Paul de Vries

Op-ed Contributor

Latest

  • Godlessness Fails, Again

    Godlessness Fails, Again

    "Our experiment of godless society has failed. We have tried to run our government by godless policies. We taught our children a godless worldview. Our biggest mistake was subjecting hundreds of millions of people to this failed experiment for so long, without recognizing or correcting its failures."

  • Hamas and Israel: Who Respects Palestinian Lives More?

    Hamas and Israel: Who Respects Palestinian Lives More?

    In the present Gaza conflict, we love all the Palestinian people and all the people of Israel at the same time. Tragically, the hate-filled policies of Hamas, the group that rules Gaza, are very destructive both to the people of Gaza (by using its own women and children as shields) and to the people of Israel (by viciously targeting its civilian population centers). In spite of some of the general media's efforts to gauze-over the Gaza realities, in this on-going mortal conflict there is no mor

  • The Great Thanksgiving Test

    The Great Thanksgiving Test

    Are you a good judge of people's character? Do you know their true personalities? Can you discern what hides in another person's heart? Do you know whom you can trust?

  • Thanksgiving: How the Holiday Is Celebrated in the Bible

    Thanksgiving: How the Holiday Is Celebrated in the Bible

    Perhaps the longest thanksgiving feast – and also the longest worship service – was the renowned dedication of the Lord's Temple built under Hebrew King Solomon's leadership.

  • In Sandy's Wake: Biblical Perspective From a New Yorker

    In Sandy's Wake: Biblical Perspective From a New Yorker

    God has three responses to Job's pleas, and each of these storm speeches of the Sovereign Lord are intensely relevant to us all in our present whirlwinds, our physical or spiritual storms. These pronouncements from the Lord are not soft "pastoral" responses; instead, they elevate our understanding and give significance to our sufferings.

  • Marriage Miracle…and Madness

    Marriage Miracle…and Madness

    Marriage is a miracle. With all the disappointments, distractions and dysfunctions in our sexualized world, to sustain a faithful, vibrant marriage truly takes a divine miracle every day – both to sustain our vital personal commitment and desire and to make the complex relationship of marriage work.

  • Aren't We Really All Pro-Life?

    Aren't We Really All Pro-Life?

    Very seriously, we adults make precarious life and death decisions every day. It is not only in those moments of major medical crises that we consider life and death. We consider the death-related decisions every time we eat, climb stairs, hear a good sermon, choose to ride with a friend, read the front page story of violent crimes, check the obituaries, watch the news from a war-front, or just cross the street.

  • God and Election Day: Why Pray If You Can Worry?

    God and Election Day: Why Pray If You Can Worry?

    Although he was not educated, my father was wise. He never finished the 10th grade, yet he put together and constantly used a serious personal library for Bible-study and guidance in the Christian life. He also loved to give testimony to the redeeming work of the Lord in his and others' lives.

  • Religious Oppression Wears Camouflage

    Religious Oppression Wears Camouflage

    Some years ago I did illegal missionary work in Eastern Europe, behind the totalitarian communist "iron curtain," in East Berlin and in Rumania. Officially, the atheist, communist governments of Eastern Europe (generally from 1945-1990) all supported religious liberty. In one church where I visited, thousands met often for 3-4 hours, without working toilets. To survive, churches had to maneuver their way around or through these and other absurd restrictions and restraints.

  • Remembering 9/11: Extraordinary Stories From the Sidelines

    As many as 30,000 people who "should have been" in the WTC that morning did not come – detained by a whole host of unusual factors.