Last week, I joined the careless club. I was attempting to retrofit a chicken nest into a new roost, meaning I was awkwardly trimming some wood with a circular saw. While doing so, I managed to cut into the tip of my pinky finger. Next was a trip to the emergency room. I have a small bone fracture, some torn skin and a nail that is trimmed way too low. In the grand scheme of things, if I had to have an accident with a circular saw this was the best of all possible outcomes. 

Significant events trigger significant memories. On 9-11, people remember where they were and what they were doing at the very moment they heard of the attacks. For me, it was intensely personal. I was in Tower 1 of the World Trade Center when the first plane struck the building.

When I got home that afternoon, I was bewildered and confused. People were calling all day asking what I saw and wanted to hear my account. I knew it was historic and I knew people wanted to know more. So rather than repeat it over and over again, I wrote down what happened that day. There were a couple of reasons the first was: repeating the story was emotionally exhausting. Secondly, I needed to make sense of it all and organize my thoughts.Thirdly, I wanted to preserve what happened so people would know; I thought it would be important.

​It begs the question, why do we bother to document anything?

If you are as old as I am, or have a passion for songs from the 70s, you may remember a song from Simon and Garfunkel: The Sound of Silence. Songs of the time were meant to inspire you and awaken your passion, especially in a time when there was great unrest. There was the Vietnam War, race riots, women's rights marches, the list goes on. The younger reader will simply not understand the severity of these topics. To remind all cities were burning, protestors being shot by the National Guard, and Civil rights leaders assassinated. It was a time of great civil unrest that was not created by the media or internet but was truly organic. These songs were meant to compel us to speak out against these injustices, if we did not our, silence would just allow them to continue or worse yet spread.

​I was reading a blog the other day, it was innocent enough. It was about the tactics an atheist will use to create doubt in Christians. It gave me pause. I understand why a Christian wants to help an atheist see to their side of things. We Christians are trying to spread God’s good news of salvation and eternal life. The free gift God offers mankind through His Son Jesus Christ. Not a bad deal. We do it in sincere interest of the person.  
 
What is the motivation for the Atheist to turn Christians away from their faith? 

The facts are against them. This is an outline for an introductory class for parents. The idea is to inspire them to want to study more about the facts of Christianity to provide a reasonable defense of our faith in the public square

I was listening to a podcast recently from Stand to Reason. The podcast was with Greg Koukl and a man named Doug, an atheist. They were having a very thoughtful and mostly polite back and forth about God and His existence. When the conversation did get a little heated it was quickly calmed down by Greg’s demeanor and desire to understand Doug. In addition, Greg did a great job of insisting that Doug understand what he was trying to say and not let his answer be limited to what Doug wanted to hear. It was wonderful to observe an artful communicator at work. I thought about the necessary years of studying, training and practice that Greg must have undertaken in order to keep himself in the moment. The ability to focus, represent himself and the message he wanted to deliver as a good ambassador for Christ. That podcast is here it is well worth a listen.

We, Christians, get questions about our faith that are meant to stump us or back us into a defenseless position. ​

​My apologetic resume reads like a self-seeking Christian. My curiosity was peaked and the more I studied the more I wanted to know. Now I want to be able to articulate what I know to be true in my heart and mind to others. I need to keep my training up and continue to find new ways to be inspired. 

​Young Earth vs Old Earth
 
Have you ever thought really hard about the age of the Earth. There seems to be two sides to every debate. There is a really good video on this topic on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0ZzU_Y8YD0  I don't think it settles the issue but I think both sides are presented clear enough. On one side there Ken Ham a firm believer in 6 days of creation and that the Earth is thousands of years old. Hugh Ross on the other side in which the Earth is millions of years old. I want to stress here that both sides make their arguments from the God’s Word. Something that is refreshing and mentally simulating.

Christian World View holds that there is one God in three unique persons, The Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We also know that God created the heavens, Earth and all living creatures including humans. We are made in His image. The first two humans were named Adam and Eve.