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.

The United States Constitution declares quite clearly that the job of Congress is to make the laws and the job of the president is to faithfully execute those laws. It really does not grant to the president the power to suspend a law or grant waivers for its requirements. However, President Obama has done just that on many occasions, threatening the sacred doctrine of the separation of powers so central to the Constitution and to the check on despotic power. Columnist George Will writes persuasively that ?Regarding immigration, health care, welfare, education, drug policy and more, Obama has suspended, waived and rewritten laws, including the Affordable Care Act? (ACA).

For Christians, Christmas is about Incarnation?the Creator stooping to enter His creation. The Incarnation challenges the proposition that this is a purely physical and purposeless universe, inhabited by evolutionary accidents whose sense of self is probably illusive. The Incarnation also shatters myths about God: He is not distant and unreachable; He is not uncaring and unconcerned; He is not unmerciful and arbitrary. We thought we knew God, but the Incarnation proves us wrong. The Incarnation is about God revealing Himself in Jesus as the loving, compassionate, merciful, gracious Savior; the Creator is now forever identified with the creature.

As of this writing, the United States, other Western powers and Iran have agreed to extend negotiations on a nuclear deal for seven more months. The ?red line? date of 24 November never seemed very sacrosanct; this ?deal? to extend the deal negotiations shows that. It is quite easy to be cynical about all this, but it does point to a deeper reality about Iran, the Middle East and the US.

During the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel captured the Old City of Jerusalem, including Temple Mount and the Western ?Wailing? Wall. Israel likewise took the entire West Bank of the Jordan River, the Golan Heights from Syria and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt. It was the most humiliating defeat the Arab world had experienced?and a triumph for the young Jewish state. Israel had tripled its size and had reunited Jerusalem, making it the capital of the nation. Since 1967, the results of this important war have framed the developments, politics and foreign policy decisions of the Middle East and much of the world. In 1967, one of the more difficult issues for Israel was what to do with Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

The 2014 election is now history and a few observations about this momentous election are now possible. Without question, it was a ?wave? election for the Republican Party. Although the results are stunning, the election?s long-term potential impact is now coming into focus.

Having children through surrogacy is increasingly common in the United States, especially the practice of paying women to carry a baby for you. But, other than the United States, only a few countries (e.g., India, Thailand, Ukraine, Mexico) permit paid surrogacy. Thus, there is a significant and growing number of people?generally affluent people?who are coming to the US from Europe, Asia and Australia to have a child via surrogacy. Indeed, as Tamar Lewin of the New York Times reports, ?many large surrogacy agencies in the United States say international clients?gay, straight, married or single?provide the bulk of their business.?

The mantra of ?settled science? when it comes to climate change is uttered on the national media, by President Obama and by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). For these folks the matter is settled; there is no more need for debate or discussion on the causes of climate change. For them, the next urgent matter is a change in public policy that immediately mandates significant reductions in greenhouse emissions (e.g., from the burning of coal). Is it ?settled science?? Do we need aggressive laws that reduce carbon emissions? What should public policy be when it comes to managing climate change?

The Youth Ministry model American churches have followed since World War II has not been a terribly effective one. It has not enhanced parent-teen relationships and has actually fostered a superficial, shallow Christianity among many young adults. Consciously or unconsciously, when children reach age 12 or so, parents ?hand them off? to the youth leader, in effect saying, ?I?m done; now you take over.? Often this model stresses fun, huge events (e.g., ski trips, retreats, wild antics, and occasional mission trips), but has little focus on the Bible, mentoring or a disciplined walk with God.