to acclaimed actor William H. Macy.

Lori Loughlin has been known to most Americans as “Aunt Becky,” the wholesome maternal influence on ABC’s Full House. She has also starred in numerous Hallmark movies.

On Tuesday, as the Washington Post reports, “both actresses had their reputations shattered as they were charged with fraud and conspiracy.”

Their stories will forever be linked to a scandal that has made global headlines this week.

“Operation Varsity Blues”

Huffman was reportedly met by FBI agents with their guns drawn Tuesday morning at her Los Angeles home. She was later released on a $250,000 bond. She allegedly paid $15,000 disguised as a charitable donation so her daughter could participate in a college entrance-exam cheating scam.

According to the FBI, Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer J. Mossimo Giannulli, paid bribes totaling $500,000 “in exchange for having their two daughters designated as recruits to the USC crew team—despite the fact that they did not participate in crew—thereby facilitating their admission to USC.” Giannulli was released on a $1 million bond; Loughlin surrendered to authorities yesterday and was released on a $1 million bond as well.

Continue reading Denison Forum – The college scam, Felicity Huffman, and Lori Loughlin: Two biblical responses →

I don’t know what you did last night, but I’ll bet it wasn’t more significant than the way Belinda George spent her evening.

Dr. George is the first-year principal of Homer Drive Elementary School in Beaumont, Texas. Her students’ reading scores last year were low, so she launched “Tucked-in Tuesdays” in December.

She dresses in costumes, from a onesie with a unicorn head to a Cookie Monster outfit to pajamas covered with pink hearts. When her students log on to their school’s Facebook page, she reads books to them over her iPhone. She acts out the stories as the kids type in questions.

Dr. George grew up with five sisters in a three-bedroom trailer. Her father never learned to read. She learned her love of reading from her school librarian in Louisiana. Now she is paying it forward.

3-D printed houses and robot-delivered meals

Technology affects every dimension of our lives today, from the airplanes we ride to the cars we drive, the homes we inhabit, the food we eat, and the air we breathe. The innovations of our day can be a force for tremendous good, as Dr. George’s Facebook Live reading sessions show.

Other examples: A Texas company says it has developed a way to build homes in just a few days using 3-D printing, saving 30 percent off total construction costs. Companies are testing automated cooler-sized robots that can deliver food to any address.

Technology is also helping police with crimes that have been unsolved for years, if not decades. One genealogist has predicted that suspects in hundreds of unsolved murders and rapes will be identified using public DNA databases in the near future. Last week, for instance, DNA and genetic genealogy helped police find a woman who left her newborn baby to die thirty-eight years ago.

Selfie-taker attacked by a jaguar

Continue reading Denison Forum – A principal reads to her students on Facebook Live: How technology can and can’t improve our lives →

“When I arrived, boarding was closed and I watched the last passengers in (the) tunnel go in. I screamed to put me in but they didn’t allow it.”

This is how a Greek passenger named Antonis Mavropoulos described his attempt to board Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 last Sunday morning.

He was not allowed to board the next flight to Nairobi after the airline lost contact with the flight he was supposed to take. He says that a security staff member “told me gently not to protest and say thank you to God, because I am the only passenger who did not enter the flight.”

Antonis Mavropoulos has abundant reason to “say thank you to God” today. What about those who lost someone on the airplane he tried to board?

The 157 victims of Flight 302 were a small percentage of the 153,424 people who die every day around the world. But the sudden shock of their deaths made their loss especially tragic.

Is the Christian faith truly relevant at a time like this?

Is God a clockmaker?

One of the finest pastors in America, a dear friend of mine, lost his oldest son recently. As the father of two and grandfather of four, I cannot begin to imagine his pain. Or that of the families grieving over the Ethiopian airline tragedy.

Continue reading Denison Forum – The man who was not allowed to board Flight 302: “Say thank you to God” →

Hunter Wallace is a wrestler at Northwest High School in Justin, a suburb of Fort Worth, Texas. He didn’t win a single match this year, but he is the captain of his team. His coach explains why: “Hunter’s one of those kids that leads by example. He’s always positive. I’ve never heard the kid complain.”

Hunter also has cerebral palsy.

