May 13th, 2013
by Max Andrews
The last few weeks of mine have been incredible. My wife graduated with her BS in Communications specializing in PR and Advertising and graduated with my Master’s in Philosophical Studies. These few weeks have allowed our humanity to express every range of the human emotion, which is a good thing.
As we prepare to move to Scotland for my PhD in Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh, we are seeing family and traveling places before we go. One of my main goals was to attain an adjunct position with a university so I can be a professor and work online. Well, I am no longer teaching intro. to philosophy courses at a University, which is sad. However, God had different plans for me–at least for the time being. I’m very humbled to announce that I have been offered and have taken a position with William Lane Craig’s ministry, Reasonable Faith.
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Posted in Personal, William Lane Craig | 7 Comments »
May 8th, 2013
by Max Andrews
UPDATE: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/on-air/as-seen-on/LambesisCharges_San-Diego.html
UPDATE 2: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/May/09/lambesis-murder-for-hire-san-diego-arraignment/?#article-copy
UPDATE 3: http://lambgoat.com/news/20388/Tim-Lambesis-victim-of-setup-says-lawyer
UPDATE 4: http://lambgoat.com/news/20444/Tim-Lambesis-bail-lowered;-steroids-blamed
UPDATE 5: http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/Music/2013/05/19/Lawyer-Tim-Lambesis-took-steroids-before-alleged-murder-for-hire-plan/UPI-39071368980516/
It’s in the middle of the night and I can’t sleep. I’m absolutely heartbroken over the news of Tim Lambesis’ (lead singer for As I Lay Dying) arrest for allegedly attempting to hire someone to murder his wife. AILD is my favorite band. I feel especially close and drawn to this band for many reasons. Outside of their amazing, heavy sound, their lyrics are unique and insightful.
It’s been several hours since I first read the news and I feel physically sick over this. Allow me to be completely honest and open for a moment. This isn’t something I’d normally share but my heart yearns to share [a part of] this. For about two years now I have had an existential battle. A few months ago, on a Sunday, I woke up and went to church with my wife and a couple friends. I was desolate all morning. I
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Posted in Culture, In The News, Personal | 3 Comments »
April 17th, 2013
by Max Andrews
You have put me in the lowest pit, in the dark places, in the depths. Your wrath has rested upon me, and you have afflicted me with all your waves. Speak up, my ears are growing weary. I’ll sing this song to the end and watch the waves crash over me.
I am shut up and cannot go out. But I, O Lord, have cried out to you for help. And in the morning my prayer comes before you. O Lord, why do you reject my soul? Why do you hide your face from me? I was afflicted and about to die from my youth on; I suffer your terrors; I am overcome. There’s not much to overcome with enough time to turn it all around.
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Posted in Existentialism, Pain and Suffering, Personal | No Comments »
April 17th, 2013
by Max Andrews
Now, I know this isn’t a term heard often but the imprecatory psalms are the psalms that make requests or desires known to God that are… well… evil. Here’s a few.
Let death come deceitfully upon them; let them go down alive to Sheol, for evil is in their dwelling, in their midst. Ps. 55.15
O God, shatter their teeth in their mouth… Ps. 58.6
May they be blotted out of the book of life and may they not be recorded with the righteous. Ps. 69.28
Let his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. Ps. 109.9
How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones against the rock. Ps. 137.9
I would encourage you to go to these passages and read them yourself. Understand the contexts in which these words and thoughts were expressed. Let’s not be too quick to say, “There’s no wrong in this!”, ”This is the Word of God, these Psalms cannot be evil!” I’m not saying the psalms are evil, I’m saying that aspects of what are being expressed are evil. The psalmist, David for the most part, is desiring justice and vengeance. He wants them to have death be surprised upon them, for them to be buried alive, for their teeth to be knocked out, for them not to receive salvation, and for their children to die in the manner in which his people’s children have been murdered. I’m just guessing but if I had not set up these imprecatory psalms in a biblical context already you would think that they were pretty evil–no?
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Posted in Existentialism, Pain and Suffering, Personal | No Comments »
April 17th, 2013
by Max Andrews
April 16 is a significant day for many. Most people think of the recent Virginia Tech massacre. April 16 is different for me and many in my family. On Easter Sunday of 2006 my family got the news that Jessica, my brother’s wife at the time, had unexpectedly died. She was seven months pregnant with my niece, Alyssa. My brother was in Iraq at the time. They flew him back to the States within a day. We never found out how they died, which is hard for closure.
