the journey of a thousand miles...

Why am I writing this? Because I don’t know everything I’d like to know, and because for a while I forgot what it felt like to yearn for knowledge of the unknown. When I was a kid I was always asking questions. In all the hubbub of growing up and maturing into a twenty-something year old, I think we’re all allowed to forget what it feels like for a while - or, if we’re not, we do anyway. 

The one thing we’re not allowed to forget is Jesus. 
Well, let me rephrase that. 
We are allowed to forget Jesus. It’s just really not all that advisable. 

"God is dead."

-Friedrich Nietzsche-

Nietzsche is dead.

-God-

I grew up in a small town on the border of Canada filled with banks, coffee shops, tulips and churches. I heard once that we were in the Guinness Book of World Records for more churches per capita than anywhere else in the world. That could just be local folklore/wishful thinking, but it wouldn't surprise me if it turned out to be true. 
Somehow, in the middle of all these churches, there are still those that not only fall from grace, but swan dive into the muck that is outside.

I love Jesus. In my spirit and my heart, if not always in my mind and actions (tell me that you do twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and you’ll have my sympathies; you don’t realize that you don’t)

I believe in the trinitarian Godhead: God the Father, Jesus the Christ, and the Holy Spirit all in one, all in perfect unison. I believe that Jesus was God incarnate, born as a baby to a virgin. And that the baby grew up into a man who lived a perfect life and died on a cross in our place because of the ways I screw up, and everyone in the world who has ever lived, or will live, screws up. And that the God-man Jesus who died on the cross somehow rose Himself from the dead three days later, and ever since then, to this day, calls all people to love and know Him - as He loves and knows us.

Not exactly a traditional Apostle’s Creed, but there it is.


Back to my original question, because I don’t think I actually answered it all that well. I’m writing this because I want to be a bridge of sorts. I grew up without talking to anyone about the things I want to talk about today. That is, the things that make Christians squirm uncomfortably and non-Christians point to say “Aha! There’s where you’re wrong!”

Because I want to talk about the truth. Not the “Well the sky’s blue because God made it blue” kind of truth. But the “Why evil men live long lives and innocent children die” kind of truth. 
The kind of truth that doesn't have an easy answer. The kind of truth that doesn't always make you feel better. The kind of truth that doesn't change according to perception.

In some ways, I want to be a contradiction. Much as Christ was and is a contradiction: 
A man who was and is God,
a servant who was and is King, 
a sacrifice that refused to stay dead.
I want to know truth - but question it; and question it - knowing that it is still true.

"Why do you ask questions to which you already know the answer?"

-Erik Lensherr-

I’ll probably expand more on the whys of my writing as I continue them, but for now let me explain what I plan to write about:

I am inviting everyone, Christian and non-Christian, to ask what they consider to be the most challenging and/or confusing questions they have concerning the Christian faith. 

What will I do with these questions? I promise only to address them. In a way I wish someone would have addressed them if I dared to asked them growing up. Not as a scholar, not as a pastor, not as a generally pretty great guy. But as a young man who has seen what both sides of grace can bring, and what both sides cannot bring. 

I will be asking for questions from a variety of sources, social networking, in person, posting in forums, and of course from the comments on this very blog. If you are reading this and already have a question in mind, email me, Facebook me, give me a call/text, or ask me next time we see each other. Once I decide on a question I’d like to explore, I’ll do just that - explore.
Understand this, that I am a Christian. Fundamentally and thoroughly. And whatever I write will reflect this. However, what may make sense to a Christian may not make sense to a non-Christian and vice versa. That is why I’ll be looking into it from all angles. How else am I going to learn what I don’t know? That is, after all, my reason for doing this.

Please be patient with me if I let you know I’ll be addressing your question in this blog. Much like Treebeard, I don’t want to say anything unless it is worth taking a long time to say.

Now, without further ado I present Unapologetic Apologetics.