Here are the Top Ten Utopian Myths, in no particular order:

Myth 1. Life would be better if everyone had the same income and/or resources.

Truth: A totally classless society is impossible. All attempts at socialism (forced redistribution of wealth) have resulted eventually in overall collective poverty (and an insanely wealthy oligarchy who steals from the public).

Myth 2. If we could only communicate better, then we would understand each other, and we would all get along.

Truth: If we truly understood what everyone else really believed, we might like each other less!

Myth 3. We can legislate our way to a perfect and peaceful society.

Truth: All law is an imposition of an external standard on someone who doesn’t want to embrace it. The problem is not a lack of legislation, it is that many people desire to do things that are harmful to others, and they always will. In case we haven’t noticed, criminals do not obey the law.

Myth 4. If would could get rid of all guns and nukes, we would have world peace.

Truth: There wasn’t world peace before the invention of guns and nukes.

Myth 5. Saving the environment will save our species.

Truth: Environmental crises are only a reflection of people’s hearts. Cleaning the environment, as important as that may be, does not intrinsically address the problem of the greed and carelessness that causes ecological problems.

Myth 6. Everyone should have the right to do anything they want to do as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else.

Truth: Self-destructive behaviors always hurt other people, even in indirect ways.

Myth 7. Giving people maximum freedom (or liberty) will result in maximum happiness.

Truth: Partly true, but you need to have a moral framework to know how use freedom responsibly (Individual Self-Government) or else that “freedom” will simply result in anarchy.

Myth 8. Words are tools of oppression used by the stronger elites to subjugate and control the weaker masses. The deconstruction of language will lead to egalitarianism and equal opportunity. (Postmodern argument)

Truth: Postmodernists are using words to convince of this supposed truth. Do you think they are hoping to control us?

Myth 9. We should embrace either all religions as equal and valid, or no religion at all.

Truth: Any worldview or philosophy answers (or seeks to answer) some fundamentally religious questions, such as:

• How did we get here? (Origins)
• Does God exist? (Theism)
• Who am I and what am I doing here? (Purpose)
• What is right and wrong? (Morality / Ethics)
• What happens when I die? Where is human history headed? (Destiny)

All religions (including Atheism) answer these questions, but in fundamentally different and oppositional ways. The Law of Non-Contradiction (in formal Logic) requires that these contradictory truth claims cannot all be true at the same time, and in the same sense. It is impossible for humans to simply ignore these inherently religious questions.

Myth 10. If we can just get a president elected who espouses our views, then everything will improve.

Truth: In a representative republic, the elected leaders are a reflection of the people of that nation. The problems we see in our political leaders reflect our nation’s problems. Political leaders are not the intrinsic cure for our societal problems. They are far more of a thermometer than a thermostat, because we do not have a top-down governmental structure. Many of today’s political leaders seek to polarize our society and create controversy (to serve their own political agenda), rather than being the “public servants” they were traditionally called.

At best, the government can try to limit evil by punishing those who do what is wrong, in order to protect the citizens (which they certainly should do). In order to teach people right from wrong, however, we need parents to teach their own children. We need people to look to local church leaders instead of gansta rappers, jaded comedians and lying politicians. A true cultural reformation will always start in the heart, the home, and the church and then work its way into the community and out from there.

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Written by Steve Huston

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, …it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us…”

Many of you are probably familiar with these opening lines from the classic Charles Dickens’ story A Tale of Two Cities. Well representing so many areas of our nation and our culture today, I choose to apply these opening words to the vast landscape—or virtual wasteland—of information and entertainment via technology that is only a click away via our devices.

Dickens writes about a time of extreme opposites without any in-betweens; our goal here is to recognize the extreme polarization these devices offer, yet aim at some guidelines that will, hopefully, land us somewhere in-between. That middle ground being a wise use of screens, as opposed to not using them at all or using them without restriction, having no concern for the inherent dangers they bring. While children are my main concern here, adults have also been taken captive by the alluring blue glow of their screens.

On one hand our digital devices offer “wisdom,” “Light, “the spring of hope,” and seemingly hold out “everything before us.” After all, one can read our newsletter, listen to our broadcasts, and receive our emails or those of other ministries on their favorite screen. I often “join” a congregation in Pennsylvania on Sundays, to be encouraged by great messaging. I use screens for research and occasionally to study God’s Word with online resources; what a terrific tool our screens can be.

On the other hand, digital devices also epitomize “foolishness,” “Darkness,” “the winter of despair,” and a great wasteland of “nothing before us.” We seem compelled to waste vast amounts of time with them. Males and females of all ages post or view photos or movies that range from immodest to pornographic; multitudes go from being entertained to becoming addicted; what should be used for good becomes a tool for evil as our baser side is unleashed. We have written about the dangers of hiding behind screens, neither being seen nor seeing, as we respond to others or mention them on social media. After all, who is to see, know, or care? Well, God sees; God knows; and God definitely cares about our smartphone use.

Regardless of how our children are using their smartphones, the amount of time they are on them is an issue in itself. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports that nine- and ten-year-old children who spend more than two hours in front of a screen each day score lower on thinking and language tests—the average “tween” spends up to six hours a day on their screens.

Bloomberg reports that “the scans of children who reported daily screen usage of more than seven hours showed premature thinning of the brain cortex, the outermost layer that processes information from the physical world.”

There are studies that show a relation between smartphone use by children and sleep deprivation and poor attention span—two-thirds of children take their devices to bed with them; some even laying their phones on their pillow for fear of missing a text.

Digital addiction is a very real and growing problem.The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation introduces their 2010 study on “Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds,” in part: “Eight- to eighteen-year-olds spend more time with media than in any other activity besides (maybe) sleeping—an average of more than 7½ hours a day, seven days a week…”

In a recent USA Today article we read that over 200 million mostly obsessed people are playing an online game called “Fortnite.” Some of these players are engaging in battle during school instead of paying attention to their teachers. Digital addiction is becoming more commonplace and most parents are at a loss of how to handle it. Other sources warn that victims of digital addiction can experience “destructive dependence, extreme change of personality, isolation, and physical signs during withdrawal.”

Research shows that teens who spend five or more hours per day on their devices are 71 percent more likely to have one risk factor for suicide—regardless of what they are viewing. Half an hour to one hour a day seems to be the ideal for teen mental health in terms of electronic devices. “Kids who use their phones for at least three hours a day are much more likely to be suicidal.” (Businessinsider.com)

None of the above should surprise us; especially considering that Bill Gates and Steve Jobs raised their kids mostly tech free. For that matter, most Silicon Valley parents are strict about technology use—shouldn’t that raise red flags? Shouldn’t that encourage us to set some very definite limits?

Setting limits is very important; but we must also model those limits. Here are some general guidelines to start; more to come at a later date.

Keep certain times and places “screen-free.”  For starters, at mealtimes we should focus on one another instead of our phones. Intentionally set aside device free “family time,” where you can play games, talk, or work on projects together. There are some families that put their cell phones in a basket upon entering their home to intentionally be present with their family. As for places, bedrooms should definitely be off limits and any zone you choose to allow devices should be public and always available for anyone else to view.

As you set limits, help them to understand that there are dangers associated with smartphone use.

As Christians we need to keep in mind that in all we do—including smartphone and other device usage—we are to glorify God and do in the name of Jesus. And let’s not forget Paul’s admonition in I Corinthians 6:12. “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.”

This article was originally published at AmericanDecency.org

It’s that most wonderful time of the year: time to celebrate the birth of Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us.

Unfortunately, too many folks succumb to the hustle and bustle of the season, scraping frantically for presents, decrying the traffic and long lines, and wondering why it’s so wrong to wish someone “Merry Christmas.”

All the more reason to grab a video, a worthwhile movie, gather the family with some popcorn, and escape all of the shopping madness.

