Free Republic

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney praised President Donald Trump for his “bold measures” to address substantial changes around the globe to commence the G7 meeting in Alberta, Canada, on Monday. Carney referenced several previous G7 gatherings throughout the last five decades at “turning points in history,” including after the fall of the Berlin Wall and after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, and contended the current moment is another turning point on the global stage: We’re meeting at one of those hinge moments, those turning points in history. The world’s more divided and dangerous. Hostile states...

What causes one culture to flourish while another flounders? Why do some civilizations reach great heights only to fall mightily? Historians have dedicated great tomes to these questions. Edward Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and Oswald Spengler’s Decline of the West are two prime examples of this line of inquiry. But another can be found not in a work of non-fiction, but that of historical fiction. In Tides of War, author Stephen Pressfield provides a fictionalized account of one of the greatest conflicts in history — the Peloponnesian War — fought between two of the West’s greatest...

Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Ephesians 6:19-20 If you’ve ever wondered what to pray for when you pray for missionaries, this is the perfect start to a prayer. Boldness. Courage. Fearlessness. Clarity. Wisdom. We too need clarity and boldness when we open our mouths to speak. We need boldness because we often worry about what others think more than what God thinks. We’re products of our own culture. We’re taught...

Boldness has turned the tide in this war. After an initial burst of action in which the ground war started before the air war and Special Forces denied the Iraqi military large swaths of territory in the West and South, hesitation appeared to risk gripping U.S. warplanners. But after the sandstorms of March 27-29, the Pentagon and the White House threw any remaining overcaution to the wind. Boldness prevailed in the rapid advance of ground troops into the heart of Baghdad and in warplanners' intellectual confidence that a precision air campaign of record brevity had pummeled the enemy enough for...

Peter called Ananias and Sapphira liars. Paul warned the Ephesians of savage wolves who would become prominent "from among your own selves" speaking perverse things attempting to draw away the disciples. In 2 John 10-11 the Apostle forbids receiving into your home or even greeting those "who do not abide in the teaching of Christ" for, he says, to do so makes us participants "in his evil deeds." Jude reminds all Christians that even though God saved the Hebrews from the Egyptians He "subsequently destroyed those who did not believe" in the wilderness. Jesus Himself instructed His disciples to "shake...