Why do churches need PPP loans from the government? Yes, I have issues with nixing church and government. But that’s not what my question is about. It’s why do churches need these loans? Why are they short of funds? The easy answer is COVID. But is that too easy? For some, if not many or most, I believe it is too easy.
Why do churches need PPP loans from the government? Read More »
I live in Southern California. Part of the original wild west. Add to that the fact that we have Donald Trump, the “law and order” President. And yet, I feel like we’re closer to the wild, wild west of years gone by than we are to anything resembling law and order!
Law and order? or the wild west? Read More »
How come Christians don’t know God? That’s not a stupid question. In fact, it a very important question with a very disturbing answer. It’s all too easy for Christians to now know God! The headline shocked me. 51% of Churchgoers Don’t Know of the Great Commission, according to a Barna survey. I also found it very disappointing. Depressing even.
No wonder the path Jesus tells us about is so narrow. Even many of those who think they’re on it actually aren’t on it at all! They may not even be close!
How come Christians don’t know God? Read More »
How do religion and society fit together? Should religion and society fit together? And if those weren’t already tough enough questions, who gets to decide the answers? Religious leaders? Social activists? The government? But hang on a minute. Just when it seems like it can’t possibly get worse, it does. What if religion, everything related to society in general, and the government are all controlled by the same people?
Do you think that’s impossible? It’s not. It’s happening. Right now. In China, they’re well on their way to making it happen. The Communist Party is continuing to strengthen its hold on pretty much everything about official religion and Chinese society. Here in the U.S., many would like it to happen. Who exactly will be in control isn’t officially decided yet. But it appears that the government is winning, with Christians bowing down to the President.
How do religion, society and the government fit together? Read More »
Would you make a deal with the devil if he promised to promote Christianity? The answer’s obvious, right? Wrong! It seems to me there are two answers right now. Most, hopefully, say “No way!” Sadly though, I believe many are pretty much doing that right now. It’s a sobering view of Christianity in the U.S. right now. It’s very sad. Scary even.
I dare say, anyone who even claims to be Christian says no to that question. My concern though is that we don’t all examine what we’re doing through lens of the Bible. What Jesus taught. The examples He gave us both through His own life and through His words. Not do we always pay attention to the letter written in the New Testament by Paul, James, Peter, Etc. If we did, I think we’d be shocked. Dismayed by what we’ve been doing.
Would you make a deal with the devil if he promised to promote Christianity? Read More »
Protecting laws from religion? Management of religious affairs is about protecting what is lawful. That last sentence is the English translation of something from China’s Religious Affairs Regulations. But does that even make sense? China claims their citizens have freedom of religious belief. So shouldn’t laws about religion be concerned with protecting those religions?
What’s this thing about protecting the law from religion? It sounds so backwards. And yet, is it even unusual? We claim to have religious freedom in the U.S. So do many countries. But are we really doing anything different than China? In other words, is the real issue that China isn’t hiding what they’re doing? Let’s find out.
Religion and the law. Are we protecting laws from religion? Read More »
Should Christians be concerned about healthcare for the poor? Of course, the answer is yes. Isn’t it? In theory, it’s hard to argue against the idea. However, in practice, it’s apparently very easy to just ignore it. Does that sound familiar? If you’re Christian, it should resonate, loud and clear. Even if you’re not Christian, chances are you know something about “the good Samaritan”. Even if you don’t know where it came from, that concept is known by all sorts of people.
So let’s look at the question of healthcare for the poor in that light. We’ll see what Jesus says on the topic. After all, Jesus was the One who first put forth the idea of the good Samaritan. And then we’ll see what happens today. How we went from what Jesus taught, to a scenario where that’s pretty much impossible for all but the extremely wealthy people in the world, and how too many Christians have done the unneighborly thing by, well, by doing what we do. We’ll look at that in a moment.
Should Christians be concerned about healthcare for the poor? Read More »
Citizens have freedom of religious belief. That’s the English translation of something from China’s Religious Affairs Regulations. But is it really true?
Remember, China is a Communist country. And an officially atheist one as well. We must be forgiven if we doubt those fine-sounding words. Especially after reading part 1 of this series.
Remember, Article 1 of these regulations included the text, “increase the level of legalification in work on religion” as one of the stated goals for putting them into law. How does that even make sense?
Citizens have freedom of religious belief? Read More »
Christians – are you afraid of politicians? Donald Trump seems to think you are. Or at least hope you are. But really, the question is deeper than that.
But first, let’s get into why the question even comes up. It’s because of an article from Politico, titled‘Dangerous levels of contempt’: Trump deploys a convention to attack Dems on religion. A short excerpt will shed light on what’s happening.
Christians – are you afraid of politicians? Read More »
