Haa! Who would have ever imagined this is where the truth would be in the year 2023?! We no longer can, or should I say, refuse to say what the truth is. The facts used to matter if we disagreed. We would say let me show you the scientific or biblical facts. Not today! Our society says the truth is subjective; it is whatever my truth, your truth, their truth, or anybody else's truth is. Everyone has their own "truth" based on their personal feelings/experiences.

What if I told you that the church is full of atheists?! Atheists do attend church, but they profess and believe that they are Christians. According to the Lutheran historian Martin Marty, in the book The Marketing of Evil by David Kupelian, too many pews are filled on the Sabbath and Sunday with practical atheists—disguised nonbelievers who live their lives during the week as if God does not exist, meaning they never touch their Bible, pray, have Bible studies, fast, and/or actively participate in other Bible-related studies outside of church services. God does say many are called—I mean, more than 75 percent of Americans claim to be Christians—but few will be chosen (Matthew 22:14). Many Christians choose to worship God how they desire, built on passed-down traditions and not based on the instructions given to us by God our Father in His Bible.

One thing that is for sure about this life, it is hard being different. Our society is consistently ingraining in our heads—everything from television ads to social media to radio and podcast shows and ads—to be a part of the current trends. This society desires everyone to be the same, keep the same holidays, traditions, thoughts about social trends, and so on; if you do not, you are a weirdo. Our society says that it values individualism; however, this is only if you stay within specific parameters. God has something different to say about falling in line with man's traditions, holidays, and ways (Matthew 10:35).

Were you aware that you are an ambassador? First, what is the job of an ambassador? Let us discuss the role of an ambassador. The job of an ambassador is to represent their respective government in dealings with other nations regarding foreign aid, treaty negotiations, and immigration, to name a few. Ambassadors express the values of their government. They give an answer to other foreign nations regarding their government's position on different issues. What if I told you God said we are to be ambassadors to the world for the benefit of His Word?

There are two types of atheism, old atheism, and new atheism. Old atheism did not want a society with God in it. They viewed it as false, but they mourned what would be lost if God was taken completely out of western culture. They acknowledged that without a belief in God, what reason does society have for being good and having moral standards?! Old atheists were aware that our entire western culture, including our morals, was built on a belief in God. Today's new atheists are different; they hope that God is dead, call religion evil, and believe that good can somehow exist without a God. New atheists want all religions destroyed, according to Sam Harris, and they have a special hate for Christianity (Psalm 14:1).

We live in a world that refuses to acknowledge our dependence upon God. The world we live in outright rejects that idea and mocks anyone who says otherwise. Even Christians find it hard to resist this form of thinking since this society constantly pressures us to conform to its ways of thinking. In this life, we are either conforming to man's world or God's way! Which one are you conforming to?

We can take marriage, for example. According to Psychology Today, in 2017, more than 69 percent of couples cohabitated versus back in the 1970s when less than 1 percent of couples cohabitated. Some have assumed that cohabitating before marriage could make for a stronger marriage, but according to research done by the Journal of Marriage and Family in 2018, it was found that cohabitating before marriage had short-term benefits with long-term costs for marriage stability.

Where do you get your financial advice? Do you get it from CNBC investment channel, Bloomberg, USA Today, Newsweek, Kiplinger magazine, etc. What if I told you the Bible contains financial wisdom that could benefit all of us in our lives today? A few of the financial statistics regarding the finances of your average westerner which resides in one of the wealthiest nations to ever grace the face of the earth are stark. An income of $34,000 annually puts you in the top 4 percent of household incomes in the world, and the average household income in the U.S. is $67,000 annually. According to an article by CBS News, less than 40 percent of Americans could afford a $1,000 bill without relying on a credit card, also known as very high interest loan; according to Newsweek.com 50 percent of Americans have no savings at all, including money for retirement; according to CNBC.com 63 percent of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and any interruption in paycheck frequency would lead to financial disaster.

Is the Pope the only authority on earth that has the power to carry out canonization, in other words appoint someone as a “saint”? First of all, what is a saint? A saint is someone who has been set apart for God (1 Peter 2:9). Is being a saint something for those who are elite?! Is it an elite status or the top tier for Christians to seek? What if I told you all Christians (Christ followers) are saints!? (1 Corinthians 1:2). It is not something that puts you at another tier above your fellow Christians, which could possibly promote jealousy and envy within the Christian church.

What has today’s Christianity become? Many of today’s most popular ministers (pastors) are nothing more than motivational speakers. They do not teach about the importance of keeping the Ten Commandments or any of God’s true Word. Many of these ministers even condone some of the sins God classifies as an abomination by saying that is the old Christianity, and we are a part of the “newly enlightened” Christianity, or of “woke” Christianity. They preach a health and welfare kind of Christianity; just believe in God is all you need to do…and fill our collection plate with money. Often, the churches led by such ministers are fat with money while the people are starving both physically and spiritually when it comes to the true Word of God (see “Are mega churches just businesses masquerading as worship” by Carmen MacBeth, https://filmdaily.co/news/mega-churches/).

What does the Bible have to say about this “newly woke” Christianity?

According to the article, "Religion: why faith is becoming more and more popular" by Harriet Sherwood, there are more than 2.382 billion professing Christians worldwide, or about 31.1 percent of the world's population. There are more than 30,000 Christian organizations/denominations around the world. Christianity is the largest religion in the world. What if I told you that, despite these astronomical numbers, only a minute number of Christians observe the same Sabbath day as Jesus Christ, as well as the same holy days Jesus commanded us to observe (John 14:21). Just think about how big of a deal this knowledge is: Out of 7.8 billion people around the world and 2.382 billion professing Christians, you are one of the few observing God's commanded holy days. Are you excited yet?!

In the famous words of the singer Marvin Gaye, "What's Going On?!" Not only can Americans see it, but the world can see that something has gone awry in America. Things are not what they once were in America. There is political unrest, riots in the streets, people fighting about masks, or whether they will take that Covid-19 vaccine, and so on. The chaos is not just affecting mainstream America, but it has infiltrated the churches and even divided households against each other. The churches have not been able to assemble as they usually would, and some of the ones that are congregating have split regarding whether they should or should not make the wearing of masks mandatory. Families and longtime friends have ended relationships due to disagreeing over our current political chaos; the Democrats hate the Republicans, and the Republicans hate the Democrats. It's official and not hard to see that America is a "house divided!" What does the Bible say about a house divided, and how can Bible-minded Christians resolve these tense situations?

What could be more precious than gold?! 2020 has been the year that has helped us to realize just how valuable this thing is. We need it more than ever, and no amount of money or material things can take its place. You know what I'm talking about, PEACE OF MIND! Whether you're a rich person or a poor person, nothing else will matter if you don't have peace of mind. 2020 was the year that we saw the things that brought us peace of mind be challenged or completely FAIL US; many of us have faith that our governments will protect us, our nations have a robust economy, our nation's healthcare system can take care of us, and so on. Yet all these entities suffered a rude awakening, and we still have not fully recovered. We do not know if things will get worse. What if I told you God told us how we could have real peace of mind, something our medicines cannot do since they just numb us mentally to the suffering we are going through.

Who knew the pandemic would affect us in this way?! The courts in California have allowed the state governor to prevent churches from congregating to hold services according to a recent article in the LA Times. In essence, people are not allowed to decide for themselves; the government has placed these restrictions on them and they could be fined or jailed if they decide to “break” the new law. Many other states and cities have passed similar laws restricting churches from congregating indoors to hold worship services throughout the U.S. and even in other nations. What are we as Christians supposed to do? Would you believe that the Bible gives us an example as to how we should react in such situations?

We can all see that something is awry in our world. All of the alarm bells are sounding. Even people around the world who don’t understand biblical prophecy can sense something has gone wrong. I speak with coworkers and friends who aren’t religious by any means, and they all have the same alarms going off—that our nation, and not only our nation but the world, is in pure turmoil. No one seems to understand how we got here so quickly, despite all of the warnings from God that if we keep disobeying Him these things will come to pass because we’re a stubborn people (Matthew 24:8-13). What is the job of God’s followers?! Are we to warn the people of what the great God of this earth says or should we keep it all to ourselves?!

Say you have a friend you are in a debate with. He/she is stubborn about a certain issue, and you know that your friend is completely wrong. You decide to scrounge up some factual evidence, i.e., some statistical research and other proven facts. You present this factual evidence to your friend hoping he/she will see the truth, but that friend says to you, “So what!? I like what I believe [despite all of the factual evidence and years of research you have presented to me showing me that my view point is wrong]. I am going to [keep these beliefs, despite there being wrong and] do it my way.” This sounds a lot like our society today; we cannot resolve any conflict or issues because one side does not care despite what the facts show. I want to do what is right in my own eyes, despite the proven historical evidence. How did we as a society get here?

Are you a Democrat or a Republican? It’s another election year in the USA and you can’t be neutral; which side will you choose? A recent study found that once you stake your claim with a particular party you have a 50 percent chance of offending someone from the opposite side of the political spectrum. So why do we allow politics in the church? Christ’s followers are supposed to love God with all of their heart and love their neighbor as thyself (Matthew 22:37-40). We’re all aware that politics is the debate or conflict between different ideologies hoping to gain power. Should we bring this conflict to the church?

In an age of “FAKE NEWS,” who can we trust? Can we trust our favorite politician? Can we trust the government? Can families trust one another? We live in an age where anyone can post what they believe on the internet, with no facts to back it up. A recent survey on phys.org found that 86 percent of internet users admitted to being duped by “FAKE NEWS.” Billions of people are exposed to that “FAKE NEWS” before someone can check the validity of the news that’s quickly spreading around the world. Nations don’t trust other nations, citizens don’t trust their leaders’ agendas, customers don’t trust businesses, etc. Who should we trust?!

Many of us understand that the basic job of the quarterback is to get the ball down field as quickly as possible utilizing the many talented players he has on the field. We have seen that some quarterbacks are passers while others like to scramble or run to pick up a couple of yards. It is a rare thing for a quarterback to be able to scramble and gain positive yards to carry the team. That is why many of our greatest quarterbacks are excellent pocket passers.

Is the church what Jesus intended it to be? Many have been conditioned by the media and other sources of entertainment to see the church as this perfect entity. The world makes it seem like the church is no place for sinners. It is where everyone attends, their clothes are pristine, their lives are immaculate, and there’s just a few misfits. You have to look the part to attend many churches, and many feel they need to hide their sins instead of seeking the counsel they need.

Many of us have been on this earth long enough to know things aren’t always easy-breezy. Some things we set our hands to happen with barely any effort, and other things drag us through the mud. No human being takes pleasure in the trials and tribulations that come with this physical life. In many cases those trials and tribulations can wear down our spirit if we aren’t careful. The Bible tells us how to handle these trials and tribulations when they come our way.