Chip Shots

News Flash: Christendom is dead. American culture no longer sits comfortably with Christian values. In times past, Christianity assumed a privileged position in our country; but this is no longer the case. In fact, for a lot of Christians, it feels like the opposite is true: the powers that be in government, in entertainment, in education, and employment, are particularly antagonistic toward Christianity. What shall we do about this? Do we circle the wagons and isolate from secular society? Many take this route. As much as possible, they avoid the outside world and its influence. They attend their own schools, read their own books, watch their own movies, listen to their own music, and cultivate their own like-minded friends. Is this the best response to culture? Or should we embrace contemporary standards and assimilate into secular society? This is also a popular approach. After all, in America at least, most Christians believe and behave like the rest of society when it come...

What was Moses thinking when he made his last speech to the people of Israel just before they entered the Promised Land?  Many years had passed since he first led them out of Egyptian slavery, through the Red Sea, up to Mt. Sinai, and into the wilderness where, because of their disobedience, they wandered for forty years. It was quite an adventure! Now they are standing on the brink of the Promised Land. They will enter it, but he will not. His job is done, and he must entrust his life’s work to the next generation of leaders. What will he say to them? With apologies to the famous Broadway musical, what Moses gave them was this: Old Deuteronomy, a book filled with laws as obscure to us as the plot line to "Cats."  If we focus on these, we will be mystified. But if we pay attention to its fundamental message, we will find wisdom to help us as we navigate our way forward into the future God has for us. The central theme of Deuteronomy is found in these famous words -- wo...