America is currently experiencing a decline in church attendance and health. Buildings are being sold, young people are bolting and biblical literacy is evaporating. With sincere concern, many are rearranging deck chairs as the ship continues to sink. Some seek a more polished strategy to stem the decline but in many cases, it doesn’t. Others feel helpless and sing, “Nearer my God to Thee.”

Is the Church the Culprit?

In the face of tumultuous change, many churches turned inward and ...

A shocking magazine cover on display in a public bookstore in Minnesota few years ago featured a man with both arms raised and the middle finger of both hands raised higher. I approached the information desk and asked the manager, “Do you intend to keep this crass cover on public display?”

A clerk trying to impress his manager proudly replied, “Yes, we don’t discriminate! We have gay magazines, sex magazines and so on. If we took this one down, we ...

She was born in Louisville, Kentucky, to a riverboat engineer and his musician wife in 1898. She learned to love music and wanted to teach it. In 1918, a voice contest intercepted her and sent her on an amazing journey through Chicago, New York, and Hollywood.

Near the end of her journey, in 1985, Irene Marie Dunne (1898 – 1990) was awarded the highest possible honor bestowed upon a performing artist for her contributions to the arts and humanities: The ...

The contrast between Christianity and culture is clearly seen in the current debate regarding homosexuality. I am proud of Jesus’ church, his lovely bride, for the genuine respect I have seen her show to people struggling or living with homosexuality. This respect is rare and we see it contrasted with culture on two levels:

• While our current culture dehumanizes homosexuals by saying they are biologically programmed and “born that way” (like animals) and have no real moral choice regarding sexuality, Christians ...

“LGBTQ” is a new category for a special set of human beings now. I wonder, should marriage or civil unions be redefined so that each consenting adult “bisexual” (the “B” in “LGBTQ”) is free to have a spouse from each gender? For each partner in a “bisexual marriage” or “civil union” to have a partner from each gender, the union would have to include four people. How “inclusive” are you? Or are so-called “bisexuals” second-class citizens in terms of marriage ...

Theory and practice are hard to reconcile, especially in the realm of war. The phrase “just war” originated with St. Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430), an influential bishop in the fourth century church, in his work The City of God. He believed that war was always the result of sin. Yet, it might be necessary to wage a just war against the forces of evil. He saw God as more anti-evil than anti-war. Therefore, he sought to offer a ...

What is it about October? So far, I have heard that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Domestic Violence Awareness Month and “Infant/Pregnancy Loss and SIDS Awareness Month!” The ribbons are out in force.

GOOD! I respect our freedom to advocate and promote causes of conviction. I say, give the people their voice and more power to them! Just keep it kind and honest, whether you agree or not.

I saw a list of commemorative ...