As the reporter who told his story says, Hunter has “an upper body built like an ox, but wobbly legs.” Nonetheless, he wanted to do squats to get stronger. A video of his workout went viral.

Hunter explains: “You got the right mentality, heart, and God in front of you, nothing will stop you. You just gotta push through it.” He adds: “I’m just like a normal person. God made me who I am.”

“Enemy-occupied territory”

Affliction finds us all.

World leaders and citizens from more than thirty countries are mourning the loss of 157 people who died when their Ethiopian Airlines jet crashed yesterday morning. The victims included at least thirty-two Kenyans, eighteen Canadians, nine each from Ethiopia and France, eight each from the US, China, and Italy, and seven from the UK.

Meanwhile, the Islamic State is losing its last territorial foothold, but terrorism experts believe that jihadis will continue their activities around the world. In related news, the Wall Street Journal reports that Osama bin Laden’s son, Hamza, is an emerging leader in al Qaeda. According to the State Department, he has been calling on followers to carry out attacks on the US and has been declared a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.

1. S. Lewis explained the reason for the adversity we face every day: “This is a civil war, a rebellion, and . . . we are living in a part of the universe occupied by the rebel. Enemy-occupied territory—that is what this world is.”

The good news is that, like Hunter Wallace, when we trust God in our afflictions, our rebellious world takes note.

“The waters have come up to my neck”

David was so close to God that the Lord called him “a man after my heart” (Acts 13:22). Nonetheless, he began Psalm 69 with the cry, “Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me” (vv. 1–2).

His words are in Scripture because they tell our story as well.

When we read about Joseph’s innocent suffering (Genesis 39:19–20), or Elijah’s lonely despair (1 Kings 19:4), or Hosea’s marital pain (Hosea 3:1–3), those who face similar struggles know they are not alone.

Reading through the book of Job, I was struck by this remarkable phrase: God “delivers the afflicted by their affliction” (Job 36:15). The text does not say that God delivers the afflicted “out of” their affliction, but “by” it.

Paul agreed. In Romans 8, the apostle cited grave threats facing believers: tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and sword (v. 35). Then he declared: “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (v. 37). We are conquerors in our challenges, not despite them.

One way God redeems suffering

If Hunter Wallace did not have cerebral palsy, you would probably not know his name. Without Pharaoh, would we know of Moses? David had his Goliath, Daniel his lions, Paul his prisons, John his Patmos.

One way our Lord redeems suffering is by using it to show the world the power he provides in the midst of pain.

Rather than sparing Joseph from slavery and prison, God used his years in Egypt to save the Jewish race. Rather than keeping Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace, God protected them in its flames.

Rather than removing Paul’s “thorn in the flesh,” God taught him to “boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Rather than transporting John from Patmos, Jesus visited his beloved disciple on his prison island and gave him the book of Revelation.

How to “please the Lord” today

When we face sickness, we should ask God for healing (James 5:14). When believers are imprisoned for their faith, we should pray for their release (cf. Acts 12:5). Whatever our challenges, we should ask God for help (Matthew 7:7).

Sometimes God redeems suffering by removing it. Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead; God freed Peter from Herod’s prison (Acts 12) and Paul from his Philippian jail (Acts 16).

At other times, he redeems our suffering by sustaining us in it.

If God has not yet removed your “thorn in the flesh,” look for reasons why. Look for lessons he is teaching you and ways he is glorifying himself through your courageous faith.

You may not understand this side of glory all that God is doing with your pain (1 Corinthians 13:12). But we know that our Father loves us as much as if we and our circumstances were perfect (1 John 4:8). We know that he is glorified in our rebel-occupied world when we trust him in hard places.

And we know that he is greatly pleased if we trust him when we do not understand him.

In the same psalm where David cried out to God in desperation, he later testified: “I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving. This will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs” (Psalm 69:30–31).

How can you please the Lord today?

Denison Forum

Alex Trebek has announced that he has stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

The legendary Jeopardy! host told his fans, “I’m going to fight this, and I’m going to keep working.” He added courageously, “With the love and support of my family and friends and with the help of your prayers also, I plan to beat the low survival rate statistics for this disease.”

