Glorifying His name through wood products

The Galilean

Shaun Zenner

Abortion

Divide Topic One Divide Topic Two The Moral Divide

As I started this post it had recently been revealed that the U.S. Supreme Court was reversing the Roe v. Wade decision, creating more energy to the already divisive moral rifts in our country. Abortion is one of many issues I wanted to speak to within this page of the Galilean because it seems to Continue reading…

The Moral Divide – Topic Two

Divide Topic One Divide Topic Two The Moral Divide

Currently Under Construction – Check back soon

Atonement: The Work of Christ

Things Christian

I imagine when a person comes to identify themselves as a Christian there is at some level an acceptance that Christ died for your sins and that you knew you needed to have faith in Him to enter a place called heaven. Something that comes less easy to understand is how and why it had Continue reading…

In the beginning…

The Evidence

I’ve been preparing for this for quite a while now. This little journey into the evidence of God’s existence will be challenging, discerning, and hopefully rewarding. I am constantly surprised at how unaware, or perhaps misled, some folks can be about the evidence for God’s existence, and the litany of rationally strong arguments for His Continue reading…

The argument from contingency

The Evidence

The contention: God is the best evidence of why there is something rather than nothing. Contingency Argument: Everything that exists has an explanation of its existence. If the universe has an explanation of its existence, that explanation is God. The universe exists. The universe has an explanation of its existence. Therefore God exists. This argument Continue reading…

The Bible

Things Christian

The Bible, as understood by Christians, is written, God-breathed, holy scripture that entails an Old and New Testament of God’s salvific plan to humanity, culminating in the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth and beginnings of the early church. It is the most manufactured and purchased book the world has known. The Bible could Continue reading…

The cosmological argument

The Evidence

Contention: God is the best evidence for the origin of the universe The Cosmological Argument: The Cosmological argument follows nicely from the Contingency argument because it takes the question of ‘why is there something rather than nothing’ and gets specific with the origin of the universe.  Now logically, this is an airtight argument.  But are Continue reading…

Inspired and inerrant?

Extras

Many Christians believe the Bible to be the inspired and inerrant word of God. But what does this really mean? By inspired do we actually mean God spoke directly to the writers and then directed the movements of their writing utensil across the papyri? Or do we mean the men were inspired some other way Continue reading…

The Bible said what?

Extras

As a Bible-believing Christian you will embrace your time spent in studying the scripture and also find yourself getting perhaps a little uncomfortable with some of God’s commands in the Old Testament and some of Jesus’s teaching in the New Testament. So are we to gloss over these sections and pretend they are not there, Continue reading…

Heaven and Hell

Extras

Are they real or just imaginary places? Is the idea of heaven and hell a bedtime story meant to scare us into a sense of moral duty? If a place called heaven and hell do not exist, what does that mean for the implications of our moral decisions or obligations? If there is life after Continue reading…

Salvation

Things Christian

Are you saved?  I remember hearing those words the first time I went to a non-denominational Christian Bible chapel.  Here I was, a young adult Christian raised in a Roman Catholic home.  I had no idea what they were talking about.  The Catholics I knew never spoke like this.  Am I saved?  Gee, I don’t Continue reading…

The teleological argument

The Evidence

The contention: God is the best evidence for the fine tuning of intelligent life The Teleological Argument-argument for fine-tuning The universe appears that is has been fine-tuned for intelligent life. The cause of the fine-tuning of the universe for intelligent life is either by physical necessity, chance, or design. It is not fine-tuned by physical Continue reading…

The moral argument

The Evidence

The contention: God is the best evidence for objective moral values and duties The Moral Argument If God exists, then objective moral values and duties exist. Objective moral values and duties do exist. Therefore God exists. What does objective mean? Not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts; and binding. Inversely, Continue reading…

The man Jesus of Nazareth

The Evidence

The man Jesus of Nazareth has provoked more books, more conversation, more controversy, and more hope than any man in human history. When we use the term amazing, it should be reserved for very special occasions. The story of Jesus and His life, death, and resurrection and the effect it has had on mankind is truly amazing. He Continue reading…

Hope

Things Christian

What do you know about hope?  Hope is a word that is likely as tossed around as much as any word in the dictionary.  So what does it mean to have hope and why is it important?  How do we toss this word around? I hope we have a nice day outside today so we Continue reading…

Evil & Suffering

Big topic here.  And no, I’m not going to pretend to dazzle you with answers on why there is evil and suffering in the world. The greatest minds of the world have wrestled with this topic since humanity has walked the earth. What we are going to talk about is why evil and suffering are necessary with Continue reading…

Got sin?

Things Christian

Now here is one subject that can get a little uncomfortable for people.  That is, the reality of sin and the knowledge of its consequences.  Now in our western society we can have a hard time with this topic because we are constantly messaged that feelings of guilt are bad and that with the right Continue reading…

May the grace be with you

Things Christian

My children are such little blessings.  Every day I am blessed to be with them I learn more about myself and them.  Just a few short years ago they were really into Star Wars.  A popular salutation in those movies is “may the force be with you.”  Well I’d like to kick this topic off Continue reading…

Why is forgiveness important?

Things Christian

Have you ever wondered why we forgive, or why we seek forgiveness? Is this a byproduct of social evolution? Does the animal kingdom forgive? Does the mountain lion seek forgiveness from the remaining herd of deer after it has taken the life of one of their own? Have you ever wronged someone and sought forgiveness? Continue reading…

Was Darwin right?

Are we just an accidental byproduct of nature? Or is there something more? Did chance just have it right that somehow in a vat of prebiotic soup a cocktail of life just happened into existence? Is it really likely that this happened and both a male version and female version were born out of this? Continue reading…

What is Truth?

What is Truth? In John 18:37-38 Jesus is in front of Pontius Pilate in the Praetorium and says… “You say rightly that I am a king.  For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.  Everyone who is of the Continue reading…

What is justice without God?

When we have previously spoken about the attributes of God, one of the attributes ascribed to God is justice.  Justice has implications of fairness/equity, punishment, consequence, and others as well.  The question(s) for the seeker of truth is whether justice is important in your worldview, and if so, what kind of model would it be?  Continue reading…

Can you be good without God?

God’s Good Nature Please read the following Gospel excerpts…Mark 10:18, Mt 19:16-17, and Luke 18:19 There are many attributes of God that are valuable to learn and understand the depths of.  The idea of good or goodness is one of them that is quite foundational.  The reason this is important is because if God’s goodness Continue reading…

Final thoughts…literally

Hebrews 9:27 says ‘(A)nd just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment.’ (NRSV) This is a stark, unavoidable fact. Death is an appointment we will not miss. If a person were to look back on the appointments of their life, how would they try to understand and prepare Continue reading…

Resources

The following books I have found valuable in my search for truth. And while I wouldn’t endorse the viewpoints of the secular books, I find it highly advisable as Christians we understand the counter arguments to our faith, especially as objective truth seekers. While very articulate and attractive, the informed Christian will be able to Continue reading…