As we celebrate a day of Thanksgiving in the United States, we are thankful to God for the blessings He gives us each day. Today, we want to share some links from the past that remind us of what Thanksgiving is all about:
We hope you will take time to thank God for His blessings as you express your love and gratitude to others who bless your life. We are thankful for our followers like you. Remember that thankfulness separates us from the animals and shows that we are created in God’s image.
Scientists and philosophers speculate on the question, “Why Is There Something Instead of Nothing?” The question is why our solar system exists and why there should be countless galaxies other than our Milky Way. Part of this question no one can answer, at least not at the present time. What is the purpose for the cosmos?
Is there intelligent life in any of the other solar systems? We can’t answer that question yet. However, if God’s purpose in creating the physical world in which we live is to advance the battle between good and evil, would He also do that in other places? Isaiah 55:8-9 challenges us to understand that God is not limited to our capacity to think and understand. In that passage, God says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways … For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Science fiction writers have created a whole industry on the assumption that the war between good and evil is ongoing and not limited to the planet on which we live.
A theologian may object to the possibility of other planets with intelligent life, saying, “So you think that Jesus died more than once and experienced more than one resurrection?” The answer to that is “no.” The biblical account is limited to planet Earth. However, many years ago, on a Larry King talk show with an atheist, a caller asked the atheist, “What would you do if a spaceship landed on the White House lawn and a little green man jumped out with a Bible in his hand and said, ‘Has Jesus been here yet?'” My atheist opponent smiled and said, “Punt.”
God may provide a different means for the battle between good and evil than what we see on planet Earth. The point is that there is a purpose for our existence and a purpose for the cosmos. God may use other places and methods to carry out that battle. On a cosmic level, the atheist has no purpose for existing.
Another point we must consider about why the universe exists is that all we see in the cosmos may simply be the result of the creation of time, space, and energy in the beginning. We now understand that the “big bang” singularity was not just a physical process. God created time and space, and matter-energy was engrained in the fabric of space. For us humans, limited to our five senses and able only to comprehend the changes in our physical world, the purpose for the cosmos is beyond our current understanding.
Recent advances in quantum mechanics have shown that time did have a beginning and that the fabric of space contains all the residual matter produced by the creation process. God was not just concerned about the scientifically ignorant population of the days of Moses and Christ. God knew that humans would eventually come to understand the creation process to such an extent that we could see evidence of God’s hand in the cosmos. As God’s ultimate creation, it makes sense that humans would seek to know the purpose for the cosmos.
We suggest that what makes humans unique and special is our spiritual makeup, being created in the image of God. Our physical qualities are of secondary importance. The whole message of the cosmos is that God is a God of incredible power, wisdom, and purpose. The universe radiates that, and the more we see of the creation, the more we understand of its Creator.
The Alzheimer’s Association reported that between 2000 and 2019, deaths from Alzheimer’s disease increased by 145%. More than six million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s, and the disease kills more people than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. One in three seniors dies with Alzheimer’s or another dementia, and in 2023, Alzheimer’s will cost the nation 345 billion dollars. Eleven million Americans provide unpaid care for people living with Alzheimer’s and other dementia.
These numbers highlight what many of us already know, that Alzheimer’s and other dementia issues are a major problem in America today. By 2050, experts predict the cost will reach the trillion-dollar figure. Medical science is making great strides to find answers for this issue, but how to care for people with Alzheimer’s is a significant problem now.
I recently read about a man whose wife was in an Alzheimer’s care unit in the advanced stage of that terrible disease. She didn’t know who she was or who he was or recognize any of her kids or friends. Despite that, this man arrived at the facility every morning to get his wife out of bed, wash her face, comb her hair, dress her, and ensure she ate breakfast. One of the nurses in the facility asked the man, “Why do you come every morning and do this? She doesn’t know who you are or understand what you have done for her. She doesn’t know that you are her husband.” The man responded, “No, she doesn’t know any of that, but I know she is my wife.”
This story is not unusual for a Christian who values marriage as a creation of God. However, I have visited Alzheimer’s care facilities where the person was deposited and rarely, if ever, visited. I know there are times when a caregiver is physically unable to meet the needs of a patient with Alzheimer’s and other dementia at home.
Any disease of nerve cells has tremendous consequences for the victim. God did not create this disease, and medical science is still searching for the cause. Those who reject Christianity or promote a “survival of the fittest” belief system will side with Dr. Peter Singer, the Decamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University, who claims that euthanasia is the only answer.
Jesus said, “By their fruits, you will know them,” and we praise those who are caring for someone wrestling with Alzheimer’s or any form of dementia. God’s blessings will be upon you. Jesus also said, “Come you who are blessed … I was sick, and you looked after me …whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:34-40).
