Amy Coney Barrett is a law professor at Notre Dame. She also clerked for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Now she has been nominated by President Trump to serve on the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Here’s the problem: she’s a Catholic.

Barrett is the mother of seven, including a special needs child and two children adopted from Haiti. She is also a very public Christian. She told the 2006 Notre Dame Law School graduating class, “If you can keep in mind that your fundamental purpose in life is not to be a lawyer, but to know, love, and serve God, you truly will be a different kind of lawyer.”

She has also written that Catholic judges should not impose their faith on others. In rare cases, they should recuse themselves when their religious conscience prevents them from applying relevant law.

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein wasn’t satisfied, protesting during Barrett’s confirmation hearing that “dogma lives loudly within you.” Sen. Al Franken compared her speech before a religious freedom organization to giving a speech to Pol Pot, the genocidal Cambodian dictator. Sen. Dick Durbin asked her, “Do you consider yourself an ‘orthodox Catholic’?”

Continue reading Denison Forum – Senators criticize Catholic nominee for her faith →

As Hurricane Irma bore down on my brother and his family over the weekend, I was watching television coverage of the storm nonstop. I heard a commentator reporting from Florida make the perceptive statement, “The worst in Mother Nature often brings out the best in human nature.”

He was right.

The damage from this historic disaster is continuing. As of this morning, at least forty-two people have died because of the storm. Jacksonville, Florida, has experienced record floods. A flash flood emergency has been declared in Charleston, South Carolina. About 6.5 million people in Florida are without power.

But there is remarkable good news in the news.

The New York Times is reporting on sacrificial ways Christians are serving each other and their communities after Hurricane Harvey. One example is Rabbi Michael Vowell, a Messianic Jew (a Jew who accepts Jesus as his Messiah). According to the Times, he came to faith in Christ as a young man “as part of his escape from drug abuse and dealing.”

How does he deal with faith questions related to Hurricane Harvey? “My theology is that if I can see God moving through people, neighbors helping neighbors, I can shelve the bigger question of why is this happening,” he said. “That there are still people caring for each other is evidence enough that God is in this world.”

Continue reading Denison Forum – Responding to Irma: Good news in the news →

Hurricane Irma is personal for me in a way no other storm has been. The reason: it targeted my family.

My brother and his wife live in the Tampa area. My wife’s older sister and her husband live in Orlando. Last night, they were directly impacted by the largest storm ever recorded in the Atlantic. All four survived, but we do not yet know the damage to their homes.

Irma has already devastated Cuba, becoming the first Category 5 hurricane to hit the island since 1924. Havana has experienced unprecedented flooding; homes and towns across the north of Cuba are destroyed.

Then the hurricane turned its wrath on Florida. As of this morning, 6.5 million people have been evacuated. Four million Floridians are without power, more than 40 percent of all customers in the state. Five have died, in addition to twenty-seven deaths in the Caribbean.

I prayed for the Lord to push this storm away from land and out into the sea. Instead, it attacked Cuban Christians, brothers and sisters I dearly love and have visited many times over the years. Then it turned and targeted my family.

I pray each day for God’s protection for my family and nation. I’m sure you do the same. When our prayers seem unanswered, how can we continue trusting the One to whom we pray?

Continue reading Denison Forum – Hurricane Irma attacked my family →

A magnitude-8.1 earthquake struck Mexico last night, leaving one million people without power. Mexico’s president called it the strongest quake his country has seen in a century. And Hurricane Katia is threatening to strike his country tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Irma is coming. The second-strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean, Irma is responsible for at least thirteen deaths so far. This morning, the National Weather Service warned that the eye of the storm could strike Miami directly. The governors of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina have all declared states of emergency.

And there’s more bad news: Hurricane Jose is strengthening and threatens islands devastated by Irma.

What can we do to help?

A week ago, I asked you to join Denison Forum in raising funds for Hurricane Harvey victims. Our ministry contributed a $25,000 matching grant to this effort. All donations would be given through Texas Baptist Men (TBM) to help those devastated by the tragedy.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Strongest earthquake in a century rocks Mexico →

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) is an executive order issued by President Obama in 2012 that grants temporary legal status to those brought to the US as children. According to government figures, 787,580 people (known as “Dreamers”) have been approved for the program.

They have been able to obtain driver’s licenses, enroll in college, and secure jobs. They also pay income taxes. The program doesn’t give them a path to become US citizens or even legal permanent residents. But they can apply to defer deportation and legally reside in the US for two years. Then they can apply for renewal. Nearly 800,000 renewals have been approved since the program began.

