History was made yesterday when Israel observed its seventieth anniversary as a nation and the United States officially moved its embassy to Jerusalem. However, the day was historic from a very different perspective as well.

Palestinians mark May 15 each year as “Nakba Day” (“Nakba” means “catastrophe”). This designation refers to the fact that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled their homes or were displaced in the 1948 War of Independence.

In the weeks leading to yesterday’s anniversary, Hamas called for massive demonstrations against Israel and the US. According to Israeli officials, some forty thousand Palestinians took part in “violent riots” yesterday at thirteen locations along the Gaza Strip security fence.

As protesters approached the border fence hurling stones and incendiary devices, Israeli soldiers responded with live ammunition and tear gas dispersed from drones.

The resulting death toll has risen this morning to sixty-one. More than 2,700 were injured in the deadliest violence since the 2014 Gaza war. A senior Hamas official said last night that protests would continue: “This blood will keep boiling until the occupation leaves forever.”

What my Palestinian tour guide experienced

Since I wrote yesterday from Israel’s point of view, today I will overview the conflict from a Palestinian perspective. (For a larger introduction to the region, its history, and its significance, I invite you to read my Israel and the Two-State Solution on our website.)

Continue reading Denison Forum – Explaining the conflict in Gaza as death toll rises to 61 →

On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion gathered with 250 guests in the Tel Aviv Museum (known today as Independence Hall). Ben-Gurion was head of the World Zionist Organization, a movement dedicated to creating a homeland for the Jewish people in their historic Promised Land.

Behind him hung a portrait of Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism. At 4:00 p.m., Ben-Gurion banged his gavel. He then read a proclamation declaring the existence of the modern State of Israel.

I have stood several times in Independence Hall. Each time, I am moved again by the courage of the men and women who risked their lives and families to birth their nation.

In a move timed to coincide with this dramatic anniversary, the United States is relocating its embassy to Jerusalem at 4:00 p.m. (8:00 a.m. in Dallas) today. Palestinian marches against the move have already begun.

Four biblical themes that explain modern-day Israel

In Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn, historian Daniel Gordis describes Israel as “a story of a homeless people that kept a dream alive for millennia, of a people’s redemption from the edge of the abyss, of a nation forging a future where none seemed possible.”

Continue reading Denison Forum – The 70th anniversary of Israel: “If you will it, it is no dream” →

President Trump announced yesterday that he will meet North Korea’s Kim Jong Un on June 12 in Singapore. His statement came after three Americans were released from more than a year in captivity and returned to the US.

The three were greeted early Thursday morning by President Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President Pence, and his wife, Karen Pence. What do we know about the men? How is their story relevant to us today?

What we know about the men

Kim Hak Song was apparently arrested as he was preparing to leave North Korea on May 6, 2017. He had been working at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) for several weeks. The Korean Central News Agency reported his arrest for “hostile acts” but offered no further details.

Tony Kim was also a teacher at PUST. The university’s chancellor stated that Kim was involved in extracurricular activities such as volunteering at an orphanage.

PUST is North Korea’s first private university. It is operated mostly by evangelical Christian schools and chiefly employs Christian staff. However, PUST representatives have said that the arrests of Tony Kim and Kim Hak Song were “not connected in any way” with the university’s work.

Continue reading Denison Forum – One man’s shocking experience inside North Korea →

I remember fondly my years with the Boy Scouts. Overnight campouts with my father. Lessons in outdoor survival and the care of nature. Building camaraderie in an environment uniquely suited to develop boys into men.

As a teenager, I became too involved in academics and other activities to continue in the Boy Scouts, but I have always admired the Eagle Scouts I met and consider their achievement to be enormously significant. The list of notable Eagle Scouts includes President Gerald Ford, astronaut Neil Armstrong (the first man on the moon), Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, and businessman Sam Walton.

The Boy Scouts have been one of America’s great cultural institutions. Five years ago, things began to change.

What the BSA has done

From their inception in 1910, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) excluded openly gay people from membership or leadership. The Supreme Court ruled in 2000 that they had a legal right to continue this position.

Then companies such as UPS, drug manufacturer Merck, and the United Way began opposing the organization’s policy, choosing to stop or postpone their financial support. A gay advocacy group gathered more than 1.2 million online signatures to protest the BSA’s position.

Continue reading Denison Forum – The Boy Scouts are dropping “Boy” from their name →

This headline caught my eye: “I was born with no arms and thought I was a hopeless mistake–and then this happened . . .”

Daniel Ritchie is a husband, a father of two, and a Christian speaker and writer. He is also a bit unusual in that he eats with his feet, drives with his feet, and brushes his teeth with his feet. As he explains, “I do everything with my feet because I was born without arms.”

People have not always been sympathetic. He has been called names. He remembers a rude kid at Disney World. And the time he and his parents were asked to leave a restaurant because of the way he has to eat.

Daniel writes that, as a teenager, “The words of others began to warp my perception of the value of my life. I felt like damaged goods, broken and unlovable. Isolation and darkness were beginning to sweep over me. I started to hate myself and other people.”

A shift in perspective changed everything

Then he found a verse in Scripture where David prayed to God, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well” (Psalm 139:14).

Continue reading Denison Forum – Advice from a man without arms →

Today is VE Day, short for “Victory in Europe.” On this day in 1945, Great Britain and the United States celebrated their victory over Nazi Germany and its allies.

German troops throughout Europe laid down their arms. Surrender documents were signed in Berlin and eastern Germany.

But there was much more fighting still to come.

Six hundred Soviet soldiers died the next day in Silesia, a region now in southwest Poland, before the Germans fighting there finally surrendered. The war would continue in the Pacific until Imperial Japan surrendered on August 15 (now known as VJ Day).

Hundreds of battles preceded VE Day as well. We owe the men and women who fought this horrendous war an undying debt of gratitude. They won the victory, not in a single day or in a single battle, but in stages.

It is the same with our war against “the spiritual forces of evil” today (Ephesians 6:12).

No war is won in a day

For people who try to live by Scripture, these are frustrating days.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Celebrating VE Day and winning the spiritual war →

Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano is spewing lava more than three hundred feet into the air—higher than the Statue of Liberty. As the eruption proceeds, lava fountains could shoot even higher, reaching up to a thousand feet.

There is no indication how far the lava will spread or when it will stop. At least twenty-six homes were destroyed yesterday, forcing more than 1,700 residents to evacuate.

Those who left their homes are resolute, however.

One resident grew up in the area and has lived in her house for nine years. “The volcano and the lava—it’s always been a part of my life,” she said. “It’s devastating . . . but I’ve come to terms with it.”

Another woman told a reporter, “We’ll be fine. We’ll just rebuild. We’ll just start again.” Her daughter added, “This island is so crazy. You have death around every corner. You have flash floods, tsunamis. Now we have lava. But I love it. I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

A call to courage

Most of us cannot imagine choosing to live near the world’s most active volcano. We can shake our heads at the foolishness of such people.

Continue reading Denison Forum – What Hawaii volcano survivors can teach the world →

Frank and Sherri Pomeroy helped lead yesterday’s National Day of Prayer service in Washington, DC. The service came just two days before the six-month anniversary of the shooting that took the lives of twenty-six members of Pastor Pomeroy’s church, the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas.

Among the members killed was Pomeroy’s fourteen-year-old daughter, Annabelle.

The church plans to hold a memorial tomorrow to honor the victims and survivors. The congregation will then transition into a groundbreaking ceremony for its new sanctuary. It will be built next to the old church, which currently and forever will serve as a memorial for their lost loved ones.

The new church will be built of stone, symbolizing the strength of the congregation and community.

Their church’s remarkable ministry to their grieving people is just one example of Christians acting as salt and light (Matthew 5:13–16). There were many others yesterday. Those who organized the National Day of Prayer expected some forty thousand events to mark the day across the country.

How much does religion contribute to our economy?

President Trump signed an executive order yesterday creating the White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative. The order was signed in the Rose Garden, attended by his cabinet members and some two hundred religious representatives.

