Author Archives: Clarke Morledge

About Clarke Morledge

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Clarke Morledge -- Computer Network Engineer, College of William and Mary... I hiked the Mount of the Holy Cross, one of the famous Colorado Fourteeners, with some friends in July, 2012. My buddy, Mike Scott, snapped this photo of me on the summit.
June 5, 2014

Podcasts for the Thinking Christian

By Clarke Morledge

Plumb LineJohn’ s recent post on William Lane Craig’s Defender Series of podcasts brought to mind that I should update my list of recommended podcasts for the thinking Christian (here is an earlier list John and I have discussed).  I do not have the time to read books as much as I would like, but the marvel of MP3 players is that I can download audio files and listen to them while I work in the yard or drive to and from work.

John’s suggestion of William Lane Craig as the “graduate school” for the next step following after Dick Woodward’s Mini Bible College is very appropriate. Dick was an amazing teacher who continues to impact the world through his unique ability to “put things on the bottom shelf” for people by exploring the basic contours of the Bible. Dr. Craig then makes it more in-depth in terms of helping you grasp and develop your own understanding of God (theology) founded on Scripture and then applied in terms of being able to offer a rational defense of the Christian faith (apologetics).

But just as there are fine and different academic graduate schools out there, there are different “graduate school” approaches to theology and apologetics. For example, Dr. Craig is probably one of the leading Christian apologists alive today, such that atheist Richard Dawkins awkwardly still refuses to debate him. But Dr. Craig is known for his “Middle Knowledge” approach to the issue of God’s sovereignty vs. free will. He is also known for his classical/evidentialist approach to apologetics.  Without digging too much into those things right now, let me just say that not everybody is totally with Dr. Craig on these issues. But, PLEASE, do not let that dissuade you from digging into William Lane Craig! He is awesome! It is just important to know that there are other approaches that Christians take to these issues. You might want to check out some of the other podcast resources available to get a flavor of what is out there. So here we go!

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June 1, 2014

In One Short Moment… Heaven

By Clarke Morledge

I have had a pretty rough day today. But for some friends of mine grieving in Virginia Beach, Virginia, there is no comparison.

Mark Rodriguez, a 17-year old student at Norfolk Christian school, was a victim of a random shooter on Chesapeake Boulevard.  Mark was driving home from a graduation party when a bullet cut his life short. The shooter went on to kill a police officer, before being killed himself when he resisted arrest.

When Mark was just barely a toddler, his parents, Carlos and Leigh Ellen Rodriguez, lived in Williamsburg, Virginia, where I live. Carlos had come to serve as a missionary to high school kids in our community. It has been a long time, but I remember this little boy around their home, simply adored by their loving parents. I lost touch with the Rodriguez family after they left Williamsburg  in 1999 or so, but I am so grateful that Carlos and Leigh Ellen stood in the gap as they sought to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with teenagers in our community. Little would I know then that their oldest child that I just barely knew would never live beyond those teenage years. You see these senseless acts of violence in the media, but when it happens to a family and friends you know, it simply stuns you. You grieve.

As I watched the story unfold on the local television station today, I was then encouraged by the words that Carlos, now a pastor of a church in Virginia Beach, shared about his son. Though his son’s death appears senseless to us, in God’s perspective, there is a profound and griping vision within God’s economy:

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit (John 12:24 ESV).

Mark Rodriguez knew Jesus. In one short moment, his life on this earth was gone. Mark, an avid photography, kept a blog, but remarkably his last posting was about “Heaven”. You should read it.

At this point in time, it is difficult to know what fruit is being born because this grain of wheat was cut down. But as someone who has hope in Jesus, I am challenged by the immediacy of the task set before us to witness before a hopeless world of the grace and mercy found in Jesus and the hope of resurrection.  As Mark Rodriguez wrote before his death:

God is super good. I can’t wait to be with him forever:)

Do you share that hope?

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May 30, 2014

A Year of Biblical Doubting #2

By Clarke Morledge
In verse 23, a "Proverbs 31" woman is described as someone whose husband "is respected at the city gates". Here, blogger and author Rachel Held Evans praises her husband "Dan" at the Dayton, Tennesse welcome sign.

In verse 23, a “Proverbs 31” woman is described as someone whose husband “is respected at the city gates”. Here, blogger and author Rachel Held Evans praises her husband “Dan” at the Dayton, Tennessee welcome sign.

