President Joe Biden admitted Friday evening that the U.S. southern border is not secure after years of the region experiencing catastrophic surges in illegal aliens pouring into the U.S. due to Biden’s immigration policies. Biden made the remarks while speaking to reporters at a White House event‚ which included a question about Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. “What do you say to Republicans who are trying to impeach Mayorkas?” a reporter asked. “I don’t get it‚” Biden responded. “Do you think it’s unconstitutional?” the reporter asked. Biden did not respond. The reporter followed up with another question‚ asking: “Do you think that the border is secure?” “No‚ it’s not‚” Biden responded. “I haven’t believed that for the last 10 years. And I’ve said it for the last 10 years. Give me the money.” When asked if he believes that his policies have enabled the crisis on the border‚ Biden responded: “No. I’ve asked for thousands more — everything from judges to — anyway.” He did not answer the reporter’s question about whether his administration would fight Mayorkas’ impeachment in court. CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP WATCH: Video: https://t.co/15QG9dd5kD pic.twitter.com/MrpKoXadeM — Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) January 19‚ 2024

5 Lies Men Believe About Their Roles in the Family

It was David’s faithfulness in the little things that led to the big things. He was faithful with whatever God set before him. Are you being faithful with what God has set before you today?

Do you struggle with believing lies? Is there a particular deceit that entangles you‚ trapping you on more than one occasion? For me‚ that lie is that what I do with my time and how I use my talents are insignificant.

Anyone who has spent much time with young children knows what it means to be overwhelmed by questions. Beyond the annoying “Are we there yet?” there’s the often delightful‚ but sometimes wearying‚ patter of queries: “Where did Mommy go?” “How does the oven get hot?” “Why can’t I smear peanut butter on the cat?” The most exhausting aspect of a child’s questions is often that we—the adults who are supposed to understand the world—don’t know the answers. Sometimes we get annoyed because the asker’s curiosity reveals ways we’ve ignored the wonder of the world. Other times‚ the issue is that the question isn’t a good one. “What do numbers smell like?” reveals a category error that can be difficult to untangle. Asking good questions is an art. It requires proficiency‚ tenacity‚ and humility. There’s an imaginative aspect of question asking that requires stepping outside your experience to ponder the world from a different perspective. It can be a dangerous process that upends our world in uncomfortable ways. Matthew Lee Anderson’s book Called into Questions: Cultivating the Love of Learning Within the Life of Faith is about asking questions. More specifically‚ it’s about developing a general posture toward that world that makes honest inquiry possible for faithful‚ orthodox Christians. Dangerous Questions Questions aren’t always neutral. Loaded questions‚ for example‚ carry implications beyond the words themselves. They’re traps meant to accuse someone of wrongdoing or lead someone down the wrong path. Satan’s question to Eve in Eden was intended to incite rebellion‚ and it worked. “It is a dangerous thing to question‚” Anderson notes‚ “as we might end up contemplating falsehoods so attractive they lull us to sleep” (46). Bad questions often distort reality. In contrast‚ good questions lead toward truth. They often do so through doubt‚ which can be unnerving for the questioner who feels like the foundations of a cherished belief are being shaken by considering it from a new perspective. Fear of those doubts can be nerve-racking to parents watching children explore their faith. Bad questions often distort reality. In contrast‚ good questions lead toward truth. They often do so through doubt. One natural response is to shut down challenging questions for fear faith’s foundations will crack. But forbidding questions is unhealthier than wrestling with honest doubts. Squashing legitimate questions can lead to rebellion. Many of those deconstructing their faith complain that their questions were ineffectively answered. Some complain they simply weren’t allowed to ask questions when they didn’t understand. Belief entails some level of understanding. While there are still mysteries within Christianity‚ faith isn’t irrational‚ and there’s much about Christianity that can be studied and explained. “God said it; I believe it; that settles it” fits well on a bumper sticker‚ but it fails as a theological method. As Anderson observes‚ “No confidence that is commanded can be genuine” (55). If Christianity is true‚ then it can provide honest answers to honest questions. It must. Doctrinal Doubts Anderson wrote Called into Questions to encourage Christians to become better questioners. This requires inculcating a love for the truth that won’t accept easy answers. “If people are not formed to love the truth for its own sake‚” he writes‚ “they will eventually turn against it for the sake of convenience‚ comfort‚ or respectability” (90). This explains why so many young believers leave the church when they leave their homes. It’s why a 2022 survey on the state of theology shows self-professed evangelicals abandoning orthodox Christian doctrine and ethics at an alarming rate. Truth has been treated like a weapon or something that must be protected from scrutiny. Orthodoxy is fierce and electric. Far from protecting it‚ we should be examining it‚ pushing on it‚ and allowing it to push back on us. Anderson is provocative on this point: “There is not much point to keeping orthodoxy alive for its own sake. The more pressing problem is how our orthodoxy can animate our life as Christians by enabling us to creatively embody the teachings that have been delivered to the church once and for all” (124). Orthodoxy is fierce and electric. Far from protecting it‚ we should be examining it‚ pushing on it‚ and allowing it to push back on us. Truth is meaningless unless it’s embodied. Ideas do have consequences‚ and good ideas should result in right living. But we have to understand the ideas first‚ and that entails asking good questions. Though questions can be dangerous‚ they sharpen our faith. When listeners ask questions about a sermon‚ it turns our attention from the preacher to the text itself. A community that can openly ask questions builds trust and undermines abusive behavior. It requires pastors and other church leaders to justify their teaching and their actions from the text of Scripture. Pursue Virtue Becoming a better questioner involves becoming a better person—someone more interested in things outside yourself. In a world where self-confidence is often seen as a supreme virtue‚ Anderson contends‚ “The most courageous form of questioning happens when we question ourselves” (171). This is what differentiates Anderson’s questioning from the acid of skepticism. He enables doubts but pushes readers to doubt their doubts. Furthermore‚ he pushes against the mode of perpetually questioning without seeking an answer. The purpose of questioning is the pursuit of truth with a resolution in a final understanding. “Sometimes‚” Anderson argues‚ “that means sharp lines‚ sharp critiques‚ sharp disagreements‚ and sharp questions” (150). The vision offered in this book is compelling‚ but Anderson offers little in the way of practical help to “learn to live interrogatively” (18). Called into Questions is a significant revision of his earlier book The End of Our Exploring. There’s a clear genetic connection between the two books‚ but there are also obvious signs of growth and deepening. I had hoped the newer version would provide more handholds for readers—especially those outside formal academic communities—to learn to question better. It doesn’t. As anyone who has attempted to write a Socratic dialogue knows (except‚ perhaps‚ Peter Kreeft)‚ it’s a hard thing to put together a series of cogent questions that move toward a real answer. Anderson acknowledges the difficulty of questioning well and lays a solid foundation for those who want to do so‚ but an appendix with practical suggestions for how a group of friends could grow in their questioning ability would have enriched the volume. Though this book doesn’t provide all the answers‚ Anderson plants the seeds of longing for a better posture toward the faith—one that asks healthy questions‚ which is at least a beginning. And don’t you think that’s a good thing?

