The Supreme Court’s secularization of American public schools was its chief accomplishment. Because it trained the future generations to think that secularism is normal. Now even many “conservatives” can’t think otherwise.

🫩

Weak worship, because everything else is downstream.

That Hurts.

To the Americans: I've travelled all over the world. I've familiarized myself with many places, and met many people. And I'm a Canadian, although I’m privileged to reside once again in the States. And here's something I've noticed, and it’s a key element of America's continuing greatness: You bloody Americans value success, and you believe in its existence. This is something that doesn't really happen anywhere else in the world. Even in other free democracies—the United Kingdom; Finland, Sweden, and Norway; Australia, New Zealand and Canada; Germany, France, and the Netherlands (great countries all)—a counterproductive cynicism too often reigns. Success is equated with exploitation. Ambition is looked upon with contempt. This happens sometimes in the United States too—particularly among the miserable progressives, who confuse their resentment, ingratitude and unearned skepticism with wisdom. But in your great country, by and large, striving is admired and success celebrated. This means that more people strive and succeed in the US than anywhere else. And it's increasingly obvious. You remain stunningly more innovative and productive than any people anywhere else on the planet. And so I say, as all should who are fortunate enough to live in the western world, let alone America: Thank God for the United States. Thank God for the wisdom of its founders. Thank God for its faith in the free market and in the natural rights of man. Happy birthday, you damn Yankees and Southerners. Long may your admirable country dominate the world. Long may your freedom and hope provide an example to those suffering everywhere at the hands of their malevolent states. May your two and a half centuries of unparallelled success be just the beginning. Your country is the light of the world, and the city on the hill. Thank God for the USA. Happy 250th. Dr. Jordan B. Peterson

This is fantastic. He’s exactly right. So much of modern Hollywood lacks that moral core. This presents a great opportunity to fill that vacuum.

I guess I’m famous now 😎

The @CivilRights is investigating the potential violations of the federal FACE Act by these people desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers. @AGPamBondi

NASA has officially confirmed the return of humans to the Moon. Artemis II, the first crewed mission to venture beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972, is now set to launch on February 6, 2026. This 10-day flight will send four astronauts on a journey around the Moon, serving as a vital rehearsal for future lunar landings. The crew consists of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman (commander), Victor Glover (pilot), and Christina Koch (mission specialist), together with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Koch will make history as the first woman to travel beyond low Earth orbit, while Hansen will become the first Canadian to participate in a lunar mission. Although Artemis II will not include a landing, it will rigorously test NASA’s Orion spacecraft and deep-space exploration systems in real conditions. After launching from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the crew will complete an initial orbit around Earth to check life-support and other critical systems. They will then perform a trans-lunar injection burn, using the Moon’s gravity to swing around its far side in a classic figure-eight trajectory. The mission will take the astronauts more than 230,000 miles from Earth at their farthest point, following a free-return path that allows them to coast back to Earth without additional engine burns. The flight concludes with a high-velocity atmospheric reentry and Pacific Ocean splashdown. No humans have traveled this far from Earth in more than 50 years—the previous record was set by Apollo 17 in December 1972. Artemis II paves the way for Artemis III, targeted for 2027, which aims to achieve the first crewed Moon landing of the 21st century.

The call to worship from last night’s vespers service during our Fellows Program, sung by Caleb Skogen.

I can't believe I just learned this a few weeks ago... This is *impossible* for anyone but Jesus. The Bible is incredible, y'all. 🙏

This is mind blowing. These are students from the Logos school in Moscow, Idaho singing at the Idaho State capital.

Agreed. But Yankees @howertonjosh?? Really??