Perhaps I am not qualified to write  about this?   After all, I am a guy, and I have no clue what really goes on with women.  Just ask my wife. But the topic of “biblical womanhood” comes up from time to time, and it concerns all of us in the Body of Christ.

A. J. Jacobs wrote a New York Times best seller a few years ago, The Year of Living Biblically, about his humorous, tongue-in-cheek attempt to follow all of the Bible literally for one year. In like manner, Rachel Held Evans titled her second book, A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband “Master”. Here she recounts her story of spending an entire year trying to follow the Bible as literally as possible as a woman in every intricate detail. Along the way, she interviews other women who try to follow a particular pattern of “biblical womanhood”. What you do not find in the book generally winds up on her popular blog. We introduced Rachel Held Evans here on Veracity not too long ago. How well did her one year experiment go? What is Rachel Held Evans wanting to say?
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May 29, 2014

Alone Yet Not Alone, Limited Release

By Clarke Morledge

Alone Yet Not Alone is an independent Christian film being released in theaters on June 13, 2014 for a limited run.  Originally released in 2013, the film became controversial due to an Oscar nomination for best original song, sung by Joni Eareckson Tada, that was later rescinded.

Alone Yet Not Alone is based on a novel of the same name written by Tracy Leininger Craven. It is based on the true story about a pair of Craven’s ancestors, German immigrant girls who were captured at the Penn’s Creek Massacre of 1755 by Delaware native Americans during the French and Indian War.  Of the few reviews that I have found, one from the Dove Foundation was a  very positive complimentary review, while the other was very much less receptive,  like this second-hand one from a fairly disillusioned, former Christian reconstructionist home schooler.

The film was a fairly low-budget project, put together outside of Hollywood, which partly explains the very low exposure to theaters nationwide. A lot of great films never make it to the top of the popular culture radar because they lack the budget.  Part of the movie was filmed in Williamsburg, Virginia (check out the shot of Jamestown in the trailer below). Even if the film turns out to be less than spectacular for movie goers, I still think that it is important for Christians to support movies with Christian themes in movie theaters.  Otherwise, you are pretty much stuck with a lot of the relatively uninspiring entertainment we mostly have now. Movie theaters are coin-operated entities, so if the demand for good Christian films is high enough, it will encourage the production of more professional (larger budget), higher quality films with biblically-faithful themes.

If you are interested in supporting these type of Christian films, the best way to show your support and get the film release on June 13 at a theatre near you, you should consult sites like these to reserve tickets.

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May 23, 2014

Why Doubt Can Be A Good Thing (An LDS Faith Example)

By Clarke Morledge

Plumb LineNot everyone struggles with doubt… and that in many ways can be a good thing.

But for people who think they have absolute certainty in their faith, it is very tempting to pounce on others who ask questions. All sorts of unintended consequences can then happen. For folks who go on and ask questions anyway, there are times where it can get them into trouble. Just ask Rachel Held Evans.

Sadly, the problem is, if left unchecked, doubt can lead people down a road that takes them to places far away from faith in the God of the Bible.   As Martyn Lloyd-Jones put it, the problem with the human condition is not simply that humankind is sick. The problem is that we are in rebellion against God. Unfortunately, runaway doubt leaves us with no one but ourselves to look to, and it merely imprisons us in our own rebellion.

This being the case, it is understandable why so many Christians wish to discourage doubt completely. Just have faith. Just have faith. But I would contend that this is wrong-headed. Sometimes doubt can be a good thing, too.  Just ask “Doubting Thomas” (John 20:24-29).

Here is what I mean: Thomas doubted the resurrection of Jesus, but the Lord did not immediately rebuke him. Instead, He invited Thomas to put his finger into the nailed scarred hands. The resurrected Jesus had a real, physical body. He was not some spirit without a body. The Bible preserves this story for us as further evidence for the truth of Christ’s bodily resurrection.

However, sometimes faith can be presented in a way that looks good at first, looks solid, but upon closer examination, it is built on the wrong foundation. There are more than a few of us humans who do recognize our rebellion from God, and so we run to God, in the arms of faith. But the “faith” we cling to with such certainty is itself confused, the terminology gets all muddled, and the knowledge of truth suffers. We think we are being obedient, but that obedience fails to measure up to the plumb line of God’s Word.

Indeed, doubt can easily misdirect us. But a misdirected faith can also take us in the wrong direction.  If our faith is not firmly planted in the truth, we can easily persuade ourselves that what we believe is true is consistent with the Jesus of the Bible, when in fact, we are only confused as to the object of our faith. Here is a good recent example of what I am talking about.

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