Issues In Perspective

The city of San Francisco has declared war on crisis pregnancy centers in the Bay Area. The first element of attack is a bill introduced to the city?s Board of Supervisors that would make it illegal for such centers to advertise falsely about their pregnancy-related services.

The downgrading of the US credit rating from AAA to AA+ is significant, yet troubling. That different political groups within the US are trying to make ?political hay? out of this is obvious. But this nation cannot permit politics to determine our response.

As I am writing this, congressional leaders and the president have presumably reached a last-minute agreement on raising the debt ceiling of the United States in exchange, among other things, for a reduction in future spending of the US. In this Perspective, I hope to provide some important background and analysis to the crisis.

As is so often the case, history gives us increased understanding about events of our day. For that reason, I think it helpful to explore how the generation of Arab dictators came to power into the Middle East. To have that background brings an understanding to the current ?Arab Spring? unfolding before our eyes in 2011.

Broadly speaking, our evangelical culture in America is dumbing down doctrine and theology. Rarely in the typical evangelical church in America will you hear sermons or teaching sessions on God as Trinity or the importance of the deity and humanity of Jesus Christ. In this Perspective, I want to illustrate the importance of sound doctrine to our lives.

One of my favorite columnists is Joe Klein of Time magazine. Although decidedly liberal in the political sense, Klein is honest and straightforward. I respect that about him. For that reason, his most recent column on Head Start was intriguing.

America has been experiencing a crisis for some time now in the area of its immigration policies and practices. In this Perspective, I want to add a biblical perspective to the discussion.

On 8 July 2011, the US space shuttle program came to an end. The shuttle Atlantis was the last operational shuttle to be launched into space; its mission was to resupply the International Space Station (ISS). The space shuttle program lasted for 30 years and involved 135 launches and two tragic disasters.

Nearly two weeks ago, my wife and I were watching ABC evening news and an ABC investigative reporter was summarizing a piece on Michele Bachmann?s husband, who runs a Christian counseling center in Minnesota. One of the goals of his center is to help counsel homosexuals who desire to change their lifestyle. The report was cynical and filled with innuendo and criticism from other professional couns...

One of America?s premier corporations, Boeing, has built a second production plant in South Carolina (its other one is in Washington State) for its 787 Dreamliner airplane, creating over 1,000 jobs so far. But the National Labor Relations Board, created in 1935 by the Wagner Act, has taken exception to Boeing?s decision.

Sexual scandals seem to abound right now in our culture: politicians, media leaders and former presidents, as well as the normal sexual perversion emanating from Hollywood. Are our expectations about fidelity in marriage too high and, in fact, unrealistic? Will this same expectation of basic fidelity in marriage now be extended to same-sex marriages?

Mara Hvistendahl has written a powerful and provocative book entitled Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls and the Consequences of a World Full of Men. She demonstrates that in China, India and other nations, there are many more men than women, the result of systematic campaigns against baby girls. In nature, 105 boys are born for every 100 girls. Jonathan Last writes ?this ratio is biolo...

The debate within our culture about origins continues, and the legacy of Charles Darwin in this debate is immense and profound. We tend to forget that Darwin?s ideas were truly revolutionary and their impact continues throughout western civilization. Better than any other example, Darwin?s hypothesis about natural selection proves the point that ideas do indeed have consequences.

Recently, I received in my office at Grace University a single sheet entitled ?The Heartland Proclamation? by the Heartland Clergy for Inclusion. In part, this sheet read, ?As Christian clergy we proclaim the Good News concerning Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) persons and publicly apologize where we have been silent.

I believe strongly that God desires we keep our focus on the Middle East. No matter what your position on eschatology, the end of history will occur in this region. The campaign of Armageddon will be in the Jezreel Valley of Israel and that campaign will involve all major world powers. So, it matters to us what is occurring in this region. In this Perspective, I want to review recent developments...

In the United States, there is a growing fascination with the belief in reincarnation. In fact, adherence to this belief is a part of psychiatric therapy?something called ?hypnotic regression? or ?past-lives therapy.? One very famous physiatrist, Dr. Paul DeBell, believes that he was a caveman in a past life and that his eternal soul also inhabited the body of a Tibetan monk and a conscientious Ge...

One of the major themes of Issues in Perspective is the centrality of marriage as an institution. The health of this most basic of all institutions says much about the health of the larger culture. In this Perspective, I want to provide an update on the health of marriage in 2011.

Intellectuals often have a real struggle with the idea and existence of God. Atheism, or at best agnosticism, are frequently the standard worldview for the intellectual. Two recent examples highlight this sad pattern.

I recently read an op-ed essay by John Garvey of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. I was absolutely stunned by a statistic Garvey cited in his piece: More than 90% of college housing in the US is now co-ed!! Common sense tells me that this is not a good thing for our culture. What are we saying to our young people?the next generation of leaders?about values, about virtue and a...

One of the heroes of some Republican conservatives and of radio/TV hosts such as Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh is philosopher, novelist and fervent anti-communist Ayn Rand. She is often cited at Tea Party rallies and other such gatherings as well. Congressmen Paul Ryan and Ron Paul cite Rand as one of their personal heroes and a reason why they got involved in politics.

In 2008, as he was beginning his run for the presidency, Barack Obama said that ?the single most important factor in determining [student] achievement is not the color of [students?] skin or where they come from. It?s not who their parents are or how much money they have. It?s who their teacher is.? Few would disagree with that statement.

Over the last few years, a surge of tragic stories about unfaithful men has inundated the media. To one degree or another, each one of these men is being held accountable, some more severely than others. But what should be our response as Christians?

All of us were embarrassed by the failed prediction of Jesus? return on 21 May 2011. Far more important than the inane prophecies of Harold Camping is his theology of the church. I came across an important article published by the Christian Research Institute, written by James R. White, that focuses on Camping?s theology.

Dr. Jack Kevorkian died last week at the age of 83. He had assisted in about 130 suicides in the 1990s and thereby symbolized the right-to-die movement that gained strength during that decade. [Doctor-assisted suicide has gained legitimacy in Oregon, Washington and Montana, but in no other states of the union.] He was a Michigan pathologist who would hook up patients to his homemade suicide machin...

Oprah Winfrey is leaving her regular TV program and founding a new TV network, which will expand even further her influence on American culture in the early 21st century. She just finished 25 years of syndicated ?pastoral work? (a total of 4,561 shows) serving her own ?congregation? of true believers throughout America. Joanne Kaufman aptly summarizes this last program: ?Oprah?s final show made it...