Weekend, May 27, 2024 　　The Great Tragedy 　　For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body. (2 Corinthians 5:10 NLT) 　　Imagine for a moment that someone approached you and said, “I want to make a deal with you. I will...

　　“He [Tom Ripley] will always get away with it,” said Patricia Highsmith in an interview once. Tom Ripley—Highsmith’s most famous character, and the main protagonist of five of her novels—is a man, whom readers both love and hate. Through Highsmith’s prose, Ripley has made violence, theft, and murder into nothing more than a domestic affair, or sipping on an espresso...

　　The Purpose of the Old Testament Scapegoat 　　by Jennifer Waddle 　　Today's Bible Verse: Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the...

　　The top legislative body of the United Methodist Church passed a series of measures Thursday to restructure the worldwide denomination to give each region greater equity in tailoring church life to its own customs and traditions. 　　The primary measure, voted on as the UMC General Conference met at the Charlotte Convention Center in North Carolina, was an amendment to the...

　　Health care presents unique challenges to elected officials. Without some public regulation, market failures will lead to consequences many voters would find unacceptable, as Kenneth Arrow explained long ago in a seminal essay. Among the problems that inevitably arise is the collision of risk aversion among consumers, which leads them to seek insurance protection against expensive medical services, with the...

　　Growing into a Ground Shaker for God 　　By: Lindsay Tedder 　　“Fathers,do not exasperate your children;instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” - Ephesians 6:4 (NIV) 　　Our son is rowdy. He is rough and tough. He thunders through our home. He doesn’t walk, he runs. He is challenging to parent. We never know if we are...

　　When deciding whether to protect his place in leadership as House speaker or go against his party to do what he believed was right, Mike Johnson turned to prayer. 　　It had been weeks of hearing intelligence briefings and pleas from fellow Christians when Johnson ultimately sided with his convictions rather than conceding to the Republican Partys isolationist wing. He backed...

　　When Deverin Muff played Division I college basketball at Eastern Kentucky University, student athletes werent allowed to earn money off their name, image, and likeness (NIL)their personal brand. 　　Now hes a professor at the university, and some of the players in his classes have agents. An NCAA policy change in 2021heralded by Muff and other Christian athletes as a matter...

　　In the 1990s, the American Left had no political significance, though it was copiously influential in shaping the minds of the young. This story has now been updated in the 2020s, a triumphant period for the American Left when it continues to win the battle for cultural hegemony not only in the classroom but also in the press, American sports,...

　　It’s no exaggeration to say that America is in the midst of one of its fiercest economic policy debates for some time. But the current quarrel between economic nationalists and free marketers extends beyond domestic policy. Whether conducted via long-form articles or duked out on X (formerly Twitter) by dirigiste senators and their free market critics, China looms large in...

　　God is Already at Work 　　Weekly Overview: 　　In response to knowing the heart of God we are called to share the wonders of his invisible nature with a world in desperate need of him. God has chosen to use us to reveal himself. He’s filled us with the Spirit and empowered us to proclaim the good news of salvation and...

　　What Is Most Valuable in a Marriage 　　By Gina Smith 　　“Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!” - 1 Chronicles 16:11 　　Our son had recently gotten engaged when we asked him how he was feeling about getting married. “Are you nervous?” I asked. Although he wasn’t really nervous, having been in a relationship with his fiancé for...