Letters from Paul

The other day I was watching a recorded program on TV and usually I fast forward through the commercials, but for some reason I did not and then I saw a 30 second spot entitled It Gets Better which was sponsored by GOOGLE Chrome.  I was sure I didn’t see what I just saw; so I went back and watched it again to make sure I wasn’t mistaken.  I was very surprised this spot aired during primetime and that it aired during the basketball playoffs.  I decided to do some research and here is what I found.

According to the It Gets Better Project website, because many young people are bullied each day, they have nowhere to turn.  This is especially true for LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transsexual) kids and teenagers.  The site goes on to say,  In many instances, gay and lesbian adolescents are taunted — even tortured — simply for being themselves.  The site then lists the names of seven kids that committed suicide because they were gay or perceived to be gay by their peers.  The next paragraph is as follows:  

While many of these teens couldn’t see a positive future for themselves, we can. The It Gets Better Project was created to show young LGBT people the levels of happiness, potential, and positivity their lives will reach – if they can just get through their teen years. The It Gets Better Project wants to remind teenagers in the LGBT community that they are not alone — and it WILL get better.

I could not help but think, “What’s the Christian response to such behavior AND to the commercial/project?”  Without a doubt, this ad once again demonstrates that we live in a fallen world and apart from the wisdom of God, our  solutions concerning sin is at best inadequate and at worse sinful. continue reading more…

It seems no matter how much I long to get on this website and blog . . . there is just not enough time in the day.  Life moves fast with a church and family.  We seem to always be in the middle of something.  I have the time right now because we are on Spring Break.  It is not that I do not have a ton of work to accomplish, but for this week I have been given a break from getting kids to school and extra-curricular events.  That alone tends to free up a large amount of time.  I  hope to catch up on some rest, so we will see how it goes.

I have been blogging on people leaving the faith, but I thought I would step back and blog about a recent story concerning the Houston area.  According to a report, Houston will once again have billboards put up which promote “No God” or atheism.  The title of the article was simply, “More of the same:  Atheists billboards are coming back.”  I actually thought the title was quite amusing if not sad.  You see, it wasn’t too long that the United Coalition of Reason erected a billboard in Houston that read:

 “Don’t believe in God?  You’re not alone.” 

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I do apologize for the tardiness of this blog.  It has been a long 2 months.  I have started my doctoral work, the holidays are always busy, and I am just now getting back into town from a week away at school.  So, I certainly want to pick up where I ended.

If you have not seen the response to the YouTube video linked in my last blog, you might want to take a look at it.  There have been over 2000 hits on the video.  There are several things that one might make notice of.

A.  I certainly hit a nerve.  Many did not care for what I had to say, nor were they willing to admit that context is INDEED important.
B.  There were many accusations concerning my “intelligence” and my “logic” simply because I do not believe what atheists believe.

Although, I will not attempt to address all of the comments, I read a recent article in the Wall Street Journal which summed up many of the arguments that atheists tend to hold. After several years on atheists’ websites, I will simply say that the article almost seemed scripted.  It is the same old argument that I have seen over and over again. continue reading more…

I began this blog because for several years I dialogued with atheists and I heard their views.  I listened to what they said, and frankly, it seemed quite unsettling.  They made some pretty harsh claims about God, the very God that I worshipped.  They were saying things about the God that had sent his Son to die for my sins and the very God who is merciful, full of grace, loving, righteous and just.  I will admit, I was not ready for all of the attacks, but I simply could not bring myself to believe that my parents had taught me wrong.  They have always loved and cared for me.  Why would they have lied to me?  I could not believe that Pastor Dan Gardner, my pastor at Brookwood Baptist, had hidden truth from me.  That just didn’t seem like the kind of thing that he would do.  That was not the type of man he was.  I thought about my youth minister, Donnie Lee, and all the memories from camps and mission trips.  Had he simply not told me all of the truth concerning the Bible? continue reading more…

Recently, Glen Beck made the issue of his health, a public issue.  I do not follow Mr. Beck, but I certainly know of him and I am aware of his radio and TV show.  His recent rally on the Washington Mall certainly speaks of his popularity.  When I heard of his health problems, I was curious to know what was going on.  Did he have cancer?  Was there another disease that was causing him problems?  So, I went online and searched for information in order to read up on the topic.  What I found was quite interesting.  I read the article, and as usual, I scanned some of the comments and what I found was simply a back-and-forth commentary on the Mormon (LDS) faith.  There were those who stated they would pray for Mr. Beck, but their prayers would be directed toward his salvation and his abandonment of the Mormon faith.  Others, Mormons I presume, were defending their faith and their belief that they, along with Glen Beck, were most assuredly “Christian.”

Mormonism is a growing religion in which many, on both sides of the issue, are simply confused.  Glen Beck is not the only nationally known Mormon.  I am sure that many of you know that Mit Romney and Harry Reid are also Mormons.  Mormonism also hit the national stage when, according to the press,  ”Without the Mormon vote, same-sex marriage would be legal in California.”  There is absolutely no doubt that when it comes to social issues that many conservative Christians and many Mormons would be in 100% agreement, but does that ring true when it comes to theological issues?  The answer is a resounding, “NO.”  Even among Christians, many believe that Mormonism is simply another subset of Christianity and just like a denomination, there are simply some disagreements.  I hope to briefly explain why this simply is not true and is illogical.

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