Derek P. Gilbert co-hosts a weekly Internet talk show, P.I.D. Radio, with his wife, author Sharon K. Gilbert, and hosts A View From the Bunker, a weekly interview program.  He previously hosted The Drive, the #1-rated afternoon radio talk show in Columbia/Jefferson City, Missouri.  His published novels are Iron Dragons and The God Conspiracy.

Email Derek at derek at peeringintodarkness dot com. His website is www.derekpgilbert.com.

Ding, dong, Osama’s dead!  Americans of all ages and persuasions, rejoice!  Our long national nightmare is over!

This past Saturday, January 15, Rick Warren launched his 52-week “Daniel Plan”, billed as “God’s prescription for your health”, with a kickoff seminar at Saddleback Church that was streamed live to the world via the web. The problem with Pastor Warren’s health initiative is simple: the three experts with which he’s developed the Daniel Plan are advocates of gnostic and New Age mysticism.

Nationally syndicated columnist Nat Hentoff recently asked, “Is this still America?”  Since a U.S. District Court had just ruled that the President of the United States was now, in effect, also the nation’s Lord High Executioner, it’s a valid and vital question.

A friend at work a couple of weeks ago observed that our country started going to hell when they took God out of the classroom.  He was partly right.  America really started going to hell when they took God out of our churches.

Over 800 people were arrested this weekend past in a massive sweep of suspected pedophiles and the pimps who supply them.  Nearly 70 children were rescued, although in truth, it's hard to say how many of these damaged souls will ever recover the lives they might have had.

A report by the Associated Press last week followed a blog post at the website of Foreign Affairs, the official journal of the Council on Foreign Relations.  The emerging story is that the U.S. is “unintentionally” helping the Taliban by hiring local security and transportation contractors supplied by local warlords.  That is a load of rubbish.

The Summer of 2010 may be remembered by historians for a number of significant events: the threats and counter-threats over Iran’s nuclear program, health care “reform”, bailouts, and the public meltdown of Lindsay Lohan (just kidding).  For American Christians, though, the big events have been a pair of rallies in the shadow of the world’s largest obelisk and this weekend’s return of the self-proclaimed Steve Jobs of the Christian Coalition.

Over the last three years, syndicated radio and Fox News host Glenn Beck has morphed from a clever, funny political talk show performer into a clever, occasionally funny, and painfully sincere TV preacher who’s emerged as the de facto spokesman for America’s Christian right.

Last Wednesday, CNN released a poll showing that 68% of Americans oppose locating a Muslim cultural center close to the site of the World Trade Center. Go figure. Who'd guess that people would be a little touchy about a mosque near a site destroyed by Islamic terrorists? (Yes, I know there are questions about the official 9/11 story, but we're talking politics here, not reality.)

The question has been posed to us several times in recent weeks:  aren't you spending way too much time talking about esoteric stuff?  What's with the ghosts, UFOs, and Nephilim? Aren't these fringe topics a distraction from the gospel of Jesus Christ? Shouldn't you focus on sound Bible teaching instead of the weird stuff?  That's a valid question. The simple answer:  No.

News of the recent deaths of two U.S. Navy personnel in Afghanistan is the exclamation point on a lesson we should have learned several years ago: it's time to leave Afghanistan to the Afghans.  The United States will not win there. The Russians couldn't subdue the country after ten years of occupation with a larger force, and it's safe to say that the Russian military wasn't restrained by the same restrictive rules of engagement as our soldiers. Soldiers on the ground have complained that they're hog-tied by regulations aimed at preventing civilian casualties--rules that put them at risk.

Props to radio and TV personality Glenn Beck for speaking boldly about his faith. It takes guts to admit to believing in an invisible, omnipotent deity in this scientistic day and age.  He'd be better received if he claimed to see dead people.  Beck's message of faith, hope, and charity resonates with conservative Christians. But before we sign on as roadies for his American Revival Tour, we should stop and examine carefully the gospel according to Glenn.

When Independence Day rolls around, it's not unusual for Americans to feel a sense of pride at the unique place our nation holds on the world stage. Even with the recent economic downturn, we are, by most standards, the wealthiest and most powerful country in the history of the planet.  We Christians see this as evidence of God's blessing. Maybe it is. But what if, instead of a blessing, this unprecedented wealth and power is actually--spiritually speaking--a curse?

In a development little noticed by the American public, President Obama's subordinates have quietly let it be known that he reserves the right to have American citizens overseas assassinated.  Not imprisoned. Not spied upon without a warrant. Killed in cold blood with no oversight whatsoever.

For the record, I had a great dad.  I didn't recognize that fact until I was in my mid-20s, when I noticed that my father was starting to get smarter.  Somehow, I haven't figured out how, Dad managed to keep getting smarter until the day he went home to be with the Lord.  And the older I got, the more I realized just how much he sacrificed for his family.  I'm thankful that I had the opportunity to let him know that I knew before his time on Earth was done.

When professing Christians accuse other believers of being Communist sympathizers, Nazi collaborators, or—even worse—closet members of the ACLU, something is seriously wrong in Christendom.

As I've matured, the Forehead-Slap Moment (FSM for short) has become a regular feature of my life. I'll be reading something, listening to something, or watching something, when suddenly, without warning, neurons fire, something clicks, and SLAP!  The FSM is usually followed by the cry, "Why didn't I see that before?"

The violent response of Israeli commandos to a confrontation aboard the Turkish vessel Mavi Marmara has inserted a red-hot poker into the already angry nest of hornets that is the Middle East. As with most things in this world, however, the names and labels applied tend to obscure reality.

Conservative Christians tend to be among the most patriotic of Americans, so it's understandable that many of us at least sympathize with the tea party movement.  But in the the zeal to oppose the socialist agenda of President Obama and his allies in Congress, too many of us have turned a blind eye to an even darker agenda at work in the opposition.

Some days it feels as though the country has fallen into a spiritual mud pit. It's the best way to describe the astounding examples of discernment-free doctrine in which so many of us are content to wallow.