Stormbringer's Thunder

At this time of year, misotheists and professing Christians of a liberal bent make their disbelief in the Bible known. Documentaries on television and articles in secular sources give actual Bible believers little or no credence. One does not need to even be a theist, let alone believe in biblical inerrancy, to be a professor of the New Testament. It is important for Christians to use critical thinking when dealing with alleged experets. In this case, one indicated that since two of the Gospels do not mention that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the silence is an implicit contradiction. Christmas Nativity Scene, Pixabay / Andreas Böhm They didn't mention Bethlehem? This child's first response was, "Huh. How about that?"  Calling the omission of the birthplace of Jesus a possible contradiction is a massive argument from silence, old son. In police investigations, the witnesses are separated to keep them from discussing the details with each other. That cuts down on influe...

For many professing Christians in several denominations, Palm Sunday is the beginning of Holy Week. As a child in the United Methodist Church, we were given palm tree fronds to place at the front of the church. There are variations where Holy Week ends on Saturday, others count Easter Sunday. Credit: Pixabay / Gerd Altmann Some sects continue liturgical celebrations after Easter. Bible-believing Christians know the truths from Scripture that Jesus rose from the dead and is at the right hand of God the Father (Rom. 8:34), so our observance is continual. Naturalists deny miracles, including the recent creation in six days, the Resurrection, Jesus and Peter walking on water, and other things, so they attempt to evosplain them away according to their fundamentally flawed presuppositions. (Liberal theologians and secularists can be seen at this time of year on secular documentaries denying the truth.) Some say that religion evolved (see " The Non-Evolution of Religion "), but that...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  It seems that every day has been designated as a national or world day for an observance, whether to "raise awareness", celebrate, or something prosaic. October 10 is World Mental Health Day. Fine, I reckon it is a good idea to point out that millions of people have mental health issues. Many are simply things we just learn to deal with, others are debilitating and need counseling as well as medication. Several times, this child has admitted to dealing with depression. Everyone probably has it to some degree on occasion, and other times it is a lifelong struggle due to chemical imbalances in the brain. My hypertension medications contribute to it. People in the Bible were troubled with depression. My photo of the Hudson River, the Rondout Lighthouse is very small on the left side Some of those problems were short-term based on circumstances, others seemed to be lifelong. David wrote some psalms showing his depression over events and his own sins, and E...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen People who reject the truth of the Bible resort to various rescuing devices such as saying Scripture has errors, does not mean what it says so we need help from atheistic interpretations of science, and outright ridicule. How many of these owlhoots have seriously read it? Credit: Pixabay / Jeff Jacobs Christians frequently hear atheists refer to the Bible as "fairy tales". (One of the most absurd remarks is the claim that the Bible was written by illiterate goat herders. Not only does this reveal bigotry and prejudicial conjecture about the writers of the Bible, but it is self-refuting: how do illiterate people write books?) The fairy tale aspect is easily dismissed by comparing actual fairy tales with the Bible. You will find detailed, accurate history in the Bible and see that it reads quite differently from fairy tales. In a similar way, myths and legends are usually vague and unbelievable; I wonder if people actually believed the tale...

At first, I didn't have any ideas for something to write for the 8th anniversary of Stormbringer's Thunder. A spam comment at The Question Evolution Project , some podcasts that I heard while working, and ideas came through my mind like stampeding cattle spooked by lightning. —Cowboy Bob Sorensen Have you ever watched the TV show Restaurant Impossible? Chef Robert Irvine revamps failing restaurants and gives the owners new hope for success. He often has to not only deal with bad management (and frequently, bad food), but attempts to fix relationships as well. Many of the restaurants succeed, but there are quite a few that still fail or get sold . When I watch the show, I get to pondering on how the agreements and plans are akin to New Year's resolutions. The root problem still remains. People get involved in "12 Steps" recovery programs that have a pretense at Christianity, but actually give a false gospel . We have bad feelings, so a shrink gives us medicat...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen For Question Evolution Day , I decided to write some thoughts about the Illuminati and conspiracies. According to some people, the Illuminati is a secret organization that seeks world domination, and has a strong influence in the affairs of governments. I understand that they're also spying on individuals, and some accounts tell us that they want to take over the world for Satan.  Yes, the Illuminati started out as a secret organization, and people link them to another secret organization, the Freemasons. They have also been allied with the Anunnaki, who are (according to some accounts) our reptilian masters from outer space who also control the world. The details are sketchy about their power and alliances, and vary greatly, some tales are extremely far-fetched. How secret are they, then? People seem to "know" a great deal about them. They are writing Weblogs and posting in social media all over the place. When people make the devil hand ...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Edited J anuary 28, 2017   Sometimes I am the bad guy when it comes to matters of "free speech" and "censorship". People often talk about them, but they often use those terms in the heat of anger or to emotionally manipulate others. In reality, there is no absolutely free speech, and censorship can be helpful — and censorship is more common than you may think. Free Speech Someone may say that they have a "right" to free speech, but where did they get that right? Here in the United States, we have documents from our founders that guarantee it. Some countries have almost no free speech. Even here where it is treasured, there are limitations. Municipalities have statutes in place making certain speech unlawful; the community has the right to set its standards, after all (as long as it does not engage in illegal "hard" censorship). We have the right to criticize the government. However, we do not have the right t...

Excellent lecture by Dr. Peter Williams giving more evidence that the Gospels were written by eyewitnesses. Get comfy. Although very interesting, it takes about an hour.

Buon giorno. Normally, this material would be put up at "A Soldier for Jesus" as a reference point for Christians. This one has material that can be of interest for both sides of the fence, for Christians who want to strengthen their faith, and for skeptics who want to honestly examine evidence supporting the Gospels. Apologetics 315 posted this on Tuesday, May 26, 2011. They give so much good information, I feel armed and dangerous, capice? Evidences the Gospels were Based on Eyewitness Accounts In this talk provided by Lanier Theological Library, Dr. Peter J. Williams presents New Evidences the Gospels were Based on Eyewitness Accounts . As well as answering some common objections (by the likes of Bart Ehrman), Williams points out a number of lines of evidence that build a case for eyewitness accounts. (Includes some undesigned coincidences.) Check out the video (with powerpoint slides) on vimeo here . Or listen to the audio below. Featured at the excellent...

Buona sera. At first, this was going to be a simple addendum to Part 1 of this series, but decided it would be a force fit instead of complementing the existing material. So, here we go with some new-ish material. As I had stated before, if someone was going to simply make up a religion and write a holy book (a ludicrous idea even on the surface when applied to Christianity), they would not be clever enough to put in all sorts of details where people deny the faith, betray God, do dreadful things to each other, get severely disciplined by God and so on. That is, these details in the Bible add to the "ring of truth". Know the expression, "The devil is in the details"? Well, details show lack of the either the devil or of conniving men. People will come up with a book of sayings and say that it is a "lost" Gospel. Those "gospels" were "lost" for a good reason: They stink. If someone wants to read one of those things, I recommend that ...

Edited for clarity 7-20-2011 Buona sera. Does it bother you when someone points out problems but does not offer any solutions? Then prepare to be annoyed because I have no great answers. If, however, you want to compare notes and possibly say, "Yeah! I see that, too!", then you're in the right place. After pondering information from several sources, making mental notes and simply making observations, I am seeing some of the reasons why unbelievers have problems with Christians, and Christianity. Some of it is the fault of the unbeliever, and the believers are not helping matters. First, problems on the part of the unbelievers. Preconceptions. We all have them, don't deny it. If you use a word, it has certain connotations for some people. For instance, if you hear or read the word "church", what image pops into your head? If you have experiences, you may remember smells, sounds, images — and emotions. I think the best way to deal with p...

Listen up. I know full well that there are people who claim to be Christians, but they live like the devil. (I have serious doubts that they ever were Christians, 1 John 2.19, Matthew 7.20-21.) For that matter, one reason that I went away from my faith for several years was because of false or nominal Christians, but never mind about that now. Like any group, there are members that do not uphold the beliefs and principles of that group. Especially if it's a large one. Seems to me that it has something to do with a simple problem, that of being human. I'm saying this at the outset because there are people who will look for any excuse to negate Christianity, Christians, the Bible and God himself. You know the type: "I knew a guy that went to church and said he was a Christian, and he was caught stealing money". So? That means he had problems, not that God is fake. The exception does not invalidate the whole, and the exception does not become the rule. I think I'v...

Buona sera. I still plan on making a Weblog just for Christian material, for and about Christian concerns, but I can't wait. Yours truly managed to get himself into trouble on "Black Friday". A bit, anyway. I had decided that I had better take firm steps to practice what I preach. One thing that I preach is that Christians are woefully lacking in their primary purpose, that of sharing the gospel. I have been in Ray Comfort's "School of Biblical Evangelism" for a while, and it has taught me a great deal. In addition, I have learned from his audio and video . I recommend that any real Christian check those out, as well this this , and then examine their own convictions about the final destiny of the lost, capice? So, about practicing what I preach. The Bible teaches that those who die without Christ are on their way to Hell. No Purgatory, no reincarnation, no second chance after death; eternity is settled. Jesus commanded Christians to spread the gospel...