Dr. James Tour interviews author and social critic Os Guinness about his book, AmericanAgonistes –America’s 250th and the Restoration of a Nation in Conflict with Itself and Its Past (agonistes – a person engaged in a struggle).
Tour and Guinness explore the Jewish and biblical roots of American freedom, covenantal self-government, and the gospel as the true foundation of liberty. They contrast biblical freedom with secular ideologies, warn about America’s current polarization and dependence on the state, and call for repentance, renewal, and a return to Scripture as the nation nears its 250th anniversary.
The gospel transforms lives. Release from the burden of sin is liberating.
These two men do a great job of explaining how the Gospel is the answer to the world’s problems. If we return to the Lord, He will return to us and liberate us. When you get right down to it, the only thing that really matters is Jesus: “Now this is eternal life: that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent”John 17:3
A mid-December weekend punctuated with mass shootings reminds us that a world plagued by sin is a world plunged in darkness. Worldly solutions focus on human action and therefore offer no hope for eradicating the evil afflicting the world. Yet this Advent season reminds Christians that true hope is found in Jesus, the one who is light, who came to earth on a divine rescue mission, whose birth first established the meaning and the significance of Christmas.
God is still using Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis to bring the Gospel to people in fresh new ways. Ark Encounter, The Creation Museum and now Truth Traveller in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and shortly in Branson, Missouri.
AIG’s third attraction, Truth Traveler, is now open! In a partnership with Mindscape Creative, they have launched a phenomenal new VR ride experience and planetarium in Pigeon Forge, TN. Ken and AIG’s Chief Digital Officer, Ben Wilt, give you an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour in the video below.
This new attraction will share the truth of God’s Word and the gospel with thousands of families visiting this popular tourist area.
At Truth Traveler Pigeon Forge, the past isn’t just remembered—it’s experienced! This cutting-edge 5D attraction transports you to pivotal moments in Biblical history while immersing you in breathtaking virtual reality with motion seating, sensory effects, and interactive storytelling. But the journey doesn’t stop there! Rae’s Stargazer Planetarium takes you beyond the stars to explore the vast wonders of the cosmos in a spectacular, larger-than-life dome experience. Complete your adventure with themed snacks, a gift shop packed with time-travel essentials, and an experience that will leave you in awe.
I get to see it on August 3rd, 2025 as I am visiting the International School of the Word (ISOW) to do some videos on Jesus coming Millennial Kingdom (http://www.millennialkingdom.net). ISOW is in Cleveland Tennessee about one hour away from Pigeon Forge.
Platinum ticket winner Canaan James Hill has Lionel Richie pacing and PREACHING after his spectacular rendition of “I Need Your Glory” by Earnest Pugh! The 17-year-old gospel singer with buttery velvet vocals will get to bypass the first round of Hollywood Week on American Idol!
It is encouraging that young men like Canaan are more interested in witnessing for God than winning the contest. In this instance, it motivated Lionel Ritchie to join in and start preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. For one, it will be a great encouragement to other Christians, and we can pray that God will use it to challenge unbelievers to reconsider where they stand with regard to their Creator.
Despite the lack of Scripture engagement among America’s youth, about half of Gen Z respondents in the American Bible Society’s State of the Bible USA 2023 study agreed with the statement that “the message of the Bible has transformed my life.” Among Gen Z adults between the ages of 18 and 21, 49% agreed that the Bible had a transformative effect on their lives. That number rose to 52% among Gen Z respondents between the ages of 22 and 26.
Reacting to the findings of the research in a statement, American Bible Society’s Chief Ministry Insights Officer John Farquhar Plake described Gen Z as “a generation struggling to find their footing with faith.”
After noting that “scripture engagement rates for Gen Z have been on a steady decline over the past three years,” he expressed gratitude that “this generation still shows significant interest in the Bible and the message of Jesus.”
“Ministry leaders may be surprised to find how open Gen Z adults in their communities are to discussion about God’s Word,” he added. “And if the trends we’re seeing continue—it’s crucial to be having those conservations now.”
We are fast approaching the last seven years prior to Jesus’ return to rapture the Saints and pour out His wrath upon an unrepentant world so we need to share the Gospel message with as many people to whom we are led by the Holy Spirit. He will guide and direct our steps if we allow Him to do so. Jesus knows who will respond to the Gospel message and who will not so it is imperative that we follow the Holy Spirit’s lead. Jesus’ instructions to the 72 disciples He sent out ahead of Him into every town and place where he himself was about to go (Luke 10:1-12) is helpful.
“But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’” Luke 10:10-11
“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, The kingdom of God has come near to you.’” Luke 10:2-9
It is important to know what the 72 said when they returned after having been sent out “as lambs in the midst of wolves“.
“The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”Luke 10:17-20
Watch Ray Comfort present the GOSPEL to this young woman and a young man. Note the logic of the progression of his presentation and their reactions. Just by their openness and goodness the Holy Spirit was already working in their lives. Fortunately, the young woman had a praying grandma, which influenced the extent of the change in her from believing in reincarnation to coming back to reconsidering Jesus as her Lord and Saviour.
