The Daily Article

An article on the increase in births in Texas due to its enacted abortion ban in September 2021 refers to “pregnant individuals” and “birthing people” rather than using the word “women.” In other news, a lifestyle influencer is charging her followers $1/hour to chat with her AI clone. In this “increasingly bizarre present,” how should Christians pursue spiritual growth? Author: Jim Denison, PhD Na...

Diet drink sales plummeted after the WHO declared that the artificial sweetener aspartame possibly causes cancer. In other medical news, the FDA approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill, Opill. In both instances, there’s more to the headline, and the implications of these issues go deeper even than the crucial issues they raise. As Christians, our need for discernment is especially u...

In “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One,” Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) fights the “Entity,” which is essentially AI on steroids. The movie parallels the real world in a way that is urgently relevant for every Christian. Author: Jim Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris Elkins Subscribe: http://www.denisonforum.org/subscribe Read The Daily Article: https://www.denisonforum.org/daily-article/mission-impos...

When Sound of Freedom first came out, I was hesitant to see it. As a father, there are few things more difficult to watch and contemplate than the horrific abuse and unconscionable evil portrayed in the film. But the movie’s message is important, and it conveys that message in a way that calls us to choose hope over fear. So, given that message, why has the film generated so much controversy? And...

Have you heard of “vampire facials”? This is the colloquial term for a “microneedling treatment using platelet-rich plasma—a component of your blood that can lead to impressive results when absorbed into your skin.” The treatment promises to “enhance the skin’s overall appearance.” However, it is also a way to contract HIV; a third case has now been confirmed from a now-defunct spa that offered th...

Let’s begin with some good news: a seventeen-year-old who was diagnosed with sickle cell disease at the age of eight and given a 20 percent chance of survival has been accepted at Harvard, where he will study medicine. His story caught my eye because of a Gallup survey released yesterday: Americans’ confidence in higher education has fallen to 36 percent. Are we doomed to be a “Divided States of A...

Harrison Ford is making headlines again these days with the fifth installment in his iconic “Indiana Jones” film series. Consequently, his affair with Carrie Fisher when they were filming the original Star Wars movie in 1976 has been back in the news as well.  Fisher made their relationship public in 2016 as part of her memoir released shortly before her death. She was nineteen at the time of thei...

Bill de Blasio, the former mayor of New York City, and his wife, Chirlane McCray, recently told the New York Times that they are separating after nearly thirty years of marriage. However, they are not planning to divorce and will continue to share the townhouse where they raised their two children. Therapists are pointing to a definitive rise in “polyamorous” relationships.  Author: Jim Denison, P...

In “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” Harrison Ford’s iconic character was de-aged by artificial intelligence for its opening scenes. However, such generative AI can also be used to create convincing deepfake videos, like a recent fake made of President Biden announcing a draft to send American soldiers to Ukraine. Such uses of AI are a microcosm of the cosmic story: what can be used for goo...

Sixteen mass shootings resulted in 15 deaths and nearly a hundred injured across 13 states and Washington, D.C. this past July 4. It’s also been two months since the deadly mass shooting at the Allen Premium Outlets in Allen, TX. Such violence reveals our fallenness, and Dr. Jim Denison considers how much our fallenness plays into the “secular religion” of democracy replacing Christianity. Author:...

Eight roller coaster riders were stuck hanging upside down for around three hours at a festival in Wisconsin last Sunday. No matter what happens to you today, you can remind yourself that you weren’t one of them. As we continue our Independence Day focus on America, let’s ask: What explains our nation’s loss of hope? What can we as Christians do about it?  Author: Jim Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris...

Fifteen-time title winner Joey Chestnut will defend his crown today in Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote an op-ed wishing America a happy birthday. And President Reagan, in a commencement address from 1981, placed our democracy in historical context. Each of these news items celebrates the impact that America has made on history because we believe t...

