Mark Tapscott

THINK ABOUT THIS: All Religions Can Be False But They Can’t All Be True

How often have you heard or thought “all religions are essentially true, they all say the same basic stuff, and in the end, when all is said and done, they all lead to God?

In fact, if you know the core beliefs of the world’s five most popular religions, you know there are a bunch of claims that just plain flat out contradict each other. Buddhism, for example, teaches there is no personal God, while Christianity insists there is and His name is Jesus.

Biola University Professor Sean McDowell takes up the claim that all religions are true, shows a bunch of the contradictions among them, then provides the solution to knowing which one is the only one that can be true for all eternity:

The Moment: Confronting The Prospect Of Death By COVID – An Update

If you read this last week, you may be interested to know this: The test came back negative. You bet I am praising God!

See below for video of HillFaith staff upon receiving the news:

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While You’re Here, Check Out Latest ‘I Am Second’

I AM SECOND: Next Time You Think You’ve Got It Bad

Everybody has tough days, bad days, days we’d rather just forget.

Then there are folks like Darrin Ray who has had more than his share of such days, beginning before his birth even. Inevitably, the time came when he just wanted to die.

But this story is unlike any you’ve ever heard before. And be forewarned, there’s a lot of Darrin’s story that is hard to listen to without tears, disbelief and anger:

It’s Sunday, Time To Raise A Hallelujah!

Is God Hidden Or Are You Just Not Seeing What’s Right In Front Of You?

We get up everyday and all things seem to be just as they have always been, so where’s the evidence for God, some ask. If this god you keep talking about is so wonderful and all-powerful, why can’t we see Him?

Good question but, as Cold-Case Christianity’s J. Warner Wallace explains in the following video, the answer may well have more to do with you than with God:

Yes, There Are Atheists Grateful For Christianity. Meet Some Of Them Here

Why would an atheist be grateful for Christianity? Well, remember that charming fellow in the movie “Gladiator,” the illegitimate Emperor Commodus?

Kurt Mahlburg of the Cross + Culture blog and the Canberra Declaration team in Australia observes:

“Take, for example, the emperor Commodus (AD 161-192). For a gladiatorial contest, Commodus once had all those with disabilities rounded up from the streets of Rome and tied together in the shape of a human. Entering the Colosseum, Commodus clubbed them to death before cheering crowds, proudly announcing that he had ‘slain a giant.'”

Mahlburg draws that example from Tom Holland, author of “Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind.” As it happens, Holland is an authority on ancient history and is an atheist.

But Holland is an atheist who understands that “in my morals and ethics, I have learned to accept that I am not Greek or Roman at all, but thoroughly and proudly Christian.”

Mahlburg smartly introduces readers to other atheists who, like Holland, acknowledge that Western civilization is at its healthiest roots, thoroughly Christian.

Go here for the full tour, especially if you are an atheist or agnostic, or are one of the many in this country who was taught on campus that Western civilization is oppressive, racist, evil, etc. etc.

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

Courtesy of Legistorm:

Wesley Coopersmith takes the reins as Legislative Director for Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA). Wesley comes over from Heritage Action for America where in four years he moved from Grassroots Educational Coordinator to Deputy Director for Government Relations. Wesley is a 2013 Grove City College graduate in political science, Biblical and religious studies.

Lindsay Reilly is now Digital Director/Press Secretary for Rep. Katy Porter (D-Calif.). Previously, she was deputy communications director for the Michael Bloomberg presidential push in North Carolina. Lindsay received her BA in government, with a minor in sociology, from Georgetown University.

Susan Eckerly is the new Senior Advisor to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee. Susan comes from the Senate Budget Committee where she was Regulatory Review Director. She earned a BS in political science in 1983 from DePauw University and an MA in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia in 1985.

Survey Finds Mixed Support For Bigger Staffs:

Results for HillFaith’s June 30 survey asking about increasing the personal staffs of senators and representatives are in and they may come as a surprise to some. Continue reading “STAFF NEWS: Look Who’s Movin’ On Up The Hill This Week”

The Moment: Confronting The Prospect Of Death By COVID

For the past week, a persistent fever in the 100-102 range, chills and seemingly insatiable exhaustion have been my constant companions. Coming back from Bethany Beach Monday was a tough slough. Fever hit 103.5 that evening.

Before you say it, I felt like something was creeping up on me the day before we headed over there. It made for a pretty miserable time. Sunday I stayed back at the house.

Physician’s assistant said Tuesday morning it sounded like a mean viral infection that she didn’t think was COVID. But, just to be sure, she scheduled me for a test today. Continue reading “The Moment: Confronting The Prospect Of Death By COVID”

Fermi’s Paradox And Why Can’t The ‘Fine-Tuning’ Of The Universe Have Some Slack Here And There?

You may have heard of Enrico Fermi. He’s the Italian physicist who invented the first nuclear reactor. He also asked a rather pointed question that ought to challenge the best thinkers among advocates and critics of intelligent design.