Previous administrations created similarly named offices to foster partnerships between religious organizations and the government. The Faith and Opportunity Initiative will provide policy recommendations on “more effective solutions to poverty” and inform the administration of “any failures of the executive branch to comply with religious liberty protections under law.”

Are you wondering whether religion offers tangible benefits worthy of such recognition?

A recent study by Georgetown University found that the faith sector contributes $1.2 trillion to the US economy. That’s more than the combined revenue of the top ten technology companies in the country, including Apple, Amazon, and Google.

Is religion a product of evolution?

Nonetheless, critics of religion abound.

For instance, an evolutionary biologist named Bret Weinstein is convinced that there is no such place as heaven. He asserts, however, that believing in heaven keeps our descendants in good standing in our religious community, setting our lineage up to continue. Thus, belief systems are “literally false and metaphorically true.”

In response, I would note that his argument offers no evidential basis as a truth claim. He is asserting a secular faith proposition as he denies the truthfulness of religious faith propositions.

A University of Connecticut anthropology professor named Dimitris Xygalatas offers a different skeptical view. He claims that early societies were so small, their members could rely on each other’s reputations to decide whom to trust. In this era, the ancient Greek gods could be worshiped even though they had no interest in people’s personal conduct.

As human societies grew larger, they needed faith in all-knowing, all-powerful gods who would punish moral transgressions. Thus, the evolution of the gods of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, among others.

However, his argument suffers a fatal historical flaw. Judaism began centuries before Greek mythology and has always centered on objective morality. Islam began among tribal cultures rather than large cities and cultures.

The professor also cites studies claiming that religious activity does not promote moral behavior. However, he makes no distinction between the various world religions and a personal, transformational relationship with Jesus Christ.

Who is on trial?

Despite yesterday’s White House initiative, I am seeing greater skepticism and opposition to religion in general and Christianity in particular than at any time in my life.

How should we respond? By remembering who is on trial.

When Paul stood before Festus and King Agrippa, he turned his personal peril into an opportunity for the gospel. After sharing his salvation story, he defended the gospel so effectively that the king cried, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” (Acts 26:28).

The apostle responded, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains” (v. 29). He knew that the person in danger was not himself but those before whom he was being tried.

The worst that could happen to him would send him eternally to paradise. The worst that could happen to them would send them eternally to hell.

It is the same with critics of our faith. Rather than becoming defensive, we should remember whose immortal soul is in peril. We can then explain and defend our faith with the confidence that the Holy Spirit is using us in ways we may not be able to measure on this side of heaven (Luke 12:12).

If you were a physician and your patient rejected your lifesaving diagnosis and treatment, you could let your critic die to prove you were right. Or you could respond to rejection with mercy, doing all you could to save your dying patient.

Which would you choose?

Denison Forum

A student at Plano West Senior High School is suspected of plotting to commit a mass shooting at Frisco’s Stonebriar Centre mall. Both cities are northern suburbs of Dallas. Like many who live in my area, I have been to Stonebriar many times.

Matin Azizi-Yarand, age seventeen, was taken into custody Tuesday and is being held in lieu of $3 million bail. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.

Authorities say his ISIS-inspired attack was planned for Ramadan (which begins this year on May 15) to minimize the danger to Muslims. He was working to purchase weapons and tactical gear and had written a “Message to America” explaining his reasons for the attack.

He intended to kill a police officer at the mall, set stores on fire, and perhaps take hostages as well. His plot was discovered by FBI confidential sources and an undercover employee.

Terrorism is not just a story we read about from Syria or Afghanistan. It is a very real possibility anywhere in the world, including my neighborhood and yours. This is another reason America needs the National Day of Prayer we observe today.

Praying for “the next great move of God in America” Continue reading Denison Forum – Teen arrested for plotting mass shooting at Dallas area mall →

As most of the planet knows, Meghan Markle will marry Prince Harry in seventeen days. However, the British have a rule: they want their royal family to be British. And she’s American.

