Consistency

The word of the day is consistency.

First of all, I admire the consistency of Christianity. Despite objections, criticism, etc. from skeptics: we have an answer to every facet of life. If we base our answers off of biblical principles, we remain wholly consistent in our world view. Atheism cannot make this claim. Their world view shifts from person to person and is largely subjective. Objective truth can only be found through God.

So why the Christian God? Why not the god(s) of a different religion? Do they not all have the same truth? It is politically correct to accept all religions as true. This is beyond stupid. Religions are mutually exclusive, they denounce one another. It is a fool's dream to believe that all of the religions can live side by side in perfect harmony. Someone ends up compromising their beliefs.

Despite the number of authors, the Bible is remarkably consistent. The Bible has stood the test of time and stands as truth (despite all of "science"'s effort to prove it unreliable). People may differ on interpretation, but objective truth can be found there. Archaeological evidence continues to demonstrate that the Bible is true.

And what of you? It is funny. Despite knowing all these things about Christianity, the Bible, and God... I still find myself immature as a Christian. My faith is so lacking. I need to become a more disciplined, consistent disciple of Christ.

Bible Reading Plan

Anyone want to take part in a Bible Reading Plan with me for the new year?

Perhaps in the ESV?
Or maybe chronologically?

Lemme know,
Richard

Need Time to Think

Need to slow down. Hope Monday and Tuesday are good slow days.

Three kinds of people.

I want to be a sheep dog.

The New Face Of Socialism?

Justice used to mean that you reap what you sow.
Now it means that the weak and lazy are given a share of the pie.

Fairness used to mean that if you earn something you keep it. Now it means that nobody misses out, including those who did nothing to earn it.

Compassion used to mean that you feel sorry for somebody who screwed up and you showed them how to CHANGE. Now it means a free pass for delinquents.

Cell Phone Plans: The Aftermath

From Telus: (for bragging rights)

LG Dare ($99.99 on a 2 yr contract - yes I spoiled myself)
250 Minutes
Per Second Billing
CID, CFWD, CW
100 outgoing text, unlimited incoming
6pm Eve, Wk

$23.05 per month (Taxes, SAF IN)

Friendship

I have been thinking about the fellowship a a lot. (What else is new?) My talk with Jeff Chan allowed me to realize once again, how blessed I am to have a team and not wing it out on my own. Hat tip to Allan, also.

Kelly - I am very thankful for your servant heart and your unwavering faith. When you speak about God it reminds me to appreciate God for who He is. Your words stir the heart.
Vicki - I have always viewed you as the responsible and sensible one. Only recently have I discovered a new dimension: your faith and prayer-mindedness.
Eleasa - I have always admired your willingness to learn and take in new things. I think you only recently started coming out of your shell! (With all the silly sayings). You should come back soon! We need your task-orientedness.
Felix - You're my brother. I can't say much more than that. :)

Sunday

I realize I don't remember sermons. I think it has to do with listening instead of writing things down. I think I will start writing notes down again. Unfortunately, I haven't found anything worth writing lately. This may be more on me, than the quality of sermons.

Lunch was quality time with my main man, Jeff Chan. Jeff is always a great person to talk to. He has a wealth of experience in a number of different areas, so it is always a pleasure to have his company. We talked about church, our spiritual lives (mostly mine), girls, etc. I think we tease him a lot, but he is always a good sport.

We had our fellowship dinner for Christmas. We need to plan a new years get together, too. :) I realize we didn't take a group picture, as we are always fond of doing. Vinci wasn't there. There was a lot of memories that night, which I have included in point form below.

Highlights of the Night: (in no particular order)
Surprise leading up to Birthday Cake
Kat's "My dad..." link to previous surprise party
Chewie losing his toque
"MMmmm what you say" on the tv... and while I was blowing out candles
Kelly's gracious forfeit of a flush to my 3 queens
Alex's poker hood
Eddie and Sherry's super settlers team
Lights flickering on and off as I approach the Chan residence
Cheeken Mahjong
Winning non-Cheeken Mahjong :P
Chewie finding his toque

How to Live Life

"The secret to occupational happiness is tricking others into paying you to do things you would probably do for free." - Mike S. Adams

Mike is my new hero.

Read the "How to Live Life" series here and here.

Heart.

My heart was broken today.

Infantilisation of our Culture

Read about it here.

I'll add my own thoughts another day.

Holidays

Thinking about taking some days off.

Anyone want to go on a skiing/snowboarding adventure with me if I do?

Books

-- The Library --
Updated: April 11th 2010

(IOW, books you can borrow!)

Warning: I have many books listed here, they are each good in a specific context. For instance, I may like a certain writer's stance on a certain issue, but not agree with his theology. It is best to ask me personally.

T4G2010 (kept here temporarily til I sort it out):
"The Holiness of God" - R. C. Sproul
"The Unquenchable Flame: Discovering the Heart of the Reformation" - Michael Reeves
"It Is Well: Expositions on Substitutionary Atonement" - Mark Dever and Michael Lawrence
"The Trellis and the Vine: The Ministry Mind-Shift that Changes Everything" - Colin Marshall and Tony Payne
The ESV Study Bible
"The Gospel for Muslims: An Encouragement to Share Christ with Confidence" - Thabiti Anyabwile
"What Is the Gospel?" - Greg Gilbert
"The Jesus You Can’t Ignore: What You Must Learn from the Bold Confrontations of Christ" - John MacArthur
"Dug Down Deep: Unearthing What I Believe and Why It Matters" - Joshua Harris
"Finally Alive" - John Piper
"Jonathan Edwards on Beauty" - Owen Strachan and Doug Sweeney
"The Plight of Man and the Power of God" - Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
"The Essential Jonathan Edwards Collection" - Owen Strachan and Doug Sweeney
"The Priority of Preaching" - Christopher Ash
"He Is Not Silent: Preaching in a Postmodern World" - Albert Mohler
"Fear Not! Death and the Afterlife from a Christian Perspective" - Ligon Duncan
"Proclaiming a Cross-Centered Theology" - T4G
"Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus" - D.A. Carson
"Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God" - J.I. Packer
"The Church and the Surprising Offense of God’s Love: Reintroducing the Doctrines of Church Membership and Discipline" - Jonathan Leeman
"Marks of the Messenger: Knowing, Living and Speaking the Gospel" - J. Mack Stiles

Bought at T4G:
"Jonathan Edwards: A Life" - George M. Marsden
"Counted righteous in Christ" - John Piper
"The Death of Death in the death of Christ" - John Owen
"The Bruised Reed" - Richard Sibbes
"The Valley of Vision" - Assorted

If anything, ask for:
"What is the Gospel?" - Greg Gilbert

"The Cross-Centered Life" - C. J. Mahaney

"Basic Christianity" - John Stott

"Why I Still Believe" - Joe Boot

Christian Living:
"What is the Gospel?" - Greg Gilbert

"The Cross-Centered Life" - C. J. Mahaney

"Basic Christianity" - John Stott

"The Cross of Christ" - John Stott
"Why I am a Christian" - John Stott [on loan - KL]

"Heaven" - Randy Alcorn

"The Cost of Discipleship" - Dietrich Bonhoeffer [on loan - KL]
"Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community" - Dietrich Bonhoeffer [on loan - KY]

"The Grand Weaver" - Ravi Zacharias [on loan - VM]

"Signature Classics" - C. S. Lewis

"God is the Gospel" - John Piper [on loan - HN]

"The Imitation of Christ" - Thomas À Kempis

"The Holiness of God" - R. C. Sproul

"Knowing God" - J. I. Packer

"18 Words" - J. I. Packer

"Atonement" - Leon Morris

"The Cross and Christian Ministry" - D. A. Carson

"The Discipline of Grace" - Jerry Bridges
"Nine Marks of a Healthy Church" - Mark Dever
"Foxe's Book of Martyrs" - John Foxe (2007 update)
"Discovering The Power of The Cross of Christ" - Spurgeon

"Martin Lloyd Jones: The First Forty Years" - Iain H. Murray
"Martin Lloyd Jones: The Fight of Faith" - Iain H. Murray

Christian Fiction:

"Safely Home" - Randy Alcorn [on loan - KY]

Bible Study:

"Getting the message: A Plan for Interpreting and Applying the Bible" - Daniel M. Doriani
"How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth" - Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart

Electronic: (A short search, and you'll find the book online)

"The Mortification of Sin" - John Owen

"Practicing the Presence of God" - Brother Lawrence

"Confessions" - St. Augustine

"The Pursuit of God" - A. W. Tozer

"The Treasury of David" - Charles Spurgeon

"Pilgrims Progress" - John Bunyan

"A Serious Call to Holy Living" - William Law

"Orthodoxy" - G. K. Chesterton

"Religious Affections" - Jonathan Edwards

Christian Apologetics:

"Why I Still Believe" - Joe Boot
"The Reason for God" - Tim Keller

"Jesus Among other Gods" - Ravi Zacharias

"Always Ready" - Greg Bahnsen

"Case for Faith" - Lee Strobel [lost?]

"Case for Creator" - Lee Strobel

"Case for Christ" - Lee Strobel [lost?]

"When Skeptics Ask" - Norman L. Geisler

"Misquoting Truth" - Timothy Paul Jones

"Reasonable Faith" - William Lane Craig

"The Irrational Athiest" - Vox Day

"Counterfeit Gods" - Tim Keller

Theology Resources:

"Systematic Theology" 4th ed. - Wayne Grudem

"Institutes of the Christian Religion" - John Calvin
Calvin's Commentaries
"Church History in Plain Language" - Bruce Shelley

"Introduction to Old Testament Theology" - J. H. Sailhamer

Ask in person.

