The WHO is reporting about the Marburg virus spreading in Africa, but it may receive little press in America as what doesn’t affect us personally seldom impacts us personally. However, on this Maundy Thursday, we should be grateful that Jesus doesn’t feel the same way. In today’s Daily Article, Dr. Jim Denison shares Jesus’ solution to a crucifixion problem, plus eight words that will change your life. Author: Jim Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris Elkins Subscribe: http://www.denisonforum.org/subscri...
Apr 06, 2023•7 min
Former President Donald Trump’s arrest leads to many questions, including when the trial will begin and whether he can still run for president. But there’s one question no one seems to be raising, and it speaks to a deeper issue in our culture that’s been with us since the dawn of time. Author: Jim Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris Elkins Subscribe: http://www.denisonforum.org/subscribe Read The Daily Article: https://www.denisonforum.org/daily-article/donald-trumps-arrest-silent-wednesday/...
Apr 05, 2023•7 min
History will be made today when Donald Trump appears in the Manhattan Criminal Courts Building to face criminal charges. How can such an event be encouraging for America? Let’s consider foundational cultural issues that transcend even the history that will be made later today. Author: Jim Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris Elkins Today's First15 Holy Week devotional: first15.org/today Subscribe: http://www.denisonforum.org/subscribe Read The Daily Article: https://www.denisonforum.org/daily-article/in...
Apr 04, 2023•8 min
Today’s headlines continue to be dominated by the news that former US President Donald Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on more than thirty counts related to business fraud. He is expected to appear in court tomorrow. There are three logical options behind this unprecedented series of events, and the fact that millions of Americans consider at least two of these positions to be plausible or even likely is damaging by itself. Author: Jim Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris Elkins Subscr...
Apr 03, 2023•7 min
Vice President Kamala Harris has spent much of this week in Africa, attempting to forge better relationships with key governments across the continent. Too often, though, American involvement has taken the form of a hero coming to the rescue when what most Africans want is a partner to help them grow. That's a lesson Christians in America could use as well, and we need look no further than the amazing story of what God has done in and through the Bhutanese Nepali refugees to learn how. Author: R...
Mar 31, 2023•9 min
A thousand experts, including Elon Musk, have asked for a six-month moratorium on AI development, writing that “powerful AI systems should be developed only once we are confident that their effects will be positive and their risks will be manageable.” This comes at the same time as a report saying as many as 300,000,000 full-time jobs around the world could be automated in some way by the latest AI. But there is something to be hopeful about: in the midst of such technological and cultural trans...
Mar 30, 2023•8 min
Amazon’s palm-reading technology is being tested in Panera Bread cafes, but what if such advances were used to monitor our every move? Such a surveillance state is already happening in Russia and China, and with the amount of data we each produce every day, it may not be long before such tech negatively alters life in America. Yet tech like artificial intelligence “represents mankind’s greatest invention to date” according to Thomas Friedman, so how can Christians redeem the opportunities it pre...
Mar 29, 2023•9 min
Bill Gates recently wrote, “There’s the possibility that AIs will run out of control” and could decide that humans are a threat. Yet, as we develop the most powerful technology in human history, our society has the weakest moral consensus in American history. In such a time as this, the voice of Christian truth has never been more urgent, or more maligned. How can we speak biblical wisdom and morality to people who reject both? Author: Jim Denison, PhD Narrator: Blake Atwood Subscribe: http://ww...
Mar 28, 2023•7 min
A “scaled secession” is taking place within our country. This is not a “national divorce” but rather “soft separatism” in which communities are distancing from one another in a variety of ways, such as wealthier areas separating into parallel school districts. Are we dividing over biblical morality as well? A host of recent events impinging on Christians’ basic constitutional freedoms may suggest so. Author: Jim Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris Elkins Subscribe: http://www.denisonforum.org/subscribe...
Mar 27, 2023•8 min
While Donald Trump remains a free man as of this writing, that news may come as a shock to millions of people who have already seen pictures of him getting arrested and thrown to the ground by police. It turns out those pictures were the convincing results of an AI art generator. However, as a recent study on the way TikTok promotes suicidal content to children found, fake images should be the least of our concerns. Author: Ryan Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris Elkins Subscribe: http://www.denisonfo...