And of late, two brothers, Jon and Andrew Erwin, have made a name for themselves and stunned Tinseltown as their worthwhile movies — artistically told, brilliantly acted stories undergirded by faith — reaped millions.

As I wrote in the review of I Can Only Imagine:

Jon and Andrew Erwin started their unlikely careers as sports camera men working for the likes of ESPN and Fox NFL. They started their own production company in 2002, producing music videos, garnering Music Video of the Year at the GMA Dove Awards for three years running.

Next the Erwins moved to documentaries before finally, in 2010, changing course to produce feature length films. Their second feature film, Moms’ Night Out, a comedic romp infused with faith, starring Patricia Heaton, Sean Astin, and Trace Adkins, earned a decent box office and tremendous DVD/Blu-Ray sales. Jon and Andrew’s third offering, Woodlawn, based on the true story of God’s love overcoming the racist climate of early 1970’s Alabama football, starring Sean Astin and Jon Voight, racked up over $14 million at the box office and another $9+ million in video sales.

With I Can Only Image, Jon and Andrew Erwin raked in $17 million, coming in a very respectable third in the opening weekend box office.

Those of you who saw I Can Only Imagine (and if you haven’t, you should rent or buy it) witnessed the talent and conviction of Jon and Andrew Erwin. The Brothers Erwin raised the bar for movies with a faith theme.

For decades Christian moviegoers had to choose between content or artistic value. People of faith were Johnny-come-latelys to the movie game, often with small capital and smaller pools of producers, directors and actors willing to invest time and effort in films that resonated with regular Americans.

But that is all changing, and Jon and Andrew are front and center leading the effort.

Moms’ Night Out (MNO) stands in sharp contrast to I Can Only Imagine: Imagine being a powerful and moving drama, Moms’ Night Out a comedic romp that’s fun for the whole family.

There are a some very familiar faces in MNO. Sean Astin starred in the beloved football movie, Rudy, and in the Erwins’ third film, Woodlawn, among others. Country music star, Trace Adkins, also starred in Imagine. “Everybody Loves Raymond” star Patricia Heaton does double duty as the pastor’s wife and as executive producer. Robert Amaya starred in Courageous. Kevin Downes, another double threat as producer and actor, will be familiar from Courageous. And of course people will know Alex Kendrick, of the Kendrick brothers (who produced Flywheel, Facing the Giants, Fireproof, Courageous, and War Room).

The movie begins as housewife and mom, Allyson (Sarah Drew, who recently played an Army Chaplain’s wife in the fine film, Indivisible [review forthcoming]), a self-confessed germaphobe and “mommy blogger,” panics and nearly hyperventilates over household chaos and clutter. She blanks out on anything to write in her blog. Nada. Zip.

Allyson confesses to her husband, Sean (Sean Astin), that she is a failure and tired. Soon she and her best friend, Izzy (Andrea Logan White), devise a plan and invite their pastor’s wife, Sondra (Patricia Heaton), to a Moms’ Night Out to recharge.

But the night unravels as an eatery notes their reservation on the wrong date. And that’s just the beginning!

The ladies lock up their smartphones in an effort to really unplug and head for a bowling alley. The night goes downhill from there, but the hilarity goes up!

Trace Adkins, playing another lovable curmudgeon, Bones the biker and tattoo artist, comes to the rescue and even offers a few words of great wisdom.

Moms’ Night Out is serious fun — a comedy of the best caliber — and yet, the Erwin brothers manage to weave a theme of faith throughout.

Sondra tells the distraught and over-tired Allyson, “Life is about finding the meaning and the joy and the purpose in all of the chaos.”

Sean lovingly tells his wife, “Hon, your job [being a wife and mom] is…important.”

And in perfect symmetry, the movie ends with Allyson posting (yes, she does have something to say!) in her blog:

I’m not smiling all the time, but I am smiling more. Smiling at the little things. At my crazy, stressful, over-the-top kind of beautiful life.

False…I am a failure. Yes. Very, very false.

I’m not perfect. I make plenty of mistakes. But I am right where God wants me to be and He has given me everything I need to be a mom.

I’m a mess. But I’m a beautiful mess. I’m His masterpiece. And that’s enough.

Bravo Jon and Andrew! Once again you’ve given us a movie that both entertains and uplifts, that makes us laugh and gives up, very subtly, bits of Biblically sound truth.

So reclaim the joy of the season! Watch Moms’ Night Out and have some serious fun…after all, “A merry heart does good, like medicine…” [Proverbs 17:22a]

Moms’ Night Out available on DVD, Blu-ray, and streaming.

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Dollar for dollar match through December 31st.
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The average age for first marriages in the U.S. keeps going up. The latest data I’ve seen puts the current age at 29 for men and 27 for women. In 1990, it was 26 for men and 23 for women. Rewind a few more decades to 1960, and it was 22 for men and 20 for women.

The common reasons given for this trend are that young adults are waiting to marry until they complete their education and gain some financial stability. In the aftermath of the Great Recession, the explanation goes, all of that has been taking longer.

Maybe so. But I can’t help wondering if there are other issues at play as well. With the stigma against premarital sex all but gone, there’s no perceived need for the current generation to get married in order to satisfy their sexual desires. And with the rise of cohabitation, there’s no need for an expensive wedding or longer-term commitment in order to experience some version of life with a partner.

On top of this, we’ve witnessed the decline of a Biblical worldview in our culture for many years. The Bible teaches the inherent goodness of marriage. Is it possible that our rejection of the Bible has contributed to marriage (and starting a family) slipping down the list of priorities in our culture?

Let’s be clear: the Bible doesn’t command—or even recommend—a certain age for marriage. But the continuing trend of delaying marriage strikes me as problematic, and perhaps not a coincidence that it’s happening at the same time that our culture is becoming increasingly secularized.

I understand that education takes time. I also understand that a certain level of financial readiness is wise before marriage. And I also understand that God’s timing is perfect, and sometimes He doesn’t bring the “right one” to us until later than we might have expected. But with all that said, I can’t help but think that the overall trend in our culture toward later marriage is a symptom of a declining Biblical worldview in which marriage and childbearing is losing significance.

With all that in mind—and as a thirty-something millennial who has been happily married for seven and a half years—I’d like to take a few moments to celebrate the blessing of marriage.

The Goodness of Marriage

As I said a moment ago, the Bible teaches the inherent goodness of marriage. Proverbs 18:22 tells us that “He who finds a wife finds what is good . . .”

Marriage was created by God as the final culmination of His work during creation week. I once heard someone point out that God repeatedly observed the goodness of all He had made—until He was nearly finished with His work. Then, seeing Adam alone, He said “It is not good . . .” Just when God seemed to be at the very pinnacle of His efforts—the creation of man—He says that something isn’t good. Remarkable! If that doesn’t give us a glimpse of the ultimate and fundamental goodness of marriage, nothing will.

Turning back to Proverbs, we find God (through Solomon) instructing men to “rejoice with the wife of your youth.” Marriage was designed by God to be a source of joy, fulfillment, and blessing. The long-persistent popular culture representation of marriage as a sure way to misery isn’t meant to be true.

God’s Purposes for Marriage

Besides the fact that a godly marriage is a blessing to both husband and wife, the Bible teaches multiple purposes for marriage. Let’s take a look at them.

Companionship: As we noted earlier, God Himself said it’s not good for man to be alone. While companionship undoubtedly wasn’t the only factor God was thinking about, I’m sure it was on His mind. “Two are better than one,” the Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes 4:9. Having someone to share life with is far more satisfying and emotionally fulfilling than being alone.

