HillFaith – Page 24

Here’s Why Eye-Witnesses Set Christianity Apart From All Other Faiths

And what about the maxim that when five people see the same car wreck, their individual accounts sound like they saw five different crashes?

There is “an interesting difference between Christianity” and other theistic world-views with claims about God that makes the former radically different from all of the others, according to NBC Dateline cold-case detective J. Warner Wallace.

“Unlike other systems that are really collections of proverbs, and I always refer back to a friend of mine in high school was a Bahai and he introduced me to the writings of Baha’u’llah and these are a set of great beautiful writings, but they are a set of proverbs, there are no claims about history that can be tested,” Wallace said.

“It’s really hard to test systems that are simply wisdom statements,” Wallace continued. “It’s kind of hard to test the wisdom statements of Buddha, for example, because there’s no claims in Buddhism that are grounded in historical events.” Continue reading “Here’s Why Eye-Witnesses Set Christianity Apart From All Other Faiths”

Don’t Believe Miracles Are Real? This Will Make You Think Again

Few topics are greeted with greater skepticism than miracles, and no wonder, considering how often we hear of street-corner magicians, faith-healing hucksters and pyramid peddling get-rich-quick scammers.

But miracles of many kinds have happened during the course of human experience and have been subsequently documented to a greater or lesser degree. Even so, skepticism is an ever-present obstacle to acceptance of the possibility of genuine miracles.

That said, if you have an open mind, go read this post by Professor Sean McDowell of Biola University about a recent experience in the class he teaches there on miracles.

It concerns a young man who suffered a horrendous medical condition for the first 16 years of his life. But then a peer-reviewed medical miracle of prayer changed everything, according to the abstract published at ScienceDirect:

“In November 2011, he experienced proximal-intercessory-prayer (PIP) at a church and felt an electric shock starting from his shoulder and going through his stomach.

“After the prayer experience, he was unexpectedly able to tolerate oral feedings. The g- and j-tube were removed four months later and he did not require any further special treatments for his condition as all symptoms had resolved. Over seven years later, he has been free from symptoms.”

Go here for the rest of a “Remarkable Case of a Peer-Reviewed Modern Miracle.”

HARD FACTS: Your Computer’s Coding Requires Intelligent Design, So Why Not For The Universe?

Imagine that your life depends upon your finding one particular molecule among all the molecules that make up our galaxy, the Milky Way? Oh, and you are blindfolded. What are the odds?

This is you searching the Milky Way galaxy for one particular molecule. Don’t miss the blindfold!

Well, according to molecular biologist Douglas Axe, who did the calculations, your odds of choosing the right molecule out of all the molecules that make up the Milky Way are actually better than the odds of random genetic changes to produce something new, even something as modest as a new protein function?

Axe, who received his PhD from CalTech in chemical engineering, puts it this way: “We ask how rare or how common functional proteins are within the space of possibilities. Doing experiments and calculations, we found that they are exceedingly rare, like one in 10 to the 74th power rare.”

Continue reading “HARD FACTS: Your Computer’s Coding Requires Intelligent Design, So Why Not For The Universe?”

THINK ABOUT THIS: What About The ‘Puddle Argument?’

Ever hear of the “Puddle Argument”? That’s the idea that if there is a puddle in the sidewalk, that just indicates that circumstances developed in the concrete in such a manner that it allowed rain water to accumulate.

The fact the hole appeared and rain water filled it up over time doesn’t thereby demonstrate a design or purpose in its appearance in the sidewalk. The Puddle Argument is sometimes made by critics who reject the idea that design requires a designer. Continue reading “THINK ABOUT THIS: What About The ‘Puddle Argument?’”

Hong Kong’s Sea Of Protesters Part To Allow Ambulance Through; Moses Unavailable For Comment

Hong Kong’s population includes an estimated 7.5 million people, approximately two million of whom participated at the height of the protests that have grabbed world-wide attention.

At one point earlier this week, something quite amazing happened: The sea of protesters parted to allow an ambulance to get to somebody in distress. As the ambulance passed by, the protesters reformed their ranks.

