Atheist Turned Believer

 I got mildly chastised today by a very close relation for wasting all my time talking to atheists on the pretense that it's a study in futility.  Considering the view count I've gotten to date, that may be largely true.  My response was that I saw little point in preaching to the converted; they don't really need to hear my message, as they already know it.  My relative was underwhelmed by my logic.  I'm hoping you, my dear reader, are a bit more lenient. I see myself as an apostle, but that only makes sense if you know the root of that word.  The English word "apostle" comes from the Greek word "apόstolos" (άπόστολος) and it has no direct translation.  The closest English idea would be "one who is sent out," or, more specifically, an "ambassador" or "messenger."  And what do I see as my message? I'm delivering invitations.  I'm not sent out with edicts, but invitations. Let's consider a parable.  Let's ...

Even though it's been quite a while since the stats have indicated any observations, I am still in hopes that some day someone might actually read some of this and benefit from it.  To that end, I must now return to the beginning and clarify a few points. The biggest obstacle I still hear from my non-believing friends is the stumbling block of anything to do with the supernatural, and the concept of God obviously is such a thing.  I am often accused of being biased simply because I profess a belief in Christianity.  This, despite my frequent admonitions to others to set aside their own biases (see posts dated Aug. 19, 2021, Aug. 21, 2021, Oct. 2, 2021, Nov. 12, 2021, Feb. 13, 2022, Jan. 1, 2023 and Sept. 26, 2023). This isn't too surprising; those of us from the Star Trek generation have been conditioned to have a strong presupposition for Philosophical Naturalism: the idea that only natural laws and forces operate in the universe.  I am neither a Creationist nor an...