Small Change to the Site

I just made a small change to the site. For some time now I've noticed that with all the pictures and videos that I post, it was taking F-O-R-E-V-E-R to load the entire page. Well I've finally done something about that. I chopped the site down into 25-post increments. That means that only the last 25 posts will show up on the main page every time you visit the site. To see the previous posts you'll need to either:

1. Click on "Older Posts" at the bottom of the page to see the next 25 posts

OR

2. Use the Table of Contents on the middle of the right side of the page

OR

3. Use the search bar at the top right side of the page


This should make the load times much, much quicker.

Here Come Labels!

Well it was bound to happen sooner or later.... I just wasn't expecting it to be today. I logged on this afternoon planning to write up a book review of a book I just finished to find that the nice folks at blogger were being kind enough to give me the opportunity to upgrade to the new blogger, or my account would be deleted.

You can probably tell by the new look that with the upgrade came some changes. I had been avoiding the upgrade because the new system uses CSS instead of HTML which basically means I couldn't use my old template. Not a huge deal but I don't know the first thing about editing CSS code so I predict some "growing pains" are coming around the corner.

One great new feature that I'm real excited about is my site now has labels! Each post entry has been given a label. If you scroll down the right hand side to the "Table of Contents" you can pick a category and every post I've written under that label will appear. How great is that!

Now if I could just figure out how to resize boxes......

I'm Still Alive

Okay, so I just realized that last you heard I was in the barrios of Venezuela and that was over 2 weeks ago. I could see how leaving you hanging probably wasn't the best idea. Sorry about that. Things have been insane these past few weeks. Seems like nothing is going right. We've had major computer problems, health issues, both our cars died and we're looking for a new place to live. Unfortunately blogging as been put on a temporary hiatus (very temporary). I'm trying to get back to it ASAP, especially with the Da Vinci Code coming out tomorrow.

Thanks for hanging with me in the meantime.

New Articles Added

Just wanted to point out that I've added four new articles to the "Articles I've Written" section. These articles were written while I was working on my Master's degree.

A Whole New Look

It's alive, It's alive !! Okay, well the site has been alive for over a year now so I shouldn't be too dramatic but I am excited about all the new changes. I'm sure you've noticed the site has a whole new look. Gone is the lighthouse, white background and script, I now have a new template to work with and I think it looks a lot better.

In addition to a new look there are several new feature changes that have been made, and many more that are forthcoming. Since some of them are subtle, I'll take a minute to point them out.

First, I have a picture up. Those of you who don't know me can probably tell why I didn't have a picture up before and all of you who disagree with what I write about can now have something for your WANTED posters.

Second, I formatted the archives into a drop down box so you don't have to do a tremendous amount of scrolling.

Third, at the bottom of the section entitled "My Favorite Places" I now have a link for you to email me, as well as a means for syndication (syndication deals with RSS readers, not newspapers for publishing). Now, I am rather technically challenged so I don't exactly know the details of how syndication works with RSS readers. I think I got it down but if you are using an RSS reader and it's not working, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Fourth, I now have all my posts listed by title on the side so you can scroll down a short list instead of the whole blog. They look like links but as of now they won't take you to a page. I'm trying to figure out how to make them work, if you know what I need to do, please let me know.

Fifth, I decided to tryout the idea of enabling comments. We'll see how well this works as it's new for me.

But that's not why I'm excited. I'm excited because I finally found an external server in which I can upload files to. This means a whole new world for my site. I can not only upload pictures (to make it no longer just dull text) but videos and articles I've written. (Check out the section entitled Articles I've Written. Right now there is only one but there are many more on the way.)

This should make the site much more visually stimulating. There is one more change though that I am making; the change of content. I will continue to post about apologetic issues, especially contemporary apologetic issues, however I want to branch out into other areas. Specifically the area of missions.

As a missionary I have an opportunity to work with Christians from all over the world. I ususally take many pictures and videos while I'm working with them. I realize that many of you will never have a chance to experience what it's like to be a follower of Jesus outside of the United States (or your home country). So I'd like to begin posting some of these photos and videos so that you will be able to gain a better understanding of life for other Christians.

Having this new content will enable me to begin to post on a more frequent basis. It used to take hours for me to develop the content of my previous posts. This new content will go much faster.

I definitely value your feedback about these new changes. Please let me know what you think.

An Apology

Dear Readers,

I owe you an apology and a bit of an explaination. As you probably noticed my last posting was the end of September 2005, nearly 5 months ago. Many of you have told me you thought I dropped off the face of the earth. Well I haven't. Unfortunately planning a wedding consumed way more of my time that I expected it would and as such, my blog was among the first of many time consuming activities to be cut. For that I am sorry.

Well the wedding is finished as well as the subsequent honeymoon and receptions (yes plural) and life is ready to begin again. I'm planning to begin blogging again very soon (as in the next week or two). I am wrestling with some format changes. I've been thinking that while I'd like the format to continue to focus heavily on contemporary apologetics in the real world, I'd like it to expand to cover other areas as well.

Since I am blessed to be able to go all over the world and work with Christians in many different countries and cultures I've experienced quite a bit about the "bigger picture." So often we in America think we know exactly what God is doing in the world and the more I travel to meet with other Christians, the more I realize God's plans are so much bigger than we think.

Enough.

As I was saying I'm still deciding on these format changes and would be very interested in your thoughts and comments. You can send me an email at RemovingDoubtsATaolDOTcom.

I'm Back!

Okay, It’s official…… I am back! Thank you for your patience with me and this website as it has been neglected for the past few weeks.

As I stated earlier I just finished my Master’s degree in Christian Apologetics (defending the truths of Christianity) and I’m not sure if I’m now wiser or even more confused than when I started

As if that wasn’t stressful enough, the day after I graduated I was off to Scotland to work with some Christians who have been in an intensive 10 month leadership training program.

And then to top it all off, I got engaged to the most amazing woman in the whole world last week. (I know every guy says that their wife is the most amazing woman in the world but that’s only because they haven’t met my Emily).

So needless to say it has been a stressful few weeks… But I have recouped and am ready to hit the ground running.

I’d like to say thank you to Tony for his kind words about my site in his newsletter. For those of you who are new to Reason To Believe I’d like to say welcome. The goal of this site is to show that there are intelligent and logical evidences for the truth of Christianity and that a life without a relationship with Jesus Christ is really no life at all.

I’m thinking about beginning a series on abortion but as always I am open to any ideas from you, simply send me an email at “RemovingDoubts AT aol DOT com” (You just need to replace AT with the @ sign and DOT with a period [I have to do this thanks to the SPAM]).

Again welcome to the site and thanks for stopping by

Current Status

Hello All,

For those who read this site regularly I apologize for my lack of posting throughout the month of May. I am finishing up my last semester in my Master of Arts in Christian Apologetics program and I am swamped. Projects are due, deadlines passed, things are crazy!

I plan to resume blogging very shortly. I have some travel coming up immediately after my graduation next week so hopefully as soon as that is done we'll dive right back in to where we left off.

Thanks for your support, patience and understanding,

Ryan

Important Update

For those of you who regularly read this site I would like to first offer my sincere appreciation. Many of you have sent emails with questions to be answered, thoughts for site improvement, general encouragement and even a few who disagree with me. Without these emails I would have little reason to continue. However, it is time for a little break. Right now as you read this there are over 280 million people in this world who are being persecuted for their faith in Christ. Some face discrimination, others are beaten, tortured, imprisoned or even being killed for their faith. Think about that for a moment; 280 million people, that is about the population of the entire United States. For those of you reading this who are Christians, these people are no different than you or me in the sense that they love Jesus with all their heart, mind and soul. The only difference is that we were blessed to live in an environment of freedom and they weren’t. For the past several years I have felt the Lord calling me to a short-term mission trip to support the persecuted church. I will be gone on this trip through the end of the second week of January and therefore will not be able to make additional postings. Due to the sensitive nature of the trip as well as the severe repercussions that could come as a result, I cannot tell you where I am going or what I’ll be doing. Some have asked me about the potential dangers of this trip. Believe me I have prayed about it long and hard. One of the main verses I keep coming back to is Hebrews 13:3 which says “Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” I’ve come to the conclusion that if the Apostle Paul, unarguably the greatest missionary of all time, had given up when he was repeatedly beaten, imprisoned, or stoned and left for dead, than odds are that you and I probably wouldn’t have a relationship with Christ today. I feel as though I NEED to go.

