“It is with profound sadness that I am confirming that the legendary, iconic performer, Prince Rogers Nelson, has died at his Paisley Park residence this morning at the age of 57.” So reported his publicist yesterday, news that made instant headlines around the world.

Prince was born on June 7, 1958, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was signed to Warner Brothers Records as a teenager; his debut album in 1978 put him on the road to superstardom.

He was a singer, songwriter, multiple instrumentalist, producer, and actor. Prince was often compared to Michael Jackson and was considered a musical genius by many. He won seven Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe, and an Academy Award. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.

No stranger to controversy, many of his lyrics were sexually explicit, a fact that prompted a movement encouraging records to place advisory labels on albums with such lyrics. When his death was announced yesterday, CNN reports that fans rushed to buy his albums amid an outpouring of grief on social media.

Continue reading Denison Forum – PRINCE’S DEATH IS PERSONAL TO ME →

Now is the time when many of us are deciding where to go on summer vacation. Ads are playing on television and the Internet espousing attractions around the world. Here’s one destination you may not have considered: St. Joseph, Missouri.

Famous as the starting point of the Pony Express and the dying place of Jesse James, the town now has a new claim to fame: a McDonalds restaurant will open there this summer. Why is that news? Because it will offer all-you-can-eat fries.

They’re not the only culinary option in today’s news. The co-founders of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream were arrested this week at the U.S. Capitol. Not for making a product with too many calories, but for taking part in a protest intended to make sure “power in this country is returned to the people.”

There’s even more gastronomic news: Time magazine has notified us that “Hillary Clinton carries Ninja Squirrel hot sauce everywhere.” The presidential candidate says she has been eating chilies regularly since 1992. They do have significant health benefits: the Time article tells us that chilies “are absolutely crammed with nutrients,” including folic acid and vitamins A, E, and C. A 2015 study showed that adults in China who ate spicy food regularly had a fourteen percent decrease in mortality.

Continue reading Denison Forum – THE VACATION SPOT FOR FRENCH FRIES LOVERS →

God is doing amazing things today. Genuine spiritual awakening is sweeping many nations in the world. More people are coming to Christ than ever before. Our Father is the King of the universe, and he is still on his throne.

Please remember these facts as you read what follows.

Quartz is generating attention with this headline: “For many of us, monogamy is not an emotionally healthy pursuit.” The writer calls for us to leave behind the “fairy tale” that monogamy is vital to an “emotionally fulfilled life.”

The article assumes that there are no objective moral reasons for marital fidelity apart from concern for the children. So a “suitable alternative” is for couples to remain faithful until children leave the home, then embrace an “open relationship.”

Quartz has also published a fascinating article protesting the “commodification” of women’s bodies on social media as girls use selfies and other pictures to get attention. The author complains that this trend is “at odds with the goals of feminism.” She’s right, but she doesn’t go nearly far enough.

Continue reading Denison Forum – THREE SHOCKING STORIES AND THE HOPE OF SCRIPTURE →

Morgan Freeman is one of my favorite actors. Clearly I’m not alone—the Academy-Award winning actor has made at least forty-five movies. However, his faith is not the reason I admire his work. When asked if he would consider himself an atheist or agnostic, he replied, “I think we invented God. So if I believe in God, and I do, it’s because I think I’m God.”

Now Freeman is making headlines with “The Story of God,” one of the highest-rated programs in the history of National Geographic Channel. His goal is to unite people of different religions, showing that “we’re all seeking the same thing . . . and basically coming up with the same ideas about who we are, what we are, and where we are going.”

Welcome to the age of relativism, where “all roads lead up the same mountain” and truth is whatever we say it is. Except when our “truth” is biblical. Then we’re intolerant if not dangerous.

Consider the furor that erupted recently when Hillary Clinton told a television interviewer that “the unborn person doesn’t have constitutional rights.” Pro-life supporters obviously disagreed. But the surprise was that pro-abortion forces criticized her statement as well. That’s because Planned Parenthood refers to the “unborn person” as a “fetus” or even “uterine contents.”

Continue reading Denison Forum – WHY IS MORGAN FREEMAN’S ‘THE STORY OF GOD’ SO POPULAR? →

The American Library Association has released its list of the ten “most challenged” books. A challenge is “a formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that a book or other material be restricted or removed because of its content or appropriateness.” A book that is challenged may or may not be censored by the school.

50 Shades of Grey made the list for obvious reasons: “Sexually explicit, unsuited to age group.” Eight other books were challenged for similar reasons: homosexuality, violence, and/or offensive language. But included on the list is “The Holy Bible.” The reason cited: “Religious viewpoint.”

In related news, a student at England’s Sheffield University has been expelled because he quoted the book of Leviticus in support of Kentucky clerk Kim Davis’s position on same-sex marriage. Social work major Felix Ngole’s Facebook post was private and could be seen only by his friends. Nonetheless, university administrators ruled that his post “may have caused offense to some individuals.” They determined that his Christian views regarding marriage would render him unable to serve as a social worker.

Continue reading Denison Forum – WHAT DO THE BIBLE AND ’50 SHADES OF GREY’ HAVE IN COMMON? →

When James Ross Clemens fell seriously ill in London, some newspaper accounts confused him with his cousin Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain. The writer reportedly responded, “Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”

God can say the same in America today.

In 1965, a Harris poll announced that ninety-seven percent of Americans believed in God. In a 2014 Gallup poll, the number had fallen to eighty-six percent. Twelve percent of Americans claimed they had no belief, while two percent had no opinion. Such surveys fuel the persistent claim that faith is in serious decline in the U.S.

However, these numbers don’t tell the whole story.

Frank Newport, Gallup’s editor-in-chief, tells Time magazine that responses to faith surveys reflect changes in our culture. There was a time when “Americans felt obliged to say they were religious, but nowadays a lot of those same people feel more comfortable telling the interviewer, ‘No, I don’t believe in God’, or ‘I have no religious affiliation.'” In other words, the data may not reflect a decline in faith but rather a culture in which it is easier to be honest about doubt.

Continue reading Denison Forum – IS FAITH IN GOD DYING IN AMERICA? NOT YET →

Jordan Spieth was seven holes from winning the Masters for the second consecutive time when disaster struck on Sunday. He found himself at the twelfth hole, often called the most beautiful par-three in golf. It was anything but for Jordan, who hit two balls into the water. In the span of five minutes, his lead evaporated. Danny Willett, a new father and the son of a Church of England vicar, went on to win.

Today the sporting world is focused on what many are calling Jordan’s “collapse.” I have a different view.

Due to the great kindness of a friend, it was my privilege to attend the Masters last Friday. I followed Jordan Spieth from the time he began his round until our group had to leave for the flight back to Dallas. Several times I was ten or so feet from him.

Here’s what I observed: he is an amazingly talented golfer and an even better person.

Continue reading Denison Forum – THREE LESSONS FROM MY DAY WITH JORDAN SPIETH →

Trent Harmon is the fifteenth and last winner of American Idol. However, my favorite moment came before the winner was announced last night.

Carrie Underwood, arguably the most successful winner in the history of the show, was given the honor of performing the last song before the final results were announced. She chose to sing Something in the Water, a song about the way faith and baptism change those who know Christ. (For more, see Janet Denison’s article on her faith.) Her amazing performance illustrated the importance of using our influence for the glory of God.

But back to American Idol. Time magazine calls it the show that “won contemporary culture.” Why was it so successful? Why are the answers relevant to you this morning?

Time notes that Idol was the first show of its kind in the U.S. When it launched in 2002 as an adaptation of the British Pop Idol franchise, few expected it to do so well. Survivor, the first reality show, was only two years old. The genre was in its infancy, at least in our culture.

That was then; this is now.

Continue reading Denison Forum – THE SUCCESS OF ‘AMERICAN IDOL’ →

In 1976, Rocky won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Happy Days was the highest-rated show on television. Apple Computer was formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. And I voted in my first presidential election.

In the forty years since, I’ve never seen anything like this.

There have been forty-nine presidential primaries and caucuses so far, with 1,574 delegates awarded to Republican candidates and 4,380 to Democratic candidates. There are twenty-four primaries left, with 769 Republican and 1,977 Democratic delegates remaining. In other words, more than two-thirds of the delegates available have now been determined.

By this point in the 2012 race, Mitt Romney was the consensus Republican nominee; his remaining challengers would win a total of seventy-five delegates the rest of the way. In 2008, John McCain clinched the Republican nomination on March 4. In 2004, John Kerry clinched the Democratic nomination by March 11. In 2000, George W. Bush and Al Gore had each clinched their party’s nomination by March 15.

Continue reading Denison Forum – I’VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS →

This is the most absurd, contradictory story I can remember: The current Time magazine cover story reports on the disastrous effects of pornography on those who view it. Yet the magazine’s cover image is so explicit that I warn you not to view it. The image that accompanies the story on page 40 is nearly as graphic. I would not want this magazine near anyone I know.