Godly Children: Marriage is also intended to produce another generation of godly children. This is stated clearly and forcefully in Malachi 2:15 where we’re told that the purpose of marriage is to produce godly offspring. It’s simple, but true: of the three institutions God created (family, government, and church) only the family has the capability of creating new little people. Pretty amazing, right? Of course, along with that power of creation comes the responsibility to teach and train.

Antidote for Temptation: Paul suggests in 1 Corinthians 7:9 that part of the reason for marriage is to avoid sexual temptation. This brings up an interesting point worth considering. As we noted at the start of this article, the average age for first marriage in the U.S. has been increasing. Yet over time, the average age for puberty has been decreasing. Put these trends together and young people are now facing sexual pressures—without the legitimate outlet of marriage—for far longer than in the past. That’s not an excuse for moral failure or lack of personal responsibility, but it’s still true that God gave us marriage as a natural, appropriate, and righteous outlet for the sexual appetites He also gave us. Unfortunately, the current trends of our culture put our young people in a more susceptible position for a much longer period of time compared to just a few generations ago.

The truth is, marriage is the only valid context for men and women to experience the pleasure and physical release of sexual intimacy. God created us as physical beings, and as such, we have physical appetites that we can choose to either legitimately fulfill or sinfully abuse. The good news is that God gave us a wonderful gift in marriage that allows us to experience the joy of intimacy in a context He not only approves but that He created.

An Illustration of Christ and the Church: Lastly, marriage is a picture of Christ and the church. When a husband and wife are living in harmony and unity as God intends, their relationship is a living illustration of the love, self-sacrifice, and submission that exists between Christ and His bride. We’re not perfect and will never be a perfect picture, but it’s an ideal to pursue as we seek to honor God through our marriages.

As I said earlier, I’m a thirty-something millennial who has been happily married for seven and a half years. My wife has been an incredible blessing to me and I can’t imagine my life without her (and I hope I don’t flatter myself too much to say that the reverse is true as well!).

In an age when marriage is being delayed, avoided, and dishonored, I’d like to stand up and be counted among those who say that marriage is emphatically wonderful. And to all you twenty-somethings out there wondering if it’s really worth it, I say simply yes, it is. Absolutely yes.

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Publicity-hound in sheep’s clothing, Nadia Bolz-Weber, former pastor of a fake church in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) denomination, is in the news again. Last August, Bolz-Weber made the news by proclaiming that “consumption of pornography” shouldn’t be shamed. In her view, there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with watching “ethically sourced” porn as long as people consume it in moderation. Her defense of the moderate use of ethically sourced porn is that “People have viewed erotic imagery since we could scratch it on the inside of caves” and that “[o]ur bodies are wired” to respond to porn.

No argument there. Sin has been in the world since that terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day in the Garden. Since then, our bodies have been wired to desire and respond to all sorts of sinful activities. That hardly seems a defense of engaging in them.

Now Bolz-Weber, who stepped down from the adolescently named House for All Sinners and Saints church (HFASS, get it, half-a**) is in the news for asking women to send their purity rings to her, which she is going to melt down and fashion into a golden vagina. Nothing says Christian love quite like mocking virginity in a vulgar piece of fake art.

She announced this campaign via Twitter:

I’m inviting women to mail in their purity rings for a massive art project. @SweetBirdStudio [Nederland, Colorado jewelry maker Nancy Anderson ] is collaborating with me to melt them into a sculpture of a vagina… join in and get your certificate of impurity!

This massive art project will take place at “The Makers” conference , a feminist conference that will take place at some secret location in Southern California with secret speakers in February 2019.

Though this project is offensive, it’s not surprising from Bolz-Weber who praises the bloody work of Planned Parenthood that makes bank on sexual promiscuity and the tiny inconvenient humans that are the disposable products of sexual promiscuity.

Obviously favoring the news over the pews, Bolz-Weber, the inked-up, obscene, viril-ish pastor proclaims herself rather than Christ and his kingdom to the world. Bolz-Weber is mother to two teens; married to Matthew Weber who is the pastor of Holy Love Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Aurora, Colorado; and describes herself as a “dyke.”

As reported in 2016, “about a third of her congregation are in the LGBT community”—and by “in the LGBT community,” the interviewer did not mean experiencing unwanted same-sex attraction but living a celibate life in accordance with Scripture. He meant a third of Bolz-Weber’s congregation affirms homosexuality in defiance of Scripture.

Bolz-Weber spouts the common “progressive” tripe that because Jesus spent time with the marginalized, the church should affirm homosexuality and opposite-sex impersonation. She conveniently omits the rest of the accounts of the time Jesus spent with the marginalized. He spent time with them—not chewing the fat, going to amusement parks with them as she does, and affirming their sin. He called them to repent and follow him, to deny themselves and take up their crosses daily, to live “no longer for human passions but for the will of God,” to put off old selves which belonged to former manners of life that were corrupted through deceitful desires,” to be renewed in the spirit of their minds, and to put on their new selves “created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Bolz-Weber, who has two books on the New York Times bestseller list and a huge idolatrous fan base, has left her church but not her hellbound ministry. She is on a world tour of heretical churches to promote her newest book Shameless: A Sexual Reformation. In an interview, she expressed her goal for the book:

I want people who read this to re-think their ideas about sexual ethics, gender, orientation, extra-marital sex, and the inherent goodness of the human body. We are reaching for a new Christian sexual ethic that’s not based on a standardized list of ‘thou shalt nots,’ but on concern for each other’s flourishing, letting go of shame.

Bolz-Weber is not encouraging sexual holiness and letting go of pathological shame that derives from an inadequate understanding of or refusal to accept God’s forgiveness. Rather, she seeks to lead Christians to let go of biblical standards of sexual holiness and desensitize them to the work of the Holy Spirit that leads Christians to feel guilt or shame when they sin. Her devilish work is to eradicate conscience, so people are free to live lives of sexual sin. Her pursuit of hedonism marks a return to paganism.

While she claims she resigned in August because the church she built no longer needs her (a truer thing was never spoken), this suspicious mind speculates that it was either greenback pastures or the lure of being worshiped on a larger stage or both that led her to resign.

Unfortunately, she left her sheep to be led further astray by homosexual shepherd Reagan Humber who is a man “married” to drag queen “Fruit Bomb,” one of whose performances is of him bad-lipsyncing while performing fake abortions.

Leading people astray is Bolz-Weber’s business. She recently gave a Facebook shout-out to “my girl,” Rev. Emily Scott, a graduate of Yale Divinity School who is starting a new ELCA church in Baltimore, Maryland called “Dreams and Visions” where “false binaries are left behind” and “queerness is holy.”

Bolz-Weber admits to having been mercilessly bullied at school during childhood because of bulging eyes, a result of Graves’ disease, an immune-system disorder that wasn’t diagnosed until age 12. She attributes her “rage and cynicism,” and high school drinking and drug use to the bullying. This should serve as a cautionary tale to parents. If your child is being bullied at school, find a way to pull him or her out. Bullying can lead to all manner of emotional, psychological, social, relational, sexual, and spiritual dysfunction.

Pray for Bolz-Weber. Pray for healing and for an end to her ministry that undermines human flourishing and puts at risk the eternal lives of those who follow her. She leads them not to freedom but bondage.

And be vigilant. Watch for wolves stealthily creeping into your church. Some are harder to discern than Nadia Bolz-Weber.

Listen to this article read by Laurie:

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Another-Wolf-in-the-Church1.mp3

A bold voice for pro-family values in Illinois! 

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Reading, writing, arithmetic and a new mandate for classrooms: LGBT history. It could be coming soon to government schools in Illinois.

Written by John Stonestreet and Roberto Rivera

Forty years ago, a group of evangelical leaders and scholars took a clear and unapologetic stand on a fundamental tenet of the faith.

This month marks the fortieth anniversary of the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, which was signed in October of 1978 by more than 200 evangelical leaders, including R.C. Sproul, J.I. Packer, and Francis Schaeffer.

The Chicago Statement was not only a landmark document in evangelical history, it played an important role in the work of the late Chuck Colson and our ongoing work at the Colson Center.

Here’s a bit of history to set the stage. If there was one phrase that summed up the ethos of the late 1960s and early 1970s, it was “Question Authority.” The phrase emerged out of opposition to the Vietnam War and Watergate, but then it spread well beyond the world of politics into various arenas of culture, even into the church.

We know, for example, the story of how liberal “mainline” churches doubted the Bible and its claims of supernatural miracles. But the culture-wide distrust of authority crept into Evangelicalism, as well, which has—given its diversity and independent congregations—kind of always struggled with ecclesial authority.

Phrases such as “Christianity isn’t a religion; it’s a relationship” entered the lexicon and became an excuse for some to radically privatize the faith, to reject historical teaching, and even embrace new ways of reading and interpreting the Bible.

For instance, a survey of students at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in the mid-70s found that the longer a student attended the seminary, the less likely he was to agree with the statement “Jesus is the Divine Son of God and I have no doubts about it.”

In 1971, messengers at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting passed a resolution that supported abortion, not only in cases of rape and incest, but also in cases where there is “clear evidence of severe fetal deformity, and carefully ascertained evidence of the likelihood of damage to the emotional, mental, and physical health of the mother.”

This was just two years before Roe v. Wade.

I don’t mean to pile on the SBC. First, by no means were they alone… this stuff was in the air. Second, the SBC has since experienced quite a renewal, which is at least partly due to the Chicago Statement.

The Statement was about more than a particular way of reading and interpreting the Bible: It was an unequivocal assertion of biblical authority over the lives of believers and the Church, in an age when all authority was being questioned.

It was an unequivocal assertion that Christianity, while it does involve a relationship with God, is also a “religion,” in the original sense of the Latin word “religio,” which means “bond,” “obligation,” and “reverence.” It’s a faith, in other words, with content, not just a warm fuzzy feeling.

Anyone who followed Chuck Colson can see how he was indebted to this effort. For him, Christianity was objectively true, and that truth could be communicated to others, both inside and outside the Church.

And the primary way God had revealed truth to His Church was the Scriptures. Not personal experience, and certainly not popular intellectual fads.

The need to reassert biblical authority may be more urgent today than it was forty years ago. When we hear things like “the Gospel is about radical inclusivity,” that just means the Gospel is being defined without Scripture. When we hear that “Jesus would’ve baked the cake,” that Jesus is not the Jesus of Scripture.  When we hear, “It’s a relationship, not a religion” still, that often means we are ignoring the significant portions of Scripture that describe the people God is calling out to restore and activate for His Kingdom.

This article originally posted at BreakPoint.org

Americans today are less likely to define socialism as government ownership of the means of  production and more likely to describe it in relation to equality or government benefits and social services, according to a new Gallup poll conducted in September.

Only seventeen percent of Americans in 2018 define socialism as government ownership of the means of production compared to twice that number in 1949 when Gallup first surveyed Americans on the term. According to Gallup News, the latest survey shows how the term has broadened in recent years. Six percent in 2018 even described socialism as “talking to people, being social, social media, getting along with people.” Close to a quarter of Americans offered no opinion, though that number was 36 percent in 1949.

A Gallup News story notes:

Socialism has re-entered the public discourse over the past several years, in part due to the high profile candidacy of socialist Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary, as well as the surprise victory of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America organization, in the Democratic primary in New York’s 14^th Congressional District. According to a news report from Axios, over 40 socialists have won in primary elections this year, and the membership of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has grown from 7,000 members to 50,000 since 2016.

Republicans are much more likely to view socialism as government control of the means of production than are Democrats and more likely to describe socialism in negative ways, according to the September Gallup survey.

In an earlier survey conducted in late July and early August, Gallup found that 57 percent of Democrats have a positive view of socialism while only 47 percent have a positive view of capitalism, a greater difference than seen in three previous measures going back to 2010. The survey in the summer did not define socialism and capitalism but simply asked respondents if they had a favorable or negative view. Republicans, by contrast, have remained significantly more supportive of capitalism. The survey also found that fewer than half of Americans aged 18-29 view capitalism positively, marking a 12-point decline in just two years and down from 68 percent of young adults viewing capitalism positively in 2010.

Progressive Christians are becoming more openly tolerant and even enthusiastic about socialism, but other Christians are pushing back against it. In 2016, Christian writer Julie Roys wrote a blog post stating her views on why socialism isn’t Christian. Roys wrote:

To socialists, all that really exists is the material world. In fact, Karl Marx, the father of socialism/communism, invented the notion of dialectical materialism – the belief that matter contains a creative power within itself. This enabled Marx to eliminate the need for a creator, essentially erasing the existence of anything non-material. To socialists, suffering is caused by the unequal distribution of stuff – and salvation is achieved by the re-distribution of stuff. There’s no acknowledgment of spiritual issues.

There’s just an assumption that if everyone is given equal stuff, all the problems in society will somehow dissolve. This worldview contradicts Christianity, which affirms the existence of both a material and a non-material world – and teaches that mankind’s greatest problems are spiritual. The Bible says the cause of suffering is sin and salvation is found in the cross of Christ, which liberates us from sin. Because of sin, though, there will always be inequalities in wealth.

Roys said the Bible presents material gain, including aid, as being linked to character and responsibility. She cited verses such as 2 Thessalonians 3:10, which says, “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat” and 1 Timothy 5:10, which says widows receiving aid should be known for doing good deeds.

Roys also said socialism promotes envy and class warfare and the destruction of the family to enable greater state power.

The hate business may not be what it used to be – at least on the government level.

The Defense Department has become the latest federal agency to sever ties with the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), an Alabama-based, hard-left group whose “hate map” is being used against Christian groups.

Well, bully for the Pentagon for showing that bully to the door.

The DOD’s pullback from the SPLC was reported by the Daily Caller, which said that a Justice Department attorney stated in an email that the DOD “removed any and all references to the SPLC in training materials used by the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI).”

In 2014, the FBI dropped the SPLC from its resources page after congressional staff, acting on behalf of the Family Research Council (FRC) and other Christian groups on the “hate map,” met with FBI officials to discuss their concerns, according to the Daily Caller.

Once hailed for tracking the Ku Klux Klan and other extremists, the SPLC has in recent years been wielded against mainstream Christian organizations over their defense of Biblical sexual morality and marriage.

If you say out loud that men are different from women, you just took a big step toward the “hate map.”  If you say that marriage necessarily involves both sexes, bingo.  And if you say that it’s not loving to steer boys into identifying as girls, you might earn an SPLC mention alongside skinheads and Neo-Nazis.

The SPLC also targets those who oppose illegal immigration and those who believe Islamic expansionism is a threat to freedom.  All in all, the SPLC might want to consider changing its name to Hate, Inc.

In 2015, the SPLC placed presidential candidate Ben Carson, who now heads the Department of Housing and Urban Development, on an “extremist” hate watch list.  After taking considerable flak, the SPLC removed the citation and apologized to Dr. Carson.

But this guilt-by-association ploy is having a huge effect in Silicon Valley, where cyber giants who fancy themselves do-gooders look to the SPLC for guidance.

“Right now, [the SPLC is] cutting off hate groups from sources of financing by pushing digital companies like Amazon not to allow hate groups to use their services,” said SPLC’s founder, direct-mail wizard Morris Dees.

Google, Facebook and Twitter are under congressional scrutiny for allegedly “shadow banning” conservative and religious postings.

“The most dangerous aspect of this high-tech offensive on pro-faith groups and individuals is buried deep in the algorithms of these gatekeepers for the new economy,” said Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel.

Google now supports a “hate news” database that links to articles referencing Liberty Counsel and other Christian groups on the SPLC “hate” list.  The SPLC’s smears have led Amazon Smile, a charity donation program run by Jeff Bezos’ Amazon company, to ban pro-family Christian groups.

Last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced a $1 million Apple donation to the SPLC and added a portal so iTunes buyers could donate directly. Big Tech, meet Big Hate.

The SPLC’s perfidy has led to “hate” labels on Christian groups listed in GuideStar, the charity group database, which removed some labels after a public outcry.  Discover/Diners Club is now blocking transactions with some pro-family groups, according to Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver.

Making false accusations of hate is profoundly hateful, but it’s also lucrative. The SPLC, which has raised millions since its 1971 founding, has fattened its endowment to more than $477 million, according to its latest Form 990.

In August 2017, D. James Kennedy Ministries, for which I have written several books, finally had had enough and filed a defamation lawsuit against the SPLC in Alabama and also sued GuideStar and Amazon.com, Inc.  The ministry withdrew the GuideStar suit but continued the other litigation.  Liberty Counsel also sued GuideStar, but that suit was thrown out last January by U.S. District Judge Raymond Jackson, a Bill Clinton appointee.

In August 2012, Leo Johnson, the building manager at FRC headquarters in Washington, D.C., was shot while preventing an attempted mass murder by a man who said he was inspired by FRC’s presence on the SPLC’s “hate map.”

The shooter, Floyd Lee Corkins II, planned to kill as many people as possible and jam Chick-fil-A sandwiches into their faces to protest Chick-fil-A’s and FRC’s support for natural marriage.  He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in September 2013 for committing an act of terrorism while armed and other offenses.

Apparently, the SPLC did not find this compelling enough to remove FRC from its “hate map,” where it remained until very recently.  However, FRC – along with D. James Kennedy Ministries, the American Family Association, Alliance Defending Freedom, the Ruth Institute, the American College of Pediatricians and many other reputable Christian groups, along with the Jewish-led parents group MassResistance – is still listed on the SPLC’s “Hate Watch” page.

For pro-family activists, it’s become a badge of honor.

Introduction by Laurie Higgins

One of the joys and blessings of working for IFI these past ten years has been meeting remarkable people from across the country. One very special friend is Dr. Daniel Boland who has master’s degrees (one in theology and one in education), a PhD in psychology, and three years of post-doctoral training and research in human behavior and applied behavioral science. He taught, supervised and counseled at the University of Notre Dame and, later, at Arizona State University. After teaching, he opened a private practice as consulting psychologist in Scottsdale, Arizona and eventually moved to Southern California, where he enjoys the atmospheric climate much more than the political one. Dr. Boland now studies and writes about the radically secular trends and de-moralizing ideas which are eroding the influence of traditional Judeo-Christian principles, beliefs and practices. His wise, compassionate, and edifying essays are available on his blog to which you can and should subscribe. Here’s his essay on the meaning of the Kavanaugh imbroglio:

Beyond the Kavanaugh Event: America’s Fading Traditions
Written by Dr. Daniel Boland

A vast divide now exists among Americans. It is far more than a political rift between Democrats and Republicans. It is not merely a struggle between conservatives and liberals. The true nature of this conflict centers on how we shall live as individuals and what values we shall uphold as a nation. The facts at hand are not encouraging.

The Kavanaugh Event highlights the rabid polarization in the struggle for survival of our fundamental values, our American identity and even our national security.

“Progressivism’s” Errant Values

“Progressive” Leftists seek to create a nation without national boundaries, moral traditions or constitutional restraints. “… Let people do what they want. Let them have their way, no matter what price we pay for unhindered progress or what age-old laws and time-honored customs of dead-white-men we banish along the way…” say “progressive” Leftists.

America’s national character and moral coherence are based on 230+ years of constitutional stability inspired by Judeo-Christian mores. These legal and spiritual codes emphasize individual accountability and define the natural and lawful limits of human behavior.

Until recently, individual rights have always been balanced by personal responsibilities—and by accountability to God and to other human beings—for the common good, starting with the first natural right of all persons, the right to life, which includes the unborn.

Until recently, these codes have restrained government abuse and tempered the fads and foolishness to which humans are attracted. Today, the “progressive” Left jettisons these norms as outmoded, offensive, restrictive—the stale product of male/sexist/white/Christian/conservative dominance.

To advance their vision of unhindered “progress,” Leftists seek to eradicate our American system. Thus, many of our sacred traditions and boundaries are being overthrown by practitioners of Marxist political correctness and moral relativism, mental and moral distortions to which many Americans are in militant, yet ignorant, thrall.

And now comes the Kavanaugh Event where accusation and condemnation—rather than civility and restraint—are common. The dignity and achievements of a good man’s lifetime are expunged in favor of flimsy rumor and deliberate exaggeration (if not outright lies) in service to manipulative power.

Memory’s Weak Links

The Kavanaugh hearings quickly devolved into character defamation, focusing not on the nominee’s professional qualifications but on whether he was a teenaged drunkard, so afflicted by alcoholic blackouts that he was forgetfully capable of anything, including violent rape.

Politically correct character assassination is the goal of the Kavanaugh Event, with the threat of impeachment ever hovering. To the Left, solid reputations of moral probity earned over an adult lifetime are relative.

Judge Kavanaugh is accused of a felony. But the preponderance of evidence assuredly does not support this charge. However, many Leftists hope the ensuing FBI probe will unearth additional dirt about Kavanaugh’s college drinking and belligerency, and a subsequent charge of perjury they hope to pin on him—dirt with which they expect to bury Judge Kavanaugh.

It is crucial to note that dissociative amnesia and the validity of recovered memories—the bases of his accuser’s charges—carry scant weight in research psychology and forensic testimony. The validity and credibility of recovered memories is highly unreliable.

Research tells us that recovered memories are by no means credible and carry no probative value. Yet Democrats grant eager assent to the accusations, which originated in trauma forty years old. Despite this, the “progressive” Left celebrates the accusation as “proof” of Judge Kavanaugh’s guilt. (If you wish to review these accusations and, more to the point, read the report of Rachel Mitchell, the prosecutor who interviewed Dr. Christine Ford during the proceedings, click here.

The Progressive’s Approach 

To the “progressive” Left, accusation alone cancels reasonable doubt. It “proves” Judge Kavanaugh is unworthy. Henceforth, he shall be known and dishonored as a liar, drunk and rapist.

For the “progressive” Left, even a reckless, fact-less accusation that anyone is a racist or a homophobe, a chauvinist-pig or a sexist, a bigot or a promoter of hate speech or, worse, a faithful Christian baker or florist (with all the attached spiteful, religious baggage), even a mere accusation is sufficient to cast shadows over good people to justify punitive wrath and budget-busting fines.

Such is the “progressive” politically correct ethic in our morally-wounded, rationally-bereft culture.

The Behavior of Some Senators

The insults and “gotcha” posturing by Democrat Senators were, to many observers, way over the edge. It was deeply disquieting to watch our elected representatives leverage Judge Kavanaugh’s plight for their own unsavory political agendas, their unseemly grandstanding and their appeals to financial donors.

For example, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) declared his resistance to Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination less than half an hour after the announcement. Mr. Schumer’s rush to pre-judgment was startling in its alacrity and vehemence.

U.S. Senator Kristen Gillibrand’s opportunistic “anti-males-in-power” feminist screeds were wearisome in their denial of historical and biological reality—which is nowhere better explained than in this brief, must-watch Prager U video.

U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono’s advice to men to “shut up and step up” was simply incoherent and outlandish.

U.S. Senator Kamala Harris’ fumbling, all-too-obvious attempts to trap Judge Kavanaugh into contradictory testimony were feckless and amateurish.

