PRAYER AND PRAISE:

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FIRST, OUR VIEWS:
 

 

MAY SCIENTISTS CONSIDER UNSCIENTIFIC EXPLANATIONS?

 

 

sand with tractor tread on it The article "Are Scientists Allowed to Consider Unscientific Explanations?" by Daniel Witt in a recent issue of Evolution News resonates powerfully with Psalm 53:1 – "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are perverted and have committed abominable transgressions. There is no one who does good." Consider these four points:

1. The Limits of Naturalism and the Voice of the "Fool"

The article argues that if science rigidly excludes “unscientific” explanations – especially those pointing beyond natural causation – it cannot truly say that natural explanations are sufficient, only that they are assumed as the boundary lines of science. This highlights a dilemma:

Imagine a geologist visiting a particularly interesting geological site. But when he arrives, he finds "that the site has been ruined. Most of the ground has been torn up by some sort of tractor, and there are wheel tracks everywhere. If the geologist is not allowed to consider the possibility that vandals have tampered with his site [because that is outside the realm of geology], then he cannot declare that vandals did not tamper with the site." Or are real estate developers starting a new housing project?

Similarly, Psalm 53:1 states: "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.'" The psalmist calls the denial of God a statement not of open investigation, but of a closed, hard-hearted foolishness – akin to the dogmatic naturalism the article criticizes. Denying the possibility of divine agency, the fool excludes a type of causation a priori – just like enforcing the rule "no unscientific explanations permitted."

2. Theology vs. Scientific Humility

Daniel Witt writes that Intelligent Design theorists refrain from naming God in technical scientific work, not out of dishonesty, but to respect the limits of what science can demonstrate. This humility acknowledges that science can delimit natural mechanisms but cannot affirm or deny anything outside that scope. Geology can't explain whether the intention behind the tracks in the soil was destructive or constructive.

Psalm 53:1 echoes this: by labeling those who "say in their heart ‘there is no God’" as fools, it condemns not just disbelief, but the arrogance of claiming complete knowledge. The psalmist insists that moral corruption springs from that arrogance: "They are perverted and have committed abominable transgressions." So Witt's call for methodological openness mirrors biblical wisdom: true intellectual humility avoids both dogmatic naturalism and rash theological claims, recognizing ultimately that we are finite beings before infinite mysteries.

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A Personal Note: You have doubtless heard about and seen images of the terrifying super-flood in Kerr County, Texas that hit in the early morning hours of July 4. My sister lives not far from there in Texas and has sent me this info: "The Kerr County Flood Relief Fund supports relief and rebuilding efforts after the flood of July 4, 2025. Your generosity helps our neighbors recover. The Community Foundation – a 501(c)(3) public charity serving the Texas Hill Country – will direct funds to vetted organizations providing rescue, relief, and recovery efforts as well as flood assistance." Please pray about what you can do to help, then click on the above link and DO IT! We have. For more info and gut-wrenching videos about this flood, see Challenges for small camps, after latest Kerrville flood.

Simon at Vision Complex Orphanage and School in Tanzania wrote to us about Ethania, a girl who has Sickle Cell Anemia (here is Simon's explanation: sickle-cell-anemia-kids.pdf) so she had to be rushed to the hospital for blood transfusions. The doctors examined her and found she also had a bad case of malaria and she was given oxygen to help her breathe. Thankfully, she has recovered now, and a generous donor in Europe sent $320 through ARS to cover the medical bill!

 

Here's our next free online course: (click →) Intro: "Ministry to Handicapped and Poor" - deadline to enroll: 31 Aug. 2025 (← click). So enroll today, before you forget!

 

 
NEXT, THE NEWS:
 

2. 'KILL THE KID': TEXTS ADD TO CASE AGAINST COLLEGE STUDENT CHARGED WITH KILLING HER NEWBORN
from: LiveAction

SYNOPSIS: A Florida college student, Brianna Moore, is accused of killing her newborn baby girl and disposing of the body. Moore allegedly suffocated her infant shortly after giving birth in her dorm room in April 2024.

