Two years ago, the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRC) clarified its stance against homosexuality. Last week, the denomination clarified its expectations for churches whose LGBTQ-affirming teachings contradict that stance. 　　At its 2024 Synod, the CRC instructed any affirming congregations to repent, retract any divergent public statements, and comply with the denomination s beliefs on sexuality going forward. Pastors,...

　　The Supreme Court has decided Moore v. United States, which had the potential to be the most important tax case in over a century. That potential wasn’t realized (pun intended), however. 　　The “question presented,” as set out in the petition for certiorari in Moore, was “Whether the Sixteenth Amendment authorizes Congress to tax unrealized sums without apportionment among the states.”...

　　Editor’s Note: The following is adapted from the author’s Neil B. Freeman Lecture for the Fund for American Studies (TFAS) delivered at George Mason University on June 11, 2024. 　　This is a time of much pessimism about the American experiment.I choose that term to avoid a common misuse of the word “democracy,” as when the current president and others tell...

　　Spur Your Spouse on toward Love and Good Deeds 　　By Jen Ferguson 　　And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds –Hebrews 10:24 　　A few years ago, I remember Face Timing with my friend who was in hospice. He called while I was in the aisle of Target, but when you get the...

　　One Friday evening, a young woman sat her toddler on her lap at Christ the King Evangelical Episcopal Church in Maalot-Tarshiha, a mixed Arab-Jewish town in northern Israel five miles from the border with Lebanon. Like mothers everywhere, she clapped her hands and beckoned a response. 　　What does the cow say? Moo, the child replied. 　　What does the dog say?...

　　Before the Internet and social media, there was Johann Gutenberg’s seventeenth-century movable-type printing innovation. (The Chinese invented something similar centuries before, but without impact). It revolutionized the spread of literacy and contributed to the Protestant movement’s break from the Catholic Church.Between the printing press and the Internet, there were other things: the telegraph, radio, and TV. None diffused written texts...

　　Your Life Needs Your Unique God-Made Pace 　　By Keri Eichberger 　　For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. - Ephesians 2:10 　　As my heart rate reached 175 beats per minute, lightheadedness shifted to disorientation. Hints of nausea grew to deep gut punches. My breath shallowed and...

　　Two years ago, the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade and the right to an abortion. In the aftermath, many churchgoers say theyve seen their congregations involved in supporting local pregnancy resource centers. 　　On June 24, 2022, in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, the Supreme Court opened the door for states to pass laws restricting abortion. In the aftermath,...

　　Let me tell you about an intense time in British politics: one where Scotland’s hate speech legislation came into force, the final Cass Review into paediatric gender medicine was published, a UK general election was called, and Nigel Farage made a triumphant political return. 　　Throughout, J. K. Rowling tweeted. 　　On June 3, Farage left his quondam job as telly broadcaster...

　　Are You Tired of WaitingFor Your Fruit-Producing Season? 　　Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. - Colossians 2:7 　　Have you ever been so frustrated at waiting for a fruitful time in your life that you said to the Lord, When is the fruit-producing season ever going to...

　　When We Get Too Weary (Galatians 6:9) 　　By Anne Peterson 　　And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.- Galatians 6:9 　　Let’s face it, we all get weary. Wiping the sleep out of our eyes, we know that we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing. A...

　　Weekend, June 22, 2024 　　Confident Praying 　　Never stop praying. (1 Thessalonians 5:17 NLT) 　　Herod Agrippa was the consummate career politician. The main thing for him was staying in power. So, he had James arrested, and then he executed him. He saw that curried favor with his constituents, so he planned to execute Peter as well. 　　Now, this wasn’t the same...