Our nation is continuing a process of discovering past wrongs, airing them, and seeking some kind of resolution/reconciliation. In the most egregious cases where laws were actually broken, appropriate punishment is of course also required. From the Judge Kavanaugh hearings to the ongoing allegations against powerful men (and some women) in the Me Too Movement to sexual abuse in the Catholic and Baptist Churches (and probably others) to the Virginia Governor’s Blackface/KKK picture in his...
Faith and American History
War on Drugs Causes Insanity
If insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result, our nation is clearly insane. This month’s post may initially disturb some of my conservative friends. If it does, I ask you to read through to the finish. I am only seeking the truth. The War on Drugs is not just a failure. It is an outright cancer, an active force that is destroying individuals, families, institutions, and our culture. It has been doing so for almost fifty years. When are we going to...
Policies Trump in the Midterm Elections
How should we approach the upcoming mid-term elections? With a focus on today’s 24/7 headlines, or with a longer term perspective? Are the elections, as President Trump claims, all about him, or larger issues? As a Christian conservative with strong libertarian leanings, what are my guiding principles for voting? And, by the way, I know that there is only one true Savior, and he is not any politician, party or government. The founding document for our nation, the Declaration of Independence,...
Destruction by Identity
A nation that fractures along identity politics boundaries is almost certainly doomed. When Lenin and Trotsky started their rebellion against the provisional government of Alexander Kerensky in St. Petersburg, Russia in November, 1917, they expected to be arrested and sent into exile, as had always happened before. Instead, a few days later, much to their surprise, they were in control of the capital and, soon, the nation. What happened? The Bolsheviks were prepared to use violence to get...
Should I Model Jesus or Darwin?
As many of you know, I recently spent several days in London with a group of wonderful Believers who are originally from Nigeria, at an event for Joshua's Army. We were joined by a pastor from Lagos, Nigeria, and by a pastor in the Nigerian community in London, both strong men of God. Our weekend discussion was about how husbands and fathers can better model Christ with our wives and children. While there were many beautiful facets to the weekend together, the one I want to focus on for this...
Time To Focus on People
Our recent elections and subsequent events have left many of us slightly exhausted but cautiously optimistic about the future of our country. Conservatives now have a HUGE responsibility to govern creatively and well, from the White House to the majority of local counties. Many of us have asked and prayed for this opportunity for years, and now it is here. We must continue to pray, even more now, for those in office and for their advisers, that God will put men and women in positions of...
Election Concerns 2016
This year's extraordinary election is less than two months away. Like most Americans, I am not pleased with the choices we have before us. With all of the negative generalities coming from both sides, I decided to try to put on paper specifically what concerns me. I really am not looking to start an argument or to defend any candidate--please consider this to be a personal interim report, subject to change as more information becomes available in the coming weeks. Concerns I have about...
Before It’s Too Late
I have written previously about Alexis de Tocqueville’s 1836 observation that America’s unique strength was how Judeo-Christian faith and values were woven deeply and inexorably into the multi-faceted quilt of our society. People might differ on the details of worship, or on specific laws, but the underlying foundation for any discussion was a nearly universal belief in the God of the Bible as the Creator and Sustainer of all people, and particularly of this nation. “I sought for the...
Last Folio
This post is a collection of reflections occasioned by seeing my old friend Katya Krausova in Washington next week (weather permitting). I met Katya in the fall of 1968 when she, as a member of the first group of Czechoslovak students allowed to travel to the West after the Prague Spring, was stranded in London when the Soviets invaded her country in August. That fall the British government gave every Czech student a scholarship to attend a comparable UK college, and Katya came to London...
Why Thanksgiving?
As Thanksgiving approaches I am focused on two aspects of this special day which are not always on the table with the turkey, mashed potatoes, pies and other delicious dishes. The first is Gratitude. I don’t see it much. Many of us appear to be worried, slightly angry, or downright upset about one or several issues in our personal or corporate lives. As I watched the recent demonstrations on elite university campuses, I had to ask, Do those young people have any gratitude at all for the...
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