Josiah Concept Ministries

I haven’t been blogging much lately because I’ve been going through a lot in my personal life.  My grandmother, Virginia Tucholski, passed away last week.  She went quickly and painlessly, which is an answer to prayer.  It isn’t like I’m never going to see her again; we will meet again in the resurrection, but that is still no consolation for the present.  Between the showing, the funeral, and just plain dealing with this tragedy, I haven’t had much time to blog.

Fortunately, now all is over and done with, and I will be able to return to my regular blogging schedule.  So stay with me and more updates will come soon.  I’m still looking to answer Rook Hawkins’s reply to me, but I still need to do some more research.  Look for that reply sometime next week.

As of today, I have been mentioned on two of the three core Rational Response Squad member blogs. I was mentioned by Sapient in glowing terms for my series of articles dealing with the unchristian behavior of Frank Walton. Now, I have the dubious honor of being “refuted” by Rook Hawkins, the historian of the group.

I will read this piece and prepare my response as quickly as time allows.

Now all I need is a mention on Kelly’s blog and I will have been mentioned on the blog of all three core RRS members. Do I get a medal for that? Or a call from the President? Probably not, but I should at least get a cookie!

I’m up to proof #45 on God is NOT Imaginary (http://weknowgodisreal.wordpress.com) for those of you that follow that site.  Check it out!

I should be able to finish the remainder of the proofs either tomorrow or Thursday.

I regret to announce that Josiah Cast is officially done and over with.  I was going to do one more episode, where I answered Sean Hutton’s comment on my Catholic Mass article, however due to time constraints I am not going to be able to do that episode.

I enjoyed podcasting, so I will definitely bring Josiah Cast back in the near future.  Right now, with returning to school, working, fatherhood, and other ministry commitments, it isn’t feasible to continue podcasting.

As for the response to Sean Hutton, I will craft a written response in the early portion of next week, after I finish dissecting Rook Hawkins’s “Which Jesus: A Legend with a Multiple Personality Disorder?”  I plan to delve into Rook’s article about the apostle Paul after that.

My answer to “Which Jesus?” will be up a little later than expected.  I had to do more background reading than I thought.  It’s still a fairly easy article to tackle once the underlying presupposition is taken care of.

Lately, readers  have probably noticed that I’m doing less with refuting heresy and more with Christian understandings of things like Hell and predestination.  I’ve been spending more time studying historic Christianity and its creeds rather than the vitriol that drips from the mouths of the evangelistic atheist sorts.  Not that I’ve waned in my vigiliance of what the other side is saying; far from it–I’m currently working my way through the so-called Four Horsemen: Dawkins, Hitchens, Dennett, and Harris.  I’ve been reading God is Not Great, and next on my plate is Letter to a Christian Nation.  Soon, I hope to get to The God Delusion and Breaking the Spell, but I’ll probably read The End of Faith first.

Not that he’s one of the Four Horseman, but since Bart Ehrman is often cited, I’ve been reading Misquoting Jesus, too.

I feel that it is prudent for me to study more historic Christianity to strengthen my faith, especially in light of all the atheistic nonsense I read.  It would be nice to live a life unafraid of God’s judgment, but I know that said judgment will be reality, and I also know that my sins can only be covered by the blood of Christ, whom I have complete faith in.  Therefore, having been chosen by God to do the work of this apologetics ministry, I feel it wise stewardship of my time to bathe myself more in the words of those who did the work before me, and whose works will survive long after my own are forgotten.

Therefore, I’m balancing my reading list a little bit more.  This means that refutations may not come as quickly as they used to, since I’m still a full-time father and BK manager.  I’m starting school in the fall, God willing, which will slow my apologetics work down even more.  But I plan to keep up the good work of this ministry, for God’s glory alone.

Better late than never, right?  Josiah Cast is all about women in the Bible this week.  I show how the Bible is used to elevate women rather than denigrate them.  I forgot to mention some website resources at the close of the program, so instead I’ll provide the links below.  As usual, if you want a copy of the show e-mail me to make download arrangements.  I’m still having difficulty finding a good host for the podcast.

Resources:

• Christian Think-tank
• Shawna R.B. Atteberry, author of the work-in-progress Career Women of the Bible
• Is God sexist?
• Response to Examine God’s Sexism

I worked so hard to get the final podcast product set to go that I neglected to find a way to distribute it.  The final size is to big for Yahoo-GeoCities and WordPress won’t allow MP3 uploads without a paid upgrade.

So, for right now, if anyone would like to listen to the first podcast, please drop me an e-mail and I will send it to you.  The final size is 19 Mb, so you’ll need to make sure that your mail reader will support something that large.

Thank you for your patience.  I will find a distribution method for the podcast very soon!

My critics may look at this as symbolic, but I need to strike this story while the iron is hot.  I am preempting my very first podcast, which was supposed to be on the Bible and women, in favor of a Christian response to the Tom Cruise video that has been sweeping the Internet like a great storm.  The Bible on women episode will air February 15.

The current episode is on schedule to air February 1.  If anyone would like to make a listener contribution on either the Tom Cruise video or on the Bible on women, please e-mail an mp3 file to tucholskic@gmail.com.  Listener contributions are always welcome!

Praise God for blessing my new blog, God is NOT Imaginary with success! In less than a month, we are coming on 1000 page views already, with a record day yesterday that tops anything this blog has ever seen!

Keep praying out there! I can see the results!

I’m up to 29 complete proofs on God Is NOT Imaginary!!

There are two reasons that I’m going to have put on the brakes.  First, an atheist named Jake has put several really good challenges out to me.  I’m going to have to answer those before I proceed.  Second, I’m going to have to go over the material that Mike from Geocreationism has sent me for answering Proof #25.

Work hasn’t been the most pleasant experience lately.  I even missed all four of my turns at Conquer Club yesterday.  It’s a bad day when you’re just too tired to play online Risk.  Today, I’ve already worked 10 hours but I have to go back because they’re short handed for the close.

Tomorrow, I’ll edit Proof #25, then post #26-29.  If I’m not too tired, I’ll set to answering Jake.

I still have to answer Mr. Hutton on my Catholic Mass article.  Unfortunately for him, the God is NOT Imaginary site is taking precedence over everything else I’m trying to do right now.

We are still on pace for a February 1st launch for the Josiah Concept Podcast (tentative name).  The first podcast will cover the Bible’s view of women, which is not oppressive the way that certain skeptics seem to think.

So stay with us.  There are a lot of great things happening for God’s glory here!