Saturday, June 28, 2014

The Spiritual Journey of Justin Steckbauer & Issues in Wausau Wisconsin



By the grace of God today is another day of freedom from drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes.  It's also a freedom from sin and a progressive and painful growth away from self obsession.  Me, as myself, the way I use to be, I was a menace to society and a danger to myself and others.  Thankfully now that's gone.  

I've been gifted an incredible gift that I don't think I deserve.  I still wonder if it's even for me.  Not me, right?  Can it really be for me?  I'm such a nothing you know.  How could this be for me?  Jesus offers forgiveness to sins for anyone, well, aside from Justin Steckbauer.  Since my case is kind of unique, a bit different.  See that Justin kid is sort of sub-human, a real worthless little snot.  So how can salvation be for him too? 

Day by day is coming to the realization, even posthumorously to the actual event of the new birth, that yes, it's for me, I'm not scum.  I'm not useless.  It's really for me too.  The cross is really for me.  And you too.

So today the 28th of June in this year of the fall of man 2014 it's much like any other day.  Wake up from frigid half recalled nightmares, shake off the images and go to the bathroom.  Make some coffee and grudgingly pray.   Fight for my prayer time.  Fight like hell against myself for Bible study time.  Fight my own selfishness and crack open a Bible.  Pull myself away from the computer to pray.  Ask God for another day of recovery, outside, the winds blowing.  After I'm finished praying, wonder if I said the words sincerely enough.  Wondering if angels are laughing at me.  Wondering if God is annoyed yet.  

Amble back to the computer and read some Christian news article and feel the shoots of emotional pain and tenderness, growing to despair as I watch Christianity crumbling in the republic of my birth.  Until I whisper a prayer in my mind, feel a cold hatred for the ignorant fools marching in such insane depravity and switch websites before the sense of injustice becomes unbearable.  

Speaking to God and hanging my head, not because of the falling republic or the corrupt elite or the corporate banksters, but because of the pain and hurt that rattles within my own mind.  I just want it to end.  I don't want to deal with another day.  I don't want to shower, shave, listen to the same music, write the same words, and then drive over to the shelter to deal with the same troubled homeless population that I can't seem to connect with in meaningful ways.  

I want to be home.  In the kingdom of my adopted family.  The family of God.  I don't want to be here, in this broken world dealing with such terrible realities.  And seeing such terrible schemes working just beneath the surface to destroy everything Christianity stands for, and everything liberty means.  But that's life in the fall of man.  Jesus Christ had tribulation, serious tribulation.  And he felt it.  He felt it very deeply.  And I feel it very deeply too.  Jesus even said he felt it to the point of death.  Oh man, I've been there.  Emotions can be great, but are also a serious bummer.  They're a tool for praise, but it seems much more so they are a weapon of the flesh that is wielded with powerful effect on my actions, actions I would prefer to be holy.  

Struggling, struggling, struggling with sin day by day.  It's such a guilt ridden machine to peddle upon day in and day out.  The exhaustion mounts, the sky turns gray, and hurt after hurt pile up.  And you wonder, will it really be OK?  Can I really go on another day?  At the point of falling, near rock bottom, the Spirit descends like a dove and rescues me from my own self created emotional collapse and fills my spirit with a new hope and the presence of God himself.  In heaven, on Earth, where can I go.. he's there.  He's always there.  Then I sense him.  And the crippling cold three dimensional prison around me is blown apart like a nuclear blast and the perfect light of God, the fourth dimension reminds me just who I am, who I belong to, and why I'm here, and what I must do.  That is peace.

The enemy is intent on throwing monkey wrenches into all I do.  It's like the book of Acts, the Acts of the Apostles.  But this is more like the Acts of Justin.  If you study through the book of Acts.  Paul goes somewhere, encounters success, then a serious problem.  He goes to a new area, more success, then a problem and he has to flee again.  There are arguments in the church, disputes about policy.  There are problems with Jews, there are problems with Gentiles.  There are great successes, then sudden shifts and they're driven out, beaten, attacked and so on.  It's as if an invisible war is going on behind the physical actions and words being spoken in Acts.  Like a spiritual war.  And it's the same in my life, in the acts of Justin.  

I was working with The Edge church in Wausau, a new church plant.  I worked with them for about 9 months, leading a Bible study, helping with events, and blasting events on social media.  But eventually there were ideological differences between Dan and I, so we ended up praying together and parting ways.  No harm done, just moving in different directions.

It was a month after that parting that I ended up getting hired at the Salvation Army of Wausau.  The position at the army has been a blessed, and I love the job.  At the same time it's a very tough ministry, with some very brutal realities to deal with on a daily basis.  What I've learned after three months is that you get used to it.  

I recall the first weekend I worked, I had three days of training and unfortunately due problems with too few staff I had to work by myself that weekend.  It turned out to be an insane weekend, where the residents got together and decided they would test the new guy, see what they could get away with.  Several residents were drunk, two of them started fighting.  I had to break it up, kicked three people out.  Had to call an ambulance for someone having chest pains.  Then several people who had left broke back into the building and were slamming beers in the bathroom.  I asked one of the guys to leave, a thoroughly unpleasant individual and he would not.  So I had to call the police.  

That was my baptism by fire if you will.  Since then it's felt like a war.  Residents will start doing better, I'll pray with them, give them a Bible and they'll start to do better.  And it's like the enemy comes in and messes with how they're feeling, and they end up drunk and get kicked out.  Back and forth, back and forth.  It's like a tug of war.  It's a battle of free will, Holy Spirit vs. the Enemy.  And every once in a while I'll notice a wedge being forced between me and the ministry.  I'm starting to hate the job, hate the wars, starting to fear the trauma of it, and it's like Satan is driving a wedge in there to see if he can quietly nudge me into quitting.  My emotions are more powerful, temptations get harder to resist and painful events stack up.  He knows just where to press, he knows my weak spots.  

