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Many only know about Jesus as a Jewish teacher from 2,000 years ago. I was one of them. But sometime around ninth grade, I started taking note of passing comments from a few Christian classmates. I’d hear “Jesus answered my prayer,” “Jesus helped me,” or “Jesus opened a door.” Whenever one friend’s mom got distressed, she’d say, “Ohhh, sweet Jesus, please…”

These statements were foreign to me. I believed in God, but they weren’t talking about “God”; they were talking about Jesus. One high school friend, Gene Smith, always talked about Jesus like He was an ever-present companion. These casual references to Jesus became the first step on my path to salvation. Why? Because they got me wondering, Was Jesus really alive today? How come they talk about Him all the time? Can Jesus actually be involved with people?

So, when an acquaintance invited me to church, I wasn’t resistant. After a few months I asked Christ to forgive my sins and be my Savior and Lord. In 1979, about two years later, my wife, June, and I were off to Moody Bible Institute. My Old Testament survey teacher there, Mr. Clausen, was very Christlike. As a young Christian I greatly respected him. He, too, often spoke of Jesus as orchestrating his life.

Once after class I asked him why he referenced Jesus specifically. He showed me several Scriptures describing how Christians are part of Christ’s body. One was Ephesians:4:15But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
See All...–16, which says Christians should “grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body [is] joined” together. Then in 1 Corinthians:12:27Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
See All..., Paul forthrightly states, “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.” He reminded me that in Matthew 16:18 Jesus said, “I will build My church” (emphasis added). As a member of Christ’s body, Mr. Clausen knew that Jesus was directing his earthly affairs.

Mr. Clausen told me to remember two exceedingly important realities: (1) Jesus is and always will be head of His body and Lord of His church, and (2) when it comes to Jesus, there’s just “something about His name.” He explained that from his experience, speaking about Jesus as the intimate person He is was a credible witness all by itself, and the name of Jesus often elicits an emotional response.

—Dr. Randy Guliuzza (president of the Institute for Creation Research, a leading biological design theorist, represented ICR in several scientific debates at secular, holds a doctor of medicine from the University of Minnesota and a master of public health from Harvard University, also a B.S. in engineering from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, and a B.A. in theology from Moody Bible Institute. He was board certified in aerospace medicine, and he is a licensed professional engineer). 

Dinosaur trackways1 are once again making the news. Australia is the setting of a remarkable series of dinosaur tracks attributed to ornithischian dinosaurs (one of two orders of dinosaurs).

Four scientists reported in Historical Biology, “One surface contains a single print, a second a trackway with two tracks, and the third features at least 13 trackways and numerous isolated prints representing one of the most densely concentrated dinosaur track surfaces in Australia” with the tracks being formed “in subaqueous, moderate-to-high energy conditions.”2 Dr. Anthony Romilio also said, “The [200-million-year-old] footprints are from 47 individual dinosaurs which passed across a patch of wet, white clay, possibly walking along or crossing a waterway.”2

The scientists described in geological detail these water deposits that one could easily visualize as being formed by the Flood 4,500 years ago: “The Precipice Sandstone is composed of fine to very coarse-grained pebbly cross-bedded sandstone interbedded with thin mudstone layers, consistent with deposits of a high-energy braided river system.”2

And speaking of river systems, ICR’s Dr. Tim Clarey reported research of well-preserved dinosaur tracks from China’s Sichuan Province.

The scientists determined at least one of the [bipedal “lizard-hipped”] theropods was partly afloat as its feet swiped the underwater mud. Its fifty-foot trackway shows a number of tip-toe scratches and claw scrapings. A second theropod, walking in the same direction and on the same horizon as the first, was apparently wading in the water as it left more complete footprints. These scientists interpret the tracks were made as these dinosaurs crossed a river, possibly during a flood event.3

Discovering dinosaur trackways like these is always exciting for creationists because they not only can be interpreted as part of a flood deposit, but they are also often well preserved and virtually erosion-free as one might expect from a recent catastrophic flood.4

Conversely, long-age, evolutionary explanations for track formations leave much to be desired. The late ICR President, John Morris, said that he

visited an unusual dinosaur print location, the roof of an underground coal mine in western Colorado. Remember coal is thought by uniformitarians to be metamorphosed peat which collected in a peat swamp. As the coal is mined away, the undersurface of the overlying (marine) shale is exposed, revealing in some locations dinosaur trails. These are not impressions, but the infilling of impressions which were originally made in the peat.

If peat formed in a swamp, it is reasonable that a dinosaur may have sloshed through it, leaving footprints, but is it reasonable to claim that such a swamp peat could have been submerged under the ocean to receive marine sediments (the shale), and yet undergo no erosion? No, it would be better to conclude major flooding which deposited virtually all the sedimentary layers in a short time.5

Dallas has its own dinosaur tracks, as revealed by the heavy rains in 2015.

What preserved these dinosaur tracks at Lake Grapevine [N Texas]? Secular explanations leave plenty of room for doubt. They tell tales of dinosaurs wading across placid ancient shorelines surrounding a vast and shallow inland sea. If those conditions somehow preserved footprints back then, why do the same conditions erase footprints today?

Also, the same basic types of dinosaurs left footprints hundreds of miles away. Patches of rock with dinosaur trackways occur elsewhere in North Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming, and all the way to Alberta, Canada—a string that some have called the “dinosaur freeway.”

Most of the billions of known dinosaur prints came from adult dinosaurs, another unsolved puzzle for secular science. Where are all the toddler and teenage tracks? Rocks—including many limestones in North America—seem to preserve almost exclusively adult footprints.

A recent research project at ICR has produced new maps that piece together data from hundreds of detailed geologic sites exposed as outcrops or through well and drill cores. They reveal an intriguing solution to these mysterious dilemmas.6

The “66 fossilised footprints left in the Callide Basin in Central Queensland”7 are clear evidence of dinosaur activity down under. They were made perhaps during the high-water stage of the Flood as it was approaching its peak level on Days 100–120.

References

1. Morris, J. 2010. Tracking Those Incredible Dinosaurs. Acts & Facts. 39 (5): 15.
2. Romilio et al. Dinosaur Footprints from the Lower Jurassic (Hettangian–Sinemurian) Precipice Sandstone of the Callide Basin, Queensland, Australia. Historical Biology. Posted on tandfonline.com March 10, 2025.
3. Clarey, T. Dinosaurs Swimming out of Necessity. Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org April 26, 2013.
4. Sherwin, F. Dino Trackway Leads Straight to a Young Earth. Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org February 3, 2025.
5. Morris, J. 2007. Where Are Dinosaur Tracks Found? Acts & Facts. 36 (6).
6. Thomas, B. and T. Clarey. Dinosaur Footprints in Dallas. Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org September 10, 2015. See also Sotelo, G. Dinosaur Tracks Uncovered in Texas. Gizmodo. Posted on gizmodo.com August 22, 2022.
7. Dozens of 3-Toed Dinosaurs Leave Their Mark in Australia. University of Queensland. Posted on sciencedaily.com March 13, 2025.

https://www.icr.org/article/dino-footprints-down-under/

The Church of Religious Science, founded in 1927 by Ernest Holmes, was part of the New Thought movement. The universe itself was considered to be governed by a universal consciousness, or mind, of which we are all a part and which can be manipulated by our thoughts, enabling us to tap into its infinite power. The similarity between this religious idea and what the New Atheists espouse is not merely coincidental. This thread of belief has wound its way through paganism and every primitive religion and still remains, in one form or another, in every religion except biblical Christianity. This universal mind is the god of religious science and, like the god of atheistic science, is a totally impersonal force that works through evolution.

We have compared the old science with the new. In the days when theists were predominant in scientific endeavors, evidence was uncovered that pointed to what became new laws of physics, chemistry, etc. Today the “new science,” controlled by atheists, is not driven by evidence that has been discovered and points somewhere; it is driven by blind determination to do away with God, and never mind the overwhelming evidence to the contrary!