First, let’s discuss the content of the article. Belinda Luscombe documents the growing number of young men who are convinced that “their sexual responses have been sabotaged because their brains were virtually marinated in porn when they were adolescents.” So they are creating online community groups, smartphone apps, and educational videos designed to help men quit porn. Luscombe observes: “For the first time, some of the most strident alarms are coming from the same demographic as its most enthusiastic customers.”

Many have been worried for years about pornography’s degradation of women and normalization of sexual aggression. British Prime Minister David Cameron has begun the process of requiring porn sites to verify the age of their users or face a fine. The Utah state legislature has unanimously passed a resolution treating porn as a public-health crisis.

Continue reading Denison Forum – DO NOT LOOK AT THE COVER OF ‘TIME’ MAGAZINE →

North Carolina is in the news today for two reasons. One is that the University of North Carolina lost the men’s NCAA basketball championship game last night to Villanova on an amazing last-second shot.

The second reason is that the state’s “bathroom bill” debate continues to generate national controversy. The story began in Charlotte, where an ordinance was passed that forced businesses to allow transgender customers to use the restrooms and locker rooms of their choice. If it had gone into effect, business owners could have faced fines and even potential jail time if they did not accommodate transgender customers.

The state legislature then intervened, drafting legislation that requires individuals to use the bathroom corresponding to the sex identified on their birth certificate. After Gov. Pat McCrory signed the bill into law, furor erupted.

Numerous governors and mayors across the country issued travel bans to North Carolina. Among them, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s ban is especially interesting. Houston voters’ action on a bathroom ordinance in 2015 was nearly identical to the North Carolina bill. Yet when the Syracuse men’s basketball team traveled to Houston to play in last weekend’s Final Four, Gov. Cuomo’s office was notably silent on their travel plans.

Continue reading Denison Forum – BATTLE CONTINUES OVER NORTH CAROLINA ‘BATHROOM BILL’ →

#PanamaPapers was the top trending topic on Twitter yesterday. It is trending on Facebook and on the front page of reddit.

Why? What is this all about?

Yesterday, news broke of a year-long investigation into offshore shell corporations. These companies have been used by some of the world’s most notable politicians and leaders to hide billions of dollars. The investigation is being called the “Panama Papers” scandal because the information was leaked from a Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonseca, by an anonymous source.

The data was initially obtained by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The scope of the leak is massive—11.5 million documents on 214,000 shell companies spanning a period from 1977 to 2015. This may be the largest leak of classified information in history. Nearly 400 journalists in more than twenty-five languages have worked on the story over the last year.

According to the BBC, the leak reveals information about seventy-two current or former heads of state. Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, Egypt’s former President Hosni Mubarak, and Libya’s former leader Muammar Gaddafi were included. According to The Guardian, associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin secretly moved as much as $2 billion through offshore accounts.

Continue reading Denison Forum – ‘PANAMA PAPERS’ CORRUPTION SCANDAL BREAKS THE INTERNET →

“I am optimistic that we will see this nation come back to God.” So states Britain’s Pastor Agu Irukwu of the Redeemed Christian Church of God. His group was founded in Nigeria but now has 600 congregations across the U.K.

Nearly 800 British churches have closed in the last six years, but Pentecostal or charismatic churches are taking their place. For instance, Hillsong Church London holds four services every Sunday, attended by 8,000 people. More than 5,000 churches have been started in Great Britain since 1980. God is moving in a country desperate for spiritual awakening.

Meanwhile in America, Southern governors are facing increased pressure to compromise on religious liberty or lose business for their states. Colleges are spending millions of dollars to deal with an escalation in sexual misconduct cases. And the U.S. government will spend an addition $22 million to fight an epidemic of heroin and painkiller abuse.

Does our nation need moral and spiritual renewal?

Continue reading Denison Forum – IS GREAT BRITAIN EXPERIENCING REVIVAL? →

I almost always begin my daily column by interacting with the day’s news. However, Good Friday is unlike any other day. And the two questions I’d like to explore with you this morning deserve our full attention. The first is one I’ve been asked often. The second is one I’ve never considered before today.

Our first question is both simple and profound: “Why did Jesus have to die?” The fact that he died to pay for our sins is not in question. Rather, why did God require that he do so? If I run into your car in the parking lot, I assume someone doesn’t have to die for my debt to be paid. Why did God require the death of his Son to pay ours?

The answer is that sin separates us from the holy God who is the only source of life (Isaiah 59:2; John 14:6). That’s why the Lord warned Adam that if he ate the forbidden fruit “you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17). That’s why “the soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20). That’s why “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

Continue reading Denison Forum – A GOOD FRIDAY QUESTION I’VE NEVER CONSIDERED BEFORE →