Gary uses a recent trip to a pizza restaurant (two actually) to teach a lesson about free-market economics. The call for government intervention into market pricing is ancient. This call was resisted politically in the West until the decade before World War I began. After that war ended in 1918, the West saw the triumph of the isms: Communism, Fascism, National Socialism, Fabianism, and the smalle [...]
Gary discusses some of the logical consequences of the craziness being espoused by certain people lately. What people often object to is the legislation of morality that affects them personally. Some women want abortion to be legal so they can choose the procedure if a birth control device fails. They object to any legislation that would make abortion illegal and infringe on their personal choices [...]
Politicians constantly boast about how they are helping people. Gary disagrees. The only functions allowed to the state by the Bible are defense of its people and punishment of criminals. To go a step beyond this is forbidden. Biblical law works to prevent power being concentrated in any one institution, by creating and sanctioning many institutions—family, church, community, voluntary association [...]
Gary discusses ICE, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. He explains when and why it began and what its jurisdiction and purpose is. Noah Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language (1828) establishes the proper definition of the word “right”: “Conformity to the will of God or to his law, the perfect standard of truth and justice. In the literal sense, right is a straight line [...]
In the Foreword to Tony Campolo’s book Red Letter Christians, Jim Wallis tells a story about a secular Jewish country-music songwriter and disk jockey who told him that a new social movement was being birthed as a result of Wallis’ God’s Politics and other “social conscience” books. Here’s how Wallis tells it: “I love your stuff and have been following your book tour.” Then he told me he believed [...]
Recently, I received an email from a woman who asked whether I could direct her to sources that refute Gnosticism. She wrote that a friend of hers “claims to be on an extraordinarily intense spiritual ‘pilgrimage’ of ‘really pressing in to know God intimately’—but this guy has in effect divorced himself from the material world and from all relationships (including his wife and 10 children) which h [...]
Some (too many) Christians advocate a form of factual neutrality, under which some subjects—science, geography, politics, mathematics—can be taught without regard to religion, since “facts speak for themselves.” This is most evident in education, where a self-conscious sacred-secular divide is maintained and supported by Christians. Ninety percent of Christian parents send their children to govern [...]
According to a radio editorial some years ago, “a man’s religion and the strength of his conviction are his own personal matter” and therefore “religion should not interfere with politics.”[1] Regrettably, many churches during Hitler’s rise to power accepted the argument that religion and morality should be separated from politics based on the neutrality claim. “Religion was a private matter,” his [...]
Gary weighs in on Pastor Loran Livingston’s claim that Earth is not his home, as well as his own thoughts about adding extra material to printed Bibles. The form of civil government the Founders developed was decentralized and specifically designed to limit political power. As Thomas Jefferson stated in the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, “In questions of power, let no more be heard of confide [...]
What are some of the worldview concepts that Christians have failed to beat, and what steps must be taken to beat them and offer alternatives? 1. Failure to Identify and Challenge an Opponent’s Presuppositions and Their Intended or Unintended Consequences. “What’s it going to cost?” is the first thing a savvy shopper asks when purchasing an item, not only in the purchase price of a car or a house, [...]
Please consider a year-end donation to American Vision to keep us going strong in 2026! The late Otto Scott, a former journalist, editor, historian, and author of ten books and numerous articles, was attracted to the gospel accounts of Jesus’ life because they didn’t agree on every point. Scott recounts how he became a Christian after reading the gospels and their differences: Well, my wife was Ch [...]
Listen to Gary’s year-end podcast for 2025 Please consider a year-end donation to American Vision to keep us going strong in 2026! In 2023, the infamous Three Questions Letter controversy became a significant factor in my life and American Vision’s ministry work. I refused to answer questions because they did not include attached Scripture passages. Because of my refusal, Andrew Sandlin post [...]
Gary discusses the classic Christmas film, Miracle on 34th Street and many instances of how this film presents opportunities for thinking through worldviews and Christian apologetics. Most evangelicals tend to think in “words.” This is certainly understandable because of the Protestant focus on the Bible as the sole authority (sola Scriptura) and the Lutheran concept of the “priesthood of all beli [...]
Many people get bent out of shape when they see ‘Xmas’ or ‘X-Mas.’ (Don’t get me started on “ ‘Christmas’ Trees”). Critics think it’s a way of removing Jesus Christ from Christmas. Removing Christ from Christmas happens in many direct ways, but X-Mas is not one of them. “Every year you see the signs and the bumper stickers saying, ‘Put Christ back into Christmas’ as a response to this substitution [...]
Gary revisits one of his favorite topics: movies! Rick Welch invited Gary back to his Burros of Berea podcast a few weeks ago to discuss more Christmas films. Many Christians seem to believe that thinking is an act of unbelief. They do not even begin to understand how the Bible might apply, for example, to science, economics, politics, law, or education. They might have opinions about these topics [...]
Frequently, around Christmas time, we are treated to yet another (often just a repeat of previous “findings”) naturalistic explanation of the biblical “Star of Bethlehem.” Natural explanations of biblical phenomena can sometimes have their place, but they can also be diversions—for unbelievers and believers alike. A far better approach for believers is to know and receive the deep, rich biblical m [...]
Gary continues speaking with Rick Welch of The Burros of Berea podcast about Christmas movies. These movies are not necessarily “Christian” in the sense that many modern Christians tend to think about such things. While they may lack a comprehensive Gospel message that leads viewers to the Cross, that misses the point of what makes something Christian or non-Christian. Christians should be able to [...]
William Ochoa is a pastor in Guatemala and joins Gary on the podcast today. William has been using Gary’s and American Vision’s materials to minister and train pastors in Guatemala. Developing a biblical worldview can never be separated from Jesus’ saving work. If men and women do not turn to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, they will turn to themselves, to another individual, an idea, [...]
Gary discusses education and how children are being taught today compared to 50 years ago. If we follow modern histories of education in the time leading up to and following the Reformation, science took a back seat to progress. The main line of argument is that the study of science was antithetical to the study of the Bible. Of course, this is contrary to the facts of history. Most of the finest [...]
Is it a crime to steal from your neighbor? It is. Is it a crime for a group of neighbors to steal from another group of neighbors for a “worthy cause”? It is. Is it a crime to elect some of your neighbors to a political position so they can take money from other neighbors to benefit other neighbors? No, but it should be! No one’s income should be taxed. Many people will ask, “How will we pay for e [...]
