With every bit of news which comes on and every post we read on social media, we can feel our bodies tense. We can feel the stress. The fear of the unknown. We have never lived through this kind of uncertainty before. What if we get this virus? What if our loved ones do? What if there is a shortage of pharmaceuticals? What if we don't have a paycheck coming in? What if the company we work for goes under? What if I can't pay my bills? What if? What if? What if? And our stress level climbs. My daughter went over to Asia in December to work remotely. She is still over there. From the first I heard about this virus, I started following it. I started to worry about her safety. As she moved from Vietnam to Thailand to Japan to Malaysia spending a month in each place, I followed the spread of the virus. People told me I was overreacting. "The flu is more deadly." they would say to me. I'd think, but 'We have a vaccine and treatments for the flu. This is something new.' Most seemed to dismissively poo-poo me. No one did more than my own family especially my daughter who kept telling me to "Stop!" But I somehow knew it was coming as I daily watched it spread. Now that it is here in the United States and spreading, my daughter is concerned about me. I'm over 60 with a stent in my heart, the higher risk category; she is worried. The worry now goes both ways. I've been praying a lot trying to curb the fear I feel. Years ago I had read the book 2159 AD A History of Christianity by Craig Borlase, copyright 2009. In it he traces Christian history from A.D. 64 to A.D. 2159. Yes he makes up the history from A.D. 2009 to A.D. 2159 in very great detail! And it is very scary history! I remember it shocking me and it is why the book has stuck with me. The years 2001-2019 were The Calm Before the Storm. The years 2020-2062 were The Age of Endings. In the book the following three things brought the world to its knees: terrorism, pandemics and fuel-poverty. Honestly his made up future was a terrifying read, especially when he describes one 2016 pandemic (again, the copyright of the book was 2009) which kills 11 million people in seventeen months. The world economies collapse. Countries go under. I wonder what Borlase thinks now of the real events occurring in 2020. I wonder if it sends chills up his spine. It does mine. In Borlase's book he weaves the history of the Church and world politics. Sadly, we see that there were many eras when the Church failed to be the Church. And in the ending years 2020-2062 - while terrorism and pandemics and fuel shortages are going on, the Church just collapses. In his made-up history there are few Western Christians left during those years and they go somewhat underground into house churches with no significant influence on the world. Christians fail others in the imaginary future. And in the real history from A.D. 64 to 2009 Borlase tells us of those who have walked in profound faith; those who have shown us what it means to live as a Christian in a troubled world. We see glimpses of the Church being the Church. But we Christians know the end of world history. Why fear when death by stone or fire or nail or bullet or rope or bomb or toxin can never be the end of the story? ~ Craig Borlase I think about that sentence. I cannot alter the circumstances the world is experiencing right now. I have no control over a toxin and economies. I have no control over the safety of my daughter across the world. I have no control over my own safety. But I trust in the One who does have control. And that is where our opportunity to witness to the world lies. We trust Him. They see us trust Him. The fear lessens. If only we could grasp a little tighter the idea that our every breath, sound and movement adds definition to this story of Christianity. ~ Craig Borlase We profess to be Christians. Let's show the world we won't live our lives in fear. Let's show them that Jesus reigns in our hearts. Let's serve and comfort the suffering. Let's share with the hurting. Let's live like we not only believe in Him, but that we trust Him with our future. Let's cling to our faith. Do not fear.

Discouragement sometimes gets the better of us. A friend shared someone's Christian post again and I finally went and looked at the person's page. Scrolled down and read several of her posts. Noted she has over 3000 followers who make a lot of comments. She puts daily little inspirational things. And her followers are greatly encouraged. Keep yourself under control. ... God is training you to trust Him.... Stay kind. ... you are trusting the Holy Spirit enough to be your true self... Never regret a day in your life. ... God is within you, you will not fall. ... And the dangerous comparison game began leading to discontentment. I've got few followers. No one is very interested in what I have to say. And the discouragement sometimes overwhelms me. Why am I spending years of my life on this? Is it really what God wants me to do? Is this really a good use of what time I have left? Would serving somewhere have more impact on His kingdom? And so I reason in my head. Is my heart in the right place? Maybe if I get a little more personal about my own life then people would be interested. Maybe I should shut it all down and free up my time. Maybe I should re-design my web page, take a new headshot, lighten up,... write pithy little words of encouragement... fill in the blank. The truth is I'm a nerd. I am very much vanilla ice cream. I'm not that interesting of a person in real life. I like to read. I like to learn. I like to talk about what I'm learning. I like to discuss big ideas. I like to think deep. I'm not a great writer. I'm old to be doing this. Seems like all the Christian people with lots of followers are young and cool. I'm definitely not cool. One friend told me I'm too scholarly. She seemed to say it in a condescending way. She must not look at theological websites which some are reeeeaaaallllly boring and waaaay over my head. Those are scholarly. I'm several levels below that. Intentionally so. One friend told me I'm too convicting. Well, I have a pretty high view of God as the Almighty and of me as a slug compared to His majesty and it is kind of hard not to let that seep into what I'm writing. I've taken their comments into account. I'm trying to teach some big ideas in an every day way. I want to raise people up in their thinking, not the trend of lowering myself to the least common denominator. I do want to be convicting, but maybe not so much. I am convicted each and every day - of my sin, of my failings, of my smallness. I scrolled through my blogs and saw 14 read that one, 105 that one, 405 that one, 22 that one - and I thought it took me hours to research and write each one. Discouraged. And so I pray a lot about this webpage. I felt really strongly when I started that God wanted me to share what I've learned. That it was my calling. He has repeatedly told me 'It isn't about the numbers.' We so often equate numbers = making a difference. I know that is a lie. But I get sucked into it every now and then. I sat here this afternoon working on facilitating a discussion for our Bible study next week. We have in previous weeks discussed the evidence of the crucifixion and the resurrection and the deity of Christ. Big deep topics. This week we will be discussing the Trinity, Substitutionary Atonement (Jesus is able to take and pay for the sins of man), and Soteriology (the study of salvation.) I know I've written a blog talking about the doctrine of substitutionary atonement. I spent a lot of time looking for it and I can't find it. (Ha. I so need to get my act together because if I can't find it, I'll have to look the information up again. Passion to Know More website needs a lot of organization. Something I don't feel like doing so I don't. Big procrastinator here.) And suddenly I realized I am so blessed. I have this group of women who are passionate to learn! Who keep showing up at my house week in and week out. We go deep. Really deep. And they find it fascinating. We don't do fluff. I never really have been good at fluff. I only have a certain amount of time to spend in Bible study. It had better be worth my time and their time. These ladies; they have a passionate pursuit of Jesus! And they are purposeful! Their enthusiasm keeps my enthusiasm fueled. We re-charge each other. And I have no doubt it is God's doing bringing us together. This afternoon I called a friend to check on her. She has a loved one who is quite sick. We got talking and she said she loves a book I recommended to her. That she reads a small portion of it and then goes to the Bible and reads it. She said she is learning so much. It made me smile. God has brought people into my life who are interested in learning more of Him. And I realize He has brought people to my webpage who have the same interests I do. And all of them keep me passionate about learning. The website is growing me. I am making a difference to others. My life isn't wasted. And I'm being changed in the whole process. The discouragement evaporated. My spirit smiled. I believe every place we are in our life that God is sovereign over it. If He opens a door for us, there is a reason. If He shuts a door, there is a reason. I am right where He wants me right now. If that changes, He will let me know. I need to quit comparing myself to the witty, funny, beautiful, young, profound people out there. It isn't a competition. It never was. I need to be content. Besides the majority of what I write about is stuff I would have studied anyways. I minus well continue to share what I'm learning. I know what I do here is not everyone's cup of tea. It may be too scholarly or too convicting or too boring for some. I wish I appealed to the masses, but the truth is that probably isn't ever going to happen. This vanilla ice cream needs to be content being vanilla ice cream. It is a good and trustworthy God in control. I need to sometimes remind myself it isn't about pleasing the masses. It never was. To the few of you who are reading this. Thank you. I mean that. Truly. I hope Passion to Know More has taught you something at some point. That would make my day. Thanks for being part of my spiritual journey!

My sweet Aunt Velma passed away at the old age of 95 years. She was the best human I have ever known. I loved her so very much and I knew she loved me. Our lives have always been intertwined but especially so the last eight years of her life. I made decisions for her - financial and medical. I was her care-giver. The last two years of her life she just lingered in a nursing home. And I've been really contemplating the why of that. Why God did she have to linger for so long? What was the purpose in that? My aunt had never married or had children. She lived in a small house in a small town which was a nine hour drive from where I lived. My mother had died when I was 20 years old and Aunt Velma had stepped in to be a mother figure to me. She and I were especially close. It was in 2011 I found out Aunt Velma was diagnosed with dementia. The year sort of progressed downhill rather quickly and I had to step up to the plate. Aunt Velma had always been so strong and independent and it was difficult for her to give up that independence. Six days before Christmas 2011, my sister and I went to move her to a personal care facility. At first she said "No way! And you can't make me move." (My husband had told me don't let her talk you out of it. Don't come home until you have moved her and know she is safe and sound.) I went to bed that night praying, Please Lord, help me figure out how to handle this. The next morning Aunt Velma came out of her room and asked excitedly when she was moving! Thank you Lord. Aunt Velma and I have always been able to talk about everything. She was aware of what was happening to her mind and very honest about it. She told me in 2012 she was afraid. Very afraid. She knew her mind didn't work right and she couldn't seem to force it to work. She told me she hoped she would just die suddenly. She wanted to go to sleep one night and not wake up. She said she wasn't afraid of dying. I knew it was because she loved and served the Lord her whole life. She knew she would be with Jesus soon. She looked forward to it. She was afraid of lingering on, unable to think clearly, unable to communicate, unable to take care of herself. And that is exactly what happened. When the time came to move her from the personal care facility to a nursing home in 2017, she physically and mentally went down hill very fast. It scared her if I tried to take her outside. She was terrified to leave the building. She became mean to the nursing home workers - so very unlike her personality. She didn't want to be around others at the nursing home. She refused to go to any activities and if you tried to take her she would scream. She could no longer walk and had to be taken to the bathroom where she would cry and yell. She had to be fed. She had to be bathed. She had to be dressed. She hated to be touched. She would scream if you tried to put lotion on her. I don't think she knew who I was, but yet she would smile and laugh when I visited. I think even if she wasn't sure who I was, she knew I was someone she loved. She let me hug her. And then she pretty much lost the ability to talk. Some words would come out, but not anything really coherent. That was the worst. I would sit there and talk to her or read the Bible to her. But she really couldn't communicate with me. I never knew what condition I was going to find her in when I went to visit her. Sometimes she was so out of it. I would get in the car and just cry. And then sometimes she seemed so much better. I thought she had long ago forgotten how to read. And yet about a year and a half before she died I brought her a gift bag and she read the writing on the gift bag. I was shocked! The next to the last time I saw her, they took her to the bathroom and when they brought her out about five minutes later she clearly said, "Where's Carolyn?" I wasn't sure she even knew who I was and here five minutes later she not only remembered I was visiting but she remembered my name! It was as if her mind was mostly checked out, but every now and then it would come back into focus. Physically her body was just giving out. Something as minor as an ingrown toenail would turn into a major infection. Each visit I knew it might be the last one. Eight. Long. Years. Passed. What she had hoped for at the very beginning - to die quietly and quickly - didn't happen. She lingered in that nursing home for 2 years and 3 months. And then at 95 years old she fell asleep one night and was gone in the morning. I had been praying for awhile that God would take her. Probably the entire time she was in the nursing home. And then I would feel guilty for praying that. Please God don't let her suffer anymore. This is not any quality of life. This is not what she wanted. Please take her to be with You. And His answer seemed to be not yet. I know He heard my prayers. So why Lord? When I finally got the phone call she had passed, I was strangely unprepared. I had been working on getting everything in order for eight years and in the sense of having her funeral planned, her obituary ready, her financials ready - I was prepared. But I wasn't prepared for the immense loss which swept over me. I was heartbroken. I pondered what possibly could have been the purpose of her hanging on like that for so very long. I have had glimpses of knowing why God let her linger. I think the main reason was to change me. Aunt Velma was already good to go to heaven. I think God's work in her was done. But He had a lot of lessons to teach me through caring for her. I came to know Aunt Velma in a way I hadn't before. I came to really know her life. I got to know her friends and people from her church who showered her and me with kindness and service. Many of them became my friends. I relied on their help. I witnessed the church being a church in a genuine way. Aunt Velma and I had plenty of time to talk during our many visits together over the years. I found out she was Valedictorian of her senior class. That she excelled at business college. That she had been a bridesmaid in seven weddings! (Maybe it was nine weddings.) 'Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.' she would laugh. Stories about my parents. Insights into our family dynamics. Aunt Velma was into genealogy and I learned about my ancestors all the way back to the 1700's when they came to America. That was something she had tried to share with me for years and I had no interest in learning about it until now. I was suddenly fascinated to learn of my heritage. I was able to see the little country church my great-great-great-great grandparents helped build in 1842. And their 1806 log cabin they lived in with their 7 children. All which wouldn't have been possible if I hadn't been making trips to see her. I learned about Aunt Velma's service to the community. I had known she was involved at her church and that she worked with some mentally handicapped adults, but I had no idea to the extent. Elder, deacon, Sunday School teacher, Clerk of Session, Moderator for the regional Presbyterian Women, mission trips. I found out she visited and worked with a mentally handicapped woman every week for over 20 years! She modeled a servant's heart to me. I had a front row seat to seeing how she loved others and how very much they loved her. I had truly never witnessed this before. Aunt Velma's parents and siblings and most of her 71 first cousins (whoa!) were gone and yet she was surrounded by people of many generations who loved her. She had spent her life serving others. Loving them as Christ loves them. Being Jesus' hands and feet in this broken world. She had spent time investing in others. Putting their needs ahead of her own needs and wants. It was a model life for me. I found myself wanting what she had... for my life to matter like hers had. I had to rely on God in those eight years. Things that were frustrating or seemed impossible, I would pray about and I felt Him in the midst of the situation. I felt His comfort and His guidance. My trust grew. My faith grew. I suspect God used her situation to not only teach me life lessons and impact my life, but to impact others as well. I believe in the sanctity of life. All life. I believe it is God who gives life and only He should decide when it is time for a person to move on to the next life. I thought she was lingering on. I prayed for it to end. I know I have only caught a glimpse of the purposes of those eight years. But I am certain there was a purpose to all that happened, when it happened, and how it happened. God's plan for each of our lives is perfect and overflows with purpose. For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 Every breath, every moment of Aunt Velma's 95 years had a purpose and I know each and every one was held in His Almighty hand. The experience changed me. In a very good way. I had the privilege of taking care of my sweet aunt for eight years. Thank you Lord. I am reminded He works all things together for good. Nothing is wasted. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 For the life of every living thing is in his hand, and the breath of every human being. Job 12:10 There is no safer place for any of us to be.