A few random observations after the Charlie Kirk memorial service: I wish I was about 30 years younger so I could live for several more decades in the America we are on the cusp of creating. Obviously, things could get derailed. Nothing is guaranteed. But the trajectory we are on is encouraging. The future is bright. The Republicans are stacked with men who would make great Presidents and successors to Trump in carrying forward the MAGA torch. (Vance is my favorite at this point.) More importantly, it is obvious there is a renewed interest in Christian faith, not only as the way of eternal salvation, but as a civilization-building force. This is especially true of young men who have found in Charlie a man worthy of emulation. Obviously not all the speeches were equally great, but many of them were explicitly Christian and proclaimed the gospel. To hear the VP of the United States openly declare that, "It is better to be persecuted for your faith than to deny the kingship of Christ” was quite amazing. Rob McCoy, Frank Turek, and Marco Rubio gave very clear gospel presentations to millions of people. The Secretary of War declared Jesus’ kingship. Tucker Carlson called on everyone to humbly repent of their own sin. Erika Kirk gave amazingly biblical counsel to men (“Be a leader worth following”) and women (“If you are a mother, that is the single most important ministry you have”). She was a model of what a godly wife should be in that situation. Trump Jr. displayed the kind of common sense we need - like the goal of making one income families the norm again and renouncing political violence. It was very impressive and encouraging overall. Maybe the most powerful moment was when Erika Kirk talked about how her husband was trying to reach disaffected, missionless young men, precisely like the one who killed her husband. I know some people will criticize her for forgiving the murderer apart from his repentance. But I think that’s nitpicking. We should be willing to forgive, even if the transaction of forgiveness remains incomplete because the offender will not confess and repent, and she demonstrated that willingness. Also, from the sum total of the speeches, it’s obvious that personal forgiveness and civil justice (in the case the death penalty) are not at all at odds. A murderer can be forgiven while still suffering the consequences of his actions. The use of the sword to bless the righteous and terrorize the wicked is clearly built into the MAGA program at this point. MAGA is all about law and order, and restoring the rule of law in our land. Charlie Kirk’s character and courage were honored. His political convictions were certainly clear in the service. But most importantly, his faith in Jesus was set forth as the center of his life and the key to everything he did. Charlie was honored; but Jesus was honored even more, which is what Charlie would have wanted. Charlie was presented as a Christian who was guided by his faith when he got involved in politics, not someone who instrumentalized his faith for political purposes. The service showed how much a man with a vision and a work ethic can accomplish. It’s astounding to consider how much Charlie transformed our nation in his all too short life. What we witnessed in the memorial service was Christian nationalism in nascent, immature form. Not everyone who spoke was a Christian - and Christian nationalism doesn’t require that. But what we saw is even people who do not share Charlie’s faith in Jesus showing open respect for Christianity. Everyone at the service was operating under the Christian gaze. We cannot make America great again without making America Christian again, which means making America Biblical again. MAGA needs MACA and MABA. Republicans in the past paid lip service to a god - a vague faith that never got defined. In this service, many politicians were explicitly Christian in their faith. It’s a remarkable shift in a very short period of time. Whatever Charlie’s eschatology was, he was a practical postmillennialist. As the left gets more Satanic, the right gets more consistently Christian. The lines are more clearly drawn than ever. The service and the events of the last 10 days clearly demonstrate that. If ever the Christian right, as the Christian right, as a political movement, was going to resort to the kind of anarchic violence we see on the left, this would have been it. The most famous and popular rightwing Christian apologist was murdered in broad daylight. And yet what do we see? No riots. No gunshots. No violence. Instead, we got a massive prayer meeting in a packed stadium, live-streamed to millions more all around the world. And we saw a wife (now a widow) who forgave her husband’s killer. The two sides are not the same. There is no moral equivalence here. Reformed Christians might be tempted to look down on the style of worship and music in the service and the imprecise theology on display. We should resist that temptation. What good is mature theology if you don’t enter the fray and get into the battle? Evangelicals charging the gates of hell with slingshots and BB guns are more effective than Reformed Christians who leave their jet fighters in the hangar and their battleships in the dock. An immature theology combined with courage and a willingness to act will always be more effective than mature theology and worship that never enter the fray. Reformed Christians love to be the Monday Morning Quarterback who criticize the normie evangelicals in the arena, but those who are in the arena are the ones through whom God is working to bring change. Perhaps the most important thing of all is that Charlie Kirk’s legacy was accurately portrayed. Charlie always made clear the cultural, political, and civilizational impact of Christian faith. Charlie was willing to connect the dots in a way that many pastors are not; he linked his faith to his economics, to his convictions about marriage and family, to his views of immigration and nationhood, to his belief in limited government, etc. In other words, he presented the Christian faith as a comprehensive system of truth that works in the real world. He challenged people (especially college students) with a biblical worldview, showing that Christian faith answers coherently and compellingly all the pressing personal *and* political questions of the day. That came through in the memorial service, and for that I am grateful.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…

Amen

Jesus defeated death so you can live.

Repost today for a chance to win this #LuckHappens VIP Experience on September 5 from @TexasLottery during the Silver Boot Series! Must be 18 or older to enter.

Perhaps the real meaning of St. George and the Dragon is that an evil has to be about as big and ugly as a dragon before an Englishman even knows it is there.