Abraham's Journey
By Charlie Johnston When St. John Paul II died my father, then a Protestant Pentecostal Pastor, cried. When I asked him why it affected him so deeply, he told me that, from his perspective, John Paul had climbed up onto the cross with Jesus and stayed there with Him until Jesus called him home…that it […]
Read More Signs of Hope, Signs of ContradictionBy Charlie Johnston When I was running a group of Chicago-area weekly newspapers, I occasionally brought volunteers in to run polls on heated local races, under my supervision. It worked out well. The furthest we were ever off from the final result was less than 3 points. There is a bona fide science to classic […]
Read More We Were Polling Along…In the brief run-up to the American Civil war between Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration and the start of hostilities, the new president was visited by a host of “peace committees,” urging him to let the rebellious states go in peace, forming two countries from one. Lincoln believed such a peace would only be illusory, setting off […]
Read More Birthing PainsBy Charlie Johnston The feud between Pope Leo and President Trump is dominating a lot of Catholic headlines these days. Many are saying that the Pope has gone completely political and is outside of any legitimate authority he has. Others argue that faithful Catholics must do whatever the Pope says (God forbid he ever starts […]
Read More Appearance and Reality: The Triumph is on the HorizonBy Charlie Johnston A lot of people and commentators are deeply concerned the Republicans are going to blow the midterm elections. It is not an irrational concern. Wobbly Republicans have blown a lot of elections over the years. With too many Republicans in the Senate taking the “20” side of the 80-20 issue of voter […]
Read More Midterm MadnessBy Charlie Johnston Long ago I saw that, at a decisive moment, our technology would fail. I’m no Luddite. I do not regard technology as either intrinsically evil or intrinsically good. It is just a tool which, like any other tool, can be wielded by its user for either good or evil. But we withhold […]
Read More Prepare For a Great BlessingBy Charlie Johnston “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!” – Galatians 1:8 When an organization is fractured by deep divisions, I usually encourage a “Don’t spook the horses” policy for about a year. That […]
Read More Spooking the HorsesBy Charlie Johnston It was late in the War of 1812, September 13, 1814, to be exact, just over three months before the war was formally ended. The British had unleashed a brutal attack of rockets and incendiary shells on Ft. McHenry in Baltimore Harbor. American patriots were fearful that Ft. McHenry – and perhaps […]
Read More By the Dawn’s Early LightBy Charlie Johnston You can do things quickly or you can do things solidly. Rare it is that you can do both. Joe Biden and his team came into power under the shadow of a dubious election of uncertain integrity. The left immediately took the “We have the power!!!” route and started doing all manner […]
Read More An Oasis Rises Amidst the Dust StormBy Charlie Johnston I don’t think my sporadic bouts of illness have much to do with my health (though I am delighted to have most of my bodily systems booted back up after my recent bout with Covid). Rather, I think health issues are one of the leashes, prods, and canes God uses to direct […]
Read More It is Now Us in His Winnowing Fan
A Sign of Hope 