On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced that it would rescind the program in six months unless Congress and the president enact a law reviving it. The president believes that such legislation should originate with Congress, not the White House. Officials will no longer accept new applicants to the program, but protections for current DACA recipients remain in effect.

Continue reading Denison Forum – DACA and the Bible: 3 principles →

This is an historic moment for evangelical Christians in America.

A group of Christian leaders met recently in Nashville, Tennessee, to ratify a statement regarding biblical sexuality. More than 150 leaders signed the document, now known as the “Nashville Statement.” The group’s organizer stated, “It was our aim to say nothing new, but to bear witness to something very ancient.”

I have read the document carefully and can testify that they accomplished their goal. The Nashville Statement simply describes in clear language what the Christian faith has believed for twenty centuries about men, women, and sexuality.

But our culture is convinced that truth is subjective, sexuality is our choice, and any religion that disagrees is dangerous. That’s why the New York Times lambasts the Nashville Statement as “an attack on L.G.B.T. Christians.” It’s why New Republic describes it as “the death rattle of a movement that has disgraced itself.” It’s why an LGBTQ advocate calls it “deadly theology.”

Continue reading Denison Forum – Attack on biblical morality escalates: 3 responses →

“Their royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Cambridge is expecting their third child.” Thus, an unborn baby in Great Britain dominated Labor Day headlines even in America. Carl Sandburg was right: “A baby is God’s opinion that life should go on.”

In other headlines, the North Korean crisis seems to be escalating while Florida has declared a state of emergency in preparation for Hurricane Irma. As the news reminds us each day, life is both precious and tenuous.

Over the holiday weekend, I witnessed two strange sights that reinforced this balance.

I was driving in the country and came upon a field covered with healthy trees. In their midst stood a tree just like the others except that its leaves were turning brown and falling from their branches. Clearly it was dying while its neighbors were thriving.

Meanwhile, Dallas has been in the throes of an unusual gasoline shortage. Word got out late last week that Hurricane Harvey could cause massive gas shortages. As a result, thousands of people in our area rushed to gas pumps. My wife and I witnessed one such line stretching for hours. They exhausted the local supplies and created a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Consider my experiences as parables.

Continue reading Denison Forum – A royal birth and an escalating hurricane →

Americans will celebrate work today by taking a day off work. What we will do instead: 150 million Americans will eat a hamburger, while 109 million will eat a hot dog. Forty percent of us will eat barbeque chicken; 37 percent will eat steak; 32 percent will eat ribs. Tomorrow, we’ll be back at work again.

In honor of today’s holiday, let’s look at work through the prisms of culture and Scripture. Consider three options:

One: Work for what you get because you work.

For many, work is a means to an end. We put in the hours to pay for what we do after hours. Our labor is purely transactional—work performed for money and benefits received.

Christians can approach work in the same way, serving God so God will serve us. Like the ancient Greeks, we can sacrifice to God to receive what we want in return. The more we do for him on earth, the more he will do for us on earth and in heaven—or so we think.

Two: Work because we are what we do.

A surveyor spoke to hundreds of people at a busy intersection, asking each the question, “Who are you?” Each person responded with what he or she did for a living: “I’m a doctor” or “I’m a teacher” or “I’m a pastor.” In our work-centered culture (Americans work almost 25 percent more hours than Europeans), we are measured by what we do and how well we do it.

Christians can view their work in the same way. Many pastors base their self-esteem on the affirmation of their people and numerical success of their church. Christians in any calling can define themselves by that calling.

Three: Partner with God for his glory and our good. Continue reading Denison Forum – Three reasons to work: A Labor Day reflection →

1. J. Watt is one of the best players in the NFL. He is also one of the best people in the NFL.

Long known for his character and humility, Watt’s compassion has been on display this week. He plays for the Houston Texans and has watched firsthand the devastation Hurricane Harvey wreaked on his city. So, he set up a simple funding account and recorded a video asking people to help him raise $200,000 to help the victims. As of this morning, his fund has grown to more than $12,000,000 and counting.

1. J. Watt is just one of many Hurricane Harvey heroes. A truck driver named Nick Sheridan drove nearly two hundred miles with his rig to help those stranded in floodwaters. With the help of two other drivers, the three rescued more than a thousand people.

Dr. Stephen Kimmel canoed through floodwater to perform emergency surgery on a teenager. A realtor named Stephanie Fry has opened her apartment to flood victims. Team Rubicon, a nonprofit composed of military veterans, helped get people to safety. A group of neighbors formed a human chain to rescue a man trapped in his flooded car.

