ryan.the.calvinist

//In this series, I look at a few common objections I have received regarding Christianity and attempt to give a defense for the hope that is within me.// Objection #2:  Everything comes from something, so something had to create God.  God must have an origin. This goes back to a conversation I’ve heard posed between two children:   “Who   created the trees?” one child asks, to which the second replies “God.”   “Who made the birds?”   “God.”   “Who made God??”   The second child pauses for a bit and replies: “God made himself.”   Cute storey, but the kid needs a bit more time of schooling in the beliefs of the Christian faith.   ;-)   Where did God come from?   He always existed.   If he did not always exist, he would not be God.   Definitionaly, he was not created.     As dumb as this example sounds… Saying that God was created is like saying there can be an all-green painted room that is colored orange...

1 Peter 3:15 "...but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is within you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,..." I am a fan of apologetics.   One of my favorite apologists ... nay... my favorite one is Dr. James White over at Alpha & Omega Ministries .  I am used to hearing 1Peter 3:15 every week on his twice-a-week show The Dividing Line.  Be ready to give a defense for why you have hope in Christ... but do so not with arrogance, but with respect and a gentle spirit.  This is something God has been working on in my life I think.  Before I get to that... something else should be mentioned in passing... I think I am, more or less, past my "cage stage."  What is THAT, you ask?  A stage in every Calvinist's life, just after he becomes a Calvinist, when he is a very angry and bitter person, filled with arrogance, and a demeanor that wants to kee...

Recently I was catching up with a somewhat lost friend from my days at Larimore Elementary and Kirby Jr. High via email correspondence.  The conversation went fairly quickly from the likes of "how are you?  where you you working these days?" to "what are your thoughts/feelings about homosexuality and those who are practicing homosexuals?"  hah.  that's quite a jump.  But then again, as theologically minded as I am... I thought I’d give it a shot… and post my response here. Question:  “What are your feelings about gay people?” First, I think i should state what my views are not:  my views are NOT those of the Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas... the rude "congregation" of "christians" who protest the funerals of dead service men and women and homosexuals holding signs that read "God Hates Fags."  Such a view/practice is very sad and unbalanced in its view of God's holiness AND his loving kindness/mercy/grace.  That church on...

Would you think God as more gracious if you knew that babies who die in infancy go to Heaven ? Would you think him less gracious if that they went to Hell ? Does not God deserve our glory and honor and praise either way? Whatever God decides to do in this case, it is just and good because God is just and good .

Romans 1:18-19 (ESV) For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them." Recently I got into a rather uncomfortable conversation with a fellow religious studies major. It actually began by discussing Freud's insane views on the origins of religion, which my 580 class was to read for the following class time. I will not go into great detail at this time... but Freud's view as to the origin of religion itself has NO historical basis whatsoever. It is just nuts. However the conversation somehow got much more uncomfortable. My classmate, Ben, charged me with not understanding people. This is somewhat puzzling... as I am a person actually. But when Ben asked me "what is the number one reason people become atheists," I answered truthfully and honestly: They are suppressing the knowledg...

Today in my REL 580 "Theories of Religious Studies", Dr. Given brought up something interesting that the Deists and Natural Religion gurus of the 18th century were bothered by. something called "The Scandal of Particularity." This "scandal" deals with their rebellion against the notion of God choosing to save a VERY SMALL group of people throughout History - taking true form in Abraham and throughout to those in the New Covenant today. This seems to be the minority today, in our world of fast and easy communication. But consider how many people have lived on this planet... and in places where the gospel never reached... or even a word of the Torah uttered. It is quite clear that the VAST majority of people, according to biblical Christianity, will be in Hell after the final judgment for all eternity. These more "enlightened" thinkers (oh brother!) gauge that if there was really any justice in the world, religion must be natural and available...

Yes.  Believe it or not... it is possible.  Actually don't "not" believe it.  If you do (or don't?) then you are just wrong.  So stop it.  Or do it.  I forget.  Moving on. One of the "drums" my extremely liberal professor Boyer was banging away at this past intercession course was that there is no way to generalize about an event or teaching of Christ from the pages of Scripture.  We can, according to Boyer, only say with any certainty what Mark says about Jesus doing _____ or how John characterizes Jesus during ______.  Each account exists isolated from each other; it would be foolish to attempt to reconcile these accounts into one coherent account of the life and teachings and death and resurrection of Jesus... as... "Then you would be creating a gospel that is unlike ANY of the four canonical Gospels: a gospel that does not even exist!!"  Right.  I call shenanigans. It sounds profound, after all.  I mean, if I were...

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?  But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.  And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.  We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised if it is true that the dead are not raised.  For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.  And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.  Then those who also have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.  if in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. - Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:12-18 (ESV) Paul said if Christ ain't resurrected then we wasted out lives /    but that implies that our life's built...

John 3:3 Jesus answered him [Nicodemus], "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." 1 Corinthians 15:1-5 Now I [Paul] would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. John 14:6-7 Jesus said to him [Thomas], "I am the way, and the truth, and the life No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him." Ephesians 2:4-9 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he lo...

Titus 2:1 "But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine." I attend a university in Springfield, MO.  For those of you not in the know, Springfield, MO is smack in the Bible Belt.  We are just down the road from Southwest Baptist University... have the 2nd largest Assemblies of God church in America (James River Assembly... jokingly referred to by some locals as "Hillsong USA")... we even have the HQ of the Assemblies of God, a Protestant Pentecostal denomination.  And while this place is not like some I've seen in Northern Texas/Southern Arkansas, having a church literally on EVERY corner... it is filled with congregations galore. So then, you would think finding a church would be really simple... that all you would have to do is walk on into a church, sit down, and you've found one.  Well, that is true for finding a church.  However... finding a good church?... that takes a bit more doing. What constitutes a "GOOD CHURCH"?  One where so...

Psalm 118:8-9 It is better to take refuge in the L ORD than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the L ORD than to trust in princes. I read this passage while doing my quiet time in the Word a few days ago. It really struck me in a comforting way, especially considering the election season we are in. I know I have at LEAST spoken on this issue of being comforted and the election... but I feel I should blog on it again. It is easy to forget that God is sovereign and in control. I think that is why we are often refered to in the Bible as "sheep." Sheep are not the brightest animal on God's green earth. Really. They're kinda dumb. You have them stay in an area and they wander off... the shepherd has to go over, pick them up and set them back down. Then sooner or later, the process is repeated when the sheep wanders off again... over and over this happens. So it is NO surprise that God would have to keep reminding me through His word of His so...