UPDATE

Hopefully this post won't be too long, but I just wanted to share a few things as it relates to this site as well as my personal life.  First, I'm no longer going to be posting on this site.  I have a lot of ideas and Blogger simply cannot accommodate to these ideas.  I chose Wordpress because of its vast array of options.  Though its still in the works, you can view it HERE.  I canceled the domain here and the new one will simply be apologeticfront.com.  Once I get finished setting everything up, I hope to begin regular blogging once again.

What new ideas do I have?  For the longest time, i've wanted to start a podcast.  While everyone seems to have one these days, the fact that I have somewhat of an audience shows that some might be interested in listening to me rather than reading.  Personally, I simply have little time for reading blogs anymore and i'm sure others can relate.  Its so much easier to plug up my mic and yap away.  I don't know what the podcast will be like, but it will probably be very informal and involve very little production.  We'll see what happens.

Next, i'm very excited to announce that i'm now a student at REFORMED THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY ATLANTA. This is something i've been wanting to do for a very long time but always had other priorities in the way.  To make a long story short, God has provided for me in some profound ways.  Just a year ago I was touring the country in my band, and now I work a full time corporate job and completely self-sufficient financially (as the Lord has provided).  And being single as well, seminary was a no brainer.  So why am I going to seminary?  To be better used for the Kingdom.  I don't have any pastoral ambitions per se as i'm more interested in academics.  We'll see what happens from here.

Last, carm.org has recruited me as a writer for their site.  I'm very excited for this opportunity as CARM is one of the largest Christian apologetic websites out there.  While I don't endorse everything that CARM does, I share in their primary vision to equip and defend the Christian faith.  But this is an outlet that I simply couldn't have with my current writings.  CARM has thousands of visitors a day and this is a chance for me to make a big impact with my writings.  I'll be linking to my articles as they get posted.  My first such article can be found HERE and you can read my CARM bio HERE.  My primary focus with CARM is to develop their JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES SECTION.

Other than that, please go to apologeticfront.com and SUBSCRIBE!

"Full" debate with a Jehovah's Witness "Letusreason1234" on the two class theology

Unfortunately, Letsureason backed out of the debate half way through without any notice.  I was really hoping we'd make it through to the end, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised that a JW would act this way when 99.9 percent of them are nameless and faceless on the internet.  Anyway, i've posted what we did of the debate, which I hope to be useful to some people.  If you watch or listen until the end, i'll provide a short post-debate commentary.

You can watch the debate HERE

You can listen to the debate HERE

A helpful evangelism tip for engaging Mormons

Anyone who engages Mormons will understand how difficult it can be.  Part of the problem is in getting them to admit how radically different their religion is from Christianity.  While they are willing to admit a "difference," it is difficult to emphasize the contrast.  In some respects, they will try to make it sound as if they are just like you, but with some important "restored" elements like the book of Mormon.  

Whether you are talking about monotheism, salvation by faith alone, and other contrasting doctrines to Mormonism; Mormon missionaries may say, "Oh, we believe that too."  It may not be inaccurate to posit the fact that postmodernism has seeped into the fabric of Mormonism.  As a result, you may not hear a statement of, "our church is right and your's is wrong."  But this is exactly what you want them to say and agree with.  Such will allow for everyone's cards to be on the table.  

With that said, Keith Walker has posted a very helpful ARTICLE.  The article displays a list of quotations from Mormon sources whereby Christianity and Mormonism are starkly contrasted.  Here is what I would recommend doing the next time you engage a Mormon; start the conversation off by showing them these quotations and getting them to admit that, for example, "all of [your] creeds are an abomination, and [you] are corrupt."  This way, you'll be able to ask the question, "Please show me which beliefs I have that are an abomination and let's see what the Scriptures say about them."  

Many of these Mormon sources are easily obtainable.  It would prove useful to have them ready whenever a Mormon missionary knocks on your door.  It will allow you to cut right to the chase and perhaps open the door to present the gospel. 

Where can I get a Watchtower CD Library?

If you're not one of Jehovah's Witnesses or at least on your way to becoming one, you will not be able to obtain the CD Library from them.  The Watchtower CD Library is an excellent tool for those interested in researching the Jehovah's Witnesses.  It contains almost the full array of Watchtower publications dating back to the 1950's with a very good search engine and other features.

The problem is, most do not know where to get a Watchtower CD.  While some may have moral or legal reservations in obtaining this resource (there is a disclaimer at the beginning of the installation process), each person must decide for themselves as to whether they should continue in installing the CD on their computer.

But for those interested, the CD is available for purchase HERE.

***disclaimer***

For any JW's that desire to provide a moral lecture in the comments, don't bother, as I will not be responding and will have your comments deleted.

Some helpful "techy" stuff for apologists

Like some of you I know, I am a person who is always looking for ways to maximize ways to learn.  Recently, I started listening to all my podcasts on double speed because I simply was not able to keep up.  I'm not sure all ipods have this option, but iphone certainly does and most likely the newer ipod touches.  At first, this was difficult.  But it didn't take long for me to get very used to it.  Now i'm able to keep up in listening to about 10 different podcasts weekly.

Another was a flashcard app that helped me to start learning Greek.  I think the app is just called "flashcards" and costs around $2.99 in the app store.  This app is great because it keeps up with what you know really well, sort of well, and not well at all.  Its basically a flashcard quiz system.  On my lunch breaks i'm able to spend up to 20 minutes daily going through my Greek vocabulary, grammar rules, and translation exercises.  If anyone wants to learn Greek and has an iphone/ipod/ipad, give me a buzz and i'll show you what you'll need to do.  If I can do it, you can do it!

Last, I discovered a really cool app in the Mac app store (not itunes store).  Its called Speak It!.  Its $4.99 but it is able to convert any text into speech.  And not only that, but it can convert it to an audio file so you can play it on your ipod or whatever.  This has been helpful for me because i'm subscribing to too many blogs and downloading too many pdf article that I simply don't have time to read.  In addition, its cutting into my time that I could be using to read books.  So what I do now is I copy and paste whatever blog article or pdf that i'm interested in into the "Speak it!" app and convert to an audio file.  The only downside is, you can only convert to an audio file with a maximum of 1,000 words at a time.  But this is fairly simple to do, since most word processing programs give you word counts.

Feel free to leave in the comments any ideas, advise, or whatever it is you do to maximize your learning in the area of theology, apologetics, etc.

1st rebuttal in my debate with Letusreason1234

See Letusreason1234's opening statement HERE.

This is my first rebuttal in our debate:

From the brilliant atheistic mind of Mr. Loftus

Mr. Loftus WRITES

Why is it Christians cannot agree to the point where they have condemned each other to hell and/or slaughtered each other because of doctrinal differences that other Christians don't think are essential for salvation? My answer is that Christianity is man made, and as such, doctrinal differences are due to different human ways of understanding the Bible. There is no divine mind behind the Bible, otherwise God should have communicated his will much better than he supposedly did. That's the major reason why there is no doctrinal Christian unity. These different doctrinal understandings continue to be used by denominational leaders to differentiate between Christianities for financial gain and power. Christian, what's your answer?

That does it.  I'm giving up Christianity.  Brilliant objection, Mr. Loftus...just brilliant.

But wait.  Everyone disagrees with each other's worldview...so i'll give up my worldview!  Or maybe just the concept of "worldview" altogether, since no one can agree. But then again, many disagree with each other's view of reality.  Perhaps reality isn't real?  So i'll give up epistemology too! And logic, who knows anything about that?

Mr. Loftus, the universe just got a little bit more intelligent because of your objection, and I applaud you for bringing the universe such honor and glory.  Praise science, and praise atheism.