Apologetics is simply the defense of our faith. I was talking to a guy on a Bible discussion board and when talking about Jesus he said, "You are already convinced but skeptics are like that because of lack of evidence. Many believe he didn't exist at all or his story is a legend based on more than one real individual - a rebel leader, a preacher, a crucifixion survivor, etc." His statement has many flaws to it. Let's talk about the evidence. The historical method is used by historians to determine whether any event happened. It is the criterion and techniques used by historians to systematically investigate the past. One of the principals of the historic method is multiple attestation. It posits that a recorded event is more likely to be historically accurate if it is recorded in multiple independent sources, all else being equal. Being skeptical of Jesus' "existence" isn't warranted. It is denying the evidence. Virtually no one denies He existed because besides what we know from the Bible, foes of Christianity wrote about Jesus' existence and His crucifixion (Roman historian Tacitus, Jewish historian Josephus, the Jewish Talmud mentions it, and Lucian documents, etc.) Are you equally skeptical that Cleopatra existed or on the evidence of her life? The suggestion that Jesus was a "rebel leader" is far-fetched. There is no shred of evidence that He was a rebel leader. In fact, there is evidence He wasn't. Jesus was charged as an insurgent (Luke 23:2,5) and Pontius Pilate repeatedly said that he found no guilt in Jesus. (Matthew 27:23; Mark 15:14; Luke 23:4, 23:14, 23:22; John 18:38, 19:4, 19:6) Pilate was the Roman governor of Judea at that time and the only one with the authority to declare a person guilty and sentence them to death. It was his job to keep peace in the region, to make sure those taxes got back to Rome, and to put down any rebellion. We know from other historical writings that Pilate was willing to perform his Roman assignment of putting down rebellion. There is evidence he executed others for this very crime. Yet he found no guilt in Jesus. "You brought this man to me as one who incites the people to rebellion, and behold, having examined Him before you, I have found no guilt in this man regarding the charges which you make against Him. No, nor has Herod, for he sent Him back to us; and behold, nothing deserving death has been done by Him." Luke 23:14,15 There is no evidence Jesus was a "rebel leader." Jesus was a "preacher." Jesus claimed to be the Son of God and the Messiah. It is documented that the disciples of Jesus believed He had risen from the dead. Not only his disciples believed this, but His foes, Saul and his brother James, believed He had risen. A skeptic could say they lied or hallucinated. Both are unreasonable arguments when you take into account all of the evidence. Liars make poor martyrs. Group prolonged hallucinations don't occur. Yes, I suppose someone could say Jesus was a "preacher," but the evidence supports He was much more than that. He was the risen Christ. Jesus was a "crucifixion survivor." Virtually no scholar believes this is possible. To believe that Jesus could have survived a full Roman crucifixion is to not understand what a Roman crucifixion entailed. There is only one recorded case of anyone surviving a Roman crucifixion and the crucifixion was stopped before it got very far. There are no recorded cases of anyone ever surviving a full Roman crucifixion. The crucifixion would begin with a flogging of at least thirty-nine lashes using a flagrum. It was a whip with approximately six leather cords, each cord consisting of leather balls with shards of sheep bone and metal dumbbells. The metal dumbbells would cause the blood vessels under the skin to dilate. The sheep bone would latch onto the skin and tear it off of the victims. It was designed to cause excessive bleeding. The process of flogging would kill some people before they were crucified. Roman floggings were known to be terribly brutal. Jesus was scourged. He had nails driven through the median nerves in his wrists (considered part of the hand in that culture) and probably a seven inch nail through the nerves in His feet. These nails would crush the nerves and cause unbearable pain. So much so they had to invent a new word: excruciating which literally means "out of the cross." Hanging on a cross the person would be in the inhaled position and would have to push up to exhale. Slump down to inhale. Push up to exhale. It was an exhausting painful procedure just to breathe. When the person could no longer push up to exhale they died from asphyxiation. Jesus hung on the cross for six hours. If the Romans wanted to speed up the process they would break the legs of the person so they could no longer be able to push up to exhale and would quickly suffocate to death. When the Romans went to break Jesus' legs because it was mid-afternoon they noted He was already dead. Just to confirm He was dead they drove a spear into His side and blood and water came out. The water was either the serum after the blood has separated or the fluid from around the heart (pericardial effusion) or from around his lungs (pleural effusion.) Either way, Jesus had to be dead in order for there to be blood and "water" coming out of His side. It was the job of the Roman soldiers to carry out their orders. They were experts at killing people. If they did not carry out their job, we know they would be put to death themselves. This gave them incentive to make sure Jesus really was dead. Given the historical process of crucifixion, archeological evidence, what we know from various witnesses, and the opinion of medical professionals; the evidence is overwhelmingly in favor that Jesus existed, was crucified and did not survive His crucifixion. Based on a reasonable fair evaluation of the evidence, it would be true to say Jesus was not a "crucifixion survivor." We shouldn't blindly believe everything we hear or read. We should weigh the evidence and seek the truth. It is through discovering the answers that our faith grows! That was the effect studying apologetics had on me. It appears many skeptics have a predetermined conclusion, ignore the evidence, and are satisfied with making unsupported claims. That is the very model of having a closed-mind. In this case it is certainly unfounded skepticism and unwarranted claims. Apologetics is the reasoned defense of the beliefs we hold. You don't have to check your mind at the door to be a Christian.

Last summer a friend became a citizen of the United States of America. I wish I could have been there in person to witness it. I did get to see videos and pictures of the ceremony and it looked like it was a joyous meaningful occasion! Now he adds "American citizen" to the list of what identifies him. And this November he will be able to vote in our elections. How exciting! (Us being silly American Citizens at the Statue of Liberty.) When we think of who we identify as; we often list spouse to XXXX, parent to XXXX, employee at XXXX, occupation, religion, American, member of a political party, human to our pets, etc. However, Christians have an identity we often forget to mention. We are citizens of heaven. A citizen is someone who has membership in a community. It is your position or status. Citizenship comes with rights and responsibilities. Good citizenship requires that you do all the things a citizen is supposed to do. Citizenship is the state of living in a particular area and behaving in a way that other people who live there expect of you. The apostle Paul writes about "our citizenship in heaven." Paul was a Roman citizen. In the Roman Empire, citizenship was coveted. Roman citizenship was a privileged and legal status. A Roman citizen had the right to have a legal trial and a right to appeal the decisions of the lower courts. We see this come into play with Paul's life in that he appealed to Caesar (Acts 25:11) and was imprisoned in Rome while awaiting his day in court. While in prison in Rome, Paul writes a letter to the church in Philippi. What is important to understand is that Philippi was in Macedonia (modern day northern Greece) and it was a province of the Roman Empire. The people in Philippi had been granted Roman citizenship - not all people in Macedonia had. Their Roman citizenship was a profound privilege and one they highly valued. Paul was telling the Philippians that while they valued being Roman citizens, they had a more important citizenship. Paul writes to them: For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. Philippians 3:20-21 Paul writes to the church at Ephesus: for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household. Ephesians 2:18-19 The unknown author of Hebrews tells us that citizenship comes with rights. "I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND I WILL WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS. AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE." Hebrews 8:10b "FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES, AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE." Hebrews 8:12 This is the new covenant all citizens of heaven are under. Citizenship comes with responsibilities. How should a citizen of heaven act? David tells us when writing a description of a Citizen of Zion in Psalm 15: 1 O Lord, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? 2 He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart. 3 He does not slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against his friend; 4 In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honors those who fear the Lord; He swears to his own hurt and does not change; 5 He does not put out his money at interest, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken. Just a smattering of verses on how a citizen of heaven should act: A citizen of heaven obeys the law. And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40 We have a rich inheritance to look forward to as citizens of heaven. Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be My children. Revelation 21:1-7 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Revelation 21:22-27 Citizenship is a valued possession. It comes with privileges. And it comes with responsibilities. God, May we first and foremost see our identities as citizens of heaven. In all our actions and words may the world see this in us and how highly we value it. May we act like good citizens of heaven as we go about our daily lives with grateful hearts and a kind and generous spirit towards others. May we strive to be good citizens of heaven: - as we post on social media may we be truthful and kind - as we drive our cars may we follow the laws of the road and show others courtesy - as we go into retail stores may we be patient and friendly to others - as we spend time at work may our character and work ethic be impeccable - as we see a need in our communities may we immediately volunteer to serve others - as we make decisions about the best way to use our money - as we steward our planet - as we participate in the political process of our country - as we make sacrifices for the welfare of others - as we show Your love to the world Spirit, we ask that You convict us when we are not acting like citizens of heaven. We ask that You guide our actions and keep our minds and our hearts focused on what has eternal value. May we never forget and always be grateful that our sins have been forgiven and that we have the profound honor of being called children of God. May we see the world through Your eyes and minister to others. May we be Your humble bond-servants Lord. May all we are be to the glory of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. May you see yourself in this order: 1. A citizen of heaven 2. A global citizen 3. A citizen of your country May you count being a citizen of heaven as your primary identity, a valued privilege, and a weighty responsibility.

We live in a day and age when it is common to have people challenge your faith. To be honest, many American Christians are only Christian in name, Christian by heritage, non-practicing Christians; not Christian by faith. Our culture is getting more and more diversified and more hostile to Christianity. I have followed the state of religion in America surveys for the past decade. The "Nones" are growing in this country. In 2014, 20% of Americans identified as no particular religion, called "Nones." In 2019, 26% of Americans identified as "Nones." An increase of 6% in 5 short years. In the past ten years there are 30 million more people who identify as "no religion." The vast majority of those people used to identify as Christians. In the past I have had people say things to me like: "You don't believe that stuff that happened in the Old Testament really happened do you?" "I think there might be something to reincarnation, I was talking to a woman at work who..." "There is more than one way to heaven. God is a loving God." "I don't believe in hell. A loving God would not do that to people or He would not be loving." "What about those Ten Commandments, do you really believe we have to obey them?" "Do you believe we have to take the Bible literally?" "There are so many Bible versions and they all say something different." I often wonder if our grandparents encountered these kind of questions and statements. I don't think they did. My grandparents grew up in a small town which was probably 100% Christian. No one probably challenged them as to what they believed because they all believed the same thing. Being challenged on your faith isn't a bad thing though. In 2001I went through a really difficult time in my life. It was then I asked God to take over and I surrendered my life to Him. I needed Him to save me. Literally save me. I felt like I could not walk through one more day. My life was a mess. I was already a Christian at the time, but one who was very unsure of her beliefs. I knew if I was going to survive I needed Christ to be the Lord in my life. And I set out on this journey to figure out what I believed. I was very skeptical of what some Christians said and some of the doctrines of Christianity. With each question I had, I went into search mode. Do I really believe that doctrine? Why do I believe it? It was a very personal thing. I decided it was time to own my faith. I went on this journey reading the Bible, being in Bible study with other Christians, regularly attending church, getting involved at church, taking classes on the Bible, reading scores of Christian books,... and I became ALL IN this Christianity thing. I already was a Christian when I started all of this, but doing it made me sure of what I believed. I can tell you I truly believe the doctrines of orthodox Christianity. I believe what is put forth in The Apostle's Creed and the Nicene Creed. I believe it - every single idea in those creeds. Apologetics is the reasoned arguments or writings in justification of something, typically a theory or religious doctrine. I think every Christian should have some training in apologetics. I lead a women's Bible study group and I noticed by some comments made by some of the women that it was time for them to learn some apologetics. They believed the doctrines of Christianity, but if challenged they would not be able to defend their beliefs. And when you are challenged by someone who seems to know what they are talking about, you begin to doubt your faith. We decided to do Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus by Nabeel Qureshi (affiliate link.)* I had read the book a couple years earlier and found it fascinating. The purpose of the study was to first learn and understand what Muslims believe and to love them as Jesus does. Second was to "equip the reader with facts and knowledge, showing the strength of the case for the gospel contrasted with the case for Islam." When reading the book you find out that just as Christians have apologetics, so do Muslims! And you find out that they are highly trained to refute Christianity although the majority of them haven't read any of the Bible. The flip side of that is Christians aren't typically trained in apologetics and most Christians have not really looked into the foundational pillars of the gospel. Nabeel says in the book that growing up he would regularly challenge Christians on their faith and he never encountered one Christian who could challenge him back - until he made a Christian friend in college. That is so very sad. Most Christians don't know the why of the what they believe. I wanted our group's perceptions of Muslims to change and I knew as we learned some apologetics that it would be useful in having conversations with any non-believers or nominal Christians. As we gain knowledge, God purposes a way for it to be useful in our every day life. This study would strengthen our own faith, but also help them when challenged on their beliefs. Whenever any one talks about apologetics the first Bible verse that comes to mind is 1 Peter 3:15. Let's look at it closely. but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; SANCTIFY. The women in my group had studied in two previous studies what sanctification means. It means to become more like Christ. It means your spiritual journey should be such that your faith grows stronger as you walk through life with Jesus as your Lord. God is in the process of transforming His justified saints. Always be ready to make a defense to everyone who ASKS. I think this very clearly states that if someone starts asking you questions that you should know enough to give them an answer. You should be ready. If they ask you why you believe in Jesus' resurrection - you should know enough to explain why you believe that. Before you answer them, quickly pray the Spirit will guide your words, your tone, your expression. Don’t miss the WITH GENTLENESS AND REVERENCE. Do not get snarky. Do not be argumentative. Do not be condescending or disrespectful to them. You are an ambassador of Christ. Act like one. It is not your job to make them believe. It is your job to speak the truth in love to them. You should be able to have a discussion with them. Not an argument. Do not act superior or more intelligent. Always be willing to learn. If you don’t know something, don’t act like you do. Do nothing to harm the Gospel message, to drive them away from looking into the truth. Be GENTLE AND REVERENT. BE CONFIDENT! Christianity will stand up to any amount of scrutiny. We have a 2000 year great cloud of saints who have gone before us. Every word in the Bible, every theological idea has been researched and analyzed. Tap into that. No one could ask you a question which already hasn’t been asked. You may not know the answer, but be confident that there is an answer. Do not avoid discussions with others because you don't feel like you know enough yet. You may not be able to answer their question off the top of your head. If you don’t know the answer, be honest and ask them if you can look into it and get back with them. And then do it! LOOK INTO IT AND GET BACK WITH THEM. A great website which answers many questions is Got Questions! https://www.gotquestions.org They say they have the answers to 598,161 questions on the Bible! Ha ha. Oh my goodness. Learning some apologetics will strengthen your own faith and you'll be able to provide an account for the hope that is in you. Just remember that with "gentleness and reverence" part. * Along with the book Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus; we are using the study guide and DVDs (all are affiliate links): Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus Study Guide Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus Video Study Purchased together: Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, DVD with Study Guide

My women's Bible study group is on our 8th study! Each one has built on the other. This group of women go to different churches and are comprised of Protestants and Catholics. It's a God thing that we were brought together. They are so excited to learn and purposeful about their faith journey. Week in and week out we meet and they do their "homework" and participate in the discussion. Several hold down full time jobs and have busy lives and a couple drive from 30-40 minutes away to come! They have gotten a taste of Bible study and have developed a passion to know more. And I smile. I don't pick fluffy studies. I know what I choose is challenging. But they want to be challenged. They want to go deep. I see God's hand working in our little group. Sanctifying His saints. I taught them my Connecting the Dots of the Bible class going slower than normal and it took us 11 weeks to get through it. I wanted them to get the fundamentals down. We went through an online Theology Survey class which had some big ideas. We did a study on the Promised Land which had a lot of geography, but also taught us how God's people were to represent Him and how we were to be "living stones" (1 Peter 2:4-5.) As part of that study I bought them colored heart shaped glasses and we wore them to brainstorm how we could best represent Christ as we drove, worked, went shopping, on social media, etc. They know what it means to put on our "love glasses." It means to see others the way Christ sees them. Then we tackled reading Philippians where they learned valuable Bible study skills - to know the background of a book; how to look up information on geographical locations, theological ideas; sources to use;... We really began to see how all of Scripture connects. Now we are doing a study on apologetics. Things like is our New Testament text reliable? Did Jesus claim to be God? Was Jesus really crucified? We are using the book* Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus by Nabeel Qureshi (affiliate link.) Nabeel was a devout Muslim born in the United States who had been taught Muslim apologetics from the time he was very young. He could defend his faith. But then in college he met a Christian who could defend their faith. They became friends. Over a period of about three years they had many discussions looking into the claims of Islam and Christianity. Nabeel sought the truth and he became a Christian. The book is about that journey and contains a lot of apologetics in it. We are loving this study! Nabeel said that from a very early age his mother would tell him he was an ambassador of Islam. His parents, extended family, and mosque trained him to be able to defend his faith. "No matter where you are or what your are doing, you are an ambassador for