God has revealed to Ray Comfort the great opportunity that the Coronation of King Charles on Saturday 6th May 2023 offers Christians to evangelize unbelievers. The Coronation service is a traditional Christian service that honours God and the Bible. When Ray shared the vision he had been given with others sufficient money was donated to produce millions of brochures which Ray is offering free of charge to anyone who wants to be involved in what God is doing to bring the Gospel to the lost. Please get involved, you can by going to Ray’s website go http://www.livingwaters.com.
The ‘no evidence for God‘ claim is an interesting one. It often works to frame the discussion in such a way that only creationists have a burden of proof. It allows the unbeliever the comfortable position of the skeptic: they get to poke holes in our case without ever having to make a case for anything themselves. Plus, skeptics regularly demand airtight arguments practically anyone would have to accept before they would believe in God (Agnosticism). As such, we almost certainly won’t convince them. But then that supposedly means that our faith in God isn’t reasonable. The game is rigged from the start. Heads, the skeptic wins; tails, we lose.
How should we respond?
CMI suggests you flip the script. Instead of you presenting a case for God, make them present what they think a case for God should look like. The simplest way to do this is to ask them: ‘What sort of evidence would you expect God to give?’
Many skeptics will say things like, ‘Well, none of the arguments I’ve seen convince me.’ Or they may just continue to demand that you convince them. Don’t let them off the hook. Hold their feet to the fire. Say something like: ‘Well, if I don’t know what would convince you, why should I bother trying? How do I know that anything I might say wouldn’t just fall on deaf ears?’
You want them to give you something concrete. But, failing that, your goal is to make them feel the irresponsible dogmatism of their skepticism. If skeptics hate anything, it’s looking like a gullible dogmatist. If they continue to avoid the question then walk away. The Holy Spirit may prompt you to pray for them but otherwise do not waste more time.
But if they do give you something concrete, then play the skeptic. What you want to do is to show them that even the case they expect would convince them has the same sort of holes they think exist in the case we make for God exists.
EXAMPLES:
Many skeptics will say things like: ‘Well! if I saw an amputee healed in response to prayer, that would convince me.’ Response: ‘Really? How do you know God would’ve done it?’ ‘The prayer’, they’ll respond. Your response: ‘That could just be a coincidence. Besides, it’s just a one-off event. What if it never gets repeated?That doesn’t sound scientific. Plus, how do you know something other than God didn’t step in to heal the amputee? Maybe aliens did it! At least we know aliens can exist, since we exist. But God? You’re just linking events that have no demonstrable link and labelling it with ‘God did it’ to cover for your lack of a scientific explanation.’ This sort of response is a real stinger because it’s exactly how most skeptics respond to cosmological and design arguments for God.
Some of them might say, ‘Well, if God appeared to me right here and said, “Here I am, believe in me!” then I would.’ Response: ‘So, you’d bow the knee at a vision that may very well just be a dream? How would you know for sure you didn’t hallucinate?’
Some might say, ‘If the stars read “God exists. Worship him”, I would believe.’ Response: ‘That would only be useful to people who knew the language the message was written in. Nevertheless, how do you know the stars don’t say that in a language you’ve never encountered? At any rate, why not other beings that want to deceive us? It’s not something we could say that only God could do, so why should we trust a message in the sky with practically no context? Besides, why should you expect God to arrange the stars just to sate your curiosity about his existence? Is that really reasonable to expect of God? Are we the centre of his universe?’
With such responses, you’re not trying to show that God doesn’t exist. Rather, you’re trying to show that we can always come up with reasons to doubt that will sound plausible to someone, no matter what evidence is put forward. And if they say, ‘Well, that’s what would convince me.’ Respond with: ‘So what? You can’t guarantee that it would convince every rational person. You didn’t say, “There’s no evidence for God that convinces me”; you said, “There’s no evidence for God”, period. If all you’re aiming to do is convince yourself, how can anyone else be sure that you’re really looking for the truth? And this isn’t just about trusting you. This is also about whether you’re even competent to look for the truth about God.’
At this point, they might start saying things like, ‘Well, all I can do is look at the evidence and do my best to figure out the truth. You have to do that for yourself, too.’ At which point you can respond with: ‘Exactly! That’s all I’m trying to do, too. But I genuinely think that things like the following are best explained by the existence of God (click on the links for a detailed explanation of each).
‘I see those things and more as evidence for God. I’m not saying that other explanations can’t be offered, or even that smart and sane people can’t disagree with me. Maybe you don’t find these to be conclusive proofs, but it’s a gross overstatement to say that they don’t qualify as evidence. Furthermore, when I look at them as honestly and critically as I can, I still think God is the best explanation for them. But when you say, ‘there’s no evidence for God’, you seem to imply I’m less than rational and/or honest when I say that. Is that fair?’
