The first three parts of the Christmas sermon series, “He Came to Us: Four Gospels - Four Perspectives,” preached by Redeemer’s lead elder, Jim Applegate, are subtitled, “Matthew: In our brokenness,” “Mark: To all of us,” and “Luke: Knowing we are skeptics". This fourth and final part is subtitled, “John: For all eternity” and evaluates A Christmas Carol, complete with … [Read more...]
The Courageous Movie and the Purpose of Apologetics
Tomorrow marks the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ- the one who's life, death, and resurrection the Christian faith is founded upon. On this blog we spend a lot of time explaining how to defend the truth of Christianity, but why should you learn to defend the truth of Christianity? What is the real point in apologetics? Does it seem like a favorite past-time of only … [Read more...]
Advent as a Season for Conversion: TS Eliot and "The Journey of the Magi"
We all know the story of the Three Kings, even if only from the chorus of “We Three Kings of Orient Are.” However, Holy Scripture does not call these men kings, but rather magi, “wise men from the east” (Matthew 2:1) Their story reminds us that Christmas is a call to conversion, if we will only hear it. … [Read more...]
The Wolves of Mercy Falls
"In the end, it’s a long, cold night and those woods for all of us.” _________________________________________________________________________ Maggie Stiefvater has written a a trilogy entitled The Wolves of Mercy Falls. While her latest, The Scorpio Races, has her on the front pages of literary news, this trilogy has excelled as well. Grace lives in Mercy Falls. As a child, … [Read more...]
Apologetics: Fighting Last Year's Battles, Last Year's Way
I was privileged to lead the True Reason project earlier this year, which I undertook because I thought it would be good to show how weak New Atheist leaders are in reasoning, even as they try to feature it as their great strength. I think the book has probably done a lot of good. I hope so, anyway. But I am coming to see that it's a skirmish being fought on an old … [Read more...]
Some Thoughts on Hell
Imagine there's no heaven It's easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people living for today - John Lennon (1) John Lennon asked us to imagine there’s no heaven. I’ve tried, but all I come up with is hell. Many things occur on this planet that demand judgment and punishment, but many go unpunished. If there is no certainty of punishment, there is … [Read more...]
Daughter of Smoke and Bone
“You tell me that battling with monsters has made me a monster? Doing business with devils, what has that made you?” _________________________________________________________________________ Universal Pictures has already bought the film rights to Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and no wonder: Laini Taylor's book has received exceptional critical accolades: New York Times … [Read more...]
Forsaken
Elyon, Elyon, my king, my lord Deliver me from this sword Why have you forsaken me In your eyes, forsaken me In your thoughts, in your heart, In your wrath, forsaken me … [Read more...]
Melancholia: Hollow People, Hollow Worlds
"The human race is just chemical scum on a moderate size planet, orbiting round a very average star in the outer suburb of one among a billion galaxies." - Stephen Hawking, 1995, in "Reality on the Rocks: Beyond our Ken." I saw the movie version of Hawking's perspective yesterday. Melancholia, a highly praised film from Lars Von Trier, follows the imploding lives of the … [Read more...]
Literary Apologetics Reading List: Mystery Novels
Mystery novels, taken as a whole, reflect at a deep level the truth of the Christian worldview. And yes, I mean mystery novels in general, not “mystery novels by Christian writers.” Here’s why. … [Read more...]