I've dealt with this menace before, either him or his buddies.  His demons.  And it's no fun pre-salvation date to deal with demons.  Because you're in their dominion.  Add to that the temptations of the flesh, the darkened understanding of reality, the brainwashing of public education and television... and then theres the drugs.  Visions, dreams.  They'll come after you day and night.  

Today I belong to the Heavenly Father, through his son Jesus Christ.  I'm an adopted member of the line Abraham, the line of David.  And not just adopted.  In the rebirth, I am now flesh and blood of the line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and Jesus of Nazareth.  I'm no longer under the dominion of evil, and I'm sure that pisses the enemy off greatly.  So they go from a frontal assault to a guirella style war.  They work in the background, acts of sabatage, and they try to make my ministry as ineffective and difficult as possible.  They try to drive me back to the things of the flesh.  But the Spirit helps me.  

Just such a wedge was placed about a month ago.  It ended in me leaving the church where I was first baptized, New Day Christian Church in Weston.  It was a very difficult decision to leave New Day, but in the end it seemed like the right decision to make.  More and more I'd felt like an outsider at New Day.  An ongoing disagreement had been developing between myself and the Pastor.  Neither of us were wrong.  My take on evangelism is go, go, and go more.  And that makes sense, because my calling seems to that of missionary work, as an evangelist and apologist.  Of course I want to go.  And of course a Pastor watching over a sustained flock is going to have a different take on ministry.  Neither of us were wrong, it's just two different kinds of ministries.  So I moved to the Salvation Army of Wausau's church services.

My calling lines up with what the Salvation Army of Wausau is trying to do.  They're trying to interact with the community and make the community a better place.  And some incredible things are happening.  The Salvation Army has partnered up with Mount Olive Church in Weston and four other churches, all across different denominations to help be a blessing to the community.  That's what it's all about baby!  I love it!  Mount Olive is a Lutheran church, also partnered with Baptist churches, and the Salvation Army is methodist.  Finally, this is exactly what we need in Wausau.

Because the problems are mounting.  Two months ago I joined the AOD Partnership of Marathon County.  It's a sort of committee of local health and law enforcement agencies attempting to pushback against the growing drug, alcohol, and prostitution problems in the area.  The partnership includes representatives from the Health Care Center, the Police department, Americorps, and of course the Salvation Army, whom I represent.  I just love seeing different organizations working together for a common goal.  I'm not sure why, maybe my obsession with war movies like Braveheart, UNITE THE CLANS.  Who could say for sure.

But if there is one thing I've learned from my interactions with the AOD Partnership, and the trainings and committees, it's this: Public agencies can't do much more than educate the public and warn against the possible consequences.  That's just not much.  I remember at one of the training seminars I asked the question to the police officers running the training, "You talk about all these drug problems one by one, I guess I'm wondering, what's the solution?"  And they didn't know.  But do you know what I was thinking?  I know the solution.

I leaned over to my boss Director Wilson and I whispered, "The solution is Jesus."  

And he smiled and whispered, "Yeah, but nobody here wants to hear that."  

He's so right.  They don't want to hear it.  And public agencies utterly refuse to cross into moral territory, because it could generate terrible controversy.  They can't deal with the sinful heart of man.  And that's exactly where the churches in the area need to come in.  They've got to join together in a union and get into the community, and introduce people to Jesus Christ.  That's the whole idea of it, and if it can be done then the drug, alcohol, and prostitution problems will diminish.  Without the churches influence those problems will expand exponentially, they can't be educated away or arrested away, or legislated away.  Only the churches can deal with the problem.  And they have to, or the city will degrade.  It already has degraded.  But it can be reclaimed.  It has to be.  

Do the same in your communities, wherever you happen to be.  Only the church can deal with moral rot and the consequences of it.  Of course inflation and job loses are the underlying problems that are pushing more and more to drugs and alcohol.  But those issues are secondary to the moral rot.  Deal with the moral rot in the country, and hopefully the holiness will trickle upward into business leading to less corruption and less criminal behavior in major banking institutions and mega corporations.  

Monday, June 23, 2014

Old Earth Evolution vs. Young Earth Creation | A lopsided debate





I've certainly learned a great deal about the ongoing debate between young earth creationism and old earth evolution.  I'm just finishing up a semester of study on the topic, at Liberty University. I've also learned some about old earth creationism in independent study.  

My first question directed toward this complex issue would be, "Can I get a balanced view from an unbiased observer?"  

Unfortunately there don't seem to be any.  Christians are influenced by the Bible and God, and it's good and right that we are.  On the other side you have men and women claiming to be unbiased, but in fact they are either directly and consciously or unconsciously influenced by a philosophy prior to the conclusion, that of secular humanism, materialism or outright atheism.  Or what the late Christopher Hitchens called his anti-god view.  At least Hitchens was honest, and Hitchens also said that the one thing that gave his atheism a certain amount of pause was the anthropic principle.  Scientists tend to find it very difficult to ignore the fine tuning in the universe.  

But they find ways to ignore fine tuning.  Somehow they do.  They postulate multiple universes, multiple big bangs, and we just happen to be in the one universe that happens to be ideal.  It's like there's a giant arrow the size of the universe pointing to a giant billboard with flashing lights marked "GOD." And they see the sign, and then draw a little squiggly line into infinite darkness covering their eyes in willful ignorance.  It's entirely intellectually dishonest.  Einstein didn't want it, but in the end he had to accept the idea of intelligent design, though he did refuse the idea of a personal god instead favoring a pantheistic view.

On a side note, I've been meaning to contact the Institute for Creation Research because there are some things on the internet that deeply concern me.  Mainly my concern is with the articles on Wikipedia for "Young Earth Creationism" and "Objections to Evolution."  Both articles are harshly biased, obviously written by staunch atheists.  It's disturbing because so many millions of young people use Wikipedia as their fact source.  I'm wondering if some Christians who also interact on Wikipedia might be willing to go in and edit those two articles.  Anyone can edit articles on Wikipedia, but I'm not sure how personally.  

