.....Before the war the newspapers described a $5,000 crib made for a baby born into one of Europe's royal families. Five thousand dollars' worth of carving, metal work, studded jewels, and artistry all for a human child! Yet, when Jesus, sinless and stainless, born of a virgin by a marvelous miracle, came into the world, His parents had not even a plain cot on which He could lie. They laid Him in a manger, the feeding trough of animals.

...With every detail of the Christmas story we are familiar: Herod of Judah, the last of Judah’s kings; Israel, breathing her hope of Messiah’s advent; Bethlehem, small and white upon its mountain slopes where Heaven put out its brightest star...the angels; the shepherds; the Babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger; the gifts from the wise men of gold, frankincense and myrrh.  What is the meaning, we ask, of Christmas to the world?

The Puritans were neither 21st-century liberal democrats nor intolerant theocrats, but created republican political institutions critical to the Founding.

.....The confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett seemingly creates the needed “critical mass” of five Justices who are willing to express skepticism at the notion that “religions liberty” must yield to amoral non-secularism in the form of “individual liberty.”

John Harper was a Baptist minister who died in the 1912 sinking of the Titanic. After his death, there  was known the brave attitude  this man of God had while facing one of the most deadly civilian maritime disasters in history.

As Americans settle around the Thanksgiving table it may be a good time to remember the Mayflower compact and its role in our Democracy.

....As we approach this Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, please direct your attention to 1 Corinthians 15:57-58.

It’s in the text, so I know it is true, but it is still difficult to actually live out in my life without some miraculous work of the Spirit in me.

It’s the first time during the pandemic the high court has sided with churches and synagogues challenging the new rules on religious liberty grounds.

The U.S. Supreme Court granted an injunction Wednesday evening against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s restrictions on religious services in a 5-4 decision that saw Justice Amy Coney Barrett with the conservative majority — and Chief Justice John Roberts siding with the liberal minority.

The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday in favor of a Catholic diocese and an Orthodox Jewish group, temporarily blocking New York’s COVID-19 restrictions on houses of worship.

Former Vice President Joe Biden twice mispronounced “Psalmist” during his 18-minute Thanksgiving message on Wednesday.

LGBT activist Jayne Ozanne has compared biblical Christians to “rapists” and “Holocaust deniers” for failing to preach the morality of homosexual sex.

....Social media is not the problem; it’s how we use it.

....With all this uncertainty, polarization and misinformation, feeling tired is understandable. But there are things one can do.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the decline in church attendance, even among regular churchgoers, a recent survey shows.

Catholics and Jews are suing the governor because he’s suppressing their right to exercise their religion.

Psalm 81 tells us to listen to God....

The accreditation of Christian colleges and schools has just been directly targeted by the nation’s most influential LGBTQ organization.....Contained within its pages are perhaps some of the most alarming demands that threaten religious liberty, and the mainstream media has given little to no attention to this dimension of the report.

....When God is removed from the equation, something must fill that void, and for many people that is politics.  It is their “something greater” than themselves. 

Prenatal testing is changing who gets born and who doesn’t. This is just the beginning.

....COVID-19 hit, and we were left trying to figure out how to make Sundays normal when they are anything but normal.

....The Bible teaches that the husband-wife relationship is unique among human relationships. No other human relationship is described as two becoming one. No other human relationship is given the divine blessing for the fulfillment of our God-given sexuality.

....As much as we grieve what the pandemic has cost us, I also see ways God has blessed us during this trial. Below are six ways I’ve seen the Lord at work in our church and its members.

....Many Christians have given more thought to religious freedom this year than perhaps ever before. What has this pandemic taught us about religious freedom in America?

....I want to draw our attention to the attitude of believers under a dictatorial regime. You cannot vote. You cannot take legal action...You cannot protest...You cannot change "the system." Such matters are out of your hands. But you can do something much more powerful. You can spread the gospel.

...large numbers of “evangelicals” now reject the very basic doctrinal beliefs that would supposedly make them “evangelical” in the first place. If you believe that Jesus sinned while He was on Earth, then according to you He could not have possibly been the sinless sacrifice needed to pay for your sins. But apparently that is exactly what 43 percent of evangelicals now believe.

A federal appeals court ruled Friday that Tennessee can begin outlawing abortions because of a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome, as well prohibit the procedure if it's based on the race or gender of the fetus.

Public health officials in Los Angeles have lifted all outbreak-related requirements and restrictions on Grace Community Church, which were put in place last month after three cases were confirmed.

More than 120 church leaders are taking legal action against the U.K. government for its “unlawful” decision to ban worship services during the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown. The leaders of various denominations are demanding a judicial review of the government's decision, arguing that the "measures involve a direct and serious interference with the independence of religious organizations and freedoms of religious people."

...."We measure change in a society through fertility...there is a close correlation between a fertility rate of a particular society or nation and the level of religious involvement or participation in that society."

...One trend that’s common in the church is an expert/amateur divide. The divide between the “experts” and “amateurs” is easily seen when the experts—those employed by the church—think their job is to do ministry for the saints, not with the saints.