U.S. Senator Cory Booker indulged in several episodes of self-promoting rodomontade a’brim with cringe-worthy virtue-signaling and martyr-ish rhetoric. His performance was out of sync with his own teen-age sexual excesses, about which he wrote in a college column proclaiming his conversion to feminism.

One could also mention U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal’s needless slur that Judge Kavanaugh’s appointment will “stain” the Supreme Court. This is the same Blumenthal who claimed to have served in Vietnam when, in fact, he did not.

There are other embarrassing and unstatesman-like (or, if I must, unstateswoman-like) examples from our national leaders in this unfortunate inquisition, but the point is evident and disturbing.

The Stunning Absence of Honesty

The intemperate name-calling and adversarial behavior of Democrats did indeed shock. Such behavior compels us to recognize with heavy heart that politics and far too many politicians no longer exemplify responsible civility, moral and intellectual clarity, human courtesy or simple fairness.

Some will counter with a challenge: “Yes, but how ‘bout Trump and his ranting, blathering incivilities?”

Yes, many Americans vehemently condemn President Trump’s tweety indiscretions. In fact, many loathe our president for his tactless style and his tasteless crudities.

Many people also criticize Republicans for their hesitant, tradition-bound approach to their exercise of their congressional majorities and for their failure to reach effectively across the aisle and seek unity with Democrats. “… After all, Republicans have the power…”

Fair enough.

But “progressivism’s” defamatory strategies and divisive energies—now on grim public display—clearly reveal how they are deliberately eroding our American ideals and how responsible these “progressive” Leftists are for the toxic state of affairs we now face.

To this day, the story of America is a record of human nature’s best attempts at limited governance and the evolution of justice. Sadly, today’s destructive Leftist politics reveals that power-grasping can overshadow the good will and highest hopes of human nature which defined American exceptionalism.

Political Life and Reality’s Bite

Our Declaration of Independence declares that our laws are codifications of rights and responsibilities granted by our Creator—except to the “progressive” Left.

Our nation’s historic struggle for a balance between human laws and their divine origin are summed up in the admonitions of John Adams, who cautioned that our form of governance relies not only on law but also on the virtue of citizens and their representatives—except to the “progressive” Left.

We can see that American politics today is no longer a unified struggle for a common goal. Party politics is now a bitter, morally divisive enterprise. Americans are separated according to our vision of human life, its origins, its rights and its inherent value.

These differences are nowhere more definitively clarified than with the issue of abortion. The divisions in our country relate to our beliefs about life itself—about the “right” of individuals to live and the “right” of both the state and private persons to take life away from its own citizens, especially from the unborn and the elderly.

It is the taking and giving of life which threaten our Republic’s very survival. It is abortion, its moral consequences and its political leverage which are at the dark core of the Kavanaugh Event. 

Threats to American Stability

The corrupting intrusions of Marxist political-correctness, the ascendance of moral relativism in the American consciousness and the denigration of Judeo-Christian principles now inspire character assassination as a mainstream political tool. But there is also much more to worry about.

Our national malaise is exacerbated by Leftist propagandists in the media and entertainment industries to the grave detriment to our entire culture. One has only to listen to some late-night hosts to realize how foul “humor” has become, as Jimmy Kimmel’s disgusting comment affirms.

To the Left, factual reportage and decency in speech are relative to the desired outcome.

The impact of the “progressive” Left’s relativism on American politics, education, family life, law enforcement on our entire culture is difficult to face but impossible to deny:

• erosion of speech and religious exercise protections and the concomitant ongoing denigration of Judeo-Christian traditions

• triumph of non-judgmental, “anything goes” moral madness

• acceptance by medical professionals and parents of gravely misguided “transgender” “identity” change therapies over natural sexuality

• destruction of moral codes that respect the unborn and the elderly

• increased taxation and subsequent re-distribution of income and opportunity, regardless of talent, work ethic or experience

• perpetuation of welfare without qualification

• the support for open borders and further influx of unregistered non-citizen “sanctuary” seekers demanding care and comfort for all entrants—this added to an illegal population which is twice what experts previously estimated

• increased control of industry, commerce and systems of distribution, psychological and medical services and educational institutions

There is also the mortal danger of Islamic militancy which promises violence and death to America. In fact, violence is now occurring throughout Europe, a continent made victim by its own twisted sense of giving aid to its destroyers and welcoming its enemy in the names of suicidal empathy and false altruism.

Do We Get It Yet?

The un-making of America in accordance with the desires and will of the “progressive” Left proceeds apace as self-restraint is diminished and counterfeit, artificial “freedoms” are let loose among us. The public destruction of Brett Kavanaugh is but one of countless tragic events ahead for America and for many Americans.

History tells us that disturbing outcomes are increasingly probable unless we take seriously the facts at hand. The facts at hand attest to the demise of our moral traditions, truth and civility in the “progressive” Left’s politically correct, socialist America and to the continuing destruction of American exceptionalism and identity.

It can’t happen here? Really?

It is unfolding before us every day.

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I recently embarked on the adventure of teaching my boys (ages six and four) how to ride a bike without training wheels. After multiple sessions, our efforts paid off and both boys are doing very well at keeping their balance. (Now we just need to work on steering and braking!)

Our first couple of sessions felt a bit fruitless. We went out to a large empty parking lot. One of the boys would climb on the bike, I’d run alongside holding the handlebars, and occasionally let go for a moment. They usually couldn’t last more than a few seconds on their own (if that long!). As any parent who has followed this process knows, it’s rather demanding for Mom or Dad!

I was commenting to my wife that we didn’t seem to be making progress, and she did what any good millennial parent would do: she suggested I search online for tips. So I did, and discovered one strategy that appears to have made all the difference. Instead of running alongside holding onto the handlebars, the article said, run behind the bike holding onto the child. That way, they’re getting more of a feel for the bike since the parent isn’t holding onto it.

We gave it a try, and after just a couple of sessions, both boys were riding for long stretches without any assistance from me. Hooray!

As a father of young children, I’m not going to presume to have all the answers about how to raise godly children. I’m too early in the process. But it strikes me that my recent experience with bicycle training has some parallels to other aspects of parenting.

First, persistence and consistency are fundamental. Just as I couldn’t take my boys out once and expect them to master bike riding, I can’t explain concepts such as obedience, respect, the gospel, or anything else just once and expect it to stick. It’s a process. It takes time, repetition, and consistency. We’ll miss out on the rewards if we give up too early or practice too inconsistently. It’s easy to get tired, lackadaisical, or apathetic, but in truth, we can’t afford to indulge any of these. Too much is at stake.

Second, everything—and I do mean everything—must be taught. Now that my kids know how to balance, we have to work on steering and braking. Similarly, in other areas of life it sometimes amazes me the basic things I have to explain to my kids. Certain truths are so obvious to my adult mind that I have a hard time realizing that my kids don’t know them. But they don’t. And so my wife and I have to explain, and explain, and explain again, going over the most basic fundamentals of life until they understand. Whether it’s the proper way to wash our hands, how to have good table manners, or why they need to treat Mommy and Daddy with respect, my wife and I have to explain it all. But if we don’t teach them these things, who will? One lesson I’m trying to learn as a Dad of young children is to never take it for granted that my kids understand something if I haven’t explained it. It might be frustrating at times, but it’s important.

A third lesson from my recent experience is that the right strategy is fundamentally important. Now again, I’m still in the early stages of my parenting journey, so I’m not going to overstep my experience and tell you how to raise your children. What I will say is that the Bible gives us excellent direction. One of the fundamental principles I see as I look at Scripture is the importance of consistent parental involvement and instruction. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 is a classic passage on this subject. Here, God tells us to operate in essentially a constant mode of discipleship. It’s a high standard and one I frankly don’t measure up to nearly as well as I’d like, but it’s something to aspire to. It’s fundamentally a simple strategy, one that might even appear primitive by modern standards, but we’ll never improve on God’s model. As parents, we need to consistently—dare I say constantly—point our children to God and His truth.

