Words of Comfort
“Ray, I've been listening to the Living Waters podcasts and it's given me an insight as to how sly and underhanded your preaching can be. I think it was Kirk who was going through the good person test and if someone answered in the wrong way than he wanted to hear, there's a back-up plan to prove that the person is wrong. It's not a test, it's a trap, a condemnation...The self-assuredness that your friends show appears to be dishonest.”
My atheist friend hit the nail on the head. It is "a condemnation." However, it's not dishonest. Think of it like this. You are a devious criminal who refuses to give up his evil lifestyle, because you don't see it as being "evil." You consider lawlessness to be an exciting lifestyle. Besides, you've never been caught by the...
My atheist friend hit the nail on the head. It is "a condemnation." However, it's not dishonest. Think of it like this. You are a devious criminal who refuses to give up his evil lifestyle, because you don't see it as being "evil." You consider lawlessness to be an exciting lifestyle. Besides, you've never been caught by the...
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Words of Comfort
The world may ask, "What's wrong with being transsexual, bisexual, or homosexual? After all, people can't help the way they are born." Do you have a ready answer? This line of reasoning may help you lead the questioner to the truth.
To answer this question, let me ask you another question. Are there such things as moral absolutes? Is there an absolute right and an absolute wrong? Is murder wrong? Is it ever morally okay to murder another human being? Is rape wrong? When would it be morally right to rape a woman? Is pedophilia wrong? If you say these things are absolutely wrong, the next question is, Who says that they are wrong? From where do you get this moral compass that determines if something is right, or if it's wrong?
To answer this question, let me ask you another question. Are there such things as moral absolutes? Is there an absolute right and an absolute wrong? Is murder wrong? Is it ever morally okay to murder another human being? Is rape wrong? When would it be morally right to rape a woman? Is pedophilia wrong? If you say these things are absolutely wrong, the next question is, Who says that they are wrong? From where do you get this moral compass that determines if something is right, or if it's wrong?
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Words of Comfort
According to the recent news, America is so in debt that the amount we owe would be enough to buy every American worker three years of paid vacation.
I’m not worried about our nation’s debt. Politicians got us into it, and they can worry about getting us out. I am more worried about two other, more important debt problems. These are much deeper than the mere national debt. I have a huge debt to this world, and this world has a massive debt to the moral Law.
I’m not worried about our nation’s debt. Politicians got us into it, and they can worry about getting us out. I am more worried about two other, more important debt problems. These are much deeper than the mere national debt. I have a huge debt to this world, and this world has a massive debt to the moral Law.
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Words of Comfort
We were on our way to Huntington Beach to do some filming for our television program. We specifically needed to interview women about the subject of abortion.
As we drove through Sunset Beach, I told Chad that as a teenager I wrote to surf shops in California and asked for free surfing decals. It was a huge deal for a New Zealand kid to get anything from the United States, especially something to do with surfing.
As we cruised down the famous Pacific Coast Highway, I looked at the surf and casually said...
As we drove through Sunset Beach, I told Chad that as a teenager I wrote to surf shops in California and asked for free surfing decals. It was a huge deal for a New Zealand kid to get anything from the United States, especially something to do with surfing.
As we cruised down the famous Pacific Coast Highway, I looked at the surf and casually said...
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Words of Comfort
Everyone has heroes, or at least people they greatly admire. David Wilkerson was one of mine, along with John the Baptist and a few others. So I was deeply saddened when my daughter called to tell me he had been killed in a car accident. Of course, there was the sweet knowledge that he was with the Lord, but there was also the bitter reality that we no longer had him here on earth.
His passing brought back a flood of memories. Back in 1980, I screened the movie The Cross and the Switchblade at our church. It was based on his best-selling book, and starred Eric Estrada (from the television series “CHiPs”) as Nicky Cruz, the hardened gang member who mocked the naive country preacher who...
His passing brought back a flood of memories. Back in 1980, I screened the movie The Cross and the Switchblade at our church. It was based on his best-selling book, and starred Eric Estrada (from the television series “CHiPs”) as Nicky Cruz, the hardened gang member who mocked the naive country preacher who...
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Words of Comfort
Most of the world is enamored with big-name celebrities. This is, of course, tempered a little for the average Christian. We pray for their salvation, not just for their sake, but because we know that their conversion could potentially influence millions with the gospel. But such conversions are very few and far between. It is not that God is not willing to save the really big-name celebrities. He’s just not aware of any, because God is “no respecter of persons.”
There may be another reason for the dearth of Christians among top celebrities. God resists the proud, and Hollywood sure is filled with puffed-up people. Actors crave the world’s praise. Of course, a self-centered pride isn’t unique to Hollywood. It’s human nature to want to be the center of attention. But celebrities have an even greater strike against them. Successful actors are usually...
There may be another reason for the dearth of Christians among top celebrities. God resists the proud, and Hollywood sure is filled with puffed-up people. Actors crave the world’s praise. Of course, a self-centered pride isn’t unique to Hollywood. It’s human nature to want to be the center of attention. But celebrities have an even greater strike against them. Successful actors are usually...
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Words of Comfort
My TV co-host, Kirk Cameron, passed me his cell phone so that I could speak to his eight-year-old daughter. He said that she had been laughing a lot as she read my book 101 of the Dumbest Things People Have Done. I'm the book's main character, and she said that her favorite incident was when I made a four-year-old Asian boy laugh. I told him to look up, and when he did I gave him a gentle tap under the chin. He loved it (I'm great with kids). When he then told me to look up, I played along with him. I love making kids happy, so I smiled as I gazed heavenward and waited in anticipation for his gentle under-the-chin tap. He karate-chopped my throat!
When she asked if I had done as many dumb things as the book said, I told her that every word was true, and that I could easily begin Volume Two.
That afternoon we were filming post-production for our television program. We had traveled to 13 European countries in 13 days to film 13 episodes, and I had penned the "Vienna" script. I loved Vienna and had fond memories of it, despite the blur of going to so many countries in such a short time. So I had skillfully woven in the fact that even though the 400 gondolas in the city were popular with tourists, the locals preferred taxis.
As we began filming, Kirk asked, "Isn't Venice the...
When she asked if I had done as many dumb things as the book said, I told her that every word was true, and that I could easily begin Volume Two.
That afternoon we were filming post-production for our television program. We had traveled to 13 European countries in 13 days to film 13 episodes, and I had penned the "Vienna" script. I loved Vienna and had fond memories of it, despite the blur of going to so many countries in such a short time. So I had skillfully woven in the fact that even though the 400 gondolas in the city were popular with tourists, the locals preferred taxis.
As we began filming, Kirk asked, "Isn't Venice the...
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Words of Comfort
I watched a lot of holocaust footage while researching for, Hitler, God, and the Bible and its accompanying “Hitler’s Religion” DVD. I read eye-witness accounts of families of Jews being shot, and some of them buried while still alive. I stared through tear-filled eyes at photos of innocent Jewish women (some in their teens) being paraded through the streets, and then hung publically. They weren’t given the mercy of a quick drop to break the neck. Instead, thin rope was deliberately used to make the hanging last longer. The photos show other Jews being made to watch, and German soldiers smiling as they dangled by the rope.
Jews were made to pull teeth from the dead bodies of their fellow countrymen that had been gassed, and extract gold. The corpses were then thrown into ovens for cremation. If gold was missed, those doing the extracting were thrown alive into the ovens.
Adolf Hitler systematically and cruelty slaughtered six million men, women, and children in the horror we call the “holocaust.” After the war, Hitler shot himself, and many Nazis fled to the haven of…
Jews were made to pull teeth from the dead bodies of their fellow countrymen that had been gassed, and extract gold. The corpses were then thrown into ovens for cremation. If gold was missed, those doing the extracting were thrown alive into the ovens.
Adolf Hitler systematically and cruelty slaughtered six million men, women, and children in the horror we call the “holocaust.” After the war, Hitler shot himself, and many Nazis fled to the haven of…
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Words of Comfort
When I decided to appear as a guest on "The Atheist Experience," (a popular TV cable show) there were many comments from atheists on my blog saying that I was walking into a lion's den, and at best I was going to get chewed up and spat out. Christians said things like, "I am not sure talking to them would be worth it. Sort of like trying to cast pearls before swine," and "Pearls before swine, Ray..."
Granted, if you read the comments on my blog, "Atheist Central," you will see that most of the atheists who comment are bitter, blasphemous, judgmental, arrogant, and hate-filled. But while there are hundreds who comment, there are thousands who receive the blog by email and read the published column on other sites.
When I do an interview on an atheist radio or TV program I don't know who is tuning in, where it is going to end up on the Internet, and who are "swine" and who aren't. I'm no theologian, neither am I an eloquent apologist, but like every other Christian, I have access to the love of God. My goal isn't to win an argument; I'm out to win the lost…
Granted, if you read the comments on my blog, "Atheist Central," you will see that most of the atheists who comment are bitter, blasphemous, judgmental, arrogant, and hate-filled. But while there are hundreds who comment, there are thousands who receive the blog by email and read the published column on other sites.
When I do an interview on an atheist radio or TV program I don't know who is tuning in, where it is going to end up on the Internet, and who are "swine" and who aren't. I'm no theologian, neither am I an eloquent apologist, but like every other Christian, I have access to the love of God. My goal isn't to win an argument; I'm out to win the lost…
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Words of Comfort
Recently, death didn’t just come near to Liz Taylor. This time it took her. Death is the ultimate level playing field for all of us. Her fame and $600,000,000 fortune couldn’t hold off its inevitable, cold hand.
There was once a famous and sobering song called “Is That All There Is?” It was sung by Peggy Lee and had haunting words about the futility of life—how humanity experiences life’s fleeting pleasures, but they soon fade. The song’s conclusion didn’t offer God as the solution. Instead it recommended hedonism, before death grabs us and pulls us from this precious life. It suggests that we “break out the booze and have...
There was once a famous and sobering song called “Is That All There Is?” It was sung by Peggy Lee and had haunting words about the futility of life—how humanity experiences life’s fleeting pleasures, but they soon fade. The song’s conclusion didn’t offer God as the solution. Instead it recommended hedonism, before death grabs us and pulls us from this precious life. It suggests that we “break out the booze and have...
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Words of Comfort