My pastor and I sometimes discuss Barna, Pew, and other polls on culture, Christianity, and faith in general. Anecdotally, we have also noticed a rise in Gen Z attendance and participation.  It appears that it isn't just in our little community but is occuring in that age group. It seems there is generally an increase of conservatism in that age group nationally and internationally. The headline on the February 27, 2025 Economist was, America’s Gen Z has got religion. Similar headlines can be found in a number of secular periodicals.Charlie Bayliss writes in his article, Young people are bigger believers in God than their elders, research reveals, in the Edinburgh Evening News: 

And while 82 per cent of Gen Z describe themselves as spiritual and believe in things beyond the physical world, this falls to 65 per cent of Gen X and 63 per cent of Boomers.

It emerged Gen Z are more likely than other generations to believe in God due to a need to connect with something bigger than themselves (29 per cent).

They are also far more likely to believe God is the best explanation for how the world began (25 per cent to 18 per cent of all Brits).

And the younger generation is also more likely to believe in the afterlife compared to the average adult (24 per cent to 21 per cent).

This conservatism is also showing up in politics (Democratic Pollster 'Shocked' At Gen Z's Conservative Shift) and prolife issues as  Dave Andrusko reports in Abortion Activists Freak Out Because Gen Z is Becoming More Pro-Life : 

You have to put it altogether to appreciate why the pro-abortion website rewire news group would run a story under the stern headline “Anti-Abortion Advocacy Is Rising on College Campuses.”

We already know that as a generalization, Gen Z—18 to 29— is the most conservative age group in decades. We also know that pro-abortion Vice President Kamala Harris barely beat President Trump, 52% to 46% among Gen Z voters but that 57% of men under 30 voted for Mr. Trump.

In  Young people are bigger believers in God than their elders, research reveals, Charlie Bayliss writes about the shock journalist and Sunday school teacher at Oxford’s University Church, Christopher Gasson, had with his Sunday school class in this age group: 

Gasson said he wrote The Devils’ Gospels when he realised the teenagers in his Sunday school weren’t interested in Bible stories. They wanted better answers than atheist attacks on Christianity, so they studied books like ‘The God Delusion’ by Richard Dawkins instead.

He added: “It was a revelation. When you dig into it, you see that most atheism is not so much an attack on God, but an elegant criticism of the Church’s mistakes.

“We can learn from that, and in doing so get closer to God.”

When we think about it, Gen Z wants an apologetic for the faith, while atheists have focused on pointing out the foibles of the church. 

https://mailchi.mp/d661c97af338/is-my-child-addicted-to-video-games?e=169825fd77  

The “new” science is based on speculation, uncertainty, and wild guesses, which reveal the fact that the atheists’ theories of the origin of life are not scientific. What do atheists have to show for two centuries of theorizing? Nothing of any substance. Still, like a fisherman who keeps going back to throw his hook into the same hole out of which no one has ever yet caught a fish, the ever-hopeful atheist scours the earth and searches the skies with one goal in mind: to prove there is no God.

Alumni of Wheaton College concerned about the school's alleged leftward drift recently singled out a philosophy professor at the school as an example of liberalism seeping into the flagship Evangelical institution.

Nathan Cartagena, Ph.D., who has been an assistant professor of philosophy at Wheaton College since 2018, has repeatedly exhibited "left-wing racial politics laundered through a patina of 'Christianese,'" according to an analysis of his writings posted on the website "For Wheaton."

"For Wheaton," which was started by Wheaton alumni in February amid backlash to the school pulling a Facebook post congratulating alumnus Russ Vought for an appointment in the Trump administration, also hosts a petition demanding leadership change at the school. As of April 7, the petition has been signed by more than 1,450 alumni.

A student who took one of Cartagena's courses in 2023 claimed in an extensive statement published on the For Wheaton website that he sowed "hatred and division," twisted Scripture and Christian philosophers to promote a socialist worldview, and clamped down on dissent in his classes.

