Rev. Mark H. Creech column

Rev. Mark H. Creech is Executive Director of the Christian Action League of North Carolina, Inc. He was a pastor for twenty years before taking this position, having served five different Southern Baptist churches in North Carolina and one Independent Baptist in upstate New York.

Rev. Creech is a prolific speaker and writer, and has served as a radio commentator for Christians In Action, a daily program featuring Rev. Creech's commentary on social issues from a Christian worldview.

In addition to RenewAmerica.com, his weekly editorials are featured on the Christian Action League website and Agape Press, a national Christian newswire.

Rev. Mark H. Creech

December 23, 2011

A school teacher in England tells the story of the time she supervised the construction of a manger scene in the corner of her classroom. It was all there  . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

August 3, 2011

I am still experiencing sporadic moments of jubilation and tears of joy concerning the 'Woman's Right to Know Act' becoming law in North Carolina. Governor . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

December 22, 2010

Dear Senator Burr, I want to begin by thanking you for your service to the people of North Carolina. More specifically, thank you for always being a vocal . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

April 2, 2010

News of victory is always an exciting experience, but news of a victory after news of what appears to be a loss is even better. For instance, consider the . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

January 20, 2010

There are two precious names given for God in I Peter 2:25, where Christ is referred to as the "Shepherd and Bishop of our souls." Most Christians are . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

October 14, 2009

In his book, Character and Destiny: A Nation In Search of its Soul, the late Dr. D. James Kennedy tells about a speech given by Gary Bauer at the 1994 . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

October 6, 2009

In the year 1858, the city of Philadelphia experienced a spiritual awakening that the press called "the work of God in Philadelphia." Churches of every . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

April 26, 2009

In Becoming a Contagious Christian, Bill Hybels and Mark Mittleberg tell the story of a newly promoted colonel who moved into a makeshift office during the Gulf . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

January 26, 2009

It's unfortunate, but America now has the most pro-abortion president in the nation's history. He has pledged to protect abortion rights and has wasted no time . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

January 19, 2009

For the last six months, North Carolina's Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh has been host to an exhibition of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Dead Sea Scrolls are . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

December 21, 2008

"It is supremely fitting that every man should approach the infant Jesus upon his knees." In Bethlehem, the Church of the Nativity originally built by the . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

October 14, 2008

In his book Things It Took Me 50 Years to Learn, Dave Berry once noted: "When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always one individual who perceives a . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

September 22, 2008

John F. Kennedy, in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book "Profiles in Courage," highlighted the political life of John Quincy Adams. Adams lived by the same . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

September 11, 2008

According to The Associated Press, Pastor Bernard Crabbe of the True North Community Church in Port Jefferson, New York, announced recently that an anonymous . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

August 30, 2008

Monday, September 1 is Labor Day in America. Labor Day is that special day when recognition is given to the millions who make up the nation's working force. It . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

August 26, 2008

Well-known Raleigh News & Observer columnists, Rob Christiansen not long ago noted that once North Carolina had a good name for honest government. "Not so in . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

August 16, 2008

Abraham Lincoln used to tell a story about a man who heated a piece of iron in the forge and made it into a horseshoe. He then changed his mind and decided to . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

August 7, 2008

The Christian Action League's opposition to the anti-bullying legislation (HB 1366- School Violence Prevention Act) raised a lot of raw emotions for some. . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

May 31, 2008

(OneNewsNow.com) — Some may have heard that time-worn story about a citizen who once admonished a politician that the office should seek the man and not the . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

March 28, 2008

In October of 2005, I went to visit my doctor about a matter unrelated to my weight. Nevertheless, as most physicians require, the attending nurse asked me to . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

February 12, 2008

The results of Super Tuesday are in — and despite last Saturday's primary results, it appears Arizona Senator John McCain is most likely to capture the . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

November 30, 2007

Is it possible that leaders in two North Carolina school districts — in attempting to quash a potential legal battle — have inadvertently removed from their . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

August 21, 2007

What happens when someone in broad Christian circles today begins talking boldly and unapologetically against alcohol use? Unfortunately, such is often met . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

July 26, 2007

The web site justice4jenna.org describes "an amazing and wonderful" young woman who was a "talented pianist, dancer and singer." The site's photo gallery shows . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

June 29, 2007

While attending the annual convention of the American Council on Alcohol Problems (ACAP) in September of last year, Dan Ireland, president of that organization, . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

March 22, 2007

Universal health care, or government-funded health insurance, is a major issue early on in the presidential campaign. North Carolina's former senator, John . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

March 2, 2007

Jim Black, former Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, has been an exceptional achiever. He secured a college education and a doctor of . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

January 18, 2007

Within the next three weeks, North Carolina is scheduled to execute three death-row inmates on three successive Fridays. According to Associated Press:  . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

December 21, 2006

Not since Joe Wright's prayer in 1996 before the Kansas House in Topeka, where the faithful pastor confessed America had "inverted values" and listed them by . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

December 11, 2006

Not many people are aware of it, and others may have forgotten about it, but my mother had a distinguished country music singing career back in the late 1960s . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

November 22, 2006

According to all four Gospel narratives, the people were hungry and a young boy surrendered his lunch of five loaves and two fishes. But what was that among a . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

November 5, 2006

In his book, Vital Truth: Christian Citizenship, Jeffrey L. Myers says he once heard of a church that was so removed from the political process that its members . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

October 18, 2006

According to a recent article in USA Today, there is one thing the nation's most successful CEOs have in common — they received their share of spankings as . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

October 4, 2006

Churches of the late Middle Ages are well known for embodying a Christian worldview in their architecture. No where is this better demonstrated than in the . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

September 7, 2006

Stem-cell research has been a hot-button issue for some time now. To the chagrin of pro-lifers, high-profile Hollywood celebrities have lobbied for an increase . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

August 22, 2006

Much has been said of late about the Mel Gibson saga, but little has been mentioned about the way the event pertained to beverage alcohol. James B. Butler, . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

July 25, 2006

A sheriff's dispatcher in Pender County, North Carolina, Deborah Hobbs was living with her boyfriend when Sheriff Carson Smith ordered her to marry, move out, . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

July 1, 2006

In his book "Dying to Drink," Henry Wechsler, director of the Harvard School of Public Health's College Alcohol Study, quoted a law school student: "In the . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

June 17, 2006

Abraham had gone to Egypt because of a famine. His wife Sarah was a stunningly attractive woman and Abraham was deeply concerned someone might attempt to kill . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

June 8, 2006

According to Reuters, 11 West Africans were found mummified on a yacht that authorities believe may have been drifting for months. On board their dead bodies . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

June 1, 2006

On Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI visited the Auschwitz concentration camp. According to USA Today, during the visit the Pope said: "In a place like this, words fail . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

May 23, 2006

Thursday, May 11, Senate Chaplain Mike Morris delivered the following prayer before the guests and members of the North Carolina Senate: "This morning we offer . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

May 16, 2006

This Friday, May 19, The Da Vinci Code is scheduled to debut in theatres across the nation. The book has sold more than any fictional work in U.S. history and . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

April 20, 2006

It's being hailed as the greatest archaeological find in the last 60 years. Some are saying the "Gospel of Judas," a Gnostic text that dates back to the second . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

April 12, 2006

Over the years a number of explanations have been given to explain away Jesus' walking on the water. Some have argued Jesus wasn't actually walking on the water . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

March 31, 2006

Seed Magazine is a part of Seed Media Group, which describes itself as "an emerging science media and entertainment company" that creates and distributes  . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

March 28, 2006

It was a sad day for justice in North Carolina. Instead it was an illegitimate victory for a legislature that overstepped its constitutional parameters, and for . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

March 20, 2006

Albert Einstein's name has become synonymous with genius. Einstein didn't drive a car, so he had a chauffer to take him from place to place. Once while on a . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

March 14, 2006

Last week, The Raleigh News & Observer reported that Rev. Stephen Davey, a conservative evangelical pastor and founder of Colonial Baptist Church in Cary, NC, . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

February 24, 2006

Recently, AgapePress reported that over 10,000 members of the clergy from mainline churches had signed a letter stating they rejected a literal interpretation . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

February 13, 2006

It has become a world crisis. Cartoons printed by a Danish newspaper depict the Prophet Muhammad in a way that Muslims say is blasphemous. In retaliation, . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

February 6, 2006

I first learned of America's largest family last December, from an article in USA Today. According to the story, Vladimir and Zynaida Chernenko were celebrating . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

January 12, 2006

From his sermon advocating that temptation can be good — his use of the Lord's name in vain — his addiction to pain killers — his embracing of his son's . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

December 16, 2005

The war waged against Christmas has been horrendous this year. Cities have refused to allow for public Nativity displays. Public schools have forbidden . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

December 5, 2005

Wednesday, November 30, the Supreme Court of Hawaii overturned the manslaughter conviction of Tayshea Aiwohi. The 32-year-old woman had been previously found . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

November 29, 2005

(AgapePress) — Along the shoreline of North Carolina, from Bald Head Island in the south to Currituck in the north, lighthouses are beacons of hope and life to . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

