If you are not a regular reader of my blog, skip this post.
It will mean nothing to you.
For you who have been following awhile, behold:
I’m often asked, “Why do you waste your time arguing with the heathen?”
Behold! The reason!
A victory that could never be achieved by banning or censoring the cynics.
The ‘Recovering Know It All’ waves the white flag.
A sniveling, cowardly, insult posted from the safety of his own blog…and he’s gone.
The Truth is too much for him.
By his own admission, continued engagement will cost him his sanity.
(Though he’s yet to demonstrate he has any to lose.)
What kind of person feels the need to initial his posts on his own blog…twice?
…whatever.
The point is this:
“Christians have nothing to fear from mockers.”
The Christian faith is rock solid.
It withstands scrutiny.
And it makes fools of the world’s wisest men.
The pagan team lost one of their superstars tonight.
KIA threw in the towel.
That is the smartest things he’s done since leaving Christianity.
In memory of our fallen philosophical failure; a haiku:
Bye-bye Pastor Mike.
You used to know everything.
And now you know zilch.
63 Responses
Ah, so this is where Mike has been hanging out. Of all the non-believers I have interacted with over the years he is, by far, the most interesting.
Well, he quit the day this was posted (January 17th).
And then he came back and commented again a couple days ago (February 19th).
Time will tell if he’s really, REALLY done now…or if we’ll see him again in roughly four weeks. 😉
He came by my place many times a day for quite a while until I cut him off. He still comments every now and then but I spam the comments and move on without giving them a thought and, although it’s tempting in a watching a train wreck sort of a way, I never read his blog.
Rest assured, he will be back. He desperately wants to be heard and taken seriously, he won’t give up.
That’s excellent news.
Whenever possible, I like to demonstrate to younger, less-confident Christians that “giving up their faith” isn’t as easy and rational as it sounds. 🙂
I think giving up faith can be rational, people fall away all the time for various reasons.
But, there are many people, and Mike is one of them, whose tales of woe just don’t add up. He was never a minister as he claims, it’s impossible for any rational person to believe.
I believe the story that he was a minister. But I think he got fired.
And I’ve actually told him–point blank–that the Church is better off for it. I’m not just trying to be mean, but there are enough “leaders” in the Church who are only pretending to know-it-all. If he was a young minister and missionary who didn’t even know what he believed, then he wasn’t effect. Good riddens.
He’s welcome back if/when he learns to appreciate nuance instead of stuffing God (and all Spiritual Knowledge) into a manageable box.
I don’t believe it because he hasn’t ever demonstrated that he has even a basic understanding of theology. Even before he supposedly deconvertees, he told be that Jesus does the equivalent of holding a gun to your head and demanding your wallet.
Hate to judge others hardly becuase I can’t know for sure. But everything I have ever heard from Mike makes me believe he is a fraud and a liar. He once wrote a post saying he was an alcoholic. What kind of admitted alcoholic still drinks wine and brags about it on a blog?
And, he claims to be some super intellectual when he never even graduated from college and he references hot garbage YouTube videos as if they are good sources.
Pathetic and sad, really. I pray for people like him daily.
Oh, I’m not disagreeing with your assessment of him.
I’m just saying, there are a lot of people at church who don’t have even a basic understanding of Theology. lol. I guess I don’t have very high expectations.
True, the church is not full of theological experts. But, most churches aren’t full of people who were active in ministry for 34 years either. In all that time, even someone who was brain dead would have learned a thing or two about the basics.
I get falling away and having serious doubt, I really do. But to have absolutely no understanding at all about what one once firmly believed makes no sense.
You ever read this pastor’s stuff? http://johnpavlovitz.com/
I agree that most churches aren’t full of brain dead heretics…but the numbers are growing.
I’ll check it out.
I’m not RECOMMENDING you read it!
Don’t blame me when you’re overcome with angst after your visit!!
I read it and remembered that I have heard of this guy before. People are free to believe what they want but I am not a fan of his.
He’s a nitwit.
What bothers me is there are people attending his church.
These are trying times for the body of Christ. But it is not a time for despair. Instead, courageous men and women must keep the ship of Zion on a straight (and strait) course within the boundaries of divine truth.
Truth will prevail in spite of heretics and rogue pastors who say what itching ears want to hear.
I’ve been reading the comments on your latest and…
Ark and his crew used to be the same way at my place but I got tired of their nonsense and cut them all off. Glad there are still people out there who still have the patience for it.