For her to become a British citizen, she must have lived in Britain for three years, have a good knowledge of English, be of sound mind, and pass the “Life in the UK” test. To fulfill the last requirement, she must successfully answer eighteen out of twenty-four questions selected from some three thousand facts.

She might be asked the age of “Big Ben” (it was cast on April 10, 1858) or the height of the London Eye Ferris wheel (135 meters—I had to look up both answers). More than a third of those who recently took the test failed it. One applicant failed it sixty times.

And there’s one other requirement: the couple must earn a combined 18,600 pounds (approximately $25,000). Since the royal family is worth $88 billion, this shouldn’t be a problem.

Not everyone is happy with the “Life in the UK” test. A report last month by Britain’s House of Lords committee on citizenship stated, “The current test seems to be, and to be regarded as, a barrier to acquiring citizenship rather than a means of creating better citizens.”

Loneliness in America

Continue reading Denison Forum – What Meghan Markle must do to become British →

London is a world-class city. Its history and pageantry are combined with its status as a global financial center. It’s not surprising that more than forty-two million tourists are expected to visit the city this year.

But if you’re planning a visit this summer, avoid the caterpillars.

A particular breed (technically the larval stage of the oak processionary moth) has been deemed toxic by authorities at the UK’s Forestry Commission. The caterpillar’s sixty-two thousand hairs seem to trigger severe allergic reactions in humans. They can cause skin rash, difficulty in breathing, and even death by anaphylactic shock.

Here’s my question: if you have no plans to visit London, what about this story caused you to read it?

A second item in the news: doctors have identified five habits that could help you live a decade longer.

A new study names the five: never smoke, maintain a healthy body-mass index, keep up moderate to vigorous exercise, don’t drink too much alcohol, and eat a healthy diet. Adhering to these five lifestyle factors at age fifty, compared with not adhering to any of them, was associated with fourteen additional years of life for women and 12.2 added years for men.

Once again, what about this story caused you to read it?

What’s wrong with fear

I recently read Hans Rosling’s Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World—and Why Things Are Better Than You Think. Bill Gates calls it “one of the most important books I’ve ever read.” I can see why.

One reason we’re “wrong about the world,” according to Rosling, is that we’re afraid of it. He notes that fears of physical harm, captivity, and contamination by invisible substances that can poison or infect us are “hard-wired deep in our brains.”

In our media-saturated day, one very effective way for a news outlet to get our attention is to tell us stories that stoke such fears. Stories on declining malaria rates or mild weather won’t get past our filters. Stories on earthquakes, wars, disease, fire, flood, sharks, and terror attacks will.

As a result, we are inundated with news that focuses on things we fear. For instance, deadly caterpillars and ways to prevent death made it past your attention filter in today’s Daily Article.

As a result, many of us are wrong about much of the good news in the world.

An example: Rosling asks how the number of deaths per year from natural disasters has changed over the last hundred years: (A) more than doubled; (B) remained about the same; or (C) decreased to less than half. What did you answer?

The correct response was (C). In fact, the number of deaths from acts of nature is 25 percent of what it was one hundred years ago.

Rosling’s point is not that the world is not still a dangerous place. His point is that we have been conditioned by fear to miss the good news for the bad news. And to focus our fear on the wrong subjects.

A lesson from the “Avengers”

I saw the latest Avengers movie over the weekend. I’ve only seen a few of the nineteen that have been made, which makes those I see more confusing than enlightening. I did understand at least this part of the newest film in the series: the heroes are trying to keep the villain from annihilating half of the population in the universe.

This seems a worthy aim. Imagine playing a role in saving so many lives from death.

As I watched the film, however, I could not help thinking about the spiritual death awaiting every person who has not received God’s gift of eternal life in Christ. Of course, there was no fear of such damnation mentioned in the movie.

In Hollywood, people either live or they die. In real life, people either live eternally or they die eternally (Revelation 20:14–15). But we’re so focused on physical fears that we can overlook spiritual fears.

Jesus said, “Do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). This fear should cause us to share Christ with lost people, no matter the risk to ourselves. The worst that can happen to us cannot compare with the worst that can happen to them.

