The Kingdom Come

Justin Taylor discusses the sanctity of human life and why pastors cannot ignore this important doctrine.

Paul Miller discusses the importance of prayer in the life of the pastor. He explains that we pray not out of discipline, but out of desperation.

Bonnie Ware, an Australian nurse who provides palliative care for dying patients, has recorded their most common regrets. One of the top ones is "I wish I hadn't worked so hard." What would your biggest regret be if this was your last day of life?

Mexico's drug cartels have diversified beyond their traditional business peddling cocaine, heroin and marijuana with methamphetamine "super labs," MSNBC reports. Methamphetamine prices are falling and the purity level of seizures is rising, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency. Meth lab seizures have increased from 22 in 2006 to 206 last year. "All of these drug trafficking groups, they are not in the business of drugs, they are in the business of making money," said DEA Special Agent Gary Boggs. "So regardless of what the drug is, if there is a market for it they are going to try ways of making money out of it."

Despite having three degrees -- a B.A. in political science from Penn State, an M.B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh and a J.D. from Dickinson School of Law -- Rick Santorum told a Florida audience last week that colleges indoctrinate students for the left and he discouraged them from donating to higher education. "I'll bet you there are people in this room who give money to colleges and universities who are undermining the very principles of our country every single day by indoctrinating kids with left-wing ideology," he said. "And you continue to give to these colleges and universities. Let me have a suggestion: Stop it."

Martin Klingst: Lately it seems that not a day goes by without a Republican presidential candidate portraying Europe as a socialist nightmare. Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum paint a picture of the Old World as unfree, strangulated by bureaucratic and inefficient welfare systems, and unable to reform and modernize. To these Republicans, Europe seems to be the antipode to everything America is meant to be. ... But when Romney, Gingrich and Santorum warn about "socialist Europe," they sound as though they are talking about the Soviet empire, which vanished long ago.

At a spot on Hollywood Boulevard where costumed character regularly pose for tourist photos and aggressively seek tips, a woman dressed as Catwoman allegedly pepper sprayed a man dressed as Ozzy Osbourne Thursday night. "He was bothering her," said Captain America. "Annoying, saying nasty things."

An Alabama state senator said keeping teacher salaries low is "a biblical principle." Sen. Shadrack McGill (R) said at a prayer breakfast in Fort Payne, "It's a Biblical principle. If you double a teacher's pay scale, you'll attract people who aren't called to teach. ... [T]hese teachers that are called to teach, regardless of the pay scale, they would teach. It's just in them to do. It's the ability that God give 'em. And there are also some teachers, it wouldn't matter how much you would pay them, they would still perform to the same capacity."

Will Bunch: On Sunday, America celebrates the 100th birthday of Ronald Reagan, whose presidency is a touchstone for the modern conservative movement. In 2011, it is virtually impossible for a major Republican politician to succeed without citing Reagan as a role model. But much of what today's voters think they know about the 40th president is more myth than reality, misconceptions resulting from the passage of time or from calculated attempts to rebuild or remake Reagan's legacy. So, what are we getting wrong about the Gipper?

Caucuses take place today in Nevada, the first presidential nomination contest in the western U.S. Around 50,000 people are vote in a vote limited to registered Republicans. Caucuses are held at 125 locations at different times throughout the day until 7 p.m. Pacific. Polls show Mitt Romney with a big lead and Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum likely competing for second place.

Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White (R) was convicted Friday of six felony counts including perjury, theft and voter fraud and will be removed from office. White, 42, faced seven counts related to accusations he lied about his home address while serving on a town council so he could retain a $1,000-a-month stipend. White claimed to be living in his ex-wife's basement, but documents showed he lived outside the district with his fiancee.

Actor Ben Gazzara, known for films such as Anatomy of a Murder and The Big Lebowski and theater roles including Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, died of pancreatic cancer Friday at a Manhattan hospital. He was 81. The New Yorker died Friday at Bellevue Hospital Center with family at his side, according to his attorney Jay Julien.

Ann Romney's father, Edward Davies, was a NASA engineer who was reportedly an atheist and opponent of organized religion even as his children all converted to Mitt Romney's Mormon religion. But after he died Romney had his father-in-law baptized posthumously in the Mormon faith. On his HBO show, Real Time host Bill Maher donned a wizard's hat and waved a wand over a photo of Davies, pronouncing him unbaptized. "By the power granted to me by the Blair Witch, I call upon the Mormon spirits to leave your body the fuck alone," Maher said.