Christian Data Resources

There is a revealing article in the May, 2011 issue of Reader’s Digest by Ed Dante (a pseudonym) about the cheating epidemic on college campuses.  Dante is a ghostwriter who writes papers for college students for a steep fee.  He makes some $66,000 per year, earning as much as $2,000 for a 75-page essay. 
One of the biggest categories of students who seek Dante’s services are those that he calls “lazy rich kids.”  He says that Colleges are a perfect launching ground for them, because our educational institutions are built to reward the rich and to forgive them their laziness.  The successful among us are not always the best, the brightest, or the most ethical.  The lazy rich kid is “poised for a life of paying others and telling them what to do.  Indeed, he is acquiring all the skills he needs to stay on top.” 

As for English-as-a-Second Language students and the hopelessly deficient students, our colleges are utterly failing them, primarily due to the focus on evaluation rather than education. 

Nursing students account for one of Dante’s biggest customer bases–reports on nursing ethics, and essays on why nurse-practitioners are light the way to the future of medicine; and even pharmaceutical-treatment courses for patients. 

Dante says that seminary students are among the biggest cheaters.  He says that they “seem so blissfully unaware of the inherent contradiction in paying somebody to help them cheat in courses that are largely about walking in the light of God and providing an ethical model for others to follow.  I have been commissioned to write many a passionate condemnation of America’s moral decay as exemplified by abortion, gay marriage, or the teaching of evolution.  All in all, we may presume that clerical authorities see these as a greater threat than the plagiarism committed by the future frocked.”

I want to share a sad and self-explanatory e-mail that I recently received from a poor person.  The subject line said, “Oppression of the poor and someone trying to change themselves and no help.” 

“Here is Stumbling blocks to the poor…, judging the poor wrongfully.  In the past I have applied to many jobs. denied denied, so be it.  Tryed to go for different trade in school and denied by phycologist and highly educated scolars.  That get paid to deny someone a means of trade to get out of the government programs.  With their IQ test.  Get big bucks for this. 

Go to all different jobs and turned away.  No hire because of stumblingblocks and upsticles.  Need high school deplomer along with Phd or bacherler or certificates.  among many demand of technology and big education.  Judged because of speach impairment and no teeth for beauty.  If I went around the neighborhood and truly do what is In the old testament I would be chased away.  I mean go and offer to the rich neighbor to do thier mowing or plowing snow for money to help me the poor.  They turn you away. 

To set obsticles that cause us to trip in trying to find our job to make money to live with out the govenment.  I am very not happy of this conditions and I find no crooperation in the US.  I also find we get punished for trying to get off the system and penaltlized.  People that have jobs are braggers and like to call us freeloarders and employers that choose who they hire and will not hire some poor people.  Where does this oppression belong too? 

I find you are making comments to the poor. So let me cry unto you for a job that could pay my way and sky rocket rent and heat and food.  In the modern day it is applying for jobs at stores or corperation, or restraunts or what ever it is.  They don’t have on job training as much as they use too.  They have set all kinds of demands to get a job to qualify and no one wants to give another person a chance without a big education among experiences.  
So I say just like the prophet said they are turning to poor from their right.  Then blaming us for the nations problems.  Some of us are crying of bondage and oppression.  God does open the ears of the one being oppressed. 

My idea on the rents are way to high even for the working middle class.  My idea is to that housing should rent to buy the house and they would not have to keep paying every month.  I find that not right that the government has to pay our rent.  If they did not I wuold be living on the streets.  I do have Jesus Christ living in me.  I find cities are exploiting the poor by thier new inspections every year to make them selves jobs.  Help Help with ideas of geting out of this mess of oppression and them exploiting rental clients to expand government power and hold us more in boundage. 

Thank you for your insights.  Please give me feed back on how I could get a living going to flee out of this trap of poverty I did not ask for.  If people are going to call us free loader they need to help us out of this boundage instead of finding fault.  Take action to help and serve.  There is some that are not happy in this life style.  US is not what is was base on and thing are upside down. 

I hope you see the oppression that is happening to the poor.  There are many making haush comments about us and some are drinking and druging.  But not all.  It really hurts me to see others held back too…  But this is only my case and it happens to other people…  We need God’s kingdom here.  Then we will all have our own tree and own land to have our own house.  Plus peace and walk God’s way which his laws on base of LOVE. Please cry out for the poor of the oppression and exloiting the poor…  I hope I was not to bold.  But i get sick of people  saying  we are bum, lazy, dumb, fools, freeloaders, and drug attics or drunks when I one don’t and I know some others that don’t drink and drug.  If they want to make these comments they need to help the oppressed and fight to help the poor get out of the trap of proverty.  This includes big bussinesses.  God makes rich. and makes poor.  I hope this shed light on the problems that we face.  There is more than one side of a story.” 

