Today’s New York Times announces: “No Longer a Dream: Silicon Valley Takes on the Flying Car.” Uber is beginning the Elevate Summit today in Dallas, a three-day conference focusing on “the future of on-demand, urban air transportation.” Speakers include senators, governors, NASA scientists, and industry pioneers.

The Aeromobil was unveiled in Monaco on April 20. The flying car will cost more than a million dollars and is due out in three years. Other options are expected to be much less expensive.

Innovation proceeds at a breakneck pace, but human nature remains the same.

Sirens sounded across Israel yesterday as the nation paused for Holocaust Remembrance Day. I have been in Israel on this solemn day. Cars stop; business ceases; the entire nation remembers the “Shoah” (Hebrew for “catastrophe”) in which a third of the world’s Jews were annihilated.

Most of the world’s leaders routinely condemn anti-Semitism, yet violence against Jews continues to rise. In the US, assaults against Jews rose 50 percent over the last two years. Anti-Semitic incidents at colleges and universities nearly doubled last year. Anti-Semitism is rampant in Europe as well, where Jews were murdered in Paris and Copenhagen and synagogues were attacked by mobs and firebombed.

While science increasingly confirms that life begins at conception, abortion advocates continue to press their position. Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez declared recently that “every Democrat” should be pro-choice. “That is not negotiable and should not change city by city or state by state,” he claimed.

Even Nancy Pelosi and Bernie Sanders disagreed, contending that Democrats could have varying opinions on this issue. Republican Sen. Ben Sasse tweeted a picture of a baby in the womb and the note, “@Tom Perez Your profile says you fight for the little guy. Please check out this little fella—special, isn’t he? (He’s 12 weeks old.)”

Continue reading Denison Forum – Flying cars and the reason for our existence →

Happy Days was one of the most popular shows on television when I was in high school. The sitcom idealized American life in the mid-1950s to mid-1960s. Ron Howard (“Richie Cunningham”) was the star; Erin Moran played his kid sister, “Joanie.” Now the actress has made headlines once again, but for a tragic reason: she was found dead last Saturday at the age of fifty-six. Moran had reportedly been living in a Holiday Inn Express after struggling with homelessness.

The death of a Happy Days star feels like a sign of the times, but there’s more to the story.

While Erin Moran’s life came to a tragic end, Ron Howard has become a very successful movie director and actor. Henry Winkler (“Fonzie”) is a multi-millionaire with regular television appearances and multiple credits as a director, producer, and author. Tom Bosley (“Mr. Cunningham”) frequently appeared on television; Marion Ross (“Mrs. Cunningham”) has been nominated for several Emmys and continues to act at the age of eighty-six.

How we choose to see the world is usually how we see the world. Consider three examples in today’s news.

One: The French elections

The New York Times calls Sunday’s vote a “full-throated rebuke of France’s traditional mainstream parties.” Since the country moved to a direct popular vote in 1965, the French presidency has been won each time by a candidate representing either the major center-right or the major center-left parties. For the first time, neither party survived to the second round of voting. The outcome would seem to presage more political turbulence for the global economy.

However, US stock futures rose sharply after the results came in. Centrist Emmanuel Macron is widely expected to defeat far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in the May 7 runoff. According to one analyst, yesterday’s outcome is “a solid vote in favor of a more solidly integrated Europe.”

Two: American politics
Continue reading Denison Forum – Erin Moran and the pivotal decision of life →

Rob Gronkowski is many things. Selected four times as a Pro Bowl and All-Pro player, he is the first tight end to lead the NFL in receiving touchdowns. He is also known for his pranks. For instance, after quarterback Tom Brady’s Super Bowl jersey was stolen and then recovered, Gronkowski stole it from him during opening day ceremonies for the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

Now he might be adding White House Press Secretary to his list of achievements. Gronkowski and many of his New England Patriots teammates were in Washington this week to be honored for their latest Super Bowl win. He dropped by a press briefing being conducted by Press Secretary Sean Spicer, a well-known Patriots fan. Gronkowski emerged from a door behind the podium and asked, “Sean, need any help?” Spicer grinned and replied, “I think I got this but thank you.”

