It's Really Hit the Fan Now

I have just read on the Black Snob blog a very interesting summary of current events involving people who flip out and kill other people due to "-isms" like racism and homophobia. The most shocking story is about an 88 year-old men who walked into the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum today and shot and killed a security guard who was black! This was James von Brunn, an 88-year-old white supremacist. I googled the story and came across an article from CNN. He was apparently motivated by the fact that he denies the Holocaust ever happened and that Anne Frank's diary is a hoax. I wonder how many people's other worldview will cause them to break like von Brunn. I mean we have an African-American President that had to shock him. IF anything all of this shows us that Jesus is returning soon!

Carrie Prejean -- Fired!

I just found out that Carrie Prejean has been fired from being Miss California. They are saying that its because Carrie did not fulfill her contractual obligations such as making the public appearances that pagent officials have officially sanctioned. If this is true then I can see why she lost her crown. However, I'd like to know if they were constantly asking her to go places and say things against her conscious. I'm going to be following up on that.

Source

D-Day Archival Footage

Truthbomb Apologetics: Flash Video: The Problem of Evil

The Truthbomb blog has posted an incredible post showcasing a flash video discussing the following question, "How Can a Good and Loving God allow Evil?". People often try to use this question to deny the existence of God. After all it is a question we must all deal with and come to grips with. "If God exists, then why does He allow pain and suffering? Why doesn't He just eradicate it?" The thing about the question presupposes that

1. We truly know what good and evil are.
2. We can hold God accountable to our standards not His.
3. That if God did obliterate everything that is evil we will be left standing...which we would not.

The video is way more philosophical than I would like. It uses the free will argument and I'm not comfortable with that. I think we can argue that Adam and Eve were perfect free-will agents before they sinned - actualizing evil; but we who came afterward are enslaved to sin and can't claim free-will. Jesus is the only avenue for our redemption and escape.


Truthbomb Apologetics: Flash Video: The Problem of Evil

Koei Tecmo Paying Employees To Have Children

How would you like to be paid to have children? It's been widely reported that industrialized "first-world" countries have dwindling birth rates. In large part it is because people are purposely choosing not to have children. This has become such a major concern in Japan that some of its companies have taken "drastic" measures. Koei Tecmo, the company responsible for the Dead or Alive video game series, Ninja Gaiden, and other awesome game, is paying their employees bonuses for having children!

First Child - around $1,000
Second Child - around $2,000
Third Child - around $20,000

I saw that with my two, and I thought, "Nah, my wife would not go for the third!" Still almost makes me wanna move to Japan. I got this information form G4TV.

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

On Apologetics 315, the following quote from J.P. Moreland was published:

“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

Of course this caused a mini-debate on that blog in the comments section. People get really passionate about this. I know I do. When I first read the quote I was up in arms. But before I could comment a lot of people said what I was I thinking. For example I think that Ryan Hemelaar is right that people really know that there is a God and actively suppress that knowledge according to Romans 1:18. I also agree that with kart2d2 because Paul also wrote that the evidence for the existence of God is so compelling that we all stand without excuse for not recognizing His existence. In the Greek it could also be rendered "without an Apologetic".

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. - Romans 1:18-20

I must say that I have learned that this passage really only concerned understanding that there is a God because coming into the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ is by special revelation by the Holy Spirit.

You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit. - 1 Corinthians 12:2-3

As for free will, there are so many Bible verses that tell us to choose to serve God and that if we choose to submit to God through Jesus we will be save just as Franck Barfety pointed out in the comment section:

"Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." John 3:18

The thing is that verses like these say nothing about us being able to choose to believe...only that if we believe we will be saved! What does the Bible have to say about how we come to believed.

1. When we are unregenerated by the holy spirit we are hostile against God and His enemy.

The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. - Romans 8: 6-8

2. No one seeks after God...all have gone astray.

What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written:
"There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one."
"Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit."
"The poison of vipers is on their lips."
"Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness."
"Their feet are swift to shed blood;
ruin and misery mark their ways,
and the way of peace they do not know."
"There is no fear of God before their eyes."
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. - Romans 3:9-20

3. No one comes to the son unless drawn by the father. Let's not forget John 6:44

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.

