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Category: Birth Pangs

My Million Words and the Road to Good Writing

It is one of those subjective truisms that a person becomes a good writer sometime after writing their millionth word.  I don’t know if the truism is true or not.  I should like to think that my writing was good many hundred thousand words ago.  🙂  I won’t deny, however, that the writing in my first published book, Fidelis (156,000 words), is not as good as my writing of the second book, Spero (165,000 words) , and as I continue to write the third book- Caritas (as yet <50,000 words)- I feel like the writing is better still.

The … continue reading...

My books and stories all in one place

Here’s a bit of a no-brainer that was years in the making… all of the published books and short stories I’ve written, listed in one place:  Here.

To date, these include my Birth Pangs series, my pro-life book, and two collections of short stories.  Some are available only in digital format while others are in print.

The short stories are compilations of ones that I’ve written over the years and decided to throw together.  Some of them are part of my effort to discipline myself to write a bit every month and are shared first with a group of … continue reading...

The feminization of love and romance: can manly men live up to girlie love?

I fear that this post is going to be construed as sexist.  Let me assure the reader that I love women.  Some of my best friends are women.  In fact, I’m even married to one (and she is not a pillow).  People have noted that the female characters in my Birth Pangs series are really strong, independent ladies.  But I think I’m still going to be called a sexist.

I had the misfortune to see the movie Twilight this weekend with my wife.   I had heard that it was a chick flick.  That’s not the misfortunate part.  The … continue reading...

Announcing: Online Literary Apologetics Conference

I am proud to announce that Athanatos Christian Ministries will be hosting its first annual online apologetics conference this May.

http://onlineapologeticsconference.com/

The theme for the conference is ‘literary apologetics.’  Potentially, future conferences will tackle some other brand of communicating or defending the Gospel through the arts.  ‘Literary apologetics’ is, obviously, using the written word to carry out that endeavor.  Notable examples are C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, and Dorothy Sayers, to name a few.

The purpose of the conference is to issue a call to Christians in the arts to express their faith through them and issue a call … continue reading...

Unpublished Answers to Interview with An Apologist

Not too long ago, FallenandFlawed blog interviewed me about my apologetics ministry and some of my activities.  As tends to happen with me, I got a little long and only a portion of the interview could be posted.  With permission, here are the remaining questions and answers:

Q. In 2009 ACM launched a Christian Writing Contest, which was an outgrowth of ACM’s desire to develop a genre of fiction called “literary apologetics.” Forgive me, but immediately books like C. S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce and The Chronicles of Narnia come to mind. Is that what you’re looking for? What … continue reading...

Michigan Pro-Life and Apologetics Speaking Tour in October

I will be traveling throughout Michigan from about Oct. 15th to Oct 22nd speaking in various venues, primarily in regards to pro-life issues. See: www.wechoselife.com.

Many of these presentations are at high schools and other places that are not open to the public.  However, three of the ones that are open to the public are also apologetic related, especially the St. Matthew event where I argue the reliability of the Bible and the St. Peter’s event where I discuss challenges to the Christian faith (topic title:  “Five things killing Christianity.”

Below is a schedule of the ‘open to the public’

… continue reading...

A theological basis for rank individualism in society and elsewhere

This essay is long- some 2,000 words.  But I think it is worth reading.  Print it out if you like if that makes it easier.

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‘Individualism’ has a bad rap, even among Christians.  To be fair, there are things in ‘individualism’ that I think are unhealthy or even immoral, too, but the key thing to remember is that any opposite of ‘individualism’ is not necessarily preferable.  If we’re going to raise up ‘inter-connectedness’ (a neutral term, I hope) it must be done thoughtfully, and it cannot obliterate that which is moral or good in ‘individualism.’

The only folks that … continue reading...

We have no rights, health care or otherwise, unless…

There are plenty of folks about insisting that there is a universal right to health care.  Obviously, health care is a hot topic right now, but the question of ‘rights’ permeates many other areas of our existence, so I thought I would address it.  I doubt I break any new ground, but it’s on my chest and I want it off.

We have no rights.  At least, not strictly speaking.  If there is a God, he has as much ‘right’ to destroy us as to sustain us.  If there isn’t a God, we have no more rights than an antelope … continue reading...

Despicable Trends in Bioethics Inevitable Result of Secularism

Every now and then I read something that really get on my nerves even though nothing any more surprises me.  Recently I came across a man named Jacob M. Appel and his stomach turning positions.  Now, as I mentioned, it doesn’t really surprise me.  However, I think it may be a surprise to some folks… I here think of some atheist friends who laugh away my assertions that there are certain aspects of atheism and secular humanism that logically, if not inevitably, degenerate into certain positions and attitudes.  However, I am also thinking of some fellow Christians who think you … continue reading...

Literary Apologetics: Missionary Work in the Language of the Masses

I am currently promoting my Birth Pangs series and thought it would be a good idea to point to a few places where I have argued that turning the tide in America today means changing the way we witness.  In particular, using narrative, whether visually or in text.

America is increasingly a mission field in its own right.  Just as missionaries have to learn the language of the natives before they can present the Gospel effectively, so too do we need to do the same in America.  This does not mean (per some trends in apologetics today) adopting the ‘language’ … continue reading...

Thomas Sowell’s Fatal Trajectory and Horvath’s End Times Ponderings

Thomas Powell’s recent article at Townhall called “A Fatal Trajectory” was featured on Rush Limbaugh today.  When I got home I found some friends talking about it, too.  I thought Powell’s piece hit the nail on the proverbial head.

Here is a quote I want to comment briefly on:

Ultimately, it all comes down to who is willing to die and who is not.

How did we get to this point? It was no single thing.

The dumbing down of our education, the undermining of moral values with the fad of “non-judgmental” affectations, the denigration of our nation

… continue reading...

Praestet fides supplementum sensuum defectui …

You may have arrived here searching out this Latin phrase from my book, Fidelis, the first in my Birth Pangs series.  If not, you might want to consider picking up said books!

“Praestet fides supplementum sensuum defectui…”Or, in some translations I’ve seen, “Faith supplies what the senses cannot…” But I am no Latin scholar. We get the idea easily enough, though. In the first place, this little sentence implies that there are things that are real that our senses themselves are inadequate to detect. In the second place, the ‘organ’ for making the detection is ‘faith.’

Faith has gotten … continue reading...