-- Want to own/read in varying degrees --

"The Potter's Freedom" - James R. White

"Pilgrim's Regress" - C. S. Lewis and Michael Hague

"The Path of Prayer" - Samuel Chadwick

"God and Other Minds: A Study of the Rational Justification of Belief in God." - Alvin Plantiga

"Can Man Live Without God?" - Ravi Zacharias

"Beyond Opinion: Living the Faith We Defend" - Ravi Zacharias

"Created in God's Image" - Anthony Hoekema

"God's Smuggler" - John Sherrill & Elizabeth Sherill

"The Heavenly Man" - Brother Yun & Paul Hattaway

"Knowing the Face of God" - Tim Stafford

"The Five People You Meet in Heaven" - Mitch Albom

"The End of Christendom" - Malcolm Muggeridge

"Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics" - Norman L. Geisler

"The Forgotton Trinity" - British Council of Churches

"Future Grace" - John Piper

"KJV Only Controversy" - James R. White

"The Fight" - John White

"The Twilight of Atheism: The Rise and Fall of Disbelief in the Modern World" - Alister McGrath

"Longing to Know: The Philosophy of Knowledge for Ordinary People" - Esther Lightcap Meek

"A Francis Schaeffer Trilogy: The God Who Is There, Escape from Reason, He Is There and He Is Not Silent" - Francis Schaeffer

"Naming the Elephant: Worldview As a Concept" - James W. Sire

"Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense" - N.T. Wright

"What's So Great About Christianity" - Dinesh D'Souza

"The Erosion of Inerrancy in Evangelicalism" - G.K. Beale

"What The Bible Says About God the Ruler" - Jack Cottrell

"Tragedy in the Church: The Missing Gifts" - A.W. Tozer

"Counterfeit Revival" - Hank Hanegraaff

"Charismatic Chaos" - John McArthur

"Of God and Men" - A. W. Tozer

Cross Examined

"We’ve failed to recognize that what we win them with we win them to. If we win them with emotion, we win them to emotion."

Source

Cross Examined is a group dedicated to solving the youth leaving the church crisis in the States.

Sea of Faces

Mike S. Adams

Late one morning in May of 1996, I stuck my head out of the window of James and Stephanie’s Manhattan apartment to get some not-so-fresh air while I drank my morning coffee. We were just getting up before noon after a long night of talking God and politics at an Irish pub called Peter McManus’ located somewhere around 20th Street. I looked down at the droves of people flooding the streets for the noon lunch break wondering whether it was possible for God to have a plan for each one of their lives as well as a concern for each one’s well-being.

Those questions may seem odd for one to ponder over morning coffee but they aren’t so strange for one who just weeks before had broken the chains of atheism that had bound him for so long. Just because I renounced atheism one day on the way out of a damp prison in Quito, Ecuador, did not mean I instantly became a Christian. That would not happen until years later when I recognized that a personal relationship with God was not only a possibility but an indispensable aspect of Christianity.

Since that time I’ve had the opportunity to share my faith with a lot of people. In fact, many people who read this column tell me to stop doing it. My awareness that it gets under their skin is the principal reason I continue. Christianity is not always comforting and those most annoyed with it are often the closest to conversion.

It should go without saying that I’m always pleased to hear when a reader turns to Christ. There’s no greater joy than hearing the good news that someone has accepted the Good News. By the same token, there is nothing more devastating than hearing of a reader turning away from Christianity. That happened to me recently when a fellow I once witnessed to said, “I still believe in God but I feel like he only intervenes in my life when he wants to (expletive) with me.”

The fellow who told me that also said he was not a “conservative Christian” like me but instead a “more liberal Christian.” He may or may not know that he’s on the verge of no longer being a Christian at all.

Perhaps the most accurate thing my reader has recently said about Christianity is that I am a conservative Christian. That conservatism is reflected in two things I believe to be absolutely certain about the life of a Christian:

1) I believe that - because we live in a world broken by sin and occupied by fundamentally flawed individuals - storms are inevitable. If all hell has not yet broken loose in your life it soon will. Chaos would not be so pervasive if people were as fundamentally good as the so-called liberal Christian deems them to be.

2) When all hell breaks loose in life, each individual is faced with the choice of moving toward the Cross or away from the Cross. Every person in every tumultuous situation chooses one or the other of these two options. A man has no one but himself to blame for the consequences of making the wrong decision – though the so-called liberal Christian probably dislikes my emphasis on free will.

When one responds to tragedy by moving towards the Cross it is impossible to believe that God only intervenes in men’s lives when he wants to (expletive) with them. The closer one moves to the Cross, the more one understands that God really is willing to intervene in the lives of men. One also understands that God does it because he loves all of his children and wants to have a real and permanent relationship with them.

That is why I am so irritated with self-proclaimed liberal Christians like John Shelby Spong. Those like Spong who either deny the importance of the resurrection or deny its occurrence altogether share a transparent political motivation. If you get too close to the Cross, you get too close to the reality of sin and its consequences. And then you alienate valuable political allies.

Some may believe that the liberal Christian’s willingness to cut out portions of the New Testament prohibiting sexual sin makes it easier for him to cut out portions dealing with the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Maybe it is more accurate to say that the removal of the crucifixion and resurrection story makes it necessary to delete all of the commandments that make the liberal Christian feel uncomfortable.

Seldom has the so-called liberal Christian’s discomfort with the Cross been as evident as in the aftermath of Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ. Reviews in magazines like The Nation showed unbelievable hysteria from the so-called Christian Left ending with a chorus of accusations of anti-Semitism directed towards Gibson and his movie.

Whatever anti-Semitic feelings Gibson may harbor, his movie was not anti-Semitic. I would like to personally thank the Jews. Because of their role in killing my Savior, they helped to secure my salvation.

But the so-called liberal Christian sees it differently. He is reminded of his sin when he sees the bloody torture of Jesus of Nazareth. So he asks why we don’t just focus on all of Jesus’ acts of kindness towards the poor.

And that is where my reader finds himself today. When he is not proclaiming that God only intervenes in his life occasionally to (expletive) with him he is out building houses for Habitat for Humanity.

Jesus did posit as his Second Great Commandment that we should love our neighbors as ourselves. But, before we reach out to do good for our neighbors, the First Great Commandment says we must love the Lord with all our heart, mind, and soul. We can’t do that without moving towards the Cross of Christ when things are stormy in our lives.

It is only when we focus on the horror of Jesus’ death that we realize how much he loves us. And it is only when we believe the resurrection that we know Jesus stands outside of time and hears our cries above the thunder.

Source

CCF Banquet 2009

Went downtown for CCF Banquet. I have graduated already, so I felt old. Other than general information gathering, I feel God called me there for three reasons. I will elaborate below.

1. I talked to Rini-bear and Angie's friend Jessica. She is non-Christian. She talks a lot. It sounds like she is wondering what world awaits her upon her graduation in May of next year. Could it be..... Jesus?

2. I chatted with a wonderful girlfriend of mine. Her passion for God is always something I admire. She is a "younger" Christian than I. But, in so many ways...she has matured much more. It is all about God for her. I cannot say much more. o_O

3. Phillip and I spent some time chatting about different things as his dad drove us home. I originally did not want to go with him, but God was saying I should. We talked about different things all Jesus related. I am encouraged that he wants to learn apologetics, but I cautioned him that he cannot use it to replace his devotional time.

I sang praises on the way home. It was an awesome day.

Dwelling

"For someone who dwells so much on the Kingdom of God, it is amazing how little you have done to further it."

-- Anonymous

Democracy in the Missionary Alliance

An illuminating look.

Being Missional

A new take on church planting?

Silver Lining

"If there is a silver lining in the catastrophe, it is the confidence that many lost sheep will be once more found."

-- Vox Day

Carrots

Sunday night was a pretty good night. We played "The Game of Things". It involves a topic (chosen by card) where everyone writes something that comes to mind, and people guess who wrote what item. Some people write down legitimate responses, others note items of hilarity. One topic was "Things that make you cry". Two people wrote "onions", someone wrote "watching sad movies", "chick flicks", and there was more. After realizing many people would write "onions", I scratched it out and wrote "carrots" (while giggling). That was a bad round for me.

I was floored when they brought out a surprise birthday cake for me. In fact, I saw the two with the cake beforehand, and thought it was for someone else. I went to help them turn off the lights. It was pretty funny when the cake came around to me. It was a carrot cake.

Something that has left me worried over the night is my friends' blatant opposition to God and Christianity. One claimed that they don't believe in Heaven. She also said she uses tarot cards. Another questioned the innocence of churchgoers. I did not refute their arguments. As the only other Christian there, I wish I had thrown down. Sadly, I neither think that it was prudent nor in God's plan.

On the plus side, I think there is someone that will be open to the gospel message. I think she is the most open-minded out of my friends and I will have to re-establish communication with her. Praise God for it was a worthwhile night of both fun times and things to think about. :)

Grounded

The more I read news, the more I realize and understand how much the world is against God. One has to constantly be grounded in the Bible to make sense of all this. The issues are nothing new, history repeats over time. The only thing that has stood the test of time is His Word. It is no mystery why.