Even though you probably didn’t make Time magazine’s list of the “100 Most Influential People” in the world, it’s still a good day for good news in the news. For instance, NASA tells us that an asteroid the length of six football fields came closer to us than at any time in four hundred years but nonetheless missed our planet. Research indicates that happiness is crucial to learning for teenagers, the function of a demonstrated connection between well-being, belonging, and achievement. Even if you’re not happy, you can be happy about your lack of happiness: research shows that women who are “less cheerful and more proud” at work are more likely to be promoted to management positions.

Joy is a frequent theme of Scripture. We are taught to “rejoice in hope” (Romans 12:12) and to “count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds” (James 1:2). We can do this when we are “filled” with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18) because joy is one of the “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22).

Continue reading Denison Forum – Rob Gronkowski for WH Press Secretary? →

On Easter Sunday, Robert Godwin was walking down a street in Cleveland, Ohio. Steve Stephens gunned him down, then posted a video of the killing on Facebook. Before the shooting, he demanded that Godwin say “Joy Lane,” the name of Stephens’s ex-girlfriend. “She’s the reason this is about to happen to you,” he told Godwin.

Two days later, Lane and two of Godwin’s daughters met for the first time. There were no accusations, just hugs and mutual grief. The sisters told her that the killing was not her fault and they hold no ill will toward her. In an interview with CNN, several of Godwin’s children said they held no animosity toward Stephens, either. They explained that their father taught them the value of hard work, how to love God, and how to forgive.

The same day Lane and Godwin’s daughters met, Stephens shot himself.

Another suicide making headlines is the death of former NFL player Aaron Hernandez. Hernandez was an All-American player at the University of Florida, where his team won a national title in 2009. By 2011, he had developed into one of the top five tight ends in the NFL. He became a father and purchased a 7,100-square-foot home in Massachusetts.

In 2013, Hernandez was arrested and charged with murder in the shooting death of a friend, Odin Lloyd. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Yesterday morning, he was found dead in his prison cell. According to authorities, he used bed sheets to hang himself from his window.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Murderer’s ex-girlfriend meets victim’s family →

Two headlines are dominating today’s news. First, former NFL player Aaron Hernandez hung himself and was found dead in his jail cell. Second, Democrat Jon Ossoff fell short in his quest to win a Republican district in Georgia, a race many viewed as a referendum on President Trump.

I will write on both stories tomorrow. For today, let’s focus on four questions of global significance.

One: Why does North Korea want nuclear weapons?

In a word, survival. The regime believes that a nuclear deterrent is its only way to maintain power and prevent invasion from America or South Korea. An editorial in North Korean media explained: “History proves that powerful nuclear deterrence serves as the strongest treasured sword for frustrating outsiders’ aggression. The Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq and the Gaddafi regime in Libya could not escape the fate of destruction after being deprived of their foundations for nuclear development and giving up nuclear programs of their own accord.”

Economic sanctions cause the North Korean people to suffer but do not threaten its leaders. Kim Jong-un knows that China will not let his regime fall, lest North Korean immigrants flood China’s borders. And he knows that China does not want his country to reunite with South Korea, as this would further America’s geopolitical interests in the region.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Aaron Hernandez suicide and 4 global questions →

Did you hear about the husband and wife who went to a fertility clinic, gave DNA samples, and discovered that they are fraternal twins?

Websites around the world covered their remarkable story. Their biological parents were killed in a car crash when they were infants, and they were eventually adopted out to separate families. Due to a filing error, neither family was told that their adopted child had a twin. The couple met during college and eventually married. Now they are considering the future of their relationship.

Here’s the real news: everything you just read is fake.

A news outlet calling itself the Mississippi Herald told the story. It turns out to be part of a network of fake local news sites that recently began generating hoaxes. At a time when media are supposed to be on the lookout for fake news, this completely false story still ended up on major news websites.

I’ve been reading through Proverbs lately and discovered the only prayer in this amazing book. A man named “Agur son of Jakeh,” otherwise unknown to Scripture or history, was the author of Proverbs 30. In verse 5 he testified that “every word of God proves true.” In response to this fact, he offered his prayer two verses later: “Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die: Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?'” (vv. 7–9).

Agur recognized that both poverty and riches can tempt us into materialism and away from dependence on God, an insight that is obviously relevant in our consumer culture. But the part of his prayer that most impresses me today is his plea for God to “remove far from me falsehood and lying.” “Falsehood” translates an extremely negative Hebrew term that describes deceit, fraudulence, wickedness, and destruction. “Lying” refers to the verbal means by which “falsehood” is conveyed.

