Jesus Christ – HillFaith

AND FOR SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT: From Sachi’s Socratic Dialogue With Kurosawa On Evil

By Willow Viney

Sachi was having lunch in the hospital cafeteria with her mentor, Nurse Kurosawa. “Ma’am, please tell me, why does God allow evil? I don’t understand it.”

Kurosawa put down her sandwich. “Hmm, you know that’s a fair question,” Kurosawa tapped her chin in thought, “Let me think for a moment how to answer that for you.”

Sachi waited patiently while Kurosawa looked down while thinking. Then she looked up again. “Hmm, all right. Tell me, Sachi, I have a question for you.” Continue reading “AND FOR SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT: From Sachi’s Socratic Dialogue With Kurosawa On Evil”

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”

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”

New Study Debunks Conventional Wisdom That Millennials Don’t Care About Spiritual Issues

It’s become something of a truism that the Millennials are far less interested in spiritual matters and thus much harder to talk to about things like what it means to be a “Born-Again” follower of Jesus Christ.

But a new study jointly conducted by the Barna Group and Alpha USA finds that while there is truth to Millennial resistance to some forms of Christian evangelism, there is much more to the issue.

Compared to older generations, Millennials, according to the Barna/Alpha study, “report many more faith conversations or even evangelistic encounters than older non-Christians. Though this could be partly due to the greater diversity that exists for young people among their family and friends, this isn’t the whole story. For at least some young adults, there appears to be deeper interest in spirituality in general, and in Christianity specifically.”

More on this to come here on HillFaith, but for now, check out the study and this accompanying graphic for a host of data-driven insights that ought to be a source of tremendous encouragement.

HARD FACTS: 10 Reasons Jesus Is The Most Influential Person In All Of Human History

Whatever your view of Jesus of Nazareth, there is little room to question the claim that He is the most influential individual in history, even though he lived a mere 33 years two millennia ago in a backwater region of the Roman Empire.

Australian blogger and pastor Kurt Mahlburg says that is why Jesus is so often co-opted for causes other than His gospel, noting on his blog:

“Let’s be honest: It’s all too easy to highjack Jesus and make Him the pin-up boy for our cause. Depending on your flavor, He’s the middle-class moralist, the enlightened guru, the hellfire preacher, the social justice warrior—and the list grows every year.

“The reason Jesus keeps getting a rebrand—the reason He simply refuses to go away—is that He is without question the most influential person in history.”

Continue reading “HARD FACTS: 10 Reasons Jesus Is The Most Influential Person In All Of Human History”

Why Do You Persecute Me?

By Bret Bernhardt

How are we to respond when various threats are made against us as believers?

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

One such threat was discussed in this space — “TOLERANCE TODAY: Harvard Keynoter Said Jews, Christians Should Be ‘Locked Up’ For Their Views” — regarding a recent symposium in which a speaker previously advocated imprisoning Christians and Jews for their beliefs.

In today’s hyper-charged environment, these type of statements are becoming more frequent. It’s understandable how one would react when hearing something like this. For me, a sense of indignation, fear, and anger are the emotions I typically feel.

Continue reading “Why Do You Persecute Me?”