We could probably draw more parallels between teaching bike riding and the rest of parenting, but these are hopefully enough to remind all of us of some simple things we need to be doing on a daily basis. And Lord willing, one of these days we’ll be able to look back at all that teaching, all that instruction, all those moments of working to help them “get it,” and see that it paid off.

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There is an often-repeated falsehood that liberals and some libertarians love to throw out in knee-jerk fashion to dismiss those who support morally ordered liberty.  You may have encountered it on social media.  The retort is “you can’t legislate morality.” This is wrong on several fronts. Someone’s moral view is always a part of almost every piece of legislation. The question then is, “whose morality prevails?”  

What these folks are doing, other than dismissing your cultural concerns, is to claim that you cannot legislate behavior. This too is false.  The law is a teacher. For many, whatever is legal is moral and therefore permissible behavior.  As an example, one reason you likely did not drive to the office at 85 MPH this morning is that it was not legal to do so. Had it been, many drivers would have done so, regardless of the safety of such a behavior.

There is a very good insider political newsletter called Indiana Legislative Insight to which AFA-IN subscribes. A recent story includes a study whose name only a government bureaucrat could love.  It is called the “Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges Project Post Construction Traffic Monitoring Study.”

To boil it down as concisely as possible, this study claimed that traffic across the bridges would hit 250,318 vehicles per day for 2013.  However, actual traffic counts found that this was overstated by over 30,000 vehicles per day.

What was even more interesting was the breakdown of bridges. The study did not predict the significant change in traffic patterns on the bridges across the Ohio River caused by new laws that created toll bridges. During the study the non-tolled US 31 bridge saw a 75 percent increase in traffic. The non-tolled I-64 bridge saw a 23 percent increase in traffic. The study predicted a much smaller increase in traffic due to new tolls and construction on other bridges.

Traffic on the renovated Kennedy and the new Lincoln toll bridges dropped by 49 percent between 2013 and 2018. Three of five bridges crossing the Ohio are now tolled.

In other words, government predictions of drivers’ behavioral changes significantly underestimated how many people would avoid paying new taxes through the use of other routes.

The study did not look at toll revenue projections. However, Legislative Insight reports that those numbers seem to be close to revenue predictions. It did note that many of the estimated costs for bridge construction fell well below the actual costs.

This article was originally published by AFA of Indiana.

The world is quickly becoming over-populated. There is not enough water, food, fuel or other natural resources to sustain us all. We will soon be faced with a “survival of the fittest” class struggle, as the “have-nots” contend with the “haves” for land and property rights, in an attempt to stay alive during the coming economic apocalypse that ensues. Billions will starve to death (or worse) as every blade of grass is consumed by the ever-encroaching urban sprawl and demand for limited services.

At least this is the neo-Marxist narrative the socialist / globalist journalist, politicians and educrats want you to believe.

How Did We Get Here?

Whence did all these stories of over-population, limited resources, carbon footprint, etc. originate?

Thomas Malthus (1766-1846), wrote a book in 1798 entitled, An Essay on the Principle of Population as It Affects the Future Improvement of Society. He hypothesized that “… the power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man.”

Charles Darwin (1809-1888) was influenced by Malthusian theory. Darwin’s 1859 book, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, created a world where only the physical reality matters. The soul of humans was diminished, and people quickly became reduced to resource-consuming units. Social Darwinism soon developed the concept that only the strongest should be allowed to survive, and that often was the “white race.” Eugenics, a practice of eliminating unwanted elements of the population through whatever pragmatic means was currently culturally accepted (or whatever you could get away with), was a driving worldview behind Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.

Eugenics advocate, Margaret Sanger (1879-1966), the founder of Planned Parenthood, invented the term, “birth control,” and raised $150,000 for research leading to the first birth control pill in 1951. Sanger promoted “a stern and rigid policy of sterilization and segregation to that grade of population whose progeny is already tainted, or whose inheritance is such that objectionable traits may be transmitted to offspring.” —“A Plan for Peace,” Birth Control Review, April 1932, pages 107-108

Radical environmentalism placed the continued survival of the species as a primary virtue (with all of the devotion of a religion). We must save the planet, so we can all survive. If that means killing off large segments of our population (through abortion or other means), so be it.

Margaret Sanger, who intentionally set up abortion clinics in African-American neighborhoods, declared: “The most serious evil of our times is that of encouraging the bringing into the world of large families. The most immoral practice of the day is breeding too many children,” she continued “The most merciful thing that the large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it.” —“Woman and the New Race,” 1920, Chapter 5: The Wickedness of Creating Large Families.

The Over-Population Myth

The real fact is that we have plenty of land and natural resources to accommodate our growing population. Of course, we should be good stewards of the earth, and find renewable resources, but we need to stop seeing children as a pestilence to be exterminated, and view them as they are; emerging innovators who can create a more sustainable future for us all.

The doomsayers with this message have consistently been proven wrong. Fifty years ago, Paul Ehrlich, author of The Population Bomb, wrote: “The battle to feed humanity is over. In the 1970s and 1980s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now. At this late date nothing can prevent a substantial increase in the world death rate.”

He also predicted the average age of death would be 42 by 1980, and the oceans could rise 250 feet because of melting ice caps (anyone wonder where Al Gore got his nonsense?). Ehrlich was certainly a false prophet. While poverty, hunger, and lack of adequate drinking water are present realities in many parts of the globe, these problems are almost always created by corrupt and oppressive governments, poor infrastructure, inefficiency (wasted food), lack of technology (shortage of water wells), war, and even cultural superstition (like in India where their religious beliefs have created food shortages by not allowing mice and rats to be killed, or cattle to be eaten for food, ceremonial bathing in drinking water, etc.).

False over-population myths have been responsible for many of the over 60 million abortions since Roe v. Wade in 1973. The truth is, there is room for every person on this planet to stand shoulder to shoulder within the city limits of Los Angeles, CA. It’s not a space issue, it’s a stewardship issue.

Despising Children

While not self-consciously pro-eugenics, the philosophical descendants of Malthus, Darwin, Sanger and Ehrlich have produces a negative view of children in our culture.

Children are not a negative drain on a society, they are, in the words of the Psalm 127 in the Bible, “a reward.” Population growth through birth rate9 is one of the prerequisites of a healthy economy. What is scary, is not child birth, but rather a massive aging population who have trusted their government to pay for their retirement (with funds long past spent). Our current Social Security system for the immense Baby Boomer generation is being funded by the current labor and taxation of Gen X and Millennials.

The problem is, in western culture, we’ve almost either killed off, or prevented the conception of, an entire generation of scientists, doctors, nurses, farmers, technicians, engineers and inventors. If we weren’t thinking of this in theological terms (considering the sovereignty of God), one might speculate that the scientist who would have discovered the universal cure for cancer may have been murdered in the womb.

A society needs a fertility rate of 2.1 births children per (hopefully married) woman to sustain population levels and maintain a stable economy. What we see happening in many part of Europe is a society driving full speed towards an economic cliff (not to mention a moral one!).

Demographics from the World Bank demonstrate a fall in global fertility rates from about 5.0 in 1960, to under 2.5 today. In 2015 in Europe the 10 worst economies, (with their accompanying birthrates beside it) were (from worst to better): Finland (1.6), Greece (1.3), Estonia (1.6), Portugal (1.3), Austria (1.5), Netherlands (1.7), Italy (1.4), Belgium (1.7), France (2.0), and Germany (1.5). None of these countries are above the 2.1 threshold for sustainability.

