Tag: Islam

Critical Thinking #5:
My Analysis of That Conversation

After releasing my previous article, I felt the Holy Spirit leading me to write an analysis of Jake’s assertions using the principles I listed and discussed in in the first three parts of this series on Critical Thinking. In obedience, we will now analyze that encounter so you can take that knowledge into any future discussions with Christianity’s ideological opponents.

All this stuff can initially come across as dry, academic, philosophical double-talk, but as you can see from that encounter, there are lost souls at stake. And that’s not to mention church pews — and sometimes even platforms! — populated by spiritually immature, scripturally-illiterate Christians who are being propagandized into apostasy by pop culture narratives at this very moment.

You may not be called to be a full-time Christian apologist as the primary focus of your ministry, but all Christ-followers are called to be apologists-on-demand as the Holy Spirit brings us into divine appointments with those He is wooing to Himself (1 Peter 3:15).

In other words, we are safely standing beside the road to Hell and the Holy Spirit occasionally uses one of us to wave folks down who are blindly racing headlong towards an excruciatingly painful forever. All it takes is influencing one person away from such a fate to make it worth all the effort. There but for the grace of God…
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My Analysis of That Conversation”

Critical Thinking #4:
My Conversation With an Atheist

One could easily assume that after almost 50 years of being a Christ-follower — and having earned advanced degrees in theology to boot! — I would have had more than a few opportunities to interact with dyed-in-the-wool atheists. The truth of the matter is I have had only one such encounter that I can remember; it occurred back in January 2020.

The following is my account of that event.
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My Conversation With an Atheist”

Racism

For those of you who haven’t read my bio here at Miscellaneous Ramblings, I was born in El Paso, Texas, in addition to my mother, her sister, and my half-sister. I spent my childhood and tween years there departing for Northern California with my parents as an early teenager. I later returned as an adult after I was honorably discharged from the US Army in 1975, spending the next 4 years there before heading back west to Norcal.

Just prior to my leaving El Paso that final time, I lived in the Cielo Vista Apartments complex immediately next door to Cielo Vista Mall where the recent mass shooting took place. I’ve lost count of the hours I’ve spent in that mall, especially at a location of the now-defunct Farrell’s ice cream parlor chain.

I think it safe to say my roots run deep in the the Pass of the North, so this recent mass shooting there hit really close to home for me.
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