How Ought I Respond to a Christian-Turned-Atheist?

On Friday night, Justin Vollmar, a self-proclaimed preacher of the “Virtual Deaf Church” Facebook group, released a sub-titled video blog (“vlog”) declaring his departure from Christianity to Atheism. As he explained in the vlog, it marked the “culmination of four long years struggling with contradictions in the Bible and with Christianity.” He blatantly rejected the cardinal doctrines of Christianity (i.e., the Trinity, Jesus as the Son of God, the authority and veracity of the Scriptures, &c.). Near the end, he has declared his intent to create additional videos to attack Christian doctrines so that people can be freed from “the shackles of religion,” as some Atheists might describe it. He also joined the Clergy Project, a support group for 556-plus active and former professional clergy/religious leaders who have renounced Christianity.

An Encounter at Diplomat Deli

This past Saturday, I was blessed to have a friend come to Birmingham and spend his day with me. Seminarians do not get out too often those days, and any change to my daily route, albeit slight, is always a welcoming one!

After spending an entire afternoon shopping at 2nd & Charles (it is an awesome and mind-blowing but dangerous store to go for those who love books!), we decided to eat dinner at Diplomat Deli, a mom-and-pop joint in Vestavia Hills. It did not only have good selection of food but also a mean Reuben sandwich that leaves me wanting for more! I highly recommend this place to any of you who want some good local fare, but don't go if you are a recovering alcoholic: this store prominently sells and displays liquor on its walls. But I digress...

As we entered the restaurant, three people at a table caught our attention when a college-aged girl signaled and signed to us in a rather halting manner a question I rarely hear in Alabama:

“Are you Deaf?”

Thunderous Silence

“So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.” (John 11:6)

      In John 11, John the Evangelist introduces us to Lazarus of Bethany. Lazarus was gravely ill and was being attended to by Mary and his sister, Martha. A messenger, bearing an urgent message from the sisters, found Jesus and told him, “Lord, he whom you love is ill” (v. 3). Can you sense the hurrying tone in his voice here? Lazarus, your beloved friend, is gravely sick! Lazarus, your beloved friend, will soon be dead! Come quickly! Yet in spite of this urgency, Jesus issued a mystifying and seemingly dismissive response back to the sisters whom he loved: “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it” (v. 4).

Why Doth Thou Hidest Thy Face?

On this day twelve years ago, four groups of Muslim terrorists boarded American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, American Airlines Flight 77, and United Airlines Flight 93, and, after commandeering each plane, they crashed each plane into the World Trade Center towers in the district of Manhattan, New York City, into the Pentagon of Washington D.C., and in an open field of Shanksville, PA on its way to Washington D.C. As the events of the day unfolded before Americans' eyes on television, fear and horror seized the hearts of men and women of America and the world. People were confronted with the gruesome and heartless face of evil once again. They tried to piece together the pieces that led up to this event and make sense out of this brazen act of terrorism against humanity under the banner of the Islamic God, Allah. They also asked on that day, "Where were you, God, when this happened?"

The Christmas Bells That Still Ring

Yesterday morning, I attended Trinity Lutheran Church with my family, and Pastor Virgil Cain gave a brief yet excellent meditation drawing from a poem-turned-into-a-hymn penned in 1863 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), a great poet and literary scholar, titled “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” As I listened to the pastor, my heart was encouraged and comforted by his message and I had to share this poem with you.

Yuletide Morning

I was the first one to awaken this morning, and not a (human) creature stirred in the house. Calm and quietude reigned the place this yuletide morning.

A Contagious Virus of Thankfulness

"Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!

Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!

For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” (Psalm 100)

5 Lessons Learned by a First-Year Seminarian

A milestone has passed in my life recently: I moved to Alabama to begin my Masters in Divinity (M.Div.) studies at Beeson Divinity School at Samford University last year! I have never been this far from my family and friends, and I was naturally nervous about what life would throw at me. I am constantly amazed with the Lord’s gracious providence and the new mercies he pours in my life everyday like a refreshing rain in summer. God has taught me many profound lessons about my life and how I can relate with the transcendent yet intimately personal Trinitarian God.

