Christianity Archives

April 14, 2025April 13, 2025

Holy Week and Tax Time

Many Christians observe this week, April 13-20, 2025, as Holy Week. For Americans, it is also tax time. As we think about the teaching and sacrifice of Jesus, Christian values and paying taxes become an issue. Some suggest that since the government uses our tax money to support immoral activities, they should not pay taxes. It is true that much of our tax money goes to things that oppose the teachings of Jesus Christ. Others seem to believe they can obtain salvation by observing Holy Week. This human tradition is not commanded in the Bible, but paying taxes is, so it is interesting that Holy Week and tax time fall in the same week this year.

The Bible makes it clear that Christians are to pay taxes. Jesus said, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). Romans 13 presents civil government as having a good function. In Romans 13:6-7, we read, “It is right for you to pay taxes for civil authorities are God’s official servants faithfully devoting themselves to this very end. Pay them all that is due them. Pay your taxes and import duties gladly – respect where respect is due, and honor where honor is due.”

Realize that these statements were made during the reign of one of the most violent and immoral governments the world has ever known. The Roman government was morally corrupt, sanctioning prostitution and throwing unwanted babies into the street to die. In spite of that, Christians were instructed to pay taxes. We might compare ancient Rome to America today, but that doesn’t change the fact that law and order are because of the civil government.

On the other hand, there is no biblical command to observe Holy Week. Events like “Ash Wednesday” are not commanded in the Bible nor practiced by the apostles and the early Church. The Bible makes it clear that we are not saved by any works or observance of special days. We are saved by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and His death-conquering resurrection. We should remember that every day, especially every first day of the week, not just once a year.

Remember during this Holy Week and tax time that we are not saved by keeping special days, paying taxes, or doing anything else. We are saved only by the blood of Jesus Christ, but Jesus made it very clear in Matthew 25:31-46 that His followers would show they are saved by what they do for others. Serving the needs of others is the best way to serve the Lord and win the lost. Christians must remember that our true allegiance is to God and God’s kingdom, and no matter what happens in this life, we have something better ahead.

April 9, 2025April 8, 2025

The Persecution of Christians in Nigeria

The “Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List” says that the persecution of Christians in Nigeria is dramatic. Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world, with more Christians killed for their faith there than in all other countries combined. In northern Nigeria last Christmas, armed militants descended on Christian villages. They burned houses, farms, and churches, beheading a preacher and leaving his head in a field for church members to find the next morning. The militants killed around 200 people and drove about 20,000 Nigerians from their homes. They left half of the buildings in the village in ruins, with roofs gone, walls reduced to rubble, lives lost, and families destroyed.

In America, we have church buildings where we can worship without fear, making it hard for us to comprehend what our brothers and sisters in Nigeria are going through. Alliance Defending Freedom is assembling a group of lawyers to give legal support at no cost to targeted Christians. Their stated purpose is to “advocate at the highest levels of law and policy internationally to inspire global action, creating generational legal precedents for freedom that bring relief and justice to the persecuted.”

Satan is having a field day with the persecution of Christians in Nigeria, but Christ is providing an answer to those being attacked. Satan is also at work in America, where many Christians are affected by political action on a national level. We must pray for our brothers and sisters in Nigeria and other countries, even our own.

Reference: Open Doors World Watch List

April 8, 2025April 7, 2025

Prejudice Against Christianity

One development in recent years has been the sanctioning of every religious belief system except Christianity. For example, the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and the University of Chicago recently implemented a “Quiet Time” program in eight Chicago public schools. In one ceremony, schools required students to invoke various Hindu gods to channel their powers. In another ceremony, students were told to kneel before a photograph of a religious figure. Meanwhile, there is prejudice against Christianity.

One Christian student refused to participate in these ceremonies, and the school informed her that her refusal would negatively impact her grades, affect her graduation status, and potentially jeopardize her eligibility to continue playing on the girls’ basketball team. This student’s case went to court, and the school system can no longer implement Hindu transcendental meditation.

An older example occurred in 1995 when a veterans group called Hurley appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. They claimed that forcing them to support and endorse the “Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston” violated their Christian beliefs. Such a case today would not support the rights of a Christian group, as shown in numerous court cases.