"In this class, I expected to learn about different governmental systems and the way the different parts of the world approach justice; instead, Professor Cartagena complains exclusively of the evils of our capitalist system and how white supremacy has infiltrated all aspects of our society," wrote the student, who remained anonymous to avoid "potential blowback from the faculty and administration."

The student went on to claim that she was made to feel she was complicit in white supremacy because of her immutable characteristics and, therefore, ultimately beyond salvation. "I feel as though I am painted as evil, racist, oppressive, un-Christlike and unsavable because of my race," the student wrote. "This class cultivates a cultish atmosphere where students are not allowed to disagree or question Professor Cartagena's views without punishment."

The student also claimed Cartagena openly denigrated Wheaton College President Philip Ryken and chaplain Angulus Wilson by "claiming they are weak for not addressing certain issues during chapel time and saying also that they make many of their administrative decisions notably out of fear of looking racist and intolerant."

Last year, Wheaton College President Philip Ryken — the former senior pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia — pushed back after alumnus Tim Scheiderer accused the school of going "woke."

"[T]he school in the leafy suburb west of Chicago has begun to mimic Harvard's wokeness," Scheiderer wrote. 

The op-ed claimed that Wheaton began straying from its "orthodox, Christian moorings" by "banning biblical words, teaching critical race theory, and psychologizing gender identity issues."

https://www.christianpost.com/news/wheaton-alumni-single-out-critical-race-theorist-professor.html

Resurrection Sunday found two unnamed, sorrowing disciples walking the seven miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus. As they recounted the tragic events of the last few days, an unrecognized Traveler (the Risen Christ) joined them.1 But the two disciples did not recognize Him.2 Jesus picked up on their conversation, “And He said to them, ‘What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?’”3 And they stood still, looking sad. Then they told this Traveler about Jesus of Nazareth. They said that He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed.4 We now come to the focus of this study.

And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.5

This text is the first exegetical gospel sermon after the resurrection. A careful study of this verse reveals an amazing fact. In this verse the Risen Christ proclaims that all the prophets spoke concerning Him! But note carefully how Jesus communicated this truth. “And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.” Here we have the Risen Lord, Himself, who could have given those two sorrowing disciples a full revelation of who He was and is in direct face to face communication.

But he chose not to do this. Rather, He directed them to the Scriptures, and He made His point by explaining the Scriptures to them. He wanted their faith in Him as the Messiah and fulfillment of the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms not to be based on some supernatural encounter with God or someone’s prophetic utterance. Rather, he directed them to the Scriptures, the Word of God. By doing this Jesus not only gives us much insight as to the use and purpose of Scripture, but He also outlines a method of witness: proclaim the truth of Scripture from Scripture.

Some have missed the above truth by emphasizing the study of Scripture over the purpose of Scripture which is to lead us into relationship with the Lord of Scripture. The Jews of Christ’s day were well-versed in the Scriptures and saw the study of Scripture itself to be a discipline of great merit. To this one-sided practice, Jesus said,

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.6

That Jesus is the central theme and truth of all Scripture cannot be overemphasized.

—Dale Ratzlaff (1936–2024, Pastor and Founder, Life Assurance Ministries).

Richard Dawkins made the following statement during a BBC interview in February 2009 when asked if Darwin was considered controversial in the United States:

“[Darwin] is controversial amongst people who don’t know anything, but if you talk to people who are actually educated, he’s not really controversial. There’s no controversy about the fact we are cousins of monkeys, cousins of cows, cousins of aardvarks. That’s completely non-controversial among anyone who knows anything about science.”

History is a stern teacher. Too frequently, its warnings go unheeded. Twenty years ago, France descended into a season of antisemitic violence that continues to this day. In 2006, when a young Jewish man named Ilan Halimi was kidnapped, tortured for three weeks, then brutally murdered by a Muslim criminal gang infamously referred to as the "Gang of Barbarians," the international community was shocked. The reason for the kidnapping, torture and murder was the old stereotype that supposedly all Jews are rich. Halimi's family could not afford to pay the 450,000 euros demanded as ransom.

