Christianity Archives

September 22, 2023September 19, 2023

Attacks on People of Faith

If you read news reports other than the mainstream media, you have to be disturbed by recent stories about government attacks on people of faith.

One article told the story of an August 11, 2023, police raid on a private newspaper in Marion, Kansas. This small-town newspaper had written stories about government abuse of religious freedom and the immoral actions of public officials. The justification for the police raid was that they were seeking the names of sources of information leaked to the newspaper.

A group called “Reporters Without Borders” has written several reports of violence or intimidation of news reporters who wrote articles on government actions that violated the rights of private citizens. One such story was the case of Joe Kennedy, a coach in Bremerton, Washington, who knelt at the 50-yard line and prayed silently for 10 seconds after a high school football game. Kennedy was fired because the school system had banned any prayer on school property.

Joe Kennedy did not encourage his players to participate in the prayer, and he prayed after the game was over. He sued the school system. His case went to the Supreme Court in 2022, and the court agreed with Kennedy. The fact that the school system tried to stop prayer of any kind indicates where America is headed.

Students of American democracy and the intent of the founding fathers will recognize the abuse of government attacks on people of faith. Such attacks are not limited to the government. We have had phone calls from people threatening us for what we publish on this website. Freedom of the press and religion are enshrined in the First Amendment, and as America turns away from God and freedom, Christians face attacks on their faith.

Reference: Elizabeth Colton in articles in the South Bend Tribune for August 27, 2023, page 12A, and Jeff Graham writing on September 3, 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.

September 18, 2023September 17, 2023

The Prodigal Son and Carob Pods

When reading ancient literature, there is always a danger for us to “Americanize” the meaning. An example is the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-24. Verse 16 in the King James Version says, “…he would have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat…” Some critics of the Bible have said that eating husks would not have allowed anyone to survive, not even the pigs.

This criticism is a case of assuming that the “husks” were the husks of what we call “corn” in America and which is known as “maize” in other parts of the world. First, they did not have that type of corn in Jesus’ day. When the King James Bible uses the term “corn,” it is wheat or barley. What we know as corn in America was domesticated from a wild plant in southern Mexico. However, the term “corn” is not even used in this parable.

The Greek word used in Luke 15 is “keration,” which refers to something horn-shaped. Newer translations use the term “pods.” The carob tree, native to the Middle East and the Mediterranean, develops edible seed pods shaped like horns. People use carob pods as energy-rich fodder for livestock, including pigs. Humans also eat them in dried and powdered form, sometimes as a substitute for chocolate in recipes because of their color and taste. You may find this ingredient listed as “locust bean gum” in some prepared foods. The poor also use carob pods as a food source.

The prodigal son was reduced to surviving on a poor man’s diet. The people listening to Jesus would have understood these words to demonstrate the level to which the prodigal son had fallen. His life was at rock bottom. The Father’s forgiveness and his statement “…my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost, and is found” should resonate with thinking people. The Father represents God, and His forgiveness is amazing.

References: Ferrells’ Travel Blog and Wikipedia.

September 15, 2023September 14, 2023

What Jesus Was and Is

A former top official of the Southern Baptist Convention, Russell Moore, told NPR that members of that denomination object to following the instructions of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. The complaint is that saying “love your enemies” is a “liberal talking point that doesn’t work anymore.” This attitude demonstrates more than misunderstanding who Jesus was and is, it reduces Jesus to the status of a prophet or politician, as Islam and Baha’ullah suggest.

If Jesus Christ had not been WHAT He claimed to be, He could not fulfill the purpose for which He came to Earth. He accomplished that purpose because He was God in the flesh. The Bible shows Jesus to be God in passages such as John 1:1-14. Colossians 1:16-17 leaves no doubt when it says, “For by Him were all things created that are in heaven and on earth … and in Him all things consist.” Hebrews begins by telling us that God “has in these last days spoken to us by His Son whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:1-2). Even Genesis 1:1 hints at Christ’s involvement in the creation process by using “Elohim,” the plural word for God.

In Matthew 5:43-44, when Jesus told His listeners to love their enemies, the Greek word is “agape.” That word means to consider the person to be of incredible worth and value. Jesus tells His followers to consider every human life precious because of its very nature. This flies in the face of atheists who promote “survival of the fittest” and of the Koran, which advocates war and killing as a means to convert people to the Islamic religion.