There is an old saying: “I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to death your right to say it.” In today’s world, Christians do not have a right to say what they believe, while every other segment of American society does. Jesus taught His followers to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” No Christian is going to take up arms to force others to listen, but a prejudice against Christianity continues to cause us Christians to expect persecution that no one else in America faces.

This ministry is constantly threatened with violence if we continue this website and our efforts in prisons and the military. The prejudice against Christianity has threatened the right of Christian colleges, universities, and churches to have separate facilities for men and women. We Christians must pray for patience and freedom for our ministries.

Reference: Alliance Defending Freedom, Scottsdale, AZ, newsletter for February 2025.

April 7, 2025April 6, 2025

Life Isn’t Fair

I am sure you have noticed that life isn’t fair. When my daughter was young, she felt it was unfair for her friends to have so much in the way of clothes, cars, money, and food when we had so little. She was especially bitter when I plowed up our front yard so that we could raise enough food to make it through the winter. While her friends went to fancy restaurants, we ate at McDonald’s only on special occasions. We made applesauce with the Lodi apples from a tree we had planted in our yard and sweetened it with saccharine because my wife was diabetic. My daughter would say, “My friends buy applesauce at the grocery store, and we have to make our own. It isn’t fair!”

When my daughter was in high school, she saw her non-Christian friends driving expensive cars to school when she had to ride the school bus. The disparity in wealth has not changed, as the rich continue to get richer, often at the expense of the poor. Jesus Christ said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:13).

My daughter attended a Christian college in Texas, where she had professors who knew her by name and often invited her to their homes. Her friends attended private universities where they sat in classes with several hundred other students and had no personal relationship with their professors. They dealt with graduate students who were required to work with them as part of their stipends. Many of the friends who had money, cars, and fancy houses have had enormous problems with drugs, alcohol, broken marriages, and mental illness. Her friends find it incredible that our marriage lasted 49 years and only ended when my wife died.

In the “Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus instructed His disciples not to worry about food, water, or clothing (Matthew 6:25-34) because God would provide for them. He began this discussion by saying, “You cannot serve God and money,” because holding to one means despising the other (Verse 24). Life isn’t fair, but God meets our basic needs. The reward for Christians is the fact that after this life, we will have an existence so wonderful that it will surpass anything on Earth.

Those who reject God have nothing when this life is over. In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus tells the story of the rich man and a beggar named Lazarus. When the rich man dies, he has nothing but suffering, and Lazarus is in Abraham’s bosom. The rich man wants Lazarus to help him, but he is told that life isn’t fair. He had good things in life, while Lazarus had evil things. Now Lazarus is comforted, and the rich man is in pain. The bottom line is that life isn’t fair, but Christians have the ultimate reward in eternity.

April 4, 2025April 2, 2025

The Difference Between Meekness and Weakness

What do you understand “meek” to mean? For many in our culture, being meek means being a nerd or pushover, standing for nothing. The Bible shows the difference between meekness and weakness. The Greek word translated as “meek” is “prajos,” meaning power under control, as in a soothing medicine or a gentle breeze. Nelson’s Bible Dictionary defines “meekness” as “an attitude of humility toward God and gentleness toward man, springing from a recognition that God is in control. It is strength and courage under control coupled with kindness.”

The fact is that modern-day males are too weak to have anything to do with meekness. Most church congregations have a surplus of women and children and too few males. Any weakling can live selfishly, but it takes real strength to feed the hungry, bring water to the thirsty, give clothing to people who don’t have enough, provide medicine to the sick, or visit those in prison.

Galatians 5:22-26 tells us what meekness is about: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The same chapter describes the behavior of the weak in verses 19-21: adultery, fornication (pornography), uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envying, murderers, drunkenness, and reveling.

The biblical record tells us of men who had the strength to do what was right (meekness). They include Abraham, Joseph, Daniel, and Jesus. There are also weak men, including Saul, Lot, Felix, Pilate, Agrippa, and Herod. Being a Christian involves knowing the difference between meekness and weakness. Because many men are weak, women dominate modern Christianity, doing the work of Matthew 25:31-40. Dying congregations and the growth of “Nones” in our society provide evidence of that.

April 3, 2025April 2, 2025

Relationship Stages

Every relationship in life has three stages: the honeymoon stage, the disappointment stage, and the decision stage. We see the relationship stages in marriages. Newlyweds are full of excitement, enthusiasm, and a sense of euphoria. After a while, they begin to see the weaknesses in their mates. They may be disappointed in various things that don’t turn out as planned.

One way to avoid the disappointment stage is to have a long dating and engagement period. Young people have asked me how I managed to stay married to my wife for 49 years until she died. My answer is that we dated for seven years, so neither of us was surprised by the other’s weaknesses. Additionally, we shared a relationship with Jesus Christ, so there was no religious strife between us. Divorce courts often see couples who have been married for a relatively short time but are already in the decision stage. Various country songs express this, such as: “She got the goldmine, I got the shaft”, “She got the mansion, I got the Jeep.”

Churches are guilty of entering honeymoon stages by hiring a preacher who “tried out” based on one sermon and a visit. Once hired, his weaknesses become evident, and people start wanting a new preacher. The average tenure of preachers is about three years. Part of the problem is confusion about the role of a local preacher. For one man to be the “pastor” who runs the local congregation is illogical and unbiblical. Each member of the local church has a role in ministering to the body.

Jesus faced the issue of relationship stages. When He provided miracles, people followed Him, but when He taught them to change their lives, many entered the decision stage and left. (See John 6:60-69.) When I left atheism and became a Christian, I wanted to serve God. I found there was a huge need for young people to see that science supports faith in God and the truth of the Bible. I thought older church members were mature, and the congregation would be like heaven on earth. I quickly discovered there are relationship stages in the local church. Some church members attacked me, and to this day, a large section of the Church of Christ rejects me. However, I have never been disappointed in my relationship with Jesus Christ, and that is what keeps me going.

For more of my story, read “Why I Left Atheism” on doesgodexist.org or watch video programs 31 and 32 on doesgodexist.tv.

March 28, 2025March 27, 2025

Who Created God?

One of our most frequently asked questions from believers and non-believers is, “If God created the cosmos, who created God?” Atheists claim that God is something humans invented to explain what they didn’t understand. It is true that ancient civilizations invented gods or goddesses to explain phenomena such as volcanoes, ocean storms, weather, lightning, and animal behaviors. The biblical concept is that God created everything we see in the cosmos and around us on planet Earth. Asking “Who created God?” reflects a failure to understand WHAT God is.

If your concept of God is that He is an old man in the sky or some variation of that idea, you will be unable to answer the question of who created God. God is a spiritual being, not a physical one. John 4:24 tells us, “God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” The Bible tells us that God does not experience time as we do. Acts 1:7 says, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in His own power.”

Genesis 1:1 begins with the Hebrew word “reshith,” translated as “in the beginning.” According to the Hebrew dictionary, the meaning of that word is “absolute beginning point.” The message is that time began when God created it at that point. The verse continues by saying that God created “the heavens and the earth.” God is outside of time, space, and matter/energy. Science can propose theories about the beginning of time down to 10-43 seconds, but it cannot go any further. Quantum mechanics supports the concept of the beginning of time.

The bottom line is that nothing created God. God is outside of time and space and is the creator of all things. Colossians 1:16-17 says it well: “For by Him were all things created whether spiritual or material, seen or unseen – the spirit world with its kings and kingdoms, its rulers and authorities. The whole universe has been created through and for Him, so He existed before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

Second Peter 3:8 tells us that “one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.” Verse 9 says that God is allowing humans time to respond to His invitation before the cosmos is dissolved (verse 12). Our doesgodexist.org website has some pamphlets, including “A Help In Understanding What God Is” and “Who Created God?” You can find them at THIS LINK. We all need to deepen our understanding of these issues and strive to study and learn together. Join us!

Reference: The New Bible Dictionary Eerdmans Publishing Co. ISBN 0-8028-2282-7

March 26, 2025March 25, 2025

Christians Using Contraceptives

A conflict among various denominations and the Catholic Church involves Christians using contraceptives. The objection to contraceptives is that by preventing a child from being born, humans are playing God. We are not talking about abortion, in which the embryo has its own DNA and is not an extension of the mother’s body. The root of the pro-abortion/pro-life debate is the question of what a human embryo is. In the question of birth control, we are dealing with what we can do with our own bodies. So, what does the Bible teach about conception?

There is no Bible passage condemning contraception. Some have referred to Genesis 38:8-10 in which a man named Onan “spilled it on the ground.” If you read the context of that incident, it was not because he was practicing contraception, but because he was refusing to do what the Levitical rules required to continue his dead brother’s legacy.

In Luke 14:28-32, Jesus makes it clear that God intends for Christians to consider the cost of their actions. Counting the cost of having a child should certainly be essential. In 1969, Elvis Presley recorded a song titled “In the Ghetto,” written by Mac Davis. The song was a major hit for Presley and begins with a classic demonstration of the problem:

As the snow flies

On a cold and gray Chicago mornin’

A poor little baby child is born

In the ghetto

(In the ghetto)

And his mama cries

’Cause if there’s one thing that she don’t need

It is another hungry mouth to feed

In the ghetto

(In the ghetto)

Those of us involved with the education of the general population must not give bad information or withhold information about contraception. Having a baby should not be an accident but a conscious thought and decision of a married husband and wife. Where the Bible is silent, we should be silent, and an area where the Bible is silent is Christians using contraceptives.

March 21, 2025March 20, 2025

All Humans Worship Something

The New Testament Greek word for worship is “proskuneo.” It literally means “to kiss the hand” and can be interpreted as prostrating oneself in homage. All humans worship something, and it can be politics, a cause, a movie actor/actress, a sports figure, the NFL, glamour, sex, or anything else. The New Testament identifies five kinds of worship.

VAIN WORSHIP – In Matthew 15:8-9, Jesus quotes Isaiah 29:13, pointing out that vain worship involves merely following human rules and rituals. We see a form of vain worship in Colossians 2:13-23 involving asceticism, flagellation, and some eating disorders.

IGNORANT WORSHIP – In Acts 17:22-24, we find Paul telling the Greek philosophers about the God who was unknown to them. The willful ignorance described in 2 Peter 3:4-5 still exists today as people are unwilling to look at evidence. This is especially true of atheists and agnostics. (See Romans 1:20.)

PERVERTED WORSHIP – We see this in many New Age beliefs, witchcraft, and the drug culture. Worshipping the body and sex is described in Romans 1:21-25.

TRUE WORSHIP – This is the worship God desires. John 4:23-24 and 1 Corinthians 14:15 spell out what productive, useful worship is all about. True worship will involve our mind so we know what we are doing and why. The passage in 1 Corinthians 14 tells readers to “stop acting like children” and think like adults. Worship is not a spectator sport and has no financial component. Every act, every prayer, and every part of being a Christian involves knowing what you are doing and why.

All humans worship something, but true worship gives value to life and reduces fear and anxiety. We urge you to worship as John 4:23-24 calls us to. When we do that, we will find answers to our life struggles.

March 20, 2025March 19, 2025

Ten Excuses People Use

A friend in Dublin, Ireland, sent me a list of ten excuses people use. His article is titled “Ten Reasons Why I Never Wash,” but it is really ten excuses people use to avoid worshipping God and following Jesus.

1) I was forced to wash as a child, so I will not do it now.

2) People who wash are hypocrites who think they are cleaner than others.

3) There are so many kinds of soap that I could not decide which one was right, so I didn’t use any of them.

4) I used to wash, but it got boring.

5) I still wash on special occasions like Christmas.

6) None of my friends wash.

7) I’m too young to wash. When I am older and a bit dirtier, I might start washing.

8) I really don’t have time to wash.

9) The bathroom is never warm enough for me to wash.

10) The people who make soap push washing to make more money.

As I read through the Irish list on washing, I thought of what people would say to Jesus when the end comes. In Matthew 25:35, Jesus talks about people who need food or water, and we have to ask what excuse we will use for not helping people who lack food and water. In verse 36, He talks about people needing clothing, those in prison, and those who are ill. We must consider what excuses we will offer for not addressing those needs.

Humans rationalize their selfish inaction. This list of ten excuses people use should pry us from our inconsistent excuses and get us involved in following Jesus and addressing the real problems facing people today.