Why Not Take The Agnostic’s Challenge?

November 14, 2017October 8, 2025Valerie Cullers Leave a comment

Are you a person who doesn’t know if God exists or not? Do you see evidence of order all around you, but are not quite sure if the earth and universe were created by an Intelligent Designer? Are you seeking answers to your questions about God but don’t know what to do next? Why not take The Agnostic’s Challenge?

Who is the challenge for? It is for those who don’t know for sure if there is a God or not. It is for those who used to believe in God, but as they grew up, were told that God does not exist, and they believed it. It is for those who can’t find any peace or comfort in the world because they don’t know if anything exists outside of the material universe. It is, quite frankly, for anyone truly seeking to know if God exists or not.

What is the challenge? It is a very simple prayer that anyone can pray, so simple that even a child can do it.

“God, if you’re real, please make Yourself known to me.”

That’s it. It is a prayer that God can and will answer in a very personal way to show you that He exists.

Should you pray it just once or every day until He answers? That is up to you. He hears you the first time you pray, and He is not deaf. In my own prayer life, I keep praying until I get an answer.

Let me know how He shows up for you!

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7 NKJV

Two Narratives – Two Parallel Realities – Can We Ever Know The Truth?

November 7, 2017October 8, 2025Valerie Cullers Leave a comment

hardcore In this country, I hear two distinct narratives being fed to the American people. If I listen to the left-leaning outlet, the Republicans have colluded with Russia and the election was affected by it, etc., etc., etc. If I listen to the right-leaning outlet, the Democrats have unduly influenced their own primaries and their candidate is hip deep in her own Russian scandal, etc., etc., etc. There seems to be no middle ground, and the listeners of both of these outlets get fed one biased story after another.

If a person only listens to one news outlet, he or she begins to believe the narrative that is being purveyed, and one’s perception of reality becomes tainted by it. I have met and talked with people who are hardcore listeners of their favorite news outlet, and they seem to be in lock-step with the information they are taking in. They believe what they have heard is true and don’t seem to take into account any kind of level of bias that might be influencing them. They then become comfortable with and live in their own alternate reality.

There are a large number of people in this country who live in one alternate reality or another. They seem to be divided up along party lines, with the belief that the people who belong to the opposing political party are as bad as the party itself. I find this phenomenon troubling, to say the least.

Along with the biased pap and gruel that the outlets are feeding their listeners, there seems also to be a level of hostility that is being conveyed to them. People are separating from others with different political views. believing that they are a negative influence in our society. People have gone so far as to place people with opposing political views in a sort of “enemy camp.”

Let’s stop being sheep and believing one side or another. Let’s start searching for truth wherever we can find objective truth being disseminated. Let’s quit thinking “our side is totally right and the other side is totally wrong.” Let’s open our minds to the fact that we are all Americans and have a right to our opinions, and let’s start respecting others regardless of their political beliefs.

Only when we begin to value all of our fellow Americans can we ever hope to come to the truth about the issues facing us. We do need different views in order to find solutions to the problems that plague our society. If we want to live in a true reality, we must be willing to seek truth wherever it may be found and follow it to its conclusion, no matter how uncomfortable it is.

It’s Going To Be A Grayt Day!

November 4, 2017June 14, 2018Valerie Cullers 3 Comments

A few weeks ago, my husband and I were walking along the bike path and were enjoying the glorious fall weather. The sun was shining, the days were warm and we were basking in the perfect weather. The trees were gorgeous and we were taking in the breathtaking colors of the leaves. Truly, the days seemed like the perfection of creation.

Then….the nights grew cold and the days were only a little warmer. The trees began to lose their leaves and we could see the bare branches. “The leaves have lost their trees!” I wailed to my husband and he concurred laughing, “Yes Valerie, the leaves have lost their trees.”

I knew we were moving into that dreaded season of winter: cold days, ice, snow, fog, and gray days without the sun. The weatherman had the nerve to proclaim the first snow of winter was on the way. I was bummed when I heard that announcement and awoke the next morning to see dark clouds covering the sky.