Islam. That is your identity." We discussed if we see our identities as ambassadors to Christianity? And sadly, not really. We see our identities as Americans, as the wife to our husbands, as the mother to our children, as an employee of a certain company, as whatever profession we are in,... But as ambassadors of Christianity? On Passion to Know More Facebook page I schedule out posts. A few weeks ago I scheduled out some excerpts from Corrie ten Boom's book, Each New Day (affiliate link - excellent devotional!) These excerpts started posting in the past week just as the news had a lot of accounts on the 75th anniversary of the allies reaching Auschwitz. Corrie was a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp. She had hid Jews in her home and had got caught and sent to Ravensbruck. I didn't plan for these posts to align with the 75th anniversary. It just happened that way because it was a God thing. The day after my women's group discussed being ambassadors for Christ, this came up on Passion to Know More's timeline. Christians are called to be ambassadors for Christ. They have the joyful and important calling of sharing the Good News. ~ Corrie ten Boom, Each New Day ~ Coincidence? No! There are no coincidences! God is reinforcing what He wants us to know. He is sanctifying us. Each and every day. And over the years this has been the case with these women. We learn something new and we hear it on TV, on the radio, someone asks us a question about it,... It didn't happen just once or twice, but over and over the women talk about how what they are learning in Bible study is being reinforced in every day life. It is amazing to see God actively working in our lives as we draw closer to Him. And I think that is the best part of being in a Bible study group. To experience Him. Our women’s group discussed fruit of the Spirit back when we studied Philippians because Paul mentions "fruit" a couple times in that book. Philippians 1:11 having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. They know what righteousness, justification and sanctification are because we took Connecting the Dots of the Bible and the Theology Survey classes. What is righteousness? It is being in right standing before God. When we are justified (saved/ believe) then we are declared righteous. As we are "filled with the fruit of righteousness" (sanctified/ becoming more like Christ) that is what glorifies and praises God! What is this fruit? But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 And the women continue to connect...the...dots. It is a beautiful thing to see. Are we exhibiting fruit to others? Are our actions loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, self-controlled? We represent Christ to the world. We may be the only Bible others read. Be a living stone. Put on your love glasses. Represent Him well. You are an ambassador of Christ. A very important calling. It is your identity. * Along with the book Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus; we are using the study guide and DVDs (all are affiliate links): Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus Study Guide Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus Video Study Purchased together: Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, DVD with Study Guide

Not to beat a horse to death because I've written four times this year about the debate about whether women have proper roles in churches, but this is too good of an example not to share. A couple weeks ago my husband and I went out to eat across from our neighborhood. My husband recognized a guy he had talked to at the driving range. The couple asked us to sit with them. We sat and talked for about 2-1/2 hours. They were about 7-8 years older than us and simply lovely! I asked if they had any trips planned. They said they had signed up for a trip to retrace the Apostle Paul’s footsteps, but had to cancel due to family health issues. My husband asked about where the trip would have gone. The guy wasn’t sure where Philippi, Thessolinica, and Ephasus were. I said where they were (Northern Greece and Turkey.) My husband explained to them that I know that because I teach classes. They asked what classes I teach and I said Connecting the Dots of the Bible, The Pentateuch, The Kingdom Books, The New Testament Historical Books, and The Intertestamental History. They asked WHERE do I teach. I told them the two churches I had taught at, but added that I'm not teaching now. The man became silent, but noticeably stiffened. It was very obvious I had struck a chord. I asked what church they go to - a very conservative Baptist Church I am quite familiar with. The woman proceeded to tell me in their Sunday School class, the teacher couldn’t make it. “Of course the teacher was male. And we have a woman in our class who has her PhD in Apologetics from XXXX Seminary fill in for him and teach Sunday School. They came down on her afterwards and told her she could not do that because she was a woman. She did a very good job teaching.” I blurted out, “Do you know how absurd that is that you have a member with her PhD in Apologetics and she can’t teach a Sunday School class?” And I looked at the man (who was obviously irritated by my comment) and said, “So XX Baptist Church is complementarian?” And I added, “Teaching a Sunday School class is not having authority over a man.” He said nothing but his wife said, “Oh yes. Women cannot be deacons, elders, ministers or teachers at our church. But this woman said she was glad to step down from teaching. She was glad to do it. She can still teach other women in the women’s ministry.” I said nothing after that about it. But it was awkward. Shortly afterwards the husband said they had to go. My husband and he exchanged numbers for golfing and we shook their hands and commented how wonderful it was to meet them. And they left. My mind was reeling. 😳 That seems ludicrous to me. That woman would have spent years getting her PhD from a seminary. She was probably more trained than any man in the Sunday School class. Yet she isn't allowed to share what she knows with a man because she is a woman. What a shame. Complementarians who believe that women have proper roles in churches will base their argument on 1 Timothy 2:12,13: But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve., other verses, on the order of creation - woman came from man, the Ephesians 5:22-33 passage about wives shall be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord; and the example of Jesus the Son of Man submitting to the will of God the Father while here in this world. They will say male authority has been established in the church. Egalitarians who believe women and men have equal roles in the churches will point to other Scripture such as Galatians 3:26-29 - for you are all one in Christ Jesus, to women active in ministry in the early church, to context and culture of the Pauline letters, etc. Both sides will say you must look at the entirety of Scripture to draw your conclusion. And I agree on that. This is an excellent article I found balanced, if you want to look into it some more. Beth Moore in the Pulpit by Dr. James Emery White Here is the bigger news in all of this. Every year a survey is done on the religious climate in America. And in the past ten years thirty million people who used to affiliate as Christians no longer do so. Thirty million! In ten years! And of the Americans who do consider themselves Christian, they aren't reading their Bible. Biblical literacy is ridiculously low right now in this country. The Church in America is in decline. And what is the Church? It was established by Christ to further the kingdom of God. We ought to be doing what He asked of us. The Church ought to be letting every single person use their spiritual gift to further the kingdom in my opinion. The wife of a Baptist minister tweeted to me recently, "But preaching in the church service is not a woman's gifting. No matter what she claims. God does not gift something that is forbidden. She may be a TEACHER, and if qualified, she can teach other women. Why are women not satisfied until they are teaching men?" And there we have it. I think the Church is in turmoil over many things. The role of women is one of those things causing discord. And the issues the Church is facing today better be resolved sooner than later or we will sadly lose an entire generation. For my other posts this year about this issue, see: Women's Proper Roles in the Church dated February 13, 2019 Equal, but Not? dated February 21. 2019 When the Church Authority Debate Goes Bad dated February 22, 2019 Christians NOT Acting Christian dated October 29, 2019

A dear friend of ours battled cancer for six years and passed away a few weeks ago. My husband and he were friends since they were about seven years old. They went to the same elementary, middle, and high school and even the same college. They grew up in the same church. He was the best man in our wedding and a life-long friend. I knew my husband was hurting. I asked him if he was OK. He said he was really going to miss his friend, but that he was glad he was no longer suffering. I told my husband that I believe we will see our friend again. And my husband replied to me, "Only if there is wiggle room." I was like, "What are you talking about?" He told me they were in 7th grade taking confirmation classes at their church. The minister was teaching the class about the Ten Commandments. Paul leaned over and whispered to John, "Do you think God gives us wiggle room on those?" The boys started laughing and Reverend McHenry separated them as usual. We had a good laugh over the memory. I told my husband, "Yes, I believe God gives us wiggle room." And that wiggle room is Jesus. "Did not Moses give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law? Why do you seek to kill Me?" John 7:19 NASB as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE." Romans 3:10-12 NASB because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. Romans 3:20 NASB for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; Romans 3:23,24 NASB We all sin and fall short of the glory of God. But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:23-26 NASB But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 NASB We try to keep the Ten Commandments. We try to be good people. We try and try and try and try. And we mess up. We all sin. We all fall short. nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus,... Galatians 2:16a NASB that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; Romans 10:9 NASB Yes. God gave us a cross-full of wiggle room.

Today is the fourth anniversary of Passion to Know More. I didn't intend to write an anniversary blog this year. But I have something to say about a recent event which kind of goes with my previous blogs on passing on generational faith, the can-women-have-authority-in-the-church debate blogs I wrote this past year, and my recent blog about the rise of the religiously unaffiliated. I have really tried to keep this website focused on encouraging people to read the Bible. And I have purposely tried to stay out of the fray - the ugly things going on in today's society. The hurtful unkind way people address each other. I'm talking specifically about politics, homosexuality, abortion, sexism, sexual abuse in the churches,... All of the hot topics everyone is talking about. I have opinions on each of those topics. But my viewpoints weren't relevant to what I want to do with Passion to Know More. I want to encourage others to read the Bible for themselves. To teach others about the Bible. I hope I represent Christ well in my words and actions. I am aware I've failed at times. I have followed the state of religion in America surveys for the past decade. Every year I see less people going to church and less people reading their Bible and every year I get depressed about it. I believe the Bible is God's word to us. I believe that God's kingdom is spread through the church. It is where we should be trained, encouraged and convicted to be more Christ-like. In 2014 20% of Americans identified as no particular religion, called "Nones." In 2019 26% of Americans identified as "Nones." An increase of 6% in 5 short years. In the past ten years there are 30 million more people who identify as no religion. The vast majority of those people used to identify as Christians. It is coming from mostly millennials, but is across the board generational wise. We are failing to pass our faith on to others. In Falling from the Faith I wrote some reasons this might be happening. The way the media portrays Christians, social/ cultural issues, and lack of training in our churches were some of the reasons. But here is what I didn't say in that blog, but that I believe. We American Christians aren't acting "Christian." It permeates our social media posts. It permeates our politics. It permeates our churches. We don't have a clear view of what is essential to the Christian faith. The final straw which is breaking my silence is what John MacArthur said about Beth Moore recently. News media had a field day with it. Many ministers and pastors responded in support of Beth Moore. But I heard no one call MacArthur out on what he said later in the audio. And I want you to know about what he said because I think this is what the problem is. John MacArthur was being interviewed at his 50th year in ministry anniversary celebration. He bashes on Beth Moore in a very un-Christian-like way. That caused the outrage. The behind the scenes argument is between complementarianism (women have roles in the church which complement men) and egalitarianism (women have equal roles in the church.) Basically, 'Can women preach?' This year I wrote three blogs on the debate (shared at the bottom of this) and what I didn't say in those blogs is that I do believe many people who hold to the extreme complementarian view aren't doing so because they think the Bible commands that, but because they truly are sexist. Why didn't I say that? Because I could be wrong - I am after all a female and that colors my perception. And because I did not want to hurt the church and the spread of the gospel. I want to be a part of building up God's kingdom as should every Christian. I do believe Christians should strive for unity in the church. I do believe the body of Christ should have a single mind for Christ. It seemed the best way to do that was to be quiet. To submit to authority even when I believed that authority had gotten way off track. To hear what MacArthur said about women click on this link. Click on what appears to be a video half way through the article, but know that it is really only audio. John MacArthur, Beth Moore Audio Causes Controversy - Heavy.com *Update 2023. I see the link to the audio no longer works. You can still read the article though. To watch and hear what John MacArthur says about Beth Moore click on this YouTube video. John MacArthur Beth Moore Go Home By the way, I admired the way Beth Moore responded on Twitter to MacArthur. It was Christ-like. John MacArthur called Beth Moore a "narcissist." Wow. Continue listening to the video until you get to the 2:25 minute mark. You will hear John MacArthur say: 2:25 Just because you have the skill to sell jewelry on the TV sales channel doesn't mean you should be preaching. ... That doesn't qualify to preach. 3:20 The church is caving in to women preachers... The MeToo movement (...?) culture reclaiming ground in the church. ... The feminists have really won the battle. The primary effort in feminism is not equality. They don't want equality. That's why 99% of plumbers are men. They don't want equal power to be a plumber. It's not about women wanting to be a plumber. They want to be senators, preachers, congressmen, President, the power structure of a university. They want power, not equality. ... This is feminism gone to church. 5:04 ... and liberalism will take over... 5:13 ... translation committee without a Latino, African American and woman on it. ... 6:15 Women are not allowed to preach. Note the people laughing and clapping throughout what he says. You don't get more sexist than that. When I heard what he said I exploded in anger. There was nothing Christ-like in his words. I told three of my Christian girlfriends, had I been there in person I do think I would have stormed the stage. All 5 feet of me. They called me feisty. My girlfriend mentioned he is 80 years old which implied to me that he is from a different generation and we should give him grace. I don't care. He is a Christian leader and should therefore conduct himself as one. John MacArthur seems to have forgotten: For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise. Galatians 3:26-29 NASB He made it quite clear in his comments that women have little value to him. More importantly, we just shouldn't treat others the way he did. Is it no wonder that people are leaving the Christian faith? They want no part of this nonsense! And I don't blame them. If you read the link and go to the bottom where it shares what some said on Twitter, this particular comment breaks my heart: “Well, @johnmacarthur, thanks for being the last straw for my husband. After watching you as a leader speak so arrogantly ungodly about a fellow believer, he said he will never listen to another pastor preach. He’s tired of being manipulated by hypocrites using scripture.” It appears if you are a woman, a minority, a person who can't stand and does not support President Trump, etc. - that you are not welcome in our churches. It APPEARS that way. I know that isn't true. But what is true though is many of our spiritual leaders are guiding the church in the direction of divisiveness. They are relaying to us that you better get in-line with what we believe or you aren't welcome here. We Christians who do believe in the mission of the church, who have surrendered our lives to the lordship of our Savior Jesus Christ, who do believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, but don't agree with these leaders on many of their stances; are being silent. We are being silent because we don't want to harm the church. But it is these leaders who are harming the church. And we need to stop being complicit with them. Just to be crystal clear. I understand John MacArthur's stance on complementarianism. Although I don't agree with him, I understand his belief. I support his right to hold that belief. What I don't support is his hateful, unkind, and un-Christ-like words which came out of his mouth. What I am opposed to is his derisive and divisive words. There are millions of kind loving Christians who are trying to submit their lives to the will of God. Christians who love God and love their neighbors. Christians who differ in their beliefs on some issues and yet can respect other peoples' beliefs. You can believe women can preach (and teach Scripture to men) and still be a Christian. You can believe women have proper roles in the church and still be a Christian. At least I believe so. But perhaps I do not define a "Christian" like others do. Do I think John MacArthur is Christian? I do! Am I a Christian? I am! And yet the image of Christ he is portraying is not the image of Christ I want to portray. Jesus modeled to us how to be a humble submitting servant to God. How to glorify God in our lives. I don't see a lot of that going on in today's culture or maybe it is just the divisive Christians getting the press. I'd like to see more spiritual fruit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control) exhibited these days. American Christians are being harsh with others. Why do I think more and more Americans are becoming part of the Nones? It is because we American Christians (and I include myself) are doing a piss poor job at reflecting the image of Christ to them. There. I was completely genuine with you. And to the 30 million people who in the past ten years have become not affiliated with any religion, well, I'm sorry Christians have treated you unkindly. Truly I am. I'd like to say we are going to do better in the near future; that we are going to turn this around; that we will start acting the way Jesus modeled for us; but I don't know if that is really going to happen. I am praying for it though. Update 2023 - Two years later Beth Moore responded to what John MacArthur said. “After a certain public mockery at a pastors conference, I was literally heartsick for the ones who had done it,” Moore tweeted. “I thought how miserable they must be for having ridiculed a sister in Christ publicly like that.” Moore expressed worry for the pastors because of their lack of repentance and non-apologetic hearts, saying, “That they felt no need to apologize was more worrisome to me than the ridicule. Y’all, this isn’t a game. These things matter to the Lord. We are followers of Jesus.” Source: Two Years Later, Beth Moore Addresses Articles I wrote on the egalitarian/ complementarian debate: Women's Proper Roles in the Church Equal, But Not? When the Church Authority Debate Goes Bad Example of Women in the Church

