Reproductive technologies and information technology are re-defining marriage, procreation and are affecting the value we place on both marriage and children. The result is tension, confusion and an uncertainty about almost every social dimension of our culture. Marriage, as an institution, is incredibly fragile and these technologies are not helping to stabilize this foundational institution. Consider these observations:

Paul warns the Corinthians of idolatry & other sinful practices, and uses the Israelites in the wilderness as an example. He warns us to not be presumptuous in avoiding sin, and to trust God in trials & temptations.

Paul discusses his rights as an Apostle & how he waives his Christian rights for the benefit & care of others to be more Christ-like.

The month of November 2013 witnessed the anniversaries of two quite significant events in American history?Lincoln?s Gettysburg Address (the 150th anniversary) and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (the 50th anniversary). Both are important for our history and both are symbolically quite powerful.

The Supreme Court?s Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 changed America. Abortion remains one of the most contentious issues in our culture, with positions on both sides of the divide uncompromisingly hardened. For many, it is the touchtone issue of life. And perhaps because it deals with life and its value, it will never diminish in its importance to American civilization. Several thoughts:

Dr Eckman’s continues Paul’s discussion on Christian liberty & the importance of individual conscience in our actions & decision-making.

The debacle surrounding the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, is a case study in the fallacious argument that government can do things better than the private sector. But the way it has been presented and the public promises made by the president about the law also indicate an intentional and willful decision to deceive the American people. Several thoughts:

The apostle Paul discusses Christian liberty, and how we are to wisely exercise our liberty & freedom in Christ in the choices we make daily.

At the center of the Postmodern worldview is the doctrine of personal autonomy–the idea that as free humans we are a law unto ourselves. In Postmodernism, the self defines reality. There are virtually no boundaries for behavior and there are few authority figures that matter anymore. Autonomy impacts all aspects of culture?entertainment, business, law, leisure and religion. The autonomous self defines reality because there is nothing transcendent to do so. If there is a god, he is a deistic god, who is more therapeutic than sovereign, and who serves at the behest of the human. Such a claim has a haunting ring of familiarity to it, for the book of Judges has as its refrain, ?Every man did what was right in his own eyes.?

Paul gives further clarity on God’s view of the martial commitment & how it can impacts one’s relationship with Christ.