solo hiking is the most dangerous

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Today, I read an article about a very experienced hiker who died in the wilderness on a solo hike.  The article concluded with the statement that no matter how good and experienced of a hiker, solo hiking is still dangerous due to the lack of support.  

The previous page ended with the question, who would you listen to in the 2+ billion Christians in the world?

This investigation is your personal responsibility, but it doesn't mean that you are alone.  Any good researcher knows that it is best to discuss your ideas and methodologies with other people you trust.  

Many people believe that all Christians should be unified in word and deed.  Then they point to all of the infighting to say that Christianity or at least Christians are false.

Personally, I find this viewpoint doesn't live in my reality!  This is my basic theory of Christian communities.....

The most complex and complicated things in the universe are humans.  Each individual's thought patterns, talents, shortcomings, build, etc. are incredibly diverse.  When you start to bring people together in communities and cultures develop, the complexity expands multi-fold.  The teachings of Jesus bring an opportunity to build a common vision and values, but it is going to be interpreted and lived out in more different ways than we can imagine.  

It is natural for individual communities to develop and different organizational structures to grow.  Conflicts will arise, but not all conflicts are bad.  Conflicts motivate people to greater innovation and development.  Different groups of Christians will impact the world and communicate to non-Christians in more ways than a unified group.  

There is strength and power in diversity.  Let us not be so narrow in our viewpoint of God that we try to force His creation into something that it is not.  

The Bible does teach there are false teachers.  There is need to test what a community believes.  Because of the Bible's unchanging nature and its witness to the early church, it is the best test for a Christian community's truthfulness. 

I remember in college trying to determine who to listen to.  Growing up, I had studied the Bible and one particular set of verses stuck in my brain.  This is Matthew 7:15-20 in the New King James Version, the speaker is Jesus:

 15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them. 

What would good fruit be?  In the Bible, God is called Love, Truth, and Life.  So in college, I looked for a group where people cared for each other, were not afraid to speak truthfully, and who had energy. 

My recommendation is to find people who you can relate to and that exhibit behaviors that are similar to God's.  Hopefully, they will also be people who can answer questions and challenge your thoughts as you try to figure out whether Christianity solves the problem of death.

I also want to encourage you to reach out to this website.  We will do our best to answer any questions you may have.  Use the contact section (it emails me -- I am old school) or the comment box in the bottom right corner to send comments or questions.  I will do my best to reply to any and everything serious which comes into my inbox.

Realize, I am a normal guy, with a job, a wife, and two adult children.  I might not be quick to answer, but will do my best.  

In addition, I hope to move these thoughts into a video format.  If you have any suggestions for this, write me.  I will also speak to any group that wants to discuss these ideas in detail but will probably have to have my expenses paid for.  

In these few pages, I discussed how my fear of death drove me to try to understand if life was totally hopeless or if there were answers to it.  Much of the Western viewpoint is driven by scientific reasoning to the point that there is even a worldview/philosophy/religion of scientism.  The reality is by definition scientism's only answers are in the material.  It was natural to go exploring in other worldviews to find answers.  Of all viewpoints, Christianity was a direct answer to the problem of death.  The historical record of Christianity showed a remarkable group of followers.  The Bible appears to be a reliable historical record.  Then I challenged you to look at it for yourself and to find other people around you who could help with your thoughts.

There is one more section to this website -- "Questions and Theories".  This is an unconventional, radical section with answers you don't usually hear.  The answers are THEORIES and philosophically bridge the gap between common science and the Bible.  To chase truth is not an easy path.  Hopefully, it is a worthwhile path in your life -- it has been in mine.

I no longer fear death.  I went from someone who was driven by death to a person who greets it with great joy.  It's funny, most people who commit suicide do it out of great despair.  My experience is completely different, going from a person who was young and full of worldly opportunity to a older guy in a somewhat dead-end life.  My life should be one of despair, yet, generally I enjoy each day and have great hope awaiting with death.  When death comes, I am confident because someone else who I really, really respect went before me.  

Question and Theories