The protests have been remarkable in many ways that even the New York Times is noticing: Continue reading “Hong Kong’s Sea Of Protesters Part To Allow Ambulance Through; Moses Unavailable For Comment”

The HUGE Gulf Between Accepting Christianity As Historically True And Knowing It’s About You

There are innumerable things we know but they don’t change the way we live on a day-to-day basis. Grass is green. You may appreciate it when you first see it in the Spring, but you don’t plan your days around that fact.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Good News, is not like that. It can be, something you view as historically true, but if what it means for and about you hasn’t yet registered, you don’t get it. There is a reason, as Paul tells us in Philippians, that the day will come when “every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”

J. Warner Wolf, the NBC Dateline cold-case detective, takes up this topic in the following video with Dr. Sean McDowell. Where are you on this?

FIRST AMENDMENT: Supreme Court Delivers Huge Win For First Amendment, Tolerance

In a 7-2 decision with Justice Samuel Alito writing the opinion for the majority, the Supreme Court said Thursday that a Maryland memorial dedicated to the memories of 49 local residents who died in World War I does not violate the Constitution simply because a cross is its most prominent feature.

HillFaith founder and editor, Mark Tapscott

“For nearly a century, the Bladensburg Cross has expressed the community’s grief at the loss of the young men who perished, its thanks for their sacrifice, and its dedication to the ideals for which they fought,” said Alito, one of the High Court’s most conservative members.

“It has become a prominent community landmark, and its removal or radical alteration at this date would be seen by many, not as a neutral act but as the manifestation of ‘a hostility toward religion that has no place in our Establishment Clause traditions,’” Alito said.

The latter statement quoted from a concurring decision written by liberal Justice Stephen Breyer.

Alito also wrote that “the Religion Clauses of the Constitution aim to foster a society in which people of all beliefs can live together harmoniously, and the presence of the Bladensburg Cross on the land where it has stood for so many years is fully consistent with that aim.”

Go here for the text of the Court’s decision.

THINK ABOUT THIS: 19 Ways Christian Churches Make America A Better Place For Everybody

If you work as a policy adviser for a senator or representative, consider this passage from Baylor University Professor Byron Johnson’s foreword to Glenn Stanton’s important new book, “The Myth of the Dying Church,” available now on Amazon or a bookstore near you.

“Over the last several decades, thousands of studies published in peer-reviewed journals document that the practice of attending church is associated with making people happier, healthier, better spouses, more generous, more ethical, more tolerant and more civically engaged and responsible citizens.

Continue reading “THINK ABOUT THIS: 19 Ways Christian Churches Make America A Better Place For Everybody”

THINK ABOUT THIS: If There Are Aliens In The Universe …

Would it undermine the Bible’s account of creation in Genesis if we Earthlings woke up tomorrow to a close encounter of the totally unexpected kind?

Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) are getting a lot of media attention these days. Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, for example, spends significant air time talking about UFOs and former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid agrees that “the truth is out there.”

Even as respected a media outlet as the Intelligencer column of New York magazine last year offered “13 Reasons To Believe Aliens Are Real,” with the first reason being “the government literally just admitted it’s taking UFOs seriously.”

So what if UFOs are real and there are other life-forms — aka “aliens” in popular culture —in the universe? What does that do to Christianity, the Bible and the belief that God’s creation of man in His own image is His greatest work?

Continue reading “THINK ABOUT THIS: If There Are Aliens In The Universe …”

APOLOGETICS: What Should We Think About Quantum Mechanics And The Laws Of Logic?

Right off, let me be clear that I am a journalist, not a philosopher or scientist, so the following discussion is that of an interested layman who makes no claims of special insight.

That said, I often hear in discussions with atheists and agnostics that Quantum Mechanics (QM) renders much of the conventional wisdom about the physical universe obsolete.

As an example, Kenneth Samples of Reasons To Believe, who is both a philosopher and theologian, considers the argument that QM specifically renders the Law of Non-Contradiction (LNC) old news.

Continue reading “APOLOGETICS: What Should We Think About Quantum Mechanics And The Laws Of Logic?”

A SONG OF JOY: ‘Who You Say I Am’ By Hillsong Worship

It’s Sunday morning, June 16, 2019. No matter what you did last night or where you were, the problems, hopes, doubts, suspicions, dreams, fears, ambitions and worries you faced yesterday are likely all still here today.

