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Here’s Why You Are The Very Best Evidence That God Does Exist

“It’s important to have reasons for what you believe. ‘If only God gave me a sign’ is a common thought people have if they are still unsure if God exists. And fair enough — it doesn’t make sense to ‘just have faith’ and throw reason out the door.

“But what if the best evidence for God’s existence isn’t somewhere up in the sky but is actually staring at you in the mirror? ‘I am fearfully and wonderfully made’ are words that the poet King David wrote thousands of years ago, and they are still true for each of us today.

“There’s something that sets human beings apart from all other living creatures. Our ability to fall in love, to appreciate the beauty that’s around us, and to ponder our own existence are amazing and unique qualities. No animal or plant experiences these things: only people.”

These are the opening graphs of Kurt Mahlburg’s post on his blog, Cross+Culture, on the challenging question posed in the headline above. Go here for the rest of Kurt’s thoughts.

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Humans Wrote The Bible, So Can It Be Trusted? How About Darwin’s Origin Of The Species?

If you’ve heard it once, you’ve probably heard it often: The Bible was written by a bunch of fallible human beings, therefore it cannot be taken at face value as true and accurate.

J. Warner Wallace, Cold-Case Christianity, NBC’s “Dateline” cold-case detective.

Here’s the logic train: Humans are fallible. The Bible was written by humans. Therefore, the Bible is fallible. That logic train, by the way, is the product of a human, too, so, should it be accepted as true? That’s a discussion for another time.

And while we’re on the topic, when was the last time anybody told you humans are fallible, “Origin of the Species” was written by the human Charles Darwin, therefore Origin is fallible?

Anyway, Cold-Case Christianity’s J. Warner Wallace knows a thing or three about determining the credibility of witnesses (something that every legislative director and assistant on Capitol Hill must also know), and he has some even more arresting thoughts about that logic train in the following video:

 

What Roman Eyewitnesses Said About Death By Crucifixion

Just in case you think there is even the remotest of chances that Jesus survived the crucifixion, was revived in the coolness of the tomb, then somehow managed, despite having suffered grievous wounds, extreme shock and loss of blood, to move the huge stone that sealed the tomb, and, finally, overcame a crack unit of Roman soldiers, whereupon He then went and fooled the disciples into thinking He had been resurrected …

Stephen Miller has some facts and logic for you, based on what Romans, who perfected crucifixion as a form of capital punishment, said about the horror of it, beginning with the legal case that launched Cicero’s august career:

 

THINK ABOUT THIS: Friday’s Poached Egg

Then Jesus said:

“I assure you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” — John 3:3

Photo by Melanie Sosa on Unsplash.

And C.S. Lewis said:

“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell.

“You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse.” – C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.

China Rewrites Jesus With The Woman Caught In Adultery

Among the best-known passages in the New Testament are those in the Gospel of John describing Jesus’ encounter in the temple in Jerusalem with a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) doesn’t like that version of the incident, according to Christian Headlines, so the order went out to rewrite it in a university textbook used to teach ethics in vocational schools.

In the Gospel of John, the penalty for women caught in adultery under Jewish law at the time was death by stoning, and that’s the horrifying end the poor woman in this particular incident was about to experience when she was dragged before Him by the Scribes and Pharisees. Continue reading “China Rewrites Jesus With The Woman Caught In Adultery”

AG Barr Decries Lost Link Between Religious Faith, Individual Liberty

Attorney General William Barr testifying before the House Judiciary Committee (Screenshot from youtube).

Attorney General William Barr told the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast earlier this week that “separation of church and state” may be the most misunderstood principle of government and the U.S. Constitution.

“That crucial link between religion and liberty, so well understood at the Founding, is all too often forgotten today. In American public discourse, perhaps no concept is more misunderstood than the notion of ‘separation of church and state,’” Barr told the annual gathering.

“Militant secularists have long seized on that slogan as a facile justification for attempting to drive religion from the public square and to exclude religious people from bringing a religious perspective to bear on conversations about the common good,” Barr said.

“Alexis de Tocqueville, the keenest observer of the early American republic, praised America’s separation of church and state while extolling America’s union of the ‘spirit of religion’ and the ‘spirit of liberty’ as the key to its success,” Barr continued.

For more on Barr’s remarks, go here on Faithwire.

Sequel Coming! ‘The Passion Of The Christ: Resurrection’

Will this be the most successful film ever made?

Remember the 2004 movie, “The Passion of the Christ,” produced by Mel Gibson and with actor Jim Caveziel in the lead role? It was the most successful R-rated movie ever, grossing $612 million against production costs of $30 million.

Screenshot from the crucifixion scene in “The Passion of the Christ.”

The R-rating was a result of extraordinarily graphic presentation of the crucifixion, one of the cruelest and most painful methods of executions known to man.

“Passion” received three Academy Award nominations, though it did not win in any of the categories in which it was nominated. But making profits and generating cinematic celebrity were not the purpose for which the movie was made.

It was made to put the life of Jesus Christ, the single most influential individual in all human history, on movie screens around the world, and to that end, “Passion” was an amazing success because it succeeded in that respect despite the Hollywood Establishment’s active hostility.

Now, Caveziel is preparing to reprise his role in the sequel to “Passion,” picking up with the incredible resurrection after His crucifixion and death. Is Caveziel excited about it?

“It’s going to be the biggest film in world history,” he recently told Christian Post. This has the makings of what could well turn out to be the most successful sequel ever made.

Go here for more details from The Christian Post.

Capitol Hill Baptist Church Sues D.C. Government; Claims It Has No Alternative To In-Person Services

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser and the D.C. government are depriving Capitol Hill Baptist Church (CHBC) of its members’ only means of worshiping together, according to a suit filed on the congregation’s behalf in federal court.

First established in 1878, CHBC is attended by dozens of congressional staff members who live in the Capitol Hill neighborhood surrounding the U.S. Capitol complex.

Senior Pastor Mark Dever is a nationally known evangelical leader and the founder of the 9Marks organization that provides ministry and administrative resources for churches across the nation.

Capitol Hill Baptist Church Senior Pastor Mark Dever (Screenshot from CHBC video).

“For CHBC, a weekly in-person worship gathering of the entire congregation is a religious conviction for which there is no substitute,” the church said in its suit filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Continue reading “Capitol Hill Baptist Church Sues D.C. Government; Claims It Has No Alternative To In-Person Services”

STAFF NEWS: Look Who’s Movin’ On Up The Hill This Week

Courtesy of Legistorm:

Rhona Craig, Communications Director for Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-MD). Screenshot from Facebook.

New Communications Director Rhonda Craig has taken over the thankless tasks of corralling the journalists, PR hacks and other disreputable characters covering Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-MD).  Rhonda earned her MPPM in public policy analysis this year from Georgetown University and her BA in broadcast journalism from the University of Missouri.

Tjesis Thatte has a return engagement in the office of Rep. Antonio Cardenas (D-Calif.) as Chief of Staff, following a stint at the Internet & Television Association (NCTA). Before that, Tjesis was Deputy Chief of Staff, Legislative Counsel and other posts for Cardenas, beginning as a legislative intern. Continue reading “STAFF NEWS: Look Who’s Movin’ On Up The Hill This Week”

New Survey Finds Millennials Much More Intolerant Than Boomers

A new survey of 2,000 demographically representative adults who were asked 51 worldview questions found Millennials are the least tolerant Americans and the most likely to seek revenge.

Dr. George Barna, Director of Research, Cultural Research Center, Arizona Christian University (Screenshot from Facebook).

Most congressional staffers are members of the Millennial and Baby Buster generation, with the Millennials tending to be in higher-level positions such as legislative directors.

The younger Busters are most often found in positions such as press assistant and legislative assistant.

Among the survey’s most controversial findings are these: Continue reading “New Survey Finds Millennials Much More Intolerant Than Boomers”

Did Jesus Really Claim To Be The Eternal God Of The Universe?

You’re strolling down a hallway in the Dirksen building when suddenly you are being accosted by a legislative counsel for your home state’s other senator.

You’ve not previously met the guy and, frankly, you’ve heard some whispers among colleagues that he’s, shall we say, a little odd. But you had no idea to expect what the guy proceeds to tell you now:

“Yes, I am the God who created and sustains the entire universe, including you. I know all things from beginning to end and nothing ever happens that surprises me because I see it before it happens. Oh, one more thing — accepting me as your personal savior is the only way you or any other human being can receive eternal life in Heaven.”

That scenario may be an imaginary one, but take yourself back 2,000 years ago in what is now Israel and odds are excellent you would hear about a Jesus character making such claims. You might even meet him on a road. Would you believe His claims about Himself?

 

What Biomimicry Teaches Us About Nature And Intelligent Design

Hummingbirds are supposed to be able to fly, but they do. In fact, they move in ways that remind us of helicopters, hovering in place this second, then streaking off in a new direction. The maneuverability of common house flies is even more amazing.

So what have hummingbirds and common house flies to do with anything? They are inspirations of a developing field of technology known as “biomimicry.” It’s the adaption of capabilities and designs found in nature to improving the way we humans live. Congressional staff will do well to become familiar with the technology and its possibilities.

But biomimicry also points us toward a crucial fact about the natural world — the amazing capabilities nature displays in countless ways are collectively a strong argument for an intelligent designer. Kyle Butt of the Apologetics Press explains:

 

DID YOU KNOW: The Bronx Zoo Has Apologized For Its Former Exhibit Displaying Evolutionary Racism?

Regardless of how one views evolution or the role of racism in American history, the reality is that for decades advocacy of racial superiority and inferiority was an intrinsic aspect of evolutionary sociological and political thought.

Ota Benga’s sad story as the central figure of the zoo’s exhibit needs to be told and it especially should be heard by congressional staffers in 2020. The Bronx Zoo recently apologized for that tragic aspect of its long organizational history.

In that connection, David Klinghoffer, editor of Evolution News & Science, offers this excellent profile of Pamela Newkirk, the investigative journalist whose work prompted the zoo’s apology, work that is further illuminated in the following video that tells Ota Benga’s journey:

 

EEOC Files Suit Against Kroger For Religious Discrimination In LGBTQ Apron Pin Case

A Kroger grocery store in Conway, Arkansas, fired two long-time women employees who declined to wear aprons bearing a LGBQT pin because doing so would force them to appear to endorse a political opinion that violates their Christian faith.

EEOC Logo

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbids discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin, so the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed suit against the Ohio-based grocery chain with stores in 35 states, according to McClatchy News. The stores are Kroger and Harris-Teeter outlets.

“Companies have an obligation under Title VII to consider requests for religious accommodations, and it is illegal to terminate employees for requesting an accommodation for their religious beliefs,” said Delner-Franklin Thomas, district director of the EEOC’s Memphis District Office, which has jurisdiction over Arkansas, Tennessee and portions of Mississippi.

“The EEOC protects the rights of the LGBTQ community, but it also protects the rights of religious people,” she said in an EEOC news release announcing the suit earlier this week.

Go here for more information from the EEOC.