On the theme of courage in the news, Martha McSally disclosed this week that she was raped in the Air Force by a superior officer. The ex-pilot and current Arizona senator told an interviewer yesterday that she made her announcement to bring attention to the problem of sexual assaults in the military.

Speaking to other sexual abuse victims, the senator said, “Don’t let your assaulter rob you of your future. Don’t do it.” She hopes that telling her story will “inspire others to get through their own dark times.”

Since the Pentagon recently reported that incidents of sexual assault at military academies are up by nearly 50 percent, Sen. McSally’s statement is even more significant and urgent.

Hailey Bieber’s life mission

Living as fallen people with other fallen people on a fallen planet requires courage.

Supermodel Hailey Bieber recently discussed her life mission, declaring that the “bigger purpose” behind her modeling career is “to be a light in this place.” She added: “I’m here to represent Jesus through me for other people—for His will to be done.”

Continue reading Denison Forum – Alex Trebek and Hailey Bieber: 2 steps to biblical courage →

Students at Rider University in New Jersey recently voted to bring Chick-fil-A to their campus.

However, administrators rejected the proposal because of the company’s perceived “opposition to the LGBTQ+ community.” Cynthia Newman, the dean of the College of Business, “felt like I had been punched in the stomach when I read that statement.”

As a “very committed Christian,” she notes that Chick-fil-A’s corporate purpose “mirrors my personal beliefs perfectly.” She asked university officials privately if they would issue an apology. They doubled down on their ban instead, even sending out another campus-wide email emphasizing inclusion.

So Dean Newman felt she had to resign. She has received great support from faculty and staff agreeing that “we should be able to respectfully disagree” with other values.

A former Marine’s experience at Yale

Hers is not the only story of discrimination against Christians in today’s news.

A former Marine and graduate of the Naval Academy and the University of Cambridge has published an article titled “I Thought I Could Be A Christian And Constitutionalist At Yale Law School. I Was Wrong.” He describes the vociferous opposition he and other Christians have faced at Yale for their conservative views.

Unsurprisingly, David French has documented the degree to which “progressives drive religious conservatives off campus—all in the name of ‘fighting extremism.’”

To be sure, Christians in America are not facing the persecution our brothers and sisters are enduring in North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan, and other nations that imprison, torture, and execute followers of Jesus. But we are witnessing an escalating tide of opposition to biblical morality in our culture.

As I noted yesterday, many who support same-sex marriage see my commitment to biblical marriage as a horrendous assault on the civil rights of LGBTQ persons. They see my commitment to the rights of the unborn as an attack on women.

Continue reading Denison Forum – University dean resigns after school bans Chick-fil-A →

Joe Biden recently called Mike Pence “a decent guy.”

The outcry was immediate.

Cynthia Nixon, an actress and unsuccessful candidate for New York governor, tweeted this response: “You’ve just called America’s most anti-LGBT elected leader ‘a decent guy.’ Please consider how this falls on the ears of our community.”

Biden quickly apologized. “You’re right, Cynthia,” he wrote. “I was making a point in a foreign policy context,” he explained, “but there is nothing decent about being anti-LGBTQ rights, and that includes the Vice President.”

CNN’s Chris Cillizza explained that Biden “is a creature of a totally different political time,” his comment “a reflection of the general collegiality that reigned in politics when Biden came up in the game.” However, as Cillizza notes, “Things have changed drastically since then.”

Cillizza assumes that Biden will run for president in 2020 and calls him “a benefit-of-the-doubt guy running to lead a party who views the other side as not just dumb and incompetent, but evil.”

Is the other political party “fair”?

Cillizza has the facts on his side.

A recent survey found that 61 percent of Democrats view Republicans as “racist/bigoted/sexist”; 31 percent of Republicans feel the same way about Democrats. Fifty-four percent of Democrats consider Republicans to be “ignorant”; 49 percent of Republicans feel the same way about Democrats. And 44 percent of Democrats consider Republicans to be “spiteful”; 54 percent of Republicans feel this way about Democrats.

Continue reading Denison Forum – What happened when Joe Biden called Mike Pence ‘a decent guy’? →