Discerning truth from error begins with how one views Jesus and the command to love one another is rooted in God’s very being, for God is love.

In April 1976 Christianity Today declared, “Christians in particular ought to be concerned about the ethical and religious convictions of those who aspire to the presidency. The basis upon which a leader makes his decisions is more important than what side he takes in current transient controversies.” Furthermore, in the midst of the late-1990s Clinton scandal, a group of evangelical Christian scholars issued a “Declaration Concerning Religion, Ethics and the Crisis in the Clinton Presidency

John contrasts Cain and Jesus on the matter of love and offers three major tests of assurance for the believer.

Brad East, associate professor of theology at Abilene Christian University, makes this astute observation: “Something has happened in the last 25 years in American evangelicalism—what I believe to be a massive generational shift . . . I have in mind low-church Protestant traditions in the United States: churches centered on the Bible, evangelism, and personal faith in Jesus; often but not necessarily nondenominational, with moderate to minimal emphasis on sacraments, liturgy, and ecclesiastical authority; and marked by a revivalist style as well as conservative beliefs about sex, marriage, and other social issues.

John calls his readers to a life of purity and anchors the call in the promise of Jesus to return, when we shall be “like Him” and “see Him as He is”

In early May 2024, President Biden’s Justice Department began reviewing marijuana’s classification as a Schedule I drug, moving to reclassify it as a less dangerous Schedule III drug—on par with anabolic steroids and Tylenol with codeine—which would provide tax benefits and a financial boon to the pot industry. This action merely reflects the national trend of accommodating American culture to the legalization of marijuana. In 2014, for example, an editorial on the front page of the New York Times argued intensely for the legalization of marijuana and the removal of all penalties against the manufacturing and distribution of marijuana, let alone the possession of marijuana in its many forms.

John warns his people about false teachers among them and exhorts them to know sound doctrine, continue walking with the Spirit and walking in righteousness.

One of the key elements of the new world order emerging in the 21st century is Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Putin is a delusional tyrant who is building a fascist state that loathes democracy, freedom and individualism. He is not a friend; he is not to be emulated; he is not a defender of Christian values. He is a ruthless dictator, who regards Stalin as a Russian hero who needs to be restored to his rightful place as the savior of Russia. The war in Ukraine is the beginning of his delusional vision of a new world order. These delusional ambitions of Putin, the fascist tyrant, cannot be ignored.

Walking in the “light” with Jesus is a walk of loving obedience, assurance and not “loving the world” or its desires and its pride.

For those of us who lived through the anti-apartheid protests in the 1980s, or the Vietnam War demonstrations of the 1960s and 1970s, the current tumult—and the way it has collided with broader social and political upheaval—echoes some especially tense times in our country’s history. But, these demonstrations also raise a profoundly important question: Why has the war in Gaza so galvanized American college students in the first place, compared with other crises or conflicts where pressure on American leaders may have had more potential for effect?