Was the Wave a Warning?
by David C. GrabbeThe devastation has shocked the world. ...
10-Dec-04
The Conundrum of Christmas Cheer
by Richard T. RitenbaughAll the overdone jollity of the season serves to hide the well-known fact that December is the most depressing time of the year for many people. It is a time that mainstream Christians are supposed to be celebrating a joyous event - the alleged birthday of the Savior, Jesus Christ - yet it leads the year in suicide, depression, and aggravation. Why?
03-Dec-04
Vision of America's Future?
by Richard T. RitenbaughA storm broke over Charlotte on Thursday, but not the kind that brings wind and rain. ...
26-Nov-04
Abortion's Unintended Consequence
by Charles WhitakerEconomists speak of the "law of unintended consequences." A person's actions can have consequences that are not anticipated, or unintended. Indeed, the consequences of our actions can turn out to be precisely the opposite of what we intended. ...
12-Nov-04
Exalting the Base
by Richard T. RitenbaughThe news story of the day focuses on the funeral (in Cairo, Egypt, his city of birth) and burial (in Ramallah, West Bank, "Palestine") of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Chairman Yasser Arafat, 75, who died of an unmentioned disease on Thursday in a Paris hospital. ...
05-Nov-04
Politics and Idolatry
by Richard T. RitenbaughAccording to both American political parties, we have just endured "the most important" campaign and election in our nation's history, certainly in our lifetimes. ...
29-Oct-04
Sodom, Here We Come
by Charles WhitakerWhat an individual does—good or evil—affects the lives of others as well. Whether committed by man, woman, boy, or girl, there is no such thing as a victimless crime or a private sin. ...
22-Oct-04
How Normal Is Deviance?
by Charles WhitakerReaders with a background in statistics or logic will immediately recognize the oxymoron in the question, "How Normal is Deviance?" The question states a contradiction in terms, for defiance is, by definition, a departure from the normal. ...
15-Oct-04
Variety and Homogeneity
by Richard T. RitenbaughWith this year's Feast of Tabernacles in Mesquite, Texas, we here in the Charlotte, North Carolina, area had to drive across more than a thousand miles of the Southeast to "go up to the Feast. ...
17-Sep-04
The Victim: Truth
by Richard T. RitenbaughAs the presidential campaign grinds on toward the day of the election, everyone agrees that this political season has degraded into one of the meanest in recent memory. ...
10-Sep-04
Facilitating Lawlessness
by Richard T. RitenbaughAs I neared the intersection of two four-lane streets on my way to work a few days ago, I was suddenly forced to jump on my brakes. ...
03-Sep-04
Divine Intervention
by Richard T. RitenbaughSecular Americans snicker at insurance policies that refer to hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, and other natural disasters as "acts of God," when they, in their scientific arrogance, prefer to call them "acts of nature" or "weather events." ...
27-Aug-04
Disintegration
by David C. GrabbeIs the globalist dream fading? Forces have long been at work to unite the world—economically, militarily, religiously, educationally, technologically, and governmentally. ...
20-Aug-04
Who Gets Jesus' Vote?
by Richard T. RitenbaughOn Wednesday morning, news outlets carried the story of the Texas Faith Network conference in Austin attended by "religious leaders" on Tuesday. ...
13-Aug-04
Tropical (Storm) Punch
by Richard T. RitenbaughThe Carolinas are about to experience a one-two, tropical storm punch that it has not been seen in nearly 75 years, according to a local meteorologist. ...
06-Aug-04
Our Enervating Culture
by Richard T. RitenbaughGod accurately catches the essence of our time when He tells Daniel, "Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase" (Daniel 12:4). The word picture is of a multitude of people scurrying around like ants, but unlike ants, their scurrying is erratic, futile, and unproductive. ...
30-Jul-04
Tyranny by the Few
by David C. GrabbeAs this grand experiment we call America continues its descent into disorder, it may be instructive to examine some of the ingredients that are contributing to the national meltdown. ...
23-Jul-04
Natural Law
by David C. GrabbeEven before Isaac Newton wrote down his observations about gravity, people had a pretty good working knowledge of the principle. ...
16-Jul-04
Liberal Haters of God
by Charles WhitakerLiberals, says James Hitchcock in "The Enemies of Religious Liberty" (First Things, February 2004, pp. ...
09-Jul-04
Dangerous Believers
by Richard T. RitenbaughWhat would you consider to be the most dangerous element in society? Al Queda? Gangs? Hezbollah? Private militias? Chechen terrorists? Environmental militants? Rogue nations? AIDS and other STDs? Hamas? Drug cartels? Neo-Nazis? Pollution? Not according to former Clinton-era Labor Secretary Robert B. ...
02-Jul-04
Do Americans Value Liberty?
by Richard T. RitenbaughThis weekend, Americans will celebrate—with cookouts, picnics, parades, and fireworks—the 228th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence from England on July 4, 1776, the commonly accepted beginning of the United States. ...
