A Free Press article published this week by geopolitical analysts Matt Pottinger and Roy Eakin begins:

If its first days are anything to go by, 2026 may end up the most pivotal year in geopolitics since 1989, a hinge point that began in a moment of geopolitical calm but ended with the collapse of the Iron Curtain.

Within a few years, the Soviet Union had fallen, the European Union had been born, and an era of hyper-globalized trade took off on the wings of NAFTA and the WTO (World Trade Organization). This year could be equally pivotal—only this time with a vaster range of possible outcomes for world order.

According to the article, a positive reading of such “outcomes” would include the fall of the Iranian regime, which “would deal a major setback to Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin’s geostrategic ambitions.” Since Iran is “the de facto proxy for Beijing and Moscow in the Middle East,” they have provided significant support to it as well as several of Iran’s proxies following the start of the war on Israel. Iran, in turn, has supplied drones that Russia uses against Ukraine and oil imports to China. The article suggests that the fall of Tehran could even trigger the destabilization of Beijing itself.

However, the writers state that a negative reading would include the destabilization of NATO over the Trump administration’s designs for Greenland, which could invite Moscow to take military action beyond Ukraine. And the article points to China’s escalating pressure against Taiwan, warning that “if Taiwan does fall, the economic and geopolitical shock to world order would be immense.”

The island nation is tied to American power in the region supporting Japan, South Korea, Australia, and much of Southeast Asia. And since “nearly all the world’s most advanced chips are made in Taiwan,” if China seized control of this supply chain, it would “effectively hold a ‘kill switch’ on American ambitions to lead the AI revolution as well as its ability to compete economically and militarily.”

“I prefer to be true to myself”

How are we to manage our emotional and relational health in a world that seems to whipsaw daily between cataclysmic crises?

According to journalist Sasha Chapin, “congruence” is essential here. Citing the famed psychologist Carl Rogers, he describes it “roughly” as “a state of unity between your experience, your self-concept, and your outward behavior.” In such a state, you “agree with what you’re doing with your time,” refuse falsehoods you attempt to project to others and yourself, and live at peace with who and what you are.

Frederick Douglass offered an example, stating: “I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others.” Living in this way elevates us above the maelstrom of media alarmism and political fervor. According to Chapin, we center on our “inner authority” with integrity and integration.

But aspiring to such holistic health is one thing; achieving it is another.

“We must obey God rather than men”

Simon Peter of the Gospels might be the least congruent person in the New Testament.

On his good days, he is walking on the stormy sea to Jesus (Matthew 14:28–29), proclaiming him “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16), and promising that he will “never fall away” from following his Lord (Matthew 26:33). On his bad days, he is speaking when he should be silent (Matthew 17:4–5), sleeping when he should be praying (Matthew 26:40), and denying Jesus to a “servant girl” (Matthew 26:69–72).

Then came Pentecost and the gift by which Peter was “filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:4). The next thing we know, the fearful fisherman is preaching the gospel and leading thousands to Christ (vv. 14–41). He is being used to heal the lame (Acts 3:1–10) and giving the glory to Jesus (vv. 11–26). He is proclaiming the necessity of faith in Christ to the very rulers who crucified his Lord (Acts 4:12) and boldly testifying, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

He ends up pastoring the church in Rome (cf. 1 Peter 5:13) and writing two letters of the New Testament. The largest cathedral of the largest church in the world stands over his traditional gravesite. His faith and life were so congruent that he chose execution over denying Jesus but asked that he be crucified upside down since he was not worthy to die in the same manner as his Lord (cf. 1 Clement and Eusebius’s Ecclesiastical History).

Now the same Spirit who transformed Peter stands ready to do the same in us.

“The instrument through which you see God”

A dear friend recently suggested that I read Living Fearless: Exchanging the Lies of the World for the Liberating Truth of God. The author, Jamie Winship, is a former police officer who spent nearly thirty years serving Christ in the Muslim world. His practical guide invites us to experience God’s best for our lives by asking our Lord to:

• Show us where we are not living in truth.
• Expose the false identity that enslaves us.
• Reveal to us our true identity in his eyes and grace.
• Ask him what he wants us to do today in relation to this identity, then pay attention as he speaks through his Spirit, his word, our circumstances, and the people around us.

His inspiring book is filled with examples of God’s miraculous responses to these prayers. As Winship shows, our Father wants to speak to his children. He wants us to walk with him as Enoch “walked” with him before God “took him” home (Genesis 5:24).

When we say to God, “With my whole heart I seek you” (Psalm 119:10), we can pray, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law” (v. 18).

Oswald Chambers noted, “Whether or not I hear God’s call depends upon the state of my ears; and what I hear depends upon my disposition.” C. S. Lewis similarly explained that God “shows himself” to us as we are able to receive his revelation:

In other sciences, the instruments you use are things external to yourself (things like microscopes and telescopes), [but] the instrument through which you see God is your whole self. And if a man’s self is not kept clean and bright, his glimpse of God will be blurred—like the Moon seen through a dirty telescope.