Muslims are quickly taking over population centers in Europe through a much higher than average birth rate. Muslims recognize the value of child-birth as a means for cultural domination. America only slightly exceeds a 2.1 growth rate, but that is due to immigration, not birth rate. As our birth rate slows to match that of Europe, we can expect to see our productivity decrease as well.

The Solution

Many nations, including China, Japan, Israel and others are seeking to encourage their citizens to have more children now, not less. The problem is, the anti-child and anti-family worldview is so ingrained in many cultures, people are now avoiding marriage and child-bearing altogether. STD’s are on the rise (so sexual activity is likely on the rise) but marriage and raising children within a committed marriage is despised.

To be clear, I am not suggesting that birth alone solves these complex economic problems. There is far more to a stable society, and robust economy that human bodies taking up land mass. What is needed is for a healthy family culture to emerge. Committed, monogamous, heterosexual marriages provide the best context for raising good citizens. Children need both fathers and mothers to help guide them into life’s complex maze of choices. We do not merely need to give birth to babies; we need to train them well how to become contributing adults. Divorce and parental absenteeism has given us a generation of lost young adults who are struggling to find their way through emotional pain, and subsequent substance abuse. They need the stability only a loving family can provide.

The key is to raise the next generation to understand their responsibility to be producers and nor mere consumers. Entertainment, government subsidies and dumbed-down educational systems have created youth who have a major entitlement complex. They’ve had free daycare, free government schooling, free meals at school, and even in many cases, free college that wasn’t merit-based. The growing acceptance of marijuana and other addictive substances have sapped ambition and is crippling what is left of the American work ethic. Many of them sit back, waiting on the government to take care of them throughout their life. Young adults like this will never successfully lead us into the future.

While information is essential for our global economy, we must also continue to produce goods and services. This is where parents are going to have to work hard to combat the indoctrination towards government dependency being inculcated in our nation’s youth from a very young age.

I’ve never been one to merely preach at others, while not taking my own advice. At the time of this writing, my wife and I are eagerly awaiting the birth of our tenth child in just a few short months. We have never been on government assistance, and we support them all, and teach them a good work ethic (age appropriate of course) from the time they are young. We homeschool them entirely by ourselves and will save taxpayers over a million dollars just between K-12 by not putting them into government schools.

We patiently endure the sarcastic and snarky comments of perfect strangers who ask us, “Do you know what causes that?!” or “Are they all yours?! Surely you aren’t planning to have more?!” Many of those casting shade at us have children who are on drugs or have been in jail for felonies. We don’t take offense at their rudeness and ignorance. We have our eyes set on a higher goal. We are preparing these young ones to be successfully in life: Physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. We are teaching them how to love and care for their neighbors, and how to solve problems, rather than create them. It’s not for the faint of heart, but our great country wasn’t built by people who shrank back from challenges. It was built by people of strong moral courage and tenacious convictions.

It is my hope that conservatives will stop reading from the playbooks of the progressive, leftist, Eugenic, social engineers, and will return to what make America great: Faith, family (including children) and freedom. These universal principles never fail. Join with me in helping to make America great again…by seeing once again that value of our children (our future).

IFI’s Annual
Faith, Family & Freedom Fall Banquet

Friday, October 5, 2018
The Stonegate in Hoffman Estates

Featuring special guest, George Barna

Secure your tickets or table now – click here or call (708) 781-9328.

Program advertisements & banquet sponsorships available.

If you’ve been a believer for any length of time, you’re familiar with the Great Commission—the call to reach the whole world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s the marching orders of the church, so to speak, and rightly receives a great deal of focus and emphasis in the body of Christ.

But has it ever occurred to you that we also have another call that’s equally important—and, if anything, even more specific when it comes to the who and how of the calling?

It’s the call to reach our own children.

Now, as I continue, please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying that the Great Commission is a second-tier priority. I’m simply pointing out that, as important as the call to reach the world is, God has also given us a clear and urgent priority to reach our children. And sadly, I’m afraid we’re failing at that calling all too often.

As a father of young children, I don’t presume to have all the answers, nor do I want to take a good outcome for my children for granted. Lord willing, all of my kids will grow up to know and love God and impact others for Him. But that’s still an unfolding process with far more ahead of us than behind us.

I’ll also say that, frankly, some of us (and I include myself here) find it easier to focus on our families and sometimes need a push to reach out beyond our four walls and make an impact on someone else. But by and large, I believe Christian parents have surrendered far too much ground when it comes to raising and training the next generation. We’re seeing the results in a mass migration of young people away from the faith.

Let’s get back to the Great Commission for a moment.

It’s interesting to note that there’s a sense in which our call to reach the world is general. God doesn’t tell me in the Bible exactly who I, Jonathan Lewis, should reach and how I should reach them. (Should I do prison ministry? Visit nursing homes? Serve as a missionary overseas? Run for a local political office?) On top of that, the call is shared with literally the entire body of Christ.

This open-ended quality of the Great Commission doesn’t make it any less significant; I’m simply pointing out that there are innumerable ways to play a part in fulfilling it.

But the call to reach the next generation? It’s as specific as the children I share the dinner table with each evening. God’s methodology is also clear: invest an enormous amount of time alongside our children, faithfully instructing them in the ways of God (see Deuteronomy 6:6-7). And it’s not really a shared calling. Beyond parents and grandparents, no one else is specifically given any responsibility for my children.

In other words, I can play a role in accomplishing the Great Commission in many ways and with varying degrees and types of involvement at different stages of life. But there’s literally only one way for me to fulfill God’s call on me as a parent. I only have one opportunity, one method, and one target.

These distinctions don’t make the Great Commission less significant. Indeed, reaching the world was important enough for Jesus to make it the subject of His final instructions to His disciples before ascending to Heaven.

Instead, I’m simply seeking to point out that the same God who told us to reach the world also gave us incredibly specific instructions to reach our children. And if God has given us two callings, I think we should heed both.

Clearly, we shouldn’t make our children our sole priority. But nor should we make the opposite mistake of being so occupied with reaching the world for Christ that we neglect what may be our closest, most specific calling short of nurturing our own personal walk with God—reaching our kids.

Of course, rather than either downplaying or overstating either of these God-given responsibilities, our aim should be a place of balance. We have two urgently important callings from God: reach the world, and reach our children. If we get out of balance in either direction, someone is going to suffer for it, and some of God’s greatest work on earth will remain undone.

My main concern is that the church has generally placed more emphasis on reaching the world, and less emphasis on reaching our children. And in the meantime, young people are walking away in droves. It’s become a full-blown crisis. Yet despite the amount that’s been said on the topic, I’m not sure we’ve really come to grips with the fact that until parents embrace their calling with passion and commitment—and until churches and pastors consistently equip and encourage parents in that direction—we’re unlikely to turn the tide.

Should we put the Great Commission on hold while we focus on the next generation? No. But nor should we put our children on hold while we reach the world. We ought to do the one, while not leaving the other undone.

Only then can we hope to accomplish all God has put us here to do.

Join us on October 5th for IFI‘s Annual Fall Banquet

This year we are pleased to be featuring George Barna to share his faith, political insights and his most recent polling work regarding faith-based statistics, leadership and upcoming elections in the United States. You will not want to miss this opportunity to hear directly from what many call “the most quoted person in the Christian Church today.”

Secure your tickets or table now!
Click here or call (708) 781-9328.

Program advertisements & banquet sponsorships available.

Don’t Delay – Early Bird Specials Expire on Sept. 14th!

Written by Taylor Lewis

Holy intersectional infighting, Batman!

Fans of the dime-a-dozen televised superhero dramas may be in for some unfortunate news.  The actress tapped to play Batwoman in the latest installment of The CW’s seriate “Arrowverse” has been determined not to be gay enough for the role.  That is, the actress is gay, but she doesn’t prefer women enough – or enough to silence her critics, at least.