Well, the trip last week to Charlotte, NC was a good one. While it was definitely challenging for me at times, it was still great to see so many other people sharing a single-minded focus in the task of apologetics. While we all might have taken different paths to get into this field, one thing is certain, the goal is the same - to introduce non-believers to Jesus, to help equip those who already know Jesus, and to continue to advance the Kingdom of God.

None of this would not have happened if it were not for the vision of Frank Turek (President of CrossExamined.org), his family, and those donors who have supported him and his ministry. The reminder is that while it might be one person out in front, taking center-stage, there are many of those in the wings without whom none of what we were able to experience would not have been possible. So thanks to all those who have been working to make this ministry a success, it was a great privilege to be a part of it.

In the coming weeks I plan on revamping this site a bit more - whittling it down so it is a little less confusing when navigating it and hopefully making it a bit more focused on Apologetics. I welcome any comments or suggestions and I will see what I can do about incorporating them.

It has been a great journey so far and I hope that it continues. Thanks for riding along with me.

Seeing as I have been too busy to actually attend to my blog and update it on some consistent basis, I have decided to post the remainder of Dr. Craig’s videos on the topic of Who was Jesus of Nazareth?

Enjoy!

Part 5 (9:36):

YouTube Direktvideo link

Part 6 (9:08):

YouTube Direktvideo link

Part 7 (10:00):

YouTube Direktvideo link

Part 8 (10:08):

YouTube Direktvideo link

Part 9 (9:16):

YouTube Direktvideo link

Part 10 (2:36):

YouTube Direktvideo link

Andrew Lloyd Webber week…really? I was definitely skeptical going into last nights show and wondering how some of the contestants were going to fair. Too my surprise, a couple did much better than I thought and the rest did just as I thought - not all that great overall. No doubt A.L.W. has skills when it comes to composition, but this seemed as an odd pairing from the get-go.

My top three are in the following order:

1. David Cook
2. Carly Smithson
3. Syesha Mercado

David Cook continues to impress and last nights belting of Music of the Night was no exception. Is anyone going to beat this guy? Incredible! Actually gave me chills…

Carly Smithson is in the two spot, although it truly was a toss up between her and Syesha. Carly sang Jesus Christ Superstar and did a really, really good job with it. Also impressive.

Syesha Mercado finally showed her personality and was feeling the song One Rock and Roll Too Many. She blew it up and this was definitely the best that I have seen her since she has been on the show. She can have a huge career in musical theater if she wants to - just amazing.

Here are their performances:

David Cook - Music of the Night:

YouTube Direktvideo link

Carly Smithson - Jesus Christ Superstar:

YouTube Direktvideo link

Syesha Mercado - One Rock and Roll Too Many:

YouTube Direktvideo link

Well, it was Mariah Carey themed week. I did not start the show as a fan and I did not end it as a fan. I guess she is ok. She definitely has proven herself with a slew of #1 hits, but it just is not my type of music that I enjoy. However, a five-octave vocal range is massive and anyone that can boast of that is truly talented.

My top three are in the following order:

1. David Cook
2. David Cook
3. Jason Castro

David Cook rocked the joint with his own twist on Mariah’s Always Be My Baby. His arrangement was smoking hot and by far and away the best performance of the night. David is definitely in a league of his own right now and it appears that everyone else is battling for second place.

David Cook is also my number two of the night. Why? Because he was just that good tonight and everyone else was just that bad.

Jason Castro barely made took the number three spot. He performed Mariah’s I Don’t Want To Cry and did a terrific job with it. Actually, it was better than terrific, it was fantastic - probably the best he has ever done on the show. If he had not have done as well as he did, David Cook most likely would have taken this spot as well!