On Saturday, November 11, U. S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe had a career-ending injury. Only six minutes into the National Women’s Soccer League Championship, Rapinoe tore her Achilles tendon, putting her out of the game. She used the occasion to express her lack of belief in God. The truth is that tragedies do not disprove God.
In the post-match press conference, Rapinoe said, “I’m not a religious person or anything, and if there was a god, like, this is proof that there isn’t.” She then went on to express her feelings in profanity. Rapinoe admitted that she was not a believer before the accident. But I would ask, what does this accident have to do with God’s existence? Tragedies do not disprove God.
When we read the book of Job, we see the tendency of people to think that when something terrible happens, it means that person has done something bad and God is punishing them. The opposite of that is believing that if something good happens to us, we must have done something good to deserve it. Both concepts are false, contrary to Biblical teaching, and illogical.
Jesus clearly said that His followers would suffer for doing good. Paul suffered for presenting the gospel message of love and hope to a world that needed to hear it. James said, “Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:2-4).
When things go wrong, people often blame God. Some turn away from God, and others turn to God. Turning away from God is turning away from hope. Seeking God in times of trouble brings hope and, as James tells us, develops patience. Tragedies do not disprove God. They have nothing to do with God’s existence, and rejecting God because of disasters provides no hope. Placing our faith in God in difficult times gives us a source of hope and comfort.
Rapinoe expressed her confused perspective when she went on to say, “Thank God I have a (expletive deleted) deep well of a sense of humor.” I believe it takes more than a sense of humor to survive the trials of life. It also takes hope. “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God (Romans 5:1-2).”
The Church struggles to stay informed and relevant on the issues and answering today’s challenges. In October 2023, the Survey Center on American Life and the Associated Press/NORC released new data revealing the attitudes and beliefs of our friends and neighbors. If the Church is going to lead people to faith in God, we need to know what they believe. Jesus knew the teachings of Judaism and the beliefs of the Romans, and we must follow His example.
Here are some results of the recent surveys:
1) 44% of Americans have “hardly any confidence” in organized religion.
2) 29% of Americans believe evolution is the best explanation for the origin of life on Earth.
3) 38% believe humans and other living things have evolved over time due to processes guided by God or a higher power.
4) 31% believe humans and other living things have evolved over time, and God or a higher power had no role in this process.
5) 12% believe humans and other living things have existed in their present form since the beginning of time.
6) 49% believe scientists generally believe the universe was created in a single, violent event, often called the “Big Bang.”
The problem with surveys is that words like “evolution” are not defined. If “Naturalism” were used instead of “evolution,” the numbers would be different. Confusing “evolution” and “creation” is another source of problems with surveys. Evolution deals with the changes in things already created. It does not attempt to explain the creation of space, time, matter/energy, or anything spiritual.
It is interesting to see surveys like these and compare them to similar ones from past years. You don’t wear a hockey uniform to play baseball, and you can’t reach people today based on what people believed in the 20th century. God’s Word does not change and is a rock-solid guide for life, but young people today are radically different from last century. Answering today’s challenges requires meeting people where they are and not depending on methods that worked in the past.
References: The American Perspectives Survey was conducted between May 16 and 24, 2023. The AP/NORC data was in The Week for October 20, 2023, on page 17.
“We live in a world that is trying to hate its way to love, spend its way to prosperity, and fight its way to peace.” – Cecil May, Faulkner University.
Can you relate to the above statement? As the world has veered away from Christianity, it has embraced religions and naturalistic philosophies, and the use of war is the only option that is being considered. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you: my peace I give you. I do not give it to you as the world does.”
Eugene Peterson writes about what the world tells us through media: “…they claim to tell us who we are and omit everything about our origin in God and our destiny in God. They talk about the world without telling us that God made it. They tell us about our bodies without telling us that they are the temples of the Holy Spirit. They instruct us in love without telling us about the God who loves us and gave Himself for us.”
Jesus Christ told all humans to love their enemies. The word for love used by Jesus was “agape,” meaning a love that considers all humans to have great worth. That means that no matter who the human is, we must cherish their nature as beings created in the image of God. The wanton killing of humans that fills our newspapers and TV screens is repulsive to any thinking person. Fighting the way to peace will not work. Any religion that advocates killing humans to advance its beliefs is an enemy of peace.
“Come all of you who are thirsty, come to the waters, and you who have no money – come and buy and eat; yes, come and buy wine and milk without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen to me and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.” – Isaiah 55:1-2
One of the great mistakes of both atheists and religionists is their attitude toward money. Money is the number one cause of divorce in America. There are well-oiled machines designed to extract money from you and me. Some religious groups feel they must beg and coerce for money to do their work. Some secularists think that being rich is the only way to happiness. The fact is that the financially wealthiest people among us have not been the happiest. Here are a few biblical warnings about money.
