On the wall of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC, are these words from President Thomas Jefferson: “God who gave us life gave is liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever.”

A Florida law barring children from attending drag shows is constitutional and does not violate the First Amendment, a federal appellate court has ruled. Judge Andrew Brasher, on behalf of the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, called the contended law “a straightforward regulation of obscenity... Preventing children from attending adult live performances obscene for them is rationally related to Florida’s interest in safeguarding the well-being of minors,” Brasher wrote in the Aug. 4 decision.

Whether they want to admit it or not, a euthanasia liturgy is the church blessing the choice of self-murder. It is the church condoning evil. Those who are suffering need palliative care from the medical profession—not a lethal injection—and compassion, kindness, and love from the church (and the gospel if they don’t know Christ!). What they don’t need is approval of a sinful choice that takes control into our own hands instead of trusting in the Creator who numbers our days.

Bible prophecy is the one line of evidence God wrote down in advance so anyone could check it. About 28 percent of the Bible was prophecy when it was written, roughly 80 percent of it has already been fulfilled to the exact detail, and the fulfillment rate on everything past is 100 percent. That track record is what makes fulfilled prophecy the most compelling reason to trust that the Bible is from God. Anyone can write a religious book that tells you what to believe. Only One who stands outside of time can tell you what is going to happen a hundred, five hundred, a thousand years from now, and then have it happen exactly the way He said.

The cost in terms of lives and suffering included over 100 innocent people who were murdered to prove a theory that turned out to be not only wrong but based on an erroneous secular philosophy, namely Darwinism. This display was one result of the rejection of the Genesis account that teaches all men are descendants of our first parents, Adam and Eve; thus all humans are of one race (the human race) and one kind (mankind).

The mayor’s continuing tirades against Israel causes one to wonder if he is running the city or has future political aspirations. Mamdani isn’t a “one-off” candidate. Instead, it is best to realize that he is a potential trendsetter. He represents a changing dynamic within the world of future Islamic political ambitions. Part of this is his ongoing excoriations of Israel and its prime minister. Although pretty much everyone knew Mamdani’s threats to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once he stepped foot in New York were empty, it didn’t stop the young mayor’s blustering promise to do just that. President Trump countered with a strongly worded statement the very next day denying Mamdani’s threats.

The Government should not be blurring the distinction between marriage and cohabitation. It should be asking why marriage has declined so dramatically, addressing the cultural and legal factors that have contributed to that decline, and actively promoting true marriage, between one man and one woman, as the foundation of stable family life. We are now witnessing the chaos that results from our rejection of God’s pattern for marriage. He designed and instituted marriage. It is not a social construct that we came up with and can change to fit the zeitgeist.

When a nation loses the ability to distinguish between allies and adversaries, truth and propaganda, leadership and political theater, it becomes vulnerable long before the first battle is lost. The headlines may change, but the underlying challenge remains the same. As conflict intensifies in the Middle East, foreign governments expand their influence, and political narratives compete with objective reality, Americans are confronted with a pressing question: Can we still recognize the difference between those who defend freedom and those who seek to undermine it? These are not isolated controversies. They are warning signs that discernment has become one of the most important responsibilities of our time. 

Yes, Christianity has emphasized the biblical message of grace for two thousand years, and the spread of the Church has been extraordinary. But that message is ours because it was passed down from the Jewish people. The Gospel was born in Israel. It was nursed and cradled by the Hebrew nation in the land promised to their ancestors. It was Jewish apostles who carried the Gospel to the ends of the earth. The first churches were established by Jewish missionaries. Our faith—from beginning to end—flows through Israel.