There are several events I’ve experienced that changed my life forever: 1) my wedding, 2) being diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease, 3) suffering through Crohn’s and a major surgery, and this, 4) the death of Jessica and Alyssa. I was still 18 at the time. Their funeral was, and I still consider it to be, the worst day of my life. That was the first day I experienced pain and suffering on the existential level. Then, my pain wasn’t my own. My pain was for everyone else. My pain was seeing the pain and suffering of my family and that I couldn’t do anything. They were only married for five months. Why hold on to this? It’s family. The experience of pain and suffering isn’t in the immediate present of the event… pain and suffering follows for years afterwards. We all grieve, give respects, honor, and remember those whom we loved and have lost in different ways through different times. Forcing this process to be something other than what it is doesn’t help–it hurts.
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Posted in Pain and Suffering, Personal | 3 Comments »
April 16th, 2013
by Max Andrews
Forgetting Your Forgiveness—2 Pt. 1.3-11
God’s Power in Our Lives
V3—God has made available everything we need spiritually through Him
If 2 Peter was written to fight Gnosticism, then spiritual necessity is not esoteric
Believers are called to live in harmony with God’s moral character
“Excellence” (arête- virtue) used to sum up all desirable character qualities
V4—“Partakers” (koinonos- sharer) we never become part of God but this can found mostly in Peter’s sermon at Pentecost (Acts 2.14-41) through the Holy Spirit)
“Divine nature” a term Peter could use to relate to Hellenists about understanding the idea of conforming to the image of Christ
“Having escaped…” at conversion we are delivered from the corruption of the world
Where does the world’s corruption come from?
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Posted in Existentialism, Personal | No Comments »
April 16th, 2013
by Max Andrews
Just because you’ve read the Bible do you think that you know God? You could probably predict what Hebrew word was used for a specific word based on the context… but you’ve never felt the passion behind David’s imprecatory prayers and the prayers of suffering. You can parse every Greek word Paul uses in the book of Romans… but you’ve never felt the riddance and self-betrayal like he felt in chapter seven.
You can tell me how to encourage someone or what to do when counseling a depressed friend… but you can’t put yourself in his mind and ask yourself what it’s like to be him. You equate by analogy. You can tell me how much you love your neighbor… but you condition it. You can tell me how much God loves you… but you can’t understand the death of God and his spiritual and physical anguish as he passed from death to new life with you in mind.
You can quote Scripture, Ephesians 6 and the psalms, describing spiritual warfare and what to do… but you’ve never resisted sin to the point of blood. You can quote theological works that systematically define God and who he is… but you’ve never experienced what it’s like to align planets and create stars, to watch you spit on his creation and cross, the gifts he gave for you for the very reason of your anticipated existence.
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Posted in Pain and Suffering, Personal | 2 Comments »
March 9th, 2013
by Max Andrews
Reblogged from Jessica Ryen Doyle.
Ari Meisel was taking 16 pills a day in order to manage his Crohn’s disease – a chronic, inflammatory autoimmune disease affecting the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.
Meisel, 30, an entrepreneur/real estate developer who lives in New York City, wasn’t leading the healthiest of lifestyles either. He admitted to smoking a pack of cigarettes a day and eating fast food on the go.
Crohn’s can affect any part of the GI tract – from the anus to the mouth. Symptoms include, but are not limited to, rectal bleeding, persistent diarrhea, constipation, severe stomach cramps and fever.
After being hospitalized for a bowel obstruction, Meisel had one particularly bad night.
“I didn’t think I was going to make it through the night,” Meisel told FoxNews.com. “They were talking surgery . . .I had spiked a 105 degree fever. I was in so much pain.”
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January 7th, 2013
by Max Andrews
Question:
You can choose either of the following.
1)I have a question relating to parsimony and explanatory power.
Let’s say for the sake of argument that God used natural processes entirely to create, us, the cosmos and everything in it. Furthermore science has already discovered all this and there are no giant gaps like abiogenesis.
If we ignore cosmological arguments (let’s say we just aren’t able to formulate one successfully) and consider only teleological and axiological arguments for God’s existence.
Even with these arguments a metaphysical naturalist would be able to show that the appearance of design and morality can be accounted for by natural processes. (again perhaps there is a naturalistic alternative to fine tuning)
A theist might believe that there is design and morality as a part of reality but the naturalist has a complete worldview by explaining these away and plus it appears to be more parsimonious.
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Posted in Apologetics, Personal, Philosophy, Q & A | No Comments »
December 31st, 2012
by Max Andrews
Question:
Dear Mr Andrews
I just want to say that I appreciate you website and twitter account. I had looked on it in the past but only in recent months took more attention to it.
I am after some advice if at all possible. I pastor a small church in England, and also work full-time. I studied a BA in Theology at an independent college. I would like to further my education, but mainly due to time and finances am unable to enrol with a college, university or seminary institute.
Studying myself seems to be my current and only available option. I have seen you list of fantastic resources on iTunes. My only issue with that is my discipline!
Would you have any advice on to structure a self taught study?
I hope you don’t mind me asking!
Many thanks,
In Him,
Steve Davies
www.kingsmeadbaptist.com
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Posted in Personal, Q & A | 2 Comments »