Text messages reveal Moore and an unnamed male discussed using "Plan C" – killing the baby – as a potential solution to an unintended pregnancy. Moore claims her baby died naturally, but the medical examiner's autopsy indicates asphyxiation. Moore's trial is scheduled for later this month, and she faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted. The case highlights the availability of Safe Haven Laws, allowing for the safe surrender of newborns.

Pray to God for the soul of this poor young woman in Florida who killed her newborn baby, and ask Him to make young people understand that there are serious consequences for having sex outside of marriage.

 

3. NEW DOCUMENTARY ON THE “SYMPHONY” OF RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH AND NKVD-KGB: LONGSTANDING COLLABORATION
from: RISU

SYNOPSIS: A new book by Roman Skakun reveals the extensive KGB agent network within the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine from 1939-1964, highlighting church-state collaboration. The book details how the Soviet regime infiltrated the Orthodox episcopate, controlling clergy appointments and activities for political gain, including during Khrushchev's anti-religious campaign. Skakun's research uses newly declassified archives, exposing the scale of the network, which included nearly 150,000 informants, agents, and resident operatives in the Ukrainian SSR by 1947.

The idea of Moscow as the "third Rome" goes back to 1492, when Metropolitan of Moscow Zosima proclaimed to the Tsar that Rome, then Constantinople, had both fallen, so Moscow became the "third Rome" center of world Christianity. Peter the Great (1672-1725) abolished the patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church and placied religious governance under state control. Skakun argues that acknowledging this is crucial for understanding historical events, countering attempts to downplay or ignore the dark chapter of KGB control. Skakun highlights that this collaboration was a deliberate, systematic process, not just isolated incidents.

Intercede with the Lord for Ukraine to be freed from captivity by the KGB/FSB-controlled Moscow Patriarchate's Orthodox Church. We know many fine priests in Russia, but the hierarchy is dominated by FSB collaborators.

 

4. SIX WAYS TO PROTECT YOUR KIDS FROM PLANNED PARENTHOOD
from: American Life League

SYNOPSIS: The author Susan Ciancio argues that Planned Parenthood is harmful to children and families, citing its infiltration of schools and its immoral practices. Six actions are proposed to protect children from Planned Parenthood: educating yourself and children about Planned Parenthood's stances, discussing Planned Parenthood with children, involving yourself in the child's school, homeschooling, and educating the community. Ciancio emphasizes the importance of arming children with knowledge about Planned Parenthood's history and alleged harmful nature.

The author suggests resources like articles and videos, such as "An Open Letter to Teens about Planned Parenthood" and "Who Was the Real Margaret Sanger?", to aid in educating both parents and children. The author believes that Planned Parenthood does not genuinely support women but, instead, causes harm to individuals and society. Homeschooling is presented as a solution to prevent children from being exposed to potentially harmful curricula. The author calls for community-wide education to counteract Planned Parenthood's influence and promote pro-life values.

Ask God to bring an end to the morally depraved sexual exploitation of school children and young women by indoctrinating them to have sex outside of marriage, then killing their unborn babies at taxpayer expense.

 

5. PBS DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHTS CAREGIVING
from: Disability Scoop

SYNOPSIS: A new PBS documentary, "Caregiving," explores the experiences of six caregivers and the historical context of caregiving, highlighting the increasing need for care for the elderly, ill, and those with disabilities. The documentary features Bradley Cooper, an executive producer, who was inspired by his own father's caregiving experience and emphasizes the heroism and dedication of caregivers. An estimated 53 million to 105.6 million adults and 5.4 million children/adolescents provide unpaid care in the U.S., along with 5 million paid caregivers.

Interestingly, the above fact that 90% to 95% of caregiving is unpaid and provided by family or friends, yet PBS introduced the program with a plea for more government money to provide socialist programming and caregiving. The documentary's creators also produced 18 short films and are developing indoctrination materials for children ages 2-6 through PBS programs, like "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood," to increase awareness and understanding of caregiving. "Caregiving" aired on PBS live on June 24 and streams on www.pbs.org/show/caregiving/ or the PBS app.

Pray that people will finally understand that "free" public TV and other socialist programs will bankrupt our country through the government funding of these programs by going ever deeper into debt.

