“America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests.” For better or worse, that principle—typically attributed to Henry Kissinger—epitomizes President Trump’s latest National Security Strategy (NSS): a document outlining his administration’s approach to allies, enemies, and everyone in between.

Every president since Reagan has released at least one NSS to Congress during each term in office. But while the details change, the basic priorities of expanding America’s influence, guarding against foreign threats, and supporting our allies tend to be relatively similar from administration to administration. Trump’s latest policy contains much of the same information, though with one pivotal shift in perspective.

Whereas previous strategies—including Trump’s from 2017—focused mainly on a post-Cold War approach to building security through strength and influence worldwide, the latest NSS is clear that domestic stability is to be the focal point for the current administration. And that starts with redefining what America should expect from our allies and, just as importantly, what our allies can expect from us.

A new approach to Europe

In the introduction of the NSS, the administration states, “The purpose of foreign policy is the protection of core national interests; that is the sole focus of this strategy.” The document goes on to add that previous approaches “allowed allies and partners to offload the cost of their defense onto the American people, and sometimes to suck us into conflicts and controversies central to their interests but peripheral or irrelevant to our own.”

In short, they’ve decided that America’s allies have too often been more of a hindrance to the nation’s prosperity than a help.

The accuracy of that conclusion is certainly debatable, and the NSS’s detractors tend to point to this shift in approach—particularly as it pertains to Europe—as one of their most pressing critiques. At the same time, the Trump administration is not wrong when it points out that “We count among our many allies and partners dozens of wealthy, sophisticated nations that must assume primary responsibility for their regions and contribute far more to our collective defense.”

To their credit, many countries in Europe have endeavored to do just that in recent years. However, the NSS also points to the administration’s belief that changes in Europe’s approach to free speech, immigration, and a host of other societal factors make it “far from obvious whether certain European countries will have economies and militaries strong enough to remain reliable allies.”

This emphasis on the cultural shifts is perhaps the most critical indicator of how Trump sees Europe. They are allies insofar as it benefits America to consider them allies. That said, the NSS also points to an important distinction between countries that are trying to be useful and those that assume they are without actually offering much evidence to support that conclusion.

The Trump administration clearly believes that many European nations have chosen a path that makes them less valuable allies while still expecting to be accorded that status due to a shared history or the claim of shared ideals.

However, the move to minimize our obligations to Europe is not the only significant shift from previous approaches to foreign policy.

A new Monroe Doctrine?

Perhaps the most important element of the NSS is what the administration calls a “‘Trump Corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine.” While the title may sound strange, it’s essentially a way of finding historical precedent for claiming dominion over the Western Hemisphere.

The Monroe Doctrine was initially issued in 1823, when President James Monroe told Congress—and, by extension, the rest of the world—that the Americas were off-limits for any further colonization by Europe. In return, he promised that the United States would essentially leave Europe alone as well.

Roughly eighty years later, President Theodore Roosevelt expanded upon the policy with the “Roosevelt Corollary,” essentially declaring that America would function as the regional policeman for Latin America and the Caribbean. The policy has served as justification for US intervention throughout the region ever since. Given the military buildup outside of Venezuela, it’s not hard to see why Trump would appeal to this precedent today.

However, regardless of the policy’s current usage, the administration’s concerns with maintaining dominance in the region are understandable. China and, to a lesser extent, Russia have been making inroads in Latin America and the Caribbean for decades. As such, turning our attention to the countries closer to home is, in many ways, a necessary step in combating China, Russia, and the other adversaries that many were surprised to see get less attention in the NSS.

That said, there is a degree of hypocrisy in telling the rest of the world that the Americas are off limits while, at the same time, outlining all the ways in which the US plans to continue intervening in their parts of the globe. After all, the NSS clearly outlines plans to prevent China from intruding on Taiwan and to pressure European governments to run their countries in accordance with Trump’s view of what’s best.

Neither plan is necessarily wrong, but the contradictory nature of expecting the rest of the world to leave us alone without us leaving them alone highlights a key problem underlying many of our nation’s difficulties over recent decades. Far too often, we struggle to find the balance between who we aspire to be and who we’re actually capable of being.