25-Jun-04
Do-Gooders in Charge
by Richard T. RitenbaughAs a child in the early 1970s, I remember sitting in the middle of the backseat of the family car, unbuckled and leaning forward over the front seat so I could see out the windshield. ...
18-Jun-04
An Abuse of Sovereignty
by David C. GrabbeThe subject of God's sovereignty has sparked endless thoughts, conversations, debates, and commentary. Most professing Christians will at least agree that God is sovereign, but there is a wide range of beliefs with regard to just how involved God is in their lives. ...
11-Jun-04
The Reagan Legacy
by Richard T. Ritenbaugh"There are many who say, 'Who will show us any good?' LORD, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us. ...
04-Jun-04
Valor and Sacrifice
by Richard T. RitenbaughSixty years ago, June 6, 1944, thousands of Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy, France, to establish a foothold on the European continent and to begin to roll back the Nazi army toward the Fatherland. ...
28-May-04
Polling Problems
by Richard T. RitenbaughI have a problem with polls, especially those polls that become national news. ...
21-May-04
The Will of the People
by David C. GrabbeAnd [God] called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer's inkhorn at his side; and the LORD said to him, "Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it. ...
14-May-04
Behind the Scandal
by Richard T. RitenbaughSince May 4, the leading story in just about every newscast has been the release and fallout from the pictures of the humiliation of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib by American soldiers. ...
07-May-04
Disbelief
by David C. GrabbeCan anything be more paradoxical than professing Christians not following the words of the One they claim as their Savior?
30-Apr-04
America's Cosmopolitan Elites
by Charles WhitakerThree isms lie behind current American domestic and foreign policy: globalism, secularism, and cosmopolitanism. ...
23-Apr-04
Identity as Sovereign
by David C. GrabbeAs the virulent and violent secular humanism spreads throughout Western civilization, the highest ideal has become the all-important "My Identity. ...
09-Apr-04
Pontius Pilatus
by Richard T. RitenbaughFor the majority of professing Christians, today is Good Friday, which commemorates the death of Jesus for humanity's sins. ...
19-Mar-04
March Madness
by Richard T. RitenbaughAt this time of the year, the nation swings into its annual March Madness with gusto. ...
12-Mar-04
And, Today's Word Is . . . Speciesism
by Charles WhitakerThere is a new "ism" about—speciesism. ...
05-Mar-04
A Passion for The Passion?
by John W. RitenbaughThe controversial movie, The Passion of the Christ, dominated the news long before its release for public viewing. ...
27-Feb-04
Storm of the Century
by Richard T. RitenbaughOver the past two days, more than fifteen inches of snow fell on south Charlotte where I live, encasing everything in a thick, crystalline blanket. ...
20-Feb-04
He Gave Them Judges
by Charles WhitakerPaul, in his first recorded sermon, argues for the sovereignty of God. ...
13-Feb-04
Putting It In Perspective
by David C. GrabbeHardly a day goes by without a major newspaper or newswire keeping us up-to-date on the latest dirt in the "Catholic clergy abuse scandal." With such media saturation it is easy to see why the general populace has such a negative opinion of Catholic priests. Through thick and thin, the media hangs on, determined to bring every gory detail to the fore. It is time we stopped to consider why, and take a look at some of the statistics surrounding this issue. ...
06-Feb-04
Cultural Manipulation
by Richard T. RitenbaughPBS's "Merchants of Cool" on Frontline is a sober probe into the research and marketing of what teens consider "cool." Knowing the way big business and big media push-the-envelope today, the results should not be shocking. The conclusion of the documentary is that every new teen fashion, music, movie, television, and language trend is marketed and sold to the teen—and pre-teen—set by the media in cahoots with major advertisers. Our kids are being manipulated to absorb and reflect a deviant culture. ...
30-Jan-04
I've Seen This Movie . . .
by Richard T. RitenbaughHave you ever surfed the channels on television and come across a movie that caught your attention, but after a while you realized that you had seen this movie before? That is the feeling I have been having over the last several months while observing President George W. ...
23-Jan-04
Reality Narcolepsy
by David C. GrabbeA local radio talk-show host frequently uses the term "reality narcolepsy" to describe the human condition of being asleep—and thus blind—to the truth of what is occurring. ...
16-Jan-04
America the Great
by David C. GrabbeA local, Christian radio station in the Charlotte, North Carolina, area has a curious tagline that it uses when it announces its station credentials. ...
09-Jan-04
Law Enforcement
by Richard T. RitenbaughAmerica has a major problem: too many laws. ...
02-Jan-04
Feeling Secure?
by Richard T. RitenbaughAs the winter holidays surged into full gallop, the government raised the color-coded terror alert system to "orange," meaning the chance of terrorist activity is "elevated"—and only one tier down from "red," which evidently signals the end of the world as we know it. ...