Christian Living Archives - Page 3 of 53

October 26, 2023October 25, 2023

Is Moderate Drinking Good for You?

Have you seen media reports claiming that alcohol is good for you? It turns out that the studies that led to those headlines were severely distorted by poor sampling. Those studies linked all nondrinkers together and called them all “abstainers.” Some of them were recovered alcoholics who had quit drinking. Others were non-drinking substance abusers or those suffering from chronic illnesses. Meanwhile, the “moderate drinkers” in the study could include those who ate healthy and exercised. More balanced modern studies answer “Is moderate drinking good for you?” with a “NO!”

Based on more non-biased studies, by 2022, the World Heart Federation stated that alcohol did not protect people from cardiovascular diseases. The World Health Organization (WHO) has now stated that any amount of alcohol is dangerous. U.S. and Canadian authorities have lowered their definitions of “moderate-risk drinking.” A growing body of research says that any amount of alcohol raises the chance of premature death from various causes. Here is what is now known:

Half of all cases of liver disease are attributed to drinking.

Alcohol is a potent carcinogen because it breaks down in the body to form a compound called acetaldehyde, which damages DNA.

Fifteen percent of breast cancers are linked to alcohol.

In Europe, 50% of all cancers linked to alcohol are caused by “light” or “moderate” consumption.

The distressing thing about this is that young people are bombarded with messages and music glamorizing drinking. Television shows encourage drinking by showing a glamorous picture of people drinking alcohol. The health damage and risks from alcohol consumption are not presented to young people in any educationally sound manner.

Biblical teaching tells us that the body is the temple of God’s Spirit and must be cared for and protected (1 Corinthians 3:16). The Church should lead in education, especially with teens and young adults. So far, that has not happened, and the whole basis for not drinking is frequently lost in discussions about “moderation.” Is moderate drinking good for you? No, and beyond that, “There is no safe amount that does not affect health” (WHO).

Reference: Scientific American for October 2023

September 21, 2023September 19, 2023

Social Media and Gun Violence

As an incredible number of people are being shot, we tend to blame everyone, from gun manufacturers to child abusers. We also seem to feel this is someone else’s problem until it affects our loved one and perhaps even takes their life. In July 2023, the United States Surgeon General issued a call to action about social media’s corrosive effects on children. The 25-page report warns of a “profound risk of harm” to young people who spend hours a day on their phones. Evidence shows a connection between social media and gun violence.

We must look at what our children are exposed to on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, or TikTok. Children can be seen on those sites posting photos or videos of themselves with guns and stacks of cash. Sometimes, kids call out rivals, resulting in deadly violence in schoolyards and on street corners. Desmond Patton at the University of Pennsylvania has been studying the relationship between social media and gun violence and has posted his results, which are of interest to researchers, community leaders, and police across the country.

In an August 25, 2023 post by Liz Szabo on Oona Tempest/KFF Health News, social workers have described social media “as a relentless driver of gun violence” in Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, Oakland, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Washington D.C. We urge parents, churches, and individuals working with young people to take an interest in what social media their kids are being exposed to, and how much time they spend on it.

The importance of following God’s instructions to parents cannot be over-emphasized. Being a parent or a youth worker can be exhaustive, but raising kids to be law-abiding followers of Jesus who care about others and want to improve the world is worth investing time and money.

Reference: KFF Health News

September 19, 2023September 23, 2023

Collateral Damage of Incarceration

The Does God Exist?” ministry is heavily involved in prison work. Over 5600 incarcerated men and women across the United States are taking our free apologetics courses, and additional students are using our eight Bible study courses. Those of us who grade these courses are constantly learning of the collateral damage of incarceration.

Wives, husbands, and especially children are the innocent victims of a person’s incarceration for substance abuse, alcoholism, anger mismanagement, domestic violence, and other offenses. We frequently get letters from prisoners taking our courses asking us to contact family members to see if their needs are being met for food, shelter, personal hygiene items, clothing, and medical care.

Churches in our area have begun a program called “Backpack Buddies” to help meet some of those needs. Working with police and fire agencies, these churches have purchased backpacks and filled them with things a child would need. That includes items like hair brushes and combs, toothpaste and toothbrushes, lotion, soap, deodorant, and feminine hygiene products. Other items included may be blankets, washcloths, and towels.

