#1 Atheism isn’t a belief, but the lack of a belief

This is what I call the “single definition” of atheism.  It is the cornerstone of most atheistic defenses.  Atheists like to use this definition because they feel that it protects them from certain criticisms from Christians and other theists.  For example, if atheism is a lack of a belief, then atheists can’t be criticized for believing anything.  This simple idea is a powerful weapon for atheists on message boards.  It is, however, wrong.  Since there is (currently) no scientifically verifiable evidence to support either side of the God question, both theism and atheism have to be called beliefs.  Just as theism is a belief that there is a God, atheism is the belief that there isn’t.  Atheism, therefore, is not immune to the criticisms that other belief systems might draw.

Note: the 13 flaws of Atheism was orignally posted by Abby Aaron at http://petitecute.home.att.net/flaws.htm
The site is under construction.  This is a recompilation of that list from sources across the web.

With the song selection of Switchfoot's "Dare You To Move," David Cook not only secured a spot in the American Idol season finale, but also fueled rumors that he is a Christian.  David Cook would join Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Clay Aiken, Reuben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Elliot Yamin, Kristy Lee Cook, Brooke White and Jordan Sparks among the more prominent names to either confess being a Christian or rumored to be.  Regardless of next week's outcome, David has a bright future ahead of him.  He keeps good company, as he is friends with former Idol rocker Chris Daughtry, who had the top selling album of 2007. 

 http://www.americanidol.com/contestants/season7/david_cook/

The new album from Tenth Avenue North (Reunion records), Over and Underneath, will be available in stores May 20th.  NewReleaseTuesday.com has the entire album available for free this week to listen to.

Click here to listen

There's still time to pre-order from FamilyChristian.com or MusiChristian.com and get free downloads of "Love Is Here" and a bonus track that's not on the album, "Lovesick."

 http://www.tenthavenuenorth.com

An Excerpt from The Rebelution

While it’s not uncommon for young people to run for public office, they aren’t often elected, particularly in cities larger than several thousand residents. Someone forgot to tell that to 19-year-old Chris Brown who was just elected (with 84% of the vote) to the city council of Bedford, Texas — population, 48,000.

“If you’re dedicated to something and you work hard, it doesn’t guarantee you anything,” says Chris, “but without it you don’t stand a chance.” That’s why this teenager attended every single city council meeting for a year. “I wanted to run for council last year, but I didn’t think I had the knowledge, and so I took the past year to make myself ready.” For Chris, doing hard things paid off.

Click to read the entire article...

I used to be afraid that God was going to make me a missionary and send me to Guam. Nothing against that country, but it felt a long way from home and not somewhere I wanted to go teach kids the Jonah story.

And I honestly thought that if I gave my all to God, that if I turned over my whole life, he would turn it upside down instantly. So I held back. I gave him chapters. I shared my relationships, my school life, my home life, but kept certain things for me, because he couldn’t be trusted. I didn’t want to do the stuff I knew he was going to make me do.

Have you ever felt like that? That if you said to God, “wherever, whatever and whenever,” your life would be just wrecked? I did, but in the Bible, Jesus doesn’t seem to ever do that. One of the verses that really convicts me is Matthew 4:19. Here is what it says:

"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."

Christ was talking to Simon and Peter when he said that. They were fishermen. That statement made all the sense in the world. But in my interpretation of God, that doesn’t work. Isn’t God supposed to shake our lives up and send us to do far away things in far away places? I mean Andrew and Simon were probably good at fishing, they understood it and maybe even liked it. So why would God ask them to do that? Shouldn’t they go to Guam?

I think the truth is that when we turn ourselves over to God, he doesn’t make us into someone else. He makes us into who we have always been. He amplifies the parts of us that are true. He purifies the dreams we’ve always had or the skills we’ve always used. He doesn’t turn poets into mathematicians or scientists into painters. If anything, I think he gives artists even more colors to create with, scientists even bigger labs to experiment in and so forth.

I’m a writer and when I gave my life to Christ, he didn’t ask me to stop writing. In many ways, he asked me to start writing.

http://www.97secondswithgod.com

Jonathan Acuff is the creative force behind Prodigal John, 97 Seconds With God and the ever popular Stuff Christians Like, a tongue-in-cheek exploration of silly things Christians like.  Jonathan also has a book in the works.