If you look up the word "draw" helkuo you see it means "dragged". God must drag us to the cross so that we will be saved. Brothers and sisters this is indeed an in-house debate and whether you think that you chose Jesus solely by an act of your will or you were dragged you are justified and going to heaven. This is the important thing. I however know that God put me in the place where "yes" to him was the only response I could make. He was so slick about it I thought that it was all my idea. It wasn't. All I did was responded because He allowed me to get it. If anyone is interested, let me suggest two books: Martin Luther's On The Bondage of the Will and Jame White's The Potter's Freedom.

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

Richard Dawkins Knows He Cannot Win A Debate

The only reason I can come up with why Richard Dawkins will not debate a Christian Theist of William Lane's calibur is because he knows his ideas will not be able to stand against the crushing weight of science, logic, and scripture. I think Dawkins is chicken. I don't agree with everything Craig believes in especially when it comes to Calvinism and Free will, but I have greatly been impressed with his evidential apologetic against folks who don't accept the Bible as the word of God. We can show that there is good evidence for the Bible being true and that the God described in it is real. Dawkins will not be able to stand before the arguments...although it could be fun to watch his squirm as he tries.

Here is a link to an online petition to support a debate between William Lane Craig and Richard Dawkins.

Atheism is Dead: Christopher Hitchens – The Totalitarian, Dictatorial, Tyrannical Worldview

Mariano has delivered another great post that I totally agree with. In the comments section, a person who is either agnostic or atheistic has asked a pretty good question. It is basically the "problem of evil". I'd summarize his point this way: If your god is personal than why is he not accountable or responsible for human suffering in the same way we hold Hitler and Stalin accountable for the atrocities they committed? It's a good question. Ultimately I'd answer that Hitler and Stalin were but men. They took upon themselves the authority to determine who lives and who dies that they had no right to claim or exercise. God on the other hand has the right and authority to do whatever He wants, when He wants, how He wants, and where He wants. Scripture tells us that what ever He does is just even when we don't see the big picture or how it is for the best. We can only see bits and pieces, God has the masterpiece in mind that He is creating. "Who are you to answer back to God?" - Romans 9

Atheism is Dead: Christopher Hitchens – The Totalitarian, Dictatorial, Tyrannical Worldview

Free Will - God's Style? Not Even Close Part 3

NonStampCollector, has put together three YouTube videos that attempt to show inconsistency in the Christianity based on what we teach concerning human free will and salvation. The author is an atheist and he is criticizing Arminianism, but I don't think he knows what he's arguing against. Look at the third video below to see what he is saying





I think that this is the worst part of the series. It makes no sense. The issue is that this does not represent the God I serve. The plan of redemption that God has put into practice was not an afterthought. The Bible says in Roman 5:5-7 that:

And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.

The thing is that God at no point say that he has given us complete autonomy. The author even sounded like Christopher Hitchens in that he insinuates that sending Jesus to first century Palestine was a stupid idea. However, it was actually the perfect time. Let me explore that a moment. The first century is not the "Bronze Age" as Hitchens and this video author says. Also consider for the first time in history the same language was being spoken and written in from Spain to India: Greek. And the Roman Empire was held together by a complete system of roads. This way the message could easily spread all over the empire very well!

TurretinFan Shuts down An Atheist in 60 Seconds!

You may have noticed that there are debates that occur on YouTube. Someone posts a video expressing a viewpoint for the world to see and others write comments or post a video of their own. This is one such duel. First an atheist gives his viewpoint:





And Here is TurretinFan's rebuttal

Free Will - God's Style? Not Even Close Part 2

NonStampCollector, has put together three YouTube videos that attempt to show inconsistency in the Christianity based on what we teach concerning human free will and salvation. The author is an atheist and he is criticizing Arminianism. Look at the second video below to see what he is saying