For centuries, Jewish communities have been, with various pretexts, objects of hostility.

In Britain, the rise of Jeremy Corbyn, a parliamentarian with decades-long radically anti-Israel sentiments, to Labour Party leadership in 2015, ushered in a radical reformation. Labour became a nursery of antisemitic conspiracy theories, a podium for radical activists hijacking the language of Hamas, and a party where Jewish members were bullied, ostracized and expelled. Protests broke out across the United Kingdom, demanding "From the river to the sea" — a cry for Israel's destruction….Why does this matter?

Because this is precisely where Canada is going. Historically, Canada has been behind Europe on antisemitism by a generation, but the pace at which it is gaining momentum is now catching up. The same forces that have harmed France and the United Kingdom are now entrenched in Canada: radicalized academic environments, media that demonize Israel and downplay antisemitism, politicians pressured to appease extremists, and a Jewish community that, even as it grows more alarmed, is still unwilling to confront the reality of the threat.

At the eye of the storm is the Liberal Party of Canada and its new leader, Prime Minister Mark Carney. Many would argue that in the past decade, the Liberal government under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau increasingly empowered antisemitic elements. In the name of "diversity", "equity" and "inclusion", it has encouraged extreme radical ideologies and runaway antisemitism. It has failed to act decisively against imams who call for the shedding of Jewish blood. It has ignored incitement on university campuses, tolerated the spread of anti-Israel and anti-Jewish libels and defamation through public broadcasters that it funds. In the process, it has encouraged antisemitic opinions to intensify and be legitimized.

In the years 2023-2025, anti-Jewish violence in Montreal has escalated. Gunmen opened fire on two Jewish schools in 2023. The Congregation Beth Tikvah synagogue was firebombed twice in 2023 and 2024, causing serious damage. A Jewish community center was also firebombed in 2023.

Jewish businesses and institutions have been vandalized, effigies burned, and antisemitic slogans and cries in Arabic to murder Jews heard in the streets of Canada's major cities. As in 1930s Germany, attackers have broken synagogue windows.

Jewish students have been assaulted in front of schools, and swastikas were painted on Jewish businesses and homes. On university campuses across Canada, encampments have appeared, where Jewish students and faculty are harassed and obstructed. Some in the media, politics and faculty members have excused or justified these acts. What if black students had been prevented from moving freely on campus? All hell would have broken out — or should have. Yet, when it comes to Jews, or as the antisemites like to say "Zionists," no one, it seems, has a problem.

Violence is just part of the story. Jewish Canadians face harassment at work and violent physical attacks at protests, and are harassed relentlessly online. "Montreal has become North America's capital of antisemitism," according to Professor Gad Saad, of Montreal's Concordia University. The city is quickly becoming the continent's largest hotbed of radical Islam. In Toronto, meanwhile, instead of cracking down on hate crimes, the police department has been busy producing an official podcast featuring Muslim police officers praising the October 7, 2023 attack as something that generated more converts to Islam.

With Carney now as Canada's new prime minister, the Canadian government has pledged $100 million in aid to Palestinians. They claim it is for "humanitarian purposes." However, you would have to be living under a rock not to know that any aid sent to Gaza invariably goes straight to Hamas…

The sad truth is that if things do not drastically change, Canadian Jews may soon have to face a reckoning. Some will leave, as tens of thousands of Jews have already left France. Others will stay and fight back. What we are seeing today, however, is not a temporary peak in antisemitism. It appears to be the beginning of something far worse.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21527/canada-jews-crisis

[TBC: Though the Lord prophesied that Israel would be scattered through all nations, He also said they would be gathered again (Deut. 30:3).  Further, the Lord distinctly said that “...though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished” (Jer:30:11For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.
See All...). As to their importance as “signs of the times,” the prophet Joel recorded that “I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land” (Joel:3:2I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
See All...; see also Zech. 7,8, 12, 14, etc.).]