The new NSS is, in many ways, a step in the right direction, but that war between our aspirations and our capacities remains. And, unfortunately, it’s a struggle most of us know all too well.

Who will you aspire to be?

Throughout the Bible, the Lord is quite clear about what he expects of his people. And while there’s a lot to those expectations, the essence of it can be summed up in Christ’s command to “be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

As Christians, most of us understand that’s how we should aspire to live. However, I suspect most of us also understand that we’re not really capable of doing so as consistently as we might like. So, how can we bridge that gap?

I think Eugene Peterson’s translation of this verse in The Message may be of some help:

In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.

You see, one of the most common reasons we fail to live out our God-created identity is that we often aspire to be something other than who God has called us to be. When that happens, we lose out on the blessing and power of the Holy Spirit in our lives to help bridge the gap between our fallen, sinful selves and the version we’re capable of growing into when we’re guided by his presence.

So, who are you aspiring to be today? If you were to take an honest assessment of what you hope to accomplish and the person you wish to become, how much say did you give God in coming up with those goals?

Or, on the other hand, are there any ways in which you’ve given up on your aspirations? Have you stopped asking the Lord who he wants you to be because you’ve allowed the sins and failures of your past to convince you that you’re unworthy or incapable of becoming anything other than who you are right now?

Neither end of that spectrum will allow us to fulfill Christ’s words from Matthew 5:48. Yet, he wouldn’t set us up to fail by commanding the impossible of us.

The simple truth is that the only way we can be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect is by allowing our heavenly Father to help us do just that.

Let’s start today.

Quote of the day:

“Don’t judge a man by where he is, because you don’t know how far he has come.” —C. S. Lewis

Our latest website resources:

• Netflix vs. Paramount fight for Warner Bros., Hollywood’s future, Spotify Wrapped & College Football Playoffs | Ep. 48
• How can Christians face anxiety without losing faith?
• A review of “2 Chairs: The Secret that Changes Everything”
• When are kids old enough to have a smartphone?
• President Trump, affordability, and the power of empathy

Denison Forum

Yesterday, the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates for the third time this year. The decision was made in response to slowing job growth and elevated inflation.

The day before, President Trump spoke at a rally in Pennsylvania, telling supporters he has “no higher priority than making America affordable again.” The rally was one of the first salvos in the run-up to the 2026 midterm elections, which are widely expected to be about the economy.

In recent polling, 74 percent of Americans say economic conditions are fair or poor. The partisan divide is striking: 44 percent of Republicans say the economy is excellent or good, while only 20 percent of Democrats agree.

According to White House spokesperson Kush Desai, Mr. Trump inherited the Biden administration’s “inflation and affordability crisis,” but the president’s policies to cut regulations and lower drug prices “have cooled inflation and raised real wages.”

However, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the center-right American Action Forum think tank, suggested that blaming a president’s predecessor only works for “about a year,” after which “you own it, you’re in the White House, good or bad, it happens on your watch. You own it, and they need to recognize that’s how the American people behave, no matter what they say.”

How radio changed everything

There was a time when few Americans saw their president. Unless you made the trek to the White House and secured an appointment with him, you were unlikely to encounter him in person. Presidential candidates seldom campaigned on their own behalf, and the chief way the larger public knew of them was through newspaper coverage.

Then came the advent of radio. While Warren G. Harding was the first president to give a radio address (1922) and Calvin Coolidge also used the medium, Franklin Roosevelt transformed it into his personal platform. His famous “Fireside Chats” connected him directly and conversationally with the American public during the Great Depression, bypassing the press and making his voice and personality known to millions.

From then to today, the candidate most believed to empathize with the public is often the candidate who wins. We elect our leaders in the hope that they will make our lives better. But how can they do this if they don’t understand our challenges or care about our problems?

In this sense, our leaders are our servants. We employ them by voting for them. But if our lives do not improve as a result, we’ll elect others we hope will do better.