November 22, 2005

(AgapePress) — Last week, North Carolina former state Supreme Court chief justice, Burley Mitchell, said the war on drugs in the Tar Heel State and the nation . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

November 17, 2005

The news media reported it widely. On a recent broadcast of the Christian Broadcasting Network's 700 Club, Pat Robertson strongly rebuked the citizenry of Dover . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

November 8, 2005

(AgapePress) — Last month, during a speech given at the annual Iftar dinner at the White House (Washington's recognition marking the end of Ramadan), Secretary . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

November 2, 2005

(AgapePress) — Last week, civil rights icon Rosa Parks died at her home in Detroit, Michigan, at the age of 92. Parks was best known for her refusal to . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

October 24, 2005

(AgapePress) — A recent report from The Barna Group revealed most Americans believe themselves to be Christians, but few base their moral decisions on the Bible . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

October 19, 2005

(AgapePress) — A two-foot snowfall in Los Angeles — a severe drought this summer in the Midwest that dropped water levels in the Missouri River to their lowest . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

October 5, 2005

(AgapePress) — It's incredibly moving. Each time I hear it, tears well up in my eyes. I'm talking about Red Skelton's rendition of the Pledge of Allegiance. On . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

September 12, 2005

Three weeks ago, Senate leaders in Raleigh were unable to muster enough votes to pass a state-run lottery. After a marathon twenty-and-a-half-hour session, . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

August 24, 2005

(AgapePress) — Not since former President Bill Clinton said, "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is," have I witnessed such a demonstration of . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

August 1, 2005

(AgapePress) — "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." It's the third of God's Ten Commandments and Bill Grantlin, a retired insurance . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

July 5, 2005

(AgapePress) — I don't know who first coined the term "social gospel." But it's generally understood among conservative evangelicals to be an American . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

June 27, 2005

(AgapePress) — Joseph Addison in The Guardian once said, "There is no virtue so truly great and godlike as justice." But today the great question is: How is . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

June 20, 2005

(AgapePress) — Most people don't usually think of the Bible as a wicked document. But that's exactly what people thought of the 1631 edition of the King James . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

June 13, 2005

(AgapePress) — The city of Durham, North Carolina, has seen something of a revival of racism as of late. On Wednesday, May 25, three large burning crosses were . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

June 7, 2005

(AgapePress) — Recently, the nation was shocked and outraged to hear allegations that U.S. interrogators of alleged terrorists at Guantanamo Bay prison had . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

May 24, 2005

Recently, hundreds of people gathered on the Halifax Mall at the State Legislature to rally in favor of a State Constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

April 13, 2005

It was certainly one of the saddest days of my life. Lottery proponents were grinning from ear to ear, quite proud of themselves. They had pulled it off. But in . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

March 27, 2005

(AgapePress) — The business of government is to suppress evil, not to supervise it. Yet the argument often made in favor of state-operated lotteries is that the . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

March 21, 2005

(AgapePress) — A recent study by the University of Maryland School of Medicine says laughter is good for cardiovascular health. According to the School of . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

March 7, 2005

(AgapePress) — It was September 1997. Kevin Golphin, 17, and his brother Timon, 19, had robbed at gunpoint a finance company worker in Kingstree, South Carolina . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

March 1, 2005

(AgapePress) — The FDA is expected to announce any day whether it will permit over-the-counter sales of the "morning-after pill." The manufacturer, Barr . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

February 21, 2005

(AgapePress) — They were stolen-away from their homes and brought to the New World against their wills. They were not born slaves, but on their native soil had . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

February 11, 2005

(AgapePress) — Long before Dr. James Dobson started talking about bringing up boys, British Lord Robert Baden-Powell was already doing something about it. Baden . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

January 31, 2005

(AgapePress) — North Carolina's Josephus Daniels was secretary of the Navy from 1912 to 1921. During his tenure, Daniels banned alcoholic beverages aboard naval . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

January 26, 2005

(AgapePress) — In a January 11 interview in the Oval Office with editors and reporters of the Washington Times, President Bush said: "I don't see how you can be . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

January 17, 2005

(AgapePress) — Last week, a federal judge ordered a Georgia school board in Atlanta to remove stickers from its high school biology textbooks that say evolution . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

January 10, 2005

(AgapePress) — As the death toll from the Tsunami in Asia mounts to over 150,000, it raises one of the most haunting questions of mankind: If God is a loving . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

January 4, 2005

(AgapePress) — People have always said constant stress produces premature aging, but now it's official and no longer simply folk wisdom. According to a recent . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

December 22, 2004

(AgapePress) — I believe it was in the early days of Rome that the philosopher Carneades endeavored to inculcate the spirit of universal skepticism in the city. . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

