Christians and social conservatives are being challenged from many sources. Some of these challenges sneak under the radar, hoping we won’t notice until it is too late to do anything about them. In our city, we lave that very situation. Many people do not know that we have a Mayor’s Commission on Human Rights and Community Relations. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Actually, cities throughout the country have formed similar entities as proscribed by the United Nations, with the stated purpose of protecting people from discrimination. Continue reading →

Tuesday is the Presidential Primary Election Day for the State of Missouri.  Here in Springfield, we will also vote on Proposition 1, also called the E-Verify issue.  There have been a myriad of voices in opposition to this proposal including a letter signed by twenty pastors who are against E-Verify.  The letter states that their position is based on the Bible.  However, the scriptures they quote have nothing to do with the reason and purpose of E-Verify.  There is no cost involved, nor have the terrible consequences that have been predicted come to pass.  Biblically speaking, we have the example of the nation Israel, which always distinguished between those who were Hebrews and those who were “strangers.”  How was this done?  Continue reading →

Many people today believe that morality and ethics are old-fashioned principles; that if morality and ethics ever were valid and necessary in man’s daily life, they certainly are not valid and necessary today.  These same people are convinced that there are no fixed standards of right and wrong, good and evil.  In spite of these commonly-held beliefs, I assure you that ll of us make moral and ethical choices every day, whether we understand or not, and whether we make those choices consciously or sub-consciously.  Furthermore, I assure you that there are fixed standards of morality and ethics.  Those standards are set by God, and are specifically stated in His Word.  Continue reading →