How “clean and bright” is your soul today?

Quote for the day: 

“God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer.” —Mother Teresa

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Denison Forum

There is anger on both sides of the aisle this morning.

The right is angry with former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after they refused to comply yesterday with a congressional subpoena to testify in an investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. They published a letter to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer calling his committee’s attempts “legally invalid.” In response, Mr. Comer said he’ll begin contempt of Congress proceedings against them next week.

The left is angry with the Trump administration after the Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome H. Powell. Prosecutors are looking into the central bank’s renovation of its Washington headquarters and whether Mr. Powell lied to Congress about the scope of the project. However, critics believe the action is intended by the administration to pressure the central bank to aggressively cut interest rates.

Whatever our partisan beliefs, both stories illustrate the significance of checks and balances in a democracy.

Congress must be able to investigate current and former presidents so as to hold them accountable to the law. The Federal Reserve was similarly created by Congress in 1913 as an independent agency so it could set interest rates without political interference from Congress or the White House. According to the Brookings Institution, “Central banks in nearly all major capitalist democracies are similarly insulated.” The article explains that politicians could otherwise lower interest rates now at the expense of greater inflation in the future, harming the overall economy.

“The wicked boasts of the desires of his soul”

Forging systems of accountability is not only politically wise but biblically realistic. The psalmist lamented:

The wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lᴏʀᴅ. In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, ‘There is no God.” . . . He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved; throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity” (Psalm 10:3–4, 6).

As a result,

He sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless; he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket; he lurks that he may seize the poor; he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net (vv. 8–9).

All the while, “He says in his heart, ‘God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it’” (v. 11).

The psalmist therefore prayed, “Arise, O Lᴏʀᴅ; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted. . . . Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call his wickedness to account till you find none” (vv. 12, 15). He can ask this because “the Lᴏʀᴅ is king forever and ever” (v. 16) and will “do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more” (v. 18).

In other words, God provides accountability for the actions of those who are otherwise unaccountable for their crimes. He often does so in this world, such as his judgments against wicked kings in the Old Testament and rulers in the New (cf. Acts 12:20–23). But he always does so in the next world, assuring us that “vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord” (Romans 12:19, quoting Deuteronomy 32:35).

“We have no reason to be angry”

Is God justified in holding us accountable for our actions in this way? After all, his word states that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

However, as St. Basil the Great (AD 330–79) observed,

We have already received from God the ability to fulfill all his commands. We have then no reason to resent them, as if something beyond our capacity were being asked of us. We have no reason either to be angry, as if we had to pay back more than we had received. When we use this ability in a right and fitting way, we lead a life of virtue and holiness. But if we misuse it, we fall into sin.

This makes sense: God cannot be just and judge us for sins we had no ability not to commit. My voice professor in college was frustrated that I did not sing Italian arias as he wanted, but his (unjust) reprobation could not change the capacities (or lack thereof) of my voice.

At the same time, does trying harder really produce holiness?

“Far more abundantly than all that we ask or think”

John warned us, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). From David, a man after God’s “heart” (Acts 13:22), to Paul, the greatest theologian in history, all have struggled with temptation and the sin nature of fallen humanity (cf. Romans 7:21–24).

The answer is found in the logic of grace:

• God holds us accountable to his highest intentions for us because this honors his holiness and leads to our best (1 Peter 1:15–16).
• At the same time, he knows that we are unable to achieve this standard in our fallen capacities (cf. James 3:2).
• So his Son died to pay the debt for our sins so his Spirit can now indwell us and empower us to be like Christ (Romans 8:29).

As Paul testified, God is “able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20). The apostle testified that he served Jesus by “struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me” (Colossians 1:29). Struggling translates a Greek word meaning to “do one’s best to compete and win a battle.” But Paul did this with all his energy—“according to all God’s action and power”—which God powerfully works within me this very moment.

Thus, we should say with the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, “Save thy servant, that hath none / Help nor hope but thee alone.” But we should also “work heartily in all we do, as for the Lord and not for men” (Colossians 3:23).

As we work, God works. As we give our best, God gives his best.

Consequently, as I noted on Monday, you and I are as much like Jesus as we want to be today.

Imagine a world like this

Imagine a world filled with Christians living in the holiness of Jesus by the power of Jesus. Imagine the impact on evangelism and missions, war and crime, poverty, racism, and injustice.

Such a world and nothing less is what God wants for and through each of us.

Is this what you want today?

Quote for the day:

“One does not surrender a life in an instant. That which is lifelong can only be surrendered in a lifetime.” —Elisabeth Elliot

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Denison Forum

Greenland is the world’s largest island. However, until recent months, I don’t remember seeing even a single headline about it in the news.

Now it’s hard to miss them.

President Trump recently told reporters at the White House, “We are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not, because if we don’t do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland, and we’re not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration’s goal is to buy the island from Denmark. The US could also boost its military presence in Greenland. Or it could take the island by force, but since the semiautonomous region is part of NATO ally Denmark, such an invasion could imperil NATO itself.