That brings up another issue: If atheists are so sure God doesn't exist then why are they so hostile toward adherents of Christianity and our supposedly invisible God?  I don't think I'll ever get a good answer to that one.  I guess what I'm trying to point out is just how polarizing the debate is.

I can't say I've firmly come down on either side of the debate.  I've recently read The Young Earth by John Morris.  It was an excellent text book on scientific evidence behind the young earth view. Regarding the dating of rocks I felt like Morris could've gone into further detail.  He showed how the tests are highly inaccurate, but never gave a clear explanation of why it should instead just be thousands of years.  Even if the various dating methods show a range between 1 million years and 2.2 billion years, still it's coming up as at least 1 million years.  So why is that?  Are dating tests all entirely inaccurate?  Morris has made a great impact on my view of the age of the Earth.  

But I have many other influences, deeply reputable Christian men who believe in an old earth.  Mainly who comes to mind are people like Frank Turek and William Lane Craig.  Should I discount those views as wrong?  I'm not sure.  The topic needs more study. Youtube is a great source for video presentations on just such topics.  I intend to pursue the topic by watching speakers like Ken Ham, Frank Turek, Ravi Zacharias, Norman Geisler, JP Moreland, Os Guiness, and Francis Collins.  I'm sure I'll learn a great deal.  I'm always grabbing good books on Amazon, so I'll look there for more books on these topics.  I intend to keep the Morris book and use it to teach my children the view for their consideration.

Recently teaching of creationism was outlawed in the United Kingdom in their public school system.  Another question I have is this: Given that intelligent design is an entirely plausible conclusion based on scientific data alone, without any need for the Bible or religious views, then why can't it be taught in public schools?


How can we get the creation view back in public schools?  Evolution and materialist philosophy being taught to 95% of the young people of the United States is absolutely decimating Christianity, it's slaughtering it in the country. It's also leading to all kinds of problems, the most noticeable being the economic problems which at their root seem to be caused by deceptive business practices in big business and banking.

Only materialistic evolution in public schools today.  That's the locked gate that must, must, must be opened!  If at least to see intelligent design taught, that would be something.  It's intellectually dishonest to exclude intelligent design along with the Bible.  It reveals a crooked and terrible plot to turn this nation into a depraved atheist hell hole.  That's what's happening.  And I'm not overstating anything, turn on the television, listen to some MTV music, and you'll realize it's much worse than most are willing to admit. 

The next area to breach is the college campuses.  Ironically most top colleges in the country were started by Christians, as Christian universities.  Harvard, Yale, and Princeton just to name a few.  Oh, but the evils of organized religion and on and on they rant..

The problem isn't that there is a debate between the young earth and the old earth.  The problem is that there isn't much of a debate.  One view is ejected and openly mocked, the other is taught as undisputed fact.  There is a word for such a practice, it's called propaganda.  In my view it will take dedicated Christian truth warriors to take it upon themselves to be called to ministries of changing these terrible dynamics in the United States.  Otherwise all will be lost.  

Is that you?

I hope so.  Someone has to take up these tasks.  So why not you?  

As I've written recently, we need dedicated uncompromising, incorruptible Christians in vital areas of influence in the United States and the West overall if we're going to stem the tide of atheism and depravity destroying the fabric of sustainable culture in the world.  

I hope it's you who begins a mission today to change things.  It only takes one.  I'm just one man.  But this blog your reading has been read by over 23,000 in over 100 countries.  One person can change the entire course of history.  God uses the most unlikely people to change the course of the world.  Maybe he's calling you to be one of his world changers, today

Old earth, new earth?  I couldn't say with one hundred percent certainty.  What I can say with 100% certainly is that in the beginning God created.  

I will continue my diligent studies.  I will continue working tirelessly to see Christianity grow, and as a result; that as many as possible might meet and know Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins, the rebirth of their bankrupt souls, and the eternal life I so richly have been given; that I might bring as many as possible with me to the next phase of existence in intimate communion with the God of the Bible. 

May our God be with you, go in peace. 



Wednesday, June 18, 2014

The American Dream and the Christian Dream

 
http://jonmcnaughton.com/content/ZoomDetailPages/OneNationInterview.html


A beautiful painting by Jon McNaughton.  View his work here.

This article was originally published on The Underground, a Christian website I write for.  To view that article click here.  The version on this blog is the uncut writer's version.  Thanks!

“The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.”

James Truslow Adams, The Epic of America
 
Is the American dream a thing of the past?  According to an article published by CNN Money, Americans think so.  "6 in 10 people who responded to CNNMoney's American Dream Poll, conducted by ORC International, they feel the dream -- however they define it -- is out of reach."  

Read the full Article here. 

If the American dream is truly how James T. Adams defines it, as an equal chance to achieve based on ability, not on family or prior fortune; is it even a Christian friendly proposition?  It most certainly is, but it is not an entirely Christian proposition either.  Though I admit the Bible does not provide any sort of model for government and economics, the idea of achievement based on ability, hard work, seems to make sense within the bounds of the Christian worldview.  

And as Gary Patton said, “The phrase, "American Dream", a lifestyle approach that doesn't require God's power, just ours, was coined in 1931 by James T. Adams."  So perhaps the idea of the American dream has been reinterpreted over the years, and maybe it never had God in mind.  Maybe it's been turned into a consumerist nightmare that has yielded no joy or lasting happiness.  
A lot of greats have weighed in on what they think of the American dream and where it's headed.  Tommy Hilfiger said, "The road to success is not easy to navigate, but with hard work, drive and passion, it's possible to achieve the American dream."  While Bill Hicks said, "The American dream is a crock. Stop wanting everything. Everyone should wear jeans and have three T-shirts, eat rice and beans."

Christians have certainly embraced it, especially from the 1950s until today.  I was a product of it, father was a teacher, my mother was a nurse.  I lived in the suburbs of a conservative Catholic community in rural Wisconsin.  I was middle class all the way.  But it didn't yield exactly what might've been expected.  

Have the results been positive?  Unfortunately they have not.  In fact the last generation has presided over the demise of Christianity in the Western world.  So what happened?  What was the problem?  It's not easy to say.  Maybe Christianity got fat on the American dream and was no longer found to be appealing.  Worse yet, maybe it got fat on the American dream and thus the weary and heavy laden were unable to recognize the rest offered, because it had been dressed up in consumerism.  Perhaps fattened, found offensive or empty, and abandoned as meaningless drivel.  
Now today we have 6 out of 10 Americans saying the dream is no longer achievable.  Is Ziad K. Abdelnour correct when he wrote: "The American dream is what has kept Americans from rebelling against corporate corruption.  Now that 2/3 of us know it's dead, expect anything”? 

What we've seen in especially the last 25 years in the United States is a process Ravi Zacharias coined "secularization" or the process by which the ideas, emotions, and attitudes that had been the driving forces of life in our country have been fundamentally altered.  

The founders of the United States of America were overwhelmingly Christian individuals, who relied on a benevolent creator to lead them in the creation of a free nation.  One nation under God to be exact.  Progressives despise such references, but the fact is it's absolutely true.  Over 2/3 of the founders had seminary degrees.  It's just a fact.  There is no other worldview on the face of the earth where you could pull the idea of "all men are created equal" aside from the Christian worldview.  No other planetary religion can claim the inherent worth that Christian places in the individual.  

When I think of the phrase "the American dream" I think of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  That phrase was written by a deist named Thomas Jefferson.  But he knew as well as George Washington and John Adams, that the Constitution would only be viable in governing a religious people.  When I think of the American dream I think of the incredible faith of the founders of this country, who risked everything to take a stand against tyranny.  I think of religious freedom, not freedom from religion.  I think of the ability to choose to practice as a protestant Christian, or as a Presbyterian Christian or as a Polish Catholic Christian.  When I think of the phrase "American dream" I think of a nation founded on such an incredible risk; facing off against the greatest army the world had ever seen, and yet coming out victorious because of the hand of God working in those events.  

Fast forward to today.  I'm not going to dance around it for you either, the American dream is no longer active.  It's not gone.  But it's rare to see someone claim it in it's entirety.  There are many ugly reasons for this.  Unfortunately the numbers are clear, people are not able to save money any longer.  There are several reasons for this.  The first is that food prices have skyrocketed.  The second is that gasoline costs are extremely high, around $3.50 a gallon or higher in most areas.  The third reason is that wages have gone up quite slowly while corporate earnings have gone very high.  Those are problematic issues, but they aren't the main issues.

The two primary reasons are rather ugly; one is the financial crisis triggered by corruption in big money, the main culprits being Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan.  Two is the artificial inflation generated by the Federal Reserve as they print money to deal with the financial crisis.  The process of artificial inflation generates bubbles in markets and eventually the bubbles pop causing further problems.  Instead of dealing with the problem, Congress continues to borrow money, spend endlessly and periodic raise the debt ceiling so they can continue spending.  

These problems in and of themselves do not necessarily destroy the American dream.  But these issues make it much harder to rise from nothing to having enough to save, vacation, and enjoy time with the family.  

Unfortunately attending college, a prime key in having the American dream is very expensive.  The colleges are just cruel in how they pull money from students, charging tall rates on text books, registration fees, printing fees, and even fees to participate in graduation.  Once again corruption comes up on the radar as a problem.  It isn't just the private sector screwing the American dream either.  Stafford government loans, the loans students can take out to attend college charge 3.86% interest.  When banks loan money from the government they only pay 0.75% interest.  Once again, corruption.  The neediest are abused.  

Money and not having enough isn't the only problem with the crumpled American dream.  The other issue is freedom, and liberty.  Unfortunately today we live in a country that tries to run the lives of it's citizens.  More laws are on the books than ever before, while the laws restraining the government which are in the Constitution are strategically ignored.  Civil liberties have been abused and dismantled by first George W. Bush, and now by President Obama who had originally campaigned in 2008 on a platform to restore civil liberties.  One should look to who finances both the Republican party and the Democratic party, and you'll see Big Labor and Big Money have their hands in everything.  The Citizens United ruling by the Supreme court allowed for endless amounts of corporate and bank money to flood into the political arena.  The various bills passed by Congress have step by step removed liberty from America, beginning with the Patriot Act, followed by the Military Commissions Act, and others like the National Defense Authorization Act signed by President Obama allowing for the indefinite detention of American citizens without cause or trial. 
 
"If our freedom is taken, the American dream will wither and die."
Rand Paul

If the financial corruption and mega-corporate empires destroyed the pursuit of happiness, and our leaders have allowed for the dismantling of liberty, what does that leave remaining from Thomas Jefferson's description of human rights?  Life.  But once again, I must break your heart.  We no longer have the right to life.  A wholesale genocide exists in our country, quietly ignored and written off.  That genocide has lead to the slaughter of over 56 million children.  That genocide is called abortion.  Fifty six million people already worldwide have been denied their right to life.  Yes, I'm afraid the news is that the conventionally understood American dream is effectively dead.

But that is not necessarily a reason for despair in the heart of the Christian.  

Why not?  Zoltan Istvan said regarding the American dream: "The American Dream has become a death sentence of drudgery, consumerism, and fatalism: a garage sale where the best of the human spirit is bartered away for comfort, obedience and trinkets. It's unequivocally absurd.”

I think it's important to see what our Lord and savior Jesus Christ had to say regarding these issues.  Jesus said in Luke 16:13 (ESV) "No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” 

If the American dream is a rising to comfortable living through acquisition of wealth then the American dream by itself is the worship of money as god, looking to wealth and personal ability to have comfort and security in life.  A Christian doesn't rely on personal ability for security, but on God for security.

Proverb 11:4 (ESV) says, "Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death."  Where do we as Christians receive our righteousness?  From the belief and reliance on Jesus Christ.  His righteousness becomes our righteousness.  Isn't that a beautiful thing?  On the day of wrath for those who have willfully over their lives refused God's frequent invites to eternal life, we need not fear, because Jesus Christ is our dream made reality.

The United States was developed by brave Jesus-loving men as a free nation to allow for a free capitalist economy to flourish.  It certainly has flourished.  Unfortunately the Christian values of the United States have been both systematically attacked by the university and systematically corrupted and abandoned by the Church.  This has lead to secularization and philosophies like post-modernism which suggest morals as entirely relative, a contradiction of terms.

But a favorite speaker of mine by the name of Dr. Ravi Zacharias has pointed out that if corruption has arisen in finance and big business, why are we so surprised that people raised on moral relativism would operate their businesses and banks in precisely the way relativism would prescribe: anything goes, whatever you decide is what is morally right.

As Christians today in this society, we should operate as spiritual warriors in an occupied land.  That is what Earth is, the dominion of our enemy for now.  And we must be very careful.

C.S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity: “Enemy-occupied territory---that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.”

The American dream is not synonymous with the Christian dream.  The American dream has often been a blessing to Christianity, and perhaps just as often a curse.  But they are not one in the same.  In stark contrast to the American dream, the Christian dream is the great hope of the redemption of all things.  We dream, hope, and wait eagerly for the redemption of our bodies which our now twisted by sin.  We wait also for the redemption of the Earth itself from it's current broken state, to a perfect state of harmonious natural existence.  And most importantly, we wait for the returning of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ and his eternal rule in the perfect government and economic system, the one where Jesus Christ is undisputed sovereign Lord of the Universe, and we live under his gentle loving care in a city full of those saved from destruction and the chaotic failed systems of this fallen world.

God bless you all, take care, and be well internally by the blessed presence of the Spirit of our Lord.

 Amen.




No Evidence for God?

The Anthropic Principle
Kalam CosmoArgument
Argument from Design
The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics
Teleological Argument
Cosmological Argument
The Moral Argument
The Historical Jesus

No evidence for God? Or is it just quietly suppressed, and publicly ridiculed? Maybe atheism, not "religion" is the conspiracy, and Christianity is the truth hidden in plain sight, surrounded by a bodyguard of lies called prosperity gospel and televangelism.. meanwhile quietly, the true Christianity humbly in the wild guards the world from total collapse into darkness. And while we mock and ridicule that faith that founded the United States, and divorce ourselves from it, we do so at the peril of the civilized world, because in the backdrop are rich banking institutions, mega corporations, and royal families waiting to profit on our inexhaustible need for depravity and consumption of more, more, more. Look to the Bible, not the megachurch vatican elites, but the actual Bible, and a few humble Christians for a look at who God truly is, and the redemption for humanity found in the cross of Christ Jesus.




Related Posts:
Philosophy, Science, Logic, and History: Presentations on the truth of Christianity from Multiple Disciplines 
Nine Documentaries & Presentations on Atheism, Intelligent Design, Cultural Marxism, Old Earth, Young Earth, and Evidence for God's Existence Modern Christianity & Apologetics A Vital Spiritual Experience, an unparalleled Adventure Believing in the Miraculous: The Work of Jesus  Using Youtube for Spiritual Health (Three Videos)  Five Presentations by Ravi Zacharias  12 YouTube Sermons by Mark Driscoll on Jesus    Five Passionate Powerful Youtube Sermons
Good News in Untenable Circumstances

Monday, June 16, 2014

More Christian YouTube Material: Os Guiness and Frank Turek

I'm seriously addicted to YouTube.  I think my preferred method of learning is through the tube.  I used to love reading but with my reading time taken up by Elements of Earth Science 210 and Theology 350 II, my joy reading is squeezed to a minimum. So I'll share some powerful presentations with you to enjoy from some incredible minds on the scene of planet Earth today. Check out the YouTube Ministry page for a list of great YouTube channels for Christian content.  Enjoy!


Os Guinness on the Importance of Christianity to Western Liberty

Frank Turek on Intellectual Predators on College Campuses

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Declaration of Worldview (What we Believe)



The God of the Bible created the world in six days, and rested on the 7th.  Everything we see therefore is created by God, or constructed by God’s creations.  The observable universe is a brief and limited description of the incredible depth of character, glory, power, and ability within the character of the Author of Life, Jesus Christ who is God.  Nature is a picture of the beauty of God.
God created the universe, all the galaxies, time, space, reality, and even the small marble called Earth.  On Earth, with great care and love God built the first humans Adam and Eve.  God gave the greatest gift imaginable when he gave free will, the ability to choose right or choose wrong.   

The first humans existed in a state of spiritual and physical perfection, in the direct presence of their Father, God, who had made a garden on the surface of the Earth for their dwelling and relationship.  

In addition to the divine God of the universe and the first humans developed by God, there were also spiritual beings called angels which God had created, given the gift of free will, and freely served their heavenly Father as well.  One of these angels was named Lucifer whom is described here:

Ezekiel 28:11-19 (NIV) 11 The word of the Lord came to me: 12 “Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:


“‘You were the seal of perfection,
    full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden,
    the garden of God;
every precious stone adorned you:
    carnelian, chrysolite and emerald,
    topaz, onyx and jasper,
    lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl.[a]
Your settings and mountings[b] were made of gold;
    on the day you were created they were prepared.
14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub,
    for so I ordained you.
You were on the holy mount of God;
    you walked among the fiery stones.
15 You were blameless in your ways
    from the day you were created
    till wickedness was found in you.
16 Through your widespread trade
    you were filled with violence,
    and you sinned.
So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God,
    and I expelled you, guardian cherub,
    from among the fiery stones.
17 Your heart became proud
    on account of your beauty,
and you corrupted your wisdom
    because of your splendor.
So I threw you to the earth;
    I made a spectacle of you before kings.
18 By your many sins and dishonest trade
    you have desecrated your sanctuaries.
So I made a fire come out from you,
    and it consumed you,
and I reduced you to ashes on the ground
    in the sight of all who were watching.
19 All the nations who knew you
    are appalled at you;
you have come to a horrible end
    and will be no more.’”
"Moreover the word of the LORD came to me: Mortal, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD: You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, carnelian, chrysolite, and moonstone, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald; and worked in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. With an anointed cherub as guardian I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked among the stones of fire. You were blameless in your ways from the day that you were created, until iniquity was found in you. In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and the guardian cherub drove you out from among the stones of fire. Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you. By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade, you profaned your sanctuaries. So I brought out fire from within you; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all who saw you. All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever" (Ezekiel 28:11-19) - See more at: http://www.allaboutgod.com/story-of-lucifer.htm#sthash.7ObNuCnU.dpuf
"Moreover the word of the LORD came to me: Mortal, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD: You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, carnelian, chrysolite, and moonstone, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald; and worked in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. With an anointed cherub as guardian I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked among the stones of fire. You were blameless in your ways from the day that you were created, until iniquity was found in you. In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and the guardian cherub drove you out from among the stones of fire. Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you. By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade, you profaned your sanctuaries. So I brought out fire from within you; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all who saw you. All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever" (Ezekiel 28:11-19) - See more at: http://www.allaboutgod.com/story-of-lucifer.htm#sthash.7ObNuCnU.dpuf
"Moreover the word of the LORD came to me: Mortal, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD: You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, carnelian, chrysolite, and moonstone, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald; and worked in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. With an anointed cherub as guardian I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked among the stones of fire. You were blameless in your ways from the day that you were created, until iniquity was found in you. In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and the guardian cherub drove you out from among the stones of fire. Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you. By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade, you profaned your sanctuaries. So I brought out fire from within you; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all who saw you. All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever" (Ezekiel 28:11-19) - See more at: http://www.allaboutgod.com/story-of-lucifer.htm#sthash.7ObNuCnU.dpuf

This spiritual being corrupted by his own desires for pleasure came into the garden and suggested to the first humans that they ought to be their own gods, accountable to no one and so the first humans sinned and fell under the dominion of Lucifer, also known as Satan the evil one.

At this moment of prideful disobedience humanity turned on their God to pursue their own way.  God might've destroyed the first humans and been done with humanity at that moment forever, but he had mercy.  God set up a final chance for humanity, allowing the sin their hearts conceived of to spread through the garden, across the Earth and the universe itself.  At that moment the perfect universe became a crippled tangent universe destined for destruction, death, and rebirth. That is why the universe is so barren, why stars burn out, why seasons shift between fall, winter, spring and summer, all creation was affected by the curse of sin.  Death entered the human race.  And the natural inclination to sin, to plot a course outside of the sovereign God of the universe, became the natural state of all humans born into the line of Adam and Eve.  Lucifer attempted a rebellion to supplant God and place himself in charge of the universe but failed.  Satan's dominion was and is over all born into the line of Adam and Eve.  

God continued to interact with humanity, and pursue humanity, establishing the nation of Israel through the line of Abraham, as the descendants of Adam and Eve multiplied.  God gave Israel his laws.  Israel was unable to follow the laws.  So God gave himself, Immanuel, as an offering to allow his lost people to be rejoined to him as family, justified by faith.

We live by faith in God, who is Jesus Christ, and is also the Father, and is also the Holy Spirit, a succession of revealings of God the architect of the universe and originator of all human souls.

Faith is not blind, but is highly reasonable and coherent.  We believe in the radical notion of reasonable faith in God, the God of the Bible in the makeup of the universe, of Earth, in geology, in astronomy and all the sciences, as well as empirically, historically, and philosophically.  God’s existence, attributes and divine work are easily demonstrated as all the evidence points to the fact that an intelligent designer is required given the fine tuning of the observable universe, as well as the complex architecture of the human body, and the need for a prime mover outside of space and time.


We believe the Bible is the full and completed revelation of God to the whole of humanity.  The Bible, being the most extraordinary document in human history, contains the literal records of the origins of humanity, Israel, all the way to the literal birth of Jesus Christ, virgin born by the work of the Holy Spirit, who was Immanuel, God with us.  The Bible describes in perfect form the past history of humanity and the prophesied future of humanity.
The life of Jesus Christ is the framework and perfect example as to how Christians should live in the world today.  We believe in the most dedicated service to Christ and others, and refuse any notion of casual connection.

Philippians 2:1-11 (NIV) 2 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature[a] God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is a historical fact given evidence and faith.  The work of Jesus Christ on the cross blotted out the sins of all who would put their faith in Him and repent of their sins, choosing consciously to follow him.  The work is complete and the resurrection of Christ pays for all sins of the believer, past, present and future.  

The only way to lose this gift is to consciously choose to withdraw faith in Jesus Christ.  Shipwrecked faith and falling away is too consistently mentioned in the scriptures to ignore.

The current ministry of Jesus Christ is in heaven where he literally lives, alive and well since his resurrection and ascension; these are recorded miracles with powerful empirical evidence to back them up.  Jesus Christ therefore sent the Holy Spirit the third revealing of God who currently, today, works among the nations of the planet Earth to do the will of God, whom he is. 

We know from the scriptures that humanity is no longer subject to the laws of Moses in the Old Testament, but the Old Testament is filled with great wisdom and teaching that ought to be thoughtfully applied to the life of the believer.  We believe the law of Moses is summed up best by Jesus when he said:
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a] 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[b] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[c] There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:28-31 NIV

We believe in discipleship, missionary work, and consider the task of making disciples of all nations to be the primary imperative of the church of God on Earth.  

We believe this is best accomplished by a humble, humble, humble attitude of service, service, service, through love, love, and more love.

Amen. 


Friday, June 13, 2014

"All truth is relative!" "Really? Does that statement include itself or exclude itself?"

Is all truth relative?  Well, if all truth were relative and there were no absolute truth, is the statement "all truth is relative" an absolute statement?  I heard a friend try to sneak around that one by saying "sometimes all truth is relative, sometimes there are absolutes."  That's a contradiction.  Or if you mean some things are relative and other things are absolute then you're really conceding that there is absolute truth.  Really all truth can't be relative because the statement either includes itself, or excludes itself, if it includes itself it contradicts itself and if it excludes itself once again it contradicts itself because it's suggesting an absolute by claiming to be absolutely true.  Do you see where this leads?
There is no such thing as all truth is relative.  There are absolute truths.  And there are absolute morals.  People talk about cultural context affecting morality, it doesn't.  I haven't heard any good examples of relative morality.  There are indeed absolute moral truths.  It's just as wrong to kill a baby in the USA as it is to kill a baby in China, or France or Greenland or South Africa.  It's always wrong all the time.  Even if the person committing the immoral act is mentally ill and 100% believes that what they're doing is right, it's still morally absolutely wrong, all of the time.

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Meth and exploring Darkness




An old friend came by a few days ago, someone from my past, before I experienced the very real spiritual regeneration inherent in the true Christian experience.  It seems like a dream when I look back on it, like something from another reality, something long ago.  But it wasn't so long ago.  

Kyle was my closest friend, and at the end, my only friend during the drug crazed days of 2008 to 2012, a time we affectionately referred to as the year of no-light.  It was a time when I worshiped at the altar of the tri-plateau tripping levels of the drug dextromethorphan.  If the human experience on Earth is disconnection from God, I walked in the opposite direction and explored the darkest night anyone could see.

I slipped into a deep dark forest, so dark I couldn't see a thing, and got lost.  But no one came to look for me.  And when I opened my eyes that forest had turned into a pseudo-spiritual yellow brick road.  It was highly convincing, and deeply intriguing.  One could explore such a forest their entire lives and never find all the trans-realities present, but absolutely none of them had anything to do with truth, or love, or peace.  Only pleasure, my own pleasure, and my own delusional god-less exploration of sensory warping.

Kyle had been there.  He saw how ugly it was.  Our mantra was always "Something dark is coming" a composition by Bear McCreary that haunted us every time we listened to it.  Maybe it was an addiction to being haunted, to feeling combinations of emotions, happy but sad, mellow but crazed, inspired yet perplexed, despairing and hopeful, magnificent and purple dark.   Maybe it was worshiping the darkness in the red room.

I had reached down for the bottom, the end all be all of mental anguish and on that rock, called upon Jesus.  How, why, I don't know, only that it wasn't me, it was Jesus, and I'm grateful to be step by step trudging on the Christian road, hopefully to walk one day through the thin door.  

Kyle continued in that dark scene, he did not have the spiritual experience that I did.  And I broke contact with him.  I tried to help him, I tried to introduce him to Jesus at first.  But I had just met him myself.  Not to mention, Kyle didn't care.  He just wanted to drink, and smoke pot.  No sermon could've been convicting enough, and no apologia reasonable enough.  So I broke all contact.

Fast forward to June 9th 2014, a few days ago.  And there he was, my old comrade in arms.  And he had a crazy story to tell.  A story that broke my heart.  Bone chilling.

He had fallen into the dark world of methamphetamine addiction.  I was shocked.  We had drank, smoked pot, and we had tripped endlessly on dextromethorphan.  But we never did crack, heroin, meth or the other hard drugs.  The "light" drugs had been bad enough.  

He told this terrible story.  His girlfriend left him and I broke contact right at the same moment.

In sadness he slipped off with a crazed meth addict named Anna to Minneapolis.  Halfway there he discovered he was transporting the meth king pin, codename "Dreamer" across state lines.  This "Dreamer" had introduced methamphetamine to the midwest in the 1990s.  From there things descended, and he ended up, after his first hit, cripplingly addicted to methamphetamine, a drug made by combining ephedrine, draino, battery acid and other household items, to make the drug.  

Poor Kyle.  This was the nerdy kid I ran the UW newspaper with.  This was the kid I used to walk with every night 2am to 5am talking about society, philosophy, and spirituality; during spring semester, carefully evading homework.  This was someone I deeply cared about, as a close friend and adviser.  

He told me he had met up with a transexual meth dealer, a man pretending to be a woman, and delivered drugs for him.  They had sex and became close.  He said one night he overdosed and called an ambulance, but when they came the police arrived as well, and caught him with drugs.  The police recruited him into a special task force searching out methamphetamine dealers in the Wausau area.  He became a citizen informant.  He wore a camera, got yelled at by police, manipulated, conned.  Eventually his information led to the arrest of 11 individuals and $10,000 of meth product confiscated by police. 

Oddly enough, he also said that some police officers assisted the meth dealers by giving them the names of informants.  The transexual guy found out about Kyle giving information to police.  Kyle had been found out, and the meth community, the subculture in the area were aware of him.  Kyle said for the past 6 months he's been smoking meth daily with the transexual drug dealer, making several thousand dollars a month as a driver.

Dark days.  And the things he described..  The children neglected... the drug dealers luring in girls in their teens, getting them addicted to "up" and then using them as sex toys.  The insanity of it all, the meth addicts shaking as they wait for the pipe.  The fights over the drug.  So very shocking.  

So very dark.

When I first started exploring darkness, it was like something in a dozen shades of dark, dark blue, dark purple, all in a black, murky sky.  Like a dark sunset.  And it was beautiful.  Even the pain was beautiful.  Isn't that always how it is at the beginning of some quiet, nasty pleasure?  Isn't that always how it seems, and what the road looks like at the beginning to entice us?  Yes, indeed it is.  It would be easy if these temptations felt terrible, but they don't feel terrible at first, they feel wonderful.  

It isn't until you're in so deep that you can't see a thing, that those beautiful colors fudge together into a brown black darkness, turning bright red and cutting into the soul with sharp blades.  That's where exploring darkness leads, the darkness indeed as they say, looks into you.  And later, it dismantles you, while tickling your fancies.. and at the end it finishes you off, and kills you spiritually.  And eventually it will cut you apart physically.  And you just fade away.

Kurt Cobain said it's better to burn out then fade away.  Maybe he was right.  But I'd rather be reborn, than burn out or fade away.  That's the lie of this society: Coke or pepsi, democrat or republican, mcdonalds or burger king, kill yourself or die slowly of drug addiction?  I refuse those options.  I choose the 3rd way, saving faith in Jesus Christ.  The option they never told me about.  I choose water, libertarian, organic food, and Jesus Christ.

They stole Kyle's dignity.  And the meth has turned my old friend into a monster.  Immorality, cussing, hours of manic "up-sex", as they call it, driving around drug dealers, working for the police, and abused and ridiculed by the police, some of whom work with the meth dealing community.  It's insanity.  

We were two middle class kids in the suburbs guzzling cough medicine, drinking, and getting into a lot of addicted trouble in the year of no-light.  But he's stepped into the hard drug world.  And I'm so afraid for my old friend.  Because I can just tell, he isn't ready to quit.  He knows he's addicted,  but.. he likes smoking the meth.  He likes what it does to him.  He's just not willing.

And I don't respond with judgment to that.  I understand how it is when you're addicted.  You just aren't ready.  It's so hard to summon the will.  If you're thinking about judging.. imagine never eating sweets again, or quitting television or the internet, or facebook.  Would it really be that easy?  No.  We are addicts as people, more than we might like to admit.  And the truth is, the drug problem in this country is something massive, expansive, and growing.  

On the eve of founders day, June 10th, today they officially legalized gay marriage in Wisconsin.  And this Friday is a full moon, Friday the 13th.  I spoke out against the gay marriage issue, and of course I was mocked and called ignorant and intolerant.  No surprise there.  Though it was surprising to have someone suggest that I must be subconsciously gay myself since I'm against it.  There's a new one.  

I reflect on where our society is moving.  Who could really be surprised by the growth of drug addiction, alcoholism, prostitution, school shootings, abortion, and on and on and on?  It's been invited in, perhaps even carefully orchestrated.  It's everywhere.  

And the class warfare, the attack on the middle class by corporate america pushes people down those roads in increasing numbers.  Couple that with the demise of the Christian message in the United States, and people have absolutely nowhere to turn when trouble rises up all around them.  This world has a million temptations and any one of them can run us ragged and put us on our knees before it's altar.  Time and patience is a powerful weapon of temptation. 

A lot of times in the Christian evangelical movement, I think we kind of exist in a bubble.  We don't see these things, even though they go on in the community day and night.  Terrible things.  I work at a homeless shelter remember, I get to see these things.  And I think my goodness, these are the people who need the Gospel message the most.  And I think churches need to be willing to engage, and put themselves in danger, to help people Jesus spent the most time with: the worst kinds of sinners.  We need to seek and save the lost.  We aren't doing that.  Not to the extent we should.  As Christians we exist in our protected churches, kinda staying there, and then we sit back and complain about the culture going to hell.  But what are we doing to stop it?  We think everything is fine, maybe.  But it's not.  I know.  I was there.  Evil is alive and well, growing, and recruiting people.  My friends.  But still we can't go?  Why can't we go?  Today?  

I would like to request prayers for Kyle.  He is in a dark place, he sees the extent of the chaos, but feels powerless to muster the will to change anything.  I will continue to encourage him, and tell him the things I learn about Jesus.  But please, pray, Please Lord Jesus, have mercy on him, like you had mercy on me, and had mercy on all of us sinners, one by one, helping us to the gates of heaven, one day at a time; in the same way show mercy and grace to Kyle.  Help him to call upon your name in his darkest hour.  In your name we pray, Amen. 

Monday, June 9, 2014

Reasonable Evidence for Christianity & Intelligent Design Videos

These are the greats, some of the most brilliant individuals the world has to offer.  Christian apologists for the most part, and if you recall from previous posts, apologetics is the reasonable defense of the Christian faith.  

If theology is the teaching of the content of the Bible, apologetics is the teaching of the reasonable evidence that exists in science, history, and philosophy for the God of the Bible.  

The first video is Norman Geisler and he walks through some of the most powerful scientific evidences for the Christian faith.  The second video is Frank Turek at the University of Wisconsin, and he deals primarily with logical fallacies of post-modernism and scientific evidence for God.  The third is the highly noted apologist Dr. William Lane Craig, a man who holds two doctorates and he tends to give a fairly balanced understanding, usually leaning somewhat scientifically as well.  Dr. Nabeel Qureshi is a Christian who had originally been a Muslim and he deals with Jesus in comparison to other religions as well as the philosophical arguments for the God of the Bible.  The next video is Ravi Zacharias a personal favorite of mine who deals with the implications for a world without Christianity and also deals heavily with philosophical arguments for the God of the Bible, particularly the moral argument.  

1. The New Atheism, featuring Norman Geisler


2. I don't have enough Faith to be an Atheist, featuring Frank Turek


3. The Evidence for God, featuring William Lane Craig


4. Christianity, featuring Nabeel Qureshi


5. Christianity in the Public Square for the Public Good, featuring Nabeel Qureshi and Ravi Zacharias



Related Posts:

  1. Philosophy, Science, Logic, and History: Presentations on the truth of Christianity from Multiple Disciplines  
  2. Nine Documentaries & Presentations on Atheism, Intelligent Design, Cultural Marxism, Old Earth, Young Earth, and Evidence for God's Existence  
  3. Modern Christianity & Apologetics  
  4. A Vital Spiritual Experience, an unparalleled Adventure  
  5. Believing in the Miraculous: The Work of Jesus  
  6.  Using Youtube for Spiritual Health (Three Videos)  
  7. Five Presentations by Ravi Zacharias   
  8. 12 YouTube Sermons by Mark Driscoll on Jesus    
  9. Five Passionate Powerful Youtube Sermons 
  10. Good News in Untenable Circumstances