Some groups are giving environmentalism a very bad name. For instance the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement goes by the motto, “May we live long and die out.”1 In other words, humanity should graciously leave the scene as soon as possible. Then there is the Earth Liberation Front, which burns ski lodges and sabotages high-tension lines.2 While this may be remotely gratifying to some who call themselves Christian, most believers feel that human procreation, slalom runs, and power grids are good things and that eco-terrorism is wrong-headed. Of course, all decent people are opposed to littering and the release of toxic […]

1 O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God! 2 For behold, your enemies make an uproar; those who hate you have raised their heads. 3 They lay crafty plans against your people; they consult together against your treasured ones. Psalm 83:1-3 (ESV)

Pastor John Scripture Reference: Micah 3:1-12, 5:1-5a

  The son of an English immigrant laborer who imbued him with a strong Protestant work ethic,1 William Graham Sumner (1840 – 1910) became a widely published and well-respected professor of social and political theory at Yale. Drawing both from the biblical concept of personal responsibility2 and the social Darwinism of Herbert Spencer, Sumner was a leading opponent of government plans to force conscientious citizens to compensate others for their own folly or indolence. He praised competence and discipline, and turned a critical eye upon practices which could be used to undermine these values, whether in the form of taxes, […]

  Battle lines were drawn at the 1913 International Exhibition of Modern Art, staged at New York’s 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Avenue. Though the “Armory Show” featured 1,250 works by more than 300 artists (including Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet, Matisse, Kandinsky, Cezanne, Corot, Gris, Leger, Ingres, and Rodin), one work stole the show, Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2) by cubist painter, Marcel Duchamp. The public was shocked by much of what they saw, even calling the room labeled “French Painting and Sculpture, the “Chamber of Horrors.”

    If you saw the movie THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, you no doubt remember the film’s powerful and overwhelming depiction of Jesus’ scourging and crucifixion. But the film does contain one humorous moment, which hints at the high value God places on work.

20 And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your whorings so small a matter 21 that you slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering by fire to them? Ezekiel 16:20-21 (ESV)

Pastor John Scripture Reference: Micah 1:1-7; 2:1-13

At 6:30 PM, on Sunday, February 8, the winter West Africa team will give their ministry report. 

  by Phil Boatwright  KANSAS CITY, Kan. (BP)–At the end of the year, the studios bring out their big guns — the pictures they hope will garner prestige and award attention.