I recently read the sad story of a healthy young (to me) doctor from Canada, a cardiologist, Dr. Sohrab Lutchmedial, who died suddenly in his sleep at 52 years of age. What made this newsworthy, specifically in the conservative media, was that he was a vocal advocate of the jab (the COVID so-called vaccine), and mocked via social media those who refused to take it. He had gotten his third (booster) jab three weeks before his sudden, and shocking to those who knew him, death. He said back in July on something called Twitter, that for those who wouldn’t get the shot “for selfish reasons,” that he wouldn’t “cry at their funeral.” I’m not writing this post to mock the man because the theme of my life is, there but for the grace of God . . . . I only write about it because he and those like him are an object lesson, in his case about hubris, humility, and modern medicine. (more…)
I guess I’m becoming a regular radio star! If you feel the need to Laugh very Out Loud, please do. Given I’m no big shot, but a little shot that keeps shooting (or typing as the case may be), getting anyone to want to talk to me about my best selling first book (if the need arises again, feel free), The Persuasive Christian Parent, is a bit of a chore. Persistence helps, and I’m nothing if not persistent. So I had the wonderful experience of being interviewed recently on a national radio show, Janet Mefferd Today. I checked out the stations list, and it’s more than a few, and coast to coast. You can listen if you want a short primer on the the subtitle of the book, God’s Provision for Building an Enduring Faith in You and Your Children. His provision becomes more amazing to me every day.
And I’m excited to say I was just invited for another interview Monday on the American Family Radio podcast, The Hamilton Corner, with guest host Alex McFarland. I can’t wait for that! I’ll link to that here when it’s available.
Well, he didn’t really do that, but he almost gets there as he’s trying to describe the mystery of being in such a musical zone that it boarders on the transcendent. He doesn’t exactly say that either, but what he describes is certainly akin to an other worldly experience. I yelled out loud as he struggled to explain this, “Pat, it’s God!” If you don’t know who Metheny is, he’s a guitarist and musical genius. I was exposed to his music in the early to mid-1980s, and he was a companion for decades. I don’t listen to much music anymore given my preference for learning, but when I saw this long interview of Pat by Rick Beato, it was something I couldn’t miss. It’s pretty technical stuff at times, as Beato has created quite a following exploring musical theory in popular music, but it’s an especially fascinating conversation for those of us who know that melody, harmony, and rhythm can only exist because God exists. (more…)
I’ve given an overview of the misunderstanding, so I wont’ repeat it. I’ve taken what I think are the main points of disagreement by one critic who does a great job of distilling concerns some Christians have with what they think I’m arguing in the book:
As parents who have done everything we can to catechize, take our kids to church morning and evening, do evening devotions, etc., I can say: Only the Lord’s work prevails. Yes, hiding the Word in their hearts is key. But there is absolutely no correlation between faithful (or reasonably faithful) work in this with the outcome of personal faith. I fear that your approach, makes parental guilt a more oppressive burden. The Holy Spirit is God. He alone can regenerate hearts. I know that you say this. The means of grace are the means of grace, but the Spirit works through them when and where he pleases. I just worry that your approach is more, “If you do X, then Y should result.” I fear that’s more harm than help—for parents and children.
There is error here mixed with truth, and I want to be careful how I unpack it, but first I will address a criticism I’ve received that bears on my credibility. I was told in so many words that I believe what I believe because it just so happens that we’ve raised three children who have grown into adulthood and have not abandoned the faith. If any of them had, so the argument goes, I would not think the way I do. I can’t refute a hypothetical, but since I’ve affirmed that we can’t guarantee anything and are in control of nothing, the point is moot, an excuse not to engage my arguments. I will address exactly what I mean by these two affirmations of denial in due course. (more…)
Not me, silly. I’ve been a Christian for a hundred years, give or take a few decades. No, it’s this guy with the very British sounding name, Chadwick Moore. The subtitle is priceless: “If religion is opium, Marxism is crystal meth.” This kind of conversion, and there are many happening now even if they don’t get people all the way to orthodox Christianity (and I know nothing of the details of his Christian commitment), but his move to conservatism goes hand and hand with his move to faith. The reason this is important is because what we’re dealing with here in the year of our Lord 2020 is far more than politics. Well meaning Christians too easily fall into a moral equivalence trap between left and right, Democrats and Republicans. In their desire to not make an idol of politics, they miss the forest for the trees. What we are dealing with today is much more than politics, but a clash of worldviews, of ultimate faith commitments, a class of civilizations. We’ve heard that we’re in a cold civil war, and that is true, but as we’ve seen in major cities throughout America over the last four months, it’s not so cold. (more…)
As you may have noticed, over the past month or so my little website had a cold. Technology is like that, not unlike we who experience life in a mortal body in a fallen world. Nothing is perfect. But I learned that Godaddy is a little less perfect than HostGator. My web guy who helped me get the site up and running initially said I should go with the latter to host my site, but I had used Godaddy for years with other sites so just stuck with them. Unfortunately, when something went seriously wrong with the site they couldn’t help me. It was the perfect opportunity to move the site over to HostGator, which I did. As soon as the site was transferred over to them, a short time with their support on the phone, and the site was up and running like new. So if you want a site hosted sometime, I’d definitely suggest HostGator.
Now I can get back to my apologetics musings with the goal of keeping our kids Christian.
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