Here are their performances:

David Cook - Always Be My Baby

YouTube Direktvideo link

David Cook - Always Be My Baby [encore]

YouTube Direktvideo link

Jason Castro - I Don’t Want To Cry

YouTube Direktvideo link

The fact brilliant scientists are losing their jobs, being denied tenure, putting their entire academic careers on the line for an alternate theory is ludicrous, especially in this day and age. Unfortunately, the naturalistic evolutionists are the gatekeepers to upper echelons of the scientific community and therefore they wield a lot of power and can squash much of the counter-perspective brought against them. They say that the Intelligent Design group does not have any serious papers published in peer-reviewed journals, therefore their views and research cannot be taken seriously. But what most people do not understand is that those papers have to go through the evolutionists and they do the peer-reviews and they decide who gets published and who doesn’t. So the game is rigged right from the start because they control the peer-reviews, the access to get published by them, etc.

The unfortunate thing about all this is that there is some good research being done that has better explanatory power and scope over 19th century Darwinism. Just to be clear, I’m not claiming that all evolutionary theory is bad or incorrect. There is viable and valid aspects of what it has done and brought to light. But there are also many things that it is capable of explaining and it seems that there needs to be tweaks to the theories as well as alternate theories allowed the chance to come to light so that intelligent people can make up their own minds, do their own research, and be allowed access to grant money to help fund that research.

Anyway, I’m typically swamped with work, school, church activities and the like, but next week I plan on making time to catch this in the theaters.

Below is an extended trailer:

Part 3:

YouTube Direktvideo link

Part 4:

YouTube Direktvideo link

Previous Videos:

• Part 1 of 10
• Part 2 of 10

Here is the second part of Dr. Craig’s talk on the topic of Who was Jesus of Nazareth?

From the videos description on YouTube:

Who really was Jesus of Nazareth? Messiah? Prophet? Madman? Who did Jesus claim to be?

The most influential person ever to walk the planet continues to fascinate. A man who’s public ministry only lasted 3 years, but changed the world forever.

Is The New Testament reliable? Are the stories borrowed from other sources, are they adapted from myths and legends?

From ‘The Holy Blood and Holy Grail’, ‘The Da Vinci Code’, ‘Zeitgeist’ and the recent claim by James Cameron that he discovered Jesus’ tomb. The life of Christ continues to be reinvented for those who can’t except the biography’s of Jesus told by The Gospels.

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse.” — C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Dr. William Lane Craig holds a seminar on the life of Jesus of Nazareth.

YouTube Direktvideo link

Previous Videos:

• Part 1 of 10

If I’m being honest, dawg, this week was a little rough for me. Not the best week for my front-runners - not really sure what happened…

Anyway, my top three, in the following order are:

1. Jason Castro
2. David Archuleta
3. Brooke White

Jason Castro broke out the Ukulele for Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. This is perhaps my favorite version of the song. While I think he did an excellent job of it, I do not think it was as good as Katharine McPhee’s version from Season 5. Still, it was brilliant and better than anyone else tonight.

David Archuleta went pop on us tonight and busted out with Robbie Williams’ Angels. Great song, great lyric, and great performance. David is starting to get his groove back and is beginning to regain some of the ground that he lost in the past few weeks.

Brooke White did Carole King’s You’ve Got a Friend. Another solid choice and, as typical for Brooke, she turned in another solid performance and delivery. She is probably the best in the competition at connecting with the song and with the audience as well as being the most consistent with her singing and performances.

Here are their performances:

Jason Castro - Somewhere Over the Rainbow:

YouTube Direktvideo link

David Archuleta - Angels:

YouTube Direktvideo link

Brooke White - You’ve Got a Friend:

YouTube Direktvideo link

I found this while perusing Zach’s blog this morning and thought it was terrific. Enjoy the video and remember to “pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

YouTube Direktvideo link

Dr. William “Bill” Lane Craig is Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, California. He has authored or edited over thirty books and is one of the countries top Christian Apologists, specializing in the Kalam Cosmological Argument for God’s existence. Following is a ten-part series on the question of Who was Jesus of Nazareth? Hopefully you will find it interesting and learn something new just as I did.

YouTube Direktvideo link