James
They seem to be sending reinforcements of late. There have been some new names in the comments. Not sure where these fresh atheist faces are coming from if not the behest of their battle-weary brethren.
That’s how group-think and tribalism work. Really, it’s just a brute force attack to try to wear you down so you will quit.
That would be bad enough but they always link to blogs so they can pat themselves on the back and discuss you got in the best zingers over at the indoctrinated moron’s blog. Pathetic and sad considering they are all a bit north of 50.
As James just said, it’s a bullying tactic. The whole lot of them camped at my place for months. They aren’t shy about the fact that they love to drive Christian bloggers out of business. Usually they give up and move on once they figure out they can’t. They must have much love for you LOL.
Somewhat related:
I found this comment, from before the infamous “deconversion.” He posted it in 2012.
http://blogforthelordjesuscurrentevents.com/2012/04/12/to-the-folks-at-the-phoenix-preacher-blog/
HEY! I DIDN’T KNOW YOU HAD THIS!!!
You found our elusive Pastor and didn’t let me know…Consider yourself shunned.
Yes I did. I was at your house and read it to you the day I found it.
*unshunned*
There’s a picture of him and everything! I would have remembered this. I think you’re mistaken.
*reshunned*
*unshun*
Says the guy who didn’t remember that he–himself–had written THIS VERY POST, until I made you re-read it on Sunday.
*reshun*
*unshun*
Also, FYI. The “Mike” with the picture isn’t the right one.
OUR “Pastor Mike” is MikeLovesBrandy.
*Reshun*
You can’t shun me!
This is MY blog!
*unshun*
Okay.
*reshun*
……
*unshun*
Oops. Habit.
That is amazing. So, Mike has been having issues for a while.
And to think he blamed me and James for driving him away LOL.
Yeah, the date on that was 2012 so he has been at even much longer than even I knew.
And that bit about you and I driving him away from faith, complete BS. Hate to put it so bluntly but there is simply no way two small time Christian bloggers cost a 34 year minister his faith, no way. He is, as I said, a fraud and a liar.
I am not the smartest guy in the world, far from it actually, but I smelled a rat on day one.
I sometimes let comments of evangelical atheists stand so others can see the darkness and hatred of atheism.
I have dozens of emails from readers who have embraced faith largely because of the behavior of Internet atheists.
Mike surrendered awhile back ‘to save his sanity’. I miss his commentary like I miss rain in my sleeping bag.
What sanity? I don’t miss his commentary either, always utterly pointless and nonsensical.
I’ve gone full “troll mode” with Mike, Ark and JZ since writing this article. The goal isn’t to convey reason to them. That’s utterly impossible. My goal now is to display their idiocy in full color. I let them talk. I mock them. And it doesn’t bother me when they spew obscenity and vulgarity. They are completely powerless.
They are all fond of referring to the internet as ‘the place where religion comes to die’. On this blog, religion is alive and well and it’s standing on atheism’s neck.
Sadly for them, the internet is not where religion goes to die. If someone is wooed away from faith because of what they watched on YouTube, there was no hope for them anyway. People are either moved to faith when they hear The Gospel or they are not, the internet really has nothing to do with it. Mostly, I’ve found, it’s a good place for atheists to pay each other on the back, little else.
Hey James! Good to see you over here. Since I don’t brawl much on my blog these days, Amanda and John are kind enough to let me have space here to do it when I am in the mood.
LOL.
I’m not much for brawling any more either. I was just scrolling through the comments here so I thought I would weigh in. Ark, Mike, Zande, et al haven’t changed a bit I see. I am actually surprised they are still at it. I figured they would have gotten bored and moved on to a more useful pursuit.
I guess railing unceasingly against something one doesn’t even believe in is a sickness I will never understand.
Well, me either. People wanting encouragement or to learn really don’t want to see all of that. It’s really helped my readership.
On the other hand, John and Amanda do and important work here, I believe. They fill a niche with engaging militant atheists that I think is useful. Not everybody’s cup of tea LOL, but useful.
And they are really fun sometimes. Amanda and I have a good Christian on Christian butchering on the agenda for some point in the future, but we can’t seem to work out a good time. That is to make Ark happy. You know he want to see Christian’s at each other’s throats.
Good point, Wally.
The atheists honestly believe there are 30,000 different denominations of Christianity and we’re all at war with each other.
