Seemingly, out of nowhere, last June, the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS or sometimes called ISIL) seized Mosul, Iraq and has gained more territory in Iraq and Syria since then, comprising an area now larger than the United Kingdom. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been the leader of ISIS since May 2010. He regards himself as the caliph of Islam and his movement is energized by a deeply-rooted Islamic theology. ISIS is not a group of thugs who simply use Islam to justify their actions. ISIS is an intensely important expression of Islam and it can be only understood if examined from that perspective.

In 2011, British author E.L. James self-published Fifty Shades of Grey. Vintage Books acquired the publishing rights of the book and Hollywood released a movie adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey this Valentine?s Day. The book and movie chart the fictional romance of a recent college graduate, Anastasia Steele, and billionaire businessman, Christian Grey. In both the book and the movie are explicitly erotic scenes, which also feature sexual practices of BDSM (bondage/discipline, dominance/submission and sado/masochism).

Since the 1950s, the National Prayer Breakfast, usually in February, has been an important event in Washington, D.C. Normally, it is not a controversial event. Typically, the President makes remarks or gives a brief speech at this breakfast. This year, President Obama?s comments evidenced a lack of wisdom and discretion. In fact, his choice of words indicated a failure of leadership as president. Let me explain.

At the end of January, European and world leaders observed the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. It was an important event, reminding everyone that the horror of the Holocaust must never become a mere distant memory; it must never be forgotten. The irony of this memorial at Auschwitz is that anti-Semitism is evident again in Europe, despite the pledge of ?Never Again? echoing from Auschwitz. What evidence is there that anti-Semitism is once again raising its monstrous head?

Over the Christmas holidays, I read two books that probed the search throughout history for world order. My strong opinion is that every Christian believer should read these two books. Equally important, every political and economic leader should read them. The first is World Order by Henry Kissinger; the second is Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy by Francis Fukuyama. I want to summarize the arguments of both books and then, using Psalm 2, add a biblical perspective to their arguments.

Over the last several months, the advocates of environmentalism, especially those on the left wing of this important movement, have focused on the Keystone pipeline, have lauded the Obama-Xi agreement on carbon emissions, and continue to argue strongly that global warming is caused singularly by humans via carbon emissions. It is time to step back and be intellectually honest about these three issues. An honest appraisal of these three items illustrates that left-wing environmentalism is more about politics and ideology than truth.

The LGBTQIA movement and Religious Liberty are on a collision course within American culture. One of the most recent examples of this occurred in Atlanta. In early January, Atlanta?s Mayor, Kasim Reed, fired the chief of the Fire Rescue Department, Kelvin Cochran. Cochran had written a book, Who Told You That You Were Naked?, in which he condemned homosexual acts as an affront to God. Cochran had distributed several copies of the book to Atlanta workers, all fellow Christians, plus to three other employees who had not requested a copy of the book. Mayor Reed had suspended Cochran for a month without pay in November, pending an investigation into whether Cochran had violated Atlanta?s nondiscrimination policies.

Since the United Nations created the state of Israel in 1947, an offer to create a Palestinian state has been on the table. The proposed partition of Palestine in 1947 involved a state for the Jewish people as their homeland and a state of virtually equal size for the Palestinians. Israel accepted the partition; the Palestinians rejected it, which led to the 1948 war when the infant Jewish state was invaded by Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq. There have been three subsequent wars between Israel and these same neighbors (1956, 1967, and 1973). Today, Israel embraces the two-state solution (i.e., a Palestinian state alongside the state of Israel).

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.