Tuesday, June 30, 2009

James White debates Imam Shams


Last week Dr. James White debated the leader of the largest Mosque in New York, Imam Shams. I've had the opportunity to see portions of it. Hopefully we will get to see and hear more of it considering that it was well-documented. Dr White commented on it in his blog and he was on the Iron Sharpens Iron radio program discussing it. The link is on his blog. He even was nice enough to post some of the debate on YouTube







What Hollywood Believes: Bob Dylan


What Hollywood Believe records two thought from Bob Dylan that I find interesting. In the first one Dylan said:

"I feel a heartfelt God. I don't particularly think that God want me thinking about Him all the time. I think that would be tremendous burden on Him, you know. He's got enough people asking Him for favors. He's got enough people asking Him to pull string."


I get his sentiment, I just don't agree. God can do anything and can hear the prayers and thoughts of every human being every where and every when at the same time. I agree we should be more concerned with serving Him rather than what He will do for us.

When Dylan was asked about the nature of religion I really liked what he said.

"Well, religion is repressive to a certain degree. Religion is another form of bondage which man invents to get himself to God. But that's why Christ came. Christ didn't preach religion. He preached the Truth, the Way and the Life. He said He'd come to give life and life more abundantly. He talked about life, not necessarily religion... "

"A religion which says you have to do certain things to get to God...,which is by works: you can enter into the Kingdom by what you do, what you wear,what you say, how many times a day yopu pray, how many goood deeds you may do...That type of religion will not get you into the Kingdom, that's true. However there is a Master Crerator, a Supreme Being in the Universe."


Monday, June 29, 2009

Paul's Earthly Remains Found?


Fox news is reporting that the remains of Apostle Paul's body has been found under the bascillaca that bears his name in Rome. I've got two points:

1. What kind of remains were found? It's been 2 thousand years under most circumstances a human body would have long fallen into dust.
2. I think it's debatable as to whether or not Roman Catholic doctrine really reflects the writing of Apostle Paul.



Sunday Quote: John Polkinghorne on Fine-Tuning - Apologetics 315

Here is another great Sunday quote from Apologetics 315. This was awesome.

Sunday Quote: John Polkinghorne on Fine-Tuning - Apologetics 315:

“When you realize that the laws of nature must be incredibly finely tuned to produce the universe we see, that conspires to plant the idea that the universe did not just happen, but that there must be a purpose behind it.”
– John Polkinghorne

I fully agree because when you study the order of the universe...its structure...its qualities and characteristics you must can't help but be struck by the sheer awesomeness and the unmistakable fact that it is bigger than you. Something that has such intricate and ingenius design - from the galaxies to the Solar Systems to the planets to our bodies to subatomic particles - point to a mind that thought it up and carried it out. It's the only logical conclusion.

Gospel According To Transformers 2


One of the criticisms of Transformers Revenge of the Fallen is that it has no plot, no deepness. There are those who think that there is nothing of philosophical value in this movie. I could not disagree more. Yes there were plenty of action, spectacular special effects, and Megan Fox. Plenty of eye candy but nothing to make you think about anything important, right? Wrong. I saw duty and sacrifice modeled and exampled as themes in this movie and its predecessor. From the first film the theme "No sacrifice, no victory." was also drawn upon. We see several human and Autobots choose to do what was right to protect others no matter the cost to themselves. Another point is that came up is that we can choose to be good or bad like Jetfire or Wheelie. See the film to see what I am referring to. One of the quotes from the film that got my intention was when Optimus Prime said to Sam Witwicky:

"Fate rarely calls upon us at a time of our choosing."


That is profound especially our culture seems to be scizophrenic when it comes to what we believe about free will and destiny. Which is it? Do you choose your lot in life or does it choose you or does God orchistrate everything?

"Fate" is defined as follows:

1. something that unavoidably befalls a person; fortune; lot: It is always his fate to be left behind.
2. the universal principle or ultimate agency by which the order of things is presumably prescribed; the decreed cause of events; time: Fate decreed that they would never meet again.
3. that which is inevitably predetermined; destiny: Death is our ineluctable fate.
4. a prophetic declaration of what must be: The oracle pronounced their fate.
5. death, destruction, or ruin.
6. the Fates, Classical Mythology. the three goddesses of destiny, known to the Greeks as the Moerae and to the Romans as the Parcae.
–verb (used with object)
7. to predetermine, as by the decree of fate; destine (used in the passive): a person who was fated to be the savior of the country.

While "destiny" is defined:

1. something that is to happen or has happened to a particular person or thing; lot or fortune.
2. the predetermined, usually inevitable or irresistible, course of events.
3. the power or agency that determines the course of events.
4. (initial capital letter) this power personified or represented as a goddess.
5. the Destinies, the Fates.

It seems to me that fate and destiny are almost the same thing. I'd say that we don't have the complete control over the circumstances that come up in life or what our ultimate purpose is in the plans and purposes of God, but we do have choice about our attitude and how we respond to that destiny.

What Hollywood Believes: Arnold Schwarzenegger


Arnold Schwarzenegger said that he believes in God, but he defines that with respect to the fact he know evil exist. He seems to hold to the duality picture of reality. If there is evil then there must be good. I bought this for a while until I realized that there was point in the past where there was only God. No Angels, No Universe. Nothing but God. God is good. Therefore good can exist without evil! God's existence is not contingent on anything. But everything including the devil is contingent on Him.

Respones to Jacob vs Jesus.


Over at the The Good Atheist blog there is a post the author made that argues that he can fulfill the same test for godhood that we Christians believe the Jesus passes. Through several "straw men arguments" the author says things about Jesus with nothing to back up his assertions then knocks the down with extreme prejudice, sarcasm, and condescension. Apparently the author believes that there are 3 tests.

1. Declaring to be God without proof.
2. Performing miracles without proof.
3. Dispensing moral platitudes without having scientific knowledge like the age of the universe and other scientific knowledge.

Why are these straw men? Simple. I want to quote given by many Christians that was summarized by Ben in his comments:

Did you also fulfill 200+ prophecies predicted 700+ years before your birth? Perhaps you died on a cross (as predicted you would, btw), then were resurrected 3 days later?


Ben explicitly challenged the post author's, Jacob's, assertion that there is no proof of Jesus' claim being true, by giving proof. The only way Jacob can answer the above question is by saying "No, but Jesus did." Instead of addressing the proof, Jacob danced around the issue by saying that proof doesn't matter because Jesus' claim is accepted by faith. It is a shame that he thinks faith and reason are mutually exclusive. They are not.

The way Jacob seems to be rejecting the evidence the Bible gives for his miracle working. Fine. Let's look at it a different way. Jesus' enemies had tried to explain away his miracles by claiming Jesus used the power of demons to accomplish his mighty deeds. IF there were no miracles, then why would they need to lie about how Jesus did those things. You can't use the power of demons to fight demons. Remember, "a house divided against itself cannot stand." No, Abraham Lincoln did to not come up with that statement. He was quoting Jesus.

And lastly, Jacob must think he's omniscient. How do we know what Jesus know and what he didn't know. He made the universe, why wouldn't He know what the age of the universe is? You can't argue from silence. We can't know all He did and did not know. The only thing we know he did not know is the date of his coming back. He said He didn't know.

Jacob, if you wanna know if Jesus was God or not, go back to the drawing board and study the evidence.

What Hollywood Believes: John Travolta

John Travolta is a scientologist. He's been with scientology since he was 21 years old. He says that it helps him put things in perspective."A film not doing well isn't a disaster - a plane crash is a disaster,..." He said thast he believes that there is life after death but you get to get to choose to be reincarnated or "just hang out, whatever you feel like." He admits that he prays and when asked to whom he prays he answered, "To the yet-not-fully-understood God concept."

I'm real disappointed with Travolta's answers because God is not a concept and I think it is a cop-out to throw your hands in the air and just say we don't know a lot about God because we cannot fully understand Him. We can't know everything about God and how he does what He does and why but we have no excuse for not know what he has revealed and walking in that. If you want to know more about God you can know.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Neda Agha Soltan, killed 20.06.2009, Presidential Election Protest, Tehran, IRAN

Neda Agha Soltan has been in the news because she has become a symbol for the Resistance fighters protesting the Iranian Elections over the past few weeks. Here are a couple of videos from YouTube showing what happened to her and who she was.





Atheism is Dead: Bill Maher’s Errata


Mariano has published a great article answering Bill Mahr's ignorance on his blog Atheism is Dead. He does an excellent job. Not only is Mahr refuted but Mariano also calls Christians to do a better job in explaining what we believe. Thanks, Mariano.


Atheism is Dead: Bill Maher’s Errata

Friday, June 26, 2009

It Does Matter - Jesus Is THE Way


I just read a post by Danielle Belton on her Black Snob blog. It's about Oprah claiming that there are many roads to reach God in general and Jesus is not the only way in particular. Her post is about the potential backlash from Christians in general and black Christians in particular. I read many of the comments and I noticed a theme that alarmed me and force a response from me.

As many folks pointed out, Oprah's views are well-known and public for years now. What bothers me is that there should be more of a backlash. More Christians should be speaking out and explaining that it is important that Jesus is the only way! This is what makes Christianity distinctive compared to all other belief systems. Without that fact Christianity looses all meaning. IT is important. As a Christian, I say "Jesus is the only way!" as a truth claim. It is either true or it isn't. If it is a lie than no one should be a Christian. You must make a decision and live with the consequences of that choice.

As for the other points that people raised that if Jesus is the only way than billions of people are excluded, I don't know what will happen to those who don't know or will ever find out about Jesus. All I know is God will deal fairly with them. As for you and I, who have heard the claim that Jesus is the only way, we are accountable for either accepting and believing that. It doesn't matter if our ancestors were enslaved and persecuted through men misrepresenting and twisting the Bible into lies because the Bible is still true.

It doesn't make sense that all roads will lead to God because they all conflict with one another. They can all be false, but only one can be true. Take the claims of Islam versus the claims of the New Testament. The Koran says that they neither crucified or killed Jesus but it was made to appear to the Jews and Romans that they had killed Jesus. But the Bible says without qualification that Jesus was crucified. He Died and was resurrected to life. Both of these books can't be true. Everyone must look at the evidences for himself/herself and decide.

I'm probably going to write more about how God may deal with those who never learn about Christ in the afterlife, but I will conclude with a small attempt. Think of all the Old Testament men and women who we know lived righteous lives by any standard - Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and any other religion you can think of. Muslims admire Noah, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, David, and many other heroes. No one would argue that any of these guys went to hell, yet they may not had any personal knowlege of Jesus. Yet they were declared righteous because they put their faith in God and trusted that God was going to save them and their people even if they themselves would not see it. This is what they were commended for. I've got scripture to back this up.

At this the Jews exclaimed, "Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that if anyone keeps your word, he will never taste death. 53Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?"

Jesus replied, "If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad."

"You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!"

"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds. - John 8:52-59


There are other scriptures I could cite but I'll save it. Instead I want re-iterate that Jesus was either completely nuts, a big-fat liar, or He was the incarnate Son of the Living God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - our Lord and savior of all mankind. Pick one. The evidence says Jesus is who He claimed to be and proved it by coming back from the dead never to die again. I agree with Joshua.

But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." - Joshua 24:15


Jesus said:


Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." John 14:6-7



Oprah: Getting A Little Too New Agey For the Jesus Crowd?

Ban the Burqa In France?


You may have heard that France is considering making it illegal for Muslim women to wear their ceremonial veils called "Burquas" in France. There is a great post about this over at the Black Snob blog by Danielle Belton. Apparently, they are considering making this move because of France's "secular tradition." That is a horrible, I mean France for most of its recorded history was a staunch Roman Catholic nation. Now they wanna claim to be secular? The thing is if we say that it's illegal for Muslims to wear Burqas when will it end? We will get to the point that we will not be able to preach from the Bible in public as it reads sooner if such a thing happened here in the states. It's already like that in may European nations. Ms Belton does not think that this could happen in the United States, but we can already see them signs. People are really trying to secularize the West. They won't stop with Muslims.

What Hollywood Believes: Dolly Parton


Here is a quote from Dolly Parton regarding her conception of "God":

"Everybody thinks of God as a different thing. To me, God is that greater, higher energy - that greater, wiser wisdom. It's tha thing in all of us that we all have to draw from. I've always trusted God and trusted myself, which to are intertwined. I'm a creative person, and what gifts I have come fom that divine place that I try to tap into. So who have I got to be afraid of?"

I've got a two fold disagreement with her worldview. To Her God is impersonal. God's purposes, thought, and will are not separate from her own. This is not Biblical.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.

"As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

- Isaiah 55:8-11


The other idea I can't get along with is the that trusting yourself and trusting God are intertwined.

But man, despite his riches, does not endure;
he is like the beasts that perish.

This is the fate of those who trust in themselves,
and of their followers, who approve their sayings.
Selah

Like sheep they are destined for the grave,
and death will feed on them.
The upright will rule over them in the morning;
their forms will decay in the grave,
far from their princely mansions.

Psalm 49:12-14

Instead,God tells us in Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Signature in the Cell MP3 Audio by Stephen Meyer - Apologetics 315

On the Apologetics 315 blog, there is a lecture by Stephen Meyer. Meyer is talking about the digital code embedded in the DNA of living cells. Meyer does a great job. No one disputes that the way information is encoded in our DNA is nothing short of astonishing. In some ways it is more efficient than our best information systems. Our computers are based on binary codes. DNA is based on twice as many bases. Binary is based on 0 and 1 but DNA has 4 bases. This means that much more information can be encoded. Meyer argues that everyone agrees that information can only be assembled and encoded by intelligence not material processes. I agree. No one picks up a book and assumes that the words and information contained in it shows up out of no where by chance. We automatically know that someone wrote it. Or when we run computer software we know that someone wrote it. Why would we assume DNA was different. Meyer did a great Job. Take a listen.



Signature in the Cell MP3 Audio by Stephen Meyer - Apologetics 315

Obama on Fatherhood


Whatever you may think about his politics or worldview, you have to admit that family is important to Barack Obama. The man loves his wife and his kids. As it should be! I admire that a great deal because that is the kind of man my father and brothers are and as I do my very best to be. The following video is worth seeing.



