As human beings, we are naturally critical of everything. We criticize our living conditions, our morals, our standards, our government, and even our friends. The “mindset of common criticism” has become commonplace within our lives, something we act upon naturally but fail to analyze properly.
Standalone criticism is not inherently wrong, yet there are many situations in which it can be the most harmful action to commit, particularly within a setting of friends or family. Within the last five years alone, I have seen seemingly innocent criticism tear apart colleagues, friends, and family. It destroys workplaces, families, friend cliques, and churches.
Hey, and welcome back to another Monday Q&A! Today’s topic is “The Foundations of Christianity”, the second and last discussion here. Last week, we talked mostly about the depravity and utter sinfulness of man, but this week, our focus turns to Jesus and His effect upon man and sin.
So, without any further ado, let’s dive in!
8: What does the term “fall of man” mean and why is it important?
The term “fall of man” refers to the introduction of sin into the world. Described at the very beginning of the Bible, the Fall took place soon after the creation of the first man (Adam) and woman (Eve). The two lived in paradise and in perfect harmony with God, cherishing Him and fully submitting to His commandment- to not eat of “The tree of the knowledge of good and evil”, located in the middle of their Garden home.
Eventually, a fallen angel named Lucifer took on the shape of a serpent/snake and tempted Adam and Eve to break God’s commandment and eat the fruit. Lead by Adam, Eve took and ate the fruit, sinning for the first time in history and introducing sin into the very bloodstream of humanity.
Since then, man has been born in a fallen state, unable to not sin. We bear Adam’s curse and punishment for his failure, a punishment only removed by Jesus and His sacrifice.
In today’s world, dating is treated as a recreational hobby. Many do it for fun or for sport, not really realizing the consequences early dating can bring. Many children begin dating as early as ten when their bodies begin to develop and emotions run high. While some view this as appropriate or even healthy, acting upon such emotions at such a young age is detrimental to growth and maturity.
Today is my parents’ 19th anniversary. Since their wedding day on June 29th, 2001, they have constantly fought for each other, focusing their full and complete hearts on God and their marriage. Through this time, they have inspired many couples to live out a God-focused marriage, keeping the literal Center of the universe at the center of their marriage.
They are, without a doubt, the two most inspirational people in my life.
Welcome back to another tag, the Bookish Bucket List tag (as you could see from the title)! While I normally don’t participate in awards/tags for the sake of time, I couldn’t resist this newer, interesting, book-focused tag, so here we go!
Tag as many people you want (10 people, in my case).
Answer the questions asked by your nominator.
Create 10 new questions for your nominees.
My thanks to Tobias Hrothgar for the nomination! Tobias has an excellent site and regularly posts unique, intriguing content. Make sure to help his dream of passing me in followers come true by visiting him here.
Tobias’ questions:
Based on an educated guess, how many books do you have, and what is the general genre of most of these books? On both sides of the world? I probably have a total of around 500 books, most being in the fictional literature side.
What are five fiction stories you would highly suggest?Ender’s Game, Lord of the Rings, Pride and Prejudice, Frankenstein, and Les Miserables. These should give you a peek into 5 fictional categories- Sci-fi, fantasy, romance, horror, and historical fiction. Enjoy!
If you were to write any nonfiction story, what would it be? It would likely be my own autobiography.
What are your three favorite authors? Do you mean “Who are your three favorite authors”? (*insert laughing emoji) In order of respect, love, and admiration combined: J.R.R Tolkien, J.K Rowling, and Suzanne Collins.
If you are a writer, how old were you when you began to write? I was around 11 years old, and my first “story” was a 2-page Biblical fiction about Nebuchadnezzar!
What is your Myers-Briggs personality type? According to 16personalities.com, I am ENFJ-A, “The Diplomat”. My strategy is, quite aptly, “people mastery”.
Describe your favorite character that you’ve written if you’re a writer, or describe what character you would like to write about if you’re not a writer. My favorite fictional character is the man whom I am currently working on: Ronin Tethson, also known as Ronin Shadowwalker. For now, all I can say is that Ronin is a man, a warrior, and a lover; three combinations that create a unique storyline.
What is one of your fondest book-related memories? My most fond memory involving a book would likely be the times that my dad read Lord of the Rings to me as a child. I was trained in the greatest books of all time from an early age!
If you could choose any one fictional location to visit, where would that be? Likely the Shire. Then, I could finally try the legendary beer of the South Farthing.
If you could visit any day in time, where would that be? I would probably visit the day of Jesus’ birth, so I could witness arguably the greatest moment in history!
My questions:
1: Who are, in your opinion, the ten greatest writers in history?
2: Have you written a book? If so, describe it in under 140 characters.
3: If you stand up from your desk, close your eyes, spin around three times, then open your eyes again, what is the first book you see?
4: What was the worst book you have ever read (mine was probably The Great Gatsby)?
5: Are you currently working on a book?
6: Who is your favorite modern-day writer?
7: Do you have a specific place for your reading? If so, describe it.
8: Are Kindle EBooks superior to printed books?
9: If I published a book on Amazon Self-Publishing, would you read it?
10: Who is, in your opinion, the most underrated author currently writing today?
Have you ever pulled a prank on someone involving food? Besides the classic prank of putting hot spice in people’s food? Nope!
What is a food you absolutely hate? Sweet potatoes. I know, I’m weird, but they’re squishy, a strange color, and they taste like garbage!
What is a food you can’t live without? Probably eggs. I eat eggs for breakfast almost every morning.
Ever cooked a combo dish? I have literally no idea what that means, so I’d assume no.
Would you consider a career as a cook in a restaurant? Probably not, but I think my little brother Noah could.
My nominees:
Everyone! Since there are two awards here, and I follow a lot of bloggers, feel free to select any of these awards! Honestly, just pretend I personally nominated you. In fact, if you’d like, just leave a comment asking for a nomination, and I will respond with an official “I nominate you” comment.
In the meantime, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed my little Q&A!
Panic sets in. Heart racing, your eyes dart around frantically. You gasp desperately for breath, and your entirety trembles. There is no escape. The darkness has imprisoned you, and from within there is no way out.
Depression is the seemingly inescapable, wall-less prison that confines and cripples teens today. The cycle of fears feeding fears leaves teens feeling hopeless, worn out, and defeated. This is when the Devil tries his hardest to lead us into despair. Those lacking a consistent and strong connection to the truths of the Bible will ultimately fail to stand on their own strength. Yet, at times, it seems impossible to discard the mindset of despair. Thankfully, by God’s grace, there are three factors to combating this mindset.. This isn’t a “3 steps to leave depression” guidebook. It’s not the same for everyone. But in my personal experience, I’ve found that these three things are often key to my thoughts and doubts. I hope they help you as much as they did me.
We’re back again with another Monday Q&A, continuing to delve into the deep and difficult realm of apologetics. This week, my topic is the foundations of Christianity, an interesting and unique focus when compared to last week’s topic.
Last Monday, we talked about the character of God, finishing the 14 questions within that section of the Q&A. The first 7 questions involved the actual character of God, including his sovereignty (role as king) and triune nature (three in one). Then, last week, we wrapped it all up with a dive into the evidence for God’s existence, a fun and intriguing discussing that left me eagerly anticipating the responses in the comment section.
Now, to begin the second of our six apologetics sections, involving the very foundations of Christianity. These are simple (but common) questions usually asked by unbelievers and new believers alike. Answering them should prove quite interesting.
Sexual abuse is one of the leading causes of crime in the United States. Second only to a lack of true fatherhood, the problem of sexual abuse is more than nationwide- it’s universal.
Lecrae is just one voice in a sea of many, yet his testimony rings true with many of us. Now a famous Christian rapper, singer, author, and speaker, Lecrae wrote on the subject of sexual abuse on multiple occasions.
The Kennedy Award of Excellence is a registered award of excellence for blogs through its writing, presentation and objectives. It fosters human values; promoting intellectual, emotional and moral growth of peers.
Thank you so much to my brother from Jesusluvsall for the nomination! I haven’t done an award in a while (in fact, I tend to avoid them), but I liked the unique features that set the Kennedy Award apart from the others.
With that, make sure to check out his blog by clicking here, he regularly publishes quality, encouraging content, and I highly encourage you to subscribe to his website!
So, without further ado, let’s get into the award!
We’re back again, continuing our series on the character of God. To cap it off, I am answering the last 7 questions from Stoa Apologetics’ worksheet questions on the character and being of God.
In last week’s post, I answered the first seven, mainly talking about the importance of God’s power and how it plays out into our lives. Today, the questions begin to extend further into the realm of Jesus’ existence and the proof found therein. Hang tight; it may be a bumpy ride.
Inspiration can come from the strangest of places. I have, in my three years as a blogger, been inspired by a bagel, a cup of coffee, and other, non food-related objects.
In this case, our inspiration comes from the badly-received movie “Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice”. The movie was quite predictable and, to nobody’s surprise, was another hard-hitting, sink-smashing DC film with over half the movie dedicated to action scenes.
But, to my complete surprise, the movie later delved into philosophy. As the plot nears the climax, Lex Luthor (the villain) has captured Superman’s mother, Martha, and is threatening to kill her. If Superman wants to see his mother alive, Luthor says, he must “bring me the head of the Bat”. Luthor will only release Martha if Superman kills Batman. But, before Superman leaves, Luthor says something extremely profound.
Have you ever had a bagel? You know, a nice fat one with extra bread, maybe with a little fried banana or a roasted ant on top?
Yeah, me neither.
I prefer a normal bagel, thank you very much. A little peanut butter or apple butter, and I’m set for the afternoon. Throw in some chocolate milk, and I’ll last most of the morning too.
I honestly didn’t know the true wonder of bagels until about three weeks ago. My mom had bought a half-dozen from the grocery store, and I randomly decided to try one.
I knew instantly that I had found the perfect snack.
They’re soft, tasty, and filling too. Easy to bite into with enough variance in toppings that you’ll never really have the same bagel twice.
The Bible is like that in a lot of ways, actually. When read with the right appetite, it becomes easy to digest and provides more than enough energy to get you through the day. It is never the same, and as you continue to read, you go deeper and deeper into God’s word, discovering entirely new things that seemed to have been masked until that moment.
Apologetics is a key aspect of the Christian faith. A Christian without the ability to defend his faith is a knight without his armor, susceptible to attacks from the enemy.
Because of the important place Apologetics holds within the Christian faith, it must be understood that to neglect the subject is to, in some ways, neglect your own faith, since the two are tied together. A strong understanding of Theology, logic, church history, and scriptural authority will lead to a firm grounding in apologetics. Indeed, many Christian apologists have demonstrated absolute mastery over these subjects, including men like Ravi Zacharias and Josh McDowell.
So, in understanding of the importance of Apologetics, I have undertaken a new series: an apologetics Q&A, to be written every Monday for the next eight weeks. These questions are taken from an apologetics worksheet, written by Stoa Apologetics and shared with me by my good friend and brother Tiegan Anderson, creator of the up-and-coming YouTube channel “AndBros“.
Today’s topic is the character of God, and all 14 questions (today and next Monday) will relate to that subject alone. Today, I will be answering the first 7 questions, and next week, I will finish the topic by answering the final 7.
Finally, keep in mind that these are written from a non-denominational point of view. If you disagree with the theological answers, please understand that differences of opinion within theology are common and acceptable, so an angry comment in the comment section over a topic such as the triune God would not be greatly appreciated.
Alright, without any further ado, let’s get into the questions.
After publishing over four posts on this subject, we have finally created an almost full collection of African misconceptions. Africa, it seems, is misunderstood. To date, we have published two posts on African Misconceptions, one on Uganda’s Technology, and another on crazy facts about Africa. These posts averaged 1,250 words apiece, showing that there truly is a lot of unknown information about Africa.
But, if you’re a new follower or simply haven’t been able to read these posts, today’s your lucky day; this post contains all of the information found within the last four combined, but in bite-sized pieces.
Let’s face it: we teenagers aren’t all that great at relating with the opposite gender. The common stereotype of the bumbling teenage male and the cutesy teenage female are nearly correct. The distancing between genders has become a legitimate issue, one only fixed through a common understanding and trust between those on both sides.
My partner, Keziah, and I have compiled a list of ten tips that should help combat this problem. With them, the guys will better understand the girls, and vice versa. These tips are organized into two groups: 5 tips to help you make friends with those of the opposite gender, and 5 tips to make yourself more attractive to them, as a general rule. Thus, the first half of the post will cover platonic relationships, and the second half will cover romantic relationships.
There are, of course, exceptions to these, but they should apply to most guys and girls.
Elisha McFarland 