Who is Christ? The Son of God the Everlasting Father. He is fully Man and fully God! He is unique in His Being, His Glory, His Sacrifice, His Love, His Grace, His Power, His Eternal Presence! He died so that we could have eternal life!

We know this is true because three days later, after He was crucified and buried, He rose from the grave and appeared to many witnesses! And we can look forward to rising from our own graves because He has promised it and shown He has the power to make it true!

He is ALIVE!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Christ not only died for us and our sins, he also [...]

• July 4. 1776: British Colonies In America Declare Independence
• August 12, 1861: Southern Rebels Attack Fort Sumter
• December 7, 1941: Japan Attacks US at Pearl Harbor
• September 11, 2001: Terrorists Fly Jets Into World Trade Center

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Listed above are some of the key events in the history of the United States that signaled the beginning of war. One could make a similar list of events related to events signaling the beginnings of economic turmoil. Others that signaled the beginnings of territorial expansion and industrial advances.

None holds a candle to the day we celebrate today.

Today is the day that signaled the beginning of peace between God and Man. The beginning of a greater war for our hearts. The beginning of a new level of relationship with God.

Good Friday is called “good” because this is the day that Jesus Christ, God and Man in one, died on a cross to pay the price for all of our sins. Pope Benedict stated today in his Good Friday remarks that Jesus was unique in that he impacted the world not by taking the lives of others, but by allowing his own life to be taken for the sake of others.

I cannot imagine the pain that Jesus experience, both physical and emotional, as [...]

Reprinted from The Iowa Family Policy Center Blog, with permission.

Hugh Hewitt recently interviewed theologian J.P. Moreland on the evangelical understanding (or lack there of) of being a responsible Christian citizen in our democratic republic.

Moreland, who has written extensively on Christian truth in the public square, had this to say:

“Being involved in politics is not unchristian. In fact, it’s a part of our calling as Christians. Why? Because we are supposed to do good to all people including the household of faith. And to do good to all people means establishing just laws and a just and a stable social order. And that’s the job of the state. It’s political. So the first thing a pastor should do and the Church should do is to enlist people like the dickens to be involved in the political process and vote. It is unconscionable that we have these rights, and that we have an obligation as disciples of Jesus to try to bring goodness and truth to society, that we don’t use all means available to promote just laws and a just and stable social order through the political process. And so voting is absolutely critical.”

In addition to

Read The Complete Article

Tags: christian churches, Politics, Religion

Yes, we’ve been out of pocket for a few weeks now. After returning from family matters, work (yes, I have a real job) was a bit overwhelming for many reasons. At any rate, we hope that the new year will provide us both more opportutnity to share daily thoughts and to begin expanding the focus of The Conservative Reader to more principled discussions.

Tonight and tomorrow many of us will be visiting our local churches to share in celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our family will be worshiping this evening.

Three things to share today.

The First Amendment

Thank God for the freedom in our society, as declared by the wisdom of the founders of our country, to worship freely as we see fit, or not to worship at all. I’m sure that some of the motivation behind this right comes from the surprising amount of diversity and infighting among different groups (denominations) who all profess to worship the same Christ, and the history of violence of government against those who do not worship the government’s official “church”. And yet I’m also confident that the generation that established our Bill of Rights also perceived the need to protect any who chose to worship other than the norm, including Jewish, Islam, Native American religions, Oriental religions, or none at all.

This is a precious freedom, and one of a handful that if we ever [...]

BitHead provides an excellent featured piece on this important day. Please read it… you’ll be glad you did.

This is a day that brings together the best of who we are as a secular nation, and the best of who we are as servants of God.

Though we struggle in our thought of independence to the extent that many outwardly disdain acknowledgment of God, as a whole (and to a greater extent historically) we still find ourselves taking the time to recognize that we have a good life here in the United States. That Providence (if we see it as such) has delivered us to the most blessed time of human intellect, engineering and liberty, is undeniable in my opinion.

Which leads us to explaining this: Thanksgiving doesn’t really mean much if you don’t know WHO should be thanked for [...]

Prior to the start of the school year, a parent very wisely asked me to write an article which essentially responds to the following question – “How can a Christian effectively respond to ‘Walking with Dinosaurs: The Life Experience,’ a traveling stage show which depicts dinosaurs as they lived prior to extinction?”

The “Walking with Dinosaurs” production is described by the producers as a “dazzling arena spectacle of unprecedented size and quality,” and it is scheduled in Des Moines for October 1-5 at the Iowa Events Center.

What’s the rub?! Why any controversy?! Dinosaurs are cool! Dinosaurs fascinate people, particularly schoolchildren. “There’s no harm in studying dinosaurs,” you might say.

I watched Friday’s John and Cindy McCain interview on The View.  Below is part 1; parts 2 and 3 should be accessible from the video.

I see several posts refering to this interview as “McCain Grilled On The View”, for instance this story at Huffpo, and this one at Century Of The Common Iowan.
A stretch to [...]

This morning I got a chance to see some clips from a new movie that will be in theaters on September 26, 2008.  It’s called “Fireproof“.  Here’s a synopsis from the web site:
At work, inside burning buildings, Capt. Caleb Holt lives by the old firefighter’s adage: Never leave your partner behind. At home, in the [...]

The New York Times had an interesting article today regarding the impact of Evangelical Christians in politics today, especially with regard to the new generation of Evangelicals who apparently are not as vigorously aligned with the Republican Party the way the older generation is.
I find this interesting partly because in the Republican conventions that I’ve [...]

I was pleasantly surprised this morning to hear (on the New York Times Audio Digest) this story about the Pope’s speech to the US Bishops on Wednesday.
It was an excellent assessment of the lives we tend to live in America where we’ve gotten comfortable compartmentalizing our faiths or belief systems away from the realities of [...]