The Ten Commandments are getting a lot of press these days. Atheists bristled when they discovered in May that a newly constructed Minnesota jail includes a two-story display of the Commandments. Then, on June 19, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed a bill requiring all public school classrooms to display a poster-sized copy of the Ten Commandments starting in 2025. This, he said, was for historical purposes. The Ten Commandments will be included among other documents…
The “He Gets Us” campaign has people talking. During Super Bowl LVIII, the He Gets Us campaign aired two commercials, together costing $20 million. The mission of “He Gets Us” is to help everyone “rediscover the love story of Jesus.” But the truth is, rather than helping people “rediscover” the love of Jesus, the “He Gets Us” campaign redefines the love of Jesus. About the ads The first commercial showed a montage of people from…
One of the world’s most prolific novelists thinks that the Bible is fiction. On January 11, author and outspoken atheist Joyce Carol Oates responded on X to podcasters who were affirming the Bible. In a vitriolic diatribe, she declared that the Bible is “a work of fiction; or rather, an anthology of fictions.” Seething with contempt Curious, I read through these posts on X. Her posts, and those of her followers, seethe with unveiled contempt…
The film Jesus Revolution portrays the spiritual awakening of the 1960s and the way that one young man, Greg Laurie, was swept up, saved by grace, and called by God to be a Christian pastor and evangelist. Baptisms anchor the film, and the most pivotal is the baptism of Laurie (Joel Courtney). The depiction of Laurie’s baptism is a moving reminder of what we believe about death, burial, and resurrection. Though he is clutched firmly…
Trends in academia tend to trickle down into the public square as students graduate, take jobs, and bring these ideologies into the marketplace. That’s how we got Critical Race Theory in the public schools. That’s why revisionist history is reshaping the American narrative. And it’s why we are suddenly so confused about what we are allowed to say. You can’t say that! Colleges and universities are spearheading a ban on words and phrases that they…
I live in a close-knit neighborhood. So, it’s no surprise that new residents quickly join our community’s Facebook group and start asking questions. And every year in October, someone asks, Do kids come to our community for Trick-or-Treating, and, if so, how many should we prepare for? The short answer is—all of them. Our nightmare is not the costumes. Our nightmare is the chaos and clogged roads. But we are just a microcosm of the…
In early September California Gov. Gavin Newsom launched a multi-state billboard campaign to promote abortion on demand using the words of Jesus from Mark 12:31, “Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.” Newsom is targeting states with laws that restrict elective abortion services, such as Texas, Oklahoma, and Mississippi. The billboards urge women in those states to come to California to receive an abortion. And notice his strategy: Quote…
Filmmaker Dallas Jenkins envisioned telling the Christmas story from the perspective of a crippled shepherd who meets the baby Jesus at the manger in Bethlehem. That short, gripping episode, called “The Shepherd,” was released in 2017 and ignited the phenomenon that became The Chosen. Packaged for a postmodern audience, The Chosen depicts the life of Christ from the perspective of people who knew Him. The focus is on the experiences of the people who encountered…
This week an ad for “The Glorify App” popped up on my social media feed. Their pitch is simple: “We believe in making bite-sized worship routines available to everyone, whilst reimagining how we connect with God through technology.” The Glorify App is promoted by such evangelical luminaries as Priscilla Shirer and Sadie Robertson Huff. Tools that help us connect with God are always good. We use devotional books, journals, and study guides for that reason.…
The 2022 American Worldview Inventory of Arizona Christian University revealed some unsettling facts. We’ve already explored what the study reported regarding Christian parents. That is, that only 4% of parents who profess to be Christians adhere to a biblical worldview. That’s bad. But it gets worse. Turns out that the confusion of our parents mirrors a crisis in the pulpit. ACU surveyed pastors in a variety of roles, from Senior Pastors to Youth and Children’s…