Breakpoint

According to scholars Brad Wilcox and Wendy Wang in a recent article in The Atlantic, married mothers fared quite well during the pandemic, including indicating a greater degree of happiness than their single counterparts. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

No statement about religious liberty has generated more controversy than when Thomas Jefferson, in his letter to the Danbury Baptists, prescribed "a wall of separation between church and state." For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

In his book Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis rightly suggests that we ought not judge something (or someone) based on its newness or oldness at all. Techniques, styles, even church movements come and go, but those whom Christ saves, He sustains. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

After the terrifying collapse of Daman Hamlin on an NFL football field the nation turned to its only source of hope: God, and politicians are blaming pro-lifers for the results of the mid-term election. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration announced that medication abortion drugs can now be sold over the counter at retail pharmacies. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Today could be the most significant Christian holiday that Christians know about the least. Epiphany, the 12th day of Christmas, was set aside in the Church calendar to remember the visitation of the Magi to the infant Jesus. Commit a year to joining others and work through the implications of a Christian worldview for all of life. Consider joining the Colson Fellows program. Applications are currently being accepted for the next class, which begins later this year. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

When Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field Monday, several sports analysts called it the scariest scene they'd ever seen on a football field. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

God made us for relationship. He gave us bodies to mediate and facilitate those relationships. As helpful as computers and phones are, there is no substitute for real people. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Canada's campaign to normalize suicide as a viable and even preferred medical treatment continues to escalate. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

To be Christian, especially in this confusing cultural moment, requires the intentional cultivation of our minds. An exemplary model of someone who took this calling seriously is James Clerk Maxwell. For a gift of any amount this month, I'd like to send you a very helpful and concise book, What Does It Mean to Be a Thoughtful Christian? by scholar David Dockery. We've also developed a video series on the Christian mind, with teachers such as Alisa Childers and Dr. Kevin Vanhoozer. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

In December, the public school superintendent in Loudoun County, Virginia, was fired and indicted for lying to parents about the rape of a young girl in a restroom by a male classmate. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Not that long ago, culturally speaking, someone known throughout the world for being neighborly said some things that most likely would have gotten him fired today. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

On January 1, 404, a monk from the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire attended a gladiatorial match in Rome. But instead of watching the games, Telemachus leapt into the arena in an attempt to separate the combatants. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Today, as antisemitism once again rears its ugly head, the Church should take the lead in opposing this evil and supporting the value and dignity of our Jewish neighbors. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit colsoncenter.org

John and Maria look back on 2022 and talk about the effects some of the biggest stories of the year had on the church and faith.

Jesus' words about loving our enemies remain as true and trying as ever. But the radical love to which Christ calls us shouldn't be confused with squishy emotion or moral vacuity. This Point was originally published on March 25, 2022.

From Pride month to education to companies telegraphing their commitments to inclusion and diversity, to just about every commercial, movie, or TV show produced today, sexual identity is treated as if it is central to human identity, human purpose, and human happiness. This Breakpoint was originally published on August 1, 2022.

For the first time in a long time, scientists are bucking the so-called "Neo-Darwinian synthesis," which has dominated the sciences since the early 20th century. This Point was originally published on July 20, 2022.

Young men aren't forming social bonds with real, live people, even the kinds of bonds that have historically captured their attention. This Breakpoint was originally published on October 5, 2022.

We're simply walking in the way Orwell warned against. It's the dark side of an expressive individualism devoid of any deeper truth. This Point was originally published on February 2, 2022.

Christians must insist that men and women are real. We must also insist that that fact doesn't compel a competition. There is no hierarchy of human dignity. This Breakpoint was originally published on March 28, 2022.

In a culture where nearly 1 in 5 of Gen Z calls themselves "LGBT," it's crucial that parents pray hard, stay true, and remember the long game. This Point was originally published on August 2, 2022.

Justice Alito thoroughly dismantles the claim that the right to an abortion is found anywhere in the Constitution. This Breakpoint was originally published on May 3, 2022.

Evangelicals under 40 are twice as likely as their seniors to want more substance from the pulpit. This Point was originally published on February 3, 2022.

In the tradition of so many who went before them, who were granted "not only to believe in Christ but to suffer for His sake," the Chibok schoolgirls held on to faith, and in so doing, found life and hope where there was seemingly none. This Breakpoint was originally published on March 7, 2022.

John and Maria look at the best and worst Christmas movies and would you host or attend a same sex wedding?

As we enter Christmas and the New Year, let's keep pointing to Christ. And as we point to Christ, we point to reality, because in Him, as the Apostle Paul says, "all things hold together."

For image bearers, names are not just blobs of letters, but a way of affirming identity, value, and history. Words mean something.

It can be easy to equate "greatness" with fame or followers or something loud and big. But God asks for faithfulness in whatever our hand finds to do.

The faithfulness that individual Christians demonstrate in their everyday lives makes a compelling case that the Christian worldview is both true and good. Nothing is more encouraging than to hear from followers of Christ who've been resourced, encouraged, and equipped by Breakpoint, the Colson Fellows program, or the Upstream and Strong Women podcasts. If any of these resources have been helpful to you, please email us at [email protected]. And please consider supporting the Colson Center with a year-end, tax-deductible gift. You can give at ColsonCenter.org/December.

The secular world doesn't have a box for answered prayer or forgiveness. The Hoffman family does. Thank God.

If the power of our dominant cultural artifacts is to be countered and if new, better artifacts are to be created, Christians must be grounded in a thoroughly biblical vision for life and the world.

When absolute autonomy is the only rule, and children are lifestyle choices, then we can't be shocked when human beings can be added to our shopping carts.

The biological realities of men and women are not social constructs. By ignoring these realities, prisons in the U.S. and Canada are putting incarcerated women at increased risk of rape or violence.

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, there was an unintended side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic: a slight increase in U.S. fertility rates.

We think it's time to call Christians back to a bigger, older, and more thrilling way of seeing our world—of seeing Earth as crammed with heaven, because it is. That's the theme of our upcoming Colson Center National Conference, May 19-21, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Registration is now open at colsonconference.org.

When it comes to secular Christmas music there is the good, the bad and the ugly. John and Maria discuss them all. And how could Christians take part in a shocking White House celebration of the desecration of marriage?

Maybe it's time for Disney to listen to the words of a particularly wise old baboon. "The past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it."

By linking opposition to the Respect for Marriage Act to (rightly) ostracized ideas like racism, advocates, like the president, are setting the stage for leveraging hate crime legislation and other cultural tools to criminalize dissent.

To those who insist babies in the womb aren't fully human or can be traded around like products, as in the case of surrogacy, science is stubborn. The more we learn, the clearer it becomes: Preborn children have rights.

Social revolutionaries who want doctors or teachers or bureaucrats to step between parents and children on sexual issues are revealing their hostility not only to parental rights but to human nature and how we were created.

Every year, the Christian students at Oxford University put on an evening of carols, singing hymns like "Oh Holy Night" and "Joy to the World," followed by a guest speaker who unpacks the hope of Advent.

Every follower of Christ is on the front lines when they take their faith into every walk of life, as "salt and light" to a world that desperately needs the redemptive power of the Gospel. This month, we would love to hear your experience with the Colson Center. If any of our resources—the Breakpoint podcast, the Strong Women podcast, Upstream with Shane Morris, the Colson Fellows, or Colson Educators—impacted the way you think and live, please email us at [email protected].

Dr. Andrew Newell explores the songs of the Advent season with Kasey Leander.

This month, China exploded in protests against President Xi Jinping's three-year "Zero-Covid" policy.

Today, we do not wait for the Messiah to bring salvation. We wait for the Messiah to return, when He will reveal Himself fully as King and restorer of all creation.

A few weeks ago before their contest against Papua New Guinea, the Fijian rugby team took the field and lifted their voices in honor of God.

Throughout history, Christians have fought for the protection and wellbeing of children, quite often from sexual exploitation and abuse.

The case of a web designer in Colorado is argued at the Supreme Court as the Justices go to great lengths to find loopholes. And John and Maria discuss former President Donald Trump's call to terminate the US Constitution.

According to Britain's Daily Mail, lawyers in the United Kingdom are being told to no longer address judges as "Sir" or "Madam" but only, "Judge."