Author Archives: StriderMTB

About StriderMTB

Hi, I'm Matt. "Strider" from Lord of the Rings is my favorite literary character of all time and for various reasons I write under the pseudonym "StriderMTB. As my blog suggests I seek to live out both the excitement and tension of a Christian walk with Christ in the 3rd world context of Asia. I started my blog as an unmarried man who was blessed to oversee an orphanage of amazing children in South-East Asia. As of 2022, I am a happily married man to an amazing missionary wife serving together on the mission field. I hate lima beans and love to pour milk over my ice-cream. I try to stay active in both reading and writing and this blog is a smattering of my many thoughts. I see the Kingdom of God as Jesus preached it and lived to be the only hope for a broken world and an apathetic church.

Dealing with Disappointment, Anger and Cynicism

Posted on June 11, 2014 by StriderMTB

Sometimes when we are mad we have many raw and honest emotions we want to voice. Part of growing up is learning how to contain our honest reactions over events and deliberate over them to consider a right response. Sometimes … Continue reading →

Posted in Devotion Life | Tagged Dealing with Anger, Dealing with Cynicism, Dealing with Disappointment, Philippians 4:4, Praising God through anger and suffering, Praising God through pain, Worship costs us | 2 Comments

Boko Haram, Human Tribalism and Our Sole Hope

Posted on May 14, 2014 by StriderMTB

Nigeria has been in the news quite frequently due to the kidnapping of over 200 girls by an Islamic militant group called “Boko Haram” which literally means means “Western Education is Sin.” I recently asked my grandfather about the roots … Continue reading →

Posted in Church and Culture | Tagged African colonialism, African tribalism, Boko Haram and Christianity, Boko Haram history, Christian passivism, Christian response to Islamic terrorism, hope for Africa | Leave a comment

Re-examining the O.T. Sacrificial System

Posted on May 9, 2014 by StriderMTB

What’s the deal with the Bible and blood? What was the point of all that animal sacrifice? Why does the N.T., in referencing Christ’s death, often focus on the blood of Jesus? If Christ’s death was needed for our freedom … Continue reading →

Posted in Devotion Life | Tagged blood for forgiveness, examining the O.T. sacrificial system, importance of blood, why Christ blood was shed, why did Christ Jesus need to die, Why God prohibited eating blood, why God required animal sacrifice, why God required blood sacrifice | 2 Comments

Was World Vision Rightly Rebuked?

Posted on April 11, 2014 by StriderMTB

Was World Vision rightly rebuked for their bizarre and contradictory public affirmation of same-sex marriage?[1] The answer to the question is both “Yes” and “No.” Yes, they needed to be rebuked, but that doesn’t therefore mean all those that took … Continue reading →

Posted in Church and Culture | Tagged gay marriage, scott mcnight, world vision, World Vision gay marriage, world vision rebuked, world vision scott Mcnight | 4 Comments

A Debate: Can God be Deduced from Big Bang Cosmology?

Posted on January 28, 2014 by StriderMTB

I recently took part in a minor, online debate over evidence for God’s existence that can be deduced from scientific, established facts concerning the absolute beginning of our universe through a cosmic event that is commonly referred to as the … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics and Athiesm | Tagged Arguing God from Big Bang Cosmology, BB theory, Big Bang creation, Big Bang theory, Can God be deduced from Big Bang cosmology, creation ex nihilo, God and BB theory, Kalam cosmological argument | 7 Comments

We are Carriers of God’s Kingdom

Posted on January 9, 2014 by StriderMTB

Random thoughts on the Kingdom of God: We are carriers of the Kingdom of God. It is like a circle around us—like a huge hulahoop and where we go it goes with us. We carry the Kingdom with us into … Continue reading →

Posted in Church and Culture | Tagged Christians and Kingdom of God, Kingdom of God | Leave a comment

God is to be Known– not a Personality Profile to be Studied

Posted on December 11, 2013 by StriderMTB

Jesus chided the religious elites of his day for equating knowledge of the scriptures with knowledge of God. Jesus rebuked them for not knowing His Father despite their diligent study of the scriptures daily. There is an implicit warning in … Continue reading →

Posted in Devotion Life | Tagged devotion and God, Knowing God personally, Knowing God vs. Studying about God, true devotion | Leave a comment

A Critique of John Piper’s Theodicy: Calvinism’s Cognitive Dissonance. Part 4

Posted on September 23, 2013 by StriderMTB

John Piper, a passionate preacher much to be admired in many ways, expends no small amount of effort zealously seeking to discredit Arminianism or any belief he feels threatens divine truth–or at least his version of it. Curiously no matter … Continue reading →

Posted in Critiquing Calvinism | Tagged Calvinism and evil, Calvinism ordaining evil, Calvinism theodicy, calvinism vs. arminianism, Critiquing John Piper, Dark side of Calvinism, debunking Calvinism, debunking John Piper, defending arminianism, John Piper theodicy, Problems with Calvinism, Refuting Calvinism, refuting John Piper | 5 Comments

A Critique of John Piper’s Theodicy: Are We God’s Evil Contract Assassins? Part 3

Posted on September 17, 2013 by StriderMTB

In my last post I ended saying that the key error of the Piper Theodicy is assuming that all acts—including all acts of moral evil are intended acts by the divine will via God’s exhaustive decrees. Rather than stop at the biblical … Continue reading →

Posted in Critiquing Calvinism | Tagged Arminian free-will defended, Calvinism and evil, Calvinism debunked, calvinism vs. arminianism, Calvinism's Inconsistency, Critiquing John Piper Theology, Dark side of Calvinism, Debating Arminian theology vs. Calvinism, Debunking John Piper Calvinism, Defending free-will against Calvinism, Jonathan Edwards theology | 30 Comments

A Critique of John Piper’s Theodicy: “Is God Morally Color-Blind?” Part 2

Posted on August 20, 2013 by StriderMTB

If anyone has read the works of John Piper, Jonathan Edwards or any mainstream Calvinist you know that they are committed to the view that God’s sovereignty means God has exhaustively decreed every act of men (and demons), such that … Continue reading →

Posted in Critiquing Calvinism | Tagged Calvinism and evil, Calvinism debunked, Calvinism theodicy, calvinism vs. arminianism, Calvinism's Inconsistency, Critiquing John Piper, Dark side of Calvinism, Debating Arminian theology vs. Calvinism, defending arminianism, free-will, John Piper and Calvinism, John Piper quotes | 7 Comments