I am surprised at the fear of death that seems to prevail in the Christian community.  Why should death have any hold on a true believer?  Christ conquered death on the cross, and our life in this world cannot even be compared to the glory that awaits us on the other side.  Acts 20:24 says, “I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—-the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.” 

Yet, my own mother, who was rock-solid in her faith in Christ, lay on her deathbed and suddenly became scared of death.  Although a strange phenomenon for a believer, it could be that this is a natural tendency of our flesh, perhaps not so much fearing what’s on the other side, but being afraid of the transitional experience of death itself–from a temporal existence into an eternal one. 

A recent 60 Minutes episode reported on an Afghan spy named Amrullah Saleh, who performed many dangerous missions against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban throughout the Mideast.  He’s under constant threat of assassination.  Yet, he says, “If they kill me, I have told my family and my friends not to complain about anything…”  When asked if he was worried about his own survival, he said, “No, there is a cause, and if the pursuance of that cause I embrace death, it will be a dignified death.” 

Regardless of Saleh’s faith, we Christians can learn from this wise man.  His comments are quite analogous to the Christian experience.  Our death should be viewed as our final earthly experience that brings glory to God, and we should rejoice in it, and complain about nothing.  This is true for every believer, and for all of his loved ones whose time has not yet come.  We should welcome death–not to the point of suicide, of course, because only God is to decide how many days we should live on this earth. 

Indeed, “… there is a cause…”  A believer’s cause is to bring glory to God by following Jesus Christ, in this life, and into eternity.  And when, “… in the pursuance of that cause, I embrace death, it will (indeed) be a dignified death,” and one that glorifies God.

It could be said that John 3:16 is the most important Bible verse for unbelievers.  After all, what’s more important than understanding the gospel message–that eternal life with God is possible through the saving blood of Jesus Christ?  However, if that’s true, then what’s the most important Bible verse for believers–those who have already experience the saving grace of Christ Jesus? 

The most important Bible verse for believers could well be 1 John 1:9, which says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  Although a believer’s eternal fellowship with God is never in question, his temporal fellowship can be quite volatile while still in this fleshly life.  We can think of this as two concentric circles where the outer circle is our eternal fellowship, and the inner circle is temporal fellowship.  Upon salvation, we’re moved from outside both circles to within the inner circle, where we can bring the ultimate glory to God through our spiritual gifts.  At this point, we will never move outside of the outer circle again.  However, in our daily walk, we can still sin, and sin can knock us out of the inner circle. 

So, if we have eternal salvation, yet sin is keeping us from the ultimate experience of daily fellowship with God, we have a problem.  How can we get back inside the inner circle?  1 John 1:9 gives us the answer.  We must simply confess those sins which have formed a temporary barrier. 

So, what’s the deal with confession?  What does it mean, and who do we confess to?  We simply admit to our sins by naming them to God.  This clears the way, and we’re immediately back in temporal fellowship with Him.  In addition, there are further benefits for us: 

Regular confession can actually help us to sin less.  It’s like weighing every day–we subconsciously turn down those desserts because we know that we will be weighing again tomorrow (by habit). 

Confession also helps us to avoid depression, without those lingering unconfessed sins hanging around to cause guilt (another sin). 

Finally, confession renews our liberty.  We restore the freedom of our salvation through Christ Jesus our Lord.

In recent years, we have become more vigilant about acknowledging our military veterans of World War II, and, to a lesser extent, of the Vietnam War.  It’s high time that we did so.  We’re finally realizing that we’re quickly losing those generations.  In their day, it didn’t seem to them that they were heroes.  They were just among a vast number who were exercising their patriotic duties.  So, it’s a wonderful thing when they are recognized for the true value that they have added to our lives. 

However, what about all of those veterans who died years earlier, before we got around to recognizing them?  Should we feel bad about our oversight?  Maybe so, but there are some deep spiritual truths to help us all feel better about this. 

2 Corinthians 5:10 tells us of the coming judgment of all believers.  “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”  One day, Jesus Christ Himself will personally judge each believer.  We will be rewarded with heavenly treasures for our good deeds, and we will suffer loss for our bad deeds (although we will keep our salvation–Romans 8:31-39, 11:29).  So, in Matthew 6:20, He tells us to “… store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,” not earthly treasures. 

However, there’s another verse in Matthew 6 that can be related directly to our veterans who were never appropriately honored for their sacrifices.  Matthew 6:1 says, “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.  If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”  This verse assures us that Jesus Christ will reward them, and eternal rewards from Christ are much more valuable than temporal earthly rewards.

