Expelled: The Movie

I’m hearing very good things about Expelled, the movie starring Ben Stein that demonstrates the bias and hostility in academia against intelligent design.  It opens nationwide on April 18, but special screenings are taking place now.  I’m going to one next week and I’ll post a review on this blog.  See the trailer here.

/by

Obama, Clinton Message: Class Warfare and Unity?

As I watched the debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, I couldn’t help but notice the inherent contradiction in their message (they both have the same message– they were both nodding in agreement with each other all night).  They both say they want to bring the country together (whatever that means), but somehow they think they can do that by engaging in class warfare.  According to Obama and Clinton, all Americans must come together for “change” and “hope,” unless you’re an American who makes more than $75,000 per year.   Somehow, if you make money, Obama and Clinton think you are the problem.

How can the most economically-productive people in our society be the enemy of economic growth?  Aren’t the people who make more than $75,000 creating more jobs and paying more taxes than those making $35,000?  And for those candidates who conveniently quote scripture, aren’t we supposed to use and multiply the talents God has given us?

The class warfare rhetoric isn’t even based on fact.  The truth is the top 1% of taxpayers in the U.S. pay 39% of all taxes (that’s 2 percentage points higher than when President Bush took office).  The top 25% of taxpayers, pay 86% of all taxes.  And the top 50% of all taxpayers, pay 97% of all taxes (HT: www.RushLimbaugh.com).  Moreover, the reduction of tax rates usually results in an increase in tax revenue to the government (as the Bush tax cuts showed). That’s because tax cuts fuel economic growth, which results in more revenue to the government even though the tax rate is lower (e.g. 35% of $200,000 is more than 39% of $150,000).

But even if the rich were not “paying their fair share” (whatever that means), you can’t unify a country by political rhetoric that continually divides people by their income.   Nor can you create economic opportunity by punishing those who create it.

I hope Obama and Clinton dispense with the class warfare rhetoric and give up on their proposed socialist policies.  Everywhere socialism has been tried it has failed, including in health care (rich Brits and Canadians come here for their health care; gee, I wonder why?).  Moreover, class warfare ignites the wrong kind of passion in the electorate– envy, revenge and covetousness.   That’s wasted energy and it produces dependence on government rather than on the true engines of economic growth–opportunity, individual responsibility and hard work.   After all, the government can’t give you anything unless it takes it from another citizen first.  That’s not a good recipe for unity.

/by

Christian Apologetics on TV: Tune in!

,

We are blessed to have a TV show on every Sunday night at 6 p.m. EST (rebroadcast at 11 p.m. Pacific Time) on DirecTV Channel 378.  The show is called I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, which will be the main topic through the month of April 2008.    After that, I’ll be preaching through the book of Romans verse by verse (with an apologetics emphasis of course).  Click “TV Program” in the menu to the left to see the intro.  If you’d like to order DVD’s of the show, click here.

/by

If Parents only Knew What Universities Promote

Why do 75% of young Christians leave the church in college?  Because universities promote left-wing, anti-Christian barbarism like this (Warning: Graphic!).

See also this column by Mike Adams exposing the pro-homosexual agenda at NC State and its new tax-dollar funded Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) Center. ?

/by

Over 1500 Attend "I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist" at NC State

,

The CrossExamined “I Don’t have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist” tour visited NC State’s Reynold’s Coliseum on Thursday night February 7.  Over 1500 students attended the seminar which was hosted by Campus Crusade of NC State (http://clubs.ncsu.edu/crusade/).  My thanks to Mike Mehaffie and his CC team for their tremendous work in making the event a success.   The attendance far exceeded their expectations, and both Christians and non-Christians attended.

Despite the fact that 75% of Christians leave the church during college, many of them appear to have a hunger for answers about God and Christ.  So do their atheist friends.  If you are a supporter of ours, thank you for helping us bring answers to college campuses.

We are currently looking for a date to conduct Part 2 of “I Don’t have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist” at NC State, so stay tuned.   If you would like to bring us to your particular campus, please contact us by clicking here.

/by

Over 2000 Attend "I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist" at ONU

, ,

Last week we launched our invasion of college campuses for the Spring with two major events at Olivet Nazarene University (ONU is a one-hundred-year-old Christian university about 80 miles south of Chicago, but it may be best known as the site for the Chicago Bears Training camp). I spoke to 1800 students and faculty at chapel in the morning and nearly 400 at a smaller venue that night.

Despite being a Christian school, there is a faculty member at ONU who has convinced many of the students to believe in evolution. I didn’t know that going in, but I sure stirred up a lot of controversy by making a strong scientific case for creation and intelligent design. Several questions during the Q & A period had to do with evolution. Afterwards, many of the students, and even some faculty members, expressed great relief to finally see compelling evidence for creation and intelligent design. One professor, who was visibly moved by the evidence, said, “Wow, you really expanded my understanding of God and his creation with the arguments you presented.” It’s always gratifying to affect the professors positively because they have an ongoing influence with the students.

If evolution has crept into even our Christian universities, you can only imagine what’s being taught at typical secular schools. It’s no wonder why 75% of our kids are leaving the church!

Two secular schools are next. We head to NC State on February 7th for an I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist seminar in Reynolds Coliseum from 8 to 9:30 p.m. The next day I’ll spend four hours taking questions, first from the Campus Crusade team and then from the students. A return visit to Appalachian State will happen Monday, February 25.