Bound to The Strong Name of the Trinity

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“And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful” (Col. 3:14-15).

On February 4th, Beeson Divinity School hosted a day-long Spiritual Formation retreat for all Beeson faculty, students and their spouses at the Aldridge Botanical Gardens, and it was a wonderful time for me to withdraw from the hustle and bustle of my life and spend the day in solitude and quietude. Little did I know that God would use this retreat and a specific Celtic prayer to strengthen and encourage me, deepen my personal prayer life, and aid me during times when I struggle while in seminary.

In Christ Alone

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The Lord continues to do amazing work in my heart, especially when I pause and consider what has transpired over the past few years and especially since I moved to Alabama, but there still remains much work to do in my heart for the rest of my life. As I continue to read the Bible daily and ponder what Christ has done for me, I become more aware of my depravity and how dependant I am upon the Holy Spirit for my sanctification. On my good days, I am careful to obey his commandments and emulate Christ's example in my life.

However, there are times when I chose to deliberately rebel and dishonor God by, for example, doing things that is explicitly forbidden in the Bible, not loving my neighbors as myself, or not doing things that should have been done. I may have minimized certain sins in my life or even sinned against God without knowing it. When I sin, I am convicted of what I have done by the Holy Spirit and thus turn back to God. I have been sobered by the truth that I have not loved God as much as I should have, and I suspect that this is something that everyone struggle with, regenerated or not.

On Quadragesima, plus several ideas

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When I mention “Bourbon Street,” what does it make you think about? New Orleans and, if you are in the South, Mardi Gras!


I live around 4-6 hours from New Orleans right now (this is just a quick guess), and I had the opportunity to visit this lovely city last summer and toured a small part of New Orleans during a ministry conference. I would not be surprised if some people from this area made an annual “pilgrimage” to New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras. And it is appropriately named as Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday; I think it should also be known as the day of gluttony where people stuff up on food and donuts. Actually, this brings back good memories to me when my ex-boss along with a few other co-workers cooked up donuts for all employees last year where I worked. And I would be lying if I said I only had two donuts because they were delicious!


Why do people partake in gluttony on Mardi Gras? That is because it falls on the day prior to Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten season marked by fasting and abstinence. Lent is a Christian observance of the liturgical calendar that spans over a period of 40 days from Ash Wednesday until Easter Sunday (the six Sabbaths during Lent are not counted toward this total), and it is practiced by millions of Protestants and Catholics across the world. This is perhaps one of the most important seasons of Christian calendar events apart from Christmas and Easter.

Golfing at the Highland Park Golf Course: A Lesson on 1 Timothy 4:7-8

View from the parking lot at
Highland Park Golf Course

I do enjoy golf, but I am not good at it. In fact, “not good” might be an understatement.

You see, I almost hit a golfer at the tenth hole about a month ago while I was on the first tee at the first hole of a public golf course with a friend in Alabama (if he died, my spotless record would be ruined). And must I also mention that I lost almost all of the balls I hit that day and none of them landed in the fairway or the greens? So I didn’t have a good first day as a player on a golf course.

Topography of Faith

We have heard many times about the importance of sharing the gospel with other people (a.k.a. evangelism), but there is one problem: we are scared of it. Most of us are intimidated by the concept of going to strangers and sharing with them about Jesus. I have never been particularly passionate about evangelism or mission work in the past, but things have changed a bit with my perspectives on missions and evangelism since I started seminary.

A Billion-Suns-Size Star

Do you remember how you were taught in your astronomy class that a million planets the size of our earth could fill our sun in the solar system? Well, scientists just discovered an even bigger star in our universe that dwarfs our sun - in fact, it is a billion-suns-size star! See the video below for more.