The Christian system teaches us to care for those in need. Visiting those in prison doesn’t mean just saying “hi.” It also involves helping those who are suffering and those who are caused to suffer by the mistakes of others. Jesus had strong words against those who offend children (See Matthew 18:1-6). I have seen the trauma involved when a child watches their mother or father be handcuffed and dragged out of the home, leaving them alone or at the mercy of people who don’t love them. Family services and shelters do what they can, but the number of those in need frequently overwhelms those agencies.

We don’t justify the destructive actions of adults in our world, but we know that Jesus would have us address the collateral damage of incarceration. “Backpack Buddies” is a great way to attempt to do that.

August 11, 2023August 10, 2023

What Jesus Looked Like

What did Jesus Christ look like? In my travels, I have seen pictures of Jesus with Asian features, caucasian features, Hispanic features, and features of people of color. We don’t know what Jesus looked like, and we really shouldn’t care. The fact that He could slip through a crowd unnoticed (Luke 4:28-30) and Judas had to use a kiss to identify him (Matthew 26:48-49) indicates that He must have looked pretty much like a typical Jewish man of His time.

The important thing about Jesus is not His appearance but His message. If you read Matthew 5, 6, and 7, you won’t see a picture of Jesus, but you will get a good look at the uniqueness and practical value of His teachings. Time magazine recently (August 24, 2023) reviewed the various cover images of Jesus they published over the years. They would have done better to publish what Jesus taught in those chapters of Matthew’s gospel. That is what our society needs today.

Read Acts 2:37-42 and notice how the people who listened to Peter’s message about Jesus responded to God’s invitation. They weren’t concerned about what Jesus looked like. They were changed by what Jesus taught and what He did. They were baptized, not as an emotional response to a speaker but to receive the gift God offered to them through Jesus.

Read Romans 6 and notice what baptism is about. It isn’t like joining a club and isn’t dependent on hearing a preacher. Baptism is a personal response to God and a change in one’s life. It is also the way to bring God’s Spirit into our feeble human existence so we can live a new life. Reading and acting on God’s Word can make an incredible difference in our lives and future.

July 31, 2023July 30, 2023

The Thinking of Hitler and Dawkins

We sometimes get nasty letters and even threats when we point out the logical consequences of atheism and naturalism. A 1953 translation of Adolph Hitler’s “Table Talk” document clearly shows the thinking of Hitler and his justification for killing millions of Jews. It sounds very much like the modern writings of celebrated atheist Richard Dawkins. Hitler’s statement is:

“Today, war is nothing but a struggle for the riches of nature. By virtue of an inherent law, these riches belong to him who conquers them… That’s in accordance with the laws of nature. By means of the struggle, the elites are continually renewed. The law of (natural) selection justifies this incessant struggle by allowing the survival of the fittest. Christianity is a rebellion against natural law, a protest against nature. Taken to its logical extreme, Christianity would mean the systematic cultivation of the human failure.”

We can further see the thinking of Hitler in a film that was shown in all German movie theaters at the time. The narration of the film says:

“Wherever fate outs us, whatever station we must occupy, only the strong will prevail in the end. Everything in the natural world that is weak for life will ineluctably be destroyed. In the last few decades, mankind has sinned terribly against the law of natural selection. We haven’t just maintained life unworthy of life, we have even allowed it to multiply! The descendants of these sick people look like this.”

Shortly after this film was released, German mental institutions began gassing to death thousands of innocent patients. In America today, we have “experts” like Peter Singer at Princeton University suggesting that we should euthanize those who are mentally ill or in prison. Richard Dawkins has written, “This is one of the hardest lessons for humans to learn. We cannot admit that things might be neither good nor evil, neither cruel nor kind, but simply callous – indifferent to all suffering, lacking all purpose.” These leaders are repeating the thinking of Hitler.

The Christian belief is that the body is the dwelling place of God’s Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16), and all humans are of infinite value (Galatians 3:26-29) because we are created in God’s image (James 3:9). Leaders in our culture today challenge that idea. If we don’t learn from past human mistakes, we are doomed to repeat them. Looking at the world today, it seems we are well on our way to repeating what happened in Germany.

