In the coming weeks, we are going to be learning a great deal more about the presidential candidates. But it’s also increasingly true that we’re going to be learning a great deal about ourselves as evangelical Christians in America. Perhaps we had better brace ourselves for what we’re going to learn.

In the 1976 presidential campaign, former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter, then the Democratic nominee, made headlines in the United States and around the world merely by granting a single interview. That interview was with Playboy magazine. The interview was a political bombshell. No major American politician had come within any distance of Playboy magazine. It was considered the iconic symbol of American pornography, and the very fact that a political candidate—not to mention the nominee of one of America’s major political parties—had granted an interview to Playboy magazine, seemed almost ..

What is the 7th Commandment from the Bible and applications for today’s believer?

The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments were never part of the Old Testament or Mosaic Laws at all. These were written by the very finger of God and in stone, indicating their permanence, unlike the Mosaic Laws which were written on parchment or animal skins. These laws were only until the time of Christ and the completed work on Calvary. These laws all pointed forward to the coming work of Christ and were only ..

Stream contributor Eric Metaxas has a provocative new book out this week,If You Can Keep It, which explores the forgotten connections between faith-based virtues and the survival of freedom in America. Are Americans virtuous enough to keep up a free society? Or are we headed into a new age where self-interested, short-sighted citizens are so caught up in their habits that they allow, or even require, an omnicompetent State to run their lives for them? I asked Eric, an old friend, to share..

Saturday, June 18, 2016

Meditation:
… but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
—Romans 9:31-33 (ESV)

Quotation:
The Christian message is not an exhortation—“tr..

Superhero movies and the latest iteration of Star Wars show the power of a good story. Grown men and small children alike dress up in costumes, stand in line for hours, and spend $62 on a bucket of popcorn just to watch larger-than-life heroes do the unthinkable. People are riveted by a good story that seems otherworldly, and they’re willing to scrounge up the money and time to invest if they’re convinced they’ll enjoy themselves.

Through my work with the Holman Christian ..

Why we all should pay attention to her bold account.

“You don’t know me, but you’ve been inside me, and that’s why we’re here today.”

With these brief opening words of her unflinching testimony, one sexual assault victim, named Emily Doe to protect her privacy, knocked a nation to its knees.

Her story has hit us hard in recent days, but really it dates back to last January, when two Stanford University students caught a man thrusting himself on an unconscious girl behind a dumpster. They con..

O God, you have taught me from my earliest childhood, and I constantly tell others about the wonderful things you do.Now that I am old and gray, do not abandon me, O God.
Let me proclaim your power to this new generation, your mighty miracles to all who come after me.
(Psalm 71:17-18 NLT)

“It's time to stop the whine.”
There, I said it. It's something I've wanted to say to my fellow baby boomers for quite some time. We're already known as a generation of navel gazers — folks..

The Bible says:

Do not despise small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin… (Zechariah 4:10).

But somewhere deep inside us, our own voice of doubt mocks us:

I see what others have done with their lives and before I even get started — I'm discouraged. What can I possibly do that God isn't already doing through someone else?

Against a towering giant, a brook pebble seems futile. But God used it to topple Goliath. Compared to the tithes of the wealthy, a widow's c..

Chuck, voiced by Josh Gad, and Red, voiced by Jason Sudeikis, appear in the animated movie “The Angry Birds Movie.” (CNS/Sony)
Flying off the gigantic success of its 2009 online video game “Angry Birds,” Rovio Entertainment of Finland commissioned a script from animation film and television writer John Vitti (“The Simpsons,” “King of the Hill,” “Ice Age”) for a feature film about the birds that fly via slingshot.
Joined by animators Clay Kaytis and Fergal Reilly in their directorial debut, “The ..

Puritan John Owen penned an unforgettable statement about God’s love:

“The greatest sorrow and burden you can lay on the Father, the greatest unkindness you can do to him, is not to believe that he loves you.”¹

Stop for a moment and reflect on that sentence—it could change your life.

Now, let me ask you three questions: Do you believe in God’s personal and passionate love for you? Are you delighting in God’s unconditional love? Or have you laid a sorrow and burden upon your adopted Father by ..