What is Government for?

In a recent article, Kevin Schaal, writing in response to comments about Tim Keller on abortion, politics, and law, made a statement about the purpose of government: The most basic responsibility of human government is the protection of life. One of our readers raised a question about this point in a comment we thought worth…

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Salt & Light in Your City and State

Good Stewardship of Your God-given Citizenship “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour [influence], wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city…

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Separation of Church and State

Many Americans are familiar with the First Amendment to our Constitution, the first portion of which guarantees religious liberty: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” What many do not know is that Baptists played an important role in ensuring the inclusion of religious freedom in…

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Pastor John Monroe on Government Authority and Frontline

FrontLine magazine has once again proved itself to be timely and relevant.  While preaching a series of messages through the book of I Peter, I came to a text that treated the believers’ responses to suffering by way of persecution.  In the providence of God, the latest issue of FrontLine discussed from multiple angles that…

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Concerns about a Post-Equality Act World

I was in the fourth grade and we had a bully in our school that loves to pick on us. His name was Bobby. Bobby was an 8th grader. He came from a very poor broken home. Our bus would stop and pick him up from the school bus he literally lived in. We hated…

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Let My People Go! (to Church)

Those of us pastoring churches in Canada find it strange to have American’s paying attention to the goings on around here. Part of the big story of the last year (the Covid Crisis) is the arrest of Canadian pastor James Coates in Alberta for defying Public Health orders. On Proclaim & Defend, we’ve covered the…

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Thinking About a Pastor in a Canadian Jail

A story out of my old home town appeared on many media outlets reported last week, including this one: Canadian Pastor Jailed Over COVID-19 Violations | Christianity Today. Of course, such stories arrest the attention of most Christians and cause immediate concern. We are sensitive to stories of persecution. Persecution is a reality in recent…

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“We Hold These Truths to Be Self Evident”

What Does Genesis 1– 3 Have to Do with Our System of Government? If you want to get into a heated argument, go to a political message board and assert that America is a “Christian nation.” That question is not only an emotional one, but it is fraught with difficulties, not the least of which…

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