On God’s Obvious Existence, Ugandan vs. American Church, and Phone Addiction

An Idea From Me

The Bible teaches that God’s existence is obvious to everyone. In fact, not only His existence but also His nature (what He is like) is clear to everyone. As a result, people do know God. Yes, this includes non-Christians. Their problem is not that they do not know God, but that they suppress (hold down) that knowledge. 
—Source: my forthcoming book, Bible Based Apologetics. We are using a version of this book in my apologetics course for men, which is running right now. Learn more about the class here

A Quote from Somebody Else

Joseph Byamukama (of Veracity Fount) on the difference between church worship in the United States vs. Uganda: 

At the risk of overgeneralization, let me say that Ugandan Christians who are passionate about their faith tend to stress emotions over the life of the mind…

Faithful, gospel-centered churches in America, perhaps overly influenced by rationalism, tend to focus more on reason and explanatory power than on the affections…. 

As I said, this might be an oversimplification—and there are certainly faithful, beautiful communities of faith in both contexts. But the tendencies in either direction are there. We all know that, biologically speaking, we cannot remove our hearts or our heads and remain alive. God has made us integral beings, and death ensues whenever we sever what God has united. I propose that this biological fact should point us to a similarly vital unity between our intellect and our affections for spiritual flourishing.

—Adam Smith, “Integrating Intellect and Emotions for the Sake of the Church: A Conversation with Joseph Byamukama,” Modern Reformation, March/April 2024, 20.

Something to Think About

Overheard in a coffee shop this morning: 

Customer (a Millennial): “I left my phone in the car; I’m just thinking how awkward it is to stand here without my phone. “

Barista (Gen Z): “I know—what did people used to do??”

What about you—do you feel awkward without your phone? How long could you reasonably go without it? It’s worth thinking about our phone use in light of 1 Corinthians 6:12: ““Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything.”

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