Race relations is a dominant topic in our national discourse. American society is flooded with theories, movements, and protests, all demanding extermination of institutionalized racism and injustice. These waves of activism press us with difficult questions: Does racism persist in America? Is institutionalized racism real? What causes differential outcomes between ethnic groups? This article aims…
Our identity is who we are. Assimilation is a matter of losing one’s identity and being absorbed into another. For example, people whose identity is closely bound with their nation guard the distinction between themselves and other nations. This is seen among individuals who take pride in their national heritage. For some, it has to…
If someone asked you, “How do you define Christian identity,” how would you respond? I recently heard an insightful comment on a podcast I listen to regularly. During one segment, the participants discussed the issue of identity, a hot topic in our day and age. One of the participants observed, “Augustine (of Hippo, the esteemed…
The Industrial Revolution From the mid-1800s through the end of that century, the US experienced urbanization it wasn’t prepared to handle. Men traded in dust-filled barns for grease-filled factories. Conditions in the cities and workplaces were grimy at best, and the folks living there found themselves poor and dirty. Men frequently worked seven days a…
The world grows darker as each day passes. We, like the Philippian brethren of old, live in, “the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (2:15). While the world sinks deeper into the dark abyss of depravity and perversity, we must uphold the light of Christ…
One of the outstanding features of the early New Testament church was the zealous spirit of evangelism that seemed to fill the heart of every saint. The same enthusiasm with which Peter preached on the day of Pentecost was a driving force in the lives of the brethren. Even to this day men are impressed…