I wonder about the question. Why is it “in vogue” to disbelieve in a Creator of the universe, who loves us and wants to have a relationship with us and not “in vogue” to believe?

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God created us in His image. He created us male and female. Nothing God creates is inferior, though both male and female are equally sinners and have need of the same Savior.

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There is a certain “fundamentalism” in the secular liberal approach to “global warming.” Even some evangelicals are getting into this “faith” that the earth is getting warmer because of human action.

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God “invented” sex. Like so much of what God created -- from our environment, to marriage -- humankind has polluted and perverted sex.

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Anyone wishing to answer this question must make a choice:

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While this world -- with its wars and diseases, greed and broken relationships, inhumanities and personal vanities will end, the Scriptures teach it will be replaced with the perfect world God intended and, in fact, originally created.

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Religion as a subject is mostly stereotyped, or disregarded by the major media. There are a number of reasons for this, including deliberate ignorance, bigotry and a fear many correspondents have that a serious treatment of the subject brings nothing to their careers.

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People have been attempting to disprove the resurrection of Jesus Christ since He rose from the grave, beginning with Pontius Pilate for political reasons.

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It is not for me to categorize everyone who subscribes to a particular religion as violent, because many Muslims are not. However, it is a historical fact that Islam has advanced mostly by imposition, force, war and violence, including forced conversions.

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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints comprises approximately two percent of the U.S. population, according to the Pew Research Council. This is substantially behind the number of Protestants and Catholics, so by numbers alone it is difficult to say that the faith has entered the "mainstream of American religious life."

Still, practicing Mormons I know are decent and consistently kind and helpful. Their strong sense of family values sometimes outstrips the more numerous Protestant and Catholic believers. And, yes, people are still "suspicious" of Mormonism, in part because the faith keeps secret many of its rituals and mainstream religions consider some of their doctrines not only extra-biblical, but bizarre (such as the teaching there are many gods and we can all become gods and goddesses).

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No, Jesus came to transform the inside, not reform the outside. He said "My Kingdom is not of this world." But when the inside is transformed through conversion, that can have a profound effect on the surrounding culture as it has through the three spiritual revivals that have touched America.

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The short answer to the question is, "yes; religion is man-made." Most religions are attempts to placate an angry Deity, or a set of rules and regulations designed to appease him (or her in the case of goddess worshippers).

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Step number one is to know why we have wars. James addresses that question when he says: "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight..." (James 4:1-2)

There are wars because our fallen nature makes us dissatisfied with our status. We want other people's land, or valuables. Some wish to deprive others of their freedom in the name of their God. Jesus said there would be "wars and rumors of wars" (Matt 24:6) which will not end until He returns to restore humanity to its original and perfect nature.

I keep my faith because it is not in fallen humanity, but in God, who gives a different kind of peace than the world can offer so that regardless of wars, or a temporary cessation of hostilities on Earth, I have peace with God through Jesus Christ. It is the only "peace treaty" that matters.

When James writes "faith without works is dead," he is saying that works which proceed from faith find favor in God's sight.

But works without faith do not find favor in God's sight because no one can work her or his way to salvation. Paul writes that all of our righteousness is "filthy rags" and worthless. He also says salvation is by faith, not works "lest any man should boast."

So, a genuinely saved person loves God so much that that person desires to do good unto others as a demonstration and expression of God's love towards them and in gratitude to God for their own salvation.

Like so many other matters involving faith, believing in Heaven and hell depends on whether one believes in what God has said about these places. Modernism has diluted Heaven and hell, contending that if there is a Heaven surely all will go there because God (if there is one) is all-loving and He wouldn’t want to send anyone to hell (if there is such a place).

All of this sounds comforting, but it is like a pitchman for a bogus product. It isn’t true.

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Theoretically, yes, if such a person was competent and experienced enough to be trusted with the presidency. This is, after all, a "kingdom of this world" office, though many like to infuse it with religious overtones.

Still, I wonder about a person's judgment if he, or she, has embraced paganism with all of the evidence available concerning an orderly universe and the creative mind behind such order. Having judged incorrectly concerning the great "I Am," would a pagan be considered wise enough to judge temporal things? And, in an age when virtually every politician claims some kind of religion, could a pagan win?

Probably not.