It annoys and frustrates me to no end, when people are so blind to what is going on. It is such a paradigm for me, though. To retaliate in the same manner...to slander? to throw lies? to confuse? all are condemned by God.

Man, I just read it over... Imma come back to this topic another day.

Poor Reasoning

Fear is always a poor reason for doing or not doing something.

Vague much? Yes, yes I am.

Default.

I think my default mood is pessimistic and negative. I focus on those things.

I am happy though, perhaps it is the thinker in me?

Extra Extra!

Bible Knowledge at All-Time Low!

Late

The time is 7:45AM. The time I take to prepare for work is 10 minutes. I played it out wrong today, and missed the 8:00 AM bus for the first time. It is a heavy price, costing me an hour to wait for the next one. I rewarded myself with a hot chocolate from Starbucks and spent some time with God.

But wait, there's more.

The bus that arrives for 9:05 AM arrived at 9:15 AM. The bus driver says "There is a problem on the 401, we'll be taking an unusual route today to avoid the traffic, so don't be alarmed if you don't recognize anything." I drift off into oblivion.

The time is 10:30 AM. I awaken. I felt very refreshed. To my dismay, We are still on the road. Not only that, we haven't made the first stop yet. Half an hour later, I arrive at work. It typically takes 40-50 minutes to get to work. Today, the commute was two hours.

On the way, I saw the cause of the slow traffic. 401 was reduced to 1 lane, right at the exit I would have normally gotten off at. There was no way to avoid it! The bus driver was quite comical about it. "To your left, you will see...the cause of the delay."

It's all good though, I needed the quiet time.

QOD

"Let me put this bluntly, if you do not know the Scriptures, if you have not learned to handle the Christian’s spiritual weapons rightly the devil is going to shoot you in the balls with his arrows of lies! The result is that you will become confused, discouraged, immobilized and unproductive as a Christian and eventually, slowly drift away from the faith."

- Rik Fleming, Journal of a Battling Christian

Source

Headache.

ZOMG I need sleepz.

side note: updated my TFSA post here.

Heartache.

We pray for that moment. We pray for the desire to love God and follow Him. We pray for Him to break our hearts for the things that break His. We ask all these things, and then what?

My heart has literally ached these past few days. I have been only offered slight solace in prayer, but it continues on.

The truth is, I don't even know what to say about it.

I will confess that I am very tempted to try to squelch out the heartache: To willfully engage in sin. To dull the senses.

Why not stop? Why try so hard?

This world is so evil. What would the difference between ultimate good and better than the average?

I can't even answer that. I soldier on. I have to say that it has to be the Spirit. Because, my reason and my will would have given up a long time ago.

Lesson

I went to Square One after work on Thursday. Consider it a mini prayer walk. I was not really there to purchase anything, more to just observe the different sights and sounds of the busy shopping mall. A couple things I noticed, before I did into the heart of the story:

• "Merry Christmas" was one of the rotating messages on the electronic banner of the Christmas Tree in the food court.
• "Don't mess with the Fairies" sign in Green Earth. I was thoroughly disturbed. After which, I prayed against the fairies.
• Saleswomen wear revealing clothing despite the freezing temperature. Again, I was thoroughly disturbed.

So I sat myself on one of those comfy chairs outside of Walmart and decided to read my mini bible. Spend some time in prayer and just prepare my heart for the team meeting later that evening. A chinese man approaches me.

"Are you Christian?" That was an easy question. He then proceeds to tell me that his car has broken down. Granted, a lot of this is in Chinese. But, I surmised that his battery was dead and that he needed a jump. "Mo Deen". :/

At this point, a person would commonly think: Is this person someone that could harm me? With the hype of the media, it would not be difficult to imagine all the horrible things that could happen to someone in a darkened parking lot while their back is turned. I prayed to God. I did not feel a pressing answer in either direction. I looked at the man, and thought "I could take him" (in a fight). So off we went.

We went to the parking lot, and I was asking him "Where is your car?". And he said, oh that it was south on Hurontario. So we took my car and drove down Hurontario. So as we are driving, we are talking. I find out that he is Buddhist. Superb. Since, I don't know where I am driving to I ask him again, "So, where is your car?".

"Oh, it is an impound lot. The guy told me I should wait somewhere warm." My mind, "WHAT!?". "Oh...so where do you want me to take you?" "Home... in Brantford." At which point, I have to tell him that this is not doable. I have a meeting with people, which was the honest truth. I decide to drop him off at Cooksville, where he can take the bus to Union and take a greyhound from there.

I give him money. He originally asks for $20, but that amount balloons as we get closer to cooksville. He offers to pay it back, if I would give him my home address. I did not, telling him to pay it forward. He asks me when the bus will be coming, as I let him off. I told him they come within 20 minutes, which is true for rush hour...I was not sure for that particular instant. I can only hope that it comes for him very quickly.

I have to ask the inevitable question: Was I scammed or was this an actual person in need? I am leaning towards a person who needed help, but was afraid to ask fully outright what they wanted. Sort of like a person who asks for a little with the intention of getting more. This sort of comes more true with the lies and the money stuff. (It is a pretty inefficient scam to get someone to drive you to Brantford, unless you plan to beat him and take his car in the middle of nowhere. Even so, Brantford?)

The more important question is what did God want to teach me out of this? Of the things I was upset about, that I sort of lied to get him out of my car (bus schedule). And that on the way to Cooksville, he was talking about how "god" brought him to me. I was silent. The thing that embarrasses me the most is not that I could have been scammed and lied to, but that I did not say anything about Jesus.

Prop 8

I think I will stop watching Jack Black movies.

Another Quote!

"All I ask is the chance to prove that money can't make me happy."

- Spike Milligan

Quote of the Day.

Two Quotes, you lucky people:

"If there is anything the nonconformist hates worse than a conformist, it's another nonconformist who doesn't conform to the prevailing standard of nonconformity."

-- Bill Vaughan

"Perhaps one day the Indian will put down his tomahawk and the white man will put down his gun, and the white man will pick up his gun again because ha-ha, sucker."

--Jack Handey

Tax Free Saving Account

So I will stop talking about it in person. Accounts can be opened in January 2009, here are some helpful links:

Bloggers:
http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/2008/02/26/tax-free-savings-account-tfsa
http://www.four-pillars.ca/2008/11/07/tax-free-savings-account-tfsa-refresher/

TD FAQ:
http://www.tdcanadatrust.com/invest/tax_free.jsp

Remember:
It is not a savings account per se, it is an INVESTMENT vehicle. You can buy stocks in it (that produce dividends which ARE NOT TAXED).

UPDATE!
http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/2008/11/17/which-tax-free-savings-account-tfsa

The Financial Crisis

...a simple illustration to convey what is going on in the states.


Original Source: Jesse's Cafe Americain

thinkings...

Hat tip to Vicki for both the Sunday Night convo and the scrapbook.

I was reminded of something when we were talking. Sadly, I don't remember the exact quote but I know it is from Vincent Cheung. A paraphrase:

"We must drag the unbeliever kicking and screaming, for he will not come to the Lord willingly."

We often talk about God drawing the sinner to repentance. (John 6:44) I do not dispute that. I do think that we tend to minimize our role in the process. It is God's job to bring the unbeliever. We eliminate the possibility of us being the means to accomplish that end. It reminds me of Romans 11, when Paul is telling the believers in Rome,

"How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?" Rom 11:14

Where is the boldness in the proclamation for God? Someone says something insulting to God, we look down and shuffle our feet. Someone brings something that supposedly deflates the existance of God, and we get all flustered. Is not truth on our side?

Oh, but you know Christians aren't supposed to argue. We have to be loving. Is it loving to withhold the gospel message to people? Did not Paul and Barnabas argue with Greek philosophers in Acts?

Oh, well unbelievers are not idiots. They can weigh the information and they'll find God. Romans 1 says otherwise. People do not find God, God finds them. Most people are unwilling to change if left to their own devices.

Oh, well I don't want to look like an idiot. What if I get it wrong or say something misleading? I think this is the most common problem that prevents believers from sharing/arguing. I also think it is a very faulty, very self-oriented excuse. Maybe we're not supposed to win the argument? A temporary loss in battle, to win the overall war?^{1 2}

Whatever the reason, this can go on no longer. We have to put aside the false notions of the day: tolerance, mutual respect, fake love. These things stem from the world and not from God. They will pass away under scrutiny. I know that if athiests, muslims, hindus, etc. were put under the same criticism as Christianty, they would not last a week.

2 Tim 3:12 promises persecution for the godly follower. If you do not see the persecution towards yourself or your Christian brethren, you should seriously examine yourself. It is better to find fault now and repent than arrive at the gates of heaven to learn that God does not know you.

^{1 This is hardly a petition to be ignorant about God. Paul exhorts Timothy to be ready in and out of season. You should be ready at all times, as well. 2 Tim 4:2.
2 In fact, most arguments levied towards Christianity are the same over-used arguments that other Christians have answered. It is out there on the web. The hardest questions I have ever faced have come from other Christians who wanted to understand God more.}

Grow Up!

My latest major contemplative thought is the concept of "growing up". This was further pronounced by my mom's disparaging remarks regarding my Left 4 Dead marathon gameplay. (This will be the last post about L4D). In my frustration, I asked her if I should be spending my time trying to bed foreign women as that would seem more adult-like? She was not amused. Neither was God.

But, what I want to focus on is this: When is someone grown up?

What were the traditional markers? Being married? Owning a home? Kids? These are things that have been pushed back further and further in Western countries. Instead, we have this period of extended adolescence from graduation to high 20's and low 30's where young adults pursue hobbies, careers, loose men and women, etc. It is a time of "soul-searching" which typically involves unbridled hedonism. I do not think it is wise to base any idea off of tradition. It is merely a form of peer pressure.

So are we an adult at 18? or 21? Legally, yes. But, we have all met that special person whom it seems God has shortchanged in the "maturity" department. As well, there are some kids who are more composed than many adults! Furthermore, we still base our assumptions off of subjective criteria that someone somewhere developed!

Where else do we have to go, but the Bible? The first nine chapters of Proverbs is set out like a father teaching his son. Paul speaks to Timothy as a father and mentor in His letters. Some say that Jacob offers a poor example of instilling values upon his sons. Daniel offers an excellent example of a young man who was mature in his dealings, and rose up to become very useful to the various Babylonian kings he served.

BUT! Are we not looking at this with the wrong perspective?

"When will you grow up?" is language designed to "shame" the person into acting a certain way to the approval of the questioner.¹ Are we to modify our behaviour for the praise of men? Do we take value in what we own, who we're married to, and what we're capable of? Or is there something else...?

Our life should be lived for the approval of God. Our value should be derived from knowing that we are sons and daughters of God. And we should grow knowing that faith and maturity are intertwined. We are only "growing up" when we strive to know God.

^{1. I am speaking when it is most often deployed. I am sure there are situations with loved ones who question you for your own well being.}

Great Depression

In case, anyone is wondering why we're not seeing the Depression.

The Coming Great Depression: Leaving Fantasyland

Wall Street Journal commentator Peggy Noonan is undoubtedly not alone is seeing no evidence of Depression in America--yet: Turbulence Ahead:

"One of the weirdest, most perceptually jarring things about the economic crisis is that everything looks the same. We are told every day and in every news venue that we are in Great Depression II, that we are in a crisis, a cataclysm, a meltdown, the credit crunch from hell, that we will lose millions of jobs, and that the great abundance is over and may never return. Three great investment banks have fallen while a fourth totters, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen 31% in six months. And yet when you free yourself from media and go outside for a walk, everything looks . . . the same.

Everyone is dressed the same. Everyone looks as comfortable as they did three years ago, at the height of prosperity. The mall is still there, and people are still walking into the stores and daydreaming with half-full carts in aisle 3. Everyone's still overweight.

But the point is: Nothing looks different.

In the Depression people sold apples on the street. They sold pencils. Angels with dirty faces wore coats too thin and short and shivered in line at the government surplus warehouse."

Peg would be well-served by reading up a bit on the Depression's timeline. As noted here last week, (The Coming Great Depression: Scapegoats and Exploitation) the Dow Jones Industrial Average actually recovered in early 1930 to early-1929 levels. (Look for the same this time around, too--DJIA 12,600 is in the cards a few months out, despite all the structural damage to the market and economy.)

Breadlines didn't form in November 1929--the structural damage took years to play out then, and it will take years to play out now. So don't rush things, Peggy--we'll get to a visible Depression soon enough.

Great Depression: (Wikipedia)
The Great Depression was not a sudden, total collapse. The stock market turned upward in early 1930, returning to early 1929 levels by April, though still almost 30 percent below the peak of September 1929. Together, government and business actually spent more in the first half of 1930 than in the corresponding period of the previous year. But consumers, many of whom had suffered severe losses in the stock market the previous year, cut back their expenditures by ten percent, and a severe drought ravaged the agricultural heartland of the USA beginning in the summer of 1930.

In early 1930, credit was ample and available at low rates, but people were reluctant to add new debt by borrowing. By May 1930, auto sales had declined to below the levels of 1928. Prices in general began to decline, but wages held steady in 1930, then began to drop in 1931. We can already anticipate "ample credit at low rates" in 2009, just as we can also anticipate wages holding steady for awhile even as sales fall. The wheels will fall off later in 2009 and deteriorate further in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Here are the structural realities which have yet to play out:

1. You can't force households or businesses to borrow more money and spend it. Japan's central bank has flooded that nation with liquidity and low interest money for 19 years to little effect.
2. U.S. consumers and corporations are already burdened with staggering debt. Not only can't you force people to borrow more, you also can't force lenders to loan more money to insolvent households and businesses.
3. Whatever money people get their hands on is going to paying down debt and savings. Studies of the first "stimulus package" checks which went out to taxpayers in 2008 revealed that 2/3 of the money was not spent but used to service debt or saved. Future "stimulus checks" will also fail to boost spending; people already have more stuff than they know what to do with.
4. The FIRE economy is dead. Finance, insurance and real estate (FIRE) all prospered for one reason: the velocity of transactions and debt instruments. With the volume of transactions off by 2/3 (real estate) or 99% (home equity loans), the FIRE economy is shrinking fast, with no barriers to further declines. With lending standards rising even as real estate values plummet, there is nothing to stop transaction and debt velocity from falling much further.
5. Governments and corporations alike are living with Fantasyland expectations of revenue. I recently pored over the 2009 fiscal year budget of my town of 120,000 people (general fund spending is $135 million, which doesn't include capital projects or bond-funded spending) and was dumbstruck by the insanely unrealistic revenue expectations.

The city expects to reap the same amount of easy money from real estate transfer taxes (1% of any real estate transaction goes to the city) in 2009 as it did in 2007 and 2008: about $11 million.

Huh? As transaction volumes decline by 2/3 and the sales prices plummet, then how can you possibly expect to rake in the same transfer tax revenues?

The downtown shopping district was eerily quiet on Black Friday; empty storefronts are everywhere, and sales are falling even at the town's sales-tax heavyweights, the Toyota and Honda auto dealerships. Yet the city expects to haul in the same sales tax revenue as in 2008. Based on what?

The entire nation is in the grip of massive, total denial that revenues will drop in a recession. Companies are trimming travel costs, as are consumers; San Francisco International Airport was virtually empty on Wednesday, once one of the busiest travel days of the year. Airports almost empty day before Thanksgiving.

"The dreaded Day before Thanksgiving was not so dreadful after all. Bay Area airports were eerily empty for much of what traditionally has been among the busiest travel days of the year.
"There's nobody here," said Deborah Vainieri, who was waiting at San Francisco International Airport with her husband, Humberto, for a flight to Portland. In a plot to beat the crowds, the Vainieris had arrived at the airport four hours early. They walked right up to the check-in machine and were done in less than a minute."

6. If lenders make risky loans, they will go under--and most U.S. households and businesses are no longer creditworthy risks. So there you have it: This conflict cannot be resolved. Lenders who foolishly extend credit to over-indebted, risk-laden borrowers will be paid back with losses and insolvency, yet as lending standards tighten and assets plummet in value, the number of creditworthy borrowers in the U.S. has shrunk.

As noted here many times: many of those who qualify for loans are deadset against debt. That's why they're creditworthy--they've refused to take on huge debt for cultural or fiscal-prudence reasons. They have zero interest in taking on debt, even at zero interest.

You can't force people to borrow money, especially when they're already overloaded with debt, and you can't force prudent people to borrow when they have no need for more property, nor can you force people to buy real estate even as the values continue falling.

7. The U.S. already has too much of everything: too many hotels, malls, office towers, homes, condos, strip-malls, lamps, furniture, CDs, TVs, clothing, etc. As 50 million storage lockers filled to capacity with consumer crap are emptied in a desperate move to reduce expenses and raise cash, the value of literally everything ever manufactured will fall to near-zero.

As noted here many times before, the entire U.S. housing market was held aloft by two anomalies: speculators hoping to "flip" for huge profits, and a "one dwelling for every person" mentality that confused rising population with a rising number of households.

We are already seeing how population can continue rising slowly even as the number of households declines. It's called moving back home, doubling up, renting out a room, etc. There are at least 20 million surplus dwellings in the U.S. right now; there is no need for 700,000 more a year to be built, or even 70,000 more.

The FIRE economy based on transaction and debt volume/velocity: gone, over, toast. Housing market based on speculative flipping and one-person households: over, gone, toast. Loose lending by delusional lenders to risky, over-indebted borrowers: gone, over, toast. Borrowing based on rising real estate values: gone, over, toast.

The notion that we "need" more of anything: gone, over, toast. The idea that you can force lenders to lend to uncreditworthy borrowers: gone, over, toast. The idea you can force people drowning in debt to borrow more: gone, over, toast.

Source

On Gun Control

No One Will Protect You
Vox Day
December 1st 2008

The analysis of the massacres at the Taj Mahal hotel are just getting started. It's still not yet known exactly how many victims there were or how extensive the attackers' preparations were. Some experts believe the al-Qaida bogeyman is to blame; others suspect religious elements of the Pakistani security forces, while India's martial preparations would appear to indicate suspicions of the Pakistani government itself.

But the one thing that is obvious regardless of precisely how the attacks were planned and carried out, it is that governments and their professional agents are totally incapable of assuring individual security against terrorism. This was true in the 1970s when the Baader Meinhof gang was killing businessmen and the Japanese Red Army was shooting up airports. It is just as true today. Not even completely comprehensive surveillance and security is capable of preventing the actions of individuals who do not fear legal consequences; if the reverse were true, there would never have been any crime committed in the totalitarian states of the Soviet Union or the People's Republic of China.

Because the government agents responsible for responding to terrorist threats are not machines but individuals who quite reasonably value their own lives, government reactions are always going to be either more widely lethal than the terrorist actions themselves or constrained to a slow process of containment. While the Indian government could have brought the recent incident to a speedy end by ordering the Indian air force to bomb the entire section of Bombay where the attacks took place, the cure would have been worse than the disease. The only alternative was the response that Americans have seen on their televisions time and time again: A small army of police encircling a building while unarmed citizens are slaughtered before their useless show of force.

Even a physical police presence prior to an attack is no insurance of security. Military studies have shown that as many as 70 percent of trained soldiers will not fire their weapons at another human being even in wartime, so the probability is that most police officers will not either. Hence the anger of a photographer who had one of the train-station attackers in his sights, but no weapon more lethal than his camera:

But what angered Mr. D'Souza ... were the masses of armed police hiding in the area who simply refused to shoot back. "There were armed policemen hiding all around the station but none of them did anything," he said. "At one point, I ran up to them and told them to use their weapons. I said, 'Shoot them, they're sitting ducks!' but they just didn't shoot back."

The stories of the Bombay survivors tell of helpless victims hiding for hours before being hunted down and murdered. There were nearly as many people hiding in one toilet cubicle as took part in the attack. If even a tenth part of the unarmed masses in the area had been armed, the siege would have been brought to an end in hours rather than days, saving hundreds of lives. But instead of relying upon themselves, they relied upon the government to protect them and in doing so paid the ultimate price.

The truth is that no one will protect you – not the police, not the part-time security guard, not the staff of whatever business you are patronizing and not the national armed forces. You must take responsibility for protecting yourself, and the only means to do that is to ensure that you are appropriately armed whenever you intend to go out in public regardless of what the local laws might say.

The law cannot abrogate one's right to self-defense; to the extent that it attempts to do so, it is inherently illegitimate and should be ignored. Don't fall for the false assurances of police and others who would prefer to possess a legal monopoly on the means of violence. They exist only to contain the damage and provide the allusion of security as well as post-facto deterrence. They are not there to protect you. No one is.

Source

---

Read the embedded article.

Go to Church

Three hours of sleep for both Saturday and Sunday did not put Richard in the greatest mood. God spoke pretty clearly that he wanted me at church, so I hauled my behind to church and was pretty glad I did.

I asked someone to mentor me a month ago. He told me that he was willing to, today. :)

Worship

"All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing praise to your name." Ps 66:4

I feel like everytime I teach something, that it is actually for my benefit. The things that God reveals to me for the purpose of sharing in prayer meeting, in Bible study, or random sharing. God reminds me of these lessons a week or so later. I am a hypocrite, but God is gracious.

A week ago, I briefly talked about praying to God. How often we bring a laundry list of items to God expecting Him to fix the problems we see? Our worship of Him falls so short. It falls short, because we barely know Him. Our understanding of Him is so limited. Our understanding ABOUT Him is pretty good, but what and how we experience Him is so shallow.

God, I want to know you. In my prayers, speech, and life... allow me to pay proper respect to You. Let me live a life that is pleasing to You, for Your glory, for Your Kingdom.

Moment

Had a Plato and Socrates moment with Marc this morning. It was pleasant. It gave me peace.

Also for you girls that weren't at prayer meeting, Ginny was there by herself. It was a major sausagefest. She felt awkward, and clearly people played up on that. I must have uttered "Awkward!" a dozen times. And this is a prayer meeting!

Hilarity ensues...

When your last surviving teammate gets flung off the roof by a Tank on the last stage of Left 4 Dead.

Heartbreak is...

Getting flung off the roof by a Tank on the last stage of Left 4 Dead.

Back to the Word

WARNING: Mature Content.

"We need to go back to the Word."

This thought was originally brought up by a brief article I was reading on a person's blog. It began with a search about piety as a sin. The blogger talked about how new age ideas have infiltrated the church and that old school orthodoxy are no longer hip and relevant today. He lamented that people can embrace the world's lies so easily. And he was talking about the church!

"We live and breathe in a narcissistic evangelicalism where preaching has been exchanged for therapy, sacraments for personal experience, discipline for dubious notions of sincerity, regulated worshp [sic] for entertainment, and the fellowship of the saints for cell-group discussions and self-feeding, all the while scorning ordinary means as 'boring', 'lifeless', or the embodiment of 'dead orthodoxy.'"

How true.

The point was further re-emphasized on my search for a quote "anything that leads you away from God is a sin" (para-phrase, if anyone knows who said it... it was a woman, let me know. I forgot where I found it). The first search result in google was "can masterbating [sic] bring you away from god". I thought it was a Christian forum, so I entered. It was not. From what I can tell the poster was Christian (posted Feb 7th 2007).

A religious breakdown of the respondents: (12)

Not Mentioned: 6
^-- Probably Christian/Catholic: 3
Athiest: 2
Catholic: 1
Christian: 2
Wiccan: 1

I want to focus on the results of the Christians and (to a lesser extent) Catholics, because they should have some understanding of Scripture. (side note: The athiest argument was weak logically. Wiccan was crazy.) Out of the 12 respondants, there are 6 (probable) Christian/Catholics that have either outright stated that they are, or from their comment I have surmised that they are.

Of the six:
Three horrible comments:
One denied infallibilty of Scripture - the Bible was made to control the masses. What do you base your belief on?
One said to ask a bishop or pastor and avoid a priest, because you might get raped. How does this help?
One revealed the proper context of Onan (mentioned by a previous poster) to suggest that masturbation isn't wrong. (That verse shouldn't be used to condemn masturbation.) However, goes on to say that masturbation is okay... in fact, "it's a sin NOT to enjoy and WORSHIP the gift that He has given you". (emphasis mine) Again, how does this help? In fact, you lead the poor lad away from God.

One practical suggestion:
Stay occupied to avoid masturbation.

Two worthwhile ideas:
Be sorry for what you did, pray for forgiveness. He talked about God a lot.
Cling to God.

So out of all of this, I realize that I have incredibly high standards for an online forum.

So out of all of this, I have to come back to my church and the people around me, and myself. I think there is a flaw in our understanding of how to come closer to God. It is related to the idea of inreach, where Christians take time to care about one another and motivate each other to grow in Christ. There is nothing wrong with that. However, when the church fails to reach out to those that are lost...there is a problem. When the church fails to teach its members solid theology... there is a problem.

Personally, I feel that my church has been blessed with pastors that have emphasized our understanding of Scripture. That is a good thing. Unfortunately, we have not been so great at reaching out to those that are lost. All throughout my Christian walk, this has been the norm. Fellowships that are focused on the self, and deaf to the mission call. Even for myself, I bring these flaws into my leadership.

Our understanding of God is so shallow and we are satisfied. We study the Bible, for the sake of one uping our fellow Christians. We spread the gospel with a hard heart, claiming that if people don't react to the message; God hasn't called them to be saved. We are disciples of hate, self-centeredness, and feel goodness. We pray in a patronizing tone to someone we have kept at arm's length rather than an intimate lover.

God has called us to more than this. Seek God with all your heart. Study the Bible for it is profitable in many ways, even when teaching to others, the Word still teaches you more and more. Spread the gospel with a broken heart, show people that they are in deed lost without His saving grace. Are we really that determined...? Considering, failure leads to eternal death? Repent, and come back into His presence. Bask in it, knowing that He gives peace.

It is time we stopped kidding ourselves and desired God unashamedly, desperately... all the time and everywhere.

Questions

This is a placeholder for future questions that I want to tackle.

If you have any questions... here would be a good place to ask.

I swear I will get around to this.

Blogs

Been thinking about what I want to post. In the meanwhile, check out some of the new blogs I read. A brief description of each follows:

Amir Larijani - American Christian who examines a variety of social matters.
Arminian Today - A person who claims to be Arminian; looks at both sides of the Calvinist and Arminian debate. (It's hard to find people who argue for the Arminian side, so he's a breath of fresh air.)
Biblical Manhood - Kind of obvious.
Chrisendom - A NT TA in London.
Endtimes Disciple - Emphasizes that the end is near.
Farmeruminations - He's a farmer.
Godfidence - Confidence in God.
Journal of a Battling Christian - Recovering Christian.
Political Correctness Watch - A good site to observe the prevailing liberal bias in media.
Pros Apologian - James White. Frequently delves in apologetics.
Puritan Calvinist - Theology student, Adam. Frequently counters poor arguments on boundless.
Real Clear Theology - Dr. Eric Svendsen, director of New Testament Research Ministries. A Pastor and Professor.
Scripturally Single - This guy fights for the gift of singleness.
True Discernment - A Christian who applies Scripture to the different social and economic happenings in the world.
Vox Popoli - Author of Irrational Athiest. Weighs in on economics, social concerns, and arguments for Athiesm.

NOTE: Although, I keep up to date with many of the things that these people write. I don't always agree with them 100%. (Clearly, Arminian Today and Pros Apologian would have differing thoughts in certain areas of theology). You should weigh what they say against Scripture, and decide if the words they speak are from God or not.

So Ends....

A very frustrating day...granted, a victorious day.

Quote of the Day

"I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it."

-- Jack Handey

That made me laugh.

Responsibility?

Railroad attacked for ordering children off trains
Thu Nov 13, 2008 10:07am EST

By Josie Cox

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's national railway company has come under fire from passenger groups after inspectors ordered children off trains because they did not have the right tickets.

Deutsche Bahn has apologized for the embarrassing incidents that made headlines across the country.

