Staff Preface: The article below by Steve McCann uses 3,000 years of historical data to enumerate six various stages in the rise and fall of empires. Rather than adopt the authorâs political solutions, we only included the stages: A cursory examination of history reveals that the United States is mired in the same process that precipitated the collapse of the great empires of the past. The foibles and failures of human nature and their impact on the rise and fall of empires is amazingly … [Read more...] about The Decline and Fall of the American Empire
Gospel
Is the Web a Source of Wisdom?
We hear very little about wisdom today. Instead, we hear more and more about the importance of information â about the virtues of information and the benefits of increased information. âBig dataâ and âdata miningâ are the buzz words of the day. These are quite literally seen by humanity as their savior. But it is important to recognize that information, knowledge, and wisdom are not the same things. I want to lay out the building blocks first from a humanistic … [Read more...] about Is the Web a Source of Wisdom?
God Is with His People
One way that we can make sense of the Church today is to look at the blueprint of how God built up a people to be His people. Since Christ doesnât change, His consistency will be evident in how He dealt with ancient Israel and how He deals with the Church today. As Moses prepared the children of Israel to enter the land of Canaan, he wrote the words of the law in a book and placed that book in the Ark of the Covenant. Then God through Moses addressed the people of Israel … [Read more...] about God Is with His People
Godâs Origin Story
The Judeo-Christian story, when understood and applied correctly, is not founded on the universe but on the One who created it and the purpose for which He created it. There are many man devised theories of origin of the universe such as the Chinese Pan Gu and the Egg of the World, the Greekâs Titans and Gods of Olympus, the story of the Iroquoisâ Great Turtle Island and the Mayanâs Popol Vuh story, and lastly the Modern Scientific story call the Big History Project. However, God through Paul … [Read more...] about Godâs Origin Story
Ethnic Gnosticism
Ethnic Gnosticism is a term crafted by Voddie Baucham to explain the phenomenon of people believing that somehow because of oneâs ethnicity that one is able to know when something or someone is racist. Voddie Baucham is an American who is currently Dean of Theology at African Christian University in Lusaka, Zambia. He sheds light on the way this ideology is undermining the gospel and compromising genuine Christian relationships in the broader Christian church today. His message is not from … [Read more...] about Ethnic Gnosticism
The Value of Scripture
Recently we have been trying to provide a balanced view towards the things that are happening in the world and all of the commentary that goes along with that. And the need to be looking into the word of God a great deal more than perhaps we have been doing. The words that proceed from the mouth of God are critically important; they are not abstract. Notice in Deuteronomy 30: âFor this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. It is not in … [Read more...] about The Value of Scripture
The Purpose of the Church
Humanity has lost the story that connects us all. There is a lot of noise, but no context to give life meaning. So, we drift through life without a true meaningful purpose â a story that connects us to something bigger than we are. Aristotle observed, âWhen the storytelling in a culture goes bad, the result is decadence.â We see all around us the result of the collapse of mankindâs story. We have tried to replace it with small, narcissistic stories that have no lasting impact. It has turned us … [Read more...] about The Purpose of the Church