Thanksgiving Pictures

I apologize for the lack of posts for the past several months. I have begun post-high school courses online so life is a bit hectic right now. It is a good kind of hectic though. The courses I am taking are listed below for anyone interested. I would recommend all of them at this point, although I am not very far into any.

• Koinonia Institute
• The Creationist Worldview
• America's Test Kitchen Cooking School

 

Anyways, here are a few pictures of our family taken this Thanksgiving. I hope y'all enjoy!

Three generations. From left to right: me, mom, my sister, dad, my grandma, and my brother.

My parents with the grandkids. Aren't they precious?

Swinging with Pawpaw Greg :)

Me with my cousin.

Mom and Dad

 

So sweet!

 

 

Thanks once again to Berean Productions for the wonderful pictures.

 

 



Apologetics

Here is an essay I wrote for a Christian Worldview class I took a while back. Since I had a length limit, I wasn't able to go into as much detail as I would have liked, but this is a good summary of the role of apologetics in faith.

"Be Ready to Give an Apologia"

     Richard Dawkins, a prominent member in the scientific community and bestselling author of "The God Delusion", has this to say about religion, "Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence." He also says, "I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world." Obviously, Christians strongly disagree with Dawkins' assessments of religion, but what should we do about it? Many Christians advocate contending for the faith through knowledgeable discussions with unbelievers - a method traditionally called "apologetics". The original Greek word, apologia, means "speaking in defense" of one's beliefs. However, other Christians believe apologetics has no real value. They have two main objections: 1) Apologetics does not save anyone; therefore it is useless and 2) Loving Christ and a willingness to be used by Him are the only really important things for a Christian to focus on. While both objections have considerable truth in them, when examined closely we find that they are illogical and not founded on Scripture.

     First, let us examine the objection that apologetics does not save anyone, and is therefore useless. It is true that giving a sound apologetic to an unbeliever will not save him. Even if the unbeliever understands and accepts the good reasons for your faith, he is not saved. He must ultimately accept Christ as his Savior in order for salvation to occur. However, this does not make the role of apologetics obsolete. The Holy Spirit can use reasons for the faith as a powerful tool in transforming a person's life. Often, explaining your faith in a logical sense is the first step towards sharing the Gospel. For example, an atheist will not be interested in hearing about the saving grace of Jesus Christ if he doesn't even see Christianity as a viable option. You may first have to demonstrate that Christianity is logical and before he will even hear of Christ. This is one way in which the Holy Spirit uses apologetics as a tool for salvation. Obtaining a basic understanding of the evidence for our faith is not a waste of time, but rather an asset that the Holy Spirit can use to
lead others to salvation.

     Let us next examine the second objection: Loving Christ and a willingness to be used by Him are the only really important things in a Christian's life. This statement is absolutely true in one sense. Certainly, the most important things in a Christian's life are that he loves Christ and eagerly follows His command to "go". However, it does not follow that one must not have a sound understanding of the faith in order to refute the ideas of the world and prove the Biblical account. The verse often used by proponents of this idea, Luke 10:27, says, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind." The question is not whether we should love the Lord, but rather what loving the Lord entails. Christ said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." He also said, "For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you." Clearly, as seen throughout Scripture, Christ commands us to follow His example and obey His words. Christ Himself gave an apologetic to those around Him, most noticeably through miracles. He performed miracles in order to prove His divine authority. While Christians today cannot perform miracles, we can give reasons for our faith. Also, Peter wrote in 1 Peter 3:15, "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear." Peter used the very word "apologia" in this text. In 1 Corinthians 10:5, Paul wrote, "We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ."

     While the usefulness of apologetics has been sufficiently established, apologetics can also be used incorrectly. A Christian should not get in a discussion simply to tout their views over their neighbor. In other words, we aren't in it to win an argument, but to win souls. Love and respect for one's neighbor prove the most effective way to do this. Peter said, "Always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear." Other translations say, "with gentleness and respect." Also, Christ stated that the second greatest commandment was as follows, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Since you would not want someone to ungraciously treat your ideas as bunk, you should not do so to your neighbor.

     Blaise Pascal stated, "There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only be God, the Creator, made known through Jesus." Our responsibility as Christians is to tell the world how to fill this vacuum. With 850 million people claiming atheism or no religion, Christians must be capable and willing to make a case for God. Apologetics is often the first step. In conclusion, John Calvin wrote, "A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God's truth was attacked and yet would remain silent." We cannot hold our silence in the face of attack from men such as Richard Dawkins, who, according to 2 Corinthians 4:4, are blind, "In whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."

For more information on apologetics, visit these websites:

~ Answers in Genesis
~ Institute for Creation Research
~ Evolution vs. God Film by Ray Comfort
~ Creation Today   

Senior Photoshoot

A couple of weeks ago I did my senior photo shoot. It was a beautiful sunny day, but rather windy - which can be slightly difficult with long hair and a skirt - but the pictures turned out wonderful. I want to thank Justus McCranie, a friend and brother-in-Christ, for his skillful work and patience...you can visit his website at Berean Productions. There are many pictures, and all wonderful, but I have chosen these few for the sake of brevity.

This one is awesome!

With my dear friend Haley

I have no idea what Samson was doing here, but I looks pretty funny!

I am so thankful that the Lord called my family to homeschool beginning in the second grade, and that for the past 11 years I have been blessed with the teaching and companionship of my dear mother. My dad has been so supportive and worked so hard in order that we might obey the Lord in this way. I would not exchange my school years for all of the world. I am looking forward to doing the same for my children if the Lord wills.

I do not stop the process of learning at this point, but rather plow ahead to focus on learning how to run and manage a home in all of its aspects, establish a home business, and bless the community and church through service. Most important, I will always strive to grow in the relationship with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I can't wait to share with you what I have learned the past several years about college from the Lord, godly speakers, and history. Until then, God bless!

Teleological Argument

I am working on a paper for my Christian Worldview class defending the existence of God. The prompt is, "Present an argument for God’s existence that does not rely upon the Bible." There is so much evidence in God's creation of His existence, so I am going to argue from a Teleological perspective (the complexity of design in the universe requires a Designer). Consider these awesome facts, focusing on the Anthropic Principle:

1. If the nuclear force were only a few percent weaker, then a proton could not combine with a neutron to form a deuteron. If this were the case, no deuterons would be formed in the sun and hence no solar fuel would exist. As a result, the sun would not shine (“burn”), but would merely be a cold ball of inert gas—precluding the possibility of life on Earth.

2. If the nuclear force were only a few percent stronger, then each proton would rapidly combine with another proton with explosive results. If this were the case, the sun would soon explode and thus cease to “burn,” once again precluding the possibility of life on Earth.

3. If this planet was 5% closer to the Sun, the water of the Earth would evaporate

4. If this planet was 1% further away all the oceans on this planet would freeze.

These are just a few out of the plethora of examples employed by the proponents of the Anthropic Principle. To learn more about the Anthropic Principle, visit ICR: Anthropic Principle.

Besides these facts about the fine-tuning of the universe, there are other areas of study, such as the study of Biological complexity, and how life cannot come from non-life.

I could also use several other arguments for the existence of God outside of the Teleological Argument. Here is a list of those:

1. Cosmological Argument
     -Kalam Cosmological Argument
     -Thomistic Cosmological Argument
2. Moral Argument
3. Ontological Argument

To learn more about these, I would recommend the book "To Everyone an Answer".

Isn't it overwhelming how much evidence there is for God in the universe, not even including special revelation? God is so good!

The heavens declare the glory of God;
   the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
   night after night they reveal knowledge.

 They have no speech, they use no words;
   no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
   their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.

Psalm 19:1-4

I would love to hear your comments and opinions about this fascinating topic. Please leave them in the comments section.