New Beginnings

I am going to try to write to this blog at least once a week now. I mostly want to post observations I have made and the changes that I have undergone since I converted. I also get a lot of questions about why I believe this or that. The simple answer is because that is what the Bible tells us. The reason this is going to be only once a week is because I want to gather materials and supporting evidence for why I believe the things I believe. Right now I figure that I'll be mostly summarizing the various books and articles that I have read. Currently I am planning on addressing the following observations/beliefs:

1. Biblical Authority 
2. Why I believe in the 6-Day Creation
3. Why I believe in a young Earth
   
4. Roles in Marriage
5. My growth as a Christian--this one will probably be random insertions into my blog of the changes that I have recognized in myself.
   

For those of you that knew me before I became a Christian, you would find what I am writing shocking and, maybe even, disturbing. I know that I thought the same thing about Christians before my conversion. When one of my colleagues in the lab that I did my dissertation work in converted, I secretly (and probably overtly at times) ridiculed him for, what I thought, were his ridiculous beliefs. I regret that now on so many levels. I think my biggest regret about my behavior towards this person was that I was very hostile and unfriendly to him and extremely closed-minded. At the time I thought I was very open-minded. But, no, I was extremely judgmental and unforgiving of others beliefs, which made me a hypocrite, as I loudly professed that I was a "liberal." I have to say that I now feel more free in accepting others beliefs. I might not agree with what you think because I now have a different worldview, but I will definitely try to understand where you are coming from. In my infinite ignorance I am only just now realizing that understanding different worldviews is the key to understanding other people. That is probably something you learn as you age, but I am not sure if I would have learned it if I continued to look through my old worldview lens.
One more thing I have really been trying to learn:
Nobody ever knows what is in a man's heart. Nobody ever knows why a man is motivated to do any given action, be it small or large. Only God knows these things and only God can judge these things. As humans we can only condemn actions, never motivations, because we will never ever truly know what is in a man's heart.