No, that’s not a negative, that’s a statement of reality. I know how it feels to wake up and either know too well what I did the night before or wish that I didn’t know. That’s how a lot of us live for many years.

And then Jesus Christ on the morning of March 1, 1991, opened my eyes to myself, to Him, to the reality of my need for His saving grace. That was the moment my life changed forever.

Continue reading “A SONG OF JOY: ‘Who You Say I Am’ By Hillsong Worship”

APOLOGETICS: No, Hindu Avatars Aren’t ‘Just Like’ The Incarnation Of Jesus; It’s Not Even Close

Bhakti Hinduism’s Krishna devotees believe Vishnu is an avatar for Krishna, a god who as an avatar lived among human beings and who declared that “Although I am unborn, everlasting, and I am the Lord of all, I come to my realm of nature and through my wondrous power I am born” (Bhagavad Gita 4:6).

Hey, that sounds like Jesus, doesn’t it? For New Agers and others who seek to render Jesus anything but what He claimed to be, the Avatar comparison is probably too good to resist.

Well, actually no, there is an apparent surface similarity but the reality is that there are multiple profound differences that make the comparison useless, according to philosopher and theologian Kenneth Samples of Reasons To Believe, writing on his Reflections blog.

The Gospel of John opens with the classic statement of Jesus’ incarnation, saying:

Continue reading “APOLOGETICS: No, Hindu Avatars Aren’t ‘Just Like’ The Incarnation Of Jesus; It’s Not Even Close”

RELATIONSHIPS: New Survey Finds Married Couples, Parents Have Fewer Barriers To Forgiveness

All of us have done things to others for which we want forgiveness, but finding it can be difficult for those working in a hyper-competitive environment like Capitol Hill where “what have you done for me today” is heard far more often than “I forgive you.”

This will likely come as a shock to those steeped in the stereotype of Christians as judgmental, overbearing and narrow-minded, but guess who finds it easier to forgive? Married Christian couples, at least according to the results of a recent survey by the Barna Group, one of the nation’s pre-eminent social science research groups.

“For better, for worse. For richer, for poorer. In sickness and in health. Whatever the wording of a couple’s wedding vows, there’s generally an acknowledgment that tough times will come.

Continue reading “RELATIONSHIPS: New Survey Finds Married Couples, Parents Have Fewer Barriers To Forgiveness”

JOBS: Here’s Nine Valuable Tips For Interviewing Well On Capitol Hill

You’ve followed up on that job lead from your college friend who now works on the Hill, you’ve prepared a relevant resume, found a good recommender, and you just got invited to meet with the hiring manager.

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

Now, how do you make the best of that interview? Here are nine tips:

First, there are a few important things you’ll need to do leading up to the interview, but on the day of the meeting, it’s most important that you have the right frame of mind. If you are a Christian believer, you should exercise “confident humility,” as we discussed in my previous post (“Getting In The Door On Capitol Hill”).

This means having confidence in knowing you are loved and accepted by God, while asking the Lord to search your heart for anything that impairs your relationship with Him. Reading and meditating on Psalm 139, or other go-to verses, is an excellent way to accomplish this.

This will give you a measure of peace and tranquility, which prepares you to be relaxed and free from anxiety when you interview.

Continue reading “JOBS: Here’s Nine Valuable Tips For Interviewing Well On Capitol Hill”

APOLOGETICS: Why Christianity Is A ‘Forensic Faith’

There are folks who think that having both Christian faith and a logical mind capable of critically evaluating competing truth claims is impossible, but not so, contends NBC “Dateline” Cold-Case Detective J. Warner Wallace.

After all, Jesus said “you should love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and all your mind” (Matthew 22:37), so those who say becoming a Christian requires leaving your brain at the door aren’t considering all of the evidence.

Wallace, author of “Cold-Case Christianity: A homicide detect investigates the claims of the Gospel,” points to three kinds of faith, including blind faith, faith held despite the evidence, and faith based on evidence, aka “forensic faith.”

Check out the three-minute video in which Wallace explains why “the Christian tradition calls us not to hold to its truth claims blindly …”