I think it’s great when you, Dave, Matt, Kevin (CQW), Mandy, Jasmine and the other Christians converse in the midst of heathen vitriol. We ALL have slightly different faiths. We remain one in Christ.
Personally, I’m looking forward to sitting down in eternity with you all and laughing about how much I got wrong.
Oh, amen to that John. Then you guys will all find out just how correct the fundy was the whole time!
🙂
Seriously, though I agree interacting with believers with whom I may not be in full agreement about things is both fun and edifying.
If the fundies are right, I’ll laugh for a million years.
LOL…
John,
I am still convinced that the atheists all believe in God, but hate Him.
Elsewise, they would not spend their days trying to “save” believers from their faith.
That makes them feel validated in their God-hating, with a bandwagon of people agreeing with them.
Our desire is to see people unburdened by the guilt of their sins, forgiven, and spending an eternity with their Creator in heaven.
Their goal is to pretend there is no sin, no guilt, and no heaven.
Pretending can be fun, but it has no effect on reality. I can pretend all day that my Denver Broncos were headed to the Superbowl, but that does not mean that they get to play against the NFC Champions in Houston.
They may try to turn it around and claim that I am the one pretending. But we do have the Bible out there. And the truth written in the hearts of men.
And, in the spirit of pretending, what if God were not real? What would a believer such as I have lost in my life by my faith? Nothing. Actually, I have gain. I want to please my Maker, so I strive to love unconditionally. To be unselfish. To be honest. To give to others with no thought of recompense. To be a hard worker and trusted employee.
And what does the other side have to face, if they are wrong? Justice from God.
I pray that they yet beg God for His mercy, while there is yet still time.
Is this a wager they are willing to lose?
Dave
Mark 8:36 (ESV) – For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
Here we go again
With posters doing haikus
When will it all end?
Dave
Psalm 15:1 (ESV)
O Lord, who shall so-
journ in your tent? Who shall dwell
on your holy hill?
Haikus are catchy.
But if they irritate you,
don’t click on THIS link:
😉
https://branyancomedy.wordpress.com/2017/01/12/two-things-to-tell-a-suicidal-person/comment-page-1/#comment-11323
Mrsmcmommy,
Nice.
The only thing i don’t like about haikus: after you work at thinking some up, your thoughts tend to go all sing-songy for a while, and your brain keeps trying to fit everything into the pattern.
That, and I spend too much time trying to find natural haikus in Scripture..,
Dave
Psalm 100:5 (ESV)
For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
(…which is not a haiku, but still sounds like it in my head after having haiku fun for a bit)
For the Lord is good.
His love endures forever.
And his faithfulness…
His faithfulness, too,
Endures for generations.
That’s in the Bible.
Are ALL our readers
better poets than Mike is?
Wow, that has to sting. 😉
Oh c’mon John….Could I take a little bit of the credit? Perhaps it was after me asking the atheists why they were here that this revelation of his waning sanity finally came into focus? Or maybe it’s just a coincidence……😀
Nope. Pastor Mike is
“Not an atheist”. No one
Knows what he is now-
Not even himself.
It is rather confusing.
That’s what drove him out.
He went from being
A know-it-all to having
No identity
The stress of breaking-
up with Christ is enough to
drive anyone mad.
“…my yolk is easy…
my burden is light.”- Matthew
11:30.
Crap! I just did the
Wrong spelling of “yoke”. This is
Why I will teach math.
Knowing this place, I figured you spelled it that way for some purpose LOL.
I knew that they were
Homophones. But I got them
Mixed up. That’s awkward.
Although, I will make
Jesus over-easy eggs
When I’m in heaven!
Hope this doesn’t mean he is moving back in with me. I rather enjoyed the break after he found your blog
You know how to drive him off now. Ask him to explain his faith.
Ha true that
That is actually why he left. He got tired of me saying he was a militant atheist. But he never bothered to explain what he did believe. And got mad when I asked
Dang, he DID try to move back in, just like I said. I said he was a militant atheist. He said he’s not. I asked him what he is. Silence.
Hi Mike!
Have a nice day.
It is a proud day.
Our army is growing strong.
Represent, Wally!
LOL!!!
Is that Kia on that pretty pink card?
~
With that being said,
Humor would come by reading
What he came up with.
Oh, it is a shame.
I had always enjoyed what
Pastor Mike would say.
…I don’t recall him saying anything.
Insignificant
Words- if taken away- then
It was pure silence.