As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“But familiarity is not fidelity, and comfort is not conviction. Culture is not church. Visibility is not vitality. Christianity that flatters the age rather than forming souls is not revival. It is closer to sedation with a soundtrack.” - World
“The bishops of the United Methodist Church on Wednesday (Jan. 7) issued a statement ‘condemning all acts of violence, military aggression, and violations of national sovereignty’ ….The Episcopal Church was quicker to respond.” - RNS
First, some context. I’m not writing as one who thinks he knows the answers to the questions I’m raising here. I don’t consider foreign policy opinions to rightly belong only to experts, but at the moment, I don’t have a high confidence view on this one.
“Sam Harris and Ross Douath recently discussed religion and I want to address three questions that came up about how religion and morality relate to each other. First, has religion contributed to moral progress?” - Truth Unites
“Based on some specific findings and anecdotal evidence, many have purported that young adults are experiencing a religious revival. While Pew allows that some changes may be taking place that have yet to be captured in national surveys, they say there is ‘no clear evidence that this kind of nationwide religious resurgence is underway.’” - Baptist Press
“The debate over how to end abortion is taking place among brothers and sisters in Christ, all of whom affirm that Scripture is unequivocally pro-life and that the only faithful Christian position is one that opposes abortion in all its forms. Yet in a post-Roe context, strategies matter more than ever” - Christ Over All
“The popularity of these ‘detox camps’ relates curiously to another emerging trend: ‘kid concierge’ services. Parents pay hundreds of dollars for ‘professionals’ to teach their children how to organize their backpacks, how to throw a ball, and how to ride a bike. Apparently, the new ‘gig economy’ involves ‘gig parenting.’” - Breakpoint
“In Washington, a capital city lined with monuments to the nation’s history, the plaque was intended to become a simple but permanent marker, situated near the Capitol’s west front, where some of the most violent fighting took place as rioters breached the building.” - ABC
“In a class-action lawsuit initiated by two teachers…U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez ruled the policy unconstitutional and blocked it with a permanent injunction Dec. 22. The Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) applauded the victory for parental rights.” - Baptist Press
The phrase “sheep in wolves’ clothing” caught me off guard when a friend recently used it to accuse me of being a political progressive in disguise—a supposed infiltrator pretending to be a conservative. It blindsided me, not because I feared the label, but because it revealed how fractured our moral and political rhetoric has become. I hadn’t changed much, but the public square around me had. Our definitions of conservatism, liberty, and morality have drifted so far from their roots that holding to their original meaning now looks subversive.
Discussion