Apologetics and Evidence

Let’s begin by looking at 2 Corinthians 2:5-11.    “Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So, I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.”   Paul is talking in this passage about the person who stirred up trouble for him in the passage immediately before this. The person stirred up trouble by spreading the idea that Paul is not an Apostle. But here, Paul belittles the pain that may have been caused to him for the ...

            “The beehive is a good example of how different individuals can work together for one common goal. There is very little time to bicker when each bee’s contribution is necessary for survival. When each different group makes its contribution, the hive is strong” (Arnold and Black n. pag.).  It seems that this analogy draws the best picture as to why small groups should form in the first place—for one common goal. This common goal, since we are speaking of Christian small groups, should normally be focused on everyday life situations (such as apologetics, evangelism, philosophy, discipleship, divorce, serving, love, compassion, community, frustration, anxiety, theology, transparency, sex, addictions, etc.), and how the Bible and theology should be applied to these life situations. Small groups, it could be argued in any generation, should have an apologetic bent to them in order to build up new believers, and to encourage mature beli...

If you have had an abortion, then you are a murderer. The Good News though, is that you can be set free.  Do you want to be set free? The Bible talks about all kinds of sin (moral failure). One of them is murder. There are two things we need to immediately discuss now that the cat is out of the bag. One is that there is a difference between sins (moral failures against God) and sinners (one who has failed morally against God). Another thing is that I know people will be arguing about whether or not the fetus is actually a human person, which this will define whether or not an abortion is actually murder, but I have already addressed this topic here . I have also discussed the topic before about the difference between the definitions of sin and sinner , but not to the point to where it can be understood very practically. I think the problem came about when someone saw James 2:10, “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it” a...

Hugh Hefner died yesterday. A lot of men wanted to live the life that he did, but possibly a lot of men despised him for making it so easy for their addictions to take over their lives. I was talking with an older gentleman who said of him, something along the lines of, “I don’t know how a man could do such a thing with his life…” I immediately looked at him and said, “I bet if most men were given the chance, they would do the same thing.” The Bible Tells us about the Human Condition (See Romans 3:10-18 ). Think about this... If you had the ability to become invisible at your own command, what would you do with that ability? Many readers might think that probably nothing would change. Then the more you thought about it, the more fun you would have with the idea of it. I bet, if you were honest with yourself, you would come to admit that you would find yourself in the women’s locker rooms and National Banks after hours or on airplanes traveling the world free of charge, etc. Eve...

Often called helicopters , by children and adults alike, the fruit of the maple tree is actually called a Samara . It seems that adults would call samaras helicopters because that is what they called them since they were children. In any event, the samara has intrigued everyone who has watched one gently sink to the ground in the breeze of a spring day. This seed vehicle seems to only break off of the tree when there is, at minimum, a small gust of wind, or at least a slight breeze. What will separate the dead seed from the twig that it barely clutches to, but wind that fills the sail of the samara, or a squirrel or a bird disturbing the twig? Nevertheless, it is easily deduced that the sail of the samara is meant to carry the seed to a place away from the tree, probably for the freshly germinated sapling to have its own sunlight, and not be under the shade of the tree from which it fell. The maple tree is of such an arrangement that consistently brings glory to God. Aside from ...