Chinese President Xi Jinping is clearly the most powerful Chinese leader in 40 years. As I am writing this the Chinese Communist Party Congress is occurring and that body has enshrined President Xi and his writings into the Chinese Constitution. Only founder Mao Tse-tung had received such an honor. A major concern of President Xi, himself an ardent atheist, is the spiritual void caused by decades of official atheism along with China?s current headlong pursuit of wealth and prosperity.

Dr. Eckman continues on the Biblical roles of husbands & wives. Despite cultural opposition & much misunderstanding, God’s plan for marriage is as true & relevant as ever.

Few would disagree that American civilization is at a point of confusion, chaos and dysfunction. We are a polarized nation where it is virtually impossible to have reasoned discussions, healthy debates or exercise civility. The family as the center of our civilization is clearly in crisis. Our national government is thoroughly dysfunctional and is more divided than it has been in generations. The threats to our national security are real and there is no consensus on how to handle these real threats. Even the broad American evangelical church?s view of God is what Christian sociologist Christian Smith calls Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. . . How did we get into this mess?

Dr. Eckman uses Ephesians 5:32 to express & enhance the Biblical truth of Peter’s writings on the roles of husbands & wives in marriage.

On the night of 1 October 2017, a gunman opened fire on a large crowd of concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest music festival on the Las Vegas Strip, leaving 58 people dead and over 500 injured. Between 10:05 and 10:15 p.m., 64-year-old Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nevada, fired hundreds of rifle rounds from his suite on the 32nd floor of the nearby Mandalay Bay hotel. About an hour after Paddock fired his last shot, he was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Why he did this is unclear.

Peter encourages us to be people of God who represent integrity & His standards, regardless the costs.

Over 3,000 years ago, King Solomon wrote poignantly about his life and about the purpose and meaning of life in general ?under the sun.? His observations could be an appropriate epitaph for Hugh Hefner, the founder of the Playboy empire:

Dr. Eckman leads in-depth discussion of how we are free in Christ, specifically freedom from the bondage of sin. He also details 4 factors in a life of such freedom, as written by Peter.

Hezbollah, a Lebanese militia founded in the 1980s, has been an ongoing nemesis for Israel on its northern border. It has fought brief conflicts with Israel (most recently in 2006) and has amassed an arsenal of rockets all aimed at Israeli cities and settlements. But over the last five years, Hezbollah has expanded its operations and is no longer merely a Lebanese militia; it has become a regional power of import in the Middle East. Perhaps more importantly, it has become one of the key instruments of Iran in building a powerful Shiite corridor from Iran to the Mediterranean.

Peter continues his call of submission to God, bringing order, stability, and good spiritual health, which truly frees the believer to live a rich & fulfilling life.