Quotes from Reflections on the Existence of God by Richard Simmons pp 24-25.

July 26, 2023July 25, 2023

God Designed Singing

One of the things God has designed uniquely into humans is the ability to sing. Animals don’t sing as humans do. The song of a bird or a whale is a means of communication, but for humans, singing is a spiritual activity. God designed singing to elevate, encourage, and teach. In worship, it creates a direct connection to fellow worshipers and to God.

Singing came early in human history, with the first Bible reference to music being about Jubal in Genesis 4:21. Some 25 Hebrew words refer to different aspects of singing. Some books of the Old Testament, such as Genesis 1, the Psalms, and much of Isaiah, are songs. Isaiah 52:8-9 is a song of joy at God’s blessings. Other songs are praises to God, such as Genesis 1 and Proverbs 8. We see Paul and Silas singing at midnight in a Roman prison in Acts 16:25. That must have impressed the other prisoners who listened.

Ephesians 5:19-20 tells Christians, “Be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything.” Colossians 3:16-17 adds, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God…”

God designed singing for use in worship. Christian worship singing is not a spectator sport, but human institutions have not always supported congregational singing. Five hundred years ago, the Catholic Church decided who could sing and who couldn’t. The effect was to move worship of God away from the common people. The Reformation changed the use of music in worship.

I remember several years ago watching a broadcast of a USO show on an aircraft carrier featuring Lee Greenwood. It was during the Persian Gulf War, and soldiers were very apprehensive about where they found themselves. Greenwood sang, “I’m Proud to Be an American.” As he sang it, the soldiers were standing politely and listening. Greenwood stopped the song and asked the soldiers to sing it with him. The effect was electrifying, with tears flowing and hands joining together as they lifted their voices together in the common cause to which they were called.

When did you last join a crowd singing the National Anthem? What effect can that have on the people at an athletic event compared to when a professional sings it? Music is a great gift, but like all of God’s blessings, we can misuse it. God designed singing to unite, teach, encourage, and elevate us in worship. It can bring us closer to each other and to God if we use it as God intended.

July 4, 2023July 3, 2023

The Preamble to the Declaration of Independence

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Those words are from the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence.

“You are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26-28).

In 1938, the Fourth of July was declared a national holiday, even though only John Hancock and Charles Thompson signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776. Most of the others signed it on August 2nd of that year. However, independence from King George III and Britain required eight years of war. One has to wonder what the signers would think if they saw America today.

The two quotes at the head of this article do not contradict each other. They both state an ideal that has yet to be achieved. Denying the Creator and viewing humans as only animals existing by the survival of the fittest has generated conflict threatening the standard stated in the Preamble. Racism and misogyny violate both the Declaration and the Bible. The question is, what should be the role of Christians in a country that has veered away from the beliefs of the founding fathers?

The ancient Roman government was corrupt, immoral, violent, racist, and misogynistic. Both Rome and the Jewish establishment fought the teachings of Jesus that defied all of those violations of God’s will. The government allowed babies to be killed by just throwing them into the street and the government sanctioned prostitution. In Romans 13, the apostle Paul advises Christians living under that corrupt government to “submit to the governing authorities” (Verse 1). Paul also told Christians to pay taxes, give revenue, and give honor to governing authorities (Verses 6-7).

Now in 2023, we are facing similar problems, and Christians must not respond with violence or rebellion. We can vote and let others know of our convictions about equality for all. We can still endorse the statements of the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence. This July 4th, Independence Day, is an excellent time to reflect on past lessons from God and from our national history.

Reference: The Old Farmer’s Almanac, almanac.com

June 30, 2023June 30, 2023

A Lesson About Judging

The following poem was in the Niles, Michigan, bulletin. The author was not identified, but it has a lesson about judging for us all to think about. Read, enjoy, laugh, and think.