Jim McIngvale, the iconic owner of Gallery Furniture in Houston, opened several stores to serve as shelters. Flood victims are sleeping on his showroom mattresses. National Guard members are staying in his stores as well. “This is the right thing to do,” he explained. “That’s the way I was brought up.”

Continue reading Denison Forum – Please join Denison Forum in helping storm victims →

Two explosions rocked a chemical plant east of Houston early this morning. Residents in the area are being evacuated. Up to 30 percent of Harris County (the area that includes Houston) is flooded—an area equivalent to the combined square miles of New York City and Chicago.

Meanwhile, a church in Houston has been in a storm of its own. Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church posted on Facebook Sunday night that it was “inaccessible due to severe flooding.” When photos were posted that seemed to contradict this claim, the church received severe criticism. Some of the tweets were so blasphemous and obscene that I would not consider quoting them here.

Osteen spoke to CBS This Morning yesterday to clarify. He stated that Houston officials initially asked his church to be a distribution center since the city had already opened a shelter nearby. Several areas of the church were flooded at that time. When the city later asked the church to serve as a shelter, it complied immediately, using parts of the campus that were accessible.

My point is not to criticize or defend Joel Osteen. It is to note how willing the media have been to publicize appalling condemnations of his church before giving him an opportunity to respond. But a story about an “uncaring” megachurch fits the secular narrative of our “religion is irrelevant or dangerous” culture.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Four lessons from the Joel Osteen controversy →

Louisiana began evacuations for Hurricane Harvey yesterday, on the twelfth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The hurricane has dumped a record fifty-one inches of rain as of this morning, the equivalent of four typical hurricanes.

Why has God allowed such devastation? Here are the logical options as I see them.

One: We didn’t pray enough.

Scripture teaches that “you do not have, because you do not ask” (James 4:2). Did this storm strike because we did not pray enough for God to stop it?

If so, what about those who prayed fervently but still lost their homes to this storm? Is a lack of intercession to blame for every natural disaster and disease? Can intercession prevent all natural calamity?

Two: We’re being punished for sin.

God brought the plagues against Egypt in response to Pharaoh’s “hardened heart.” The book of Revelation is replete with natural disasters sent by God to punish those who reject him. Is Hurricane Harvey an instrument of his wrath against our sinfulness?

If so, does this mean that people living on the Gulf Coast are worse sinners than those living in Los Angeles or New York City? I’ve lived in Houston and Dallas and cannot say that the former is more sinful than the latter. Clearly, God can use disasters to bring us to repentance, but is this always the explanation for such calamity?

Three: Fairness demands that he not intervene. Continue reading Denison Forum – Why God allowed Hurricane Harvey: 4 wrong answers →

Art Acevedo is police chief in Houston, Texas. His message to people in his beleaguered city: “Just hunker down, hold tight—we hear you, we feel you. Believe me.” His police officers have rescued more than three thousand people as of this morning.

911 operators fielded fifty-six thousand calls within twenty-four hours when the crisis began. Numerous companies have pledged millions of dollars to relief efforts. Red Cross personnel are preparing for weeks of assistance to those affected by Hurricane Harvey. President Trump and the first lady will visit the Texas Gulf Coast later today.

While police officers, 911 operators, and disaster relief workers have been saving lives in Houston for days, some may wonder where God has been as this disaster unfolded. What would our Lord say to those devastated by this unprecedented crisis?

• He knows your name. He called Zacchaeus and Saul of Tarsus by name, even though they were two of the most infamous sinners in the Bible.
  • He knew you before you were born: “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:16).
  • He knows your actions and thoughts: “You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar” (Psalm 139:2).
  • He knows every detail of your life: “Even the hairs of your head are all numbered” (Matthew 10:30).
  • He knows your pain: “I have surely seen the affliction of my people . . . and have heard their cry” (Exodus 3:7).
  • He suffers as you suffer: “In all their affliction he was afflicted” (Isaiah 63:9).
  • He will never forget you: “I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands” (Isaiah 49:15–16).
  • He walks with you through calamity: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).

Continue reading Denison Forum – ‘We hear you, we feel you. Believe me’ →

“This disaster is going to be a landmark event.” That’s how the head of FEMA describes the devastation of Hurricane Harvey. “This is a storm that the United States has not seen yet,” he adds.

I was born and raised in Houston, Texas. Except for four years when Janet and I pastored a church in Atlanta, Georgia, I have lived my entire life in Texas. Never have I seen such destruction in my home state as we are witnessing in these days.