Throughout high school and college‚ I read all the books on dating and pursuing marriage that lined the Christian bookstore shelves. Due to experiences among my family members‚ I was nervous about finding the right person to spend my life with. I was determined to make sure a man checked every box before I even considered him a potentially worthy husband. What I didn’t consider‚ however‚ was that I could be too picky. I blurred the line between setting the bar high in search of a worthy spouse and following unrealistic (often culture-driven) expectations. Over time‚ I acquired quite the list of attributes in a husband that I prayed for in great detail. Husband ‘Formula’ Certainly the Bible explicitly labels some qualities as requirements—marriage is designed to be between a man and a woman (Gen. 2:24)‚ and believers should only marry other believers who live by their profession (2 Cor. 6:14). Aside from these two necessities for a God-honoring marriage‚ though‚ God gives us freedom to choose the person we spend our life with. While the stacks of books and articles about the traits you should look for in a godly spouse are helpful and worthwhile guides for making a wise lifelong decision‚ I began to fixate on the “formula” rather than on God’s leading in my life. I began to fixate on the ‘formula’ rather than on God’s leading in my life. The problem manifested when I subtly began considering additional preferences as necessities. It’s not inherently wrong to have preferences for certain qualities in a spouse. But when we turn what isn’t a distinct biblical guideline into a must-have—into an idol—we’re in the danger zone. I fell prey to creating a character in my mind who was the type of person I thought I wanted to marry—and he didn’t exist. Perfectionism to Pessimism I was oblivious to my unreasonable standards until I listened to Tim Keller’s marriage sermon series. The material from those sermons was eventually compiled into his book The Meaning of Marriage‚ where he addresses the widespread cultural problem of looking for our idea of near perfection in a potential spouse. “Both men and women today see marriage not as a way of creating character and community but as a way to reach personal life goals‚” he wrote. “They are looking for a marriage partner who will ‘fulfill their emotional‚ sexual‚ and spiritual desires.’ And that creates an extreme idealism that in turn leads to a deep pessimism that you will ever find the right person to marry.” Even as believers‚ we can fall into this trap that our culture conditions us to pursue. Pessimism begins to creep in‚ which I witnessed in college as crude jokes toward the opposite sex and claims of lifelong celibacy (some joking to hide their rising despair‚ others dead serious). Selfish Desire for a Perfect Spouse When God brought the man who’s now my husband into my life‚ I felt both compelled to get to know him and also disillusioned. Apart from the true fundamentals‚ like being a man of faith who lives it out‚ he didn’t possess all those additional skills or attributes I thought I had to have in a life partner. The Holy Spirit and my community helped me to recognize that those other attributes were merely ideals. They were qualities I thought would boost my self-image and fulfill me. I was in pursuit of a man who would make me look good to the world and feel better about myself. Ultimately‚ I sought completion in another fallen human being. In this mindset‚ there’s little room for the true design of marriage—walking with our spouses through the peaks and valleys of life‚ helping each other to become more and more like God as we journey toward heaven together. Better Desires As God continued to teach me‚ he began to give my heart new desires—better desires (Ps. 37:4). Coming to terms with the fact that my husband wouldn’t ultimately satisfy the gnawing craving in my soul to be known and fulfilled at first felt flattening. But over time‚ it became liberating. I began to understand it as an invitation to freely love my spouse without being threatened by his imperfections‚ and an invitation to stir richer affections and hopes in my heart for an astonishingly satisfying life with no end in heaven. Today‚ I’m sobered‚ humbled‚ and grateful that God didn’t give me some of the things I prayed so earnestly for in a husband. Today‚ I’m chilled to the core‚ humbled‚ and grateful that God didn’t give me some of the things I prayed so earnestly for in a husband. Even more astonishing is that he gave me wonderful things I never even thought to ask for. In his wisdom and kindness‚ God gave me a husband who’s different from the man I imagined I’d marry‚ but overwhelmingly better for me in every way. Our strengths and weaknesses differ‚ helping us become better as one than we were as individuals. Single friends who desire to be married‚ consider and pray over those qualities you’re eager for in a spouse. There’s nothing wrong with hoping for certain characteristics or interests. But also pray for your heart to be receptive to God’s good plan for you. Ask him to reveal and change any unrealistic or unhealthy expectations. Pray with the psalmist‚ “Make me to know your ways‚ O LORD; teach me your paths” (Ps. 25:4). Pray that God would be the treasure of your heart. If marriage is designed to be an earthly shadow of a heavenly reality‚ then our expectations must adjust accordingly. Shadows and silhouettes are their own art form‚ but they’re nothing compared to a vivid‚ colorful image with sharp detail. We wait for our shadows to be filled in with life untouched by evil and decay at the dawn of eternity—at the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:6–9).

'You almost ran me over'

'Something coming from Washington'

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'That’s not families looking for a better life. This is human trafficking in real time'