What Hollywood Believes: George Lucas


George Lucas is the creator of the Star Wars franchise and is one of the richest men on the earth today. In one interview he was asked about the religious overtones in the Star Wars series. He expressed an intelligent yet agnostic response

"I put the Force into the movie in order to try to awaken a certain kind of spirituality in young people - more a belief in god than a belief in any particular religious system. I wanted to make it so that young people would begin asking questions about the mystery. Not having enough interest in the mysteries of life to ask the question, 'Is there a God or is there not a God?' - that is for me the worst thing that can happen. I think you should have an opinion about that. Or you should saying, 'I'm looking. I'm very curious about this, and I am going to continue to look until I can find an answer, and if I can't find an answer, Then I'll die trying.' I think it's important to have a belief system and to have faith."

If you look at what the Jedi's believe in the movies, this pretty much sums it up. Thankfully the interviewer did pointedly ask Lucas "Do you have an opinion, or are you looking?" Lucas answered:

"I think that there is a God. No question. What that God is or what we know about that God, I'm not sure."

I really, really like George Lucas. I've got to admit that his movies and imagination have influenced me a great deal. I am pleased that he is a theist. Believing in God's existence is a fundamental intellectual step to maintaining sanity. The Bible tells us that the created order should be enough to convince us of God's existence. We have no excuse for coming at least that far if we are honest with ourselves and what we can see, hear, measure, and feel.

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 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 men are without excuse. - Roman 1: 18-20


As for the second part of his answer about who God is and what know about him, this only comes by cultivating a relationship with him. Such a relationship must include spending time in God's revealed scriptures and philosophies. Considering that there are many competing texts and ideas that contradict each other only one of them must be from the creator or none of them. I find it hard to believe that if a person seeks God with all of his/her own heart that God will not make it plain to them what His purposes are.

"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' - Acts 17: 24-28


Wednesday, June 24, 2009

The Black Snob Blog: Congress Apologizes For Slavery: So What? Now What


Last week, my wife told me that she heard that congress had officially apologized for slavery and the Jim Crow laws. I fell out. I never thought that such an apology would ever happen. Many folks are saying that it's pointless. I disagree. One reason why America has never began to get past slavery is because the government never officially apologized. In my opinion I think that there does need to be follow-up. Giving us money - paying for the pain and suffering of our ancestors is a slap in the face. What we need is something more concrete. For example, our ancestors, like my maternal grandmother's grandfather, wanted to learn how to read and were denied an education and a better way to make up for that is to give our children free college education. If America is truly sorry, then it should do more than just say, but do actions that will truly offset some of the damages caused by the legacy of slavery. Here is a great article from the Black Snob blog:

The Black Snob Blog: Congress Apologizes For Slavery: So What? Now What?





I have also found some great information from the following websites
Congress Apologizes for Slavery, Jim Crow
U.S. Congress apologizes for slavery

Addtionally NPR posted the following audio. Take a listen.

Rep. Steve Cohen, a Democrat from Tennessee, drafted the resolution. Cohen explains the apology's long journey for Congressional approval and the significance of its timing.



20080730_tmm_03.mp...

Atheism is Dead: A. J. Jacobs - Night at the Royal Ontario Museum


Mariano has again written another brilliant post. This time it's responding to a book and comedy routine by comedian, A. J. Jacobs. Jacobs resolved to follow the prescriptions and rules set forth in the Old Testament for a whole year. He applied them using his own interpretation without regard to historical and cultural and Temporal contexts. Without this many rules in the Bible seem weird. But of course it seems weird because spirit and purpose of the law is being ignored. Mariano does a great job of taken the problem Jacobs had in applying scripture and explaining how the law comes into play today. This is a great article! Read it!


Atheism is Dead: A. J. Jacobs - Night at the Royal Ontario Museum

Fatherhood and Atheism: Paul Vitz Interview MP3 Audio - Apologetics 315

Here is an interview of Dr. Paul Vitz from the Apologetics 315 blog. Vitz's work has been featured before on Apolologetics 315 blog and I have found his work extremely interesting! He in no way tries to argue that all atheists have horrible fathers, only there seems to be a correlation between "bad" inattentive fathers and atheism. I for one would not wanna be a stumbling block for children as they seek God. This is extremely interesting!


Fatherhood and Atheism: Paul Vitz Interview MP3 Audio - Apologetics 315

What Hollywood Believes - Introduction

One of my good friends has allowed me to borrow a book entitled What Hollywood Believes by Ray Comfort. It contains quotes and interviews from the biggest stars and creators in Hollywood regarding faith, religion, and their real worldviews. This topic interest me because I know that Hollywood influences and permeates all of human culture today. They control the movies we see, the television we watch, the books and magazines we read, the music we listen to, and even the things we buy. Not to say that this is an aweful thing in every case but it does shine light on why our society is what it is and why it is getting worse. Just what are we competing with for the hearts and minds of ourselves, our children, and the future? For example, many people in the Hollywood elite support same-sex marriage. Do they hold to the same worldview and opinion of who God is and the infallibility of the Bible as I do? If some do, which ones? This book is a great way to view that and look at human pscholhogy. We can explore what makes us human looking at a book like this.