I see two important lessons here for us.

One: We cannot determine falsehood without God’s help.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Husband and wife discover they are twins →

US Vice President Mike Pence is in South Korea this morning, where he issued a warning that North Korea “would do well not to test the resolve or the strength of the armed forces of the United States in this region.” This after North Korea staged another missile test Saturday. Though it failed, their military currently has about ten nuclear weapons with enough material to make one hundred more. Intelligence agencies estimate that North Korea’s missiles could reach South Korea or Japan now and the continental US by 2026.

If you’re looking for protection from World War III, a global pandemic, or an asteroid, and you have a spare billion dollars, a “billionaire bunker” may be for you.

Developers are converting Cold War-era missile silos and military bunkers built by the US and the USSR, equipping them with water purification systems, air filtration, and food supplies for a year or more. One compound will have a community theater, classrooms, hydroponic gardens, a medical clinic, a spa, and a gym.

A development in the Czech Republic includes an above-ground estate and a 77,000-square-foot underground component. One company’s sales have grown 700 percent compared to 2015.

On the same theme, “longevity scientists” are making news these days. The New Yorker tells the story of researchers who are searching for ways to extend physical life. One doctor claims that “we can end aging forever.” Many are taking these claims seriously; one company raised $116 million from such investors as Jeff Bezos and Peter Thiel.

Humans are motivated to defeat death because we fear what we do not know, and death is the greatest unknown of all. But if we know that death leads to life and the worst that could happen leads to the best that could happen, we turn fear into faith. We claim Jesus’ promise, “Everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:26). And we testify with Paul, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).

Continue reading Denison Forum – Billionaire bunkers for the apocalypse →

The daughter and attorney of Dr. David Dao held a news conference yesterday morning. The attorney told reporters that when his client was forcibly evicted from the United flight last Sunday, he suffered a concussion and broken nose and lost two front teeth. Dr. Dao’s daughter stated, “What happened to my dad should’ve never happened to any human being.”

As the United firestorm continues, a dear friend shared an insight with me that I asked his permission to share with you. Dr. David Dykes is the longtime pastor of the amazing Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas. Regarding the man pulled from the flight, his first thought was, “When they are dragging this bleeding man off the plane, why didn’t someone stand up and say, ‘Let him go. I’ll take his place. Take me instead’?

“I suppose all the passengers were shocked and stunned into silence. I’m just glad that 2,000 years ago when I should have been the one rejected and bloodied, Jesus stepped forward and said, ‘Let him go. I’ll take his place. Take me instead!'”

St. Melito, bishop of Sardis (died AD 180), described well what Jesus experienced on Good Friday: he “endured every kind of suffering in all those who foreshadowed him. In Abel he was slain, in Isaac bound, in Jacob exiled, in Joseph sold, in Moses exposed to die. He was sacrificed in the Passover lamb, persecuted in David, dishonored in the prophets.”

How should we respond to such sacrificial grace?

In Psalm 101, David vowed: “I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless” (v. 3). After a long discussion of foods that are suitable for eating, the Lord concludes: “Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44). Paul encouraged us to “cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1). He added that “God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness” (1 Thessalonians 4:7). Job testified, “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?” (Job 31:1).

Continue reading Denison Forum – Inspiring insight from United Airlines firestorm →

This tweet caught my eye: “7-year-old Brody Stephens has leukemia, but that hasn’t stopped him from playing basketball and inspiring NBA stars like Steph Curry.” The tweet was accompanied by a video of Brody dribbling and shooting, along with a gallery of athletes he has met with and encouraged.

When someone chooses courage in the face of overwhelming obstacles, their decision inspires the rest of us. I believe that’s one reason why Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane on Maundy Thursday is recorded in Scripture. We don’t need to know about his prayer to know that he was arrested and then executed. His disciples were asleep and did not hear his agonizing surrender to God; either Jesus or the Holy Spirit revealed to them his decision.

Our Father wants us to know of his Son’s faithfulness so we can choose to follow his example. Jesus’ prayer is our model: “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).

The word “nevertheless” is found 245 times in the Bible (in thirteen translations). For instance, the Jebusites “said to David, ‘You will not come in here'” (2 Samuel 5:6). “Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David” (v. 7). The psalmist testified, “When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was a beast toward you. Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand” (Psalm 73:21–24).

