Tag Archives: Roger Berry

Terrorist Attack!

September 11, 2001 — a day that will live in history and in the memories of those old enough to remember that day. On that day, well-trained terrorists hijacked airliners and used them as missiles of mass destruction in New York and Washington. Millions in the United States and beyond now live in fear of more attacks from a foe that is determined, elusive, and exceedingly difficult to confront. Even if guns and warplanes could destroy hundreds of terrorists and their strongholds, who is to say that more of them are not hiding out somewhere else?

The world begs for solutions to the terrorist menace, but solutions are hard to come by.

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Weather and the Future!

Until the last fifty years most scientists were quite optimistic about the future of the earth and of mankind. I’ve read predictions of the sun wearing out in maybe 100,000 years or so. If you had asked such questions as, “Is the earth slowing down?” or “Are climates changing on the earth?” the answer would have been a rather haughty, “Well, of course not!”

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The Pursuit of El Dorado

We often think of the Americas as being settled by people who were seeking for freedom of religion and freedom from tyranny. While this was true of many, most of the earliest explorers and settlers came for less noble reasons-mainly, to get rich quickly. The explorers in Central and South America, especially, found enough gold and silver to tantalize them and to draw them on to further discoveries.

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Do Christians Hate?

In 1998 a gay college student was beaten, tied to a fence, and murdered outside Laramie, Wyoming. The crime outraged the gay community and many other people across North America. One sad thing about this murder was that Christians received much of the blame for the crime.

Recently a lawyer from New York stated that “the anti-abortion movement in the United States follows up . . . with violence.” Abortion opponents, most of them professing Christians, regularly picket abortion clinics and otherwise protest the destruction of the unborn. Four doctors and two clinic workers have been killed by anti-abortion activists since 1993. In this case pro-abortionists are blaming conservative Christians.

Are true Christians guilty of hate crimes because they practice the Biblical view of family and marriage or because they believe that an unborn child is a real person, created by God, for a purpose in this world? Certainly Christians should be known as those who love others, even those they disagree with. The Bible says “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).

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Excuses! Excuses!

Several years ago, a newspaper article focused on the speeders on the highways and the excuses they used for violating the speed limits. The title of the article was “Speeders Outgun New Limits.” The article pointed out that, in spite of many states and communities raising their speed limits, more people are speeding and at higher speeds above the limits than ever before.

The writer concluded that we are a nation of speeders and of excuses. He asked the question, “Why do we speed?” and proceeded to give five answers to that question. Interestingly enough, if you replace the word “speed” in his list of reasons with “sin,” it very well describes why people sin. It is serious to make up excuses for speeding on the highway. It is even more serious to make excuses for sinning and rebelling against the God of the universe.

1. Why do we speed (sin)? Because everyone else does, including our leaders.

The writer of the speeding article noted that a former governor of South Dakota is known as a speeder. He had received a dozen speeding tickets and had been involved in a half-dozen accidents. The writer noted that there is little or no stigma in speeding any more because “everybody does it.”

The Bible says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Yes, everybody does it, but that does not excuse us in the eyes of a righteous God. The Bible says, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20).

2. Why do we speed (sin)? Because we’re sure we won’t get hurt.

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The Poison of Pornography

One of the secret sins of America that has come out of the closet and into the limelight of national attention is pornography. The word pornography comes from two Greek words. One of them is porneia which is used in the Greek New Testament and is translated fornication (sexual immorality, especially between the unmarried). The last part of the word comes from the Greek graphein which means “to write.” So pornography is literature which fosters immorality. Today it includes magazines, books, pictures, tapes, films, and virtual reality shows and games that portray immorality.

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