This post is the kick-off of a series of posts I'm calling "What Hollywood Believes".For time-to-time I will post an article about one of the celebrities featured in Ray Comfort's book and i want to hold up the celebrity's world view in the light of scripture. This should be interesting. I'm not going to cover everyone in the book - just my favorites.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Dying for Democracy

I have been hearing about the protests in Iran concerning their elections. it appears they have been fixed and people are not happy about it. They are activcely protesting and and people are dying. They are dying for democracy.

Here is the text posted on YouTube with the Video

Iranian girl , Neda and her father attend a peaceful rally in Tehran before things took a tragic turn.

The girl, known as Neda and thought to be 16, has become both a martyr and rallying cry for those opposed to the Iranian hardline government.

"Neda, your death will not be in vain," reads one message on Twitter, where her name is being used as a call sign for anti-government bloggers and is one of the site's most mentioned words.

The deaths follow threats from Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday that fresh opposition unrest would be met with "blood, violence and chaos".

Iranian state television is reporting that 10 people were killed and more than 100 wounded in yesterday's violence in Tehran.
Foreign media are banned from reporting on non-official events in Iran, where the state censors and regulates the information seen by its citizens and those abroad.

But a video clip showing a girl known as Neda, who is thought to have been no older than 16, bleeding to death while frantic attempts are made to save her life has been broadcast across the globe via the internet.

Reports from the country say the teenager had been watching Saturday's protests with her father when she was shot by Iran's militia.

A message posted with the original footage on YouTube alleges she was intentionally shot in the chest.

"I am a doctor, so I rushed to try to save her," the video's poster said.

"But the impact of the gunshot was so fierce that the bullet had blasted inside the victim's chest, and she died in less than two minutes.

"The protests were going on about 1 kilometre away in the main street and some of the protesting crowd were running from tear gas used among them, towards Salehi St.

"The film is shot by my friend who was standing beside me. Please let the world know."

Neda, whose name means "voice" in Farsi, has been hailed as a martyr by those outraged at the brutality of the Iranian government's response to the election protests.

Clashes broke out soon after the presidential election on June 12, which many supporters of Iranian opposition parties claim was rigged to re-elect the hardline Islamist government.

The story of Neda's death has resonated with protesters across the world.

In America, pictures of her face have appeared on posters at protests against the Iranian government, hailing her as a martyr, US media reports.

Anti-government bloggers using Twitter to thwart the authorities' attempts to stop them communicating have started using her name as a call sign, making it one of the most mentioned words on the site.

""The film is shot by my friend who was standing beside me. Please let the world know."

Neda, whose name means "voice" in Farsi, has been hailed as a martyr by those outraged at the brutality of the Iranian government's response to the election protests.

Clashes broke out soon after the presidential election on June 12, which many supporters of Iranian opposition parties claim was rigged to re-elect the hardline Islamist government.

The story of Neda's death has resonated with protesters across the world.

In America, pictures of her face have appeared on posters at protests against the Iranian government, hailing her as a martyr, US media reports.

Anti-government bloggers using Twitter to thwart the authorities' attempts to stop them communicating have started using her name as a call sign, making it one of the most mentioned words on the site.




Terminology Tuesday: Theodicy - Apologetics 315

There is a great series of 10 posts coming out every Tuesday over at Apologetics 315. Each post will define a different term from Apologetics jargon. This week's term is "Theodicy" and it's the first term defined. Check it out. I can't wait to see what next week's term will be! I'm looking forward to expanding my vocabulary


Terminology Tuesday: Theodicy - Apologetics 315

Is It Gospel? - Hazakim's "Genesis 32"


I love this song....let me just get that out first. The important thing to understand that the duo, two brothers, making up the group Hazakim refer to their music as "Hip Hop Hopologetics". They use hip hop music to praise God and teach apologetics. I enjoy the way they put their music together and the messages they convey. They have a new album coming out today.

For this post, I wanted to write about their song titled "Genesis 32". I love the song because these guys know how to make the Bible come alive. The song repeats the story about what happened when Jacob returned to Canaan after self-imposed exile to avoid the wrath of his twin brother Esau because Jacob tricked Esau out of his birthright and deceived their father and stole the blessing of the Firstborn son. And you thought your family was a soap opera, right? They the "D" in dysfunction. Anyway when Jacob is most anxious about what is going to happen when he meets his brother again, Jacob experiences a theophany. He talks to and interacts with a supernatural being. Scholars debate if this was God like one of the three men who met up with Abraham in Genesis 18, or if it was merely an angel. Jacob wrestled all night with being and would not let go until he was blessed. It was at this point that Jacob's name was changed to "Israel". The experience so profoundly changed Jacob that he named the place "Peniel" meaning "Face of God" because in Genesis 32:30

So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."


