In Defense of the Christian Faith

Here is an interesting clip from comedian Ron Pearson called The Answers to Life... While I don't believe that the earth is millions of years old, Ron raised some good points. I also loved his conclusion, so I wanted to share this particular clip with you all. Right before this clip, Ron talks about the role of teachers . While I respect teachers, I do think the public school system as a whole is sorely lacking in teaching on Christianity. This clip also reminded me of a little story that I will leave you with: A little boy asked God, "Father, where were you when this tragedy happened at my school today?" God replied, "Son, I'm not allowed in your school."

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...

The following is another essay that my brother wrote (yes, he is a good essayist! :D). This time, it centers on Lew Wallace. While reading it, I was reminded of a post that I did last December on this (for Inspiring Story, ironically!). I think my brother covered most of what was mentioned there, but the article which I referenced in my post gave a little more detail in certain areas. Anyway, I find Lew's story to be a great inspiration! Enjoy! -------- Lew Wallace: Life and Legacy Although Lewis “Lew” Wallace served as a governor, lawyer, American statesman and Union general (Wikipedia), he is best known for his works of literature. And of his seven works, he is most remembered for Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ , ironically written from his search of the Christ. Wallace's realization that he did not know his own religion set him on a journey to find out who God was. Lew Wallace was born in 1827. His mother died when he was seven, and his father soon became a ...

I just found this amazing article last night: 'God's eye view': Artist uses Google Earth images to recreate parting of Red Sea and Christ's crucifixion . Here is what it's all about: An artist has recreated key scenes from the Bible such as Jesus's crucifixion and the parting of the Red Sea to show what they would have looked like from space. The 'God's eye view' re-enacts moments including Noah's Ark in the floods and Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden as seen from a satellite. James Dive spent more than three months painstakingly researching the Biblical locations on Google Earth. Apparently, he had to mix and match different places on earth to get just the right look... 'None of the images are entirely geographically accurate, as each contains a combination of a number of satellite photos merged together. 'But there are true elements such as the Red Sea in the Moses piece.' Go check out the entire article to see all the pic...

While an atheist professor was teaching a college philosophy class, he told the students that he was going to prove to them that God does not exist. He looked up and mockingly proclaimed, "God if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform. I'll give you 15 minutes!" After more than ten minutes, the professor continued to taunt God, saying, "Here I am God, I'm still waiting." With only a couple minutes remaining, a BIG football player walking down the hallway passed by the door and heard the professor's taunts. The football player slipped into the classroom. As the clock ticked through the last seconds before 15 minutes had passed, he sprinted, hitting the professor, and sending him flying off the platform into a couch on the side. Cursing, the obviously shaken professor got up, exclaiming "Where did you come from and why did you do that?" The burly football player replied, "God was busy, so He sent me!" -----------...

Well, I missed posting this yesterday, but... here is a portion of a speech given by John Quincy Adams at age 69, on July 4, 1837. Enjoy! "Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day [the Fourth of July]? Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity?"

Gary Habermas and Mike Licona are giving you the chance to play a little quiz game -- The Resurrection Quiz game! There are 80 questions -- 10 questions per level (8 levels). It's based on their book and you can hear an audio version of it if you need some help along the way. I have never read the book, though it sounds very interesting (and didn't listen to the audio, either), but here are my results: Level 1 -- 70% Points 390 Level 2 -- 70% Points 770 Level 3 -- 60% Points 1210 Level 4 -- 60% Points 1710 Level 5 -- 60% Points 2200 Level 6 -- 100% Points 3190 Level 7 -- 80% Points 4130 Level 8 -- 70% Points 5010 Most of those "lower" points were due to some terms I wasn't familar with or a misunderstanding of the questions; but for never having read the book, I think I did fairly well. And my final score is.... drumroll, please.... I averaged 71%! It was quite the brain-teaser, but it was a lot of fun! So go play now! :)

Did the title grab your attention? Good! ;) This is hot off the presses! Two days ago, the Associated press released a news article on the earliest paintings of Paul, Andrew, John and Peter! The press reports that these were found in the catacombs in Rome by laser technology! ROME (AP) -- Twenty-first century laser technology has opened a window into the early days of the Catholic Church, guiding researchers through the dank, musty catacombs beneath Rome to a startling find: the first known icons of the apostles Peter and Paul. Vatican officials unveiled the paintings Tuesday, discovered along with the earliest known images of the apostles John and Andrew in an underground burial chamber beneath an office building on a busy street in a working-class Rome neighborhood. The images, which date from the second half of the 4th century, were uncovered using a new laser technique that allows restorers to burn off centuries of thick white calcium carbonate deposits without damaging the b...

Recently, a magazine came in the mail, entiltled "My Father's World." Being a bit interested, I opened it up and began to flip through it. I discovered that it was a magazine for ordering Christian children's books, including homeschool material. I also discovered that a Christian woman named Marie Hazell was formerly a kindergarten teacher who wanted to make her own Christian ciriculum for children; therefore, she founded "My Father's World." She and her husband were formerly missionaries to Russia, who lived there for eight years while they translated the Bible into 70 minority languages. Their ministry of Bible translation is called " God's Word for the Nations ," and it continues even now. Here is a story that I found in the magazine; it reminded me of the impact that the Jesus Film Project is having across the globe. I would like to share it for this week's Inspiring Story. Enjoy! "My mother was a devout Christian and went r...

Here is the final part in our series on the Shroud of Turin... -------------- 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. So much more information is forthcoming on the Shroud. 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. To see my complete series, click here . On April 11th, 1997 at almost 11:45 P.M [1] , a fire erupted engulfing the cathedral in which the Shroud of Turin had been kept since 1578. A citizen of Turin, Guido Principe, called the fire department when he saw the fire from his home. Giuseppe Ivano, the palace custodian, said, “We smelled smoke, and then we saw the f...

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. To see my complete series, click here . In 1988, a finger size piece of the Shroud was cut and split into three pieces. Each piece was given to a specific laboratory. [1] The piece was to be carbon dated by each laboratory, only to find that the Shroud dated back only 700 years. [2] Many scientists from various fields doubted that the carbon dating was accurate and decided to do further research of their own. [3] One reason for doubting this dating, besides the fact that many believe t...

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, ...

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. To see my complete investigation, click here . --------------------- Scriptural Evidence One of the most common “proofs” for the inauthenticity of the Shroud, according to skeptics, is that the Bible, particularly, the four gospels, fails to mention anything about it. Are the critics right? Well, let’s look at the evidence. Luke 24:12 says, “Then arose Peter, and ran unto the tomb; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself ...