Beginning Response to a Two-Sentence Horror Story - Mr. P Talks Theology - Ep. 08

I've finally quit being lazy and decided to start my response to the two-sentence horror story on Reddit that began my series on basic Christian doctrines a couple of months ago. Though I had intended to get through all of the initial post in this video, I made it through roughly two-thirds of the first sentence. So, really about par for the course for me.

As for what I was able to get through in this installment, I briefly covered the setting of the story (standing at the pearly gates and talking to a scribe) and then getting into the application of the doctrine of salvation and what it actually means to be a Christian. I don't think the author had any understanding of what Christianity actually is and sees it as nothing more than the equivalent of party affiliation. If you claim to be a Christian, that's all that matters apparently. Well, not so much according to the Bible.

That said, there is another angle that I decided to tackle and that is the idea that if anyone is ever evil in life, they are permanently excluded from salvation and Heaven no matter what. Again, this isn't really accurate biblically either. The criminal on the cross and the testimony of the apostle Paul stand in stark contrast to such a claim. So I took some time to examine that as well.

There's a lot of scripture to cover in this video and I've put all the text on the screen as usual. I hope it's encouraging to you, especially if you're new to the faith and don't know how to start responding to these sorts of things. If you're not and you somehow come across this, I hope it gives you a better understanding of the gospel and I pray that God uses it to reveal the truth to you.

Thanks for coming, enjoy the video, and God bless.

Where I've Been: My Story of Addiction and Recovery - Mr. P Talks Theology - Ep. 02

 I mentioned a while back in my video on the authority of scripture that I would be recording a video letting you all know where I had been and where I had disappeared to over the last few years. I know that there are also those who have come to this blog and my attached YouTube channel who have never met me personally so there's probably fewer questions you have about that since you probably didn't know I had dropped off of social media in the first place.

Without taking too much away from the video itself, I have struggled with porn addiction for most of my life. I realize that sounds horrifying but when you consider the fact that I'll be 38 this year (as of the time of this writing it is 2023), even if the problem didn't begin until I was eighteen, that would be twenty years which is mathematically more than half my life (not by much but you get the point). I'm not saying I got hooked on it when I was a little kid. Nothing quite that extreme. It's a problem for a lot of men and it's getting harder and harder to avoid which is why my wife and I do our best to shelter the kids from a lot of things out in the world.

Suffice it to say, my problems had gotten out of control and it threatened to destroy my marriage, my relationship with my kids, those in my church, and every other aspect of my life. Ultimately, I got involved with a recovery program and came at last to the realization that drastic steps had to be taken to correct my behavior. It also involved a lot of soul-searching and finding out what exactly it was that had brought me to this point. Only by the grace of God was I brought back from the brink and my relationship with my family and God restored.

I hope my story can be an encouragement to you all. If you're a man who also struggles with this sort of thing, I hope it's an encouragement to you to get help. Celebrate Recovery is a decent program (though I'm no fan of Saddleback Church or Rick Warren), and Battle Plan Ministries is a good resource as well. Anyway, thank you for taking the time to come listen.