Pope Benedict XVI, even when he was Cardinal Ratzinger and the "enforcer" of Catholic doctrine, has flirted with the restoration of the Latin Mass, which was beloved by many Catholics for generations, but jettisoned during reform movements in that church. That he has given his blessing to it now suggests a continuation of the controls on doctrinal freelancing which his predecessor, John Paul II, instituted.

His claim that the Catholic Church is the "one true" church is based on a verse in which Jesus said to Peter, "Upon this rock I will build my church." Protestants have translated that verse as Jesus speaking of Himself as "the rock." Not only does the Greek support such a conclusion, so does logic. Peter would deny Jesus three times. Martin Luther, who led the Protestant Reformation, and others since then reason that Jesus would not likely build his church -- which he saw as a body of believers in whom He would dwell, not an ecclesiastical hierarchy which he fought against in His time -- on a mortal, sinful man.

Will any of this matter to most people? Probably not. Will it hurt the ecumenical movement, especially that which has built bridges between the Catholic and Orthodox churches, both of which claim to be able to trace their roots back to the original Apostles? Probably so.

Until recently, chaplains who have prayed in Congress -- including guest chaplains -- have been Jewish or Christian, reflecting the foundations and traditions of this country. In recent months, a Muslim clergyman was invited to pray and now a Hindu.

Congress has the right to ask anyone, or no one, to offer an invocation at the start of each session, but I would like to know -- having opened the door to faiths other than Christians and Jews -- if it will, or should be able to stop any request from any religious faith for representation?

If so, would that be discrimination? I don't know. Does any of this make a difference? Probably not.

Politicians have always sought a covering of faith for their policies and during most of the invocations, most of the Members are not on the floor.

If one believes the "instruction book" for such offices as "overseers" in the church -- as opposed to believing in the supremacy of cultural trends and opinion polls -- Paul lays out the requirements for such offices in his first letter to his protege, Timothy.

Among them are that pastors, bishops and other clergy must be "the husband of one wife" and "Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil." (1 Timothy 3:1) These qualifications, coupled with other relational rules involving husband-wife and male-female relations, clearly presume a heterosexual, married relationship for bishops.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church bishops have embraced trendiness and abandoned the very Scriptures which are their basis for "evangelizing." If these bishops choose to violate God's instruction book, church members have two choices, should they wish to continue to honor the authority of scripture and its Author: they can remove the bishops from office, or they can leave the denomination. To remain in the denomination and do nothing makes members co-conspirators in the bishops' apostasy.

There is a hymn many Christians sing which includes the plea that God would "drive the dark of doubt away." We live in a fallen world with many temptations and distractions. We witness poverty, war, death and other horrors. We "see through a glass darkly," as Paul writes. We are constantly bombarded with "evidence" that God does not exist.

And yet as we focus on Jesus, it is He who drives the dark of doubt away...by his life, death and resurrection and by His assurance that He goes to prepare a place for us that where He is, we may be also. It is by looking beyond our circumstances in a fallen world and beyond doubt that we find hope and faith. Perhaps Mother Teresa's doubt lasted longer than most, but doubt is not the same as disbelief and in her actions as well as her words, she exhibited more faith than any doubter -- or non-doubter -- I have known.

Jesus said, "In the world you will have tribulation." But He also said, "Be of good cheer for I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

A merciful God created the world in perfect condition. Man messed it up by deciding to do things his own way. Still, a merciful God offers redemption in and from this fallen world through Jesus Christ for all those who repent of their sin and put their faith and trust in Him.

We will all die. Circumstances differ, but the end is the same for all. The question is not how many years we get to live in a broken world, but rather where we are headed after we leave it. A merciful God offers Heaven and perfection -- with no terrorist attacks, no storms and no tears -- if we accept it on His terms and not create conditions for Him to which He must respond before we exercise faith and trust in Him.

People with faith in God who are "called according to His purpose" have a dual interest in fighting poverty and disease. There is the temporal benefit of doing good to a fellow human being and the delight in seeing that life fulfill its potential. And there is the even greater motivation of acting as God's agent in demonstrating His love for the physical body in order that the person on the receiving end of that love might open his or heart to the eternal message of salvation in and through Jesus Christ. It is He who has the ultimate answer to the poverty of the soul and the "disease" called sin.