This morning, a local official called the flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey “an 800-year event.” The National Weather Service describes the damage as “unprecedented” and “beyond anything experienced.” According to the Insurance Information Institute, flood damage may equal that of Hurricane Katrina, the costliest natural disaster in United States history.

Our nation’s fourth-largest city is predicted to get as much as fifty inches of rain, the highest amount ever recorded in Texas. Thirteen million people are under flood watches stretching from Corpus Christi to New Orleans. A FEMA spokesman warns that “the recovery effort is going to be going on for weeks, months, and probably even years.”

It is only natural to ask what difference faith makes in the face of such devastation. Didn’t the God we worship make this broken world? The Bible explains that human sin corrupted our planet so that “the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now” (Romans 8:22). But did God then abandon us to the consequences of our Fall?

In fact, the opposite is true.

Continue reading Denison Forum – ‘A storm that the United States has not seen yet’ →

Hurricane Harvey is expected to make landfall on the Texas coast late today or early tomorrow. It could become the biggest hurricane to hit the mainland United States in twelve years. Some areas could get thirty-five inches of rain.

When natural disasters strike, our first impulse is to ask why God allows them. But Scripture is more practical than speculative. Knowing why a storm is coming is less relevant to those in its path than knowing how to respond.

So, let’s ask a practical question this morning: How does God want us to respond to the meteorological and personal hurricanes we face?

One option is to retreat. As a Houston native, I remember well the trauma of hurricane season. Several storms caused my father to mount plywood over our windows and pack our family into the car, joining thousands of other vehicles creeping north on I-45.

There are times when God calls us away from the storm. In Mark 6, Jesus told his disciples, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while” (v. 31). After feeding the five thousand, “he went up on the mountain to pray” (v. 46). Solitude was a regular discipline for our Lord, as it should be for us.

A second option is to move. Galveston is affected by a hurricane every 2.74 years. In 2008, I witnessed personally the devastation of Hurricane Ike, which tossed cars onto bridges and flooded much of Galveston. Many residents chose to relocate rather than face future hurricanes.

Paul urged Timothy to “flee youthful passions” (2 Timothy 2:22). Some storms are not meant for us. Martin Luther advised, “If your head is made of butter, don’t sit near the fire.”

A third option is to serve. I met Galveston residents who returned to their city after Hurricane Ike so they could minister to others affected by its devastation. The Lord instructed his people in Babylon to “seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile” (Jeremiah 29:7). Cancer survivors make some of the best cancer counselors. Your challenges may also be your ministry.

Whether we’re called to retreat, move, or serve, we’re all called to pray: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6). Have you prayed yet today for those in the path of Hurricane Harvey? Have you asked God how he wants you to be an answer to your prayers?

In 1939, as his nation was fighting for its very survival, England’s King George VI read this poem in his Christmas Day broadcast:

I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the Year,
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied, “Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light, and safer than a known way.”

Denison Forum

The odds of winning last night’s Powerball jackpot were one in 292.2 million. You were more likely to be killed by an asteroid (one in 700,000), be struck by lightning while drowning (one in 183 million), or give birth to quadruplets (one in 729,000).

Nonetheless, someone in Massachusetts bought the winning ticket. The annuity option totals $758.7 million, doled out in thirty payments over twenty-nine years. The cash option, which nearly all winners choose, would pay out $443.3 million.

If you’re like most of us, you’re imagining what you would do if you won the lottery. Here’s the ironic part: compared to most of the people who have ever lived, you already have.

You are living in the most prosperous time in human history. As Yuval Harari notes, GDP in America grew between 1950 and 2000 from $2 trillion to $12 trillion. Real per capita income has doubled. Has all this prosperity made us happier? Not at all. Studies show that our subjective well-being levels are the same as they were in the 1950s.

In Peru, Haiti, the Philippines, and Ghana—developing countries dealing with poverty and political instability—the suicide rate is half of prosperous countries such as Switzerland, France, Japan, and New Zealand. South Korea has seen an amazing rise in economic prosperity since 1985, but its suicide rate has quadrupled since then.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Someone won $758.7 million last night →

Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn is threatening legal action against those responsible for leaking nude photos of herself and then-boyfriend Tiger Woods. Dozens of such photos of the couple and other celebrities are reportedly being released onto the internet.

Here’s my question: If Lindsey Vonn and Tiger Woods followed biblical morality, would they be in this position? They were never married, yet they obviously behaved as if they were. The seventh commandment would have prevented the humiliation that is now transpiring.

We can ask a second question of the other celebrities whose intimate photos are now being published: Why do these photos exist? I’m not defending those who are distributing them, of course. But if the celebrities obeyed Scripture regarding modesty (1 Timothy 2:9–10), lust (Matthew 5:28), and stewardship of our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19), we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

Here’s my third question: When you heard about the photos of Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn, did the immorality of their relationship come first to mind? Or is such sexuality so common today that you’re desensitized to it morally?

In a culture as hedonistic as ours, one of Satan’s most effective tools is the “everyone’s doing it” strategy. Three results please him and grieve our Lord:

One: We participate in ungodly activities because they’re now “normal.” One survey reports that only 11 percent of Christian singles are waiting to have sex until they’re married.

Two: We stop teaching biblical morality to our children. Scripture calls us to teach God’s precepts “diligently to your children” (Deuteronomy 6:7). But it’s hard to teach what we don’t believe. If we think sex outside of marriage is normal, so will our kids. Continue reading Denison Forum – Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn photos spark furor →

Last night, President Trump announced a new strategy for winning America’s longest war.

Our troops have been in Afghanistan for almost sixteen years; more than two thousand American soldiers have died there. The president plans to deploy more troops to continue training Afghan forces, with the goal of defeating the Taliban and securing the country.

Meanwhile, the news has been dominated by the first total solar eclipse to be seen coast to coast in America since 1918. Millions of people watched what the Associated Press is calling “the most-observed and most-photographed eclipse in history.”

I was one of them. I was also one of the millions who watched the president’s speech live.

I could have read about either event after it happened. Viewing them personally changed neither of them. It’s not as though I had nothing else to do.

Why, then, was watching the eclipse and the president’s address as they occurred so important to me?

There is something in us that wants to witness history. We want to be part of the big events, the significant moments that will be discussed far into the future.

Continue reading Denison Forum – President announces new Afghanistan strategy →

Fred Espenak is known as “Mr. Eclipse.” The retired NASA astrophysicist has traveled all over the world to see twenty-seven total solar eclipses.

Today, for the first time in thirty-eight years, he can stay in America.

The last total eclipse in the United States was in 1979. The last time a total eclipse was visible from coast to coast was June 8, 1918.

Today, as Newsweek explains, the moon will block the sun, casting us into “a short-lived night in the middle of the day.” The “path of totality,” where the full eclipse will be visible, crosses fourteen states from Madras, Oregon, to Columbia, South Carolina. People not on this path will see a partial eclipse if they live in North America and even parts of Africa, Europe, and South America.

Do not view the eclipse directly—you could damage your retinas permanently. You could view it through special glasses (avoid fakes), photograph it with your phone, or see it through a pinhole viewer. Or you could live stream it on NASA’s website.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Why today’s eclipse matters after today →

A van plowed into a crowd of people in Barcelona, Spain, yesterday. The death toll rose to fourteen this morning, with more than one hundred injured.

British actress Laila Rouass live tweeted her experience: “In the middle of the attack. Hiding in a restaurant freezer. Happened so fast. Praying for the safety of everyone here.”

Eight hours later, a second attack at the resort city of Cambrils was stopped when police killed five terrorists.

If these attacks had happened in America prior to 9/11, we would have been surprised and shocked. Even though Islamic radicals had been waging war for years, the 1993 shootings at the CIA Headquarters and the World Trade Center bombing in New York City were the only terror attacks on American soil.

But our ignorance did not change reality. From the 1979 seizure of our embassy in Iran until September 11, 2001, Wikipedia lists fifty-eight other jihadist attacks, killing more than two thousand people. These attacks did not shock most Americans because they seemed irrelevant to our lives.

Since 9/11, Wikipedia lists 419 separate attacks through June 9, 2017, killing more than fourteen thousand people. However, only ten of these were on American soil. The others did not shock most of us because we have grown callous to global jihadism.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Actress hid in freezer during terror attack →

Karen Gaffney has participated in a relay swim of the English Channel. She has swum across Lake Tahoe, Boston Harbor, and San Francisco Bay (sixteen times). She has a college degree and an honorary doctorate.

She also has Down syndrome.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately one in every seven hundred babies in the United States is born with Down syndrome. About six thousand Down syndrome babies are born in the US each year.

Down syndrome occurs in people of all races and economic levels. No one knows what causes the chromosomal condition that produces it, though the chances increase with the mother’s age. Since many couples are having children later in life, the incidence of Down syndrome conceptions is expected to rise.

With recent advancements in clinical treatment such as corrective heart surgery, as many as 80 percent of adults with Down syndrome reach the age of sixty. Many live even longer. Studies show that 99 percent of people with Down syndrome are happy with their lives; 97 percent like who they are; and 96 percent like how they look.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Iceland is eradicating Down syndrome babies →