Rev. Mark H. Creech
Truth for Our Times: A Weekly Commentary on Faith, Culture, and the Public Square
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By Rev. Mark H. Creech
January 26, 2026

Today, when foundational truths are being steadily eroded – truths about marriage, moral restraint, personal responsibility, and even the sanctity of worship itself. This week’s Truth for Our Times addresses these challenges from three different angles, but with one unifying concern: what happens when society abandons God-ordained boundaries and replaces them with self-authorizing morality.

Each of the featured articles below confronts a different arena – law, culture, and worship – yet together they ask the same sobering question: What restrains human behavior when reverence for God and respect for covenantal commitments are cast aside?

Why North Carolina Still Protects Marriage

By Dr. Mark Creech

National media attention has recently turned to North Carolina due to a civil lawsuit involving former U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema and our state’s long-standing alienation-of-affection law. While many Americans are unfamiliar with this statute, it reflects something deeply countercultural today: a legal recognition that marriage is not disposable – and that those who intentionally intrude upon it may be held accountable.

From the Wilderness to the Threshold of Reform

By Dr. Mark Creech

For more than twenty-five years, those warning about alcohol’s social and health consequences often felt like voices crying in the wilderness. That season may finally be ending. Drawing on decades of policy work, emerging public health data, and powerful cultural shifts – especially among younger generations – this article argues that America is approaching a genuine turning point in alcohol use.

When Zeal Becomes Persecution

By Dr. Mark Creech

This biblical reflection examines a recent incident in which protesters interrupted a Sunday worship service in St. Paul, Minnesota, celebrating the disruption as righteous resistance. Drawing from the example of Saul of Tarsus and the piercing warnings of Psalm 76, the article exposes the danger of self-authorizing zeal that invades sacred space under the guise of virtue. True righteousness does not coerce, intimidate, or profane what God has declared holy.

Across law, culture, and worship, one truth remains constant: when restraint is lost, damage follows – to families, communities, and souls. God’s boundaries are not arbitrary restrictions; they are protections rooted in love, justice, and mercy. In a time when those boundaries are increasingly scorned, the Church must speak with clarity, conviction, and humility.

Thank you for reading, sharing, and standing for God’s truth in a confused age.

God Bless,

Rev. Mark Creech
Director of Government Relations
Return America
RevMarkCreech.org

_________________________________________

If you’ve found this week’s insights helpful, would you prayerfully consider forwarding this email to a friend, pastor, or family member? Everything here is free of charge, rooted in a solid Christian worldview, and meant to equip believers to think and act biblically about the issues of our day. Your sharing helps multiply the impact of these messages far beyond what I could reach alone – at no cost, but of priceless eternal value. Thank you for helping spread the Gospel truth!

© Rev. Mark H. Creech

 

The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
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Rev. Mark H. Creech

Rev. Mark H. Creech served as Executive Director of the Christian Action League of North Carolina for twenty-five years. Before leading that ministry, he spent two decades in pastoral service, shepherding five Southern Baptist churches across North Carolina and one Independent Baptist congregation in upstate New York. He now serves as Director of Government Relations for Return America.

A seasoned voice for Christian values in the public square and a registered lobbyist in the North Carolina General Assembly, Rev. Creech is also a respected speaker and writer. His editorials have appeared not only on RenewAmerica.com, The Christian Post, and other online platforms, but also in most major daily newspapers throughout North Carolina.

Whether in the pulpit, the halls of government, or the media, his mission has remained steadfast – to call the Church and the nation to redemption and righteousness.

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