“I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize”

You may know the name Penn Jillette, a famous magician and outspoken atheist. Some years ago, he made a YouTube video about a businessman who gave him a Bible. We might expect Jillette to castigate the man for “proselytizing.”

Actually, the opposite is true: “He was really kind and nice and sane and looked me in the eyes and talked to me and then gave me this Bible. And I’ve always said that I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. I don’t respect that at all.”

Jillette explained: “If you believe that there’s a heaven and hell and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life or whatever, and you think that it’s not really worth telling them because it would make it socially awkward . . . How much do you have to hate someone to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?” He added, “That was a really good man who gave me that book.”

What will you tell the Penn Jillettes you meet today?

Denison Forum

“My gladiator laid down his shield and gained his wings at 2:30.” This is how Alfie Evans’s father described the death of his twenty-three-month-old son early Saturday morning.

Alfie suffered from a degenerative neurological condition. His doctors in Great Britain said he was in a “semi-vegetative state” with almost no brain function.

His parents, Tom and Kate, wanted to provide further care in line with their Catholic faith. Pope Francis and Italian authorities supported their desire to have their son treated in Italy, where their wishes would have been honored.

Italy had a military plane on standby to take Alfie to Rome. He had also been granted Italian citizenship to facilitate his transport and arrival.

However, his British doctors believed that further treatment was futile and petitioned the courts to end his medical care. Under British law, it is common for courts to intervene when doctors and parents disagree on the treatment of a child. In such cases, the rights of the child (as determined by the court) are given primacy over the parents’ right to decide what’s best for their children.

Alfie’s life support was withdrawn last week after the courts sided with the doctors.

Conversely, Kate Middleton made global headlines Friday morning with the announcement that she and Prince William had decided on a name for their newborn son. Prince Louis has received the best of medical care, of course, and will live in the spotlight of fame accorded the British royal family.

In God’s eyes, which baby is more sacred?

Valuing life by its utility

Continue reading Denison Forum – The story of Alfie Evans: A tale of two Kates →

Three people are leading the news this morning.

The first: Louis Arthur Charles.

Prince William and Kate Middleton announced this morning the name they have chosen for their baby boy. He will be known as “His Royal Highness Prince Louis of Cambridge.” He is fifth in line to the throne.

The second: Baker Mayfield.

The Cleveland Browns surprised the football world by making the former Oklahoma quarterback the first player chosen in last night’s NFL draft. Mayfield won a plethora of awards this year, including the Heisman Trophy. Despite his height, he is known for his accuracy and athleticism.

We know that Mayfield will begin his professional career with great fanfare. However, we don’t know how he will end it.

Defensive end Myles Garrett was picked first last year by the Cleveland Browns, but he played in only ten games due to injury. Quarterback JaMarcus Russell, selected first in 2007, played only three years in the league. Quarterback Tim Couch was picked first in 1999 but played only six seasons.

A tragic chapter in a celebrated story Continue reading Denison Forum – Duke and Duchess of Cambridge reveal their baby’s name →

A California State University, Fresno, professor will not be punished for calling Barbara Bush “an amazing racist” and cheering her death.

The university’s president condemned Randa Jarrar’s statements as “insensitive, inappropriate and an embarrassment to the university.” However, he stated that she was acting as a private citizen using her personal Twitter account, so her statements didn’t violate school policies.

In other California news, a former police officer has been identified as the so-called “Golden State Killer.” He is believed to have committed twelve killings and at least fifty rapes across California from 1976 to 1986.

Closer to home, Dallas police officer Rogelio Santander died yesterday. He was one of three victims of a gunman who was caught shoplifting at a Home Depot in our area.

His tragic death reminds us that our police officers are on the front lines every day, willing to die so we can live. They deserve our intercession and encouragement today.

And the husband of the woman killed last week on Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 has now spoken to reporters. When Michael Riordan learned that his wife had died, “I immediately thought of the kids and how do you tell your kids their mom was gone.”

