Recent Viewpoints

“We give thanks to God not because of how we feel, but because of Who He is.” – Ann Voskamp Most of us have experienced a time when God seemed far away from us. We can identify with David as he writes “O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer; by night, but I have no rest” (Psalm 22:2). In those times, we give thanks to Him by faith, knowing that He is always near (Psalm…

Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous, and praise His holy name. (Psalm 97:12) God has called us to be righteous, a standard that is impossible to achieve on our own. It is only through His grace that “we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Ephesians 1:4 tells us that “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him in love.” Let us…

Kerby Anderson One of the issues in the 2016 presidential campaign was religious liberty. Many of the Americans who voted for Donald Trump believed he would protect religious liberty by appointing conservative judges to the federal court. Ryan Anderson argues that there are executive actions that the president-elect can do even before he appoints judges to the federal court. First, he can address the threat faced by religious schools (like Wheaton College) and religious groups (like the Little Sisters of…

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) It is our fallen human nature that draws our attention to the problems we face and the negative things that surround us. Let me encourage you today to do as the old hymn says, Count your many blessings, name them one by one And it will surprise you what the Lord has done. Take a moment today to…

Kerby Anderson Is it really possible to repeal and replace Obamacare? That is what Donald Trump and many Republican candidates have been saying for months. Dr. Merrill Matthews says they will face some significant challenges in trying to keep that campaign pledge. Republicans may still have a slim majority in the Senate, but they do not have the necessary 60 votes to end a filibuster. Unless they can find a number of Democrats willing to join them, they won’t be…

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. – Philippians 4:6 Giving thanks to God acknowledges His sovereignty and opens our hearts toward heaven. It builds our faith to trust Him to deal with the problems of the future by recognizing how He has conquered the problems of the past. As Americans, we have experienced the blessings of God like no other people in the history of…

Penna Dexter During the recent campaign season, we heard a lot about how evangelicals are losing influence in politics. That will be true only if Christians fail to take advantage of what happened in the recent elections in which 81 percent of self-described evangelical voters pulled the lever for Donald Trump. Americans concerned about the growing number of government attacks on religious liberty applaud this result. But we mustn’t be complacent. Now, the real work begins. First, we’ve got to…

Kerby Anderson During the presidential campaign, we didn’t hear too much from the two candidates about our nation’s debt and liabilities. But we cannot ignore all of this debt and our liabilities. So, let me try to put some of this in perspective. Our current national debt is around $20 trillion. But you get quite different estimates when you begin to talk about our liabilities. I have seen all sorts of numbers depending on how much you count. Even just…

Kerby Anderson Donald Trump wants Congress to pass legislation that will implement tax simplification. We all know how complicated income tax forms can be, so let me give you a brief history provided in an op-ed by John Steele Gordon. After the Civil War, nearly all the taxes (including the nation’s first income tax) were repealed, and the federal government relied mostly on tariffs for revenues. This income was more than enough to run the government and generated significant surpluses….

Kerby Anderson The recent election is another reminder that Americans still value their culture of free enterprise that was established by the founders of this country. Arthur Brooks (American Enterprise Institute) comes to this conclusion in his book, The Battle. The founders promoted a free market where Americans were able to enjoy their political and economic liberty. Thomas Jefferson famously said this in his first inaugural address. “A wise and frugal government which shall restrain men from injuring one another,…

Kerby Anderson No doubt you have heard the phrase, “politics is downstream from culture.” It is a way of explaining that what is at stake in our world often begins upstream in the culture. Popular culture is all around us and delivered to us through broadcast media and social media. We perceive the world through news reports, through movies, through entertainment programs, and through music. Every form of communication has a message. Sometimes it is blatant and intentional. Often it…