We all hunger for paradise. We had it once and it was good!  In fact, based upon the words of the best Judge of such things it was “very good!” (Genesis 1:31). And, considering who He is, that might be an understatement! I can imagine, (and I would have to imagine it for the Scriptures are silent about such things), Adam and Eve enjoying a brilliant and beautiful sunset sipping on a newly discovered beverage we now call coffee or wading into a crystal-clear stream of perfectly tempered water having no fear of drowning. No mosquitoes, no flies, no sunburn to worry about.

Concerned Christians who are troubled by the revolutions that we are seeing in law and in our culture are right to investigate the source of why our nation is so rapidly changing. Evidence points to the failure of Christians maintaining a faithful witness to God’s truth and giving into the wicked pressures of our culture. Even more seriously, many professed Christians are extremely confused about the key doctrines of the Christian faith.

Thanksgiving, especially in recent years, is a neglected holiday. Sandwiched  between Halloween and Christmas, and overshadowed by Black Friday, people know Thanksgiving is there, but many don’t put much thought into it until they have to start planning family, food and travel. In recent years, Halloween has become a more culturally celebrated holiday than Thanksgiving. There was even a fun little trend going around social media where you’d show a picture of yourself on Oct. 31 ready for Halloween, and then on Nov. 1 ready for Christmas with Thanksgiving not even an afterthought. There’s just not much societal excitement for Thanksgiving, which is interesting - but it makes sense. Thanksgiving doesn’t fit the ‘cultural narrative’ of self-focus that has been set up.

Most of us know enough colonial history to remember the “First Thanksgiving,” dated November 24, 1621.  Whether that was actually the first thanksgiving feast on American soil is uncertain, but the date is not as relevant as the fact that those early Pilgrims understood the need, in spite of a horrendous first year, to render thanks to God. Half of the Mayflower immigrants had died the winter following their arrival, and the remaining survived only by God’s grace and His provision of Native Americans like Squanto and the kind Wampanoag people who helped them immeasurably.

Pastor Derek Buikema asks professor, theologian, and author Dr. Carl Trueman to explain a bit about “expressive individualism,” the subject of Dr. Trueman’s important book The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution.

In another brief excerpt from IFI’s interview with Dr. Carl Trueman, author of two books that touch on “trans”-cultic beliefs including Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution, Pastor Derek Buikema asks about the responsibility of Christians in regard to the harm being done to children by “trans”-cultic beliefs.

Have you ever wondered if the Church should continue to engage in the culture wars? After all, we will never eradicate evil from the world, and sometimes it feels like the water is pouring into our boats faster than we can bail it out.

If you are like me, there are three primary thoughts running through your mind following this election: “What happened to the red wave?”  “How can so many people be so fooled by the party of death?” and “What is God doing?”

In this excerpt from IFI’s interview with professor, theologian, and author Dr. Carl Trueman, Pastor Derek Buikema asks what should determine whether Christians stay or leave a church (or denomination) that appears to be moving away from orthodoxy.

For a number of reasons, I would have preferred to see the Republicans take back both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate in fairly decisive ways. This would have effectively thwarted the implementation of what I believe to be a very destructive leftist agenda. And I voted accordingly in my own state.

It’s fine to take a moment to absorb the shock and disappointment. … Okay, that moment has now passed. Now, it’s time to take stock, point fingers, give some GOP leaders the heave-ho, and then get to work.

In this excerpt from IFI’s interview with Professor Carl Trueman, author of The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, Pastor Derek Buikema’s asks why, “in some places mainline Christianity” has come to affirm sin. Dr. Trueman identifies two factors as integral to this apostasy: freedom of religion and the church’s “vocabulary of love.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom has decided to throw a boulder in the path of conservative people of faith who want to serve their communities as police officers. In September, Newsom signed into law a bill that amends a reasonable existing law which requires police officers to be free from any “emotional or mental condition that might adversely affect the exercise of the powers of a peace officer.”

Founding father Samuel Adams once said, “Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote…that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.”

We know you have likely been reminded multiple times over the past several weeks of the importance of this election and your participation in our government "of the people, by the people and for the people." Thank you for your patience with these repetitive messages! Soon, the opportunity to vote in this election will be over. The messaging will stop. The decisions will have been made.