In mid-March 2023, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations and reopen embassies after seven years of conflict and tension. The major diplomatic breakthrough negotiated with China lowers the chance of armed conflict between the Mideast rivals — both directly and in proxy conflicts around the region (e.g., Yemen). The deal, struck in Beijing amid its ceremonial National People’s Congress, represents a major diplomatic victory for the Chinese as Gulf Arab states perceive the United States slowly withdrawing from the wider Middle East.

To fully understand the development of American civilization, one must come to terms with the strategic role revivals have played. Colonial America was shaped and transformed by the First Great Awakening of the 1740s and the Methodist revival that followed. America of the early national period (1815-1850) was impacted by the Second Great Awakening. You cannot understand the energy for the abolition of slavery, the passion for women’s rights, the temperance movement and other social reform movements without coming to terms with this revival. But what about what is now being called the Asbury Revival in Wilmore, Kentucky? Is this the first major spiritual revival of the 21st century?

The Bible has much to say about the careful management of money, property and about wisely preparing for the future. Scripture affirms the wisdom of a balanced budget—whether talking about an individual, a business or the government: Significant debt is unwise and foolish! A few years ago, columnist and economist Robert Samuelson poignantly observed that “It’s getting harder and harder to write these budget columns, because it must be obvious to almost everyone by now that hardly anyone in Washington (or perhaps any place) cares about the budget deficits.

One historical aspect of America’s political culture is the rise and fall of political parties. The Federalist Party was the “faction” (George Washington’s term) associated with George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and John Adams. By the presidency of James Monroe it was dead. The Whig Party emerged in the early 1800s, but by 1856 it was dead, replaced by the Republican Party, the party of Lincoln. Today, the Republican Party seems hopelessly divided and the infighting is potentially fatal: Witness the intense struggle over Kevin McCarthy’s effort to become Speaker of the House. That struggle gave every evidence of a Party gravely divided.

The deep-seated commitment to the pursuit of personal autonomy, the vital center of the Postmodern, Post-Christian American culture, has produced several tragic effects. The Millennials, who passionately have bought into this commitment, have no loyalty to institutions. For that reason the local church, even if they are Christians, is not that important to them. Technology has enhanced this pursuit of autonomy, enabling Millennials to create and fashion their own digital reality. Recent census data confirm that Millennials prefer cohabitation to marriage, at least until they reach age 30.

In 2018, the US Supreme Court ruled, in what is now known as the Masterpiece Cakeshop case, that Jack Phillips, a Colorado baker who had declined to make custom cakes for gay weddings, had been treated unfairly by members of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, who had made comments hostile to religion. Phillips had pursued his claims based on his rights to the free exercise of religion and the freedom of speech in the First Amendment. The US Supreme Court handed down a limited decision based on religious issues. It did not rule on the freedom of speech claim that Philips had sought.  

Thanksgiving weekend, former president Donald Trump had dinner with Kanye West and Nick Fuentes. The rap artist formerly known as Kanye West—who now goes by “Ye”—has posted comments using anti-Semitic tropes about the ‘influence’ of Jewish people, followed by an almost incomprehensible threat to go to ‘death con 3’ on Jewish people.

In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus declares that His disciples are “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world.” Salt and light are metaphors, each with piercing meaning and application. In the ancient world, salt was primarily used for preservation purposes—to prevent perishable food from decay. Light exposes darkness for what it really is. So, as Jesus’ disciples walk with Him in loving obedience, they function as a preservative, preventing the surrounding culture from further decay.

Among some conservatives, as well as some Progressives in the political culture of America, there is a growing dissent about supporting Ukraine after Putin’s invasion of that nation: Perhaps it is not worth it. Perhaps we should be spending this money at home, not so far away. Perhaps, because of the history of czarist Russia, Ukraine should be part of Russia. Perhaps, if the US and the West had just promised that Ukraine would not be a part of NATO, Putin would have stopped his harassment and dismemberment of Ukraine, which he began a few years ago in his annexation of Crimea and invasion of eastern Ukraine. Perhaps, because Ukraine has a history of political and financial corruption, there is no justification for the West supporting Ukraine’s war against Russia. In my opinion such thinking is short-sighted, dangerous and baseless. The war in Ukraine is a war to stop Vladimir Putin’s assault on freedom and sovereignty.

What do American Christians believe about God, salvation, ethics, and the Bible? Ligonier Ministries and LifeWay Research partnered to find out. Every two years, these two ministries take the theological temperature of the United States to help Christians better understand today’s culture and to equip the church with better insights for discipleship. Their findings are in a study entitled The 2022 State of Theology. In the Pastoral Epistles of the Apostle Paul (1 and 2 Timothy and Titus) the phrase “sound doctrine” appears nine times. The Greek term translated “sound” means that which is conducive to health—in this case spiritual health. Paul connects sound doctrine with godly living; in God’s eyes, sound doctrine produces righteous living.