The US Supreme Court sided last Friday with a Colorado web designer who claimed a First Amendment right to refuse to design wedding websites for same-sex couples. From good news to tragedy: an 18-year-old woman and a 20-year-old man were killed in a mass shooting early Sunday morning at a Baltimore block party. And on this anniversary day of the end of the Battle of Gettysburg, we remember: there...

The US Supreme Court issued two landmark rulings yesterday, striking down affirmative action in university admissions and supporting religious liberty in a case involving an evangelical postal worker who’d asked for Sundays off to observe his Sabbath. However, yesterday’s rulings demonstrate the problem of competing constitutional values in a democratic republic. And they illustrate an even larger...

The original Princess Leia dress from Star Wars was expected to bring in $2 million at auction but failed to do so. Dr. Jim Denison uses this story to then discuss the power of ideas to change the world, the growing insistence of Pride Month, why people behave badly, and how Christians can respond biblically and redemptively to the temptations of the day. Author: Jim Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris E...

Last Friday, Scooter won the 2023 World’s Ugliest Dog contest in Petaluma, California. In other news, a newborn girl left in a Florida Safe Haven Baby Box was adopted by the firefighter who found her. Contrast these good news stories with recent headlines announcing the further decline of the church in America. However, when you pull back the curtain on what’s been written, the story changes—for t...

If you live in Russia, you must be wondering what last weekend’s uprising means for your future. If you live in the US, you should be asking the same question, though for different reasons: the effects on those who hold nuclear power, the effects on global markets, and the threat of even greater instability and oppression should Vladimir Putin fall. In such instances, it’s easy to feel like powerl...

On Friday, the man known as “Putin’s chef” seemed on the verge of overthrowing Putin himself. Now he has been exiled to Belarus, where he may be targeted for assassination. Meanwhile, Putin remains in power. But is he really?  Author: Jim Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris Elkins Subscribe: http://www.denisonforum.org/subscribe Read The Daily Article: https://www.denisonforum.org/current-events/global/p...

Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of when the Supreme Court officially overturned Roe v. Wade and returned the issue of abortion law to the states. And while more than 24,000 lives have been saved in the time since, current trends cast a heavy shadow on where America might be headed on this issue. With so much left undecided, how can we best help both the unborn and the mothers struggling to...

As King Charles, the British Titanic Society, and more across the globe pray for the survival of the five people onboard the Titan submersible, we are reminded of the many who doubt the efficacy of prayer. Does God truly listen to us? Can we prove it? Author: Jim Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris Elkins Subscribe: http://www.denisonforum.org/subscribe Denison Forum website:   https://www.denisonforum.o...

The search for the missing Titanic submersible Titan continues, and Hunter Biden is facing charges of failing to pay federal income tax and illegally possessing a weapon. These recent headlines speak to our politics, our morality, and our religion and how Christians, particularly, shouldn’t fear sharing the gospel, “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). Author: Ji...

The deep-diving submersible Titan, used to take people to see the wreck of the Titanic, has gone missing in the Atlantic Ocean with its passengers and crew aboard. Why are so many people focusing on five missing people out of a global population of more than eight billion? The answer lies in our creation, but what is the answer to our fallen humanity? Author: Jim Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris Elkin...

According to the Smithsonian Institution, “Juneteenth marks our country’s second independence day.” On this day in 1865, some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas, where they announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state were free by executive decree. The day became known as “Juneteenth” by the newly freed people in Texas and eventually became a federal holi...

When the Southern Baptist Convention met this week, a number of issues were on the docket. None, however, received the same notoriety as the decision to officially sever ties with Saddleback Church over their choice to name women as pastors. But while that final verdict has received most of the attention, the reasoning behind it points to a crucial lesson for applying God’s word to our culture tod...

Per Gallup, more Americans say they are conservative on social issues than liberal or moderate. In light of this surprising good news, what can we learn that will help us make a transforming impact on our lost culture?  Author: Jim Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris Elkins Subscribe: http://www.denisonforum.org/subscribe Read The Daily Article: https://www.denisonforum.org/daily-article/social-conservat...