The song recounts it better than I can. The only better way to understand what happened is to read the full about for yourself in Genesis!


Here is the song...take a listen.
Hazakim - Genesis ...


This song is most definitely gospel

Monday, June 22, 2009

Makayla and Matthias - June 20 2009


This is a slide show of family photographs taken June 20, 2009. I used the slide show tools from Photobucket.com to make it work.



Sunday, June 21, 2009

Sunday Quote: Blaise Pascal on Truth - Apologetics 315

Apologetics 315 has published the following quote:

“Truth is so obscured nowadays and lies [are] so well established that unless we love the truth we shall never recognize it.”

- Blaise Pascal

This is true!


Sunday Quote: Blaise Pascal on Truth - Apologetics 315

Father's Day - June 21, 2009


Pastor Stewart asked me to speak in our church along with 2 other men in honor of Father's Day. It went well. Deacon Lamar Gaines and Brother Keith Warren Gaines did awesome. I've put a transcript approximating my remarks from that day. The text in "[]" was something I thought I was going to say but during the time I was delivering this, I thought that it was too far a digression but I included it today. The pictures are of my family.


Fatherhood is a gift from God. Plain and simple. It’s one of the best gifts that I have ever received and perhaps the most daunting. When I think of what being a father is I feel blessed and grateful because God did not have to give me Makayla or Matthias. I think of how I get to be a link in a chain that stretches back to the beginning of the human race. I get to pass on the things God wants us to know to a new generation as it was passed to me.

My own father is a good example for me. He showed me much about how important it is to provide for the family God has given you charge over. And although he always taught me that education was important, he himself modeled that the most important things you can learn are about God. God makes life worthwhile. I never have seen my daddy reading many things, but I have always seen him read and study the Bible as if life depends on him knowing as much about God as possible because it does. He instituted the policy in his household thst we all go to Sunday School every Sunday and he was always at YPWW and any other service he could go to. In addition every opportunity I have had came from God, through the sacrifices of my parents. These are the legacies that I have obtained from my father that I owe to Makayla and Mathias to pass on to them as I have received. I believe that this is the responsibility of every parent to their children (ie the children God has put in their lives.)

I’ve recently heard a lecture from a psychologist who studied famous atheist and found out they all had poor relationships with their fathers. He concluded that a bad human father makes it difficult (not impossible) to accept God as Father. Hearing this made me even more grateful for my father. It also challenged me because the last thing I want to do is to be a stumbling block to Makayla and Matthias to come to God.

There are a lot of scriptures about being a father. The Bible even gives examples of what not to do. For example when you have time check out Jephthah from Judges Chapter 11. Although Issac and Jacob were not horrible fathers, they still showed favoritism. That is also as fathers we must avoid. God doesn’t do it. We should not either. [As a freebee, at the risk of digressing too much, I’ve got to point out that election spoken of in Romans 9 and the way that God selects us in Ephesians 1: 4-6 says

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.


I love it…for this is the gospel in a nutshell. Again this is what I want to make sure our children (and all of us) get.

The passage does not mean that God shows favoritism because “chose” which in the Greek is “eklegomai” means “chosen/pick out of a group” and carries the thought that what is selected is “picked without rejecting that which was not picked”. God picked you for Himself without rejecting anyone else. Just like when I choose to give Makayla a birthday gift in August, it does not mean that I’m rejecting Matthias if I don’t give him the same gift. I’m going to have press this point further at a different time.

Back to topic:] I want to focus on the scriptures that come to mind first about fatherhood.

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets – Matthew 7:7-11
Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. – Ephesians 6:4

Sons are a heritage from the LORD,
children a reward from him.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are sons born in one's youth.

Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

Pslam 17:3-5


These are just snippets of what the Bible teaches about fatherhood. Fathers are important to God and He is holding us accountable for the families He has graced us with. He wants us to call him “Daddy” and have that kind of right relationship with Him. This is why Jesus came and died. Remember Pastor Stewart’s message reminding us to remember we are children of God and admonishing us to remind one another?

I want to end with Romans 8: 14-16 which says:

because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

"We Are Autobots" - More Viral Marketing


I just found a new website called "We Are Autobots". You hook up your webcam and the website puts Optimus Prime's Head over your own in real time. Pretty Fun!


Here is a demo video I got from YouTube


Here is my own demo video - It's fun!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Barack to the Rescue


An online e-card company, JibJab.com has applied their technology to a hilarious video showing President Barack Obama as a superhero complete with a theme song. Kinda Catchy.





Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!


Truthbomb Apologetics: How Did Jesus Argue? Jesus and Logic


Chad, from Truthbomb Apologetics, has posted the final entry to his series of post that examines our Lord and Savior Jesus from the point of view of Jesus truly being the smartest man who has or ever will walkk the earth. This particular post offers more material written by Dr. J.P. Moreland. Thanks, Chad!


Truthbomb Apologetics: How Did Jesus Argue? Jesus and Logic

G4 Specials: Steve Jobs' Life And Legacy

Here is a documentary from G4TV giving the background story to Steve Job's and Apple Computer's success starting from the mid 1970's. I like hearing about the paths people take in life. When we look at their challenges and the unexpected twists and turns we can see how God moves in their lives. It's unmistakeable. How does a man, found a company/industry - Apple, looses the job, starts a new company, and then Apple buys that company and he becomes the CEO of Apple! Jobs has changed the Computer/Electronics industry irrevocably and has affected every life on Earth.









Thursday, June 18, 2009

Where is God in Failure? MP3 Audio by William Lane Craig - Apologetics 315

On the Apologetics 315 blog there is a great sermon by William Lane Craig. He discusses about where is God when we fail. It was pretty good. He points out that God's purpose of our individual lives could include experiencing failure and suffering. It made me think. I thought about when it comes to how God leads us and guides us, Craig sounds very Calvinistic. He does not have a problem with the idea that God is in control of our live and bring about everything according to His will and purpose. Human free will does not enter in. To which I readily agree. My question is when it comes to personal salvation and being reconciled back to God he runs back to Human Free Will Why? Brian always shares cool stuff on his blog. He linked the audio and video to his blog. Please go check it out.


Where is God in Failure? MP3 Audio by William Lane Craig - Apologetics 315

General Thoughts On Atheism



The writer of the Atheism is Dead blog. Mariano, has been invited to write an essay defining Atheism, and why it isn't reasonable. His work is always great to read and I highly recommend the article! Read it at http://www.google.com/coop/cse/

Truthbomb Apologetics: Jesus the Logician


Here is the 4th article in the series looking at Jesus as the greatest apologists who ever lieved:
Truthbomb Apologetics: Jesus the Logician

In this post, Chad gives us an essay written by Dallas Willard.

In Willard's article, Jesus the Logician, he writes:

'In understanding how discipleship to Jesus Christ works, a major issue is how he automatically presents himself to our minds. It is characteristic of most 20th century Christians that he does not automatically come to mind as one of great intellectual power: as Lord of universities and research institutes, of the creative disciplines and scholarship. The Gospel accounts of how he actually worked, however, challenge this intellectually marginal image of him and help us to see him at home in the best of academic and scholarly settings of today, where many of us are called to be his apprentices.'"

Is It Gospel? - Hazakim's "Theophanies"


I love this song....let me just get that out first. The important thing to understand that the duo, two brothers, making up the group Hazakim refer to their music as "Hip Hop Hopologetics". They use hip hop music to praise God and teach apologetics. I enjoy the way they put their music together and the messages they convey.


This post is about their song Theophanies and it is based on the Biblical passage Genesis 18:1-15. They tell the story of Abraham being visited by three personages. Abraham recognizes that one of three is God. The man most definitely talked with divine authority. Then the song brings up the point that no man has seen God any time.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. - 1 John 4:11-13

This is where we get the song's hook which points out that the preceding verses are true, however we have several recorded instances where the patriarchs see or physically experience God, so they ask the question, "Who was that they saw?". Many scholars and theologians answer the question the same way the song does: the pre-incarnate Christ. We know that God becoming a man is not out of nowhere because of Abraham and Sarah's experience in Genesis 18 as well as from other passages in the Old Testament. We also know this about Jesus:

No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known. - John 1: 18




Here is the audio for the song

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In my opinion the song is most definitely an Example of Gospel Music!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Obama Swats A Fly

Sure hope all his problems are as easy to solve as this one



Truthbomb Apologetics: The Apologetics of Jesus

In his third article spotlighting Jesus as the ultimate intellectual evidenced by his apologetic and logic, Chad announces a new book by Norman Geisler and Patrick Zukeran called The Apologetics of Jesus. This article is an awesome book preview. Chad has also given us the honor of providing a link to an interview of Patrick Zukeran and an article written by Zukeran on this topic. Great stuff!!!


Truthbomb Apologetics: The Apologetics of Jesus

The Last Days of World War II - Death of the Reich

Here is a Great documentary on the end of World War II.



Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Truthbomb Apologetics: Featured Audio: Jesus as a Logician and Apologist

Here is Chad's next article examining Jesus fr0m the point of view of Jesus being a master intellectual. It features a lecture by Dallas Willard called Jesus as a Logician and Apologist.

