Oh!? Hello there, fancy seeing you here. Welcome to my blog. Right from the get-go I will wear my faith on my sleeve so there is no confusion. I am a Christian who believes in the God of the Bible. I believe that Jesus lived, died for the sins of mankind, and rose from the dead as described in the New Testament. The state of Christianity in the world is very concerning to me. Not only for the spread of Christianity its self, but for individuals who claim to be Christians, but have no idea about what it means to wear that badge. In my short 25 years (almost 26...hint, hint) on Earth, I've had my ups and downs with faith.
I grew up going to church sporadically. Once I got to junior high and high school, I became more heavily involved with church. I was baptized, went on missions, and tried to spread the word to my friends. Honestly, it was an easy thing to do because a lot of my friends were going to the same church. It was fun. In the midst of all of that spiritual euphoria, I quickly realized that my faith in Christian doctrines lacked a fundamental understanding.
My friend, Tanner, and me after a 4-hour long Spanish church service during a mission trip in Ensenada, Mexico
My (then) atheist girlfriend poked holes in my spirituality without any effort at all (I know, I know, "don't flirt to convert"). What I found was that it was easy to go through the motions: attend church, sing the worship music, and pray some prayers. Over time, my girlfriend's questions began to deteriorate my faith. Questions such as:
Why does God allow so much suffering and pain throughout the world?
We can't possibly trust everything written in the Bible, right?
Doesn't evolution, and most of science, totally negate the existence of God?
At that point, these questions defeated by infant-level understanding of what the Gospel truly means and the implications it has on other levels. I fell into a 2-year stint of Agnosticism/Atheism in which I continued to search for answers, but I never received any that I deemed satisfactory.
It wasn't until the Spring of 2006 that I was shown a side a Christianity I'd never seen before. Pastor Doug Coyle showed me a logical defense of the Chrisitan faith called "Apologetics." This approach, along with a more fundamental understanding of the Gospel, made for an insumountable case for Christianity. I became hungry, starving for more. All of the reservations I had slowly dwindled away as I schooled myself.
It was through this "A-HA!" moment that I'm able to call myself a Christian today with more confidence and fervor than ever before. Throughout the past 5-years I've shared what I have learned with my close friends, but now I want to take it to a more public arena.
As I mentioned, I've had an interesting struggle with faith. Throughout my journey, I have learned a lot so I want to provide people with the information necessary that will give them a firm faith foundation. However, understand that I have no formal traning on these topics. Everything I've learned has come from doing research in my spare time. So please understand that I'm not an expert, but I will put forth information that comes from experts.
I know that I still have much to learn and an stoked to write this chapter of my spiritual walk with others. I will bring forth concepts that are philosophical, logical, and sometimes seem academic in nature. However, I will do my darnedest to present everything in a relatable and casual way that's a fun read. That's right, fun AND educational. Like School House Rock...like Sunday School House Rock! Except, I hope that my blog isn't ripe for parody in a couple years.
If you only take one thing away from this long spiel its this:
***My #1 goal is to show that faith in the Christian God is the most scientific, consistent, and logical faith any human can have.***
To be clear, I intend this for Christians and non-Christians alike. You can email me at sethrwalker@gmail.com with more private comments or questions you have.
-Seth
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