I was shocked, confused, bewildered
As I entered Heaven’s door,
Not by the beauty of it all,
Nor the lights of its décor.
But it was the folks in Heaven
Who made me sputter and gasp –
The thieves, the liars, the sinners
The druggies and other trash.
There stood the kid from 7th grade,
Who swiped my lunch money! Twice!
Next to him was my old neighbor
Who never said anything nice.
Herb, who I always thought
Was rotting away in hell,
Was sitting pretty on cloud nine,
Looking incredibly well.
I nudged Jesus, “What’s the deal?”
Would love to hear Your take.
How’d all these sinners get up here?
God must’ve made a mistake.”
And why’s everyone so quiet,
So somber – give me a clue.”
“Hush, child,” He said, “they’re all in shock.
No one thought they’d be seeing you.”

Where we will end up does not depend on our good works, but on Christ’s saving grace. This poem may not be theologically correct, but it has a lesson about judging for us to think about.

— John N. Clayton

June 29, 2023June 27, 2023

Denigrating Women Is Not God’s Plan

Some have attempted to use the Bible’s teachings to justify denigrating women. This ignorance was an issue in the time of Jesus, and it continues today, not just in undeveloped countries but even in America.

The problem of not carefully studying the biblical concept of women’s role goes back to Genesis 2:18-24. God created Adam as a living being with a spiritual dimension. Adam observes and names the animals, but he is still unable to live as God intended. Verse 20 says, “There was not a helper fit for him.” The Hebrew word for helper is “ezer,” which is “one who provides strength in the area where the helped one is lacking” (New World Bible Dictionary). Eve is not inferior to Adam. Adam joyfully proclaims, “This, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.”

In Matthew 19:8, Jesus refers back to Genesis 2 as He denies men the right to treat their wives as objects saying, “Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning, it was not so.” The passage in Genesis 2 refers to wife (singular), not wives plural. It is in Genesis 4:19 that man first violates God’s plan with Lamech having two wives. Lamech’s actions and denigrating women eventually led to the immorality that produced the flood of chapter 6.

The rejection of God’s plan has caused terrible treatment of women through the ages. Jesus included women in his ministry, and Luke 8:1-3 reveals they played a major role. In John 4, Jesus deals with the Samaritan woman at the well, and in verse 27, even His disciples were amazed at his treatment of this woman. Ephesians 5:25-33 tells Christian men to love their wives as their own bodies (verse 28). Galatians 3:28 tells us that in the Church, there is no male nor female, for we are all one. That was the message of Genesis 2, which is repeated in Christianity today.

Today’s world has turned away from God’s teachings, denigrating women and using them as sex objects. Men have used survival of the fittest to persecute women and keep them under economic control. Men and women each have specific roles. Only women can give birth to babies, but today many choose to abort. Men have the role of spiritual leadership, but most of them fail at that. Christ’s teachings and the Apostles’ instructions uniquely elevate women and challenge men to be what God calls them to be. As society rejects God’s teachings, women suffer the most.

June 14, 2023June 14, 2023

Gambling Epidemic in Today’s Culture

There are many causes of poverty in every culture. Some are caused by environmental issues, a lack of education, corrupt leaders, or addictions. Many Americans living in poverty today have wasted their money on lottery tickets, casinos, and sports betting. The gambling epidemic in today’s culture has expanded to the point where even children are encouraged to gamble.

Thirty-three states have legalized sports betting, and three more will be added shortly. There are virtually no restrictions on who can buy state lottery tickets. You can find get-rich-quick promotions in the media and “loot boxes” offered as prizes to players of online games available to all ages. According to the National Council on Problem Gambling, up to 80% of high school students report gambling for money in the past year.

As our culture has become more materialistic and secularism has eroded moral values, the number of people with gambling issues has increased. Some states have recognized the gambling epidemic and are enacting laws to combat it. For example, Virginia passed a law requiring schools to have classes on gambling and its addictive potential. Gambling bills have been brought before the Maryland legislature, but so far, none have passed.

The problem for all ages is that gambling is a waste of money. Christians need to set the example and help people learn how to use the resources God has given us. In 1 Timothy 6:9-10, Paul tells Timothy, “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil…” The silence of the Church on the gambling epidemic has allowed it to saturate our culture. Let us listen to Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 5:21, “Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every appearance of evil.”

Reference: Associated Press article by Wayne Perry for 6/45/23, in the South Bend Tribune on page 4A.