Analysis and Review: Kingdom Come

I finally got around to reviewing this awesome work for this Friday evening’s weekend leisure reading…why?  Because Pastors need mental breaks too…

Mark Waid.  Kingdom Come. New York, NY: DC Comics, October 1^st, 1997. 231 pp.

5 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon

Let me say in the beginning that in what follows in this review it will contain spoilers.

I read this graphic novel after this was recommended to me on my blog by Robert Jones.  I rarely begin any review of comics talking about the artwork (I’m more into the story than the artwork) but I must say Alex Ross has done an incredible work with the illustrations throughout the entire book.  The amount of attention to details was amazing especially for comics.  I love the complex facial expressions Ross was able to capture ranging from shock, being disturbed and anguished.  Again, incredible.  You even gain something by looking at what’s happening with the background.  I personally felt Ross’ artistic approach was that of Norman Rockwell but situated in the future and focused on superheroes.  I have always felt Rockwell’s art has a sense of realism of everyday life but one with a sense of direction that makes you think about us as persons in society; Ross’ work of art is like that but with even more realism in the sense that he captures that all n the world is not all right; it is filled with a streak of darkness, disappointments and despair.  In fact as I will later mention in the review knowing a bit of Rockwell might help us to interpret this work.

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7 Truths about God’s Creation of Man and Woman from Genesis 1: Points 2-3

What is a man and a woman?

This series of posts we will see seven truths derived from Genesis 1:26-28 concerning God’s creation of man and woman so that we would understand God’s design of manhood and womanhood for our lives today.

Last time we saw Truth # 1: God created both men and female and God has the authority to say what man and woman is supposed to be.

In this post we will look at point 2 and 3.

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Problems with Reza Aslan’s Rejection of Jesus Before Pilate Part 2

Two months ago I wrote “Problems with Reza Aslan’s Rejection of Jesus Before Pilate Part 1.”  This is the second installment.

Reza Aslan has gotten into more controversies since my last post.  He’s managed to get himself kicked out of CNN. And that reminded me to work on part 2 of this series.

Aslan’s most popular book is Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth.

Reza Aslan questions the historicity of Jesus being before Pilate as the Gospels presented it.  On page 148 of the book he writes:

Either the threat posed by Jesus to the stability of Jerusalem is so great that he is one of only a handful of Jews to have the opportunity to stand before Pilate and answer for his alleged crimes, or else the so-called trial before Pilate is a fabrication.  There is reason to suspect that latter. (148)

We are examining his “reason” to question the Gospels’ accounts of Jesus appearing before Pilate.  In part 1 I pointed out the problem with Aslan’s academic credentials and also refuted Aslan’s argument based upon Aslan’s assertion that Pilate was one who was not for trials.  Here in this post I want to look at another of Aslan’s “reason.”

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7 Truths about God’s Creation of Man and Woman from Genesis 1: Point 1

What is a man and a woman?

In this series of posts we will see 7 truth derived from Genesis 1:26-28 concerning God’s creation of man and woman so that we would understand God’s design of manhood and womanhood for our lives today.

Why this study on Genesis 1?

• We want to see how God intended men and woman to be so that we understand the role for today.
• While Genesis 1 is a summary of the creation of man and woman we see that there are a lot of truths that is established here that is foundational for the Bible’s discussion of manhood and womanhood.

Let us start with the first truth that lays the foundation for all else that follows.

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Prayer Requests for Preparation for Summer Missions

I would like to ask for prayers for my ministry in July and August. Besides regular pastoral visitations and evangelism I typically preach at least 4 times during the week but this summer it is going to be my busiest season of ministry.  Towards the end of summer I’ll be going overseas to teach in undisclosed countries on two different courses in theology.  At the same time there’s a lot I’m doing stateside: there’s a retreat, a conference and some other guest speaking at other churches. My biggest prayer request?  Please pray for wisdom and strength for my studies.

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Review: New Super-Man Vol. 1: Made In China

Thank you for DC  for allowing me to review this comic.  This new book comes out today.  For more of my reviews of comics check out Collection of Posts: Superheroes, Comics and Worldview Series.

Gene Yang.  New Super-Man Vol. 1: Made In China. Burbank, CA: DC Comics, June 27^th, 2017. 231 pp.

5 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon

This was a fun read.  This was a little different than the typical Superman comic. This New Superman is Chinese (as one can gleam from the subtitle).  I loved the story as it was a breath of fresh air from the generic Superman story and also that it was a different cultural perspective.  I am glad DC printed this and had a good writer name Gene Yang tell this story.  Thus far this is my favorite of DC’s latest company-wide relaunched called Rebirth.

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Relativist Fallacy: “My Truth?” From Harvest Bible Chapel Waterloo Region

Short little clip from a larger lecture and series from Harvest Bible Chapel of Waterloo Region.