With that being said, I’d like to ask a favor. First, to those of you who are followers of Jesus Christ. One of the greatest blessings Christians have is the ability to pray for one another. I humbly ask for your prayers over the next few weeks. I ask for your prayers for health, wisdom, safety and protection while I am gone. I also ask that you pray for the members of the persecuted church. Pray that the Lord would encourage them and give them strength.

For those of you that are not followers of Jesus Christ I’d ask that you pause for a moment to reflect on your current situation. Many of you live in the United States where we have so many freedoms that many of us cannot imagine what it would be like not to have them. Why do you think that you were able to live under this freedom and are not one of the hundreds of thousands of starving children in Africa? Is it luck? Is it chance? Or could it be that you were given an incredible blessing by a Sovereign God who desires to have a personal relationship with you? I would argue it is the latter of the two. Acts 17:26 reads “From one man he made every nation of men that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the EXACT places where they should live.”

Again I’d like to thank you for reading my site. Please remember to come back in early to mid January when I will begin posting again. I have several topics already in mind ranging from the Christian perspective of civil disobedience all the way to a series on Mormonism.

If you’d like to learn more information about the persecuted church or what their specific prayer requests are, I would recommend these two organizations. For information from Open Doors CLICK HERE. For information from Voice of the Martyrs CLICK HERE (you don’t have to sign up to use the site but registration is free).

Just A Reminder

I thought it would be a good idea to republish my "Introduction" posting every so often so that new visitors would be able to understand this site a bit better.....

I'd like to both welcome you and thank you for visiting my site. I am rather new to blogging so please bear with me as we work through the bugs together.

I decided to create this site because I've realized that many people are in the same situation I used to be, in regards to having a relationship with God. This site is dedicated to people that want to believe, but have something stopping them. It is for those that have questions and don't know where to find the answers. For individuals who want to talk with someone who will make efforts to seriously answer their questions as opposed to giving some superficial flippant remark about "you just gotta have faith." If this sounds familiar than this site is for you. I will do my best to answer these questions in a way that makes sense and isn't overly complicated. I realize some of these topics are huge and just can't be answered in a few paragraphs. I will do my best to provide as thorough of an answer as possible in a brief amount of space. If you feel you need further information, let me know and I will either expand upon, make a "part 2" entry, or recommend another source that does a better job explaining the answer.

As I stated before, this site is for those who are seriously seeking a relationship with God, but have questions. This site is NOT for those who simply want to debate, argue or insult for the fun of it. Therefore until I come up with a better method, I am going to limit comments on blogs posted, and ask that you email me your questions to be answered and your ideas for site improvement. My email address can be found by viewing my "Complete Profile."

Introduction

I'd like to both welcome you and thank you for visiting my site. I am rather new to blogging so please bear with me as we work through the bugs together.

I decided to create this site because I've realized that many people are in the same situation I used to be, in regards to having a relationship with God. This site is dedicated to people that want to believe, but have something stopping them. It is for those that have questions and don't know where to find the answers. For individuals who want to talk with someone who will make efforts to seriously answer their questions as opposed to giving some superficial flippant remark about "you just gotta have faith." If this sounds familiar than this site is for you. I will do my best to answer these questions in a way that makes sense and isn't overly complicated. I realize some of these topics are huge and just can't be answered in a few paragraphs. I will do my best to provide as thorough of an answer as possible in a brief amount of space. If you feel you need further information, let me know and I will either expand upon, make a "part 2" entry, or recommend another source that does a better job explaining the answer.

As I stated before, this site is for those who are seriously seeking a relationship with God, but have questions. This site is NOT for those who simply want to debate, argue or insult for the fun of it. Therefore until I come up with a better method, I am going to limit comments on blogs posted, and ask that you email me your questions to be answered and your ideas for site improvement. My email address can be found by viewing my "Complete Profile."