Why such interest in a sparsely inhabited island three thousand miles from the US?

“Greenland matters because the Arctic matters”

According to the Trump administration, Greenland is now critical to Western security. Vice President JD Vance said last week, “The entire missile-defense infrastructure is partially dependent on Greenland.” Opinion columnist John Mac Ghlionn agreed, writing in the Hill:

Greenland matters because the Arctic matters. Melting ice has turned what was once a frozen buffer into a contested corridor. Shipping lanes are emerging. Subsea cables snake across the ocean floor. Missile paths shorten. Surveillance gaps narrow. Russia knows this. China knows this. Both are investing heavily in Arctic presence, infrastructure, and influence. The US can either treat Greenland as a distant curiosity or as what it actually is: a forward position in a region that will define future power balances.

Whatever our view of this issue, it highlights the fact that any nation’s first concern is and will always be with national security. But nothing we do can secure us perfectly. Government strategists thought our massive naval installation at Pearl Harbor would protect us from war, not cause us to enter it. We thought our oceans and superpower military might would protect us from homeland invasion until 9/11 proved us wrong.

There is ultimately only one answer to our perennial quest for security. I’ll warn you in advance that you may find my proposal simplistic and naïve. But as I’ll try to explain, that’s precisely the problem.

“You give help to those in peril”

Many readers of the New Testament know that Matthew wrote his Gospel to persuade the Jews that Jesus was their Messiah. What we might miss, however, is the fact that he needed to show Jesus to be their only Messiah.

False messiahs were common in the day. The New Testament refers to three of them: Theudas (Acts 5:36), Judah the Galilean (v. 37), and an unnamed Egyptian (Acts 21:38). However, in Matthew 9 alone, the writer documents five acts Jesus performed that only the true and divine Messiah could accomplish:

• He forgave a paralytic’s sins and healed his body as proof (vv. 1–8).
• He healed a woman who had been sick for twelve years and whose disease had been incurable (vv. 20–22; Mark 5:26).
• He raised a dead girl to life (Matthew 9:25).
• He healed two blind men (vv. 27–31).
• He exorcised a demon, thus healing a man who had been mute (vv. 32–33).

In other words, Jesus did what only Jesus could do. Now he wants to do the same for us and through us.

Around AD 95, Clement of Rome wrote an epistle to the Corinthians in which he included this prayer:

You are the God of all flesh. You behold what is hidden in the depths, you see all that men do. You give help to those in peril and rescue to those without hope. . . .

By your acts you made visible the everlasting structure of the universe and set the earth on its foundations. For all generations you have been faithful and just in your judgments and wonderful in your power and majesty. Wisely you have created, and wisely you have kept things in being. All that we see shows your goodness; to all who trust in you, you are faithful, kind, and merciful.

Clement therefore asked:

Come, Lord, let your face shine upon us so that we may peacefully enjoy all good things. May your powerful hand be a roof over our heads and may your strength preserve us from all wrongdoing. Free us, Lord, from those who hate us without cause. Give peace and harmony to us and to all the inhabitants of the earth, as you gave them to our fathers who called on you with trust and faith.

You alone can give us these gifts and confer these favors on us.

Why should we make Clement’s prayer ours today?

“Neither shall they learn war anymore”

Our God has the power to defeat the mightiest of armies (cf. 2 Chronicles 20:1–30) and rulers (cf. Acts 12:1–24). We can ask him for security only he can provide (Psalm 4:8), then trust him to walk with us through our gravest dangers (Isaiah 43:1–3) and redeem them for his glory and our good (cf. Romans 8:28; Philippians 1:6).

But we can also ask him to change the hearts of those who endanger our world.

What God did in Nineveh, he has the power to do in any nation (Jonah 3). If he could turn Constantine the Great to himself and the Roman Empire with him, he can turn any ruler and any empire from war to peace.

However, as John Wesley once observed, “God does nothing but in answer to prayer.” He may have had James’ admonition in mind: “You do not have, because you do not ask” (James 4:2).

Would God do more to prevent war and advance peace in our fractured world if only his people would ask him to?

Right now you may be thinking that this is too simplistic, that asking God to bring the warmongers of our time to repentance and peace to our planet is naïve. But is it? One day, God “shall decide disputes for many peoples,” and “nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Isaiah 2:4).

Could our intercession bring that day one day closer to this day?

And could our prayers for peace draw our hearts closer to the Prince of Peace who still calms the storms of our souls?

The way we answer our questions will determine their answers today.

Quote for the day:

“All the peace and favor of the world cannot calm a troubled heart; but where this peace is which Christ gives, all the trouble and disquiet of the world cannot disturb it.” —Robert Leighton (1613–84)

Our latest website resources:

• Who is Nick Fuentes, and why do you need to know?
• Venezuela, 2026 culture predictions, Tim Walz & football playoffs
• How do Christians stay human in an age of AI, anxiety, and division?
• Transgender to transformed: an increasingly common story
• A review of Lee Strobel’s “The Case for Miracles”

Denison Forum