That question — AKA “Fermi’s Paradox” — is simply this: If the universe is infinitely old, or billions and billions of years old, and there are multiple life forms out there, why haven’t they found us yet? Why haven’t we turned up at least a little evidence of their existence? (Yes, I know, maybe they/we have and we just don’t know it).

Cold-Case Christianity’s J. Warner Wallace explains the significance of Fermi’s Paradox in the great debate between those who claim the universe’s marvelous perfection is accidental and those who argue that it’s that way because its Creator designed it like that:

God And Mathematics Are Why The Universe Adds Up

Being a journalist by trade, I am a right-brained person. That’s why I never did well in mathematics in school, except for Geometry where the spatial relationships seemed to make intuitive sense to me. Maybe if I had studied more …

Anyway, you may not know this but mathematics is the foundational blueprint for reality. This is no recently discovered fact. As Galileo put it, “the book of nature is written in the language of mathematics.” Remember that the next time you bite into a delicious ear of Silver Queen corn on the cob and wonder what the formula is for such deliciousness.

In the following video from Philosopher William Lane Craig’s Reasonable Faith outfit, a succinct case is made for the proposition that the direct relationship between mathematics and the universe is powerful evidence that the blueprint didn’t just happen:

China’s Theology And Persecution | Linda Burkle, PhD

American Christians who are unable when and how they regather in their church assemblies are only now getting a tiny taste of the persecution that is a daily reality in China.

Dr. Linda Burkle, writing on Bruce Cooper’s Reasoned Cases for Christs, offers these insights into the increasing oppression being focused by Beijing on Christians and followers of other religions.

Reasoned Cases for Christ

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Dr. Burkle retired from The Salvation Army in early 2019 where she oversaw an array of social services in a multi-state region. Along with the State Attorney General, Burkle Co-Chaired the Nebraska Human Trafficking Task Force. Dr. Burkle holds a doctoral degree in international relations. Her dissertation focused on religious persecution; specifically regarding Iran, Iraq, Sudan, China and Burma (Myanmar).

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2019 was a year marked by heightened surveillance and persecution of Christians in China. According to China Aid, Christians living in President XI Jinping’s current regime have experienced more arrests, imprisonments, and church closures than at any other time since Mao’s Cultural Revolution.[1] There were at least 5,576 attacks reported on churches last year, an increase of 171 from the previous year. David Curry, President and CEO of Open Doors USA, stated “The Chinese government is nearly single-handedly responsible for the steep increase in churches and Christian buildings…

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Is Earth Just A Pale Blue Dot In A Hostile Universe?

Look back at Earth from the furthest distance you can imagine in our solar system and it does indeed look like a pale blue dot in the vast blackness of the universe.

So why on this one pale blue dot among the billions and billions of galaxies and stars and planets is there human life? Former Los Angeles Police cold-case expert J. Warner Wallace explains:

The Nature Of The Battle: Knowing The Enemy

By Bret Bernhardt

As followers of Jesus working on Capitol Hill, how are we to view the tumultuous events that have unfolded before us across the country?

This is an important question because we are seeking to integrate our faith into our daily practice. It helps shape our views about public policy but also our personal conduct. Now is the time for us to engage in the hard conversations because we are called to influence and usher in God’s Kingdom here on earth.

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

With this in mind we need to understand the nature of the battle. By the battle I mean the way in which we perceive and respond to the world around us. The recent events we have been witnessing — the virus, racial unrest, and threats of anarchy — are part of this battle.

These events are not a one-off phenomenon but have at their core the fallen nature of mankind. For example, the virus and the steps to mitigate it have precipitated actions and reactions that have been at work within our minds and spirit for quite some time. Continue reading “The Nature Of The Battle: Knowing The Enemy”

THINK ABOUT THIS: Do You Think ‘Nothing’ Caused Our Universe To Exist?

It’s among the most basic questions of all and how we each answer it shapes our thinking on everything else, often in ways we don’t realize. And it involves the most basic law of logic, non-contradiction, as well as the law of cause and effect.

In the following video, Kyle Butt of the Apologetics Press analyzes the claim of materialists that the universe (the effect) had no non-material cause. Pay close attention to the explanation offered by Stephen Hawking, who surely was one of the smartest men who ever lived:

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

Making the big jump from the Illinois House Republican Caucus to Capitol Hill is Aaron DeGroot, who is the new Communications Director for Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill). Aaron is a cum laude graduate in economics from George Mason University in 2015.

Maura Weaver is the new Scheduler for Rep. Donald Norcross (D-NJ), following a three-month stint with former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s presidential effort. Maura is a Hill veteran, having previously worked for Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ). Maura earned an MPP from Temple University in 2019 and a BA in international and global studies from Arcadia University in 2017. Continue reading “STAFF NEWS: Look Who’s ‘Movin’ On Up’ This Week”