1) MONEY CAN’T BUY EVERYTHING. The passage from Isaiah refers to what brings real happiness and satisfaction. Having a purpose in life and knowing you are fulfilling that purpose brings incredible joy. Regardless of your attitude toward money, and no matter how much you have, all the money in the world will not help when death comes.
2) MONEY CAN BE USED FOR GOOD. Luke 16:9-13 finds Jesus telling His followers that through the proper use of money, they can make friends by improving their future, helping others find their purpose in life, and building up the Church (not a human institution) to be an agent of good. Matthew 25:34-40 shows explicitly how Christians can use money. Not only does feeding the hungry, providing water for the thirsty, clothing those who are cold, taking care of the sick, taking in those who need shelter, and helping those in prison meet the needs of hurting people, but it also brings true satisfaction to those who provide it.
3) MONEY MAKES A GOOD SERVANT BUT A BAD MASTER. First Timothy 6:10 says, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many arrows.” Notice it is not money that is evil, but the love of money. Our attitude toward money can lead us astray. Second Corinthians 9:6-8 talks about sowing generously and tells us God loves those who give cheerfully. A casino is near our meeting place, and people have come to us in tears because they lost what money they had there. We must ask, “Who or what is your master?”
It has always been a practice of the “Does God Exist?” ministry to not ask anyone for money. If God wants this work to be successful, He will fund it, and He does that through people who love Him and cheerfully wish to use the money God has provided them to support causes that make a difference.
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).
Statistical data from 2021 showed that 63% of men and 58% of women in America felt “lonely.” Our ministry receives phone calls from people who say, “I just need to talk to someone.” Because we invite questions and discussions in our printed material and online, we get communications from various lonely people. The Church can answer loneliness.
One of God’s answers to loneliness is marriage. In a Christian marriage, there is always someone to talk to, share with, and care about. I vividly remember sitting in my kitchen the night after my wife died and being overwhelmed with loneliness. In Genesis 2:18, God says, “It is not good for the man to be alone: I will make a suitable helper for him.”
I found that being with people was important to me, even though I am not a very social person. “Suitable helper” refers to filling in what man cannot do for himself. It does not imply servitude but an equal. Galatians 3:28 tells us that no matter who or what we are as Christians, “we are all one in Christ Jesus.” That is how the Church can answer loneliness.
The description of the first-century Church shows their cure for loneliness. Acts 2:42 says, “They continued steadfastly in..fellowship.” Verse 44 says, “Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common.” Verse 46 says, “Continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and singleness of heart.” The Church can answer loneliness, but driving to a building, sitting by yourself, and watching a worship service once a week does not deal with the issue of loneliness.
We do a great deal of work in prisons and nursing homes. On those rare occasions when we are allowed to go into a prison to be with inmates, we often hear that the most significant pain they experience in incarceration is loneliness. Frequently, these men and women are in prison because their drug habit started when they were in the depths of loneliness.
One of the great tragedies of nursing homes is that many folks are placed there by family and are never visited again. Recently, a blind man in a nursing home we regularly visit told me that losing sight wasn’t as bad as losing time with people he loved.
Rejecting God and His people is an invitation to loneliness. Visiting a bar or a club is a band-aid approach to fighting loneliness. We need to spend time with others of like faith and be active in the joy of serving others. Matthew 25:31-40 describes Christian activities that nonbelievers cannot comprehend, but they another way the Church can answer loneliness.
NASA released a fascinating picture showing solar system formation. The star in the picture is PDS 70, and the resolution is so good that a planet orbiting the star is clearly visible. Also visible is a disk around the planet, apparently forming several moons.
This picture shows what astronomers believe was the process that produced Jupiter and some of its moons. This is the first time astronomers have seen a solar system formation in progress. The amazing thing about this is that it is very reminiscent of the Bible’s description of the process God used to produce the Earth and the other objects in our solar system.
Genesis 1:1 uses the Hebrew word for creation (bara), which describes a process that only God can do, creating something from nothing. Modern science has now shown that time, space, and matter/energy came into existence at a point called a singularity, but can’t answer what went on before this singularity. From verse 1 through the rest of Genesis chapter 1, the word “bara” is not used until verse 21, when God created the first animal life. The term used elsewhere is “asah,” which describes changing something already created. (See verses 7, 16, and 25.) The word “bara” is used again in verse 27, when God created man and woman in his own image. Chapter 2, verse 3 summarizes what God had done by saying that He rested from all He had created (bara) and made (asah).
What we are now seeing is how material already created is crafted into a solar system. We may never know what purpose God has for these other solar systems. However, watching this solar system formation helps us understand the formation of our solar system and our unique planet. We know that our giant gas planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) are strategically placed to protect Earth from collisions by comets and other objects coming from outside our solar system.
In Psalms 8:3-4 we read, “When I consider the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him,…” We don’t see the answer to that question in the physical processes God has used and continues to use. The significance of humans and Jesus Christ’s teachings reveal God’s spiritual purposes in the creation.