I am enjoying this series immensely. I agree that as Christians we don't think of Jesus is light of the fact that He did engage his culture and audience intellectually and we must do the same. This is why I see smaller audiences in Bible study services than other kind of services. I think that many people are either too lazy to put the time and energy necessary to learn as much as they can about everything they can.

I'm not saying that everyone need to be a scholar. You do not need to be able to identify logic concepts and be able to know everything. Some people are called to it but not everyone. No one is going to be as good as Jesus at it. What I've got to remember is the following verse and serves to keep us humble.

Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God. - 1 Corinthians 8:1-3



Truthbomb Apologetics: Featured Audio: Jesus as a Logician and Apologist

Anne Frank - Aged Progressed to 80


I just found out that using the magic of computers a portrait of Anne Frank underwent age progression so now we know what she probably would have looked like had she grown up and was alive today.






Source 1

Source 2

Monday, June 15, 2009

Sunday Quote: J.P. Moreland on God's Existence - Apologetics 315

RE-Do. About two weeks ago, I read a post on the Apologetics 315 blog and now I can't find it! I hate it when that happens especially since I wrote quite a bit. Here is my attempt to re create it. Here is the quote:

“God maintains a delicate balance between keeping his existence sufficiently evident so people will know he's there and yet hiding his presence enough so that people who want to choose to ignore him can do it. This way, their choice of destiny is really free.”

– J.P. Moreland

I found myself looking up this post because othe post just below this one. There is a link to a lecture given by Moreland on how it's important to be able to reason out and think about what you believe and why. I totally agreed with everything he said. What struck me is the fact that I so vehemently deny the quote I read from him on June 7, 2009. It really left a bad taste! Re-reading the quote and the comments made me relaize that I jumped all over Moreland because I thought that he was talking about salvation. While he may be an Arminian (ad I don't know that for sure), I should not have taken the discussion there. Moreland was only talking about human knowledge when it comes to God's existence. He just tacks on "free choice". I'm gonna have to disagree with him and agree with one of the commenters on the original blog

Ryan Hemelaar said...

I disagree with J.P. Moreland there. Everyone knows that God exists, but the reason why many deny His existence is not because there is not enough evidence, but because "...by their unrighteousness [they] suppress the truth." (Romans 1:18).

Setting aside the idea of "free will" for other posts, Paul is really clear...no one has any excuse for not recognizing that there is a creator.

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 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 men 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 mortal man 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 of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. - Romans 1: 18-25




Sunday Quote: J.P. Moreland on God's Existence - Apologetics 315

Truthbomb Apologetics: The Greatest Apologist Who Ever Lived: Jesus Christ

Chad is starting a series on his blog Truthbomb Apologetics in which he provides resources and astute commentary regrading Jesus from the point of view of Jesus as an intellectual and apologists. I agree with Chad that Jesus is not just the best and perfect man who ever has ever lived but also the most intelligent. He was constantly intellectually challenged by the skeptics of His day and He pawned all of them. This is a series worth checking out to learn more about who Jesus is.

I listened to the JP Moreland recording in the post and he does a great job of showing through scripture that we must love Jesus with our minds and be prepared to explain what we believe and why we believe it.


Truthbomb Apologetics: The Greatest Apologist Who Ever Lived: Jesus Christ

Obama Speaks in Cairo



Not long ago President Obama gave a speech to the world in general and the Arab world in particular. In this day, the Presidential offices seems to post all speeches in YouTube so i have linked to it below.





As always the speech in structure and style was flawless. The content I have a problem with. Anyone who has studied anything about Christianity and Islam knows that there can never be any true common ground! By definition being a Christian means that you believe that Jesus was the incarnate Son of the living God who died for the sins of humanity via crucifixion to reconcile us back to God and then rose again 3 days later. It is by this we are saved. Islam rejects every bit of this! Every thought expressed in my summary of what a Christians is Muslims reject by definition. Where is the common ground? Yes, we are monotheistic, hate abortion and immorality, but so are many Atheists, Buddahists, and other folks. How can we have common ground if we reject the foundations the other stand on? There will be no peace in the Middle East until Jesus comes back and brings it.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Reenactment


Here is a documentary that uses actors, interviews, and computer animation to show what happened when the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima back in August, 1945. All I can say after seeing this video:
1. I'm glad I wasn't there.
2. We need to make sure it doesn't happen again.



Introduction to Worldviews: Greg Bahnsen MP3 Audio - Apologetics 315


Over from Apologetics 315 is an audio by Greg Bahnsen explaining what a worldview is and how everyone has one only that most people don't take the time to think it through. It's a great lecture and you should listen to it if you want to know why philosphy is important or need a great summary of the most-common worldviews you will run into when you talk to people.

Introduction to Worldviews: Greg Bahnsen MP3 Audio - Apologetics 315