This week the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) marked up the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2019 (FY19). Although this bill focuses on our country’s Department of Defense, there are many pieces of the legislation that will have a huge impact back home in East Alabama. The NDAA starts by strengthening our […]

We are less than four weeks away from our June 5th primary. Those of us who follow Alabama politics have pointed to this year as being a very entertaining and interesting gubernatorial year. However, last year’s resignation by former Governor, Robert Bentley and the ascension of Kay Ivey from Lt. Governor to the Governor’s office has put […]

The entire country was thrown into a firestorm last week when hip-hop artist Kanye West came out on Twitter in support of Candace Owens, a popular YouTuber under the moniker Red Pill Black and current communications director for Turning Point USA. Kanye followed up those tweets by tweeting out his affections for our current President Donald […]

As a father of four, it is difficult to even contemplate a child’s life being cut short due to cancer or another terminal illness. As Danny Thomas, the founder of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, once stated, “no child should die in the dawn of life.” This powerful statement rang true recently when I met […]

Congressman Henry J. Hyde from Illinois served in the House of Representatives from 1975 to 2007. During his expansive career in Congress, Hyde was a strong voice for the conservative agenda. If his name sounds familiar, you may remember him for being the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee during the impeachment of President Bill […]

The Alabama Public Service Commission’s decision last week to allow Alabama Power to modify its rate system and to reduce rates for consumers a total of $337 million over the next two years is a triumph for ratepayers. Rate stability is something that Alabama Power customers have not always enjoyed. In the past four decades, […]

In regards to the disturbance caused by Kanye West’s comments on slavery, West provided clarification that I believe is much less inflammatory than the original statement. That statement seemed to mean that he believes slavery was voluntary—an ignorant, insulting comment without the clarification that followed. I found that the media at times did not include […]

War continues to ravage eastern Ukraine, where conflict erupted in April 2014, following Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the violent actions of pro-Russian separatists. Along with forcing millions of people from their homes, the ongoing conflict has also resulted in the harsh persecution of Protestant pastors and churches throughout the territories that are occupied by […]

A major evangelical website recently reviewed a new book on the rise of technology in which the review lamented the challenges Christians face when navigating the digital world led by Google, Amazon, and Facebook. It was a helpful review of what seems to be a valuable book. But there was plenty of cyberspace irony. The […]

The case of Alfie Evans, a terminally ill British infant who died several days after being taken off ventilation, has raised troubling concerns about the state’s authority to intervene in parental rights. But it also has caused some to wonder what they would have done if they were Alfie’s parents. We often aren’t prepared for […]

With elections upon us, we are being inundated with messages from politicians seeking validation from voters at the ballot box. Election season always reminds me of the discussion among the disciples at the last supper as they jockeyed among themselves to determine who was the greatest among them. Jesus saw this discussion as an opportunity […]

Tuesday, May 8, will be the 50th anniversary of the death in office of Lurleen Wallace, Alabama’s first female governor. The official portrait of Gov. Lurleen Wallace remains out of the capitol rotunda where it historically and legally was until January 2015. The mistreatment of the Lurleen Wallace portrait by the Bentley administration was a shameful example of historical […]

No one makes it through life without regrets. The split-second decision we wish we could take back, the risk we never should have taken, the people we failed to prioritize—these are the moments that open our eyes to our need for a fresh start. Unfortunately, not everyone gets a second chance. Right now, there are 22,401 adults in […]

Last week we made you aware that five of the nine seats on our State Supreme Court are up for election this year. In addition, our Court of Civil Appeals and Criminal Appeals have several members up for election. The folks who sit on these courts essentially have zero name identification. Even when polling is done soon after […]

These are positive times for many Alabamians. Our unemployment rate is at an all-time low, major manufacturers continue to locate in our state, and the national championship trophy is back in the state where it belongs. Despite the momentum, our state is certainly not free from challenges. One of the most serious issues facing Alabama […]

Imagine for a moment that while you and your family sleep, another family breaks into your home and moves into your basement in the dark of night. Once you discover them, you call the authorities to have them removed but are told that because they have established residency, it would be wrong for you to […]

It has recently been reported that several city and state governments are considering laws and ordinances to blacklist federal contractors because they wish to work on bolstering the infrastructure at the southern border, including construction of a wall. For example, the California State Senate considered legislation that would force the state to drop its investments […]

Broken sexuality has been before our eyes continuously in the form of hashtags and headlines. It’s been a steady stream of repeated revelations of sex abuse scandals. For many, their deeds of darkness have finally been brought into the light (Eph. 5:11), and there has been appropriate public outcry over many of these revelations. How […]

Even after 21 years of service as the Deputy District Attorney of DeKalb County, the most horrendous case I have ever seen is the murder of teenage child Lisa Ann Millican by Judith Ann Neelley. Shockingly, Neelley will be considered for parole next month. I am calling on all of my fellow citizens to write letters […]

The Primaries are quietly easing up on Alabama. Aside from perhaps a few local races, there doesn’t seem to be any hotly contested battles to grab the state’s attention. There are unlikely to be any Congressional changes and apparently no shake-ups in the few open state legislative seats. With an incumbent governor running for reelection, […]

Understanding the facts Less than a year after the Charlie Gard case, another terminally ill British infant is gaining international attention and raising concerns about the rights of parents in Britain. A few months after he was born in May 2016, Alfie Evans began to show signs of having a developmental disorder. Then, on December […]

Foreign control of American farmland doubled to 27.3 million acres between 2004 and 2014, the latest decade covered by United States Department of Agriculture data. This amounts to about 2 percent of American farmland overall, the value of which soared from $17.4 billion to $42.7 billion during that same period. And that’s the land we know about. The […]

In the days that followed a shooting incident at a Waffle House in Nashville, Tenn. – where a 29-year-old Illinois man is alleged to have killed four individuals and wounded several others – a familiar script played out, with the usual calls for stricter gun control laws shouted as strongly as ever. Just as familiar is […]

Agriculture is such an important industry to our great State and contributes $70.4 billion to Alabama’s economy. Congress plays an important role in supporting the farm economy through the Farm Bill. H.R. 2, the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 which just passed the House Agriculture Committee, should be on the House Floor for a […]