On weekends, I listen to various Christian programs on American Family Radio.  One program I always like a lot is The Christian Worldview.  The host is David Wheaton, who previously was a professional tennis player.

This weekend, the program was Answers to the Most Common Challenges to the Christian Faith.  I found it very interesting.  Greg Koukl gave many examples of Christian apologetics.  He provided reasons and made a defense to questions about the Christian faith.  These questions included the following:

What is the evidence that God actually exists?

How did the universe come into existence?

Is the Bible really the word of God?

Do the laws of the Bible apply to all people?

How can God be loving and good considering all the suffering and evil in the world?

This 54-minute program originally was aired a few days ago on January 31, 2026.  The broadcast can be heard on the following page:

Today is Groundhog Day.  Punxsutawney Phil came out and did see his shadow, which allegedly is an indication that there will be six more weeks of winter.  So the world’s most famous weather-prognosticating groundhog has spoken, probably in “Groundhogese.”

         
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There have been several snow storms and freezing weather in the east and northeast this winter.  So those living there may not be thrilled that this weather may continue for much longer.

However, according to the Stormfax Weather Almanac, Phil has gotten it right only about 39% of the time since the first prediction in 1887.  Time will tell if he was correct or not this year.

I began making entries in the Ted’s Remarks section of my website on Feb. 1, 2006.  It sure has been a LONG 20 years. 

I started this section of my website way back then mainly so I could reference and keep track of events that I have found interesting and/or noteworthy over the years.  Other information about this can be found here:

At Olive Tree Ministries this weekend, Pastor Josh Schwartz talked with Pastor Gary Hamrick of Cornerstone Chapel, Leesburg, Virginia.  Should followers of Jesus read or study the book of Revelation?  Is it all symbolic, or will it all come to pass in the future?

Pastor Gary has just written an insightful new book, Standing on the Edge of Eternity: The End Times According to Revelation.  Find it in our online store.  In the extended version at 27:52, Pastor Josh and Pastor Gary discuss how believers should be the best citizens in the countries where they live.

Olive Tree Ministries has served their listening audience for over 25 years, beginning in 2000.  Today marks their final radio broadcast.  However, they will remain a very active ministry.  They can be followed daily at olivetreeviews.org.

         

         
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Today’s program, lasting 40 minutes, can be heard here:

Today, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted to leave its federal funds rate unchanged in the 3.50% to 3.75% range.  Of the 12-person voting committee, 10 members (including Fed Chair Jerome Powell) voted to hold the benchmark rate steady, while 2 members (Stephen Miran and Christopher Waller) voted to lower the rate by 0.25%.

In its statement, the Federal Reserve cited a “solid pace” of economic activity and an unemployment rate that remains low.  It also noted that inflation “remains somewhat elevated.”

Back in the Fall of 2025, there were three 0.25% rate cuts in a row.  These cuts were on Dec. 10, Oct. 29 and Sep. 17.  Prior to that, the Fed had left the rate unchanged in the five previous meetings last year (on July 30, June 18, May 7, Mar. 19 and Jan. 29).  The next Fed meeting is scheduled to begin on March 17. 

Today is the 81st anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the concentration camp where over one million European Jews died or were killed by Nazis.  This is only a fraction of over six million Jews who died or were killed in all of the Nazi concentration camps during World War II.

This date officially was designated as International Holocaust Remembrance Day in 2005 by the United Nations.  Here are five Holocaust memorials and museums that can be visited in the U.S.:

• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington D.C.
• The Nancy and David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
• Florida Holocaust Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida
• Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, Los Angeles, California
• Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, Skokie, Illinois

The NFL’s final two games, prior to Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8, took place today.  In the AFC Championship game, the New England Patriots played against the Denver Broncos in Denver.  In the NFC Championship game, the Los Angeles Rams played against the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle.  To see the fourteen AFC and NFC teams who played each other in the past few weeks, click here.

Today, the Patriots defeated the Broncos with a final score of 10-7.  The Seahawks defeated the Rams with a final score of 31-27.  Each of the winning teams will play each other in Super Bowl 60, in Santa Clara, California, two weeks from today.

 

At Olive Tree Ministries this weekend, Pastor Josh Schwartz and Ken Mikle talked with Melissa Dougherty.  She fell into the trap of the New Thought Movement.  Now she is combating New Age, New Thought, and Progressive Christianity.  Have you fallen into the traps of New Thought or Progressive Christianity?

         

         

         
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Today’s program, lasting 30 minutes, can be heard here:

Today is National Squirrel Appreciation Day.  It was first observed on January 21, 2001.  It is a day to encourage kindness to our bushy-tailed neighbors.  Squirrels plant seeds.  Some of the seeds eventually grow into trees, thus assisting with forest renewal.

       
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Today is a federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.  He would have been 97 years old on January 15.  Each year, this holiday is observed on the third Monday of January.

       
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At Olive Tree Ministries this weekend, Ken Mikle and Pastor Josh Schwartz talked with Carl Teichrib.  Carl reminds us of the perils of paganism.  How does man become a god at “Burning Man” pagan festival?  The consequences of man’s rebellion against God are staggering as are the number of expressions of paganism today.  How can Christians counteract this?  Extended version begins at 29:03.

         

         

         

         
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For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.  For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.  Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.  They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised.  Amen. (Romans 1:20-25)

Today’s program, lasting 48 minutes, can be heard here:

At Olive Tree Ministries this weekend, Pastor Josh Schwartz and Ken Mikle talked with Jonathan Brentner about the importance of Premillennialism.  This is the only eschatology that makes sense and leads to the theology of the pre-Tribulation Rapture of the Church.  Find Brentner’s book, Invitation to a Lavish Feast, in our online store.

         

         

         

         
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Today’s program, lasting 29 minutes, can be heard here:

The National debt of the United States (the U.S. National Debt) has surpassed another milestone high.  It now is above $38.5 trillion.

A year ago, on Jan. 5, 2025, the debt was over $36 trillion.  Since then, it has risen more than an enormous $2.25 trillion in barely a year.

There is no end in sight to the debt escalation.  Most likely, this eventually will lead to the worst economic collapse that this nation ever has experienced.

At Olive Tree Ministries this weekend, Pastor Josh Schwartz and Ken Mikle talked with Pastor Jonny Ardavanis of Stonebridge Bible Church, Franklin, Tennessee.  In this chaotic and stressful world in which we live, what must the follower of Jesus do to combat the evils and anxieties that are ever-present?  Extended version begins at 29:03.

         

         

         

         

         
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Today’s program, lasting 55 minutes, can be heard here:

Happy New Year!  I hope that 2026 is a good, favorable and prosperous year for you and yours.  Hopefully, none of your kids or grandkids went out into space on a fireworks rocket. 

       
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PDF formats

If you’ve never read the Bible straight through, from cover to cover, you might want to do it in 2026.  Go to the following page, print out the pages in PDF, HTML, DOCX or DOC format, and check off the passages as you read them:

Another option is a daily reading schedule that skips around the Bible.  I now prefer reading it this way myself.  Samaritan’s Purse has a yearly reading list, which I like, that does this.  You can download these four pages in pdf format and print them out: