If you watched the Republican National Convention last month and are now watching the Democrats as they meet in Chicago, you could be forgiven for thinking the parties are living in separate countries.<\/span><\/p>\n According to Republicans, Kamala Harris and the Democrats would lead our nation to ruin at home and chaos abroad. According to Democrats, including Barack and Michelle Obama in their Democratic National Convention speeches last night, the opposite is the case. Both <\/span>eviscerated<\/span><\/a> Donald Trump while lauding Ms. Harris as someone who will fight for Americans.<\/span><\/p>\n\n Partisan politics are just one way that \u201creality\u201d has become whatever we consider it to be. Here are more examples:<\/span><\/p>\n Yesterday, we <\/span>looked<\/span><\/a> at ways our secularized culture commodifies people. Today, let\u2019s consider ways it commodifies truth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n John Adams noted: \u201cFacts are stubborn things, and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.\u201d Nonetheless, Satan loves to tempt us to conflate opinion with reality for two reasons.<\/span><\/p>\n A luxury yacht <\/span>sank<\/span><\/a> off the coast of Sicily this week, killing leading figures in tech, banking, and law along with members of their families. This is just one example of the fact that all humans, whatever our cultural status, are mortal. Ignoring this fact leaves us unprepared for death when it arrives and eternity beckons.<\/span><\/p>\n This is one of Satan\u2019s most subtle strategies in leading as many as possible away from heaven and into hell. If you don\u2019t believe in either, you won\u2019t seek to experience the former and thus will be consigned to the latter.<\/span><\/p>\n Nonetheless, George Clooney speaks for many when he says, \u201cI don\u2019t believe in heaven and hell,\u201d as though his disbelief changes their reality. Imagine saying, \u201cI don\u2019t believe in Canada,\u201d and assuming Canada therefore does not exist.<\/span><\/p>\n A cancer patient who denies they have the disease is only more likely to die from it as a result. Skeptics who deny that they need to be saved from hell will go there when they die (John 3:18). Perhaps today.<\/span><\/p>\n Satan is \u201ca liar and the father of lies\u201d (John 8:44) who comes to \u201csteal and kill and destroy\u201d (John 10:10). The former is one way he accomplishes the latter.<\/span><\/p>\n Historian Jon Meacham <\/span>observed<\/span><\/a>,<\/span><\/p>\n While we remain a nation decisively shaped by religious faith, our politics and our culture are, in the main, less influenced by movements and arguments of an explicitly Christian character than they were even five years ago.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Wall Street Journal <\/span><\/i>columnist Lance Morrow <\/span>describes<\/span><\/a> some consequences of our opinion-based ideology. In what he calls an \u201cinversion\u201d of \u201cprevious biology, custom, and human nature\u201d, he says,<\/span><\/p>\n Boys may be girls and girls may be boys, according to impulse or whim. Criminals are victims. Civilization is barbaric. The ambition of the progressive left has been to dismantle the previous America as being racist, oppressive, sexist, and excessively white. \u2026 The 21<\/span>st<\/span> century is an unusually dislocated time.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n By contrast, \u201cAll the paths of the L\u1d0f\u0280\u1d05 are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies\u201d (Psalm 25:10).<\/span><\/p>\n Do we need more \u201csteadfast love and faithfulness\u201d today?<\/span><\/p>\n Bank tellers <\/span>learn<\/span><\/a> to detect counterfeit currency by spending time with the real thing. In the same way, spending time with Jesus in his Word enables us to know the truth that sets us free (John 8:31\u201332).<\/span><\/p>\n Our Savior modeled this principle in his personal life, beginning his mornings (Mark 1:35) and ending his evenings (Luke 6:12) with his Father. He prayed before he ate (Matthew 14:19), before decisions (Luke 6:12\u201313; Matthew 26:36), and in the midst of great suffering (Luke 23:46). The busier he became, the more he prayed (cf. Luke 5:15\u201316). And it was through this lifestyle of communion with his Father (Hebrews 5:7) that he was led and empowered to change the world.<\/span><\/p>\n Henri Nouwen noted:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cJesus\u2019 primary concern was to be obedient to his Father, to live constantly in his presence. Only then did it become clear to him what his task was in his relationships with people.\u201d<\/mark><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n What is your \u201cprimary concern\u201d today?<\/span><\/p>\n *<\/span>Denison Forum does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in these stories.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n \u201cThe most vital question to ask about all who claim to be Christian is this: Have they a soul thirst for God?\u201d \u2014Martyn Lloyd-Jones<\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you watched the Republican National Convention last month and are now watching the Democrats as they meet in Chicago, you could be forgiven for thinking the parties are living in separate countries. According to Republicans, Kamala Harris and the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4396,"featured_media":6072,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
We are unprepared for eternity<\/b><\/h2>\n
We are susceptible to damaging deception<\/b><\/h2>\n
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What was Jesus\u2019 \u201cprimary concern\u201d?<\/b><\/h2>\n
Wednesday news to know:<\/b><\/h2>\n
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Quote for the day:<\/b><\/h2>\n