 

6. AMERICA'S GRAYING. WE NEED TO CHANGE THE WAY WE THINK ABOUT AGE.
from: The Harvard Gazette

SYNOPSIS: Experts, including Caitlin Coyle, Ashwin Vasan, and Andrew Scott, discussed the need to shift the societal narrative on aging from focusing on disability to emphasizing ability, health, and participation. Negative stereotypes about aging are perpetuated by older people themselves, through internalized ageism ("I feel so old", "I can't do that"). Programs and policies that encourage healthy aging (prevention, risk reduction, social involvement) are crucial to support longer lives.

Longer lifespans require adaptations in societal structures, architecture, and thinking about the economics of longer lives. The medicalization of aging, focusing on health problems and death, overshadows the positive aspects of aging (increased life satisfaction, emotional stability). Reducing inequality in healthy aging is paramount, as black and brown communities experience disproportionately high premature death rates before 65. Flexible elder-services programs and a focus on individual beliefs and preferences, not just the universal need for programs like Bingo, should be created to ensure continued social participation.

Thank the Lord that more and more people are learning how to care about and relate to elderly people. Pray for Christians to drop their "pie in the sky" mindset and begin to show real agape-love toward the elderly.

 

7. AUTISTIC ADULTS FACE HIGHER MENTAL HEALTH READMISSION RATES
from: Disabled World

SYNOPSIS: This research, published in the peer-reviewed journal Research in Autism, reveals concerning disparities in mental health care for autistic adults who experience hospitalization rates nearly 1.5 times higher for readmissions within 30 days compared to other populations. The study, conducted by Drexel University's A.J. Drexel Autism Institute using national hospitalization data from 2019, found that 36% of all hospital admissions for autistic adults were mental health-related, with schizophrenia being the most common reason for admission.

The research demonstrates significant gaps in accessible outpatient mental health care, particularly for autistic women who showed higher readmission rates than autistic men – a pattern opposite to non-autistic populations. This authoritative data provides crucial insights for healthcare providers, policymakers, and disability advocates by highlighting the urgent need for autism-adapted mental health interventions and better-connected care systems, especially benefiting autistic adults, those with intellectual disabilities, and their families who navigate fragmented healthcare services.

Ask God for "normal" people to learn how to understand and offer genuine compassionate care to autistic adults who have recurring mental health problems.

 

 

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Various Kinds of Crew Members

 

various kinds of crew membersCheck out this important Podcast! The speaker really nails it: he emphasizes that the Church, the Ark of Our Salvation, is not a cruise ship where we're just passengers on vacation, relaxing and having a good time. No, we're sailors and marines who have battles to fight and various tasks to do on this warship. He explains three very important passages of Holy Scripture:

"Now there are various kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are various kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are various kinds of workings, but the same God, who works all things in all. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the profit of all. For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, and to another the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit; to another faith, by the same Spirit; and to another gifts of healings, by the same Spirit; and to another workings of miracles; and to another prophecy; and to another discerning of spirits; to another different kinds of languages; and to another the interpretation of languages. But the one and the same Spirit works all of these, distributing to each one separately as He desires. For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ" (1 Corinthians 12:4-12).

"For even as we have many members in one body, and all the members don't have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us, if prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of our faith; or service, let us give ourselves to service; or he who teaches, to his teaching; or he who exhorts, to his exhorting: he who gives, let him do it with liberality; he who rules, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without hypocrisy: abhor that which is evil, cling to that which is good. In love of the brothers be tenderly affectionate one to another; in honor preferring one another" (Romans 12:4-10).

"But to each one of us was the grace [gift] given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. ... He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers to equip the saints to do the work of ministering to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature, perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error; but speaking the truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, Christ" (Ephesians 4:7 & 11-15).

So be sure to listen closely to this important Podcast at Ancient Faith Ministries and learn how these scriptures fit together! Which of the various kinds of crew members are you? Enroll in our free courses to see how YOU can do diakonia-ministry. And Join "The ARC" Chat/Video Forum to Build the ARC!

 

 
 

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Who Are We?   Please remember to pray for Christians in Secularized Countries, and for...

  Your fellow-servants,

  Bob & Cheryl