Jerry > Recent Status Updates

Finished Chapter 9. Billy chopped as long as he could and sat down. As he was wondering what to do, his grandpa came around and helped him make a scarecrow to keep the coon in the tree while they went home. The next morning, Billy and Ann went back. He chopped some more until he couldn't. He prayed for strength to cut the tree down. Suddenly, a gust of wind brought the tree down and the dogs got the coon.

Finished Chapter 7. Dr. Bruce goes over the two-part Gospel of Luke and Acts as he shows that archeological and secular written evidence bear witness to these writings. As Dr. Bruce states, "The historical trustworthiness of Luke has indeed been acknowledged by many biblical critics..."
If Luke can be trusted to reliably give historical information, can we assume that all his information is trustworthy?

Finished Chapter 6. In this very short chapter, Dr. Bruce goes over the importance of Paul's letters in finding out about the historicity of Jesus. Paul's letters were written before the Gospels, yet most of what the Gospels say about Jesus can be found spread throughout Paul's letters.

Finished Chapter 8. Hunting season started and Billy was excited as he's waited 3 years to start hunting with dogs. Ann and Dan found one and chased it. It was rough going at first, but they eventually tried a coon. Unfortunately, the coon was in the biggest tree in the area. Billy started cutting on the tree. After a while, he rested. His father came to Billy and offered to help, but Billy said he'd do it.

Finished Chapter 5. Read about the historicity of the miracles recorded in the Gospels. Attempts to rationalize them take away their intended meaning and significance. If we value the truth of what the Gospels say, taking the matter of the miracles at face value shouldn't be a problem.

Finished Chapter 4. Dr. Bruce goes over the internal and external evidence of the four Gospels. The latest studies of Textual and Source Criticism have Mark as the earliest Gospel and Matthew and Luke using it and other sources to write their Gospels. John's Gospel was compiled by his followers.

Finished Chapter 8. Billy needed a coon hide to train his dogs. His grandpa told him to bore a hole in a log and put something shiny in it, then put nails at a slant to catch the coon's paw. It took a week but Billy finally caught one. He used the hide to train his dogs. He taught them everything he knew. A few days before hunting season started he stopped training to let the dogs rest.

Finished Chapters 4 and 5. I finished Chapter 4 a few days ago and don't remember much of it. Chapter 5 had the Ancillary and Seivarden at the camp. Strigan came back from their hiding spot and questioned the Ancillary. After some back and forth, the Ancillary went back to sleep. The next day, the Ancillary told Seivarden to make breakfast. He refused and the Ancillary knocked him out

Finished Chapter 3. Dr. Bruce gives a brief summary into the building of the New Testament canon: from Marcion's edited 'Bible' to Athanasius' list of our current canon.

Finished Chapter 6. Billy continued home. He stopped at the camp where he prayed for the dogs. As he was thinking of names for them, he spied a lover's mark on a log with the names Dan and Ann. That's what he named the dogs. He made it home and apologized for leaving without saying anything. His family appreciated the dogs and the gifts he bought.

Finished Chapter 5. Billy finally got to the depot and talked to the stationmaster to get his dogs. After leaving, people stared at him. Later, some boys accosted him and pulled the dog's ears. He fought them and the marshal broke it up. The marshal helped him up and bought him a coke. Billy left town and camped in a cave. A mountain lion came near but the fire kept it away.

Finished Chapter 4. A few days later, grandpa heard back from the people and ordered the dogs. He said it would take a couple of weeks before they arrived. 2 weeks later, the notice came. The next day, Billy set out for town to get his dogs. It was his first time in town and he was amazed. He went to a store and bought his family some stuff. He then saw a school and tried out a slide.

Finished Chapter 3. The 'dog-wanting' disease never left Billy. One day, he found a magazine with an ad for coon hounds. He prayed to God to be able to get 2 dogs. He son came up with the plan to do odd jobs and save his money. Finally, after 2 years, he had saved $50! He took the money to his grandpa and asked him to order 2 hunting dogs. He said he would and gave Billy some candy.

Finished Chapter 3. The ancillary continues its mission and drags Seivarden Vendaai along. After renting a flier, they headed off. Not long later, the fuel ran out and the ancillary suspected sabotage. It carried Seivarden until another ship stopped them. After killing the would-be robbers, the ancillary took their ship and went to the place of Arilesperas Strigan, but she had already left.

Finished Chapter 2. The historical validity of the New Testament documents is without question more noteworthy of any other historical document over 1,000 years old. The earliest copy of New Testament writing comes from around 130 AD. from the Gospel of John. For most other historical writings, several centuries separate their original writing from their extant copies.

Finished Chapter 1. The validity of the New Testament documents is of high importance since they record the teachings of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.

Finished Chapter 2. The scene shifts to when the Ancillary was stationed on the planet Shis'urna 19 years earlier.

Finished Chapter 1. The ancillary finds and rescues Seivarden Vendaai and took her to a place and healed her.

Finished Chapter 18. Read about building up your courage to help you in debates. Also, taking things slow will help you gather your thoughts. Taking things easy and building your courage will help you greatly.

Finished Chapter 17. Read about God's original plan for marriage and how it fits with today's culture. Marriage is between 1 man and 1 woman for the purpose of procreation. Notice that this statement clarifies gender as binary, marriage between a man and woman, and sex between a married couple for the sake of procreating. While God may love the person, He hates the sin we commit.

Finished Chapter 16. Read more about debating Pro-Lifers and using questions to poke holes in their belief. The fetus or zygote is still a human being and should have the same right to life as every other human.

Finished Chapter 15. Read that all reasons that people justify abortion are wrong. It's wrong to kill a defenseless human being and that's just what abortion does. Location, viability, or wanting have no bearing on murder.

Finished Chapter 14. Many atheists believe that Christians believe in a 'God of the gaps' kind of thing. However, despite a few instances between power-hungry people and early scientists, Christianity blossomed science.

Finished Chapter 13. Read that ancient writers used hyperbole just like we do today. When God told the Israelites to utterly destroy the Canaanites, He was using hyperbolic language akin to a sportscaster saying that a team got annihilated.
Also, the word for slave in the Old Testament was ebed, which actually meant servant. The slaves in the Old Testament had rights and safeguards to protect them.

Finished Chapter 12. Read that although some today think it arrogant and unloving, Jesus is the only way to receive forgiveness. He said it Himself.

Finished Chapter 11. Many skeptics today say that Jesus never existed. However, many scholars and archeologists say that there is plenty of evidence proving Jesus' existence. Also, many skeptics say that Jesus never claimed to be God. This too has been shown to be false.

Finished Chapter 10. Read how objective morality is a false smokescreen IF God doesn't exist. Atheists try to explain morality due to naturalistic methods but can't do so adequately. Free Will doesn't exist in a naturalistic world.

Finished Chapter 9. Greg raises an Atheists objection with evil in the world. However, evil in the world is actually evidence FOR God instead of against God. If you think something is wrong, there is some standard you are judging against. The problem with relativism is that some cases of murder, rape, and other heinous crimes are justified since there would be no objective truth.

Finished Chapter 8. Greg shows us that belief in God is the simplest, most common sense explanation for the existence of the universe. Even Richard Dawkins says that things "appear to be designed". Things appear to be designed because they were designed... by God

Finished Chapter 7. Greg shows us that mischaractering the beliefs of others is wrong. We must also watch that others don't mischaracterize our beliefs. Asking questions not only can help get your definitions clear, but also can get your beliefs out front.