Although all Scripture is inspired (2 Timothy 3:16), some verses are more profound than others.  Some are less obvious, and others encapsulate the truths of many other verses, more concisely and comprehensively.  This is not a list of the verses that are most often memorized, quoted, or referenced.  This is a list of the most precious verses–those that we should cherish if we could pick only ten verses.  Thankfully, there are 31,102!  If your list is different than mine, let me know! 

#10) Matthew 6:20

“Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” 

Prosperity (click here for the full commentary)

#9) Ephesians 4:12

“Christ established the Church in order) to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

The Church (click here for the full commentary)

#8) 2 Corinthians 5:10

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.  ”

Judgment (click here for the full commentary)

#7) Philippians 4:6

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

Prayer (click here for the full commentary)

#6) Philippians 2:3

“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.” 

Humility (click here for the full commentary)

#5) Romans 12:2

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” 

Learning (click here for the full commentary)

#4) Romans 5:19

“For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.” 

Imputation (click here for the full commentary)

#3) 1 John 4:16

“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.” 

Love (click here for the full commentary)

#2) Galatians 2:16

“Nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.”

Faith (click here for the full commentary)

#1) Ephesians 2:8

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” 

Grace (click here for the full commentary)

This blog, as well as our ChristianDataResources.com website, is primarily a site about the Christian faith.  However, we also delve into politics occasionally, and some readers wonder why.  Well, one of today’s news stories might shed some light on this. 

It was reported today that a group of religious leaders (Catholic, Jewish, and Protestant) are offering sanctuary to the Wisconsin Democrats who are boycotting the union bill vote by not showing up for work in their elected positions.  Here’s an example of where morality meets politics.  These state legislators are violating the scriptural (and logical) doctrine of 2 Thessalonians 3:10 (“The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”), as well as Romans 13:1 (“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.”)  They are violating the law, as well as public trust.  Also, the teachers who called in sick (they lied–Exodus 20:16) to attend the rallies have no excuse either. 

Incidentally, these teachers and others on government payrolls need to pay an increased (and reasonable) amount toward their benefits and retirement, just like those in the private sector have had to do over the past twenty years.  It’s really for their own benefit, because if they don’t, many of them will be laid off.

We have been blessed with two grandchildren–both are still under the age of two.  In my prayers for them, I ask for God’s blessings for them in every way I can think of.  Recently, I thought of a new blessing to pray for them, but I changed my mind. 

Our family is like many others in that we seem to all have poor eyesight–nothing serious–we’re all just near-sighted.  I decided to pray that my grandchildren would break out of this trend of their parents and grandparents, and be blessed with perfect vision.  If they didn’t have to spend time and money on glasses, contacts, and laser surgery, they would have that much more time for other things throughout their lives, and they would be more comfortable. 

However, God put on my mind the words of Christ on the Mount of Olives, as he faced a much more severe situation than any of us ever will.  Luke 22:42 says, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” 

So, I didn’t pray that my grandchildren would have perfect vision.  Instead, I prayed that God’s will would be done in their lives.  Each of us will face our own particular set of problems throughout our lives–issues with health, family, finances, etc.  As we ask God to help us work through our troubles, He will.  However, He will do it in the way that He chooses, and we should pray that the final outcome brings glory to God, not that we will be more comfortable through our struggles.  He will enable us to overcome our trials, and He might even let us struggle with a few problems so that we can learn, and remain humble.  If bringing the ultimate glory to God means that He wants to bless our grandchildren through poor eyesight, then so be it.

I just read about two veterans of the Vietnam War, Maj. Robert Leon Tucci and Col. James Eugene Dennany, who were shot down in combat over Laos in 1969.  They were declared Missing In Action, and their bodies weren’t recovered during the war.  Their remains have just recently been identified, and are just now being flown home for burial.  I can’t begin to imagine the anguish that their family members endured over the years, wondered what happened to them.  Maj. Tucci’s father, Leon J. Tucci, died in 2009, and his last words were, “I’m just sorry that I won’t find out about Robert.”  Mr. Tucci probably spent his first forty years with normal issues like the rest of us, and then the last forty wondering about his son. 

I knew another man with a similar story.  In 1967, Captain James Paul Gauley was shot down over Laos, and his body was never recovered.  In 1992, I spoke to his father, Bill Gauley, shortly before his death.  He told me that he still believed that his son was still alive somewhere, probably being held as a prisoner of war.  Bill had suffered every day throughout those 25 years, wondering what his son might be going through. 

This makes my troubles seem small.  As my wife sometimes tells me, when we discuss such tragic circumstances of others, “We don’t have any problems.”

                                        Bible Questions