It discusses relativism which is all too prevalent today.

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Sunday Morning Motivations for Preachers and Teachers: Fixing our hope on the living God

It’s Sunday Morning.  I know sometimes ministry is not easy.  So here’s another little motivation from the Word of God for preachers before you enter your pulpit and teachers before you go in to instruct your class.

Today’s post comes from 1 Timothy 4:10=

For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.

Here’s a question based upon the verse:

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Blogging to Edify and Evangelize the World

This post was inspired by Wally Fry who wrote Let’s Tell the World About Jesus.  He also shared a map of the world of where his blog was viewed at and his joy of knowing people were reached.

Why do we as Christians blog?  We must do it for God’s glory.

Secondarily we blog to edify believers and evangelize nonbelievers.  Around the World.

Our love for God and desire to see Him glorify drives the secondary reasons.

We don’t do this in a way that is detrimental to our primary responsibilities.  But it also flows from our primary responsibilities though of course often it is above and beyond our primary responsibilities in life.

Of course we can have a wrong heart for why we blog.  Narcissism is a heart condition we must battle in many things we do.

Yet at the same time we can pray to write to edify and evangelize.  We can thank the Lord for those who read from countries we can never go to or parts of the world that we will never see or would exclude you.

Here’s our map for Veritas Domain for the duration of the month of June up to now:

 

And its not just the numbers.  We thank God for the friendship and fellowship on WordPress.

 

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Book Review: A Rage for Order: The Middle East in Turmoil, from Tahrir Square to ISIS

Here is tonight’s weekend nonfiction book review.

Robert F. Worth. A Rage for Order: The Middle East in Turmoil, from Tahrir Square to ISIS.  New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, April 18th 2017. 272 pp.

4 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon

This is an incredibly insightful book on the Arab Spring and the subsequent rise of extremism and tyranny as the uprising’s aftermath.  The author is a journalist who has spent considerable time in the Middle East both before, during and after the Arab Spring which contributed to the author’s experience and knowledge of things before and after the Arab Spring.  For those who are curious about the Middle East and want to understand more of the current events in that region this book should be on the top of one’s list.

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Bible Contradiction? Who carried Jesus’ cross?

For today’s post will tackle the question the Skeptic Annotated Bible asked: Who carried Jesus’s cross?

Here are the two answers which the skeptic believes shows a Bible contradiction:

Jesus carried his own cross

“They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, ^[a]bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha.” (John 19:17)

Simon the Cyrenian carried Jesus’s cross.

“As they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they pressed into service to bear His cross.” (Matthew 27:32)

“ They *pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to bear His cross.” (Mark 15:21)

When they led Him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.” (Luke 23:26)

(All Scriptural quotation comes from the New American Standard Bible)

Here’s a closer look at whether or not there is a contradiction:

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Don’t Waste Your Summer Break: Read!

 

It was officially the first day of summer Tuesday on June 20th, 2017.

College kids would go on summer break.  People go on vacation.

But don’t waste your summer away doing nothing.  Read!

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Presuppositional Apologetics’ Links: Third Week of June 2017

Here are links related to Presuppositional Apologetics gathered between June 15th-21st, 2017.

1.) Atheist Daniel Dennett Tries to Explain the Mind Away: He Fails

2.) Over at Huffington Post Religion: A vegan Muslim Yogi’s rational-irrational tension

3.) Van Til: There is no Third Possibility

4.) Knowledge and ignorance of God

5.) Boghossian and New Atheists Call Theists Nuts and Loons – Christians Should be Locked Up

6.) Men can’t tell women what to do with their bodies! Leftist Self-Defeater

 

Missed the last round up?  Check out the re-blogged post from a friend OR that of Another REBLOG HERE

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Men can’t tell women what to do with their bodies! Leftist Self-Defeater

What do you do when a discussion about abortion and someone say, “Men can’t tell women what to do with their bodies!”

I saw this from Sye Ten Bruggencate.  This is good:

Sye wrote “When the left’s insanity demolishes one of their favourite arguments.”

That’s a Presuppositional apologist in action!

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What’s the Difference Between Monster’s Inc and Planned Parenthood?

Have you ever seen Monster’s Inc?  If so do you remember this scene?

This was the scene towards the end of the movie in which the character Henry Waternoose, the CEO for “Monster’s Inc.,” a company that sells electric power was about to be arrested who said he’s willing to “kidnap a thousand children before I let this company die.”

Of course a company and its leader willing to kidnap a thousand children for the sake of its company survival is immoral.  Disney Pixar who made this film knows that and the audiences does so too.

I can’t help but to think of the parallel that shows just how different we treat Planned Parenthood, America’s largest company committing abortionists.

So what’s the difference between Monster’s Inc and Planned Parenthood?

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