As US President Trump ran for re-election last year, he promised that if elected, he would quickly release classified documents regarding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the Jeffrey Epstein documents, and all Government-held UFO footage. One of these things is not like the others. Yet, a winning presidential contender found it to his advantage to cater to the widespread desire to finally know that “we are not alone” in the universe.

Work consumes our lives. According to one study, the average person will spend one-third of their waking life at work! Thankfully, the Scriptures are not silent on this topic. There is wisdom such as “whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys” (Prov 18:9). There are commands such as “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labour, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need” (Eph 4:28).

Tolerance was once thought to be a key virtue in the Western world, though it’s never been considered an end in itself. Although the kingdom of God is neither pure autonomy nor freedom to do whatever you want, until the kingdom comes and all our disputes are settled, tolerance has served to preserve some measure of civility and has helped us get on quite well in the world. It functioned like the yellow line running down the middle of the highway. Even if you disagree with someone heading in the opposite direction, the yellow line helps you pass each other safely without the risk of a serious collision.

What comes to mind when you think of the word “citizen”? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “citizen” as "a native or naturalized person who owes allegiance to a government and is entitled to protection from it." Although almost everyone reading this article is a citizen of some country, we likely do not give much thought to our citizenship outside of the occasional moment of panic when we’ve forgotten to renew our passport before an upcoming trip across the border. Trust me, I've been there. Sadly, however, such lack of thought reveals the disengagement of our culture—including our own evangelical culture—from the important responsibility of citizenship. This needs to change.

Twenty years ago, the phrase “social media” would have meant nothing to almost everyone.   Today, however, social media—which I will define as any internet-based platform that gives users the ability to communicate publicly and share various multimedia—dominates the time and attention of billions around the world. We now live in the social media age.  In response to this new technological era, Christians have largely sorted themselves into two differing perspectives on social media use: 1) its use is a matter of wisdom, and its morality depends solely on the way it’s employed; or 2) its use inevitably leads to moral and spiritual compromise. Both stances are understandable—as they contain a kernel of truth—but both fall short of true prudence.  I propose a third stance: social media does not inevitably lead to compromise, but is designed with a built-in bias to encourage vice over virtue. To show this, I will list eight dangers of social media use, followed by three benefits. First, the dangers: