Returning to the U.S. after two years as a missionary in South America, I’ve embraced opportunities to share the gospel wherever I’m at. It has been an eye-opener to the broad spectrum of eclectic and contradictory worldviews. Among those I’ve witnessed to, a surprising and recurring theme has been the belief in reincarnation. I know what you’re thinking: “Of course, he’s out in California, what else did you expect from the land of fruits and nuts?”

I’m not going to run to the defense of my state or the misguided beliefs of some the populace. I will however, accept that reincarnation is what many non-Christians profess to hold to. So in order that I competently defend the faith, it follows that I know a little about this widely-held religious belief.

Hinduism among other non-Western religions posits the concept of Karma. You’ve heard it before, “what goes around comes around”. Sounds pretty accurate right? You get what you deserve. It even loosely parallels the golden rule: do to others as you would have them to do you. Of course, the implications of Karma are far deeper.

The “going and coming around” part is a major component of reincarnation. Do good deeds and when you die, you will become some form greater than your current one. Do bad and the opposite will happen. There is a never ending cycle of rebirth. Everything that dies becomes something different. There is ceaseless continuum of second chances.

Now I like that. Don’t get it right this time? There’s another chance to start over again and work my way up the ladder.

When discussing Christianity and reincarnation with three men; all over 70 years old I addressed their syncretistic worldview. Whether they understood it at first, they were not living in accordance with Hindu teaching. They were doing what most people do, taking the parts of Christianity they like and omitting what they don’t. I proceeded to show them how.

I make no pretense of being an expert in eastern religion. I have studied them on a surface level, primarily for apologetic purposes. But what I do know was sufficient at the time.

If you hold to the view of reincarnation, then it follows that history is cyclical. Christianity, on the other hand, holds to a linear perspective. Everything that has happened in the past is final. Everything happening now matters. God has appointed a time when history will come to a close. This means your life, what you think, say and do is of eternal importance.

With reincarnation, history is not only meaningless, because it’s cyclical, but your life is as well. Think about it. So what if you decided to be a violent criminal for “this” particular life? Or maybe just a self-absorbed hedonist? When you come back as an ant, live the best life you can and you’ll advance to someone or something better. Interestingly enough, no one wants to live in a world with people who think like this.

When talking with the three men on why I disagree with the viability of reincarnation I pointed out the concept of justice. The caste system is predicated on the belief that an individual’s present life is a result of Karma. A lower-caste individual is where they are because of a punishment for sins in a past state. The rich are where they because of apparent good deeds done prior.

So when it comes to helping the poor, caring for the handicapped and afflicted, why would you interfere with Karma? They’re getting what they deserve! There exists no plausible reason to reach out and alleviate suffering.

Of course, when I pointed this out, the men animatedly agreed the downcast should be helped and it would be a gross error to say sickness of any sort is a punishment for past sins. But here we see a plagiarized Christian worldview. Jesus told his disciples who asked if a blind man was that way because of his or his parent’s sins that it was so the glory of God might be displayed in his life that he was born that way (John 9:3).

When I see the world, when I search my conscience and when I read scripture I find reincarnation unviable. I am thankful that I am under grace, not Karma. I deserve God’s wrath, not salvation. History has meaning and so do our lives. What you and I do has eternal implications.

There are no second chances. Every second matters. Now is the time to follow Christ.

“And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many shall appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.” –Hebrews 9:27-28

Abortion has been legalized since the 1973 Roe v. Wade supreme court decision. During the course of these 38 years, nearly 50 million unborn children have been murdered before taking their first breath. Much attention has been given to the harmful physical, emotional and psychological effects to the potential mothers. Kermit Gosnell, a Pennsylvania abortion doctor received national attention for his abominable clinic deemed a “house of horrors” where seven babies have died during gruesome, barbaric abortion operations. One woman also perished after an overdose on pain medication. Gosnell made millions performing late-term abortions in the poverty-striken West Philadelphia section. See the article HERE.

The atrocious acts of destroying unborn life should rightfully be brought to light. The harmful effects abortion has on women warrants our outrage as well. But a third dimension, one necessarily present in every single life terminated cannot be marginalized: the man. A woman cannot become pregnant without a man’s sperm. By virtue of this, a man does, and should have an equal right to the life created. The feminist notion of “my right for control over my own body” is false considering the indispensible dual-role in procreation. And although some men pressure, threaten and even pay for the abortion, the countless men who do not concede to the mother’s abortion are negatively affected –in a few cases, guilt even drives men to suicide. Consider the following case: [...]

Human rights. The general consensus among people in the world today is in support of the protection, advocacy and defense of human dignity. Principles nearly universally favored – aid to the poor, help for the sick and marginalized, and the just treatment for people of all races – prompt people to assist in a number of possible ways. Individuals, governments and organizations have programs for the amelioration of weaker, downtrodden groups. It’s rare to find anyone who would dare question or criticize another helping the disenfranchised. Such a person would invariably be considered calloused and selfish: a base character worthy of neither respect nor admiration. [...]

Enthusiastic Nevada County residents commemorated the life of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., crowding into the auditorium at the miner’s foundry Monday to partake in what resembled a typical Gospel Church service in the south. Soulful voices resonating and accompanied by the swaying of an eager, genial crowd made one feel they were every bit a part of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. [...]

KOVR 13 News @ 10 has done their homework. They know the demographics of their viewers and most importantly, what issues evoke passionate and indignant response – the kind of emotional association which keeps them glued to the tube each evening. I reacted less-than amicably to KOVR’s apparently poignant, gripping headline of the night: A 20 year-old man killed a possum and posted the video online. [...]

Do you ever cringe at the sight of a homeless man standing alongside the road holding his usual cardboard sign? Do you swap lanes as you approach a traffic light, so that your vehicle won’t have to come to a stop next to him? Do you intentionally and casually glance the other way, hoping not to make eye contact with him, as though you really don’t even notice him? While giving the man on the side of the road our money might not be the most efficient way to help the homeless, I would venture to guess that most of us never think about homeless people at all unless we are confronted by their cardboard signs as we turn off the interstate.

As this video shows, several people in my church have taken it upon themselves to lead a ministry to the homeless people of Louisville. I have had the personal opportunity to take part in the outreach only once, but it was a life changing experience to say the least. Unless you take time to talk with and listen to these people (yes, they really are people), you might not ever come to know their stories and how they have ended up the way they are. Most of them have made one or two life-changing decisions in their past, forcing them to live on the streets without shelter. It’s a sobering thought to consider that we are potentially only one or two choices away from being in their same situation. This should humble us and lead us to recognize that it is only by God’s grace that our basic needs are met.

This Christmas and even in the upcoming year, I hope you will take time to think about someone besides yourself and your family. What can you do to show Christ’s love and compassion to the hurting, the needy, the poor, the starving, the diseased, and the homeless who live all around you? Will you do anything? Does the whole idea of serving these people make you feel uncomfortable? Rest assured that they know all too well what it feels like to be uncomfortable. They are, in fact, no strangers at all to discomfort. They know what it feels like to attempt sleep in the midst of a snow storm, to eat a meal during a thunderstorm, or to hide from the burning sun during the scorching heat of summer. They know full well what it feels like to spend Christmas alone, without anyone except their fellow homeless buddies to walk through their loneliness with them. We who live in our comfortable homes, we who never miss a meal, we whose closets are overflowing with clothes, we who sleep in thousand dollar beds need to wake up to the needs that surround us. What will you do to help? Will you help anyone beside yourself? Or, will you turn your mind’s eye away from the man on the side of the street who cries out to you for help with his cardboard sign?

Renowned atheist, journalist, and prominent liberal author, Christopher Hitchens, released a New York Times best seller in 2007 titled: God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. Hitchens is one of several contemporary and atheistic apologists who promote science and rationalism as the answer that will bring ultimate good and freedom to mankind. [...]

In a recent article in CNN’s Opinion Section, the Reverend Jesse Jackson discusses his faith as it leads to his works.  At first glance it seems rather theologically correct.  The book of James does say that faith without works is dead right?  Interestingly enough (to write about), Jackson says that his works have always been and will always be intertwined into the civil rights movement in America. [...]