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As a young married couple in the Summer of 1973, Jill and I had just returned to Seattle from an exhilarating one-year adventure. We had lived in a Christian community right in the middle of the hippies in Isla Vista, California, the location of the Santa Barbara branch of the University of California, UCSB. We had rented out our house in the University District in Seattle while we were gone and now, with 2.5 children—our daughter Ramah would be born that Fall—we were headed…

When we discuss the kingdom of God, much seems to be theoretical and not very practical. Because of our pietistic backgrounds, i.e., everything that has to do with God is “spiritual” and has nothing to do with real life. These blog postings make no sense, because Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is in your heart. Right, Robert?” Yes, it obviously begins in our hearts, but it does not end there. As we have seen in these postings, Jesus’ reign will be universal and…

In the Lord’s Prayer, we are exhorted to pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on the earth as it is in Heaven,” Though we have prayed that prayer many times, what it actually means—that the rule of Jesus be established here on the earth through us, as Genesis 1:26 and Matthew 28:18 clearly teach—is a foreign concept to many Christians. It is a brand new worldview, a dramatic shift in previous presuppositions. When it is presented, as I have done on these…

“The greatest victory is that which requires no battle”― Sun Tzu, The Art of War. It would appear to a perceptive observer that Humanism, after a subtle, 100+ year war with Christianity for ascendancy in our country, is winning the battle. With its twin doctrines of evolution and communism/socialism forming two of its legs, Humanism has become the stool upon which America sits today. We, as the church, once determined what was acceptable behavior in our culture. Civil leaders were forced by public opinion to…

  We are investigating the human, observable factors in our nation’s journey from its Reformation foundation to where we find ourselves today at the beginning of the 21st century.  We have seen that the Enlightenment introduced a renewal of fallen man’s eternal attempt to “be like God, knowing (determining for himself) good and evil” (Genesis 3:5), i.e., be his own god, the very definition of Humanism.   This included discovering a way to free himself from the Reformation idea of the necessity of salvation for…

I have borrowed the title of Hillary Clinton’s new book to use as the title of this blog posting concerning what is happening in America today and why. You will notice that I have added a question mark. Hillary is sure she knows what happened to cause her election defeat, and there are no questions; in this posting I am giving only my carefully thought-through, considered, opinion for your consideration. I believe answering the question “What happened?” is a prerequisite to discovering the answer…

The Pilgrims and Puritans who came to America from England in the early 1600s seeking religious freedom brought with them views of their faith, the church, and the state that would seem strange to a majority of American churchgoers today. For example, these pioneers were predominantly products of the Reformation, and Reformation theology taught them that their occupations were all holy callings, ordained by God, be they butchers, bakers or candlestick makers. They were actively serving God, not just in their daily work, but…

How have secular, anti-Christian forces, outlined so clearly in the video in my last blog posting, made such headway in America in the last 100 years? Why are those forces, now being seemingly so successful, meeting what appears to be such feeble resistance? Should we Christians not do more than simply mumble “Ain’t it awful” and retreat behind our stained-glass windows to promote our next church growth program? When a plan hasn’t worked, a change in life-trajectory, personally or nationally, involves a realistic evaluation…

The recent events in Charlottesville have prompted many observers and commentators to ask the question, “What has happened to America?” Here is my brief analysis of how I see the last 75 years in order to introduce what I believe is the answer to that question. Post war years – 1945-1950. Years of joy and a return to national peacetime. 1950’s – Eisenhower years, Korean War, post war economic peace and prosperity (if you were white). Late 1950’s, early 1960’s – Civil rights movement…

Last week I proposed to you that the two edges of the sword of the word of God—the law of God and the gospel of the grace of God—like the edges on any blade, grow dull with use. We as Christians live in an alien culture, and the world and our sinful flesh, both under the control of Satan, attack us constantly from every angle. The mighty, powerful sword of the word of God is our weapon to resist him, and it is more…