In just ten short years the number of Americans who identify as Christian has dropped 12%. That is extremely rapid. What is going on? My initial reaction was we have failed at generational faith; meaning I assumed it is the young people falling away from their faith. The whole "Repeat them to your children and talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road,..." thing in Deuteronomy 5:6-9. Few in my generation did that. We aren't teaching our children our faith. But my generation couldn't. What I have found teaching Bible classes to adults is the information I give, for the most part, is new to them. They get so excited to learn it! You can't teach your children what you don't know yourself. Generational faith is not being passed on. The group of the population that has no religious affiliation are called "nones" and they are the fastest growing group. In my 20's I pretty much quit going to church, but I still affiliated as a Christian. In other words I didn't stop believing in the tenets of the Christian faith - that Jesus came to be the atoning sacrifice for me and that my belief in Him made me right with God and sealed my eternity. "Nones" include atheists and agnostics, but the majority of "nones" believe in spirituality. Just not a religion. Just not one way. Just not that Jesus is the way and the truth and the life. When you look at the Pew Research statistics you see the majority of the people who associate as atheists, agnostics, or "nones" are indeed Millennials (born 1981-1996). However, we are seeing a significant amount of people from the Silent Generation (born 1928-1945), the Baby Boomers (1946-1964), and Generation X (1965-1980) no longer identifying as Christian also. It is fair to say people from all generations are falling away from the Christian faith. Perhaps it has more to do with the state of our churches today. Church attendance is dropping so something is going on. God spreads the kingdom through the church and that makes it important to go to church and to be part of a church community. Personally I believe the biggest failure in our churches today is the lack of training in Christian discipleship. I repeatedly offered to teach my Connecting the Dots of the Bible class for free to the youth at various churches. The youth ministers thought the young people would think that was boring and wouldn't come. Youth ministers have to make it entertaining to get the students there. How much teaching and mentoring is going on in youth group meetings? The students can go the whole way though middle school and high school and have no substantial Bible knowledge. It isn't just the youth though. It is across the board. Biblical training is greatly lacking in our churches today. I believe we need to equip Christians. They know the basic gospel message, but where they are lacking is basic Bible knowledge (and I'd say therefore basic knowledge of God). Most haven't read the Bible for themselves. Maybe bits and pieces. For the most part they only know what they have heard in church or from others. We should train them on how we know our text is reliable, how the Bible came to the modern age, how it is organized, basic Bible study skills, why we believe it is God's word, etc. Teach them enough apologetics information about creation and evolution, the messianic prophesies, etc. to help them stand firm when confronted by the skeptics of the world. Church attendance is down. Bible literacy is down. Churches are not giving Christians a firm foundation. We've been dumbing it down for the past several decades and I believe this is a huge mistake. We need to be raising the bar, not lowering it even further. Churches could offer classes and training, but people just aren't interested in making religious training a priority. What if parents thought biblical training was as important as soccer practice and band practice?! What if adults chose to go to a class instead of reading the latest greatest novel on cleaning out their closet? People seem to be satisfied with their level of spiritual knowledge, which appears to be, well, minimal. Churches need to turn that around. Show the value and there is real value in being sure of what you believe! Not just the "this is what we believe", but the "and this is why we believe it" part. Over the past few decades traditional churches have bickered over doctrine pertaining to mainly social issues - fracturing their denominations. Losing membership. Who wants to be part of a community which is warring with each other? Community churches sprung up being "seeker" churches. They are great at presenting the gospel, but then fail to mentor the new believers. Great is the fall of a house built on sand. (Matthew 7:24-27). I think many of the community churches underestimated the importance of a multi-generational congregation. A church needs to have mature believers who have walked with Christ a long time to minister and model to others. The sermons/ messages in our churches focus heavily on God is loving and are almost silent on the God is holy part. They are giving half the message. Yes, our modern churches have not given us a firm foundation. They have neglected to train us, encourage us, and convict us. Is the rapid pace of the falling away of the faithful in the past ten years a cumulative effect of our churches' failures and our lack of generational training or is it something else? Perhaps it is closely tied to what has gone on in our culture. Our society's beliefs have drastically changed in the past ten years. What was scandalous decades ago like adultery, divorce and living together are not shocking now. No one today blinks an eye at those. Look at the issues we have faced recently! It is literally a cultural revolution! How Christians have responded to those changes in culture says a lot about the maturity or lack of maturity of our faith. We need to tread lightly while remaining firm in our beliefs. I have for the past several years interacted with several non-believers on a Bible forum. I have had intelligent conversations with them. They know the gospel message. They just don't believe it. They know "what" we believe. They often insinuate Christians are ignorant and naive; narrow-minded; and judgmental. I have not found this to be the case with my mature Christian friends. We have well-thought out reasons for our Christian beliefs. I've found "narrow-minded" and "judgmental" are terms people will hang on other people when those people don't agree with their beliefs. The influence of the media on the American perception of certain groups is significant. The media purposefully portrays Christians in a negative light and people are buying it. History Channel regularly uses an atheist professor as their "expert" biblical scholar. This "expert" often omits information when making a point. Believing biblical scholars are not consulted to give their side of the argument or the full story. In 1990 0.7% of Americans were agnostic. The atheists weren't even detectible on the 1990 survey. Today atheists comprise 4% of the American population (still a small percentage) and yet they are often put front and center, and portrayed as "intellects." Westboro Baptist Church and their repulsive actions have frequently made news in the past ten years. They are whack-o and are not Christians. They bear no fruit. But these are the examples of "experts" and "intellects" and "Christians" placed before Americans. Social media fuels all of this too. People have become so unkind and will say such offensive things on social media which they would never say to a person's face. Much of what we are fed is not reality. These warped perceptions are influencing people. Our goal as Christians should be to influence in a positive way - to guard our words and what we share so that they give grace to others. Many self proclaimed Christians aren't doing a very good job of reflecting the image of Christ to the world. I have read and watched the words spewed by Christians to others. To the gay community, to women of the MeToo movement, to how the churches have responded to sexually abused children and adults, the complementarian versus egalitarian battle, the race and religion hate speech, etc. I just today read a Christian minister say the most ugly things about Beth Moore on his Twitter page. His words were so unkind I was wondering if he even reads the Bible. He certainly hasn't taken its words to heart. The vitriol in our society has reached deafening levels. Is it any wonder that people say, 'If this is what it is like to be a Christian, I want no part of that.'? People feel attacked. Christians should not be attacking others. We Christians are to be able to make a defense to everyone who asks us to give an account for the hope that is in us, yet with gentleness and reverence; (1 Peter 3:15b). The actions and words of many of today's Christians are missing "the gentleness and reverence" that is commanded. We are to bear fruit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. We are to give words good for edification (building up and encouraging) according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. (Ephesians 4:29b) And the next verse has an imperative; "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God," I think it must be a myriad of reasons people are falling away from the Christian faith. This trend is shocking, alarming, and very scary. And I don't think we have the luxury of time in addressing it. What is my role in all of this? Am I representing Christ well? Are my actions and words turning people off from Christianity? Am I showing them Christ? Am I continuing to grow in my faith? Am I being purposeful in my relationship with God? Am I teaching others and encouraging them? We have to learn so we can defend our faith. We have to stand firm in our faith. We have to rest in His presence. We have to submit to His will. We must put on our armor in preparation. We must reflect his image. We must clutch to our hope. And we must pray fervently for a hurting world. Christians need to start modeling Christ. Read In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace by Pew Forum.

I used to be a member of a large community church that had an Institute that taught classes on the Bible. I took several classes and then I began to teach in the Institute. The first class I taught was Bible Basics. As we were going over the organization of the Old Testament books I had a woman ask why her Bible had more books than I was going over. The woman was from a Catholic background and she had brought her Catholic Bible to class. These extra books are called the Apocrypha. I found out over the years that some of the students in my classes were from a Catholic background. I made the decision that this information on the Apocrypha is something both Protestants and Catholics should know and I decided to include going over it in the curriculum. At first when I taught on the Apocrypha I know I had a decidedly Protestant take on it. That was because I am Protestant and my library of reference books are Protestant skewed. I began looking into what Catholics have to say about the Apocrypha. In my classes when it comes to a difference between Protestants and Catholics (and there are some!) I try to be upfront and say this is what Protestants believe, this is what Catholics believe - and to be respectful of each other's beliefs. I try very hard to be Switzerland. Neutral. What I have found is that while there are some differences in our beliefs and practices, we are united on the essentials of the Christian faith. The Apocrypha are books that were authored by the Jews mainly between about 300 B.C. and about 200 B.C. The Roman Catholic canon includes some of these writings. The Greek Orthodox canon includes more of these writings. The Slavonic Church includes even more. The Protestant's Old Testament canon does not include any of these writings. Protestants call these writings the apocrypha which is a Greek word which means "hidden" or "secret." Catholics call these writings deuterocanonical which means "added later." First let's name these books/ writings. It is hard to put an exact number of "books" on the Apocrypha because some of the writings are additions to existing books and some canons combine "books" and some don't. (Somewhere between 12 and 15 book total.) [Source: Miller, Stephen M. (2007), The Complete Guide to the Bible, Phoenix, Arizona, The Steve Laube Agency LLC, p. 296 - affiliate link] Here are the writings of what is called the Apocrypha: 1 Esdras* 2 Esdras* Tobit Judith Additions to the Book of Esther The Wisdom of Solomon Ecclesiasticus also called Sirach Baruch The Letter of Jeremiah** The Additions to the book of Daniel which include: The Song of the Three Holy Children, The History of Susanna, and The History of the Destruction of Bel and the Dragon. The Prayer of Manasseh* 1 Maccabees 2 Maccabees 3 Maccabees* 4 Maccabees* * Not in the Catholic canon. ** In the Catholic canon but included under the book of Baruch. (You might also see 3 Ezra, 4 Ezra, Psalm 151, and The Letter to the Laodiceans in some Bibles, but they are in a separate appendix.) The Catholic Bible has 7 additional books and some additions to Esther and Daniel that are not found in Protestant Bibles. The Old Testament of the Protestant Bible has 39 books. The Roman Catholic Old Testament has 46 books. These additional books are Tobit, Judith, The Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, Baruch with the Letter of Jeremiah, and 1 and 2 Maccabees. When these writings are included in a canon they are placed in the Old Testament canon because they are Hebrew writings and originated before Jesus was born (except for maybe 2 Esdras and The Prayer of Manasseh which possibly were written in the first century). Next let's define what a canon is. The word "canon" means rule of faith and truth. Canon – the group of inspired books acknowledged by the early church as the rule of faith and practice. Christians believe the Scripture is the authoritative word of God. It is our rule of faith. Therefore, the canon has significance to our faith practice. It is important to note when discussing the Apocrypha that all Christians agree on the New Testament canon. And it is important to note we all agree on 39 books of the Old Testament. All Christians have the exact same New Testament canon of 27 books. All Christians agree on 39 books of the Old Testament canon. How did the writings of the Apocrypha come to be included? The Jewish people had extensive writings. They had their holy Scriptures. They had historical writings. They also had interpretive writings of their holy Scriptures. Over the centuries the Jews continued to copy their Scripture and their historical religious writings. When Alexander the Great conquered the region (333-323 B.C.), he united it with Greek language. Possibly because of this the Jews decided to translate the Hebrew Scripture and other religious writings into the Greek language. This was called the Septuagint (also known as LXX) and this translation occurred between 300 and 200 B.C. A lot of people today say the Septuagint was the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. But it was more than that. It not only included the Hebrew Scriptures, but it also included other Hebrew religious writings. SEPTUAGINT = Translation of (Hebrew Scripture + Additional Hebrew Writings) to Greek It was this Greek text, not the original Hebrew, which was the source of Latin, Coptic, Ethiopic, Armenian, Georgian, Slavonic, Greek and part of the Arabic translations of the Old Testament. Churches included all of the 39 books of the Hebrew Scripture and some of the additional Hebrew writings. The Council of Rome in A.D. 382 affirmed these 7 books and additions to Esther and Daniel were part of the Roman Catholic canon. Pope Damascus commissioned Jerome, a Catholic priest, theologian and historian (scholar of the day) to make a new Latin translation. Jerome began by correcting previous Latin versions of the New Testament. Then he began on the Old Testament. While previous Latin translations had been translated from the Greek Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures and other Hebrew writings), Jerome translated directly from the Hebrew text to Latin. Jerome stated that he chose not to use the Septuagint because Judaism had rejected it as having mistranslations and heretical elements. This Latin translation of the Scripture was completed by Jerome in A.D. 405 and is called the Vulgate. Jerome did not think these additional writings should be included, but the Council of Rome had affirmed them as canonical. Jerome did differentiate these additional writings in the prologues in the Vulgate and he called them "apocrypha." Jerome used that term! Earlier Origen had said that the Jews called these most esteemed of their noncanonical books the "apocrypha" and this may be where Jerome got the term. Again, the word "apocrypha" mean "hidden" or "secret." Jews would never destroy their religious writings, but if not fit for use, they would hide them away and let them naturally decay. But it wasn't until Jerome used this term that the Roman Catholic Church began using it to refer to these writings. The Apocrypha (well at least 7 books of it) was in the Roman Catholic canon and it has stayed there. Fast forward in time and some Catholics began to believe the Bible should be translated into the language of the people. The Bible used in the Roman Catholic Church was in Latin. Masses were conducted in Latin. Most people couldn't speak or read Latin. At that time it was believed in the Catholic Church that Catholic priests had to interpret the Scriptures for the people. Between 1380 and 1388 A.D. John Wycliffe and his followers worked on translating the Latin Vulgate (which contained the Apocrypha) into English. Fast forward a little more until the Protestant Reformation in A.D. 1517. The Protestant Reformation was begun by Roman Catholics who wanted to reform the Catholic Church from within. These group of Catholics found fault in some of the Church's practices and traditions. One of the goals for the Reformers was to put the holy Scriptures into the language of the people. Their cry was 'Why can't the people read the Scriptures for themselves?' They were deemed heretics and ex-communicated from the Roman Catholic Church. When the Reformers began to translate the Scriptures into the languages of the people - German, French, English - they used the Latin Vulgate to translate. Hence the Apocrypha writings were in the earliest Protestant Bibles. When Martin Luther translated the Latin Vulgate to German, he separated them into a separate section and titled them Apocrypha. The early major Protestant English translations - the 1537 Matthews Bible, the 1539 Great Bible, the 1560 Geneva Bible, the 1568 Bishop's Bible, the 1611 King James Bible - all included the Apocrypha in a separate section. However, the Protestant Reformers made it very clear these books, while good to read, were not to be used for public reading, preaching, or for proving doctrine and placed that in the prologue of the Apocrypha section. Martin Luther said, "Apocrypha - that is, books which are not regarded as equal to the holy Scriptures, and yet are profitable and good to read." Later, at varying times, the separate section of the Apocrypha was removed from Protestant Bibles. At the Council of Trent in A.D. 1546 the Catholic Church declared these writings to be "deuterocanonical" (meaning added later). Basically they changed the name from apocrypha to deuterocanonical. I'm guessing this was done as a result of the Protestant Reformers' objections. They reaffirmed that these deuterocanonical books/ additions had the same authority as the 39 protocanonical books (the ones we all agree upon.) The Roman Catholic Church was saying these are Scripture. Whether to include the Apocrypha has been a point of contention between the Roman Catholic Church/ Greek Orthodox Churches and Protestant churches. The reason for this contention is we get our rule of faith and practice, our doctrine from our Canon. The Apocrypha has mostly historical and poetical writing, but there are a couple historical facts in the Apocrypha which are not accurate. First flag. The vast majority of the contents of the Apocrypha aligns with the rest of Scripture. But there are a couple doctrinal issues which do not align with the body of teaching. For instance, the idea of praying for the dead is only found in the Apocrypha. Protestants do not believe in purgatory - a concept which comes from the Apocrypha. Protestants believe all sin separates us from God and it is only saving belief in this life which seals our eternity. Protestants believe when we die, we immediately go either to heaven or apart from God. Catholics believe the Apocrypha books are inspired and therefore Scripture. The Jews do not have the Apocrypha in their Hebrew Canon. Jews and Protestants have rejected them as inspired; but view them as profitable to read. We must remember all Christians have the same New Testament Canon. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16,17 What we consider our "Scripture" matters. Catholics and others have more books in their OLD TESTAMENT than Protestants do. The real question though is how much does it matter? Well, the answer is somewhat layered because it does matter in that we get our faith practice from our Scripture. But in the bigger scheme of things, it does not make any difference to that person's salvation in whether they believe the Apocrypha is inspired or is not inspired. On the essential belief - our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior; our saving belief; we are united. On one hand the Apocrypha is worth debating. It does matter for our faith practice. On the other hand, when we pass from this life, what we believed about the Apocrypha will have no bearing on our eternal resting place.