I am amazed at the level of pessimism among so many Christians that I encounter. I think this may also be a product of too much reliance on politics. This is, after all, the pressing concern of the population whose frustrations center mostly on the failed expectations of their political leaders and government: the economy, the war, fuel prices, and so on. Add to that concerns over the moral direction of the nation, and the church often appears indifferent or defeated. There is a cure for this pessimism...

In this heightened political season, there are many, including some Christians, who believe the fate of the nation rises and falls on the outcome of November’s presidential election. That is not to say that politics and elections are inconsequential—the nation prospers from good leaders and suffers from the inept—but are government and political leaders really the hope or ruin of a nation?

It was into the sexually immoral environment of the first century Roman world that Christians would bring forth a radically different sexual ethic. The concern for the Christian today is that unlike our early brothers and sisters, the church all too often appears similar to the surrounding culture. This is especially true among the forthcoming generation. Knowing this, what hope does the church have of restoring the dignity of marriage? We must reclaim the subject of sex by giving our young people a comprehensive theology of sex...

The famous historian, Arnold J. Toynbee observed that civilizations arose in response to some set of challenges of extreme difficulty prompting “creative minorities” to devise solutions that would reorient the entire society. When a civilization responds to challenges, it grows. Conversely civilizations declined when their leaders stopped responding creatively or with wisdom. Toynbee points out that in the wake of an inadequate response, the civilizations in question then sank owing to either nationalism, militarism or the tyranny of a despotic minority. It seems we, as a nation, have sunk to the level in which a “despotic minority” is in the process of reorienting our entire society, that minority being those who advocate a natural and now constitutional right to homosexual behavior. Recent decisions in California and New York demonstrate that the line in defense of traditional marriage continues to erode.

Adolf Hitler once said, “It is the luck of rulers when men do not think.” The writer of Proverbs underscores this truth by saying, “Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse.” (2:12) This begs the question; what role does the intellect and scholarship have in our faith? What role does a consciously Christian education play in seeking first, the kingdom?

The thing which most offended critics and reviewers of Ben Stein’s film, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, was his attempt to link Darwinism to the Holocaust. It is here, in the area of moral philosophy, that the Darwinian paradox is revealed. On the one hand, modern Darwinians posit that the universe is the result of impersonal, amoral, natural forces while on the other denying this undermines objective moral standards. However, the Nazi’s understood what modern Darwinians do not; if you reject the Creator you cannot hope to live within the safety of the Creator’s rules. It is either God’s loving law or the law of the jungle.

Two years ago I wrote that we may be seeing the first signs of what could be a new cultural renaissance in Italy. Recent events in Italy seem to indicate that this "renaissance," if you will, has not only continued but may be gathering momentum. Could this indicate the revival of Christian influence in Europe?

I think many in the American church know God in the same way they know the President—they know some facts about him, where he lives, what he does, etc.—but they do not have a relationship with him. This could be described as a cultural theology but a biblical theology is more akin to the relationship between a child and a good parent. The child in this sense has a much more intimate knowledge that, through time and maturation, reveals the loving nature of the parent. Experience only confirms this knowledge and this produces trust, which in turn fosters obedience. Failure to develop a coherent and systematic theology affects our ability to live as faithful followers of Christ.

For more than five decades, self-proclaimed experts and so-called sexual reformers have worked to advance the belief that there are no public consequences to private sexual behavior. And Americans, for the most part, have bought into this notion, proving what Lenin said, “A lie told often enough becomes the truth!” However, first-ever research reveals the fallacy of this notion and quantifies the high cost of immorality in America to be more than $112 billion each year!

If Christians living within a distinct community is an essential witness to the mission of God, and because so many of us seem unwilling to surrender the independent self, and since our present understanding and expression of this community falls painfully short; what can we do to remedy this situation? What hinders this community is NOT a weakness of the institutional church and its leadership but rather the radical individualism of its members. This is not simply a matter of concern over sporadic church attendance or mediocre participation in the church potluck dinner; this is a central underlying principle, which nullifies the witness of God’s people and opposes the redemptive mission of God!