In Defense of the Christian Faith

Last week, I joined my good friend, the Brickster , in a challenge to write a short story. (My apologizes that it's taken this long for an update, Brickster!) Those of you who don't know me that well might be thinking, "You? Write a story?" Well, let me tell you a little secret: I love to write short stories. When I was younger, my siblings and I were sitting around the house out of sheer boredom when one said, "Hey, let's write a story!" Everyone thought that this was such a good idea, and we proceeded to busily scribble on our papers whatever our imaginations so desired! Soon, everyone else was bored again, but not me! I kept on writing until I had finished the story. Over the next few years, I wrote sequals to that original story. Now, mind you, the stories that I wrote are nothing professional, but I learned that day that my talent lay in writing stories. All of that said to say that I have come out with my first teaser for the Brickster's challe...

Here is the second installment of my story for the Story Challenge... still haven't come up with a name for it yet. To see the full context of the story, click here . For those of you who think that this has nothing to do with apologetics, it will -- I promise... But you'll have to wait and see how that all comes about! ;) Please let me know what you all think about the story so far.... Enjoy! --------- The soft ring of the phone jarred Mrs. Buckham from her work. Rising from her desk chair, she headed for the phone. The answering system was about to pick up... "Hi, Mom. It's me... Are you there? I really need to talk..." Click. "Hi, how are you, Natalie?" her mother said in her gentle voice. "I'm, uh, okay, I guess. It's just that, well, I've got a new job," Natalie said, letting the statement linger in the air. Her mother didn't answer, but waited for Natalie to continue; she could tell that Natalie wasn't too happy abo...

Wow! It's been a while since I wrote about the Story Challenge . The past few days, I've had some time to work on it, but I don't have a name for it yet. I hope it doesn't come across as too "spiritual" or too typical -- I do make the main character pray a lot, but that is one of the main themes of the story; it is an important aspect of my own life as well. Let me know what you think of it so far... ---------- It was a beautiful summer day. The sun was shining. The birds were chirping. The first rays of sun shone through the window, awakening Natalie from her dreams. Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she gazed out the window; what a beautiful scene she saw! It was going to be a good day. Natalie was a blond-haired blued-eyed girl about 5'3" with a vibrant personality. Her happy attitude seemed to be contagious to those around her, and she had a knack for making people feel better about themselves. After showering, she dressed in a black dress shirt and a matc...

I've been thinking a lot lately about all the missionary "greats," of late, such as Nate Saint and Amy Carmichael, to name a few. All of these paid a high price for obeying God, and this reminded me of some other, perhaps less heard of, Christians who are missionaries to their own countries. I am referring to those persecuted Christians who lay down their lives for Christ every single day. They suffer because they choose to follow Christ rather than obey the world and its customs. Most of these Christians live in countries where religions other than Christianity are allowed, and converting from these "state" religions to Christianity is strictly forbidden. Converting could mean imprisonment, horrendous torture (both mental and physical), or worse -- maybe even death. They are pressured to renounce their faith; but how can they deny the One who paid the ultimate price by dying for them? They are very daring Christians, but they "know whom [they] have believe...

Welcome to the Inspiring Story link party! If this is your first time participating, be sure to check out the rules and detail for this meme here . To kick off the now bi-weekly meme, I would like to share an amazing story that I found via Mini Missions Magazine . This is a testimony from P.G. Vargis, of Indian Evangelical Team . I found it to be truly inspiring, and it also poses quite a challenge to us as Christians. Be sure to let me know what you think! ------------ THE TRAIN CAME BACK In the early 70’s when we were pioneer missionaries in Katra, in the Himalayan Mountains of Kashmir it was a hard and difficult life, often filled with hunger and poverty. One day I was returning to Katra with an orphan boy. Our train arrived in Delhi railway station at about 3:00 PM and I was to catch the train (Jhelum Express) to Jammu from Delhi at 9:00 PM, and then go by bus from Jammu to Katra, our mission station. After the train arrived in Delhi , I took things easy since there ...

Yesterday marked two years since I’ve been blogging! My intention was to do a special post to the day, but since my family and I were recently on vacation, my body’s time clock has been way off – I’ve been exhausted; hence, I missed this very special post. But better late than never, right? So here is a very special post in honor of my two-year blogging anniversary! Enjoy, and be sure to celebrate this special occasion with me! ------------------------- On August 23rd, 2008, I launched this blog. I had been reading many great resources on the Bible’s reliability, and I found the material to be quite fascinating. I began to wonder, “How many people out there don’t know about the soundness of the Christian faith?” Sure, there are plenty of skeptics out there who are just waiting to pounce on the unintelligent; and that is just the point: the Bible makes it perfectly clear that we are to know what we believe and why. Thus, I initiated this blog. Five days later, I did my first offici...

... remember that song by the Newsboys? Well, for today's Inspiring Story, I'm taking a departure from my usual and traditional story of missionaries and people who are doing amazing things for God to post something a little different. I just found this story on a cute blog about dogs . What do dogs have to do with inspiration and the title of this post, you ask? Well, you'll just have to read this story to find out, but be warned, it is long and sad, too -- you might want to bring out the hankies. ;) ( Note : If you can't see the text, or you see a huge gap where the text is suppose to be, please click on the title to view the whole post. I'm having a bit of difficulty with the Blogger format.) ----------------- The Old Man and His Angel by Catherine Moore “Watch out! You nearly broad sided that car!” My father yelled at me. Can’t you do anything right?” Those words hurt worse than blows. I turned my head toward the elderly man in the seat beside me...

Last week, I talked about Richard Wurmbrand and how he forgave his torturer, resulting in that man's salvation. This week, I would again like to use Richard as an example for today's Inspiring Story. I've read the Voice of Martyrs magazines cover-to-cover, because they present the heroic actions of people who have given their all for Christ no matter what the cost. Lately, I've been re-reading some older VOM magazines. Here is an excerpt from the December 2005 issue... --------------- Seventy Christians came together for the secret prayer meeting. It was dangerous to have so many gathered together, but tonight was a special night. They were saying good-bye to their pastor and his wife and son who were leaving the country the next morning. The pastor's family could have left some 20 years earlier, before the inevitable oppression came upon them in full force, but they chose to stay and serve. However, the years of prison and torture had taken their toll, and another ...

Here's the latest installment to my story. Hope you all like it... let me know what you think. And be sure to check out the rest of the story. Oh, and I did come up with a name for it -- "Finally Home." Enjoy! --------- The beautiful purple and orange sunset was a tranquil sight at the end of a long day. The soft sand beneath bare feet and the gently rolling tides made this the perfect place to get away after a hard day. Sitting on a protruding rock at the edge of the lake, Natalie closed her eyes and breathed in the fresh, salty air. "This is heaven," she thought, "No problems, no one to bother me... just PEACE." Replaying the day's events was not an option that Natalie wanted to take for it had been a circus of a day... Caring for more patients than usual... avoiding co-worker Bob who was prying for information... driving out to lunch only to remember that she had left it at work and driving back only to be bothered by Bob again... trying to a...

I've been thinking a lot about the subject of surrender -- full and complete surrender to God, even if we are faced with death. I've been reading a number of books dealing with this subject. Did you know that every day, Christians are persecuted for their faith in Christ; yet they are "faithful unto death"? Among the many obsticales that they face daily, they must also be prepared to die, if necessary; sometimes, the pressures can be too much, and they wonder, "Is this the end?" Yet, they are so passionate about sharing Christ's love. They can't stop; people need them -- people need to hear the Gospel. Their stories are truly a challenge to those of us who live in comfortable, complacent America; we hardly face any persecution, so we really can't relate to such a commitment to Christ. Yet, the thought keeps nagging me, "What would you do if you were in there place? What does God want you to do for Him in this nation, as these Christians do ...

Secret Believers by Brother Andrew and Al Janssen is such a sobering book to read. In its pages, Brother Andrew writes a novel based on true persons and places in order to describe the persecuted church in the Middle East, while still protecting the actual persons and events. I have read numerous books on persecution, including those that contain actual testimonies from Christians around the world and they are all excellent; however, this book was different. Below, I have posted a book review of Secret Believers for this week's Inspiring Story. The main bulk of the review is the basic story line, but near the end is where you can find my impressions on the book (and yes, it really did make me cry; these people risk their lives for Christ, facing immense persecution -- now that's total surrender). I will add that this book is AMAZING -- you will never look at the persecuted church the same way again! ------------- The book Secret Believers: What Happens When Muslims Believe in...

Happy New Year, everyone! As 2010 comes to a close, I wanted to share some of my favorite posts with you all. I could list many more besides these, so I suggest you browse through the archives for more interesting posts that will build your faith and challenge you spiritually. (I do have plans to make this easier for my readers in the future.) So here they are in no particular order...   1) Discussion With An Atheist On God's Existence  2) Inspiring Story: Finding God 3) Sound Doctrine 4) Once Save Always Saved? 5) Inspiring Story: Move Your Train 6)  God's Pearls 7) Heaven or Hell? Part 2 8) Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People? 9) Theistic Evolution and Its Problems 10) An Atheists Denial of the Resurrection vs. A Christian's Rebuttal BONUS: Celebrating TWO Years of Blogging! - In August, I celebrated two years of blogging. I am including this post here, because it includes many of my favorite posts, some of which were not included in the above...

Mark 10:28-31 "Then Peter began to say unto him, 'Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.' And Jesus answered and said, 'Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. But many that are first shall be last; and the last first.'" The context of this passage was the story of the rich, young ruler. Remember, when Jesus told him to sell all that he had and give to the poor, the man loved his riches too much and walked the other way. So Jesus is saying here that you could have all these things -- houses, brothers, sisters, etc. -- but persecution would accompany them if one follows Christ: "All those who desire to live godly in Christ will suffer...

Here is the 5th installment of my series on the Shroud of Turin. (There are seven parts, and I'll be posting the last two parts tomorrow; be sure to come back and check them out.) Enjoy, and be sure to let me know what you think... --------------------- Disclaimer: Though I believe the Shroud to be the authentic burial cloth of Christ (as you shall see), I do not believe it to be an object of worship; only Jesus Himself and God the Father are to be worshipped. However, I do believe that the Shroud provides sufficient evidence of the Resurrection. It is for this reason that I present this material. For more information, visit http://www.shroud.com/ , hosted by Barrie Schwortz; he presents all views on the Shroud, as well as the latest information. In 1898, Secondo Pla, an Italian lawyer and amateur photographer, was given permission to photograph the Shroud. [1] Three days after an unsuccessful attempt to photograph the Shroud, he had the opportunity to try again. On May 28, 1898, ...