As long as people fail to understand what Jesus was and is, viewing Him as no more than a prophet or human teacher, we will continue to have war and killing – some of it in the name of religion. Only Jesus Christ offers an end to war and conflict as well as redemption because He is God.

Reference: NPR.org

September 14, 2023September 13, 2023

ASA Journal 75th Anniversary

On January 7, 1949, the first issue of the Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation was released. It was a bulletin written by scientists who believed in God and who wanted to make an academic response to the skepticism creeping into America’s secular education. The ASA is not an effort by preachers but a product of the thinking and faith of scientists who believe in God. The ASA Journal is active today, and they released volume 75 # 2 of their journal Perspectives on Science and the Christian Faith in September 2023.

The 75th-anniversary issue of the ASA Journal contains twenty-five ASA fellows and editors who tell of their work in conveying academic support for faith through science. Every issue of the ASA journal contains book reviews, but this issue has 20 reviews of books dealing with various apologetics issues.

Anyone can read the ASA Journal, but members of the American Scientific Affiliation must “have attained a bachelor’s or higher degree in a science-related discipline, or they must be philosophers, historians, Bible scholars, theologians or other professionals whose vocational activity contributes to the intersection of faith and science.” They must also give assent to the “statement of faith” (you can see this statement on www.asa3.org-ABOUT-Statement of Faith.)

It is essential to understand that this group consists of people from all denominations and belief systems who believe science supports faith in God. The scholars debate and sometimes express views that others, including your author, may disagree with. However, the organization has made a robust academic response to the growing tide of skepticism, naturalism, agnosticism, and atheism in America today.

You can get more information at www.asa3.org or 978-887-8833. Their mailing address is American Scientific Affiliation, 218 Boston St., Ste 208, Topsfield, MA 01983-2210.

September 11, 2023September 10, 2023

Life Elsewhere in the Universe

A frequent obsession of modern Americans is the question of life elsewhere in the universe. In July 2023, Defense Department employee David Grusch testified before Congress, claiming government mishandling and deliberate misrepresentations about Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) believed to be alien spacecraft. The media continues to sensationalize the idea of alien life and exaggerate the unexplained phenomena.

Alien life has no bearing on God’s existence. If there is life elsewhere in the universe, God created it. The belief that life from outer space could solve the problems of humans on Earth is unfortunate. Here are some erroneous assumptions people have recently made:

Some people claim that objects from outside our solar system, such as Oumuamua in 2017, are sent by aliens to spy on us. Scientists have found meteorites with high abundances of beryllium, lanthanum, and uranium, which don’t match alloys found on Earth. These show no signs of alien creation, and no researcher claims any of these support alien life, even though they probably came from outside our solar system.
India’s landing of a spacecraft on the south pole of the Moon was certainly a great accomplishment. However, scientists were interested in the south pole because of the possibility of frozen water there since direct sunlight does not reach that area. They did not expect to find life, and they didn’t.
Concerns about the Cassini spacecraft contaminating Saturn with Earth organisms when it crashed into that planet and the landing of Huygens on Saturn’s moon Titan are not because of aliens. Saturn’s atmosphere and the cold on Titan make it impossible for life to exist there.
Military pilot sightings of things they don’t understand can have many possible explanations, including reflections on the canopy or effects generated by military actions.

Looking for help from aliens to solve the problems we have on Earth is a waste of time and money. The solution to human struggles will not come from alien life elsewhere in the universe. We can find the solution to our struggles in the teachings of Jesus Christ who came to Earth two thousand years ago. He came from outside of space and time to show us the way, the truth, and the life.

References: Article by Eric Lagatta in USA Today and Astronomy magazine for October 2023, page 54.

September 1, 2023August 30, 2023

The Secrets to a Happy Life

Brett Petrillo has found the secrets to a happy life. Here they are:

1) Learn to laugh with others, and at yourself. – Proverbs 17:22
2) Spend some time with older people; learn from their wisdom. – Proverbs 19:20
3) Enjoy the innocence and purity of children. – Matthew 18:1-6
4) Work with all your might. – Ecclesiastes 9:10
5) Live life like you will live forever, because you will. – Ecclesiastes 3:11
6) Plan as though you will die tomorrow, because you might. – James 4:14
7) Say something encouraging to someone; be specific and genuine. – Hebrews 3:13
8) Give something away with no strings attached. – 2 Corinthians 9:7
9) Help someone in need; expect nothing in return. – Matthew 25:35-40
10) Forgive others as many times as needed. – Matthew 18:21-22
11) Ask for forgiveness; a clean conscience makes for a soft pillow. – 1 John 1:9
12) Pray often and be specific. – 1 Thessalonians 5:17
13) Count your blessings (you might lose count). – Ephesians 1:3
14) Love God, love your neighbors, and love yourself. – Matthew 22:37-39
15) Bow to the Lord; better now than later. – Philippians 2:10
16) Obey God’s commands. – Matthew 7:21-27

Our thanks to Brett for sharing the secrets to a happy life. They can make your life not only happier, but also less stressful.

Reprinted from “16 Tips to Live Happily” in House to House – Heart to Heart January 2022.

August 31, 2023August 29, 2023

Keeping Religion Out of Government

The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), operating out of Madison, Wisconsin, has advocated for keeping religion out of government. That position agrees with the teachings of Jesus Christ, who urged his followers to “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). However, atheism is a religious faith, and it too needs to be kept out of government.

When atheistic “survival of the fittest” becomes the state religion, the result is war, slavery, and genocide on a massive scale. We have seen that in Russia and other atheist countries. However, keeping religion out of government also means avoiding oppressive religious laws like those in the Middle East. Unfortunately, as the American people reject Christian principles, we see a growth of atheistic beliefs in the U.S. government.

FFRF runs ads in Scientific American and other academic journals, and a recent ad says the FFRF is determined to “keep religion out of government and social policy.” Social policy means any discussion of morality or government action with moral consequences. We see the conflict over abortion, where religious views state that all humans have exceptional worth because they are created in the image of God. At the same time, atheistic views say that humans are just animals and that destroying human life is no different from killing any other form of life.

Religious beliefs are the basis for assuming that human life has infinite value. Government policies based on atheism assume that human life has no special value and should not be sustained if doing so is too expensive. The data shows that a large percentage of medical expenses happen during the last year of life.

Government influencers suggest that when an older person requires excessive medical help, they should be euthanized to save money. Atheist ethics advocates like Peter Singer at Princeton suggest euthanizing the mentally ill who have no real chance of being cured. They also suggest that prisoners with life sentences should be put to death rather than supported by the state.

Keeping religion out of government social policy means rejecting atheistic “survival of the fittest” evolutionary theories. Like the fall of ancient Rome, the greatest danger to our country does not come from military forces on the outside but from the collapse of morality within.

August 29, 2023August 28, 2023

God’s Temple Is Sacred

“Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that God’s Spirit has His home in you? If anybody desecrates the temple of God, God will bring them to ruin, for God’s temple is sacred to Him, and that is what you are” (1 Corinthians 3:16 -17).

If you take the Bible seriously, you must understand that taking care of your body is essential to how you live. In this ministry, we have discouraged using alcohol, nicotine, marijuana, and all recreational drugs because Jesus and Bible passages like this one teach us that God’s temple is sacred.

How does God “bring to ruin” those who do not take care of their bodies? Like most actions of God, it is not by God playing Zeus and throwing a lightning bolt at an offender. God simply removes His protective hand from those who insist on desecrating His temple. When God removes His protective hand, what happens? Look at the evidence in the latest numbers from the Center for Disease Control.

In 2022, the CDC says that 109,680 Americans died of overdoses, over 60% from synthetic opioids. Marijuana use and vaping have climbed to the highest levels ever seen. In the past year, 44% of young adults used marijuana, up from 28% a decade ago. Over 10% of young adults use cannabis every day. Binge drinking for middle-aged adults hit 29% in 2022. As of 2021, 61.2 million Americans age 12 and older have used illicit drugs.

We can see the result of this abuse in the increase in emergency room visits, the rate of accidents, broken homes, and the collateral damage to families. The numbers from the National Center for Drug Abuse are staggering. It is difficult for those of us working with young people and people with mental issues to do any quantitative analysis. Suffice it to say that the number of cases coming to us is much higher than at any previous time.

Jesus said, “Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but are really greedy wolves. By their fruits, you will know them…” Matthew 7:15-16. The message of the Bible as to how we should live gives beauty and purpose to life and provides the best measure of good health. God’s temple is sacred, but even people who reject the teachings of Christ can’t deny the destructive consequences of following the teachings of modern secular prophets.

Reference: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention