So You’ve Just Become A Christian | What To Expect and Do

TRANSCRIPT:

So you’ve just become a Christian! Congratulations!

The moment you responded to Christ a number of things happened to you…

First, you were given new life. You began a relationship with God that will last forever.

Second, you gained a new status before God. You went from being under God’s just condemnation … to being fully pardoned of all your sins.

Third, you were adopted into a new family as a child of God. You now belong to a huge and incredibly diverse global family.

Fourth, you were given a new job. You now represent Christ with your words and actions to everyone you meet. God wants to grow his family through you!

Fifth, you also have new enemies, so expect trouble. This world will pressure you to conform … your old nature will betray you … and the forces of darkness will oppose you.

But, you also have a powerful new ally.

The instant you committed your life to Christ, God’s Spirit moved in and took up permanent residence in your heart and mind. Allow him to empower and guide you as your journey unfolds, keeping you on the right path.

If you stumble and do wrong, confess it immediately to God, claim His forgiveness, and yield yourself anew to God’s Spirit.

It’s impossible to follow Christ in our own strength. Only through the power of God’s Spirit can we become the people God wants us to be.

Jesus explained the difference between success and failure in life when he said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. You cannot be fruitful unless you abide in me.”

The productive Christian does not rely on his own efforts; rather, he relies on God’s Spirit. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives through me.” When a branch is connected to the vine, it just produces fruit naturally!

On the other hand, the unproductive Christian is performance oriented. He tries to be “good enough” by his own grinding self-effort … but feels guilty because he can never do enough. Trying to live the Christian life in your own strength just makes you miserable!

So … how do you rely on the Holy Spirit on a daily basis?

First, as soon as you’re aware of any sin in your life, confess it to God. Don’t hide and rationalize your disobedience. God is eager to forgive and draw you near again.

Then, recommit yourself – body and soul – in continual, daily surrender to God. Ask his Spirit to guide you and strengthen you. As this Spirit-filled life within you grows, you will be gradually transformed.

You’ll hunger for the truth of God’s Word, the Bible. Begin reading it today and invite God’s Spirit to teach you as you go. You can start with the Gospel of Mark.

You’ll also learn to live in community with other believers. Following Jesus is not something you do in isolation. Get together with other believers to worship, pray, and study the Bible. Remember, each of us is a work in progress, so be patient with the shortcomings of your brothers and sisters, just as God is patient with you.

Following Christ is the adventure of a lifetime.

Your day-to-day experience may not get easier; In fact, you may face greater hardships. But you will sense the deep satisfaction of knowing God and enjoying him forever.

So don’t worry, because I am with you.
    Don’t be afraid, because I am your God.
I will make you strong and will help you;
    I will support you with my right hand that saves you.

(ISAIAH 41:10 – NCV)

Foul Language and the Christian

In a descent explanation about the secular and the Judeo-Christian worldviews, one can affirm Holiness, the other cannot. Sometimes we Christians expect the secular to act Holy, however, this is often thwarted by human nature untouched by the Holy Spirit’s intervention.

  • That is why the mind that focuses on human nature is hostile toward God. It refuses to submit to the authority of God’s Law because it is powerless to do so. (Romans 8:7, ISV)

The entire movie is worth your time: “Baseball, Dennis, and the French” (YouTube).

Dennis Prager Discusses Foul Language and Pollution

This next video was sent to me by a fellow church friend… he noted that Paul Tripp caught flack for this. I assume it is because he used the word “shit” a few times when discussing real conversation around his dining room table. HOLY MOLY! Ths is one reason why I note this in my bio area:

I have mentioned for the audience of my old blog, but will again mention it here for any new readers:

this is not meant to be an explicitly Christian blog. While I hold to and vehemently defend a particular worldview, I do not intend this site to be “rosy cheeked”“pure as the driven snow” depot for faith. I am biased in my viewpoints as I am informed by reading all sides of issues (both that support and counter my worldview) as well as my personal history. This site is meant for men and women who are confident enough in themselves, their faith, and their culture to know that the “holier-than-thou” lifestyle is best adhered to by those other than myself. So expect language and raw thoughts at times, in a respectful or satirical manner.

In other words… CAUTION…

Religio-Poltical Apologetics ahead!

I post and reference this as, over the years I have had fellow Christians note that my site is not “Christian.” Yada, yada. They are offended by my content. Okay, so be it.

Life is raw, it is real, and when impacting minds, especially your children, real conversation has to happen. Otherwise when kids of these “holier than thou” kids go off to university, they are easily swayed away from the Christian faith.

Paul Tripp – What Makes Bad Language Bad?

Here is an excerpt from CARM’s excellent article regarding this topic. BTW, this article appears under the section, “Questions, Sanctification.” Note “sanctification here… many skeptics and non-believers will hear a Christian cuss and say we are hypocrites. But they fail to realize we are on a journey of Sanctification. What is that word for my non-believing brothers and sisters mean?

In Christian theology, a distinction is sometimes made between justification and sanctification where justification refers to having saving faith and sanctification refers to the process of gradual purification from sin and progressive spiritual growth that should mark the life of the believer. This doctrine of sanctification draws on New Testament passages that emphasize a move toward holy and righteous living that characterizes following Christ in faith (1 Thess 4:3–8; Rom 6:19–22).

Doug Mangum, “Sanctification,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Barry et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).

Here is CARM’s article:

…..Scripture has much to say about how Christians ought to use their tongues.  Jesus specifically taught that what comes out of a man’s mouth is evidence of what is in his heart.  Luke 6:45 says, “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good, and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.”

Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:29, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”  John MacArthur has written of this verse, “The word for ‘corrupt’ refers to that which is foul or rotten, such as spoiled fruit or putrid meat.  Foul language of any sort should never pass a Christian’s lips because it is totally out of character with his new life in Christ.”   The final portion of the verse offers a worthy use of our tongue—“what is good for edification.”

James gives us three illustrations from nature to demonstrate the sinfulness of cursing: “With [our tongue] we bless our Lord and Father, and with it, we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing.  My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.  Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?  Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh,” (James 3:9-12).

Finally, 1 Peter 3:10 says, “For He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.”

CONCLUSION
We can conclude that from the biblical definition of sin, our overview of cursing, and Scripture’s many expressions on the use of our tongue that it is without question a sin to curse.  As Christians, we are expected to rest on the promises of God, “cleansing ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God,” (2 Corinthians 7:1).  Cursing is contrary to resting on God’s promises for it is a failure to follow the Lord’s greatest commandments—to love God and to love people (Matthew 22:37-40).  When we curse an individual, we do not love people, and when we curse God, we do not love Him.  Thankfully, God forgives us of our sins through the redemption found only in Jesus Christ (John 3:16).

I do wish to note a great take on taking the Lord’s Name In Vain by DENNIS PRAGER:

Do Not Misuse God’s Name | The Worst Sin You Can Commit

EXODUS 20:7

  • Do not misuse the name of the LORD your God, because the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who misuses his name. (CSB)
  • “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. (ESV)
  • “Do not use my name for evil purposes, for I, the LORD your God, will punish anyone who misuses my name. (GNT) winner!
  • Thou shalt not idly utter the name of Jehovah thy God; for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that idly uttereth his name. (1890 Darby)
  • “You must not use the name of the LORD your God thoughtlessly; the LORD will punish anyone who misuses his name. (NCV)
  • “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. (1995 NASB)

Our “A.I. Overlords” Are Racist! (Plus Some RPT Creations)

The first 20-minutes is about the A.I. issue and Google pausing it’s use of Gemini. Elon Musk re-Tweeted (re-Xed?) an isolated portion of this on X.

Today on the Matt Walsh Show, Google’s new AI program just launched this week and it’s already attempting to erase white people from history. Our woke dystopian future has arrived. Also, the Biden Administration tries to buy more votes with yet another “student loan forgiveness” scheme. A major cellular outage affects thousands of Americans. Is there something sinister behind it? And the National MS Society fires a 90 year old volunteer for failing to put her pronouns in her bio. It sounds like a Babylon Bee headline but it’s real. 

Ep.1318

More from RED STATE:

Perhaps you saw the news about Google’s “Gemini.” It’s an AI bot that you can speak with that generates images on command.

However, as you can probably guess, the AI is incredibly leftist thanks to its programmers. You’ve probably seen some of the people who attempted to create pictures of medieval knights and Vikings only to have the bot spit back images of every race and gender under the sun except for a white person.

If you speak to Gemini, the bot will give you every excuse under the sun as to why it can’t generate images of white people on demand including the idea that it doesn’t want to generate “harmful stereotypes.” In fact, as one user pointed out, asking it to generate an image of a “white family” will make it refuse in order to ensure “fairness and non-discrimination.” However, asking it to generate a black family will cause it to deliver exactly as asked.

An AI is only as racist as its programmer, and sure enough, its programmer is pretty racist.

Jack Krawczyk is the product lead at Gemini. When it was pretty clear the AI was being racist, people began looking into Krawczyk’s posting history on X, and, sure enough, what was dug up was a mess of anti-white sentiment and social justice blabber.

  • “White privilege is f**king real,” posted Krawczyk in 2018. “Don’t be an a**hole and act guilty about it — do your part in recognizing bias at all levels of egregious.”

As Krawczyk has now protected his tweets, the only way to access them is screenshots taken by X users who dug through his history.

(RED STATE HAS MUCH MORE – READ IT)

So I have seen the Pope ones. The American Founders ones… but these take the cake!


I CREATED ONE (by edit)


Godly Contradictions: Who Made God | Rocks So Big

(First posted in 2010, edited in 2015, added to in 2018, re-edited 2024)

My FACEBOOK intro to this post:

In this updated post from 2010, the category mistakes of

  • “can God make a Rock so big he can’t lift it?”
  • “if everything needs a beginning [as the Kalam Cosmological Argument says], who began [created] God”
  • “can God make 2+2=5?”

are answered herein

  • These kinds of arguments are clearly illogical and even silly, although they are commonly used by inexperienced atheists. Most intelligent atheists have dropped these kinds of arguments long ago.

This post should be married to my other post:

The Euthyphro Argument Dissected

Well, Who Created God?

A response by Andrew Wilson to an objection received on Big Objections

  • I also want to stress that this isn’t special pleading for God. This is what the atheist has typically said about the universe; that the universe is uncreated and eternal in its existence. No atheist was asking “Who created the universe”? They thought the universe was “Just there,” that it was a brute fact. Although that conclusion is now invalidated by powerful scientific evidence and philosophical arguments. As Frank Turek put it “Something must be eternal. Either the universe or something outside the universe”. Since science has proven that the universe isn’t eternal, whatever brought it into being must be eternal. (Cross Examined)

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy notes the eternality of the universe in atheistic cosmology.

The Daily Apologist has a good concise response. As well as Apologetic Junkie.

J. P. Moreland shows how the “what caused God” (or “who caused God”) rebuttal to the Kalam Cosmological Argument is making a categorical mistake. Furthermore, Moreland shows that calling God the uncaused cause is not arbitrary nor is it trying to define God into existence.

God and Rock n Roll

Here is a PDF of a Power Point presentation I gave in a Sunday school class. Another good read on this can be found at Christianity.com.

Similarly, a common challenge that includes the same categorical mistake has to do with “Can God make a rock soo big He cannot lift it?”  William Lane Craig mentions a paper written by Thomas P. Flint and Alfred J. Freddoso in the following video, that is here: Maximal Power

Here is an old post by me:

The following will explain why many experienced atheists have given up this argument. Richard Swinburn in his book, The Coherence of Theism, explains why such thinking is illogical (pp. 153-154):

A person is omnipotent if and only if he is able to do any logically possible action, any action, that is, of which the description is coherent. It may be objected that in order to be truly omnipotent, a person should be able to do not merely the logically possible, but the logically impossible as well. This objection is, however, misguided. It arises from regarding a logically impossible action as an action of one of one kind on a par with an action of another kind, the logically possible. But it is not. A logically impossible action is not an action. It is what is described by a form of words which purport to describe an action, but do not describe anything which is coherent to suppose could be done. It is no objection to A’s omnipotence that he cannot make a square circle. This is because “making a square circle” does not describe anything which it is coherent to suppose could be done.

A proper understanding of omnipotence has been known and defined for quite some time; the way it is used by the skeptics here in this thread is the miss-defining of a well-defined concept. For instance, in the Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics & Philosophy of Religion, omnipotence is defined as: “The quality of being all-powerful, normally understood as the power to perform any action that is logically possible and consistent with God’s essential nature.”

Even Thomas Aquinas saw this o’ so long ago:

This point was recognized by Aquinas. He wrote that

“it is incompatible with the meaning of the absolutely possible that anything involving the contradiction of simultaneous being and not being should fall under divine omnipotence. Such a contradiction is not subject to it, not from any impotence in God, but simply because it does not have the nature of being feasible or possible. Whatever does not involve a contradiction is in the realm of the possible with respect to which God is called omnipotent.” — Summa Theologiae, vol. v. (Thomas Gilby trans.), Ia.25.3

All confess that God is omnipotent; but it seems difficult to explain in what His omnipotence precisely consists: for there may be doubt as to the precise meaning of the word ‘all’ when we say that God can do all things. If, however, we consider the matter aright, since power is said in reference to possible things, this phrase, “God can do all things,” is rightly understood to mean that God can do all things that are possible; and for this reason He is said to be omnipotent. Now according to the Philosopher (Metaph. v, 17), a thing is said to be possible in two ways.

First in relation to some power, thus whatever is subject to human power is said to be possible to man.

Secondly absolutely, on account of the relation in which the very terms stand to each other. Now God cannot be said to be omnipotent through being able to do all things that are possible to created nature; for the divine power extends farther than that. If, however, we were to say that God is omnipotent because He can do all things that are possible to His power, there would be a vicious circle in explaining the nature of His power. For this would be saying nothing else but that God is omnipotent, because He can do all that He is able to do.

It remains therefore, that God is called omnipotent because He can do all things that are possible absolutely; which is the second way of saying a thing is possible. For a thing is said to be possible or impossible absolutely, according to the relation in which the very terms stand to one another, possible if the predicate is not incompatible with the subject, as that Socrates sits; and absolutely impossible when the predicate is altogether incompatible with the subject, as, for instance, that a man is a donkey.

Summa Theologica I:25:3  (REDDIT: Can God make 2+2=5 if he so chooses?)

From a previous debate elsewhere on the net The below was taken somewhat from the book, Unshakeable Foundations: Contemporary Answers to Crucial Questions About the Christian Faith, by Geisler & Bocchino.

You are again making a category mistake, this is a real “logical fallacy,” or, mistake! When you ask who made God – or, does God need a beginning, it is akin to asking, “how does the color green taste.” Your other comments about change and the like is akin to the following mock conversation, don’t get me wrong I enjoyed your last few querieswhy? Because you are asking questions while assuming the thing said is true, e.g., God’s unlimited power (you are assuming what you are refuting – in other words). A true skeptic sheds even skepticism at times and puts on the alternative view and seeks answers and criticisms from within:

One day, while I am having lunch with some student friends, tom decides to sit at the table and say, “Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”

You answer, “No prob.”

Tom then asks you, “Didn’t Jesus say in Matthew 19:26, ‘With God all things are possible?”

I answer, “Yes.”

Tom continues, “Do you believe that God is all-powerful and can do all things?”

Again I answer, “Yes.”

Now Tom thinks his moment is about to unfold, so with a sarcastic grin he asks, “Okay, can God create a rock so big that He cannot lift it?”

continued

I ponder the question for a moment, thinking to myself, If I say yes, I’ll be admitting that God is powerful enough to create the rock but not powerful enough to move it! However, if I say no, I’ll be admitting that God is not all-powerful, because He cannot create a rock of that magnitude. It seems that either answer will force you to violate the law-of-noncontradiction and contradict your view of God, defined as an all-powerful Being. It also seems as if Tom is using first principles to discredit you and your view of God. It is true that Tom is speaking correctly about God’s power, but is he using first principles correctly?

Before we examine Tom’s questions, remember that now is not the time to appeal to ignorance and tell Tom that he is trying to use human reason and that there are some things we just cannot understand about God. Nor should you say that somehow God is exempt from such a question. Instead, I must focus in on this question and think of a principle question to ask him (Socratic method) that moves the conversation from unstable emotional ground to firm conceptual territory.

Let’s think about Tom’s question and apply the law-of-noncontradiction. Tom wants God to create a rock so big that He cannot lift it. What is Tom really asking God to do? In order to find out, we need to define and clarify the use of Tom’s words. The first question that comes to mind is, “How big of a rock does Tom want God to create?” Well, Tom wants God to create a rock so big that it would be impossible for Him to move it. Now, how big would a rock have to be in order for God not to be able to move it? What is the biggest physical entity that exists? Of the course, the biggest physical entity is the universe, and no matter how much the universe expands it will remain limited, finite physical reality – a reality that God can “lift.” even if God created a rock the size of an ever-expanding universe, God could still lift or control it. The only logical option is for God to create something that exceeds His power to lift or control. But since God’s power is infinite, He would have to create a rock of infinite proportions! This is the key: Tom wants God to create a rock, and a rock is a physical, finite thing. How can God create an object that is finite by nature – and give it an infinite size? There is something terribly wrong with Tom’s question. So let’s apply the correct use of the law-of-noncontradiction to analyze it.

It is logically and actually impossible to create a physically finite thing and have it be infinitely big! By definition, an infinite, uncreated thing has no limits, and a finite, created thing does. Consequently, Tom has just asked if God can create an infinitely finite rock, that is, a rock that has limits and, at the same time and in the same sense, does not have limits. This question, then, violates the law-of-contradiction and turns out to be utter nonsense. Tom thought he was asking an important question, one that would put the Christian on the horns of a dilemma. Instead, he only managed to show his own inability to think clearly.

Now that we have a clear understanding of Tom’s question, it’s simply a matter of formulating a principle question to ask him in order to reveal his error. How about this one: “Tom, how big do you want God to create that rock? If you tell me how big, I’ll tell you if He can do it.” I can keep asking Tom that question until it reaches the size of the universe and eventually introduce the idea of infinity. Once Tom reaches the point where he begins to see what he is really asking God to do, to create an infinite rock, he needs to be shown that he is asking God to do something that is logically irrelevant and impossible. God could no more create an infinitely finite rock than He could create a square circle: both are examples of intrinsic impossibilities. Commenting on intrinsic impossibility and an all-powerful God, C. S. Lewis said:

“It [the intrinsically impossible] is impossible under all conditions and in all worlds and for all agents. ‘All agents’ here includes God Himself. His Omnipotence means power to do all that is intrinsically possible, not to do the intrinsically impossible. You may attribute miracles to him, but not nonsense.” (The Problem of Pain, p. 28)

Not every question being asked is automatically meaningful just because it is a question. The question may sound meaningful, but we (anyone here, but especially the believer) must be sure to test it with first principles to see whether it is valid in the first place. The key is to not respond too quickly to questions; a person may wind up trying to find cogent answers to a question that has no logical relevance. Peter Kreeft, professor of philosophy at Boston College (my favorite Catholic philosopher) says on the matter, “There is nothing more pointless than an answer to a question that is not fully understood” (Making Sense Out of Suffering, p. 27)

…. Could God think of a time when He was not omnipotent? If He can’t think of it, He isn’t omnipotent, but if He does think of it then there was a time when He wasn’t omnipotent?

This question is quite similar to the rock question above. The answer, of course, is that God can never think of a time when He wasn’t omnipotent. God has always been omnipotent. His inability to contradict His divine character does not mean that He isn’t omnipotent.

CONCLUSIONS

The atheist distorts the biblical definition of omnipotence in order to “prove” that God cannot exist. Contrary to their claims, omnipotence does not include the ability to do things that are, by definition, impossible. [This is a straw-man argument] Neither does omnipotence include the ability to fail. By defining omnipotence as requiring one to have the ability to fail, atheists have defined omnipotence as being impossible. Of course, an omnipotent God would never fail.

These kinds of arguments are clearly illogical and even silly, although they are commonly used by inexperienced atheists. Most intelligent atheists have dropped these kinds of arguments long ago.

(God and Science)

Here is another look at the same problem:

IF GOD HAS NO LIMITS,
THEN HE MUST BE BOTH GOOD AND EVIL,
EXISTENCE AND NONEXISTENCE,
STRONG AND WEAK

When we say that God is unlimited, we mean that He is unlimited in His perfections. Now evil is not a perfection; it is an imperfection. The same is true of nonexistence, weakness, ignorance, finitude, temporality, and any other characteristic that implies limitation or imperfection. We might say that God is “limited” in that He can’t enter into limitations, like time, space, weakness, evil—at least not as God. He is only “limited” by His unlimited perfection.

Norman L. Geisler and Ronald M. Brooks, When Skeptics Ask (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1990), 31. See also this one page response by Geisler (PDF)

And finally, I think Keith Ward in his recent book, God: A Guide for the Perplexed, adds the finishing understanding to this topic.

The real problem, however, comes from our thinking that God must be able to do anything we can think of or imagine. Because we, ignorant as we are, can imagine lots of things which are really quite impossible. For example, we can imagine going back in time to kill our grandparents before they had any children – you can even see films in which such things happen. Yet we can see that such a thing is obviously impossible, since without our grandparents we would not exist, so we could not kill them. We think we can imagine finding a square equal in area to a given circle – but mathematicians can prove that is logically impossible. We think we can imagine the force of gravity being just a little stronger than it actually is [throughout the universe, that is] – but physicists can tell us that, if it were, then electrons would collapse into the nuclei of atoms, there would be no atoms, and so there would be no organized universe at all…. Our imaginations are a poor guide to what is really possible, because we have absolutely no idea of what sorts of things can really exist, or of what might be necessary or optional for God. So I think we just have to say that God is powerful enough to create the universe…. and that is as much as we have a right to expect from omnipotence.

 

Mr. Wonderful Strikes Again | Kevin O’Leary vs. New York

CNN Host Gets OWNED by Kevin O’Leary (See also TIMCAST’S take on this)

“Shark Tank” co-star Kevin O’Leary said Monday he will “never” invest in the “Mega-loser state” of New York following a judge’s ruling in former President Donald Trump’s civil trial.

KANEKOA THE GREAT

Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary condemns AG Letitia James and Judge Arthur Engoron’s corrupt and baseless ruling against Donald Trump

“I would NEVER invest in New York now! And I’m not the only one saying that!”

“This $4 billion data center I’m talking about – not a chance I would put that in New York! Zero probability! Never!”

“I’m shocked at this. I can’t even understand or fathom the decision at all. There’s no rationale for it.”

“Every investor is worried because where is the victim? Who lost money? What does this say about the legal bar in New York? Aren’t they going to question this judge?”

“$355 million as a penalty plus interest at 9%, and there’s no victim?”

O’Leary said Governor Kathy Hochul’s “words fall on deaf ears to everybody. There’s nothing she can say to justify this decision.”

“This is a New York problem now.”

RED STATE notes this portion of the dialogue:

Neil Cavuto asked about what Gov. Kathy Hochul said about this decision not affecting other businesses. 

“Every investor is worried because where is the victim? Who lost money? This is some arbitrary decision by a judge. What does this say about the bar, legal bar in New York? Aren’t they going to question this judge? What is this??

$355 million as a penalty plus interest at 9%, and there’s no victim?

Her words fall on deaf ears, there’s nothing she can say that will justify this decision.”

CHARLES PAYNE BONUS!

Charles Payne delivers a powerful takedown of New York Democrats over political persecution of Trump and the impact on NY City:

 

 

Ukraine Combat Vets: Drone Warfare, Trench Warfare and More

A good tactics video regarding Ukrainian warfare.

In today’s video 2 Veterans of the Ukraine War share their valuable first hand experience of the war. The Ukraine was has developed rapidly and in many ways is far different from the Global War on Terror. These lessons are valuable and the information is free.

Love Is Illusory (Wolpert | Sizer/Ammi | Provine | + Lennox)

“‘You’, your joys and your sorrows, your memories and ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules.”

Francis Crick, The Astonishing Hypothesis: The Scientific Search for the Soul (New York, NY: Schribner, 1995), 3.

In this short montage I start out with Lewis Wolpert on the “Unthinkable” program with Justin Brierley. According to evolution, love is reducible entirely to natural causes. I add a response I love from a cyber friend (Ken Ammi) via his debate in March 2010 with Michael Sizer (see my upload of just this part). And of course I add Provine for good measure.

  • …love better coheres within the Christian, mind-first, conception of reality—where love has role, meaning and place in a universe created by a God who is love. (THE GOSPEL COALITION)

Here is a short snippet from John Lennox’s book, Determined to Believe? The Sovereignty of God, Freedom, Faith, and Human Responsibility

Free will and love

Another capacity that would be impossible without free will is the capacity to love. The existentialist writer Jean-Paul Sartre captured this idea well:

The man who wants to be loved does not desire the enslavement of the beloved. He is not bent on becoming the object of passion which flows forth mechanically. He does not want to possess an automaton, and if we want to humiliate him, we need try to only persuade him that the beloved’s passion is the result of a psychological determinism. The lover will then feel that both his love and his being are cheapenedIf the beloved is transformed into an automaton, the lover finds himself alone.7

The endowment of men and women with free will inevitably implies the possibility that they might use that free will to choose evil, and to reject love, even the love of God. Hence we must consider some necessary implications of human free will for the structure of nature. If the free will and free choice that God gave to human beings were intended to be genuine, that very fact necessitated that nature should possess a certain degree of autonomy.

C.S. Lewis puts it this way:

People often talk as if nothing were easier than for two naked minds to “meet” or to become aware of each other. But I see no possibility of their doing so except in a common medium which forms their “external world” or environment What we need for human society is exactly what we have – a neutral something, neither you nor I, which we can both manipulate so as to make signs to each other. I can talk to you because we can both set up sound waves in the common air between us.8

Lewis then points out that this and other neutral fields – matter, in other words – must have a certain fixed nature, a certain autonomy as Lewis calls it. Suppose the contrary were the case. Imagine, for example, that the world was structured in such a way that a beam of wood remained hard and strong when used in the construction of a house, but it became as soft as grass when I hit my neighbour with it. Or if the air refused to carry lies and insults. Indeed, says Lewis:

If the principle were carried to its logical conclusion evil thoughts would be impossible, for the cerebral matter which we use in our thinking would refuse its task when we attempted to frame them. All matter in the neighbourhood of a wicked man would be liable to undergo unpredictable alterations.9

The result would be, of course, that real freedom of human will and choice would be negated.

Nature, then, must have a certain autonomy, in order that there can be a society of beings with free will, able to make real moral decisions for good or evil, and to carry them out in practice. The potential of evil thought and act to produce evil effects cannot be annulled without simultaneously removing the necessary condition for free will to function. This is a moral universe.

So far, so good, but what lies behind all of this? How does this universe come to be a moral universe; and if we are to be free within it, what are the basic conditions for achieving that freedom?


7 J-P. Sartre, Being and Nothingness, New York, Pocket Books, 1984, p. 478.

8 C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain, London, HarperCollins, 2002, p. 18.

9 Ibib., p. 21.

A Strategy For Teaching Apologetics To Youth | Mike Winger

A simple strategy that anyone can do to help prepare the church to face skeptical challenges and be ready to outreach to an unbelieving world. I’ve found these strategies to be effective. Integrating apologetics into normal church services is easy. Here is how to do it and some resources that will help!

Disclaimer: the following links are affiliate links. If you purchase materials through these links a small portion of that purchase will go toward helping me financially. It won’t cost you anything extra and it will help me keep making content online. It’s a win/win!

  1. Archaeology Study Bible (easy to incorporate into vs by vs messages)
  2. The Big Book of Bible Difficulties (this is the newly updated “When Critics Ask”)
  3. When Skeptics Ask
  4. Evidence That Demands a Verdict

Some of my recommended books are here as well:


RPT’s Apologetics 101


This will be a very basic introduction to why many — like myself — believe apologetics to be very important in the believers life. A “WHY APOLOGETICS 101,” so-to-speak.

What is the word “apologetic” even mean? How do we defining the word, Biblically. Apologetics is explaining to the non-believing friends, co-workers, family, the soundness of the Christian collection of beliefs about life and the universe in easy to express ways that allows co-operation of our created will and intellect with the Holy Spirit in evangelizing those around us. We are not robots under God’s divine hand (automatons) but individuals whom God works through keeping our personality intact in sharing the Gospel effectively and showing how Christianity stands in stark contrast to competing beliefs around us. The non-believer is not expected to interpret the data of history, psychology, and morality (let alone theology and miracles), as does the Christian. However, he must be given such data as the Christian interprets it… Otherwise he is not being witnessed to by a Christian.

1 Peter 3:15 – “… and always be ready to give a defense [or answer in some translations] to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” Defense/Answer: is the Greek apologia, from which we get our word “apologetics,” meaning the careful, logical defense of the Christian faith showing its validity as the true saving gospel of God, our Creator and Savior. In effect Peter is admonishing believers to be always prepared to give an apologetic for the faith, especially when confronted by those who deny it and would destroy it if they could.

Jude 3 – “although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.” Contend: Should be “earnestly contend.” The Greek, epagonizomai, refers to athletes intensely agonizing in the grueling training for a coming contest. Thus Jude graphically stresses the urgency of defending the faith. The defense of the gospel is no indifferent matter to be left to a few specialists, but one to which all believers should be trained and committed.

Philippians 1:7 – “…whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.” Defending: A legal term referring to a formal defense as in a courtroom. Many modern evangelicals think the gospel does not need to be defended — just preached. Paul and Timothy are saying different here.

For instance, apologetics should stir ones knowledge base about their own faith and understanding towards positions Christianity naturally takes. Or, what are known as “truth statements,” i.e., “Jesus rose from the grave,” “God exists,” “God changed my life,” “Jesus is not like the Buddha,” “God is creator,” and the like. People often times will stop you at one of those points and ask you to elucidate. You should be prepared to.

“I suspect that most of the individuals who have religious faith are content with blind faith. They feel no obligation to understand what they believe. They may even wish not to have their beliefs disturbed by thought. But if God in whom they believe created them with intellectual and rational powers that impose upon them the duty to try to understand the creed of their religion. Not to do so is to verge on superstition”

Morimer J. Adler, “A Philosopher’s Religious Faith,” in, Kelly James Clark, ed., Philosophers Who Believe: The Spiritual Journeys of 11 Leading Thinkers (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 207.

Apologetics is one of the steps one takes (should take) in advancing their faith past milk by increases one’s “awareness” about the world in which they live and parts of it we should separate ourselves from. This includes as well aberrant thinking in our own camp.

“Instead of thinking of Christianity as a collection of theological bits and pieces to be believed or debated, we should approach our faith as a conceptual system, as a total world-and-life view…. Raising one’s self-consciousness [awareness] about worldviews is an essential part of intellectual maturity”

Ronald H. Nash, Worldviews in Conflict: Choosing Christianity in a World of Ideas [Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1992], 19, 9.

1) Apologetics helps with correct belief (truth) and in this regard is very important:

Believers may not fully comprehend or may have genuine misunderstandings or even limited exposure to and about Christian truth, but there are doctrinal parameters outside of which a person cannot cross without suffering apostasy and divine judgment. Embracing a false Christ and/or a false’ gospel leads to dire consequences. Paul’s warning to the Galatia church concerning a different gospel dramatically underscores the importance of sound (biblical) doctrine: “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! (Galatians 1:8)

2) Christianity as a truth position, a worldview, necessitates an apologetic response:

Christian apologists must take the religions of the world seriously. The effective apologist will come to know other religions and their adherents with an insider’s mastery. Only then can he or she graciously expose a given religion’s flaws in light of essential Christian truth. Not an easy task for the apologist for sure, however, a well-done expose can have a powerful effect. This endeavor seems to be what Scripture calls for in terms of the apologetics enterprise. “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

3) Apologetics offers People, deservedly, the proper respect:

As creatures of God, all people bear the imago Dei and therefore have inherent dignity and moral worth. Every person consequently deserves respectful treatment regardless of race, sex, social class, political, or religious belief. Christians are called by God to guard the individual right of others to believe what they choose, whether their particular beliefs are wrong, absurd, or contrary to Christian truth. This regard basically amounts to respecting human personhood, volition, and individual moral responsibility. Christians should even tolerate the practices (religious and otherwise) of others, so long as those practices are legal, moral, and prudential. However, respecting another person’s beliefs must not be misconstrued as approving those beliefs. Christians are responsible to use their powers of persuasion to convince others of truth, especially the ultimate truth of, Jesus Christ. While being socially tolerant, Christians must at the same time be intellectually intolerant of conflicting truth claims.

(#s 1-3 are from: Kenneth Richard Samples, Without a Doubt: Answering the 20 Toughest Faith Questions [Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2004], 178-180)

Ravi Zacharias tells a story that is worth repeating, it is called “The Bell Tower”:

There’s a story of a man who used to go to work at a factory and every day would stop outside a clockmaker’s store to synchronize his watch with the clock outside. Seeing this routine, the clockmaker finally asked the gentleman, “Excuse me, sir, I see that every day you stop and adjust your watch with my clock. What kind of work do you do?” The man replied, “I’m embarrassed to tell you this, but, I keep the time at the factory nearby, and I have to ring the bell at four o clock every afternoon when it is time for the people to go home. My watch doesn’t work very well, so I synchronize it with your clock.” The clockmaker sheepishly responded, “I’ve got bad news for you. My clock doesn’t work very well either, so I synchronize it with the bell that I hear from the factory at 4:00 every afternoon.” …. Even a clock that doesn’t work may show you the right time twice a day…but it’s not because it’s keeping time.

Adapted from Ravi Zacharias, “Address to the United Nations’ Prayer Breakfast.”

Apologetics is analogous to wearing a pair of glasses:

The right eyeglasses can put the world into clearer focus, and the correct worldview can function in much the same way. When someone looks at the world from the perspective of the wrong worldview, the world won’t make much sense to him. Or what he thinks makes sense will, in fact, be wrong in important respects. Putting on the right conceptual scheme, that is, viewing the world through the correct worldview, can have important repercussions for the rest of the person’s understanding of events and ideas.

Ronald H. Nash, Worldviews in Conflict: Choosing Christianity in a World of Ideas (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1992), 17-18.

Below is a wonderful graphic of what the person seeking to use and learn apologetics properly should look like. It is from the first chapter in a book I am currently reading and it has helped me to understand the delineations  (or sub categories) to a healthy, well-balanced study of apologetics. Gregory Ganssle, in the before-mentioned book (Come Let us Reason: New Essays in Christian Apologetics, by-the-by, this is not a good introductory book on apologetics… it is a bit technical), points out the areas of study one might find him or herself in the “theological theme” (tt) of the pyramid:

… This angle [tt] includes a variety of topics, such as the scope of common grace, the nature of general revelation, and the effects of our sinful condition on our reasoning.

Exploring these topics theologically helps us develop a realistic understanding of what we ought to expect in our encounters with those who are not yet believers. Theological themes, then, are relevant to our thinking well about apologetics.

UntitleTriangle Apologetics

As one enters into studies on topics like these, red flags may appear in your reading general books by Christian authors. Does this mean you shouldn’t read these books or get information from such people. Not necessarily. It really depends how far they twist major doctrines of the Gospel [Bible]. For instance, would I tell a person (like my wife for instance) not to read Beth Moore? Of course not. I would however, as the spiritual leader of my household, explain some of my “red-flags” I encountered in reading her stuff and mention that an author highly recommended by her is a person I WOULD  NOT read. (That being said, as I learn more about what is aberrant, I find my reading of these books has increased for my own personal apologetic studies, not as books that I incorporate into my walk.)

BONUS:

I love the opening portion about rigorous training and higher education and Sunday school. So important!

In this episode, Eli takes some time to talk about apologetics at the introductory level and speaks a little about how to teach it. He covers both apologetics and the apologetic value of theology.

I hope this short introduction to apologetics was and is helpful. There are three books I highly recommend as great starter points to both understanding the importance of apologetics as well as seeing the differing models of thinking in the world compared. These three resources are technical enough to invigorate the thinker as well as great introductions to the subject accessible to the layman.

  1. Unshakable Foundations: Contemporary Answers to Crucial Questions about the Christian Faith;
  2. Is God Just a Human Invention? And Seventeen Other Questions Raised by the New Atheists;
  3. Holman QuickSource Guide to Understanding Apologetics (Holman Quicksource Guides)

Joe Rogan Says Doctors Will Get Sued Over “Affirming Care”

For the first time in history, the medical industry has allowed people to self-diagnose themselves when it comes to gender dysphoria. And doctors must “affirm” this diagnosis. That goes for people of all ages, including children.

All that is bad enough. However, the worst part about that is not only is this model being used on children, but many doctors have allowed minors to make life-altering decisions under the guise of “affirming” that self-diagnosis.

Coincidentally, it just turns out that all that is “big business.”

Joe Rogan told Aaron Rodgers what we are all thinking. It’s that “gender-affirming care” may result in a load of lawsuits coming from children whose self-diagnosis was “affirmed” and the “doctors” encouraged them to make these life-altering decisions……

(LOUDER w/CROWDER)


Here is a part of the NYT’s article, I will emphasize the part that stood out to me followed by a video that affirms why people should speak up, in love::

Grace Powell was 12 or 13 when she discovered she could be a boy.

Growing up in a relatively conservative community in Grand Rapids, Mich., Powell, like many teenagers, didn’t feel comfortable in her own skin. She was unpopular and frequently bullied. Puberty made everything worse. She suffered from depression and was in and out of therapy.

“I felt so detached from my body, and the way it was developing felt hostile to me,” Powell told me. It was classic gender dysphoria, a feeling of discomfort with your sex.

Reading about transgender people online, Powell believed that the reason she didn’t feel comfortable in her body was that she was in the wrong body. Transitioning seemed like the obvious solution. The narrative she had heard and absorbed was that if you don’t transition, you’ll kill yourself.

At 17, desperate to begin hormone therapy, Powell broke the news to her parents. They sent her to a gender specialist to make sure she was serious. In the fall of her senior year of high school, she started cross-sex hormones. She had a double mastectomy the summer before college, then went off as a transgender man named Grayson to Sarah Lawrence College, where she was paired with a male roommate on a men’s floor. At 5-foot-3, she felt she came across as a very effeminate gay man.

At no point during her medical or surgical transition, Powell says, did anyone ask her about the reasons behind her gender dysphoria or her depression. At no point was she asked about her sexual orientation. And at no point was she asked about any previous trauma, and so neither the therapists nor the doctors ever learned that she’d been sexually abused as a child.

“I wish there had been more open conversations,” Powell, now 23 and detransitioned, told me. “But I was told there is one cure and one thing to do if this is your problem, and this will help you.”….

About a 55-seconds into the video this is said:

Everybody I told I was getting a sex change and blah blah blah. They all said ohh if that’s what – If that’s what you think is right, then go ahead and do it. You know, if you if – you if you feel good and feel good about it, you know if that’s what you want. Go go do it and.

How can that happenwhen you’re supposed to be accountable for your brothers and sisters and help them out? According to what I read?

And they didn’t do it. They did not do it. And to this day, they thought I was going to be a disgrace to them. That’s why they didn’t do anything. They just told me that there’s the door said OK, you know.

Kory Yeshua Points Out the Democrat’s New Boogeyman

Kory Yeshua comments on the recent Kente-cloth abusing democrat, Richard “Rachel” Levine’s, “ode [pandering] to black history month,” this time there’s a new boogeyman! Kory’s Twitter/X is HERE.

  • Levine stood in front of a black, green, orange and red backdrop, the colors of which were reflected in the graphics, to explain why black history month and climate change alarmism go hand in hand. (POST-MIL)

MRCTV blogs on this a bit:

A man who believes himself to be a woman wants you to know that climate change is racist.

Don’t believe him/her? Follow the science, you bigot.

Rachel Levine, a “trans woman” who serves as the Assistant Secretary for Health at the Department of Health and Human Services, claimed in a video released in honor of Black History Month that “Climate change is having a disproportionate effect on the physical and mental health of black communities,” adding that “Black Americans are more likely than white Americans to live in areas in housing that increase their susceptibility to climate related health issues.

What’s that mean? No idea, and neither does he – which is likely why he doesn’t clarify. But IT’S A THREAT TO HUMANITY and we’re all supposed to be terrified. So get with it and tremble, peasant.

[….]

And if you’re confused as to how white people are somehow immune to the ravages of man-made global warming that’s somehow both affecting the entire planet and also systematically targeting Blacks, don’t bother arguing – we’re to “trust the science” the bureaucrats tell us exists, despite any and all evidence to the contrary.

No no no – not the science that clearly distinguishes males from females. The other science.

The government science.

Bigot.

Korey’s testimony put to song is below:

 

 

Ted Nugent Interviews Johnny “Bee” Badanjek

My dad was a long-time road manager for Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels. He always talked about John Badanjek as being one of the greatest drummers. Here is a recent interview I came across with Johnny “Bee” Badanjek and Ted Nugent.