As I am writing this, the Middle East is in turmoil. It is simply impossible to have a clear view of all that is occurring and what the short term and long term implications are. Civil war in some of the nations, a disruption in the flow of oil from this region, higher energy costs, the growth or the demise of radical Islam are all potential results, but no one really knows. It is simply too early. There are nonetheless a few items of importance that we can discern.

The proverbial day of reckoning for the United States, both at the national level and in most of the respective states of this union, has arrived. In this Perspective, I want to defend that proposition.

One of my favorite authors is Kay M. Hymowitz. Her written works have helped me in developing one of the major themes of Issues in Perspective?an analysis of cultural trends, especially the growing confusion of young men in American culture. She uses the term ?pre-adult? to define a new cultural development or even a new stage in human development between the teen years and adulthood. [Other sociologists, such as Christian Smith, have called this stage, emerging adulthood.] Here are some of Hymowitz?s observations about pre-adulthood, based on her new book, Manning Up: How the Rise of Women Has turned Men into Boys.

Years ago, my wife and I watched a movie based on a famous book by Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago. The movie, made in 1965, is a gorgeous movie: The scenery of Russia in the winter is breathtaking and stunning. The movie is set during the tumultuous years of the Bolshevik Revolution that swept Russia from 1917-1920. As the forces of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, who took the name of Lenin, ravaged the country of Russia, they killed, pillaged and destroyed as they built their communist utopia in Russia. Dr. Zhivago is caught in this tumult and, when he returns from the front in World War I, he finds his home ransacked and occupied by 13 families. But the movie is really not about the Bolshevik Revolution; it is a love story.

n preparation for a recent conference at which I was to speak, I was studying Matthew 6:19-24. Among other things, Jesus is clearly asking His followers to have an investment strategy, one that balances investment for the future with investment for eternity. Material wealth is not evil, but it is transitory, will deteriorate and can be stolen (vv. 19-20). Not so with investment for eternity. As Randy Alcorn has observed, ?Whatever treasures we store up on earth will be left behind when we leave.