I recently read Rod Dreher?s somewhat challenging and provocative book, The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation. From my vantage point, Dreher?s analysis of North American culture and specifically the evangelical church is spot on. He writes: ?The most pressing problem Christianity faces is not in politics. It?s in parishes. It?s with the pastors. Most of all, it?s among an increasingly faithless people.? The truth is Christianity is declining in the United States. He makes the following observations, supported by statistical data and other pieces of evidence:

Peter is laying out that in the New Covenant, we are the new Temple & the new Priests, plus excellent side discussion on ‘human responsibility’ vs ‘divine sovereignty’.

Peter shares more of God’s intent in redeeming us: today’s discussion focuses around living a Life of Love.

In early August, James Damore, a software engineer at the Silicon Valley giant Google, was fired by Google chief executive, Sundar Pichai, for violating Google?s code of conduct, specifically his perpetuation of ?harmful gender stereotypes? in the workplace. Although 80% of Google?s tech employees are male, Google prides itself in its commitment to diversity, inclusion and openness, yet demands ideological conformity within its company. The irony of the Damore case is therefore striking.

Peter encourages believers to conduct themselves in reverence to God, and to see people the way God sees them.

We are living in a complicated, rather frightening age. Columnist David Brooks calls it ?an age of anxiety.? Changing demographic and technological disruption have produced a society where ?people live with bewildering freedom, without institutions to trust, unattached to compelling religions and sources of meaning, uncertain about their own lives.? For many this anxiety is producing a fear of the future and many will do anything to escape this fear, which is generating an ?age of fanaticism.? This combination of anxiety and fanaticism is occurring at a time when the United States seems hopelessly divided.

That God is a God of justice is a given. One of my favorite Minor Prophets is Amos, who rails against the injustice of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. His rebukes are scathing, some of which could certainly apply to the North American church today. But the Bible makes clear that God?s perfect justice is always balanced by His grace, mercy and compassion. That, of course, is why He sent Jesus: To die a substitutionary death and thereby satisfy the righteous, just demands of a perfect, holy and righteous God. The Bible also makes clear that we, who have received the free gift of salvation by grace through faith, are to exhibit justice, grace, mercy and compassion to the world. Put another way, the church of Jesus Christ is to manifest justice, grace, mercy and compassion to this broken world.

Peter defines a lifestyle of Salvation, describing & discussing a life of Hope & Holiness for those who accept & believe in Christ.

The civil war in Syria is entering a new phase, one fraught with significant implications for the Middle East, for Israel and for the United States. In the words of columnist Charles Krauthammer, ?The great Muslim civil war, centered in Syria, is approaching its post-Islamic State phase. It?s the end of the beginning. The parties are maneuvering to shape what comes next.? ISIS is disappearing as an independent, organized state within the Middle East. Its threat as a terrorist organization remains viable, but the caliphate declared by Baghdadi is dead!

Peter shares more of God’s plan for Salvation, emphasizing how the prophets of the Old Testament were laboring not for themselves, but for future generations — including us today.