Mar 24, 2023•8 min
Gwyneth Paltrow is on trial for a 2016 ski accident after being sued for crashing into a man. She has countersued, claiming he hit her. Our cultural fascination with the trial speaks to a phenomenon known as “Celebrity Worship Syndrome,” and that syndrome speaks to something much deeper within our hearts. Author: Jim Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris Elkins Subscribe: http://www.denisonforum.org/subscribe Read The Daily Article: https://www.denisonforum.org/daily-article/gwyneth-paltrow-trial-celebri...
Mar 23, 2023•8 min
Jesus Revolution, the movie about a spiritual awakening in California in the early 1970s, is outperforming many Best Picture Oscar nominees at the box office. Why is it striking such a chord with so many millions of people? Author: Jim Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris Elkins For more on Jesus Revolution , see our review Subscribe: http://www.denisonforum.org/subscribe Read The Daily Article: https://www.denisonforum.org/daily-article/jesus-revolution-box-office-greg-laurie-popular/...
Mar 22, 2023•8 min
When will Donald Trump be indicted for an alleged hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels via Michael Cohen? Trump has said his arrest could happen today, but a late surprise witness may push back the possible arrest. If Trump is indicted soon, the New York Times says “this week will be unlike any other in American politics.” No US president has ever been charged with a crime. Author: Jim Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris Elkins Subscribe: http://www.denisonforum.org/subscribe Read The Daily Article: ht...
Mar 21, 2023•8 min
Should America get a divorce? Twenty percent of Americans think so, an unsurprising number given rising partisan animosity in the US. Yet depression and anxiety are also growing. Is this a coincidence? Author: Jim Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris Elkins Subscribe: http://www.denisonforum.org/subscribe Read The Daily Article: https://www.denisonforum.org/daily-article/america-divorce/...
Mar 20, 2023•9 min
In “Ridley Jones,” a Netflix show for preschoolers, a character recently came out as nonbinary. Marvel has announced its Pride Month Star Wars comic book covers for June. And many other current news stories reveal how LGBTQ ideology is following a fourfold strategy for cultural transformation. Author: Jim Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris Elkins Subscribe: http://www.denisonforum.org/subscribe Read The Daily Article: https://www.denisonforum.org/daily-article/ridley-jones-nonbinary-coming-out-netflix...
Mar 17, 2023•9 min
March Madness begins in earnest today, and if you have not yet added your bracket to the more than 80 million that are filled out each year, there may still be time to join the fun. After all, you don’t have to follow basketball—or even like it—to join in the sense of community that builds around the tournament. And our craving for that community offers an important lesson for us to consider today. Author: Ryan Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris Elkins Subscribe: http://www.denisonforum.org/subscribe ...
Mar 16, 2023•7 min
Will less screen time make you happier? Turns out, that’s the wrong question and many Christians are making the same mistake today when we ask why the church matters. Author: Ryan Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris Elkins Subscribe: http://www.denisonforum.org/subscribe Read The Daily Article: https://www.denisonforum.org/daily-article/what-is-the-church-does-the-church-still-matter/...
Mar 15, 2023•8 min
On Monday, spurred by the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, President Biden addressed the nation in the wake of the ongoing banking crises to reassure Americans that we "can have confidence that the banking system is safe. Your deposits will be there when you need them." Unfortunately, the stock market disagreed, and the reason why goes deeper than you might expect. Author: Jim Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris Elkins Subscribe: http://www.denisonforum.org/subscribe Read The Daily Article: https://www.de...
Mar 14, 2023•8 min
As predicted, “Everything Everywhere All At Once” won last night’s Academy Award for Best Picture. It turns out, “everything everywhere all at once” is more than a movie title—it describes the interconnectedness of life today, from the Silicon Valley Bank collapse to William Shatner’s musings on legacy to our relationship with each other and with God as Christians. Author: Jim Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris Elkins Subscribe: http://www.denisonforum.org/subscribe Read The Daily Article: https://www...
Mar 13, 2023•8 min
You are undoubtedly familiar with Pride Month, described as “a month, typically in June, dedicated to celebration and commemoration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) pride.” Now school officials in Austin, Texas, are preparing for “Pride Week” to be held later this month. “Pronoun buttons,” rainbow flags, LGBTQ stickers, and other items will be distributed to students and staff. The event is timed to coincide with National LGBTQ Health Awareness Week. Why does secular society “no...