The first thing I said to my husband was, “It’s going to be a gray day!” He in turn said, “No, it’s going to be a grayt day!” Usually I am irritated with his unabashed optimism so early in the morning, but for some reason or another, I was willing to look at the day from his perspective. His words changed my whole day, and instead of focusing on the weather, I began to look for positive things I could be thankful for.

At the end of the day, I had hardly focused on the weather, and was just moving through the day like I ordinarily do. Hardly one to be a Pollyanna about bad weather, I even found the verse, “This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it,” floating through my mind.

I hope to take his words, “It’s going to be a grayt day!” through this winter. There will be plenty of dark cloudy days with ice and snow. There will be lots of bad weather to complain about if I want to. This coming winter I hope to look at life from a different perspective. I want to give up my life-long habit of complaining about the cold and instead look for whatever positive I can find. Maybe I will even buy another string of twinkle lights to put up in the house!

Verse taken from NKJV – Psalm 118:24.

Christianity and Nationalism – Let’s Keep The Two Separate

October 25, 2017October 8, 2025Valerie Cullers 15 Comments

When I was younger, I travelled to several countries and visited lots of cathedrals and churches. Never, to my recollection, did I ever see the flag of the country I was in displayed inside the church or cathedral I was visiting. When I returned to the US, I never gave the subject any more thought.

Several years later, I became a Christian and again visited several churches in America. In a few, I noticed that a flag was set up on the dais where the preacher would give the sermon. I spoke to my husband about it and said it bothered me to see a national flag set up in a church. He had seen it before, and it didn’t bother him one way or the other.

I have thought about it since and have come to the conclusion that we should keep our Christianity separate from our national affiliation. There is nothing wrong with national pride and patriotism, but our first allegiance must always be to Jesus Christ. We serve a King who is over all earthly kingdoms and reigns from his heavenly kingdom.

If, for some reason or another, the country we are living in outlaws Christianity and forbids us to gather together, pray and read our Bibles, we will have a decision to make. Will we obey our heavenly King or follow the laws of the land concerning our beliefs? We only have to think of the millions of Christians living under Communist rule to realize the dilemma that is created by a government passing laws against the Church.

Christianity does command that we be good citizens of the country we are living in. We are to follow the laws, pay our taxes, pray for our leaders and seek the welfare of the city where we live. If called into the military, we must follow our beliefs and serve wherever our beliefs allow us to.

Christians need to remember their history and recall that some countries have sought to incorporate their political beliefs into their churches. As an example, there are still churches in Germany working to get rid of the Nazi symbols placed in them without destroying the architecture of the church itself. These churches should serve as an example of what Christo-Nationalism looks like and why we would want to avoid it.

We should never seek to impose our nationalistic beliefs on our Christianity. Instead, we should serve the country we are living in because of our beliefs and seek to be the best citizens we can be under the existing laws of the land.

The Press Gets Played Like A Fiddle Every Time

October 21, 2017October 8, 2025Valerie Cullers 5 Comments

All through the campaign and now during the Trump presidency, I have watched him play the media over and over. “There is no such thing as bad publicity,” is a quote often attributed to P.T. Barnum. It would seem to me that the President believes this and takes advantage of the media practically on a daily basis.

Time and again, I have watched the President make offhand remarks that could be construed as offensive. Sometimes the remarks are downright offensive, and the media has picked them up and ranted and raved about them incessantly. Most of the statements that the press has made into issues of national import could easily have been ignored, and the press could have focused its time and energy on matters of true national importance.

There ARE real matters of national importance, and it seems the press cannot bring itself to focus on them because the President keeps saying things that drive them crazy. I had an uncle who used to do the same thing, i.e., if things were too quiet, he would make some outrageous statement and everyone in the family would focus on it. He would sit back smiling as he watched everyone react to what he said.

I see this played out over and over again on a national level. This week, it is about what he said to a Gold Star widow, and every newscast in the country led with it. Of course, we all care about the feelings of the wife of one of our brave soldiers who gave his life for our country, but the press has made it into a sideshow. Again, they have been duped into spending their time criticizing the President for a poor choice of words instead of focusing on the real issues that are going on in the country. Have you heard anything about Houston, Florida or Puerto Rico this week?

