March 9, 2025, column from the Amarillo Globe-News:

Author says church is Christians' main family

By Mike Haynes

                For a woman who has a Cambridge University Ph.D. in English Renaissance literature and a theology degree from Oak Hill College in London, Rebecca McLaughlin had no trouble getting her message across clearly to a group of Oklahomans and at least two West Texans.

                I don’t think her three talks Feb. 14-15 were over anyone’s heads.

Rebecca McLaughlin at First Presbyterian
Church in Edmond, Oklahoma.

                And for someone who has written more than a dozen books, she certainly doesn’t sit in an academic ivory tower. She came across as someone who clearly walks the talk as she laid out answers to critical questions and offered guidance on living a genuine Christian life.

                For Valentine’s Day this year, my wife and I didn’t go out to eat or to see a movie. Instead, we drove the four hours to Edmond, Oklahoma, to hear McLaughlin talk in person about “The Art of Connecting: Love, Relationships and the Gospel.”

                The 45-year-old was the opposite of pretentious in jeans, a knit shirt, jacket, boots and a ponytail as she covered several key points from her books, including “Christianity Today” magazine’s 2020 book of the year, “Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion,” 2021’s “The Secular Creed: Engaging Five Contemporary Claims” and 2023’s “No Greater Love: A Biblical Vision for Friendship.”

                Standing near the front pews and in front of a shiny communion table cross in the elegant sanctuary of Edmond’s First Presbyterian Church, McLaughlin discussed practical approaches to challenging situations. To this Texas Panhandle native, her English accent gave her an air of gravitas, but her words would have been valuable if they had come with “y’all”s and “fixin’ to”s.

                That’s because everything she said was based on an immersion in scripture and her knack for applying it to modern issues.

 

Rebecca McLaughlin at First Presbyterian
Church in Edmond, Oklahoma.

               A common refrain in her three presentations was the status of the church as the key Christian family. On Valentine’s night, she acknowledged the important role of marriage as Paul describes it in Ephesians 5. In addition to the mutual love and respect the apostle urges for wives and husbands, the passage compares marriage to the relationship of Christ and the church. McLaughlin said the purpose of marriage is as a metaphor for that bond between Jesus and his people.

Referencing I Corinthians 13, she said, “The classic love passage is not about marriage. It’s about the church.”

                She pointed out the Old Testament comparison of God as a husband and Israel as an unfaithful wife.

                “Our vision of marriage is both too small and too big,” she said. Too small in that we may not realize how important the metaphor is in pointing to the ultimate, Christ-church relationship, and too big when we place marriage above that eternal connection.

                “It was always about Christ and the church,” she said. “There is a much bigger vision of what marriage is about than just about one man and one woman.

                “This is why marriage is male and female and why husbands and wives perform different roles. Marriage is meant to point us to Christ, but it’s also meant to disappoint us.

                “Because even the best Christian marriage can only be a tiny echo of Jesus’s love for us. We elevate it to a position that the Bible doesn’t.”

“Jesus takes the marriage bond exceedingly seriously,” she affirmed, but its purpose is to point to the Christ-church relationship. “It’s the greatest love story that’s ever been told,” she said.

                McLaughlin said in our culture, sexual and romantic fulfillment is one of the greatest of our idols. The narrative is, she said, that without that fulfillment, “you’re missing out on life.” But focusing on the more significant relationship – Christ and the church – takes pressure off couples to have the “perfect” marriage and also off single people who discover that they don’t have to find a partner to be happy.

                “The primary family is the family of the church,” she said.

                McLaughlin’s first Saturday morning session focused on parenting. She acknowledged that protecting their children is the first job of parents but said they can overdo sheltering them from spiritual threats in the world.

“Sometimes, we protect kids so much that we don’t give them a chance for discipleship,” she said. “Kids are not fragile. They need some flexibility, like a tree, in order to grow. Our job is to teach them the Bible and walk alongside them as they encounter ideas that are not biblical.”

She encouraged instilling a biblical view of sex in children but said, “If you don’t repent and trust in Jesus, all the Christian sexual ethics in the world won’t help. The first priority is the gospel.”

                In her concluding talk Saturday, McLaughlin addressed issues from her book “The Secular Creed,” such as race relations and same-sex marriage. She is open about her life-long attraction to women and her decision to place Christ above it. She has been married for 17 years to Bryan, an Oklahoma City native with whom she lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with their 14-, 12- and 6-year-old children.

