Lifting burdens for would-be parents
Legendary investor Charlie Munger was famous for saying, “Show me the incentive and I’ll show you the outcome.” This is especially relevant with the complicated American tax code. Ronald Reagan understood this and in his farewell address highlighting the successful tax reduction policies of his administration, stated, “Common sense told us that when you put a […]
Silent Cal’s loud patriotism
A century ago, a president marked America’s 150th anniversary, albeit with much less fanfare than the current occupant of the White House marked the 250th. Derided as taciturn and boring by his critics and by many historians, Calvin Coolidge had much to say about the nation’s founding ideals. Born less than a decade after the […]
How Pastors Can Lead during America 250
This year is America’s 250th birthdayand around the country, there will be celebrations in cities and communities. But what about at church? Many pastors are understandably cautious when it comes to patriotic displays, fearful that a love for America could overtake a love for the Kingdom of God. This is a healthy concern, but there […]
Communism tried and found lethal
Sixty years ago this spring, Mao Zedong, chairman of the People’s Republic of China, issued the “May 16th Circular” starting what is known as “the cultural revolution” in China. Upon taking power in 1949, Mao began his “Great Leap Forward” in 1949, an aggressive economic and social program of communism. Historians estimate that 20–50 million Chinese died […]
Can Christians Smoke Weed?
Is it right to consume cannabis? For most evangelicals in America, the question was long a moot point because marijuana consumption was illegal. But today, 24 states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational marijuana use, and 40 states allow medical usage. According to the Pew Research Center, Americans broadly approve of marijuana consumption now, with […]
Remembering Schaeffer and Colson
50 years ago, two books were published that shaped the evangelical conscience. First, Presbyterian pastor and apologist Francis Schaeffer released How Should We Then Live?, which was released both as a book and a companion film series. Schaeffer, who with his wife Edith begin the ministry L’Abri in the mountains of Switzerland, had previously written The God Who […]
A walk in the old paths
What is the future of conservatism? This is a live question as conservatives look over the long horizon and consider a future beyond the figure who has dominated politics for the last decade: Donald Trump. To be sure, the 47th president still sees much to accomplish in the years ahead, but the ideological feeding frenzy […]
Bad call by the Bulls
As a child of the ’80s and ’90s, there was not a day that went by where we didn’t think about the Chicago Bulls. We mimicked the famous starting lineup announcement, done by the legendary Ray Klay. We relived every one of Michael Jordan’s game-winning shots in our driveways. The posters hung in our rooms. Chicago […]
Can we stop rooting against America?
In a bizarre rant, left-wing commentator Chris Hayes compared Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. strikes against Iran, to the savage attack by suicide bombers who flew airplanes into buildings on 9/11. He was joined by Democratic congresswoman from Detroit, Rashida Tlaib, who used the word “they” to describe the country where she serves as an elected official […]
The promise and peril of the digital age
Eighty years ago this month, engineers at the University of Pennsylvania unveiled what is considered the world’s first electronic computer, known as the ENIAC. Not only was the ENIAC 1,000 times faster than previous machines; it was the first machine to abandon cranks and shafts and rely on vacuum tubes and the flow of electrons. In other […]