One more exciting note: our weekly one-hour TV show called I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist beings Sunday night, February 17 at 6 pm. on DirecTV Channel 378.  Now, we don’t charge students for college events, and we pay to produce the TV show and the CrossExamined website. That’s why we’ll only be able to help our kids see the truth if you continue to support us both prayerfully and financially. Please pray as we again enter the lion’s den, and make a high-impact donation securely by selecting Donate on the left. Thank you for partnering with us!

/by

New Stem Cell Discovery Not Pro-Abortion Enough

When President Bush announced in the State of the Union address his support for research on embryonic stem cells that are created without destroying life (by means of a new discovery), Republicans leapt to their feet and applauded.  Most Democrats sat with their hands folded.  Why?

Democrats have been criticizing President Bush for not using federal funds on stem cell research.  So why weren’t they applauding?  Is it because any admission that an embryo is alive hurts their case for abortion?  Back on November 30th, I agreed with others who predicted this would happen.  Click here:  Suppressing the Truth on Stem Cells.

I hate to put it this way, but it think it’s true:  the Democrat party seems more concerned with continuing to allow babies to be killed rather than finding new medical advances to help everyone live.

/by

An Apologetic against Christian Apologetics?

,

Last week I was taking questions during an “I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist” seminar on the campus of Olivet Nazarene University.  One question challenged the legitimacy of Christian Apologetics.  It was half question, half critique and it went something like, “Why are you trying to prove Christianity?  We just need to love one another!”   It sounds like something from the “emergent church” people.  Here is my response:

  1. It’s a false choice– we can and should do both.  We ought to show people why Christianity is true and love them as well.   The two are not mutually exclusive but complementary.  In fact, the Bible tells us to do both, which is my second point . . .
  2. Christian apologetics is commanded.  The greatest commandment contains both:  “Love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  And love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt. 22:37).  1 Pet. 3:15 tells us to “always be ready to give an answer but to do this with gentleness and respect.”  Apologetics is not an option for Christians, and we don’t get brownie points for being stupid.  We are commanded to know what we believe and why we believe it.   We are commanded to “demolish arguments” and “take every thought captive to Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).
  3. Atheists have their own apologetics.  We’re losing 75% of our young adults from the church partially because they are the victims of atheistic apologetics in college.  Christian apologetics needs to exist if for no other reason than to counter the false arguments that atheists and apologists from other worldviews are making– and they are making those claims aggressively.  CrossExamined.org exists to counter those false claims with the truth.
  4. It works. While some people believe without knowing why, others need evidence before they can believe.  I know several people, myself included, who came to faith through apologetics.
  5. There’s a difference between belief that and belief in.  I am not suggesting that apologetics alone gets someone saved.  But it does provide evidence that Christianity is true so people can put their trust in Christ.  Knowing that Christ is savior is not the same as trusting in him.  Even the demons know that Christ is savior but they don’t put their trust in him (James 2:19).   Yet, both belief that and belief in are necessary.
  6. It equips you to be better ambassador.  Even if you don’t sense a need for apologetics for your own edification, you may need it to edify others.  We are called to be God’s ambassadors to minister to others.  In fact, God makes his appeal through us (2 Cor. 5:20).  We can’t answer the questions of others without apologetics.  That’s why Paul tells us to study to show ourselves approved (2 Tim 2:15).
  7. It’s self-defeating to give an apologetic against apologetics.   Why do people give me reasons to stop using reasons?
/by

Temple seal found in Jerusalem

Here is another achaeological discovery just made in Jerusalem that affirms the reliability of the Bible.  Here is a quote from the archaeologist: “The seal of the Temech family gives us a direct connection between archeology and the biblical sources and serves as actual evidence of a family mentioned in the Bible,” she said. “One cannot help being astonished by the credibility of the biblical source as seen by the archaeological find.”

/by

Free Speech or Hate-Crime Laws: Can’t Have Both

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council points out in his January 9 email that so-called “hate-crime” laws are having a chilling effect on free speech in Canada (BTW, aren’t all crimes “hate” crimes?).  Mark Steyn is under attack for writing some unflattering things about Islam.  Notice, the issue isn’t whether Mark’s factually correct about what he wrote, but whether he hurt feelings!

The American and Canadian governments have several things in common, including, it appears, the pursuit of radical hate speech laws. As the U.S. braces for another round of hate crimes legislation this spring, our northern neighbors are already engaged in an all-out battle over free speech. The latest victim is popular author and columnist Mark Steyn, who wrote the best-seller America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It. Although the book was published by an American company, excerpts that later appeared in the Canadian press have become the subject of investigation by the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC). The book, which contrasts Islamic values with those of the West, was considered “a misrepresentation” of the Muslim religion by the Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC). As a result of CIC’s complaint, Steyn finds himself at the center of a controversial debate over the limits of public expression. Using charges of “discrimination” as a means of silencing opposition, the CHRC’s investigation jeopardizes freedom in all of North America. During an interview with The Washington Times, Steyn said, “Offense is in the eye of the beholder. The commissions aren’t weighing facts but hurt feelings.” Ironically, when Christians or conservatives object to similar treatment, they usually find themselves on the losing side of the argument, or worse, completely overlooked. Unfortunately, this is just a preview of things to come if the U.S. House is successful when the battle over new federal hate crimes resumes. As Mark Steyn can attest, nothing less than our first freedoms are at stake.

America needs to understand something before we adopt hate crime laws here– we can either have the right to free speech or the right not to be offended, but we cannot have both.

/by