December 13, 2004

(AgapePress) — There are few issues more fraught with misunderstanding today than the relationship between the U.S. Constitution and religion. Nowhere is this . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

December 6, 2004

(AgapePress) — It produces an incredible challenge for Christian activists like me, who are determined to do what we can to keep gambling interest from . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

November 29, 2004

(AgapePress) — A pastor's son and his mom had been to a shopping mall and the boy had badly misbehaved, whining for this and that, running off, etc. As they . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

November 22, 2004

(AgapePress) — Cicero once wrote, "Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but also the parent of all the others." I couldn't agree more with the great . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

November 15, 2004

(AgapePress) — You may have heard it said, "If you're standing halfway up a ladder, it's easier for someone to pull you down than for somebody to pull you up." . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

November 9, 2004

(AgapePress) — Jan N. Masaryk, a Czechoslovakian statesman of late, once declared to an American audience: "Raised in liberty, most Americans accept their . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

November 1, 2004

(AgapePress) — There are some interesting stories about various places in my home state. One such place is Bath, North Carolina. Bath is the state's oldest . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

October 25, 2004

(AgapePress) — Today America is as divided as it ever was during the Civil War. Dr. D. James Kennedy has written: "We are engaged ... in another struggle even . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

October 18, 2004

(AgapePress) — What's at stake in the war against terrorism? Philip Little, an expert on counter-terrorism, seeks to answer that question in his newest released . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

October 14, 2004

(AgapePress) — Lyn Cryderman, associate publisher for Zondervan Publishing House, says that at one of the Promise Keepers' rallies, Bill McCartney invited all . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

October 5, 2004

(AgapePress) — Last month, Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi addressed a joint meeting of Congress and delivered a message of thanks to America from the Iraqi . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

September 21, 2004

(AgapePress) — There's an old Huron Indian myth that says in ancient times, when the land was barren and the people were starving, the Great Spirit sent forth a . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

September 14, 2004

(AgapePress) — Last year, the North Carolina State Senate voted 29-21 to support a two-year moratorium on executions. The House failed to take up the measure in . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

September 8, 2004

(AgapePress) — The first night of the Republican National Convention featured a quiet, solemn tribute to the loved ones lost at Ground Zero, September 11, 2001. . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

August 23, 2004

(AgapePress) — Recently, UNC-Chapel Hill de-recognized and froze funding to the Alpha Iota Omega Christian fraternity over its refusal to sign a diversity . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

August 18, 2004

Secular humanism is that philosophy of life that emphasizes a worldview based on naturalism: the belief that the physical world is all that is real. It rejects . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

May 17, 2004

(AgapePress) — Like Moses and Aaron leading the children of Israel out of Egypt, T.C. Pinckney and Bruce Shortt want to lead Southern Baptists parents to pull . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

May 10, 2004

(AgapePress) — For more than two decades, the quest for Noah's Ark has attracted worldwide attention. Even the term "ark-eology" has been coined to describe the . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

May 3, 2004

(AgapePress) — It's been said that no other force in life is as great as that of a mother. Theodore Roosevelt put it this way: "The mother is the one supreme . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

April 28, 2004

(AgapePress) — Last week Cardinal Francis Arinze, a high-ranking Vatican official said in a news conference in Rome that Catholic pro-abortion politicians . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

April 20, 2004

(AgapePress) — Recently, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said he believes that people are born gay. In an interview for MTV viewers, Kerry declared . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

April 12, 2004

(AgapePress) — Nearly everyone understands the difference between a believer and a skeptic, but I'm not sure everyone knows the difference between an honest . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

April 5, 2004

(Agape Press) — It's not uncommon for controversial issues to be discussed in Elyse Crystall's "Literature and Cultural Diversity" class at the University of . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

March 29, 2004

(Agape Press) Two handsome strangers (angels) went to Sodom to visit their friend, Lot. No sooner had Lot and his guests finished eating supper, when there . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

March 19, 2004

(AgapePress) — Most everyone remembers the phrase made famous by James Carville: "It's the economy, stupid." In order to keep everyone "on message," Carville, a . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

March 4, 2004

(AgapePress) — You may have already heard about the ABC News poll that found most Americans believe that the Genesis creation account and the stories of Noah's . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

February 23, 2004

(AgapePress) — Not since the 1980s, when America's hottest prime-time series depicted the scheming J.R. Ewing getting gunned down by an unidentified assailant, . . .

Rev. Mark H. Creech

February 16, 2004

(AgapePress) — While on the isle of Patmos, the apostle John caught a vision of the New Jerusalem descending out of heaven. In his description of that great . . .