A very hard question

Continue reading Denison Forum – Professor who reviled Barbara Bush will not be punished →

Tammie Jo Shults is now famous as the pilot who landed Flight 1380 after an engine exploded in the air. She guided the plane down after a twenty-thousand-foot drop in six minutes, then walked down the aisle hugging passengers. Passengers described her as having “nerves of steel” and being a “true American hero.”

What you may not know is that she is also a committed Christian.

Shults has led the children’s worship program at First Baptist Church of Boerne, Texas. She has also taught Sunday school for children, middle schoolers, high schoolers, and adults. According to Staci Thompson, a longtime friend and church staff member, the congregation was “impressed” but not “shocked” at Shults’s heroics.

Her courage under fire comes from her training: three decades ago, Shults became one of the first female fighter pilots in the US military. But even more, it comes from her Lord. Thompson says her friend “wants people to know that God was there with her” on Flight 1380 and “that he helped her in getting control of that plane and landing that plane.”

“It was because of him, not her,” Thompson said. “She was just a teammate and a co-captain. He was the captain.” God’s grace was the source of her strength.

Why are stories of grace so appealing to us?

Signals of grace

GQ magazine has placed the Bible on its list of “21 Books You Don’t Have to Read.” The more our culture rejects biblical truth, the more it needs biblical truth.

The Colson Center’s John Stonestreet has an article I encourage you to read. It’s on AB 2943, a bill passed by the California Assembly that adds “conversion therapy” to its list of “deceptive business practices” prohibited by state law.

Under the bill, a bookstore could sell Hitler’s Mein Kampf but not a book suggesting that same-gender sexual orientation could or should be altered. David French of the National Review correctly calls this legislation “extraordinarily radical.”

The more bad news we see, the more good news we want to see. But I think there’s something more to the popularity of stories of grace.

Sociologist Peter Berger identified “signals of transcendence” that point us from the temporal to the eternal. Perhaps stories of grace in a world of grief and guilt are such “signals.” They remind us that what matters most in life is that which we cannot earn but only receive.

What do you value most today? I would list my family, friends, and the privilege of this ministry. None were earned—all have been given to me.

All are by grace.

The folly of self-sanctification

In John 10, Jesus described himself as “the door of the sheep” (v. 7), demonstrating that he is the only way to eternal life. But he is also the only way to abundant life: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (v. 10).

“Abundant” translates perisson, a word which can be rendered “extraordinary, above all human means.” The abundant life of Christ is available only from Christ. Nothing we do, no matter how well-intentioned, can do what only God can do.

But we try.

Americans embrace the pioneer spirit, the cultural DNA that rewards hard work, initiative, and self-reliance. Add our fallen desire to be our own god (Genesis 3:5) and our desire to impress others with what we do and have, and you have a recipe for self-sanctification.

But we can no more sanctify ourselves than we can save ourselves. Salvation comes in three tenses: we have been saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved. All three depend on the grace of God.

Three reasons to spend time with God

If we cannot sanctify ourselves, why does the Bible call us to the spiritual disciplines of prayer, Bible study, worship, solitude, meditation, and all the rest?

One: Spiritual disciplines position us to receive what grace intends to give. Just as you had to open this email or web page to read its content, so you must pray and read Scripture to hear God’s voice.

Two: Spiritual disciplines reinforce our need for God. We pray, read Scripture, and worship because we need what only God can provide. “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6).

Three: Spiritual disciplines invite other people to join us in following Jesus. Our Lord often prayed in the presence of his disciples as a model for them to follow (cf. Luke 11:1). Our public expressions of faith encourage others to trust in our Father.

Grace in three tenses

You have been saved by grace. You are being saved by grace. You will be saved by grace.

Conversely, you become more like Jesus by spending more time with Jesus. What will you do today to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18)?

John Piper: “Heaven is too great, hell is too horrible, and eternity is too long that we should putter around on the porch of eternity.”

Denison Forum

Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, announced the birth of their third child yesterday. They followed centuries of tradition by notifying the sovereign first, in this case, Queen Elizabeth. Per tradition, they also did not reveal the gender of their child until he was born.

The royal baby will have a first name, then two or three middle names, typically names that have been used in the family for centuries. The latest royal baby might not be named until tomorrow, but betting companies have made “Arthur” the clear favorite for his first name.

Carl Sandburg was right: “A baby is God’s opinion that the world should go on.”

The fragility of life: Four examples

The royal baby’s birth was wonderful news on a hard day.

Continue reading Denison Forum – The royal baby: Good news on a hard day →

“On April 23, the sun, moon, and Jupiter will align in the constellation Virgo to bring on the start of the biblical Rapture, according to the latest claims.” So the UK’s Daily Mail headlines, reporting that Planet X, sometimes called Nibiru, will bring about the end of the world.

We’ve been here before. Last September, I discussed a similar prediction that “the world as we know it is ending.” We had a comparable conversation back in 2012, when we survived the purported Mayan prediction that the world would end.

My interest today is not in discussing such speculative theories, but in considering their effect on our culture—and our souls.

We should prepare for eternity today

Let’s begin with a fact: this day could actually be the last day of history.

Jesus was blunt: “Concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only” (Matthew 24:36). Our Lord could come back to our planet today. Or any of us could go to him. Tomorrow is promised to no one.

We need not fear the fictitious Planet X. But we need to admit the reality that we are one day closer to eternity than ever before. And we have only today to be ready.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Will the world end today? How Satan uses end-times speculation →

Time‘s annual list of the world’s one hundred most influential people has been published.

Forty-five women are on the list, more than ever before. As the magazine notes, one of them is New Zealand’s new prime minister, the youngest female head of government on the planet. A wide variety of ethnicities and nationalities are represented as well.

It is encouraging to see this cultural icon honor our national commitment to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” for all people. The news reminds us each day that while we have come a long way, we have a long way to go.

Starbucks, the Olympics, and two universities

Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America yesterday. After they were arrested for trespassing last week at a Philadelphia Starbucks, their story made national news. On Monday, Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson apologized to the men. The store employee who called 911 is no longer with the company.

Starbucks plans to close its 8,000 company-owned stores in the US for an afternoon in May to teach workers about racial bias. The training will be provided to about 175,000 employees.

In another story making headlines, Olympic gold medalist McKayla Maroney has told Dateline that the USA Gymnastics team doctor used food to manipulate her. She said she was molested by him hundreds of times.

Continue reading Denison Forum – What Time’s 100 “most influential people” says to the American church →

“If anyone has ever had the arms of a Down syndrome child or adult wrapped around your necks, you will know that you have encountered profound love that comes from the heart.” So states a Kentucky legislator in supporting a law banning abortions involving a fetus with Down syndrome if the diagnosis is the reason for ending a pregnancy.

Indiana and Ohio have already passed such bills, though a federal judge has temporarily blocked Ohio’s law from taking effect. Last Monday, the Pennsylvania House passed its own bill to ban such abortions. The bill passed with bipartisan support in a 139–56 vote.

If the bill passes in the Senate, it faces an expected veto from Gov. Tom Wolf.

In Iceland, nearly 100 percent of women who discover their unborn child has Down syndrome choose to abort their baby. In Denmark, the abortion rate for unborn babies with Down syndrome is 98 percent. The abortion rate in the US for such babies is 67 percent.

Famous people with inherited challenges Continue reading Denison Forum – Should babies with Down syndrome be aborted? →

Barbara Bush died last night. Newsweek is describing her this morning as “the no-nonsense first lady who ran the family that ran the country.”

Public figures from around the world are paying tribute to this remarkable woman. President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump said they “join the nation in celebrating the life of Barbara Bush.” They noted that “she will be long remembered for her strong devotion to country and family.”

Former president Obama and his wife, Michelle, issued a statement calling her “the rock of a family dedicated to public service” and “an example of the humility and decency that reflects the very best of the American spirit.”

When her failing health was announced earlier this week, I wrote a tribute to this remarkable lady you can read here.

Mortality is a fact for us all

Mrs. Bush’s passing is not the only death making headlines this morning.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Barbara Bush “ran the family that ran the country” →