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...

But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.  Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”     (Matthew 28:5-7 ESV)

I really wish I could find the lyrics to this song.  It has been in my head for the last several weeks.  The name of the song is JOURNEY, from the Jovan MacKenzie album Strangers and Pilgrims , and features both Serene and my favorite theologian/apologist: Dr. James White of Alpha & Omega Ministries .  But... I did find it on YouTube (via jesusoverbeatnetwork )... and I figured I'd post it here. Hebrews 11:8-16 ESV By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one ...

I need to try... I need to write on this blog more frequently. Lately though, I don't feel like I have that much to contribute any more. However, I want to still serve my Lord and use this blog for his glory. Of late, I have been trying to search out a home church. Truthfully, I really miss my home church in Springfield, MO of Boulevard Baptist Church . Kacey and I loved attending there. Sadly, we were not as connected as we could/should have been. (Part of that, I think, is because Kacey was baptized as an infant in the United Methodist Church and therefore to be admitted as a member, she would likely have had to be re-baptized.) But we adored the preaching from Pastor Doug Shivers . He truly sought to preach Christ from all of Scripture. You don't seem to get a lot of that today; even when pastors verbally endorse such a practice, this doesn't mean they actually put it into practice much. Pastor Doug did. Since moving home, I have had a difficult search for a h...

"And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting for that time until his enemies should be made a footstool under his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified." - Hebrews 10:11-14 This is probably one of my favorite verses in all of Hebrews. It is important to note that it is a ONE TIME sacrifice... not one repeated every day when a host is lifted up. There was no chair in the Temple b/c the priest's job was NEVER DONE. sins were constantly committed and constantly having to be sacrificed for. Not so with Christ's finished work.  He lived out his perfect obedience, took our sins upon himself at the cross, and clothes us perfectly - imputes - his righteousness to us, so that WE are counted as justified apart fro...

This continuing series is a look at C.S. Lewis’s views on Predestination and Free Will… Lewis’ Liberty Over Election Turning now to the famed Oxford and Cambridge scholar, what exactly were Lewis’ positions on these highly controversial topics of predestination and free will, Calvinism and Arminianism? While no professional theologian, [1] Lewis was most decidedly an Arminian, though he asserted he held to Anglican theology. [2] In writing Mere Christianity , arguably his most theological work, it was Lewis’ goal to bring out the essentials of the Christian faith – essentials which spanned geographical and denominational boundaries, creating a kind of Christianity 101 . Yet rather than keeping the hallway of his mere Christianity wide enough to include both Calvinistic and Arminian understandings of free will and predestination, the hallway seems to not be big enough for both perspectives. In Book 2: What Christians Believe , specifically Ch. 3: The Shocking Alternative, Lewis begi...