In the fourth such expulsion in three weeks, a 12-year-old schoolgirl was made to leave a train an hour's ride from home because she could not pay a 40 euro ($50) fine.

"It is purely foolish to react in such a way," said Karl-Peter Naumann, director of the passenger organization Pro Bahn. "Banishing them from the train is inhumane and causes unnecessary problems."

German newspapers had already condemned Deutsche Bahn on Tuesday after a 14-year-old was told to leave a train because her ticket was only valid later in the day.

Earlier, a 13-year-old and a 12-year-old were also forced to leave trains. One child had to carry her cello 5 km (3 miles) home in the dark while the other was left on a platform with no money or mobile phone.

Wednesday, Deutsche Bahn said all ticket inspectors would have to sign an agreement promising not to banish children from trains if traveling alone.

"Everybody should know that it is unacceptable to throw children off the train," a spokesman told the TAZ daily.

(Editing by Giles Elgood)

Source

----

Am I missing something here? The train company is there to make money. If you do not have a ticket... you're kind of hosed. Perhaps, the train company could have handled it better?

Finally, what is with the "right" ticket thing? Ride the train at the right time? Should they not have better customer relations to handle getting the right ticket for the right situation?

So what is the Christian perspective on this?

Board Game Stats

CHEE-KEN
Description: Do not be fooled by his goofy demeanor, beneath that care-free smile is a cunning strategist.

DEDUCTION:☺

EXECUTION:☺☺☺☺☺

MANIPULATION:☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺

STRATEGY:☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺

DEPICTION:☺☺☺

*Legend: (all stats have max value of 10)
Deduction - Guessing.
Execution - Acting.
Manipulation - Negotiation.
Strategy - Foresight.
Depiction - Drawing.

Epic Sunday

This Sunday, there were several points of ownage, or of enlightenment. I will rate them out of /10 where 10 is I feel like God pwned me the hardest, and 0 being a moment of non-pwnage...which I guess wouldn't be a moment at all?

The Lee Beach Sermon [3/10]:

A good reminder on spreading the Good news. Also, he touched upon something that was highlighted last week. Would not the one thing you want most affect how you live your life?

Sunday School with Paul Wan [8/10]:

OMG, I don't know Romans. Every time we meet, my respect for this man increases: I slowly learn how huge of a gap there is between our levels.

Pizza Lunch with Cliff [6/10]:

Ever have one of those moments where you just need to hear someone else say the thing that you already know?

Charades with Zoe [1/10]:

I cannot act or guess for beans.

Radical Homosexuals Trample a Cross, Harass a Granny, Crash a Church, and Threaten Joe the Plumber's Life

Can you imagine what would happen if a gang of angry male Christian activists started shouting down and shoving around some nice old lesbian during a religious rally right after ripping her rainbow pride flag from her hands and waffle stomping it? How much television coverage do you think that spat of stupidity would spawn? What kind of outrage do you think the gays would gin up over such an inexcusable and pathetic act?

I'll tell you what would happen: We would see an irate Elton John hold a special Candle in the Wind concert on the old lesbian's behalf, Lance Bass would host a telethon, Ellen would weep, Brad and Angelina would adopt another baby and Rosie would shave the right side of her head again and again until justice was served and those chunks of corn were convicted and sent to prison. You and I both know we'd never hear the end of it, and you know what? We shouldn't because that kind stupid, out-of-whack bullying is bull.

What about this scenario? Say some dyed-in-the-wool, belligerent backwoods snake handlers sporting crosses, vicious anti-gay fliers and blarin' Dueling Banjos on a boom box infiltrated a gay soiree, disrupted the event, disbursed their literature into the crowd, performed some hetero sex acts and then threatened those in attendance? Do you think the gay bloggers would blog it and the MSM report on it and both sectors call for the rednecks' necks? Fo' shizzle my nizzle they would.

Indulge me one more scenario: Would it be cool if a conservative Christian talk show host called for the death of some gay dude named Joe who simply campaigned for a month for president elect Barack Obama? Would that be cool? You and I both know the answer to that question would be "H" to the no-it would not be cool. That guy would be Imus'ed so fast his head would spin. His days of talk radio would be over.

The above three supposed scenes would be publically condemned, the perps would be captured, convicted and imprisoned, their names would become proverbs for our populace, and the nation would be put on notice that if Christians take their disagreements with homosexuality to belligerent, disruptive and life-threatening levels that their butts will be imprisoned.

It seems as of late, however, that gays can do the above junk to Christians and get a pass from certain cops and the mainstream media. Yep, just this past week a 69-year-old woman carried a Styrofoam cross in support of traditional marriage into a pro-gay marriage march in Palm Springs and within seconds had the cross ripped from her hands and stomped on, and then the homosexuals began to shove her around and curse her out. You can watch it on YouTube here. If Christians would have done that to an old gay lady they would be currently in the Palm Springs pokey waiting to make bail. No arrests were made. Can you say, double standard? I knew you could.

From that crap we move to Lansing, Michigan and last Sunday's protest inside the Mount Hope Church by the rabid gay group Bash Back. These winners entered the church along with worshippers and surprised the congregation when they stood up during the service, threw fliers and condoms at the congregants, pulled the fire alarm, made out in front of the church by the pulpit and shouted slogans such as "Jesus was a homo." No arrests were made.

In light of this Mount Hope Church event I've spoken to several pastors across the nation who have wisely beefed up their security in case the protests/threats turn violent. Matter of fact, if I was a radical gay activist I would really think twice about barnstorming churches and threatening their members.

Then we come to one Charles Bouley, queer activist and talk show host on San Francisco's (where else) station KGO who on November 1st angrily said on the air that Joe the Plumber was a "G** D*** M-F'er" that he wanted dead! At least he got fired this past week. However, I'm sure he's inking a contract right now for a gig on a new station to keep hate alive. Again, if homosexuals got the above from Christians the media and the cops would be on them like a duck on a June bug.

My advice to the MSM is this: If I were you, I'd cover it and condemn what the gays are doing to Christians and their Churches or it's going to get worse-way worse. And lastly to the radical gay guys, do you really believe that this kind of belligerent behavior is going to make Americans capitulate to your cause? Who came up with this strategy? Was it the same guys who thought that Clear Pepsi would be a real winner?

Source

Geek.

For a tech guy, I don't own much tech. The only thing I can forsee changing in the short run is the cell phone. Below is a randomly created scoring system to indicate level of geekery.

I consider seven major staple categories of technology, followed by a bonus section for random gadgets. Scoring is only for more current pieces of technology, because everyone has the aging 486 in their basement. :)

STAPLES:

Console
Own a Next Gen (Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, PS3) [+2 per console]
Own a Prev Gen (Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, PS2) [+1 per console]
Me: I own a Nintendo, Super Nintendo, N64...as the closest thing. I could debate on the gamecube, my brother split one with his housemates.

PC
Current Gen (Dual-core/Quad-core) PC [+2]
Single-Core PC [+1]
OC for either [+1]
Multiple PCs (Not incl Laptop) [+1 per extra machine]
Me: My desktop is probably the only thing that affords me the techie name. OC'd AMD 3200+ and 7900GT volt mod.

Laptop
In addition to PC [+2]
Solo [+1]
Me: None. I have wanted one for a while, but I cannot justify the cost of the model I would like...the XPS M1330.

TV
Big Screen TV 50"+ [+2]
Plasma/LCD TV [+1]
Multiple TVs [+1 per TV of caliber mentioned above]
Me: No Hi-def at my house whatsoever. End of story.

Cell Phone
Have a cellphone [+1]
Multi-function (Mp3, Browsing, GPS) [+2]
Text Messaging regularly [+1]
Me: A very plain vanilla Nokia 6265i although I am looking to upgrade. Pure voice plan here.

MP3 Player
iPod [+2]
Generic [+1]
Each additional device [+1]
Me: I don't have an MP3 player.

Digital Camera/Recording Device
SLR [+2]
Camcorder [+1]
Camera [+1]
Each additional device [+1]
Me: I gave my Canon SD300 to my mom.

BONUS: [Pretty much list out every gadget you have and give yourself +1 each.]
Some examples, include: GPS devices, Sub-notebooks, PocketPCs, Palms, TabletPCs, eBook Readers, etc.

Me:
Nokia N770 [+1] The most useless piece of crap evers. It is the model right before the models that actually start being useful.
USB Stick [+1] I carry one on me all the time.
Nintendo DS [+1] I barely use it, as I am always driving on those long road trips. :P

So out of my geekery list, I score 9 out of a possible infinite number. When I put it like that, I don't sound that quite geek. How did you score?

EDIT: Can't believe I forgot cameras.

Fear.

"It is because of our trusting in experience that we see the steadfast impatience of the Holy Spirit against unbelief. All of our fears are sinful, and we create our own fears by refusing to nourish ourselves in our faith. How can anyone who is identified with Jesus Christ suffer from doubt or fear! Our lives should be an absolute hymn of praise resulting from perfect, irrepressible, triumphant belief."

-- Oswald Chambers

Blessed

I sometimes forget, how blessed I am. My life is not perfect...neither can it be. God gives me everything I need. The items are too many list. And yes, you, dear reader are probably one of them. :)

One particular thing, that I forget often is to thank God for is our freedom. I often complain (and no doubt will complain in future) that it is something that is slowly being eroded by the Government. However, as today is Remembrance Day, let's put that aside.

Take some time today to remember the brave souls that fought for God and country. :)

Weird.

After prayer meeting, had a talk with a friend on the way home. Shared about how struggles is with home and my "heavy involvement" with church stuff (at least from the perspective of my mom).

Immediately upon entering the home, mom discusses the situation of another friend. This friend has felt God's call to enter seminary, despite having gone through undergrad already. My mom thinks that she should be more practical about her life and her faith, and get a real job. This would help out the family, too. I defended my friend, perhaps God has called her to seminary and has a purpose that lies outside of secular work? My mom strongly disagrees. This of course, opens up into a discussion about what I am doing with my life (perhaps, this was my mom's motive in the first place?)

One heated argument later, I am writing up this blog post... instead of praying. I will go pray more, especially for God to work on my mom.

The Deterioration of Free Speech

A VERY SCARY LAUGH
August 25, 2006 12:00am

ANDREW Bolt writes: He quoted the Koran in a way that caused laughter and we all know how dangerous laughing Christians are, don't we?

Let a top lawyer -- Debbie Mortimer, SC -- demonstrate why you should laugh at the Bracks Government's vilification laws.

Or, perhaps, why you should fear them instead.

Of course, Mortimer doesn't actually want you to laugh at these laws, or indeed to see them as an outrageous attack on your freedom to say what you think.

No, no, no. That wasn't her intention at all when she appeared before Victoria's Appeal Court on Monday.

Truth be told, she'd been hired by the Islamic Council of Victoria to justify these curbs on your free speech.

To be specific, she was there to ask the three appeal judges to dismiss an appeal by two Christian pastors, who were found guilty last year under these very laws of vilifying Muslims.

She wanted those judges to think it fine that pastors Daniel Scot and Danny Nalliah were ordered by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal in December to place full-page advertisements in the papers admitting they had said allegedly bad things about Islam.

And she hoped they would approve VCAT's order that these two Pentecostal pastors not repeat what they truly thought about Islam or to even hint it -- to instead keep their mouths shut even in other states where people are still mercifully free to say what these pastors may not.

All this was Mortimer's brief and, whatever I may write here, the three independent-minded judges will no doubt decide for themselves on the evidence whether her case is strong.

But by now you must think these two pastors surely said something especially wicked to have been silenced so completely. Maybe Mortimer is on the side of justice.

All right, I won't hide from you the sordid truth.

VCAT's Justice Michael Higgins in December ruled that Scot in particular had broken the Government's vilification laws by quoting the Koran in a way that got "a response from the audience at various times in the form of laughter".

And we all know how dangerous laughing Christians are, don't we? No wonder a complaint was abruptly lodged by three Muslim converts who'd monitored the church seminar at the request of a Muslim ICV official then working for the Equal Opportunity Commission.

In his judgment, Higgins listed 13 examples of how Scot had "made fun of Muslim beliefs and conduct". And here is where this case gets surreal: at least eight of them involve Scot quoting the Koran -- and, I believe, quoting it accurately.

It's true, the Koran does indeed say men may "beat" their wives. It does indeed urge believers to "kill disbelievers where you find them". It really does call for thieves to have a hand chopped off.

Scot may have spoken too luridly for my taste and yours, but Higgins did not identify anything he said that was actually false, other than an immigration statistic. Oh, and Scot failed to quote a Koranic verse that said Allah actually was merciful, so there.

Instead, Higgins found Scot erred because he "failed to differentiate between Muslims throughout the world (and) preached a literal translation of the Koran and of Muslims' religious practices that was not mainstream".

And perhaps he's right. Perhaps he knows better than does Scot, who was born in Pakistan and has studied the Koran for years, what is mainstream Islamic teaching and what is not.

Indeed, the judge may understand Islam better than does even the Mufti of Australia himself, Sheik Taj Al-Din Al-Halali, who seems to feel it's a faith that entitles him to say September 11 attacks were "God's work against oppressors", suicide bombers are "heroes" and Muslims must "prove our manhood towards God" in a "war of infidels".

Will someone please inform the Mufti that his interpretation of Islam is contradicted by Justice Higgins, and he should take religious instruction from him? Or is it just possible that it's the judge's opinion of Islam that isn't so mainstream?

I guess the notion of what is authentic Muslim teaching is just a matter of opinion, after all, and it's just bad luck Scot's side of the argument has been ruled illegal, no matter how true it may be.

But perhaps you still find it hard to believe we really do now have laws that may lead a judge to stop a man from saying even what is true in a vital argument about faith.

You wouldn't be alone.

On Monday one of the appeal judges, Geoffrey Nettle, asked the ICV's counsel if Nalliah and Scot truly had been banned by the VCAT tribunal from repeating what they'd said -- even the bits that were true.

"Surely that (vilification law) can't justify restraining them from saying something that said by anyone else would be legal?" he asked.

"In the case of the (Catch the Fire) newsletter, for example, Pastor Nalliah says many churches have closed down. What's wrong with saying that?"

Replied Mortimer of the ICV: "The tribunal has found there is something wrong with saying it. Truth is not a defence, its irrelevant to contravention of the Act."

You read right. And the worst of it is that she's correct: under the Government's oppressive vilification laws, the truth of what you say is indeed irrelevant.

If you offend someone, even by speaking the plain truth about their faith, you may be in danger of being fined, jailed and silenced.

Scot and Nalliah, for instance, have suffered four years of litigation that has cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars, and are now banned from telling us what they believe about Islam -- even those things that they know are true.

But if these men are victims of this unjust and divisive law then so are we all, because a country that bans truth gives licence to lies. And it is lies, not truth, that will harm us most.

Source

Remember, this article is two years old. What laws have been passed since? And, how long until stuff like this happens here...

Happy 95 Thesis Day!

See here.

SharePoint Conference

A lunch time conversation...
Me: Can I join you?
Guy: Sure. Have a seat.
*After praying for my food*
Guy: So you are Christian?
Me: I am.
Guy: Me too.
*Later Discussion*
Guy: What church do you go to?
Me: X Chinese Alliance Church.
Guy: Oh, I go to a small Chinese church in Y.
*More Discussion*
Me: Soo....what denomination is your church?
Guy: Baptist.
Me: *phew..*

Where X = Some Place, and Y = A Different Place.

Apparently, the person is a father of the drummer at Mac's C4C. I look forward to meeting his son one day. Awesome day. :D

Summa Elvetica

"All things serve a purpose; our inability to discern that purpose does not indicate its absence, only our shortcomings."
(Summa Elvetica, p. 50)

I would seriously recommend reading this book. It is a fantasy fiction similar to LOTR or Narnia with a more visible appeal to elements of Christian faith.

Best of all: It is free online, read it here.

Dear Theophilus,

No one has attempted to undertake a drawing of the account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, seeing as there are only two eyewitnesses beyond myself of this happening. Therefore, I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, so that you may know the certainty of the things that have happened over this past weekend.

In the morning, two disciples made their way to MCAC. They discussed many things including zombies, girls, and Jesus. The two lifted up prayers in the prayer room before playing volleyball with Emmanuel. The setting up of the volleyball net proved to be a challenge for the gathered believers. But, hope prevailed and after a brief warm-up period, everyone played volleyball.

The believers then gathered for a meal for pho. One of the disciples, Kevin Yee, a man filled with God's grace and power, declared his intention to buy office clothes. Kelly Chan, a dealer in purple cloth and worshiper of God, and I would take part in his adventures. The three ventured to Mordor to toss the ring into its hellish fires. The three drove to Orfus road, which turned out to be not that great. After an hour, the three decided to go to Vaughan, where Kevin found a shirt.

It was decided that everone would congregate at the home of Vicki, who can explain the way of God more adequately. These were the members in attendance: Eleasa, always doing good and helping the poor. Kat, lovely in form and features [side note: I hope by now you realize that I am making references to characters in the Bible. | side note II: Also, there aren't that many women in the bible, so gimme a break. Kat is the least likely to read this, and make it awkward.] Kevin Leung, a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith. The group engaged in games of Pooh bag, Monopoly, and Life with each taking their own leave as the night wore on.

The next day, the disciples went to MCAC and Pastor Simon raised his voice and addressed the crowd: 1 Peter 3:15,16! Sunday School was led by Paul Wan, circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. (But, he counts that as a loss now in comparison to knowing Christ.) He spoke on the Great Commission, and making disciples.

Richard and Kevin Yee, then felt it prudent to ditch the member's meeting and have lunch with family. This is where this account ends. I hope to address some of the other happenings in future writings. Peace and Grace.

Rare Pieces Pt. 2

Even though it is a year old, I think this article speaks truth.

Edit:

Oh destruction. According to this, my odds are worse.

Imma Attack You Pt. 2

After much contemplation last night, I have come to a conclusion.

Richard's Law of People Hitting Him and Stuff:

As the age of the girl increases, her fear decreases, and the intensity and frequency of hitting increases.
As the age of the boy increases, his fear increases, and the intensity and frequency of hitting decreases.

I will include graphical representation, documented incidents, and experimental results in a future post.

In the news

"Gamers are twice as likely to go out on dates as nongamers in a given month."

well, there you have it. With the amount of games I am playing, I wouldn't be surprised if there is a line of women outside my door. But, wait...to date those women... I would have to stop playing games. It is like some horrible form of torture.

Answer: Imma attack you!

What is the phrase exclaimed by the 3 year old warrior that pounced on me during a Bible Study several weeks ago?

I figured I would share. His parents were not amused.

Me, I don't understand what it is about me that causes little girls to shirk in fear and inspires little boys to acts of bravery. (Granted, I would not normally consider preemptive strikes as courageous deeds.)

Rare Pieces

After extensive Monopoly Research I have concluded the following pieces are rare:

Purple - Mediterranean Ave*
Light Blue - Vermont Ave
Light Purple - Virginia Ave**
Orange - Unknown (Not New York Ave)
Red - Kentucky Ave
Yellow - Ventnor Ave
Green - Pennsylvania Ave
Blue - Boardwalk

*I am not 100% sure. I only have 1 Baltic.
**Of course, virgins would be rare.

Be forewarned, should I receive one of these rare pieces while in your company...I will be sure to make a fool of myself! I am thinking Legend of Zelda music playing in the background while I triumphantly thrust the Monopoly token skywards.

Quote of the Day.

"The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing in the right place, but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment."

- Dorothy Nevill

Biblical Womanhood

I was reading my google reader with all my friend's blogs. And the reader recommended this blog called "girl talk", now me being the curious individual I am..decided to go visit it. It is a blog dedicated to biblical womanhood. It looks like the author is married, and her post was talking about how to be a better woman of God with regards to her treatment of her husband. Some of the things she wrote caused me to utter an audible "aww", lucky for me none of my co-workers were nearby.

McDonalds

Out of 47 McDonalds Monopoly Tokens:
4 Free Small Barq's Root Beers
1 Ice Cream Cone
1 Baked Muffin
0 Prizes for $1,000,000.

I'll keep you updated.

The Dance

"Well, look who's back again.", he taunted. That is, if you could call it a "he". One always assumed that they would appear red with horns and a pointy tail, but his body was gray all over. Taut muscles were stretched over his wiry frame. There was nothing really grotesque or disgusting about his appearance. He could even be called attractive, like a finely chiseled sculpture, if not for the menacing grin on his face, and those piercing eyes. Eyes that spoke of hate and injustice. Sometimes, Justin could relate with those eyes rather than his own.

Sharpened claws bounced off of Justin's shield. Justin pushed back and swung his sword, missing the retreating figure completely. The gray man cackled, "You'll never hit me with that thing." Justin ignored him and thrust his sword into thin air, the demon having sidestepped effortlessly. The sword was so heavy, so unwieldy. Justin dashed forward and swung in a wide arc towards that maniacal smile. Such a blow would have ended the battle, had it been performed not so clumsily. The demon dodged and the Justin's blade sailed harmlessly through the air, leaving him wide open to assault. The demon would not waste such an opportunity.

Bony fist met tempered iron, as the gray man landed a crushing blow to the side of Justin's face. Stunned, Justin faltered and the demon continued to wail on him, alternating between punches and slashes. Somehow, Justin managed to roll out from the barrage, and the two opponents started circling one another. Blood flowed freely from his wounds. His head still remained on his shoulders due to the helmet perched on his head. Albeit, the impact of the blow had caused it to be crudely bent out of shape.

The gray man continued to stare at him. His eyes danced with delight, victory was within his grasp. "Come on, child of God. You haven't even land a blow on me. Is this the best God has to offer?", he mocked. Angered, Justin threw aside his shield to put two hands on his sword. This allowed him to steady his shaky sword hand, but oddly enough he felt even less confident about his ability to win.

The demon rushed forward, not allowing Justin to recover his discarded shield. The two clashed again, the scuffle resulting in Justin lying beaten on the ground. "You lose again," the gray man said. "You thought the outcome would be different, but again it's the same." He raised his fist to deliver the final blow. Justin winced. "I would kill you now, but you're not even worth the effort." And with that, Justin was left alone.

Shocked at what just transpired, he lay there for what felt like eternity. Humiliated, he swore and cursed God in anguish.

> Where were you? He could have killed me.
Do you really believe his lies over my Truth? He doesn't have that power.

> I thought you were with me.
I am always with you.

> Then, why do I keep messing up on the same things?
Your sword and shield are foreign instruments to you. You do not possess confidence in these tools, nor the ability to use them, nor the discipline to master them. These are all contributing factors, but not the true reason. You lose, because you were not meant to fight alone.

Family Time

Last night, we had thanksgiving dinner at my cousin's house. Yes, thanksgiving was last weekend, but we were all busy. All of the cousins went to play golf (short 9 hole) beforehand. I was at church for a Sunday School Teachers meeting...which for the record, I did not find that useful. So I will take my petitions to God in prayer, and He'll probably reveal some awesome factoid or reason of why I had to be there at the teachers meeting and I'll be pwned as usual.

Anyways, I am bringing up the dinner, because I guess I'm starting to see how everyone has changed and is growing up. Two cousins are getting married next year. Two are having kids...again. I am 23 years old...going on 24. At one point, we sat around trying to calculate one another's age. (Granted, it was the young'ns - myself included...trying to remember who had broken the 30+ barrier). After which, we deluded ourselves into being youthful with a vigorous bout of Mario Strikers: Charged and Pictionary.

The family presents a challenge to me. I still see my family as a mission field. A lot have known Christ and fallen away, and amidst the laughter and fun, that fact resonates clearly. I have spoken often about trying to reach them, and have made attempts with some of them. I am frustrated that I have made little headway, and despite the fact that I can largely argue for the existance of God and why they need Jesus, they remain unmoved. I wish I could just drag them kicking and screaming in front of the throne of God and state, "YOU NEED JESUS, GGKTHX."

At the same time, I know I have not done all I can for them. I'll put it up to some more prayer. I don't feel hugely convicted to bug them about it right now. Maybe it's laziness or the fact that I don't see them that often.

On the other hand, we played Vegas 2 online last night...some of the guys anyways. There is a ministering opportunity there, so we'll see how that goes. Brap! Brap!

Alive.

If the living are not alive, what hope is there for the dead?

Source: http://www.truthkeepers.com/thestate.htm

Displaced.

I feel out of it these days. I think it has to do with my paying attention to more news. It is kind of depressing to watch financial news. That and politics. Definitely, not the best thing evar.

Cell Phones

Always...Always... Always call the retention line of your provider when you are thinking about changing plans!

The offer from Telus:
$20/mth + SAF (6.95) + 911 (.75) = $31.30 after tax
300 minutes
Weeknights 6pm - 8am
Weekends 6pm Fri - 8am Mon
250 Text / Unlimited Incoming
Call Display
Call Waiting
Conference Calling
Voice Mail 3

I am going to wait for my cousin to get back from Peru and see if he can sweeten the deal.

Quote of the Day.

In apologetics, we must intellectually seize him [the unbeliever] by the throat and choke all the life out of his belief system.
- Vincent Cheung

The Bells Aren't Ringing for Me.

As I continue to mature in my faith, I start to realize that a lot more things are out of my power and totally within His.

Meek is not Weak.

Lord God,

Grant me a spirit that is graciously, truthfully, unapologetically Christian.

Amen.

Verse of the Day

Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.
1 Thessalonians 5:21-22

My Faith

A personal prayer request...

I fear this may weaken the effect of my previous post, but what's the use of pride anyways?

I do not doubt that God has a plan for all things, that He is in control of all things. What I doubt is my part... I feel him urging me to learn and study and prepare. But, I am so stupid... and the concepts are so slow to go in.

The devil plays on my pride, my insecurities, and my discernment. You lead, so you should always have an answer. That's not true...but it sure feels like it sometimes. Then a switch to my insecurities, whether I have accurately interpreted the text and am faithfully leading someone to Christ...or am I misleading them? Am I able to accurately discern what is from God and move or do I quench the H.S.?

I think it is time to study my enemy. Pray for me! Thanks!

Faith and Reason

I think one of the greatest misconceptions about a Christian's faith is that it cannot be resolved with reason. People view empirical evidence or philosophical discussion as weapons that somehow destroy Christianity and the concept of God. When I say people, I mean both Non-Christians and Christians.

Atheists heap insult and ridicule upon anyone whom claim that anything spiritual exists. The media is conveniently biased against religion, using Christianity as their whipping boy. Sadly, there is no protection against Christianophobia.

Islam is a threat to Christianity as they are unafraid to evangelize with violence. They also have bigger families and in a few decades could beat us out purely by a numbers game. (They have made serious inroads within the UK, and will expand quickly here, as well. I have no qualms with saying it is a result of feminism, the destruction of the male protector and of family.) Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons train up their missionaries to disarm and convert naive Christians.

What is the worst is that Christians, bona fide disciples in Christ, are incapable of providing an adequate defense for their faith. For some reason, the church has retreated from the world of academia and is content in adjusting to society, instead of the reverse. We are labelled Christian fundamentalists, clutching our Bibles fiercely while plugging our ears to block out the voice of "reason".

Is not TRUTH on our side? Did not Jesus say that the world will hate us, for the world first hated Him? I look back to the apostles, especially Paul and Peter. Paul reached out to so many, and his evangelism was not only through signs and miracles, but he ARGUED (depicts rationality) and won. Peter petitions to us asking us to remember that Jesus is LORD. That we may always be prepared to account for the HOPE that we have, answering with gentleness and love.

What do we have to fear when we read up on science or philosophical arguments? Yes, a lot of sources are biased... but there are plenty of workers in Christ that have laboured to demolish these "weapons" used against us. CARM, William Lane Craig, David White, Ravi Zacharias, even Vox Day (although some would question his methods) have provided plenty of resources for us.