As a person who would like to watch the news without this drama being continually played out, I would like to say to the press, “Stop it! Don’t take the bait. Don’t continue to totally focus on the foibles of this President. We will all be much happier and better informed if you will focus on the issues that concern us.”

If you don’t think what I’m saying is true, think back to the election. Hillary Clinton could not get any traction because the press was continually focused on Donald Trump. Most of the focus was negative, to be sure, but he still held their attention, and they continually reported on him. The press seems to be proving P.T. Barnum correct,and it is a shame to be sure.

Politics and Religion – A Toxic Mix

October 18, 2017October 8, 2025Valerie Cullers 2 Comments

In our country, there are two main parties, Democrat and Republican. Most people are a member of one or the other, and may or may not espouse their party’s platform. That is how our country works: we vote, elect an individual, and either two or four years later, we get to decide to re-elect that individual or vote someone else into office.

It’s called politics. It is dirty, messy and sometimes distasteful, but that is how we do things in this country. The problem comes when people decide to mix their political beliefs with their religious ones. There is nothing wrong with joining a political party because you feel their platform lines up with some of your religious beliefs, but the problem lies with associating that particular party with your religion.

Once a person does that, they begin to assume that everyone who believes what they do religiously should belong to their party. Of course, we know that is a fallacy, but if enough people align themselves with a political party because of their religious beliefs, a bloc of voters is formed, and that reinforces the idea that all people of that particular religious persuasion are part of that party.

I have been to different religious meetings, and the person talking about certain policies assumes that everyone in the room believes the way they do and is part of their political party. I have even heard people make the statement that those who are not part of their political party may not even be part of their religious belief system.

Hold on…religion is religion and politics is politics. Let’s not meld our religious beliefs with any political party. If there is an issue that we feel we must align ourselves with a certain party, great, do that, but let’s not expect everyone else’s thoughts and political beliefs to line up neatly with our political persuasion.

One political party may champion life, but the other may champion social issues. Both are important to the well-being of our country and the fabric of our society. Let us never try to pigeonhole people into one or the other party because of our own religious beliefs. It doesn’t work, is totally toxic and only tries to force people to not think for themselves and conform to whatever we think they should believe.

Our National Corporate Grief

October 6, 2017October 8, 2025Valerie Cullers Leave a comment

As citizens of America, we are all partakers in the grief we felt when we heard about the shootings in Las Vegas. We have a shared sense of grief whenever something like this happens in our country. The shared grief is part of what molds us and forms our national identity.

For those of us who grew up in the sixties, that shared grief included the deaths of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy. From the time we became cognizant of national events, we have shared in the tragedies that have affected this nation, including the Challenger incident, 911 and the various mass killings that have happened in the last two decades. It also includes the events that happen when natural disasters hit, such as Andrew, Katrina, Harvey, Irma and Marie.

As a nation, we have endured a lot of grief lately. Our people have suffered untold loss: physically, materially and emotionally since the beginning of September. It is a lot to take in when we see others suffering, and we search for a way to help.

When a natural disaster hits, we can give and support those who have been affected by the disaster. However, when one of these random acts of violence happens, there is not much we can do for those affected when we don’t live close by. Those living near Las Vegas were able to donate blood, give hotel rooms and other basic necessities to those in need. For those of us who did not live close by, we could only pray.

We don’t want senseless acts of violence to affect us, but unfortunately, they become part of our national corporate grief. Just mention the words: Sandy Hook, Fort Lauderdale, San Bernardino or Orlando, and we feel a sense of sadness. We feel pain because of the innocent lives that were lost, even though most of us have no personal connection to them.

Whether we like it or not, we have to process our national corporate grief. I believe it is easier to process than private grief because we do it together as a nation. We talk about it and we process our feelings publicly. Even though we are able to process our grief publicly, we are still not able to understand the event. There is no place in our minds where we can neatly tuck away senseless acts of violence.

Our brains were created to help process our emotions and give us a level of understanding about why things happen the way they do. When senseless violence happens, we search for an answer. Maybe there will be some clue to help us understand why someone would seek to hurt or kill others in such a way.

Unfortunately, many times there is no such answer. Often, the shooter is killed, and we are left wondering how a fellow human being could reach such depths of depravity. We are left unable to comprehend a reason, and we cannot add any level of understanding to our grief. It is difficult to process grief when there is no understanding, but we must learn to do it if we are going to be able to process it in a healthy manner.

Are These Really The Last Days?

September 28, 2017October 8, 2025Valerie Cullers Leave a comment

Lately, I have heard many pastors and teachers say we are living in the last days before the return of Jesus. I don’t like to take anyone’s word for something like that, so I decided to examine the evidence for myself.

First, I went to the Bible and looked primarily at the verses in Matthew 24 and Luke 21 that talk about this time. What do they say the conditions on earth will be like before the coming of Jesus? I decided to list some of them and then come up with my own conclusions.

The first sign in Matthew 24 is that there would be false Christs and they would deceive many. I went on Google and found there are countless people claiming to be the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Some have a few followers, while others seem to be only deceiving themselves. There were others, however, like Jim Jones, David Koresh and Sun Myung Moon who, among themselves, have deceived countless individuals.

The next sign would be an environment on the earth where there would be “wars and rumors of wars.” Jesus went on to say, “nation would rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.” The word for nation in the Greek is “ethnos.” In other words ethnic group would be fighting against ethnic group. I have heard enough on the news to know that this sign is taking place.

There would be “famines.” I need only to look at Africa and the people there who have been experiencing famine for years. Some of the famines have been from natural causes, but others are man-made and a form of political genocide on a particular group of people. There are also millions of refugees around the world who are on the brink of starvation because of wars taking place in their countries.

There would be “earthquakes.” In Luke 21, it says “great earthquakes.” Again, I have seen this happening all around the world, but a 2014 NBC news story entitled, “Worldwide Surge in Great Earthquakes in the Last 100 Years” was an interesting read. The USGS also has a list of the strongest earthquakes since 1900. There are a lot of them, and all of them that are 8.0 and above on the Richter Scale and are considered “great earthquakes.”

There would be “pestilences.” I looked that word up, and it means a disease that normally would kill you. I think of the rise of diseases such as Ebola and AIDS. There are also superbugs that are resistant to medications, and if you get one of them, there is not much the medical community can do for you. Pestilences are here.

Luke 21 also lists “signs in the sun, moon and stars.” I had heard of the four blood moons that occurred on Jewish feast days and the Revelation 12 sign that just occurred in the sky recently. Will there be more? I will have to watch and see.

Jesus also said in Matthew 24 that the gospel would be preached in all of the world and then the end will come. The gospel is being preached on the internet and on television in various countries around the world with the technology of satellites.

Israel would have to be a nation again, as there are several references to Jerusalem and Judea in these passages. Israel became a nation in 1948, so that seems to be lining up with Scripture.

After I thought about all of these things, I decided, “Yes, these could very definitely be the last days. It does seem like we are moving towards the culmination of all things and the return of Jesus Christ.” So what should I do?

I will continue to read Scripture and watch world events so I can be aware of what is happening. I will try to keep my eyes on Jesus in the midst of these unsettled times. And I will pray; for myself to be awake and aware, and for others to look around and see the events happening today in the light of the prophetic passages in the Bible.

Love Your Enemies

September 23, 2017October 8, 2025Valerie Cullers Leave a comment

One of the hardest things Jesus ever told his followers was, “Love Your Enemies.” As a believer in Jesus Christ, I have been challenged by this command ever since I first read it. How do we truly love our enemies?

First, we have to decide who our enemies are. On a personal level, our enemies are those people who go out of their way to make life miserable for us. They deliberately try to do us harm, either mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually or socially. They are pretty easy to identify, and I bet if I asked you who your enemies are, you could whip out a list pretty fast.

Next, we have to look at who our enemies are on a broader scale. They may be the leaders of a country who are threatening to annihilate us or those who are working against our national interests in the international arena. The people in those countries may not actually be our enemies but are people at the mercy of those in control of the government of their countries.

Then we have to look at who are not our enemies. Sometimes this takes rethinking the word “enemy.” Our teachers are not our enemy if they do not give us the grade we think we deserve in class. Our boss is not our enemy if he doesn’t give us the raise we think we are entitled to. Our parents are not our enemies if they don’t let us do everything we want to do. The judge is not our enemy if he gives us a fine for speeding. Anyone who holds us accountable for our actions or performance is not our enemy.

People of another political persuasion are not our enemies. They may not agree with our opinions and we may not agree with theirs, but that does not make them our enemy. They are mutual citizens of a country that needs differing political views in order to serve the common good. We need to resist the constant media barrage that seeks to pit those with one political view against another.

People of another religious persuasion are not our enemies. Believing something different than what we do does not constitute grounds to classify someone as an enemy. There may be people on the fringe of a religious group that truly seek to harm us, but the group as a whole is not our enemy.

Once we identify who and who are not our enemies, how do we treat them? How do we actually love them? Jesus continued on and said, “Bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” That sounds like a pretty tall order to me, and it will take a major change in our present mindset in order to accomplish it.

Let’s break it down: “Bless those who curse you.” How do we do that? First, we do not curse them back, i.e., if they are swearing at us, we do not return fire with expletives. It takes practice, but when someone is going on a rant, we walk away. If we can, we say something positive to them or at least something that will help to diffuse the situation. We do not call them names, even under our breath. When these people are not on a rant, we may say something positive or uplifting to them.

He then said, “Do good to those who hate you.” This is not easy stuff to swallow, let alone digest. We have to choose to do good to someone who has not had our best interests at heart. This may entail treating with kindness the shrew in the break room who is always gossiping about us or our friends. It may mean helping out a person who has been unkind to us in their time of need. Nothing speaks louder than when we purposely act kindly towards those who have not treated us well and do not deserve our kindness.

Finally, he said, “Pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you.” This is actually the key that will open our hearts and help us extend kindness to those who have been unkind to us. If we spend time in prayer for those who have offended us, we will find our attitudes changing. When we ask for good things for them, the bad feelings we have inside begin to disappear. We begin to see them as the flawed people they are, and we quit giving them power over our lives. When we want what is good and best for them, we will behave in a different manner towards them. Perhaps then we can even do what Jesus said. One day, we may even be able to love them.

Which Is The Greater Miracle?

September 18, 2017October 8, 2025Valerie Cullers Leave a comment

Recently, my cousin received a kidney transplant. His kidneys had not functioned well for years, but he finally came to the point where he needed dialysis. He sent a letter out letting people know he needed a kidney, and many people volunteered to be a donor. Unfortunately, everyone was rejected for one reason or another. Finally, he transferred to another transplant center, and they began the process of reassessing his potential donors. After a while, a new doctor thought he had found the right match. It was my cousin’s wife who had been the first donor on the list, but had been rejected because of her allergies. Within a month, they were both in the hospital awaiting surgery. Both surgeries went well, and they were both out of the hospital within a week.

I had prayed for my cousin for years, first to be healed by God of his kidney disease and then to find a donor who would be a match. I was hoping for an instant miracle, one where God just touched him and his kidneys were healed. Instead, he received a different kind of miracle, the kind where God used frail human beings to enact his will and bring healing through the medical process.

So I had to ask myself, “Which is the greater miracle?” An instant healing performed with God’s dunamis power, or one where He brought a new doctor to a new transplant center who was willing to accept a donor that had been previously rejected? Both are miracles, but we stand amazed that when it seemed there was no answer, God brought one by human means.

I’ve come to the conclusion that however God works to provide an answer to prayer fits in the realm of the miraculous. Using a human to meet a need may not seem as spectacular as a miraculous healing, but the person used by God is as big a miracle as God showing up Himself to meet the need.