Where is God already at work? Who is making an impact in their sphere of influence? What can you do to make a difference? The “mountains” in my title here describes the ways some have divided culture, erroneously setting apart the areas in which we would need to impact (business, government, media, arts and entertainment, education, the family and religion) in order to realize real, sustainable change in the Christian world. Transformation 2012 is a one-day virtual conference designed to...

Each year my alma mater, Aquinas College of Grand Rapids, Mich., invites students, faculty, staff, and members of the munity to take part in a wide range of activities throughout the week of January 28th to celebrate the feast of our patron saint. Although this week officially bears the name of a celebration in honor of St. Thomas Aquinas, it is also a special time when members of the Aquinas munity celebrate the college’s heritage in the Dominican tradition. This...

In The Christian Post, Napp Nazworth profiles Wisdom & Wonder: Common Grace in Science & Art. The article looks at the power the Abraham Kuyper translation project will have in transforming the way evangelicals engage the broader culture. Acton’s director of programs and international Stephen Grabill spoke with The Christian Post: While some evangelicals have grown appalled by the increased political activism of their brethren and withdrawn from politics, others have e so deeply tied to partisan and national loyalties...

Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, has launched a new Center for Leadership which university alumnus Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., lauds as a project that “roots young men and women in virtue, forms them as leaders, and grounds them in sound philosophical thought.” David Schmiesing, who directs the center and is also vice president of student life at Steubenville, said, “This is our most explicit and focused effort yet to train leaders for the Church and world.” One of the resources...

I had the pleasure of being a guest on today’s installment of Coffee & Markets, the fine podcast hosted by Kevin Holtsberry and Pejman Yousefzadeh. I got to talk about Abraham Kuyper and his essays mon grace, particularly in the areas of science and art. These essays are available in translation in Wisdom & Wonder: Common Grace in Science & Art, the first selection from the broader three-volume Common Grace translation project. Check out the podcast and some related links...

Beginning in 1908 as the “Octave of Christian Unity,” the eight days from January 18 to January 25 are designated as the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” and observed by many major Christian traditions and denominations. All around the world, Christians who sometimes do not always get along so well (to put it lightly) put aside their discord to pray for renewed harmony and reconciliation. For example, in Bucharest, Romania, ecumenical prayer services are being held on nearly every...

Calvin Coolidge quipped shortly before his death, “I feel I no longer fit in with these times.” The words came not long before FDR’s ascendency to the presidency and not long after the upsurge of government activism that started in the Herbert Hoover administration. Coolidge, even for his time, was seen as old fashioned, a throw back to simpler values, ethics, and principles. Coolidge cut the name tags out of his suits when he asked his wife to resale them,...

[Thanks to RealClearWorld, ThePulp.it, NewsBusters and for linking to mentary.] Over at the American Spectator, Acton Research Director Samuel Gregg points to Europe’s “perceptible inability” to acknowledge some of the deeper dynamics driving its financial crisis. And these are primarily a “slow-motion population plicated by the exodus of young European Union citizens and the return of hundreds of thousands of immigrants to their homes in developing nations. That is an ominous development for a region where the dependency rate —...

The Keynesians will have little to cheer about in this story. Yesterday I saw this report from CNN Money that said U.S. consumer credit card debt fell by 11 percent in 2011. Mississippians led the Union by reducing their card balance by 23 percent. While total household debt fell by only 1 percent last year, it is still a towering plishment pared to the U.S. federal debt increase. This is exactly the point Jordan Ballor and I made in our...

The Think Tanks and Civil Society Program at the University of Pennsylvania this morning released its “2011 Global Go To Think Tanks Rankings” and associated trends analysis. The full report will be posted here soon. The Acton Institute was ranked No. 12 globally on the “Top Thirty Social Policy Think Tanks” (the same ranking as in the 2010 survey) and No. 39 on the “Top Fifty Think Tanks in the United States” ranking (up eight places). James McGann, the director...