Mark Tapscott

Harvard Scholars Say Faith And Marriage Are Two Pillars For An Enduring Economic Prosperity

Dr. Patrick Fagan of Marripedia offers concise summaries of two important recent works — one from two scholars at Harvard and one from Cal State Long Beach — who marshal mountains of data that demonstrate the solid connection between strong religious faith, strong marriages, and strong economic prosperty.

I had the privilege of working with Pat for six years at the Heritage Foundation when I was teaching journalists how to do computer-assisted reporting. I know him to be a scholar of the first rank and a man unalterably committed to the truth

These are important works for Hill staffers involved in shaping government policies toward families, economics and societal expectations:

Faith, Families and Prosperity Are Inter-related

A 2019 book entitled “The Wealth of Religions: The Political Economy of Believing and Belonging” by Harvard’s Rachel M. McCleary and Robert J. Barro asserts the economic value of religion by exploring the extent to which religious beliefs motivate people to be economically productive. Continue reading “Harvard Scholars Say Faith And Marriage Are Two Pillars For An Enduring Economic Prosperity”

Working On The Hill: God’s Purpose For You Is Now

By Bret Bernhardt

It’s easy to feel as if you are standing still or even stuck in your present circumstances. This applies to your life, both on the job and off. Everyone who has worked on the Hill has had these feelings from time to time.

Bret Bernhardt, former chief of staff for senators Don Nickles and Jim DeMint.

Oswald Chambers, in his daily devotional, “My Utmost for His Highest,” hits the nail on the head on this subject with his July 28 reading.

Titled “God’s Purpose or Mine,” Chambers aptly describes how the Lord views progress and success in our lives. In short, it’s not the destination, it’s the journey. Continue reading “Working On The Hill: God’s Purpose For You Is Now”

Five Reasons Christianity And Racism Are Absolute Opposites

If it were possible to have a society based entirely and solely on Christianity side-by-side with a society based entirely on racism, would they have anything, anything at all, in common?

Eric Lyons of Apologetics Press (Screenshot from YouTube).

The answer is no. Christianity’s understanding of why we are here is so profoundly unlike the understanding of the many racist ideologies that have blighted the Earth throughout history as to be two entirely separate universes.

Eric Lyons of the Apologetics Press explains why this is so and in the process demonstrates the simple, undeniable fact that racism is totally and completely ridiculous and a sin against God:

DID YOU KNOW? Here’s Why Jesus Is Nothing Like The Pagan Deities

Oxford Professor Emeritus John Lennox addresses a fascinating question: How are the countless pagan gods of the ancient world different from the God of the Bible who came among us as Jesus Christ?

For one thing, Lennox points out, all of the pagan gods came from creation in some manner, out of the primordial soup or thrown down from Mt. Olympus, and so forth. Jesus, the Bible tells us, didn’t come from creation, He created it! See Colossians 1:16.

That’s pretty profound when you think about it, but it’s just one of many ways in which Jesus is absolutely and unqualifiedly unique. And Lennox, mathematician and philosopher that he is, has much more to share with us in this delightful video:

THINK ABOUT THIS: Friday’s Poached Egg

Then Jesus said:

“I tell you that on the day of judgement people will have to account for every careless word they speak. For by your words you will be acquitted and by your words you will be condemned.“ — Matthew 12:36-37

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.

What Does God Say About Race?

Race is front and center in the American mind these days as it has not been for many years. The news media is a cacophony of often clashing opinions about race and its proper significance in our nation’s history.

Pastor Mark Massey, Friendship Baptist Church (Screenshot from youtube.com).

It’s thus easy to find out what men think about race, but what about God? What does God say about race is the question posed in recent weeks by Pastor Mark Massey of Friendship Baptist Church (FBC) in Sykesville, Maryland.

As it happens, Mark started FBC in 1984 and has been its senior pastor ever since. He was born and raised in Arkansas and graduated from Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Mark is also vice president of the board of directors of the 52-Week Ministry Foundation that is the organizational entity behind HillFaith. Continue reading “What Does God Say About Race?”

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

Courtesy of Legistorm:

Krister Holladay is back on Capitol Hill after a 14-year absence, coming over from K One Consulting LLC to serve as Chief of Staff for Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas). Back in the day, Krister was Chief of Staff to Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), and before that, during the Contract with America era, was Legislative Director on the personal staff of Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-GA). Krister earned his Masters in national security studies in 1998 from Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.

Elissa Tew takes over as Press Secretary for Rep. John Rose (R-TN). She previously served as legislative assistant to North Carolina State Senator Jim Burgin, and she has interned in the White House Office of Digital Strategy and for her state’s two Republican senators, Thom Tillis and Richard Burr. Elissa is a 2018 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a BA in political science and women’s and gender studies. Continue reading “STAFF NEWS: Look Who’s ‘Movin’ On Up’ The Hill This Week”

Multi-Millionaire Was Spiritually Bankrupt. Then He Met Yeshua

“When tragedy struck Joseph’s family he was determined not just to fill his father’s shoes but to surpass everyone’s expectations and make a name for himself. Soon his financial company turned into a internationally traded bank and the press called him Midas.

“But inside of all of his success he was empty and self absorbed, so when the stock market crashed his world of wealth crashed with him. And that’s when he finally found the greatest treasure in life when he discovered the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua.”

From One for Israel:

Antifa Thugs Threaten Violence Against Christian Street Preacher, Repeatedly Violate His Civil Rights

What happens when a young man seeking to share the Gospel on a Seattle street is confronted by aggressively hostile Antifa thugs presumably “protesting” against racial injustices like the killing of George Floyd by a now-former Minneapolis police officer?

As the following video produced by CBN Contributor Chuck Helton makes obvious, the unnamed street preacher is blocked, shouted down, threatened with physical injury, and subjected to repeated insults. These are tactics routinely used by Antifa thugs all over the country.

Where is the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)? Where is the Department of Justice (DOJ)? This video provides clear evidence of blatant First Amendment violations, as well as threatening bodily harm:

UPDATE: And Now Antifa Is Burning Bibles

What does burning Bibles do to advance race relations in America? Exactly nothing, so their purpose in doing so must have to do with something else entirely.

Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Threatens to Take Adoptees from Parents, Send Them to ‘Camps’

Imagine that you and your spouse adopted an infant boy or girl and the federal government told you to stop going to church and practicing your Christian faith or risk having the child taken away from you.

Or what would you do if the federal government informed you and every other member of your local church that you will all be sent to “re-education” camps — i.e. concentration camps — if you don’t stop attending your church and practicing your Christian beliefs?

That’s what’s happening in China these days as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that controls the government at all levels continues its campaign of oppression and suppression of Christianity in the world’s most populous nation.

Christian Post has the details.

EMERGING ISSUES ON THE HILL: Churches Defy California Guv’s Covid Restrictions on Multiple Worship Gatherings

Grace Community Church in Los Angeles County is the latest Christian congregation to challenge California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ban on religious gatherings in 30 Golden State jurisdictions.

Grace is led by Pastor John MacArthur, one of the nation’s most influential evangelical Christian pastors and authors. His ministries encompass books, translations of the Bible, radio and digital programs seen around the world, missionary works and multiple other outlets.

In a July 24 statement issued by him, other members of the pastoral staff and the elders of Grace, it was announced that: Continue reading “EMERGING ISSUES ON THE HILL: Churches Defy California Guv’s Covid Restrictions on Multiple Worship Gatherings”

Is Marriage Or Money The Better Explanation Of America’s Growing Class Divide On Happiness?

Professor Jean Twenge of San Diego State University recently conducted an analysis of 40,000 Americans over the age of 30, based on data compiled for the General Social Survey.

Twenge’s findings may come as a shock to some because she said in a post for the Institute of Family Studies that the data indicates that “people with more money were happier, as were people with more education and more prestigious jobs.

“But that wasn’t the end of the story. Because the survey data went back to the 1970s, we were able to measure whether the link between happiness and money changed over time. Continue reading “Is Marriage Or Money The Better Explanation Of America’s Growing Class Divide On Happiness?”

No, The Multiverse Theory Does NOT Explain Intelligent Design

To counter the otherwise overwhelmingly convincing evidence for Intelligent Design (ID) of our universe, critics often claim that there are actually millions of universes and it just happens that one of them has all of those characteristics cited by ID advocates as evidence for the guiding hand of a designer.

J. Warner Wallace (Screenshot from Youtube).

Cold-Case Christianity’s J. Warner Wallace tackles the multiverse theory in the following video produced as part of his lecture series based on his book, God’s Crime Scene.

The crime scene refers to Wallace’s prior career as a cold-case detective who was so good at unwinding decades old homicides that he made multiple appearances on NBC’s “Dateline” show.

EMERGING ISSUES ON THE HILL: Surge Of Underground Christian Conversions Rattling Iran

Despite the fact that converting from Islam to Christianity, or any other religion, is illegal and punishable by death in Iran, thousands of Iranians are becoming followers of Jesus Christ.

13th Century Iranian bowl (Photo Credit: Smithsonian Design Museum, Cooper Hewitt)

An estimated 3,000 Iranians are converting every month, according to Michael Ansari of Mohabat TV, a Christian satellite broadcasting channel that penetrates Iran, CBN is reporting.

The awakening in Iran is part of an otherwise largely unreported wave of conversions to Christianity throughout the Islam-dominated Middle East.

Such developments in the politically and economically turbulent Middle East should be of great interest to congressional staff, especially to the hundreds whose work involves foreign policy or religious freedom issues.

THINK ABOUT THIS: Friday’s Poached Egg

Then Jesus said:

“If anyone wants to be my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me and the Gospel will save it.“ — Mark 8:34-35

And C.S. Lewis said:

“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.