No Doubt About It

I know God is real.
By the hundreds of prophecies in the Bible that have been fulfilled.
By the power of the Bible to discern the thoughts of our hearts and to transform our lives.
By the wisdom of the Bible, which is the biggest influence upon Western Civilization and the cornerstone for the greatest nation in history.
By the truth of the Bible, which has persuaded the hardest of skeptics who have dared to examine it.
By the way God's Spirit has spoken to my heart exactly what I needed to hear, when I needed to hear it, for almost thirty years.
By the miracles of healing I’ve received.
By the testimony of the eyewitnesses of the resurrection of Christ, who were willing to die for their faith (if it was a lie, why would they die?).
And by this:
Jesus claimed to be the Lord, the source of life, the only way to Heaven. Either he is or he isn’t. If he isn’t, either he knew it (he's a liar) or he didn’t (he's a lunatic).
So he has to be either Lord, liar, or lunatic.
His words inspired ten of his closest friends to lay down their lives for him. His words have been universally acclaimed as the wisest ever recorded. His words have inspired many millions--from self-righteous moralists to serial murderers--to change their ways and follow him.
Lunatic? Come on.
He accepted the arrest, the whipping, the fists, the interrogations, the crown of thorns, the crowd's scorn, and the cross without changing his story.
Liar? Get real.
Jesus is Lord.

Undiluted Is Best

Please don’t judge Christianity as a whole by American Christianity. While there are multitudes of wonderful Christians here, there are millions of what the Bible calls “tares” (wheat-lookalike weeds growing among the wheat). It’s easy to say you believe in Jesus here, and many mean-spirited or foul-mouthed or perverted people do say so.
For the purest Christianity, look in places where the Church is persecuted.

Anniversary Answers

I'm blessed to be a member of the exclusive HotAir.com comment community (hundreds of thousands of readers, only about two hundred commenters). During the inevitable evolution debates as we mark the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin, I've been concerned with the response of some creationists. For example, saying "evolution is a myth" is not rational. Micro-evolution is observable all around us, from the many dog breeds to the various beak sizes of finches that Darwin observed. Attacking the concept of natural selection is silly, too. The wolf pack will most likely catch the slowest, weakest elk in the herd, and the eagles with the sharpest eyesight will probably out-survive their compadres who need optimetric care. But it's no wonder that Darwin did not discuss the origin of species in his seminal work The Origin Of Species. Natural selection does not explain how the life itself began--selection implies that there are already species to select from. And there is no natural way that one specie can change into another (macro-evolution). (see posts from 1/17/9, 1/1/9, 11/9/8, 6/8/8, and 11/20/7)

Slumdogs

My son will be fourteen soon. He and I have been talking about what it means to be a man.
For those who say (by your words or by the way you live) that manliness is defined by sexual conquests, ability to hold alcohol, swearing, stunts, or sporting exploits, I say quit fooling yourself. Try responsibility, leadership, integrity, and confidence.
I've been reading about Slumdog Millionaire. It's the kind of film I wouldn't have taken my son to a year or two ago--violent, dark, with bad language and some sexual situations (probably mild by Hollywood standards). The "dirty" parts are by no means gratuitous; they add weight to the physically dirty lives the characters lead.

I saw Slumdog as an opportunity to teach my boy about the way most of the world lives. Americans of every age are far too insulated about the desperate conditions that plague hundreds of millions, and our media are too myopic, too uninterested in anything beyond our still-wealthy shores. This film takes us to the foreign depths of despair in a sometimes heart-breaking but ultimately exhilarating way.

I also wanted to remind my son that we rich Americans can do something to help children like Jamal and Salim. A dollar goes far in Third World economies. My favorite channels to bless poor children are here, here, and here (my wife and I are friends with the leaders of the first two, and I am the editor of the third's email reports).

My son surprised me as we left the theater this evening. He said this was an awesome movie, even "better than The Dark Knight". I agree.

Update: During the Academy Awards buzz about Slumdogs, I learned that the children in the movie were not trained actors--they were plucked from the slums of Mumbai, India. I'm so happy that their future is brighter now that they're famous. For more rags-to-riches stories, please support one of the charities I linked above!