Why did Jesus come at Christmas?

Why did Jesus come into the world at Christmas? The obvious answer is so he could die for our sins on Good Friday and be resurrected on Easter Sunday. But if that is all his incarnation needed to accomplish, he could have entered our race as an adult and then been arrested and crucified by the Romans.

Pontius Pilate did not crucify Jesus because of the way he entered the world or what he did in the years prior to his arrest. It is true that the popularity generated by his public ministry threatened the Jewish authorities, leading them to seek his execution by the Romans (cf. John 11:45–53). But the omnipotent God of the universe could have arranged another way for his Son to die for the sins of humanity, one that did not require his birth or earthly life before his death.

Instead, our Savior chose to enter our race in the most humble manner imaginable. He chose to grow up in obscurity and then live in relative poverty, as we noted yesterday. He was tempted by Satan himself (Matthew 4:1–10). He experienced fatigue (John 4:6), thirst (John 19:28), grief (John 11:35), and anguish (Matthew 26:36–37). He suffered horrific torture on the cross, where his friends forsook him and he felt abandoned even by his Father (Matthew 27:46).

As Scripture says, “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

And Jesus continues to feel our pain even today. We are in his hand (John 10:28), his Spirit dwells in us (1 Corinthians 3:16), and he is “interceding for us” right now (Romans 8:34; cf. Hebrews 7:25). As a result, he knows all we know and feels all we feel.

The night I shook my fist at God

So, in a very real sense, Jesus is the most empathetic leader in human history. You might therefore expect me to use this fact to appeal for you to “elect” him as your Lord. His omniscience knows the future better than we know the present. His omnipotence can do all his perfect love requires.

Who better to lead our lives and be the “president” of our souls?

Here’s the problem: When we relate to Jesus as to another leader we elect, we feel the liberty to “unelect” him when he disappoints us. We feel justified in blaming him for our problems and then refusing to trust or serve him.

I have known scores of people over the years who were once faithful followers of Jesus but who turned from him when they experienced trials and travails for which they held him responsible. You may be in their number today. If not, you will likely face such a trial in the future.

If God is the supreme being and we are finite, fallen creatures, there will inevitably be times when we do not understand his ways and are disappointed by them (cf. Isaiah 55:9–10). We can then decide to reject him, but this only isolates us from his protection and provision. If a doctor disappoints me and I reject all physicians, I do not harm the medical community so much as I harm myself when I next need medical care.

Instead, we can express our frustration and pain directly to our Father, as Jesus did in Gethsemane and on Calvary. We can ask him for the faith to have faith (Mark 9:24). We can know that he is with us even in “the valley of the shadow of death” (Psalm 23:4) and claim his promise that “when you pass through the waters, I will be with you” (Isaiah 43:2).

And the deeper the darkness, the more we will experience his light.

I was in college when my father died at the age of fifty-five. That night, I went into our backyard, looked up into the sky, and shook my fist at God.

But he did not shake his fist at me.

He never will.

Quote for the day:

“The great mystery is not the cures, but the infinite compassion which is their source.” —Henry J. M. Nouwen

Our latest website resources:

• How can Christians face anxiety without losing faith?
• A review of “2 Chairs: The Secret that Changes Everything”
• What does the Bible say about Santa Claus? How to turn holidays into holy days
• When are kids old enough to have a smartphone?
• Why do we have Christmas trees? How a “pagan symbol” became an integral part of our Christmas traditions

Denison Forum

I need to begin with a warning: If you read the rest of this paragraph, you are likely to ingest a musical “earworm” that will not stop playing in your brain all day. According to a survey conducted by FinanceBuzz, the “most annoying” Christmas song in America is Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” Paradoxically, it is also the most popular Christmas song in America.

If you now can’t get the song out of your mind, don’t blame me—you were warned.

But seen in a theological light, there’s a surprising message here, one that turns the Christmas holidays into holy days that transform our lives all year.

What does Jesus want for Christmas?

Jesus owned only the absolute minimum necessary for life in this world. This was true from the moment of his birth, when he came into the world in a borrowed stable and was laid in a borrowed feed trough. This was true to the moment of his death, when he was crucified on a Roman cross, prepared for burial through the generosity of others, and laid in a borrowed tomb.

During his earthly ministry, he lived in Capernaum at the home of his friend Peter. When he visited Jerusalem, he stayed in Bethany at the home of his friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Regarding home ownership, he said, “the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20).

And yet, not once did he ask anyone for anything except for their good. He asked a Samaritan woman for water so he could lead her to “living water” (John 4:7–14). He invited himself to the home of Zacchaeus so he could bring salvation to his “house” (Luke 19:1–10).

Everything Jesus did, from the moment he entered our world, was intended to bring us to himself:

• If he could be conceived in the womb of a virgin, he can come into any heart and life (cf. John 3:16).
• If impoverished residents of a town so small it’s not mentioned even once in the Old Testament could be Jesus’ family, anyone can be part of his family (cf. 1 Peter 2:9).
• If field hands so ritually unclean that they could not enter a synagogue could join the celebration of his birth, anyone can praise him today (cf. Revelation 7:9–10).
• If Samaritans, Gentiles, demoniacs, tax collectors, and lepers could join his movement, anyone can follow him today.
• If those who forsook him, denied him, and persecuted his followers could be forgiven, anyone can be forgiven.
• If a worshiper exiled on a prison island could experience him personally (Revelation 1:9–20), anyone can experience him in worship today.

I say all of that to ask this: If you were to give Jesus what he wants most for Christmas, what would it be?

“A chamber in the heart of God”

Speaking of Jesus’ mother, Br. Curtis Almquist of the Society of St. John the Evangelist in Boston notes:

We, like Mary, have God’s attention and God’s love. We, like Mary, have something utterly unique about the life God has given us. There is no one like us; never has been; never will be. We are known by God. We are favored by God in an even more unique way than we are to our most precious relationships. There is a chamber in our heart which only God can enter; and there is a chamber in the heart of God into which only we can enter.

How shall we respond to such love?

When Gabriel invited Mary to become the mother of God’s Son, she replied: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). Br. Almquist similarly advises us: “Keep the verb surrender in the vocabulary of your heart.”

This verb is God’s consistent demand of his followers:

• “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).
• “Submit yourselves therefore to God” (James 4:7).
• “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God” (1 Peter 5:6).

Why is this? Why does Jesus want us for Christmas? All of us, surrendered fully and unconditionally to him?

Is this because he is a despot bent on the submission of humanity as his subjects?

Or could it be that our Lord’s response to our surrender is his greatest gift to us?

“I will give you a new self instead”

Br. Almquist quotes the nineteenth-century Quaker author Thomas Kelly:

The paradox is that as we surrender and are willing to do God’s bidding, our lives unfold in a way that is much more magnificent than we could ever have humanly orchestrated. Life becomes extremely simple, and oh, so good.

This only makes sense. If we trust our lives to an all-knowing Father who sees the future better than we can see the present, an all-loving and all-powerful Lord who can do all that is best and nothing else, how could the outcome be anything but his best for us?

And even more, as we give our lives to the One who gave his life for us, we experience Jesus himself. His Spirit manifests his personality and character in ours (Romans 8:29). Jesus continues his ministry in the world in and through our lives (1 Corinthians 12:27).

1. S. Lewis gives voice to our Savior’s invitation today:

I don’t want so much of your time, so much of your money, so much of your work: I want you. . . . Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked—the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. I will give you myself.

Could there be a greater gift than this?

Quote for the day:

“Let God have your life; he can do more with it than you can.” —Dwight Moody

Our latest website resources:

• How can Christians face anxiety without losing faith?
• A review of “2 Chairs: The Secret that Changes Everything”
• What does the Bible say about Santa Claus? How to turn holidays into holy days
• When are kids old enough to have a smartphone?
• Why do we have Christmas trees? How a “pagan symbol” became an integral part of our Christmas traditions

Denison Forum