Continue reading Denison Forum – 7-year-old leukemia patient inspires athletes →

Videos of a man being dragged off a United Airlines flight have ignited a public relations crisis that continues this morning. Workers who take a break every ninety minutes report a 30 percent higher focus than those who take no breaks or just one during the day.

What do these facts have in common?

I returned last night from five days in Cuba. This was my ninth time to visit this beautiful island nation. I have grown over the years to love the Cuban people. Each time I visit, I return more inspired by their passion for Jesus, their courageous service, and their sacrificial faith.

A spiritual awakening is continuing to sweep the Cuban nation. The Associated Press recently reported on the religious boom in Cuba, a revival that is touching other lands and churches. The news is spreading across the globe and touching more people than Cuban Christians can imagine.

A man taken from an airplane makes global headlines. Private breaks for workers lead to public success. Though most people have never seen the Cuban church, they are being inspired by their story.

Today in Holy Week is often called Silent Wednesday. On this day, Jesus did nothing that is recorded in Scripture. He spent the day with his friends in Bethany, preparing for tomorrow’s betrayal and Friday’s crucifixion.

Of all the lessons from Silent Wednesday we could discuss today, this principle is foremost in my mind: what we do that the world does not see often changes what the world does see.

Apparently, the authorities in Jerusalem did not know or care that Jesus spent this day in private. They had no idea that he was praying and resting, preparing himself for what would soon become the most public of events. In contrast to the solitude of this day, he would soon drag a cross through crowded streets and be executed in full view of the multitudes that came from around the world for Passover.

Continue reading Denison Forum – A surprising lesson I learned this week in Cuba →

United Airlines Flight 3411 was departing Sunday from Chicago for Louisville, Kentucky. The flight was overbooked, so the airline notified passengers that it would need four people to volunteer for a later flight. None did.

The airline offered passengers $400 and a night in a hotel, but no one accepted. They increased their offer to $800 and a hotel room. Still, no one accepted. A manager then came on board to announce that a computer was going to select four passengers randomly.

A United employee first approached a couple who left the plane without incident. A third person was chosen. He told officials that he was a doctor and was needed in Louisville on Monday morning to see patients. Three security officers confronted the man as he was talking on his cell phone to his lawyer. When he refused to get up, they pulled him from his seat and dragged him from the airplane.

A passenger recorded a video of the incident. It quickly went viral.

United Airline CEO Oscar Munoz said in a statement, “I apologize for having to re-accommodate these passengers. Our team is moving with a sense of urgency to work with the authorities and conduct our own detailed review of what happened. We are also reaching out to this passenger to talk directly to him and further address and resolve this situation.”

As many on social media have noted, United had a simple solution: keep offering incentives until someone accepts. The airline could have saved itself horrible publicity and a probable lawsuit.

Here’s an interesting fact: United did what all airlines used to do. Randomly removing passengers from overbooked airplanes was airline policy until economist Julian Simon offered a solution. A 2014 article for Fortune explained his proposal: airlines should auction off the right to be bumped by offering vouchers that go up for overbooked flights.

Simon made his suggestion in the 1960s but wasn’t able to get regulators interested until the 1970s. Until that time, airlines deliberately did not fill their planes. As a result, they had to charge customers more to compensate for their empty seats.

Continue reading Denison Forum – United removes passenger, creates Internet frenzy →

Suicide bombers attacked two Coptic churches in Egypt yesterday, killing forty-four people. It was the deadliest day of violence in the country in decades. ISIS has claimed responsibility for both bombings.

The first attack was in the northern city of Tanta at St. George’s Church. The explosion killed twenty-seven and injured seventy-eight others. The explosive device was planted under a seat in the main prayer hall close to the altar. Shortly afterward, at St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria, sixteen people were killed and forty-one were wounded in a suicide bomb attack.

Where is God when such atrocity strikes?

An all-knowing, all-loving, all-powerful God would know the attacks would happen before they did. He would have both the compassion and the power to prevent them. Yet he did not.

We need to remember that God did not cause these attacks—terrorists did. God gave them the same free will he gives to us all. He intends us to use our freedom to love him and each other (Matthew 22:37–39). When we use our freedom for evil instead, he could remove the consequences of our sin. But this would, in effect, remove our freedom. Our purpose as humans made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26–27) would be defeated.

