The U.S. military has a proud history of protecting the United States from our foreign enemies. Our brave men and women in uniform have courageously sacrificed "life and limb" for the cause of freedom. Over many decades, the U.S. military has been an institution the American people trusted and admired, even when our faith in other institutions was declining. In the 20th century, we led the free world in defeating Nazism and Soviet Communism.

Monday and throughout the week, we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. We honor Dr. King in part because he recognized that despite the original national sin of slavery, America is a fundamentally decent country that has brought hope, liberty and prosperity to millions of people.

A federal court has ruled in favor of Christian colleges and universities that hold biblical views on sexuality and marriage.

The Pew Research Center has done an analysis of the religious make up of the 118th Congress that was just sworn in. Pew concluded that Congress "remains largely untouched by two trends that have long marked religious life in the United States: a decades-long decline in the share of Americans who identify as Christian, and a corresponding increase in the percentage who say they have no religious affiliation."

The battle among House Republicans over the house speakership and rules governing the chamber in the new 118th Congress is over. Part of the agreement guarantees that seven specific pieces of legislation will get an up and down vote in the House of Representatives. Two of those votes will deal with abortion, which is good news.