In the second video, the argument is advanced that God is like a government that imposes taxes and but says that we have the choice not to pay. However if we don't pay we will be punished. It's an analogy parable....but a flawed one. Like the citizens of a government who are indebted to the government we are indebted to God because he owns everything and because of our many trespassed and rebellions against him. However a more apt way of looking at is from the point of view of one who is bankrupt and owes so much in back taxes that we can't possible pay what we owe. This is the state of every human being! Added to that we are so sick and oblivious to how sick we are. Added to that we are like militant radicals hostile to the very government (God) that wants our salvation. Here are some scriptures that illustrate these points:

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
- Isaiah 64:6

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
- Romans 8: 5-8

What government would ever say to it's citizens: "You have free will so pay your taxes but only if you want to."? No all governments will force you to pay because of the threat of punishment. God is not like that. He knows we can't pay. He knows we are bankrupt. He knows that we are hostile.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. - Isaiah 53:6

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
- Romans 3: 22-24

Instead God gives some people a "New Deal" but better than any of Franklin Roosevelt's. He changes them and pays the debts for them. All they have to do is believe and their taxes are paid. This is the ultimate Bailout and its for the individual! This has nothing to do with who you are. God's choice. Just like when the government gives grants. Not everyone gets a Bailout. No one who asks God for this Bailout is refused. Not like the government at all.

He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household." Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. - Acts 16: 30-32

What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses,
"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. - Romans 9: 14-18

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:
"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." - 1 Corinthians 1: 18-19

“Does the New Testament Teach that Jesus Is God?”

Recently James White debated Jalal Abualrub on "Is Jesus God?" It's interesting to hear Muslim perspectives on Jesus because many of the same arguments that are effective against Islam perspectives on Jesus work on other viewpoints and world viewa

William Lane Craig vs Anthony Flew Debate

In 2003, William Lane Craig (left) debated Anthony Flew (right) on the subject Does God Exist? Anthony Flew argued the Atheist position and Dr. Craig argued for the Christian Theist position. Here is is the debate:

Apologetics-DoesGo...

This debate also shows William Lane Craig's Arminianism when it comes to discussing why we have a reality where "evil" exists. I liked Craig's answer on hell, however. I also have to say that Flew actually did show some respect to Craig by obviously having read some of his Craig's work. I really did not think that the debate would also include discussing Free Will. As an Arminian, Craig isn't equipperd to deal with that. Flew, I've got to admit, may have one this one.

I looked up Anthony Flew on Wikipedia. He is one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century. The man has been an atheist for much of his life. He is now 86 years old and sometime after 2003 he has embraced theism. This means that he believes that there is a God who created the universe but rejects Christianity and Islam. Here is what I read on Wikipedia

Conversion from atheism

On several occasions, apparently starting in 2001, rumours circulated claiming that Flew had converted from atheism. Flew denied these rumours on the Secular Web website.[10]

In January 2003 Flew and Gary Habermas, his friend and philosophical adversary, conducted a dialogue on the resurrection at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo. During a couple of telephone discussions shortly after that dialogue, Flew explained to Habermas that he was considering becoming a theist. While Flew did not change his position at that time (he signed the Humanist Manifesto III), he concluded that certain philosophical and scientific considerations were causing him to do some serious rethinking. He characterized his position as that of atheism standing in tension with several huge question marks.[11]

In December 2004, an interview with Flew conducted by Gary Habermas was published in the journal Philosophia Christi (published by the Evangelical Philosophical Society with the assistance of Biola University), with the title, Atheist Becomes Theist - Exclusive Interview with Former Atheist Antony Flew. Flew agreed to this title.[3] According to the introduction, Flew informed Habermas in January 2004 that he had become a deist,[3] and the interview took place shortly thereafter. Then the text was amended by both participants over the following months prior to publication. In the article Flew states that he has left his long-standing espousal of atheism by endorsing a deism of the sort that Thomas Jefferson advocated ("While reason, mainly in the form of arguments to design, assures us that there is a God, there is no room either for any supernatural revelation of that God or for any transactions between that God and individual human beings."). Flew stated that "the most impressive arguments for God’s existence are those that are supported by recent scientific discoveries" and that "the argument to Intelligent Design is enormously stronger than it was when I first met it". He also answered in the affirmative to Habermas's question, "So of the major theistic arguments, such as the cosmological, teleological, moral, and ontological, the only really impressive ones that you take to be decisive are the scientific forms of teleology?". He supported the idea of an Aristotelian God with "the characteristics of power and also intelligence", stating that the evidence for it was stronger than ever before. He rejects the ideas of an afterlife, of God as the source of good (he explicitly states that God has created "a lot of" evil), and of the resurrection of Jesus as an historical fact though he has allowed a short chapter arguing for Christ's resurrection to be added into his latest book.[3]

Flew is particularly hostile to Islam, and says it is "best described in a Marxian way as the uniting and justifying ideology of Arab imperialism."[3] In a December 2004 interview he said: "I'm thinking of a God very different from the God of the Christian and far and away from the God of Islam, because both are depicted as omnipotent Oriental despots, cosmic Saddam Husseins".[12]

Although Flew has not publicly endorsed Christianity, to my knowledge, it is a major change to have taught and endorsed atheism and now accept that there is a God. It's huge. I hope he gets a chance to do embrace the light of Christ. I have in the past written a post that shows a video of Flew talking about his conversion.

http://mmcelhaney.blogspot.com/2009/04/habermas-flew-wright-dialogue-mp3-audio.html\


In listening to Flew, it seems to me that he does not truly understand how bad sin really is. He does not see how punishments in hell are justified and commisserate with the sins people commit in life. Although he does recognize God's existence, he does not know God. He has had no relationship with God. I hope he will be able to have that before his life is over. My grandfather just died 2 weeks ago at 84 and he gave his life to Jesus at age 79. I would artgure that he knew more about God's character and who God is than Flew does. Flew only knows what God is - the Creator of the Universe - not who He is.

And here is another article about Anthony Flew's conversion.
Anthony Flew: There Is A God

Announcement: Format Change

Frequent readers of this blog may have noticed that I I usually pit all things of interest to me in terms of fiction on this blog. I've come to realize that I need to focus more on smaller topics to be of the most benefit to the readers and supporters. Therefore from now on this blog will focus less on art and media and more on things I like to study. It will continue to be for reviews, demos, announcements, and interviews but nowe only dealing with the Mugen community. I will now be maintaining 4 blogs.

1. Favorite Fiction will house all my Mugen related activities.
2. What Had Happened Was... will be for all the things I like to study: Theology, Science, Politics, News, Technology, and History.
3. Favorite Media will cover movies, television, YouTube, comic books, and music.
4 Favorite Gadgets will be used for field testing new web technology and widgets.

Please feel free to visit any of these blogs at any time and leave comments on any of them blogs or e-mail me. Thanks for your support

Richard Dawkins and John Lennox: Has Science Buried God? MP3 Audio - Apologetics 315

Here is a great debate I got from the Apologetics 315 blogs. It's really interesting. Dawkins is in denial. He actually talked about the God that he would respect. It's not the god of the Bible. His problem is that he doesn't think that a God who created everything would care about us personally. He said it's petty that God cares about how we morally live our lives. That's frightening. No wonder Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins are friends. John Lennox did an awesome job challenging Dawkins philosophically and scientifically. This was awesome.

I don't understand why people like Dawkins think that by crediting God for intelligently designing reality that we don't care about how God's creation functions and why things take the shape they do. All theistic scientist don't see God as the answer to how the universe works, we see God as the cause, sustainer, and designer. He allows us to study and learn how He did what He did. I liiked the approach Lennox took.

Richard Dawkins and John Lennox: Has Science Buried God? MP3 Audio - Apologetics 315

The Gospel According to "Supernatural"

There is this show on the CW called "Supernatural". The premise of the show is that two brothers are hunters who travel around opposing supernatural and demonic forces that hurt people. Recently, instead of bunches of stand-alone, crisis-of-the-week episodes, there has been a couple of major story lines. In the first one the brothers and their father face the demon who killed the boys' mother and in the course of it the fathers sells his soul to demon in exchange for saving the older brother, Dean's life. And at the end of season 2, Dean sells his soul in exchange for the life of his younger brother, Sam. They defeated the demon they were after who was attempting to open a gateway between hell and earth, but Dean had only a year to live before he was going to hell. At the beginning of season four, Dean's soul was freed from hell by angel, and the boys had a new mission to stop the demons from starting the Apocalypse by freeing Lucifer via opening 66 seals. At the end of the season 4, the brothers discover that the Angels lied to them. They wanted the seal broken so that Lucifer could rise and be defeated...however looking at the billions of human lives that could be killed as collateral damage. Should be an interesting season starting next September when the show continues.

Although it's enjoyable fiction. I saw the following post and I thought it brings up important questions.

Is "Supernatural" For Atheists?

I think it's important to think about what the show says about God, angels, and demons. The show presents an unbiblical view of God. It's complete fiction. God is largely silent. The angels in the show seem to be operating just like us. Many of them have approached God as agnostics because they have never seen God nor interacted with Him. Also it makes no sense that people could make deals with demons without input from God. Demons do not have power on their own. They can't do anything unless God allows it. The show depicts good and evil as equals and opposites. The Bible does not say that. God is supremely in control. And because of Jesus, Lucifer has already been defeated. It's over. We are just watching the final acts play out. God is portrayed form a deist point of view. As if He made everything and then went on vacation sentencing us all to make it up as we go. The Bible says that God is constantly and purposely working in the creation he created and as well transcends. It is supremely important that the show is fiction and if you want to know what Angels are really like and who God is, you have to study the Bible.

Free Will - God's Style? Not Even Close Part 1

NonStampCollector, has put together three YouTube videos that attempt to show inconsistency in the Christianity based on what we teach concerning human free will and salvation. The author is an atheist and he is criticizing Arminianism. Look at the first video below to see what he is saying.





Here are the scriptures that he says he is drawing on for the first video. It's not that I think these verses are taken out of context but that there isn't no context given. The author believes that a choice can't be free if there are negative consequences and that it's unfair. Several examples are given in the video where a parent tells a child that they can do what ever they want but if they don't make the choice the parent wants the parent will punish them. Finally the video ends with a characature of what the Gospel truly is.

Yes, Rev 3:20 is quoted but then Jesus says things that are no where said in the Bible. No where does the Bible teach that God gave men free will apart from himself. The Bible says that God himself is free and the unsaved sinner is enslaved to sin. John 5:22 and 2 Timothy 4:1 do say Jesus is the judge of all mankind. What's wrong with that? He is the only one worthy of judging everyone. And in no way does it address free will and how you get saved. From Rev 20:15 and Luke 16:24 we see that people who reject God will be going to a place of eternal torment. All people are sinful and on the way to hell even before we are saved. We are saved because we are allowed to choose Christ.


Salvation is a gift from God. We are saved by grace through faith.

But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
Romans 5:15

The author referenced the following verse. I'm not sure why it was cited...it has nothing about human free will or whether or not God has the right to hold us to a standard.

And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Rev 20:10

I'm in the process of writing a post about free will and God's sovereignty. In the mean time I'd like to offer the facts that this video's author is mistaken about what Christians believe. As an atheist, the author asserts that God does not have right to tell us He loves us and to hold us to standard. He made us! God has all the right. The author further asserts that God wants us to have free will and freely choose to obey and love him. I can't find that in the Bible. We are called to repent and obey God for sure. We are told to choose but no where are we told "You have Free will". The author is applying the definition of Free Will as being able to choose among several options sans constraints and consequences. But it's unrealistic. Because our slavery to sin..no one is free unless God frees us!

Truthbomb Apologetics: Apologist Profile: Josh McDowell

Chad over at the the Truthbomb blog has provided a great, detailed summary of Josh McDowell's career and resources. It's invaluable

Truthbomb Apologetics: Apologist Profile: Josh McDowell

Sunday Quote: Augustine on Faith and Understanding - Apologetics 315

Sunday Quote: Augustine on Faith and Understanding - Apologetics 315:

"Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand.'
- St. Augustine of Hippo"

Whatever Happened to Apologetics MP3 Audio - Apologetics 315

There is a post on Apologetics 315 is very interesting. Craig Paton defines apologetics in a great and wonderful way. As a Lutheran and an apologist he does a great job of explaining what Apologetist is why it's important. It's worth listening to.

Whatever Happened to Apologetics MP3 Audio - Apologetics 315