We are living in a moment when the lines between faith, freedom, and public life are being tested as never before. Decisions made in legislative halls, courtrooms, and voting booths increasingly reflect deeper moral commitments, whether acknowledged or not. For Christians, disengagement is not neutrality; it is abdication.

This week’s Truth for Our Times brings together three pieces that, taken as a whole, ask a single, pressing question: What kind of nation will we be, and what kind of people must we therefore become? From civic engagement here in North Carolina, to the quiet expansion of modern forms of bondage, to the sobering reassessment of marijuana legalization, even by its most prominent champions, each article invites reflection, discernment, and action.

Return America Hosts ‘Get to Know the Candidates’ Forum in Thomasville

For the hundreds of people who attended, the Finch auditorium in Thomasville offered a vivid reminder that faith still has a voice in public life. Organized and moderated by Dr. Ron Baity, Return America’s “Get to Know the Candidates” forum brought together pastors, candidates, officeholders, and citizens for a Christ-centered examination of leadership and civic duty.

Speakers repeatedly emphasized that political engagement is not optional for believers, drawing on Scripture to frame Christians as “watchmen on the wall” – called to remain alert, speak truth, and pray faithfully. From legislative perspectives in Raleigh to law-enforcement testimony on protecting communities, the forum underscored a consistent message: faith must come first, but it must also inform how we vote, govern, and serve.

Outlawing Slavery, Licensing Bondage

America abolished slavery in law more than 150 years ago, but have we fully understood what slavery truly is?

This essay examines how modern vice industries, alcohol, gambling, tobacco, and increasingly recreational marijuana, profit not from freedom but from dependency. While participation is labeled “voluntary,” the predictable erosion of self-government through addiction raises troubling moral questions. When the state licenses, taxes, and depends on revenues generated from human weakness, it becomes complicit in a quieter form of bondage.

True freedom, this article argues, is not the right to be exploited, but the capacity to govern oneself, and the moral resolve of a society to protect that capacity, especially in the vulnerable.

Even the New York Times Now Admits It: America Has a Marijuana Problem

When The New York Times reverses itself, the nation should take notice.

After years of championing marijuana legalization, the Times now concedes that the experiment has gone too far, fueling addiction, mental-health crises, and emergency-room overcrowding. Daily marijuana use now exceeds daily alcohol use, THC potency has skyrocketed, and the promise of widespread medical benefit is collapsing under scientific scrutiny.

This article examines the mounting evidence, from psychiatric wards to ERs to peer-reviewed studies, and asks whether North Carolina should follow a path that even legalization’s most influential advocates are beginning to regret.

The issues before us are not abstract. They touch families, churches, communities, and the moral health of our state and nation. Scripture reminds us that “when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice” – but righteousness does not happen by accident, and freedom does not sustain itself.

May these reflections sharpen our discernment, strengthen our resolve, and move us to faithful action, in prayer, in public witness, and at the ballot box.

As always, thank you for reading Truth for Our Times, and for standing where faith and truth still matter.

When State Lines Decide Life and Death

Peace: What Marching Buddhist Monks Get Wrong

Holy Terror: Protesters Desecrate Church in Anti-ICE Rampage

Churches, ministries, civic groups, and organizations are invited to prayerfully consider Rev. Mark Creech as a speaker for worship services, revival meetings, conferences, and special events. Rev. Creech is available to preach in Sunday services, lead revival gatherings, serve as an interim pastor, address missions groups and men’s or women’s ministries, speak at conferences on cultural and social issues, engage small groups on focused biblical topics, and rally believers at patriotic events or public policy gatherings. He also speaks effectively to pastors’ fellowships, Christian schools, campus ministries, prayer breakfasts, banquets, and legislative or civic assemblies. Rev. Creech delivers compelling messages rooted in a strong Christian worldview, with an unwavering commitment to the Gospel and its transformative power in the lives of individuals, churches, and nations. Endorsed by pastors, legislators, and respected Christian leaders, his preaching is known to be faithful, thought-provoking, profoundly relevant, and courageously challenging.

To inquire about scheduling Rev. Creech for your next event, please visit: https://revmarkcreech.org/booking/

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