Instead of removing our freedom and its consequences, our Lord chose to redeem them.

On Palm Sunday, Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem in direct fulfillment of messianic prophecy (Zechariah 9:9), knowing the authorities would respond by seeking his arrest and execution. On Monday, he overturned the moneychangers’ tables, further provoking the wrath of his enemies. On Tuesday, he defeated them again and again in public debate. On Maundy Thursday, he waited in the Garden of Gethsemane as they came to arrest him. On Good Friday, the One whose power calmed raging seas and raised the dead allowed Roman soldiers to nail him to a cross.

Here’s the point: our Lord entered our fallen condition and took the consequences of our freedom on himself. He did not remove our freedom—he redeemed it. As a result, by the sanctifying, indwelling power of his Spirit, human free will can be used to advance his Kingdom for his eternal glory and our eternal good.

For example: As Jesus grieves with the victims in Egypt and their families, he calls us to grieve. As he ministers to their broken hearts by his Spirit, he calls us to minister to them by our intercession. As he brings spiritual awakening to the Muslim world, he calls us to advance spiritual awakening in their culture and ours through prayer, worship, and witness.

It is human nature to ask why sinful, broken people act in sinful, broken ways. Such questions are completely understandable and even biblical (Isaiah 1:18). But our Father then calls us to move from speculation to action, from asking why tragedy strikes to asking how we can help its victims.

When the second ISIS bomber neared St. Mark’s Cathedral, a security officer saw him and tried to hug him to shield the crowd moments before the explosion. This brave man gave his life so others could live. He served the victims and emulated Jesus.

How will we do the same today?

NOTE: I invite you to download my latest website article, The Syrian Conflict: Causes and Biblical Responses. Also, I will be posting devotional articles on our website each day of Holy Week. For today’s devotional, click here.

Denison Forum

Last night, US forces launched fifty-nine precision-guided missiles at the Shayrat Airfield in Syria. The base houses the two squadrons of Syria’s Su-22 ground attack aircraft used to carry out the April 4 chemical attack that killed at least eighty-eight civilians.

US President Donald Trump explained: “It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons.” Syria called the US strikes an act of aggression. Russian President Vladimir Putin defended the Syrian government and said that the strikes “have dealt a serious blow to Russian-US relations.”

This is the first direct military action the US has taken against the al-Assad regime. Syria’s six-year civil war has claimed more than 400,000 lives, displaced six million people internally, and caused five million Syrians to flee the country. It appears that the attack was a warning rather than the beginning of a major intervention since the US targeted only one base. Also, US missiles did not target Syrian surface-to-air missile sites, indicating that the strikes were not preparation for larger fixed-wing airstrikes.

What is a biblical response to this news? Consider four imperatives.

One: Defend those who cannot defend themselves. Sen. Ben Sasse: “The use of chemical weapons cannot become normal—civilized people cannot grow indifferent to such suffering.” God’s word agrees: “Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked” (Psalm 82:3–4).

Continue reading Denison Forum – Missile strike in Syria: 4 biblical imperatives →

“There’s so little trust between the two parties that it was very difficult to put together an agreement that would avert changing the rules.” This is how Sen. Susan Collins (Republican from Maine) explained the failure of efforts to avoid today’s “nuclear option.” Republicans are now expected to change Senate rules today so that a simple majority can confirm Judge Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court. Democrats warn that this change will damage any prospects for bipartisan efforts in the future.

Senate Republicans are also considering other rules changes that would further prevent Democratic opposition and speed up the consideration of President Trump’s non-Cabinet positions. A spending bill later this month to prevent a government shutdown is expected to be extremely contentious as well.

I remember when Republicans were led by President Ronald Reagan and Democrats by Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill. They battled mightily over policy and party differences but then came together for the country’s good. Now we seem to be divided across the spectrum of life, from abortion to sexual identity to marriage to family to taxes to health care to euthanasia. Why?

For an answer, I reached back twenty-six years to a book that coined the phrase that defines our era. In 1991, sociologist James Davison Hunter published Culture Wars. He noted that “America is in the midst of a culture war that has and will continue to have reverberations not only within public policy but within the lives of ordinary Americans everywhere.”

According to Hunter, our conflicts are “rooted in different systems of moral understanding.” The orthodox system affirms a “consistent, unchangeable measure of value, purpose, goodness and identity.” It trusts objective authority sources such as the Bible. By contrast, cultural progressivism believes that humans experience the world subjectively as our minds interpret our senses. As a result, it claims, there is “no objective and final revelation from God” since “moral and spiritual truth can only be conditional and relative.”

Continue reading Denison Forum – The ‘nuclear option’ and the grace of God →

I was there for the birth of the legend that is Tony Romo.

It was October 23, 2006, during a game between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants. My older son and I were at the game. The Cowboys were struggling in the first half; when the team came out to start the second half, there was palpable excitement on their sideline. I turned to my son and said, “I’ll bet they start Romo.” It turned out, I was right.

His first pass was tipped and intercepted. He went on to throw two touchdowns and three interceptions in the game. Two days later, Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells named Romo the team’s starting quarterback. He made the Pro Bowl that year, the first of four times he received that prestigious honor. In the years following, the list of Cowboys team records he set is astounding:

•    Passing touchdowns for a career (eighty more than Troy Aikman)
•    Passing yards for a career
•    Quarterback rating for a career
•    Games with three or more touchdowns
•    Games with three hundred or more yards passing
•    Most fourth-quarter comebacks (five more than Roger Staubach)
•    Passing touchdowns in a season
•    Passing yards in a season
•    Passing yards in a game.

In addition, Romo is the NFL’s all-time highest rated quarterback for the month of December and for the fourth quarter of games played.
Continue reading Denison Forum – The moment that changed Tony Romo’s career →

North Carolina’s victory over Gonzaga in last night’s NCAA title game is dominating headlines this morning. Meanwhile, four other stories in the news are more troubling:

•  A Mississippi woman called 911 yesterday as her car sank into a rain-swollen creek. She tried to direct rescuers to her location, but they arrived too late. They later found her body in the creek outside her car. She was one of four people killed in storms across the South.
•  A boiler exploded in an industrial building south of St. Louis yesterday morning, killing three people and damaging three buildings.
•  More than 250 people have died in Mocoa, Columbia, after a wall of water and mud hit the town like an avalanche. Rescue crews are desperately digging through the rubble in their search for survivors.
•  A bomb blast on a subway train in St. Petersburg, Russia, killed fourteen people. Authorities now say that the attacker, Akbarjon Djalilov, was a suicide bomber.

When I read about the first three tragedies, I felt grief for the victims and their families, but I did not feel a sense of fear or dread. We live in a fallen world where such disasters are an inevitable occurrence (Romans 8:22). We don’t spend much emotional energy fearing what we know we need to accept. As we grow older, we become callous to this reality unless it threatens us directly.

When I heard about the fourth, my visceral reaction was different. I’m guessing yours was the same. Terrorism that is so leaderless and amorphous could seemingly strike anywhere at any time. I don’t see why residents of St. Petersburg would be more susceptible to attack than residents where I live in Dallas, Texas.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Officials say Russia attack was suicide bombing →

South Carolina defeated Mississippi State last night in the NCAA women’s basketball championship game. This after Mississippi State ended Connecticut’s historic 111-game winning streak Friday night with a stunning shot at the overtime buzzer. Gonzaga plays North Carolina tonight in the much-anticipated men’s title game.

March Madness has been a welcome distraction from the news. CNN is reporting today that Chicago police have arrested a fourteen-year-old boy in a group sexual assault on a teenage girl that was broadcast on Facebook Live. Police are looking for as many as six people who were shown in the video of the assault.

Former Defense Secretary Ash Carter told a reporter yesterday that a preemptive strike against North Korea could lead to an invasion of South Korea. London is now home to more than 423 mosques and is, according to one Islamic preacher, “more Islamic than many Muslim countries put together.”

What many of us feel as we read the news is more anxiety than fear. Theologian Paul Tillich distinguished between the two: fear has a specific object, while anxiety is more ambiguous and amorphous. We prefer the former to the latter—we can define and hopefully defeat our enemy, but it’s hard to defeat a feeling. Many have a general sense that things are not going well (only 38 percent of likely voters say the US is headed in the right direction) but don’t know what to do about it.

In this context, a statement I read recently has been deeply encouraging.

Continue reading Denison Forum – March Madness and anxious times →

Vanna White has been turning letters on Wheel of Fortune for more than three decades. As the show prepares to celebrate its thirty-fifth season this September, she gave an interview to Fox News that is making news today.

Here are some interesting facts she disclosed:

• She has worn more than 6,500 dresses on the show.
• She calls Pat Sajak her “work spouse,” but they tape only four days a month, so it’s an unusual friendship.
• She realized she “made it” when she saw herself on the cover of Newsweek while standing in line at a grocery store.
• She began supporting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital after she became a mother.
• She is now sixty years old but intends to keep working as long as she can.

The reporter asked if she regrets posing for Playboy years ago. She explained: “When I first moved to Hollywood, I was too embarrassed to ask my dad for rent money. I was young and I wanted to do it on my own. So, I did these lingerie shots and from the moment I said I would do them, I thought, ‘I shouldn’t be doing this, but I’m not going to ask my dad for money, so I’m just going to do it!’ Once I got ‘Wheel of Fortune’ and some fame, Hugh Hefner then bought those pictures. He’s the one who put me on the cover of the magazine. I didn’t do it for Playboy. I didn’t want them on there, but it happened.”

Vanna White made some money she spent many years ago, but she will regret her decision for the rest of her life. Her experience illustrates perfectly the paradox of temptation and integrity. Temptation seems to benefit more than it costs at first, but its disastrous consequences always outweigh their reward. Integrity usually costs more than it benefits at first, but its positive consequences always outweigh their cost.

Continue reading Denison Forum – What does Vanna White regret? →

I woke up this morning to news that a bus carrying fourteen senior adults from First Baptist Church of New Braunfels collided with a pickup yesterday afternoon. Thirteen bus passengers were killed. One passenger was hospitalized in critical condition; the pickup driver was hospitalized in stable condition.

The senior adults were returning from a three-day retreat at a Baptist encampment.

So far this morning, authorities have not determined the cause of the crash. No matter who or what caused the crash, the passengers were not at fault. Yet all but one were killed.

Tragedies like this bring us to the most difficult challenge Christians face theologically. We believe that God is all-knowing, all-loving, and all-powerful. No other religion affirms these tenets about a personal God as fully as we do.

Since God is omniscient and not bound by time, he knew that the crash would happen before it did (Psalm 139:4; 1 John 3:20). Since he is love (1 John 4:8), he would seemingly not want such a tragedy to come to his children. Since he is omnipotent (Matthew 19:26), he could have prevented the crash from occurring. The Lord who stilled the storms and raised the dead could have stopped a bus and a pickup truck from colliding.

Yet he did not.

Today there are families grieving the sudden loss of their parents and grandparents. A pastor is trying to help his congregation come to terms with a tragedy their church will obviously never forget. The rest of us will watch with sorrow for those who are suffering.

Continue reading Denison Forum – 13 killed in Texas church bus crash →

Disunity is making headlines this morning. Democrats are threatening to block Judge Neil Gorsuch’s path to the Supreme Court; Republicans are threatening to change Senate rules to allow a simple majority to confirm his nomination. The UK has formally begun its departure from the European Union while Scotland is taking steps toward independence.

Meanwhile, good news on unity comes from a source you might not have considered: trailer parks.

Let’s say you’re planning to retire to Florida so you can play golf, go to the beach, and generally enjoy life. But you don’t have the money for an expensive retirement village. According to today’s Time magazine, more and more people are moving into mobile homes located in senior adult trailer parks. For instance, one section of one Florida county features 150 trailer parks for seniors.

Their allure is not the mobile home but the community that surrounds it. Here, seniors go shopping and play games and look out for one another. They are safer and happier together than they are apart. They know intuitively what the Bible says explicitly: we are broken people in need of unity.

Do you feel a need for inner cohesion, a sense of centeredness in a conflicted and fragmented culture? I feel the same way. I’ve been meditating lately on this brief prayer by King David: “Unite my heart to fear your name” (Psalm 86:11). “Unite” translates the Hebrew yahed, meaning “to concentrate” or “to be joined exclusively to.” The “heart” in Jewish psychology is the center of our emotions and will. David prays that his life would be focused, centered, holistic, indivisible. He seeks to be one person in every dimension and circumstance of his life.

Three facts follow:

One: We are not who we need to be.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Trailer parks: the new retirement trend →