Mar 10, 2023•7 min
Speaking at his administration’s annual interfaith breakfast, New York City Mayor Eric Adams stated , “I can’t separate my belief because I’m an elected official. When I walk, I walk with God. When I talk, I talk with God. When I put policies in place, I put them in with a God-like approach to them. That’s who I am.” He continued, “I am still a child of God and will always be a child of God, and I won’t apologize about being a child of God. It is not going to happen.” Is he right to express his ...
Mar 09, 2023•7 min
The ninety-fifth Academy Awards are this Sunday. If you remember nothing from last year’s Oscars, you undoubtedly know that actor Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock on stage after the latter made disparaging remarks about the former’s wife. Rock did not respond publicly for nearly a year aside from a brief incident. Last Wednesday, he addressed the topic briefly during a standup show in Boston. Then, last Saturday night, he performed a live comedy special on Netflix in which he spoke at leng...
Mar 08, 2023•7 min
Tennessee has become the first state to explicitly ban drag shows in public places. Gov. Bill Lee signed the provision into law prohibiting “adult cabaret performances” that include “male or female impersonators” in areas where minors could watch. Similar laws have been introduced in at least fourteen other states. In response to this law, critics have mounted an “ad hominem” attack. As Christians, how can we stand up to ad hominem assaults? Author: Jim Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris Elkins Subscr...
Mar 07, 2023•7 min
Walgreens has confirmed that it will not carry abortion pills in twenty states. Critics are calling for boycotts against the pharmacy chain, and pro-abortion political leaders are voicing their outrage as well. Our highly secularized culture continues to misuse so-called “truth” to its own ends, including the idea that abortion is “lifesaving care.” Author: Jim Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris Elkins Subscribe: http://www.denisonforum.org/subscribe Read The Daily Article: https://www.denisonforum.or...
Mar 06, 2023•7 min
Haiti is the Western Hemisphere's second-oldest republic. At least for now. But as gangs overrun the capital and other cities around the country, the nation’s future is anything but secure. Given that Haiti was once “the most active mission field in the Western Hemisphere,” how did it come to this? The answer may be hard to hear but offers a necessary word of caution for all Christians today. Author: Ryan Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris Elkins Subscribe: http://www.denisonforum.org/subscribe Read T...
Mar 03, 2023•9 min
A Christian school in Vermont forfeited a girls basketball game last week and withdrew from the state championship tournament because the opposing team included a transgender player. Many in our secular culture will accuse the school of bigotry. But in such cultural conflicts, is there a way we can convince skeptics that we are truly “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15)? Author: Jim Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris Elkins Subscribe: http://www.denisonforum.org/subscribe Read The Daily Artic...
Mar 02, 2023•7 min
Rabbi Shlomo Amar believes recent earthquakes in Israel are a direct result of the rise of LGBTQ rights. And federal judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a noted Christian, could issue a preliminary injunction soon in a case that could temporarily halt over half of the legal abortions in America today. Both issues speak to how people of faith affect culture. Today, let’s ask how Christians can and should work to strengthen such a moral foundation for our secularized culture. Author: Jim Denison, PhD Narrato...
Mar 01, 2023•7 min
The US Energy Department has concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic most likely originated with a laboratory leak. But why don’t we know for sure? In eleven days, the COVID-19 pandemic will officially reach its third anniversary. Why is this debate still raging? These questions point to cultural realities that go beyond the pandemic and relate directly to the intersection of our faith with our world today. Author: Jim Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris Elkins Subscribe: http://www.denisonforum.org/subsc...
Feb 28, 2023•7 min
Tim Tebow’s recent “Night to Shine” event for people with special needs and the end of the Asbury Revival services both point to St. Augustine’s famous quote that God loves each of us as if there were only one of us. Author: Jim Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris Elkins Subscribe: http://www.denisonforum.org/subscribe Read The Daily Article: https://www.denisonforum.org/daily-article/tim-tebow-night-to-shine-asbury-revival-ending/...
Feb 27, 2023•6 min
As the war between Russia and Ukraine officially turns a year old today, a popular question among many is whether we are witnessing the start of World War III. However, with joint military exercises between Russia and China, as well as reports that Iran could be on the verge of becoming a nuclear power, Eastern Europe is hardly the only front that bears watching. And there’s an important lesson in that fact for each of us today. Author: Ryan Denison, PhD Narrator: Chris Elkins Subscribe: http://...
Feb 24, 2023•8 min
