“A Time to Resist,” by T. M. Moore

“A Higher Law: When Christians Should Disobey,” by Charles Colson

“America’s Right to Pray: Resisting Unjust Judges,” by Charles Colson

“Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr.” by Richard John Neuhaus

“The Bible in American Public Life, 1860-2005,” by Mark A. Noll

“Birmingham 1963: Turning Point of the Civil Rights Movement,” by Tim Stafford.

For a deeper consideration of this question, order the book, A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr., by Martin Luther King, Jr., from our online store.

A conversation starter: “Christians believe that everyone is accountable to God – even civil government. Do you think that should allow them to disobey the government at times?

Americans Christians tend to take for granted our freedom to worship God as we like. In other countries, such freedoms are not acknowledged, and it can be hard going to profess faith in Jesus Christ. We have seen how brutality and violence can run amok when freedom to worship is curtailed: witness the Soviet Union for most of the 20^th century. And today we see millions of people displaced, oppressed, and even enslaved where freedom to worship God is not acknowledged by a dominant religion. We must not take this fundamental liberty for granted, but must stand firm for it as often as we can. Here are some resources that might help:

“The First Freedom: Why Religions Must Be Free, Not Tolerated,” by William L. Saunders, Jr.

“A New Order of Religious Freedom,” by Richard John Neuhaus

“Doing What’s Right: George W. Bush and Religious Freedom,” by Charles Colson

“Defending Our Right to Pray: A Not-So-Quiet Revolution,” by Charles Colson

“Let Freedom Ring: But for Whom?” by Chuck Edwards

“The Diplomacy of Religious Freedom,” by Thomas S. Barrr

For a deeper consideration of this question, order the book, God and Government, by Charles Colson, from our online store.

A conversation starter: “If, in America, we think freedom of religion is so important, why do we turn a blind eye to nations that don’t hold to this conviction? Are we being consistent as a people when we do business with nations that persecute Christians?”

Socrates reminded us that “the unexamined life is not worth living.” Sadly, many people today are living unexamined lives. They have adopted beliefs, values, and practices which they’ve never carefully considered, but which they have simply imbibed or absorbed from the surround culture, from the spirit of the times.

Many of these views and practices are false, and many of them can even be dangerous, if carried out to their logical conclusion – as Francis Schaeffer once put it so aptly in showing the folly of abortion, a deadly choice made primarily for the sake of convenience: “If the fetus gets in the way, ditch it. If the old person gets in the way, ditch it. If you get in the way…” Here are some resources to help in learn how to ask good questions of the people you encounter during the week:

“Quest for Understanding,” by T. M. Moore

“Tough Questions about God, Faith, and Life,” by Charles Colson

“Hope for Generation X: Asking the Right Questions,” by Charles Colson

“Introduction to the Book of Job,” by G. K. Chesterton

“Is That All?” by T. M. Moore

“Defending a Biblical View in School,” by Chuck Edwards

For a deeper consideration of this question, order the book, Handbook of Apologetics: Hundreds of Answers to Crucial Questions, by Peter Kreeft, from our online store.

A conversation starter: “Things are changing in the world – economies, the environment, even the role of government – and this should provoke a good many questions in our minds. How do you suppose all these changes will affect you? And is there anything you can do to make sure these changes don’t overwhelm you?”

In America we think of ourselves as being a “nation of law.” But what does that really mean? Probably most Americans think that law is a settled body of rules, norms, statutes, and protocols designed to make for a just and orderly society. There’s some truth to that, but not as much these days as there used to be. Since the beginning of the 20^th Century judges and lawyers have trumpeted a “living” law or Constitution, one much more amenable to changing interpretations, to fit the temper of the times. The same laws that America’s Founders wrote, confident they would last forever, are now being set aside, even while they remain on the books, by judicial interpretations and legal opinions. Does law have more staying power than that? Here are some resources you might consider:

“Dissing the Law: Who Governs America?” by Charles Colson

“Natural Law and the Law: An Exchange,” including Hadley Arkes and others

“The Restraint of Law,” by T. M. Moore

“Natural Law and the Constitution,: by Robert Bork

“Letters from a Birmingham Jail,” by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Whose Law is it, Anyway?” by Charles Colson

For a deeper consideration of this question, order the book, Retrieving the Natural Law, by J. Daryl Charles, from our online store.

A conversation starter: “Man, it seems like we’re drifting awfully far from the Constitution as our Founders wrote it. Does that bother you at all? Is there any way to anchor the moorings of American law a little more firmly?”

University of Cambridge physicist Stephen Hawking commented recently on the probability of there being life in space. Unlike the late Carl Sagan, however, Dr. Hawking didn’t advise us to seek contact with whatever neighbors may be out there. Some scientists, at pains to account for the origins of life on earth within a strictly materialistic universe, have speculated that life may have come to this planet from somewhere else in the universe. That doesn’t resolve the question of the origin of life; it merely pushes it further out in the cosmos. But why is the universe here, if not to bring life to planet earth? And can people really matter within such a vast and impersonal cosmos? Here are some resources to guide your thinking on these questions:

“Home Alone in the Universe,” by Fred Heeren

“Does the Expanse of Space Argue Against the Significance of Man?” by Leonard Esposito

“Eco-Aliens from Space,”by Charles Colson

“Creating Space for Moral Tales,” by Alex Wainer

“Hnau What?: C. S. Lewis on What it Means to Be a Person,” by David Neuhoser

“This Beautiful System: God’s Handiwork in Space,” by Charles Colson

For a deeper consideration of this question, order the book, Science and Evidence for Design in the Universe, by Michael Behe, from our online store.

A conversation starter: “People have wondered about the vast universe and their place in it at least since the days of King David and Psalm 8. Is there other life out there? And, if so, what difference does it make for us? And how should we regard the vast cosmos, anyway? What can we learn from it?”

“Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Agent of Change,” by Charles Colson

“A Time to Resist,” by T. M. Moore

“Intimations of Insurrection,” by Charles Colson

“Manhattan Declaration,” by Charles Colson, Robert George, and Timothy George

“Justice, Righteousness, and Faith,” by Marvin Olasky

“A New Order of Religious Freedom,” by Richard John Neuhaus

Download this free guide: Manhattan Declaration Bible Study." It's perfect for group or individual use.

For a deeper consideration of this question, order the book, God, Freedom, and Evil, by Alvin Plantiga, from our online store.