New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof recently reported that about one-third of American girls become pregnant as teenagers. He further summarizes some other staggering statistics:

With the controversy between Jews and Muslims over the 37-acre compound called Temple Mount brewing these last few months, the Palestinian Liberation Organization made an extraordinary decision that defies all logic and history: The name used by Jews for this site?Temple Mount?the PLO declared to be ?null and void.? They stipulated that the site can only be called Al Aqsa Mosque or the Noble Sanctuary. [A lesser known Arabic name for the site is Bait al-Maqdis, ?house of the holy.?] For Islam, this is where the Prophet Muhammad is said to have ascended to heaven, where his role as Allah?s Prophet was affirmed. The controversy over the site the Jews call Temple Mount is over more than sovereignty or the title of the site.

The United States Constitution declares quite clearly that the job of Congress is to make the laws and the job of the president is to faithfully execute those laws. It really does not grant to the president the power to suspend a law or grant waivers for its requirements. However, President Obama has done just that on many occasions, threatening the sacred doctrine of the separation of powers so central to the Constitution and to the check on despotic power. Columnist George Will writes persuasively that ?Regarding immigration, health care, welfare, education, drug policy and more, Obama has suspended, waived and rewritten laws, including the Affordable Care Act? (ACA).

For Christians, Christmas is about Incarnation?the Creator stooping to enter His creation. The Incarnation challenges the proposition that this is a purely physical and purposeless universe, inhabited by evolutionary accidents whose sense of self is probably illusive. The Incarnation also shatters myths about God: He is not distant and unreachable; He is not uncaring and unconcerned; He is not unmerciful and arbitrary. We thought we knew God, but the Incarnation proves us wrong. The Incarnation is about God revealing Himself in Jesus as the loving, compassionate, merciful, gracious Savior; the Creator is now forever identified with the creature.

Paul encourages the people of Philippi to continue in pursuit of holiness & maturity as a Christian. He offers himself as a model to follow, warns of false teachers, and reminds them that their true citizenship is in Heaven.

Since late summer and now into the fall of 2014, a series of tragedies involving young black men and the police have fueled tensions in several urban centers in the United States. In each, emotions and pent-up anger have caused significant strain and, in some cases, rioting within the black community. And the manner in which the national media has covered each one of these events has usually exacerbated the mistrust and tension. For the various constituencies involved, past assumptions and current perceptions have shaped the respective responses to these tragedies. There are also significant differences between each case, making generalizations impossible or at least not very helpful.

Paul’s words to the Philippians are a perfect summary of the basic Christian principle of Justification: Once we accept Christ as our Savior, we have a new position in Him & are declared righteous, and the process of defining & shaping our new lives begins.

As of this writing, the United States, other Western powers and Iran have agreed to extend negotiations on a nuclear deal for seven more months. The ?red line? date of 24 November never seemed very sacrosanct; this ?deal? to extend the deal negotiations shows that. It is quite easy to be cynical about all this, but it does point to a deeper reality about Iran, the Middle East and the US.

Paul warns the Philippians of false teachers, and reminds them that the hope of salvation is not based on one’s genealogy, flesh, or works; Salvation comes through faith in Christ.

Paul teaches us that because we are children of God, we are to live pure & faithful lives in a crooked world. In modern terms, we are instructed to “live what we are” because how we live matters.