After all, that’s the real effect of this ‘no evidence for God’ claim. If they hold it consistently, they have to admit that you’re essentially irrational just for being a theist. But hopefully, by this point, they feel the unjustified dogmatism of their view, and walked it back a bit to admit that theists aren’t necessarily failing to reason properly when they believe in God. If you manage to do that, then you’ve won a huge victory. And that might be a good place to end the discussion for the time being. People often need time to process these sorts of things, so bombarding them with everything in our arsenal all at once is just unhelpful. For a start, they are probably not ready to hear most of it with an open mind. Rather, we try to deal with the person where they are at and try to nudge them a little bit in the right direction.
This information was assembled by Shaun Doyle of Creation Ministries International (CMI) in answer to the many queries CMI receives on how to answer skeptics’ arguments. http://www.creation.com
Watch Ray Comfort of Living Waters minister the Gospel to this young man. He had no concept of what God had done to secure His salvation and thereby eternal life. Watch the change as the truth slowly dawns on Him. This is evidence of how the Holy Spirit works in our lives to transform us. Only God could bring about the change we see in this young man.
Groundwire is really good at reaching those people that would not say they are atheists but do not believe God is relevant to our lives today. They are seeing tens of thousands of young people turn to Christ each year, and the positive pattern is showing no signs of slowing down. “We’re not going after the atheists,” Sean Dunn, president of Groundwire, told Faithwire. “The media would want us to believe that everybody’s an atheist, but, truthfully, 71% of Millennials [and] Gen Z believe that God’s a real being.” Still, young people, despite believing in God, tend to ignore Him, especially in today’s chaotic culture. That’s why Groundwire, a group that seeks to help youths enter into a personal relationship with Christ, uses popular media channels to connect with Millennials and members of Gen Z in the digital spaces through which they currently engage. Find out how Groundwire is reaching so many young people with Christ.
Jonathan Aiger reminded me of this hymn in his article on hymns of hope and comfort. I think he is right there is one Christmas hymn that stands head and shoulders above the others purely because of its scope. From the beginning of creation to the incarnation but then to a time of eternal victory. “Of the Father’s Love Begotten” was given to us by 4th-century Roman poet Aurelius Prudentius Clemens, by way of 19th-century translators J.M. Neale and H.W. Baker. The original stanzas are massive in their theological scope and warrant some study and meditation.
Of the Father’s love begotten, ere the worlds began to be, He is Alpha and Omega, He the source, the ending He,
Of the things that are, that have been, And that future years shall see, evermore and evermore!
At His Word the worlds were framèd; He commanded; it was done: Heaven and earth and depths of ocean in their threefold order one; All that grows beneath the shining Of the moon and burning sun, evermore and evermore!
He is found in human fashion, death and sorrow here to know, That the race of Adam’s children doomed by law to endless woe, May not henceforth die and perish In the dreadful gulf below, evermore and evermore!
O that birth forever blessèd, when the virgin, full of grace, By the Holy Ghost conceiving, bare the Savior of our race; And the Babe, the world’s Redeemer, First revealed His sacred face, evermore and evermore!
This is He whom seers in old time chanted of with one accord; Whom the voices of the prophets promised in their faithful word; Now He shines, the long expected, Let creation praise its Lord, evermore and evermore!
O ye heights of heaven adore Him; angel hosts, His praises sing;
Powers, dominions, bow before Him, and extol our God and King! Let no tongue on earth be silent, Every voice in concert sing, evermore and evermore!
Righteous judge of souls departed, righteous King of them that live, On the Father’s throne exalted none in might with Thee may strive; Who at last in vengeance coming Sinners from Thy face shalt drive, evermore and evermore!
Thee let old men, thee let young men, thee let boys in chorus sing; Matrons, virgins, little maidens, with glad voices answering: Let their guileless songs re-echo, And the heart its music bring, evermore and evermore!
Christ, to Thee with God the Father, and, O Holy Ghost, to Thee, Hymn and chant with high thanksgiving and unwearied praises be: Honor, glory, and dominion, And eternal victory, evermore and evermore!
Provide good content and you will get a good response. Jesse Bradley, a former professional soccer player-turned-pastor is on a digital mission to reach World Cup fans with the Gospel.
Jesse Bradley, a preacher at Grace Community Church in Auburn, Washington, told CBN’s Faithwire he’s seen thousands of soccer fans embrace Jesus since launching his effort. “We’re able to create content where we share the Gospel. I share my story, and people are making decisions to follow Jesus,” he said. “We’re reaching millions of people. We’re seeing over 18,000 already make first-time decisions.” But it’s not limited to simply counting decisions made for Christ. The effort also has a discipleship element, with Bradley partnering with Global Media Outreach, a company leveraging technology to spread the Gospel. “They … follow up, and we help those people find a church,” he said. “So, it’s not just decisions; it’s disciples.” Bradley said the stunning results from the campaign are indicative of a “massive hunger across the world now for God, for hope, for faith, for Jesus.” He said the interest levels are high. Bradley and his team are telling his story and using his testimony to bridge soccer and Jesus in unique ways. Here’s how it all works.
LIVING ETERNAL NOW 