Last February I debated Dr. Jim Corbett on the question of God and morality. As a result, I was invited to appear as a guest by Luke Muehlhauser, the host for a Podcast at Common Sense Atheism. We discussed many things including apologetics and debate, the state of youth today and how apologetics relates to philosophy. Luke was a gracious and thoughtful host. Check it out!

Here's the link: http://commonsenseatheism.com/?p=8087

A few weeks ago I partnered with Brett Kunkle of Stand to Reason to take 22 high school students on an apologetics mission trip to Salt Lake City. One of my students, Matt Champagne, put this brief trailer together about the upcoming documentary. Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/user/Seanmcdowell76

 

Tiger Woods is back, and the world is watching. Some are watching for the golf, others for the story of recovery and redemption in play. Me, I'm watching for the Buddhism.

If you recall, just a couple of months ago Tiger held that rather strange and staged "mea culpa" press conference, the one where he apologized all over the place and then pointed to Buddhism as the rock upon which he was going to stand. Tiger hasn't mentioned Buddhism since, but that doesn't mean he hasn't made good on his intention to return to his religious roots. Come to think of it, was that Tiger's deceased father or was it the spirit of Buddha speaking to Tiger in that kinda creepy but somehow fascinating Nike commercial?

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We began the training for our trip to Utah with forty students. Some dropped out for different reasons, but a common theme was they thought we were going to “beat up on Mormons.” I’ve never received criticism from Christians for our mission trips to Berkeley where we engage atheists and agnostics, but a decent number of Christians felt we shouldn’t be going on a mission trip to Utah. Why is this? I’d love to know what some of you think.

The conclusion I’ve come to is that many Christians don’t fully understand the depravity of man. Mormons are nice, well-meaning people who believe in family values. So, who are we to try and convert them? Isn’t this intolerant? It seems to me that we confuse the difference between goodness and niceness. I’ve certainly done this many times in my own life. Most Mormons are certainly nice, but does that mean they are good? According to Isaiah 64:6, “All of our righteous deeds are like filthy garments.” Mormons are just as sinful and in desperate need of God’s grace as anyone else (myself included).

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“I thank God for truth. I’ve thanked God for many things in my life, but never thought about thanking God for allowing me to truly know Him.”

These powerful words were spoken by one of my students last night as we debriefed from our mission trip to Salt Lake City, Utah. She was heartbroken that so many well meaning people believe a false gospel and yet, for the first time, she was truly grateful to know the truth. My heart was truly touched to hear a high school student speak these words.

For the past three days our team of six leaders and twenty-three students have been interacting with Mormon students at BYU, knocking on doors throughout Salt Lake City to talk about the gospel, and touring Temple Square to learn about the history and doctrine of Mormonism. My friend and fellow conversantlife blogger Brett Kunkle planned and organized the trip for us.

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“Most people don’t want the truth … they’re looking for answers to confirm their prejudices,” reads the cover of Michael S. Heiser’s thriller novel, The Façade.

I joke that I read most of this book in the bathroom because it scared the “you know what” out of me. There is no doubt that Mike Heiser, who edits Bible Study Magazine with me and is the Academic Editor of Logos Bible Software, knows how to weave a plot and write dialogue. The pages of this chilling book are riddled with examples of his skill:

“The creature quietly removed the papers from his hand.

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When asked by Joan Ball over at Belief Net to respond to Karen Armstrong's Charter for Compassion, I said:

"I don't think [Jesus] would sign [the Charter for Compassion]. I think he would be aware of how easily it could lead to condoning the actions of other faiths that are unjust. Jesus was not compassionate towards those who had no compassion. Instead, he was ruthless with his words of rebuke of whatever injustices they were committing."

This generated a heated debate, as you can imagine. To see my justification for my conclusion and read the discussion, head on over to Joan's blog.

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Radio interviews are almost always enjoyable, especially when the host permits call-ins. I love the raw nature of a live q&a; it's energizing.

But one call-in this year caught me off-guard. Frankly, I was stunned and couldn't fill the space fast enough for air time, so the comment went unanswered except by the host who thanked the caller for taking the time...

The interview was on my book, Finding an Unseen God: Reflections of a Former Atheist. Many have commented on how I treat Atheists and their belief system with respect throughout the book. I thought the reasons were obvious--but that is my error.

In response to the interview, the sincere, non-belligerent, concerned caller said, "You should not honor the Atheist, because the Bible says that, "the fool says in his heart that there is no God.'" Then he went on to make another point...which I honestly don't remember because I was a bit dazed.

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For those of you who care about young people today, this article is a must-read. There are twice as many atheist groups on college campuses this year as compared to last. I agree with the author of this study who says that a big reason is the New Atheists who are targeting young people much more aggressively than in the past. Atheists are stepping up their game. Will we? For those of you who care about young people today, this article is a must-read. There are twice as many atheist groups on college campuses this year as compared to last. I agree with the author of this study who says that a big reason is the New Atheists who are targeting young people much more aggressively than in the past. Atheists are stepping up their game. Will we?

Click HERE to read the article

 

Sean

 

When I was in junior high school, a buddy of mine invited me to join the on campus Christian Club.  Realizing that students who participated in an on campus club got a “go to lunch 5 minutes early” pass, I jumped at the offer.  Our lunch lines were horrendous!  The student-led club was basically a Bible study that met once a week, with the occasional guest speaker thrown in.  I wasn’t raised in the church, but I was struck by the good company and became interested in what the big deal was about God and church and stuff.

 

This buddy of mine then invited me to attend church with him.  So, on Sunday mornings, he would bike to my house and then the two of us would pedal through the morning fog for Sunday services.  It was on one of these treks that my friend realized I did not own a Bible.  A few days later, my friend passed down his own well-worn Bible.  The dedication page was covered in white-out, and over the crusty paste he had written my name as the owner of the Bible and scrawled his name on the “From” line.

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