                She said the church should love, not criticize, LGBTQ people. She recalled a woman who said the love that was evident on McLaughlin’s podcast was what made Christianity sound real to her. Aware of Jesus’s command, the woman said, “You guys have to love me.”

                McLaughlin doesn’t shy away from controversial topics in her books, her podcasts or in person. She was surprised, however, that she has received the most pushback about where she sits in church.

                She and her husband often sit apart during worship with the purpose of interacting better with visitors or people sitting by themselves. They believe everyone should feel welcome in God’s family. “You don’t go to church to be alone,” she said.

                In Edmond, she graciously signed my copy of “Confronting Christianity” and our sister-in-law Cheryl’s copy of McLaughlin’s Bible study workbook, “Navigating Gospel Truth.”

                Kathy and I departed First Presbyterian encouraged by McLaughlin’s messages but even more impressed by her commitment to Christ.

Pastor Eric Laverentz said attendance was down from the usual turnout for guest speakers. That’s a shame, because those who missed it would have learned much more about love from McLaughlin’s insight than from the regular Valentine’s hearts and flowers.

Feb. 9, 2025, column from the Amarillo Globe-News:

Treasured memories and treasures in heaven

By Mike Haynes

                “Making memories” has been a common expression the past few years. You hear it in TV commercials,

on social media posts and just in conversation.

                There’s nothing at all wrong with the concept, but I often think that memories just happen and aren’t made, similar to the idea that sometimes it isn’t the destination that’s memorable, but the journey.

                Of course we plan trips, events and family times at the house with the hope that those gatherings will be recalled and talked about fondly for years. But how many memories also are born from unexpected experiences such as getting caught in the rain or even from bittersweet moments in a hospital waiting room?

                All our memories can’t be planned; many just happen naturally.

                I’m the king of trying to preserve memories – sometimes through writing, often from all the souvenirs and T-shirts I bring home from trips and by crowding my closet with clothes from 30 years ago.

                I do know what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matt. 6:19-21, NIV)

                But, but … the trinkets on my shelves are reminders of fun or meaningful times: the sticker from the Cavern Club in Liverpool; the olive wood shepherd figure from Israel; the copper cross made from my hometown church’s original steeple.

                Those items are important to me, but I know they are just “treasures on earth” that can burn up in a fire. It’s the times with people that last.

                My dad died last month. I’m tempted to summarize his exceptional, 93-year-old life, but I’ve already done that a few years ago and in his obituary that ran in this newspaper Jan. 13. Johnny Haynes made indelible marks in community service, in athletics, in his church and with his large family. So memories have been on my mind as they have for my three brothers, my sister and all the family.

                We made plenty of memories, from station wagon trips to Ruidoso on summer vacations to school sports to golf, to laughing while playing games at the kitchen table to working cattle to keeping a night watch during the 2006 prairie fire that threatened our house.

                Mom, who died in 2013 at age 83, and Dad were at the center of all the good and bad times. Everybody in McLean knew Johnny and Joyce Haynes, because they also were at the center of the church and community. My family is blessed to have had them and to have memories of them.

                At Dad’s funeral – in the church my parents had helped lead since 1950 – my family had set up a saddle to represent a life of ranching, Dad’s Roping Club chaps, one of his felt hats, his spurs, a football, a tennis racquet, a McLean Tiger jersey, lots of family photos and more. And the speakers – my pastor cousin, Thacker Haynes, friend Ted D. Simmons and nephew John Ruel Haynes – certainly evoked memories of Dad along with their sincere Christian messages.

                Thacker didn’t preach about memories the Sunday after Dad left us, though. The gist of his sermon was “The best is yet to come.”

                He did recall the local church in the 1950s and 1960s, when he and I were growing up and the town and church both had lots more people. But those days of Sunday school rooms full of children and multiple classes of adults are gone in a community that an interstate highway passed by in the 1980s. The thing is, those “good ol’ days” have been replaced with more good days. The current church helps those in need with its Angel Program, collaborates with other churches in town to build attendance at events and maybe does more in outreach than it did decades ago.

                Thacker recalled a farmer friend showing him how to plow a field. My cousin kept looking back to see if his row was straight, and the friend told him you have to look directly ahead if you want to plow a proper row.

                The scripture reading was John 2:1-11, the story of Jesus changing water to wine. After the miracle, the wedding banquet master was amazed that the best wine had been saved for last.

                If we listen, God is talking to us, Thacker said. And he’s showing us what to do next. If we follow that voice, our spiritual lives will get better and better. “Jesus saved the best for last,” he said. “We need to keep going forward, because Jesus is saving the best for last.”

                Before the water became wine, Jesus’ mother had told the servants, “Do whatever he (Jesus) tells you
to do.” That’s the key, my cousin said: “In my life, when I listen to the Holy Spirit and do what he wants me to do, it always works out.”

                A few days before my Dad’s final breath, he had separate intimate talks with another of my cousins and with one of our nieces. Both times, he made it clear he was ready to go to the place Christ had prepared for him – and to dance again with Mom.

                And as another niece was leaving the hospital room that week, I heard him whisper to her, “Y’all do the best you can, and I’ll do the best I can.”

                He had great family memories, but he was looking forward.

Jan. 12, 2025, column from the Amarillo Globe-News:

In cold weather, compassion extends to pets

By Mike Haynes

                My wife and I automatically change the channel when certain public service announcements come on, at least long enough to ensure that they’re over.

                It isn’t that we disagree with the message; the images and sounds presented are just too real for us.

                Most of the PSAs are TV spots for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The sad but cute faces of puppies and other pets filmed in filthy or freezing conditions are shown with the intention of generating sympathy and support for the organization.

                That’s a good motive, and there’s nothing wrong with the ad campaign. For us, though – and especially Kathy – it’s preaching to the choir. We don’t need to see helpless animals that appear to be in pain gazing at a camera, seeming to say, “Please help me.”

                Kathy and her mom, Peggy, are longtime volunteers with the Amarillo SPCA – not connected with the national organization that runs the pleas on TV. On a regular basis, they see dogs and cats brought to the animal shelter that have been starved, mistreated or abandoned. So for them, seeing pets on TV in similar circumstances is not motivation, but overload.

They and the other local volunteers are especially mindful of pets in the winter. We’ve just moved into a time of sub-32 temperatures when outdoor water bowls freeze up and some animals live in snow, ice and howling wind.

In this farming and ranching region, many of us give little thought to what outside animals might face, and certainly, some are more hardy than others. The agriculture industry wouldn’t survive without herds of cattle roaming pastures.

I grew up in the country where none of our dogs or cats lived inside, but they did have places of shelter, regular food and fresh water. Animal rescue folks probably wouldn’t think that was enough.

Other pet owners, though, simply shouldn’t own pets. Plenty of people here and everywhere treat animals like those seen on the ASPCA TV spots. And in January in the Texas Panhandle, the biting cold makes it imperative to at least offer some kind of shelter.

For Christians, a constant theme is compassion. I know, the kindness that Jesus preached and displayed was for down-and-out people, not animals. The Bible says little about the treatment of pets or livestock. And despite the messages that PETA pushed a few years ago, Jesus wasn’t a vegetarian. At the least, he ate fish, and he certainly didn’t say anything about giving up meat.  

But he did talk about a shepherd going out of his way to bring one of his 100 sheep to safety.

 People come before animals, of course. We believers in Christ expect to be in heaven for eternity, but scripture doesn’t directly address the question of whether our pets or other animals will be there, too.

                “America’s preacher” Billy Graham thought so, and so did Methodist founder John Wesley, who preached a sermon speculating that because animals suffered from the fall of man in Genesis, they, like us, will be restored to paradise when all are resurrected.

                Beloved humorist Will Rogers said, “If there are no dogs in heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.”

                Whatever the situation in the afterlife, we do have animals around us here and now. Compassion is a key biblical concept. If we have it for people, why wouldn’t we be expected to have it for animals, too?

                Maybe more of it could alleviate the need for those distressing pet videos on TV.

 Dec. 15, 2024, column from the Amarillo Globe-News:

Just wondering...

…whether Beatrice Schneider knows how inspiring she is playing Imogene in this year’s “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” movie?

Beatrice Schneider in "The Best Christmas
Pageant Ever"

                The film is a comedy, but Schneider, as a young teenager who takes care of her family in her parents’ absence, is the focal point of a strong message of hope and the true meaning of Christmas.

                Imogene is the oldest of the six Herdman kids, known for terrorizing their smalltown neighborhood. Think the Glossners from the TV series, “The Middle.” The Herdmans lie, bully, cuss, smoke cigars and set things on fire. Imogene forces the story’s main “good girl,” Beth, to hand over her necklace. The youngest Herdman, Gladys, has a demeanor that scares even adults.

                The pageant in the title is an annual church play that suddenly is put in charge of Beth’s mother, Grace. When the Herdmans, who never have set foot in a church, decide they want to be in the pageant, the whole town shudders.

                But Grace gives them a chance, even allowing Imogene to be Mary, the mother of Jesus, instead of the cute, proper girl who was Mary last year.

                The unruly family starts out rowdily, as expected. When told that frankincense is a kind of oil, one of the boys says, “What kind of cheap king hands out oil? You get better presents at the firemen’s shelter!”

                But Grace offers them grace, and they start to understand the Jesus story. It’s most obvious in Imogene, who changes from the bossy “mom” of her family to the sensitive, hopeful girl who was there all along.

                The movie is directed by Dallas Jenkins, who created the Jesus streaming series, “The Chosen,” but it isn’t a Bible-in-your-face sermon. It has just the right balance to appeal to churchgoers and those who might be looking for faith.

                It also is another indication that Christian films are improving and attracting actors from mainstream productions such as Judy Greer (Grace) and Lauren Graham (adult Beth). “Chosen” fans will recognize a couple of faces in minor roles.

                Warning: The ending might bring tears.

* * *

…whether you knew the new “Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin” has an Amarillo connection. One of its producers, Ralph Winter, also was a producer of “What Remains,” which was shot in Amarillo through Sharpened Iron Studios and was the last film featuring Anne Heche before her 2022 death.

                “Bonhoeffer” tells the story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who preached against Hitler during World War II and was executed near the end of the war for his association with a plot to kill the Fuhrer. It’s a somber film, of course, but Jonas Dassler gives an inspiring performance as Bonhoeffer.

* * *

…what your reaction is when you read something implying that “thinking” people don’t buy the message laid out in the Bible of supernatural occurrences such as God creating the world, his coming to Earth as baby Jesus, the adult Jesus producing miracles, his rising from the dead and the eternal salvation that results from our believing in him.

                The truth is that plenty of intellectuals believe in Christ and his message, and it’s easy to find examples. A 1984 book edited by Roy Abraham Varghese is called “The Intellectuals Speak Out About God.” Its 25 essays are divided among experts in “The Sciences,” “Philosophy” and “Apologetics and Theology.” For example, Professor Stanley L. Jaki, who lectured at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, writes about “From Scientific Cosmology to a Created Universe.”

John E. Smith, a Yale University philosophy professor who was president of the American Philosophical Association, writes about “The Rationality of Belief in God.” And Professor Nikolaus Lobkowicz, who was president of the University of Munich in Germany, writes about “Marxism and Christianity.”

                More recently, in her 2019 book, “Confronting Christianity,” Rebecca McLaughlin says Praveen Sethupathy, a Cornell University genetics professor, is a believer in traditional Christianity. She lists 11 professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who profess faith in Christ, and her book quotes many more Christian academics.

                Those are just two books on my shelves that were handy; there are many more. The purpose here isn’t to go into arguments one way or the other but to remind unbelievers that they aren’t the only smart people out there.

                This quote is attributed to Augustine, the fourth century North African theologian and philosopher. He may not have said it, but it’s a good one: “The truth is like a lion; you don’t have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself.”

* * *

…what you were doing at age 18. British author Alice Loxton, 28 years old, has a book out called “Eighteen: A History of Britain in 18 Young Lives.” It’s aimed at a general audience, not serious scholars, but it’s a creative and entertaining exercise that might entice readers into the field of history.

“Eighteen” looks at 18 Britons, from well-known, such as Queen Elizabeth I, Admiral Nelson and Richard Burton, to obscure such as Jacques Francis, a 16^th century diver from West Africa, and Mary Anning, a 19^th century fossil hunter.

I was hooked on reading it when I saw that one of the 18 is Jack Lewis. That’s the name the famed Christian writer and professor C.S. Lewis answered to. At 18, he was a new Oxford University student about to be sent to the trenches of France when World War I broke out.

The Lewis chapter has nothing new for fans of the author of the Narnia books and “Mere Christianity,” but lots of readers will be surprised at the trials the young intellectual faced.

* * *

…whether you’ve heard of “The Religiverse.” No, it isn’t a new way to memorize Bible verses, but a free email newsletter produced twice a week by Jason Boyett, host of the “Hey Amarillo” podcast, co-publisher of “Brick & Elm” magazine and author of the book, “12 Major World Religions.”

                “The Religiverse” offers links to news about world religions, including Christianity, and some commentary by Jason. It’s a good resource for information on your religion and those of others. One way to sign up is to Google “Religiverse Boyett.”

Nov. 10, 2024, column from the Amarillo Globe-News

Politics aside, remember the higher authority

By Mike Haynes

                In the middle of election season, I can get pretty agitated. That’s just on the inside; I avoid talking about politics except with some of my family and a friend in Florida, so most people wouldn’t know how worried I get when I hear some of the comments and plans from the party that scares me.

                I purposely wrote this column before the election so I wouldn’t know which side is crying about the

presidential contest. Whichever way it went, about half the country is terrified that now, the end of democracy is near. (I suppose the vote count still could be up in the air five days after Election Day.)

                With the United States divided down the middle, some on the right and some on the left are considering what country they should move to (legally, I hope) to avoid the perceived tribulation to come. (For Kathy and me, it’s Scotland.) For most (including us), speculating on such a drastic step is just letting off steam, but the worry behind it is real.

                That’s when I need to listen to Mark, that friend in Florida.

                Mark is as passionate for his viewpoint as anybody. He donates to candidates and places signs in yards (some of which get stolen). He has strong political and moral opinions.

                But when we talk on the phone about politics, he invariably returns to a stronger belief: “God is in control.”

                Having grown up in Kansas, Mark has deep-seated Midwestern values. The son of missionaries, he is a Christian and a doer, not only a pew-sitter, working with people who are deaf and inviting people in bad circumstances to stay at his house.

                And I don’t think he’s planning to flee the country, no matter who won the election.

                Mark refers to the apostle Paul, who wrote to Christians who lived in the capital of the most powerful empire of the first century:

                “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. (Romans 13:1, NIV)

                That instruction probably was issued in the 50s A.D. during a time when many of Jesus’ first followers had been killed for their beliefs and Christians still were being persecuted by the Roman government. But Paul, who himself would be executed by Rome, understood the big picture.

                He was familiar with the Hebrew Bible, which said, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” (Jeremiah 29:11) Paul knew that when the Israelites were hesitant to cross the Jordan into the Promised Land, God had told Joshua: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

                For about half our population, the state of our nation might look scary right now. I hope some words from Jesus will provide comfort. Explaining to his disciples that bad times were coming, he said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33, NIV)

                Two Sundays before the election, our Sunday school teacher told us, “Sometimes bad people are at the top. Sometimes good people at the top. But either way, God is in control.”

                Last Sunday, one of our music leaders said, “Our job is to show the light of Jesus” through the anxiety and confusion after the election. “God is in charge of the timeline,” she said.

                I don’t think the Old or New Testament writers or Jesus himself meant we should ignore what’s going on in the world or our country and sit by waiting for God’s kingdom to arrive fully. But as we participate in our communities and the nation, we should work from a godly perspective, trusting in these words that Paul wrote to the church at Philippi:

                “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

                Just before that statement, Paul wrote, “Let your gentleness be evident to all.” (Philippians 4:5)

                I didn’t hear much gentleness from either side in the campaign season, and based on the past few years, I don’t expect much in the days to come. I wish those on both sides would pay attention to this advice from author and pastor Chuck Swindoll:

                “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react.”  

                Many have said that despite sharp differences among various American ethnic, political, economic and cultural groups, we have more in common than the things that divide us. Tomorrow, Nov. 11, is one opportunity to stress that harmony as our military veterans – especially those who have died serving the country – are thanked and honored.

                Coming so soon after the Nov. 5 election, I hope it will be a start in the desperate need for the nation to heal.

                Kathy and I sometimes switch the TV channel from the news to “The Andy Griffith Show.” Spending time in Mayberry can calm an anxious heart and even put things in perspective. But for permanent peace, it’s better to focus on the words of Jesus as he prepared his closest followers for the trauma of his death and what followed.

                “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27, NIV)

                I’m glad our Florida friend keeps reminding me.

Oct. 13, 2024, column from the Amarillo Globe-News:

'Confronting Christianity' tackles 12 hard questions of faith

By Mike Haynes

                I’m not going to call Rebecca McLaughlin “the new C.S. Lewis.” Few could disagree that Lewis was the foremost defender of Christianity of the 20^th century; his is the name to which later Christian apologists most often are compared.

                McLaughlin certainly has given much to 21^st century efforts, however, to explain and promote Jesus

Christ to unbelievers and urge churchgoers to consider Christian walks more in line with scripture.

                On the recommendation of my friend Mark in Florida, I listened to a podcast featuring McLaughlin, a Christian writer, speaker and teacher. It led me to read her 2019 book, “Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Hardest Religion.”

                I’m glad I did.

                “Confronting Christianity” was “Christianity Today” magazine’s 2020 book of the year, and for good reason. McLaughlin uses her extensive knowledge of theology, history, sociology and science to present convincing answers to those 12 questions – managing to quote Lewis a few times along with a myriad of historical and current academics from atheists to committed Christians.

McLaughlin herself is intriguing. She’s English (the accent got my attention right away) with a doctorate in Renaissance literature from Cambridge University and a degree in theological and pastoral studies from Oak Hill Theological College in London.

                The scholarly Brit married Bryan, a guy from Oklahoma, after they met in graduate school at Cambridge, and they now live in what she called “New Cambridge,” the one in Massachusetts. Her husband, who also has Ph.D. after his name, is a medical researcher.

Rebecca McLaughlin

                McLaughlin spent nine years with the Veritas Forum, where she equipped Christian professors to speak about the relation of their faith to their work. She co-founded Vocable Communications, which coaches professionals in communication based on academic research. “Confronting Christianity” was published in association with the Gospel Coalition.

                The book takes the 12 questions – including “Doesn’t Christianity Crush Diversity?” and “How Could a Loving God Allow So Much Suffering?” and refutes common assumptions not only with logic, but with compassion.

A key topic is “How Can You Say There’s Only One True Faith?” One of McLaughlin’s replies addresses the current popularity of saying, “I have my truth, and you have your truth.” She wrote, “Physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson famously quipped to Stephen Colbert, ‘The good thing about science’ is that ‘it’s true whether or not you believe in it.’” She adds, “But this is not limited to science: it’s the good thing about truth. Period.”

McLaughlin uses the “central truth claim on which Christianity stands or falls” to point out that the three major religions that claim one God cannot all be 100 percent true. “Christians believe that Jesus rose from the dead,” she wrote. “Muslims believe that Jesus did not die, but that he was instead taken up into heaven. Jews (and atheists and agnostics, for that matter) believe that Jesus died and remained dead. These claims are mutually exclusive. … (T)o say that all religions are equally true is to lose our grip on history.”

Although C.S. Lewis’ lines of reasoning were based on his deep knowledge of the Bible, he used few direct scripture references in his books. McLaughlin takes a different approach. Her book is filled with the Old and New Testaments, plus a four-page scripture index at the back. Regarding Jesus’ divinity, she quotes him from John 14:6 – “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” – and highlights his actions, such as not only healing the paralyzed man whose friends lowered him from the roof of a house to reach Jesus but telling him, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:5)

She quotes Jesus again: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26). And she paraphrases Lewis: “This is not the teaching of a good man. … (T)his is the teaching of an egotistical maniac or an evil manipulator, or God in the flesh.”

Coming from Cambridge University and living near Harvard, McLaughlin has many scientist friends. (She also is married to one.) She took advantage of some of them in considering the question, “Hasn’t Science Disproved Christianity?”

One long paragraph lists 11 professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, near her home, who are Christians at “the sacred temple of scientific endeavor.” “If science has disproved Christianity, no one has thought to notify them!” she writes.

McLaughlin places high value on science, but she compares the fact-finding of science to the meaning-seeking of religion. The first book of the Bible is not primarily concerned with science, she says. “As a Christian, I believe that every detail of the creation accounts in Genesis is inspired by God and that these opening chapters are the first course in the Bible’s feast of foundational answers to our deepest questions: Who are we? What does life mean? And how do we relate to God and to each other?”

The book quotes Russell Cowburn, a Cambridge experimental physics professor:  “Understanding more of science doesn’t make God smaller. It allows us to see His creative activity in more detail.”

“Confronting Christianity” doesn’t just spew out facts and arguments. McLaughlin’s book examines the heart and human feelings as much as intellectual issues, especially in chapters such as “Isn’t Christianity Homophobic?”, where she is straightforward about her own attraction to women since childhood but believes her relationship with Christ is far more important. She writes that as significant as male-female marital bonds are to God, brotherly and sisterly connections between Christian friends might be just as worthy.

                “Like marriage and like parenthood,” she writes, “(friendship) is another way in which God manifests
an aspect of his love for us.”

                This book lays out why Christianity is the best foundation for race relations, women’s concerns, morality and other modern cultural issues. It doesn’t directly address politics, but I wish many would read it before the upcoming election. I suspect McLaughlin’s 2021 book, “The Secular Creed: Engaging Five Contemporary Claims,” would be even more helpful for that purpose.

                “Confronting Christianity” effectively hits the major objections to following Christ. My Florida friend and I don’t need convincing, but many do.

Sept. 15, 2024, column from the Amarillo Globe-News

Fixing injury starts on inside - including spiritually

By Mike Haynes

                My memory is hazy, but I do remember some things from Oct. 27, 1967. I was a high school junior playing for my hometown McLean Tigers. I was a guard on offense and I think the same on defense. Out on the field at Silverton, I didn’t notice how cold it was. But I sure did after I hurt my knee.

                It was on a punt. It could have been the one that my teammate, Earnest Smith, ran back 75 yards for the game’s first touchdown, but I’m not sure. All I remember is being in the open, probably looking for somebody to block, when a Silverton Owl hit the side of my right leg. I went down, and the next thing I knew, I was sitting on the sideline on an equipment box or something else close to the ground. And when you’re inactive on a freezing night, you’re shivering.

                By the way, Earnest also was hurt that night; he broke his collarbone.

                In the locker room changing clothes after our 20-8 victory, my legs were bare. Coach Fred Hedgecoke looked at my right knee and asked, “Is your other knee that big?” The right one definitely was swollen.

After limping around for a few weeks I tried to play basketball, but the knee collapsed in practice when I came down from a layup. So I had surgery to remove cartilage. These days they call that meniscus surgery, and it usually is simpler, arthroscopic surgery rather than the more invasive operation that I had.

Today, athletes return to competition after that kind of injury, but back then, it ended my football career. My senior season, I was in the press box writing about the games for The McLean News.

                My knee did well for a couple of years. I just had two small scars outside, and the inside damage wasn’t bothering me much. Then I strained it on a ski slope, and for decades I hobbled on my bad knee.

                Dr. Charles Sadler had done a good job removing that damaged cartilage, but the inner workings of the knee weren’t the same. Through the decades, the “bone-on-bone” joint got worse. When Kathy and I took a trip to New England in 2023 and I was lagging behind our tour group, plus having trouble going up and down the steps of the tour bus, I decided it finally was time to go to the doctor.

                The X-ray showed my thigh bone wasn’t lined up with the shin bone; it was off center. Dr. Reagan Crossnoe told me the condition of my knee was “horrible.” So on Feb. 23, 2024, Dr. Crossnoe replaced that right knee with metal and plastic – 56 years, three months and 28 days after that Silverton Owl had delivered a blow to it. This time, the joint wasn’t just improved; I had a new knee.

                For 5½ decades I had managed to get around, sometimes better than others. But the state of the knee on the inside just wasn’t going to let me maneuver anywhere close to normal.

                Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees they were “like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you too, outwardly appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matthew 23:27-28, NAS)

                Other than a slight limp, I didn’t let my bad knee affect what I did. I tried to fake a successful gait. But the mechanism inside didn’t allow a clean movement, and it got worse over time. When I was confronted with a staircase during the past few years, I immediately drifted to the handrail on the right (if there was one) to brace my right knee as I went up or down. And I was more steady if I put one foot, then the other, on each step. It definitely delayed my progress.

                I couldn’t get around like I wanted because of the jumbled up arrangement of the bones and the lack of cartilage. The surgeon needed to clean out the old and give me something new.

                “Create in me a clean heart, God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10, NAS) Like my knee, just trying to fix our behavior from outside might not be the best answer to our problems as we navigate through life. God wants us to have a completely new attitude, an entirely fresh point of view. Only he can provide that as we let Jesus save us from our sinful lives.

                “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17, RSV)

                Our friend Tommy posted this comment from Oswald Chambers on Facebook:

The columnist had no trouble climbing these stairs
in a tower at Caernarfon Castle in Wales in July
2024. (Photo by Kathy Haynes)

“The expression of Christian character is not good doing, but God-likeness. If the Spirit of God has transformed you within, you will exhibit divine characteristics in your life, not good human characteristics. God’s life in us expresses itself as God’s life, not as human life trying to be godly.”

When I asked Dr. Crossnoe what kind of improvement I could expect in negotiating stairs with a knee replacement, he replied, “Dramatic.” Faced with a steep, wide staircase on a trip to the British Isles four months after the surgery, I walked straight up and down the middle with my hands free, just one foot on each step. In a tall English castle tower, I was confident on winding, stone steps.

                Many of us have suffered injuries that didn’t happen on a football field. They are emotional or mental pains that hinder our life journeys. If we would let God give us new, faithful hearts like a doctor replaces a knee, our spiritual walks would be much more smooth and confident.

 Aug. 11, 2024, column from the Amarillo Globe-News:

Historical sites let visitors stand in a moment of time

By Mike Haynes

                Sometimes, history is right in front of you.

                If you’ve been to the Alamo or to Washington, D.C., you know what I’m talking about. Kathy and I have been blessed to stand in places where important events happened or where legendary people walked. This summer, we added our footsteps to some historic spots in Great Britain.

     

           The Viking ocean cruise that we had anticipated for two years took us to a different port every day around the British Isles, and every day we visited fun or significant sites with tour guides to explain what we were seeing. I don’t know how much British history that American kids learn these days, but some places Kathy and I were taken to did ring bells in our memories.

                Thomas Becket was the English chancellor of the realm, and in 1162, his friend King Henry II appointed him archbishop of Canterbury. Becket started placing the church above loyalty to the king, however, and the two disagreed on such political issues as how churchmen should be tried by the courts. In 1170, Henry is said to have exclaimed, “Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?,” which prompted four knights to travel to Canterbury Cathedral, get into a tussle with Becket and murder him with their swords.

                Becket eventually became a Catholic saint, and his story has been told in poetry, theater and a 1964 movie starring Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole. His martyrdom is one reason pilgrims flocked to Canterbury for centuries, giving Geoffrey Chaucer inspiration to write “The Canterbury Tales.”

The side chapel in the cathedral where Becket was killed is open to visitors, and Kathy and I stood on the stone floor where his blood flowed. The spot is marked by a modern sculpture of red-tipped swords pointing down to an altar built long after his death.

Another day, a proper English gentleman led our tour of Chavenage House, parts of which were built in the late 1300s and most of it in the 1500s. The manor in the Cotswolds region played the “part” of Trenwith House in the recent PBS television series, “Poldark,” which Kathy and I knew going in. But we were surprised when we entered a small bedroom on the second floor and were told that Oliver Cromwell had slept there.

Cromwell, an anti-Catholic Puritan, and his parliament supporters had taken over the government from King Charles I, a devout Catholic, after the English Civil War. The king was imprisoned, and in 1648, Cromwell made the rounds of influential members of parliament to convince them to support executing Charles.

When Cromwell visited the Chavenage owner, MP Nathaniel Stephens, he stayed in the very bedroom where Kathy and I stood on the wooden floor. Last month, it was decorated with a 1640s tapestry, a smooth, metal helmet that gave the parliamentary army the nickname, “Roundheads,” and a portrait of Cromwell. Our tour guide said Stephens reluctantly agreed to the execution, and Charles was beheaded in 1649.

  We also walked into a bedroom at the huge Blenheim Palace complex where a more recent notable Englishman was born. The first duke of Marlborough led a significant military victory over the French in 1704, and English Queen Anne rewarded him with land and a new mansion, which became Blenheim Palace.

The mother of one of Marlborough’s descendants was attending a party at Blenheim in 1874 when she went into labor. The baby was Winston Churchill, later the prime minister who led England through World War II.

We walked through Churchill’s birth bedroom, which had floral wallpaper and a bed, but not the one from 1874. The famous statesman also proposed to his wife, Clementine, on the expansive palace grounds in 1908 and later said, “At Blenheim I took two very important decisions: to be born and to marry.”

My wife and I have been privileged to visit some fascinating places through the years, including Paul McCartney’s childhood home in Liverpool and Davy Crockett’s birthplace in Tennessee (despite the song, it wasn’t on a mountaintop). Probably the most remarkable, though, the hardest to put your mind around, were the places where Jesus walked.

In 2019, we toured Israel with a group from Washington Avenue Christian Church. We visited some sites where experts think Christ was present and others where his sandals almost certainly touched the ground.

A hill next to the Sea of Galilee is considered the likely place where Jesus delivered the Sermon on the

Mount. The Garden Tomb in Jerusalem could have been the place where he rose from the dead – or that momentous event could have happened at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

For sure, Jesus spent time in Capernaum, where our group walked in the remains of a synagogue and viewed the ruins of the house believed to be Peter’s. We didn’t see his footprints, but we know he spent time in that town. It’s mind-blowing to think about it.

 You don’t have to visit all those places to appreciate what happened in the past. And in the case of Christ, we know he’s still around.