Tag: YouTube

Needs For Deeper Waters

How can you help out what we do here? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

Friends. After this semester, I have a year left to work on my Master’s, and while studying, I’m still trying to actively do what I need to do. I am reading through a number of different books, a little bit every day, doing my classwork, and even doing work right now for my Ph.D. I also work at the campus post office, though only part-time due to my class schedule. On Saturdays, I will be meeting my pastor for mentoring time for one of my classes and I am a research pastor there as well.

Like any ministry, we have a number of needs here. Right now, the main work I am doing is blogging and trust me, I want to do more than that. Some of you have liked my Gaming Theologian channel and I want to make more of those videos, but there’s a problem. My video editor had some problems and just can’t do it anymore.

I am looking to find someone who is willing to take videos that I record and then do some sprucing up of them and adding special effects. I was told by someone that since this is not something I am good at, it would be better to work with someone who is highly skilled at this to make excellent media. If that is you, please let me know. If you are capable enough that the channel starts producing income, I will be glad at that point to start working on getting you a share of that income and naturally, you can endorse yourself in the videos if you so desire at any time.

Then there’s just outright financial needs that we have. I know we’re all in a hurting economy right now, but just a little bit can make a huge difference. I have said before that if half of my Facebook friends gave a dollar a month even, I would be set easily. It would make it easier for me to also do other work I would like to do, such as writing ebooks.

I also definitely want to get the podcast up again. This semester will be awfully busy, but I am leaning heavily towards starting it up again next semester. I cannot promise as I do not know how my classes will be affecting me at that time, but rest assured, I want to be doing interviews again. At any rate, if you want to be a supporter of Deeper Waters, feel free to do so here. Unfortunately, I have no perks yet to being a subscriber as I honestly can’t think of anything I can do at this point. Suggestions are welcome.

I am working also on getting a Teespring shop set up. I have had plenty of people ask me about getting T-shirts on affirming the virgin birth, which I do affirm. I want to sell these and more. Please be watching for that.

Finally, something everyone can do is pray for me. I am in active therapy over here working on learning how to interact socially and form better relationships. It is still a pain to realize I am a divorced man every day. At least I still have Shiro to keep me company.

I really hate to advertise something like this, but the need is there and there’s no better way I can think of to get the message out. Please consider becoming a supporter today. Every bit gives me encouragement and hope.

In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)

The Deeper Waters Apologetics YouTube Channel

What is our new resource? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

Since we’re all under quarantine and I finally figured out again how to use my webcam, I decided to do something I’ve wanted to do for awhile and had spent some time talking to David Wood about, and that’s making a new YouTube channel. I have one just for fun videos I make and I have one for the podcast, but now I have one for short apologetics videos.

So what kinds of things do I plan to put up there?

Naturally, I started with a video about affirming the virgin birth, which I do affirm, and last night I did a video book review. I could make some short vids responding to current events in the world of apologetics. However, I do have a few ideas in mind for projects.

Tonight, for example, I plan to start a series for Autism Awareness Month, which is this month, on life on the spectrum. I will be tying this in to Christian apologetics and my personal recommendations on reaching people on the spectrum. I hope a video series like this will be more personal than written works on the topic. I plan on working to see how to incorporate images and other such things into my videos instead of just watching me talking.

I also plan on doing series on video games and apologetics. What theological themes can I find in games? I’m not saying no one else is doing this, but I really have not found it being done. I have been told to put up videos of my own gameplay so I do plan on doing that.

I also plan on doing a series on orthodox preterism. In addition, I want to deal with some of what I call the rapture brigade. These are people that make videos on YouTube about all the signs that the rapture is about to take place. They are always proven wrong, but they never seem to learn and keep making predictions.

Ultimately, I expect a lot of trial and error at the start, but I do hope that this will become something more mainstream in my own work. Social media is being more and more the place to go to make statements and with cable TV about to fade out of existence, people will be watching YouTube more for their information. Sadly also, many people don’t read books so I hope that this will fill in the gap.

As of this posting, there are just two videos up, but we have to start somewhere. Why not go and subscribe and share? With quarantine going on, I definitely plan on doing more of this.

In Christ,
Nick Peters

Secondhand Information

Would you let someone chew your food for you? Let’s talk about it on Deeper Waters.

On Facebook, I’m part of a discussion group between Muslims and Christians. It is not because I am an expert in Islam. I’m not. It’s because I was asked to come and defend the NT, and that is what I do. Hence, I do not make comments about the Quran generally (Other than that it denies the crucifixion) or about specific Muslim doctrines. I don’t because I don’t know them. There are people who do. Let them do that.

Unfortunately, that is not a two way street.

One of the great benefits in the internet age is that there is a world of information at your fingertips just waiting to be discovered.

Unfortunately, one of the great curses in the internet age is that there is a world of information at your fingertips just waiting to be discovered.

How does this work? Let’s give an example. My ministry partner makes YouTube videos. Now I know the reasons in the videos he makes quite well, but I think the videos are an entertaining and informative way of expressing the ideas. Therefore, I can sometimes link someone to a video and if we want to discuss it, then it is discussed.

On the other hand, I can be talking to a Muslim who tells me that the Bible has been changed. I start asking him about textual criticism. At one point I can say something like “Do you know what a gloss is?” only to receive the question “Gloss?” In other words, the idea has never been thought of before.

What happens? Instead, a video is put up with a Muslim authority talking about how the Bible has been “changed.” For the sake of argument, let’s suppose it has been changed. Here’s the problem. I would be wrong then in my defense of it, but my opponent not knowing the subject matter is really unable to talk about it. If I am wrong, he has no way of demonstrating it. If I am right, he has no way of refuting it. Instead, there is just blind reliance on the authority. Most shown in this is the remark I got of “I can’t read the whole book on textual criticism.” (Yes. I recommended a book. How dare me recommend books.)

A topic like this requires a quote from Dr. Tim McGrew, head of the Christian Apologetics Alliance.

“One of the most disastrous illusions of the internet age is that an amateur plus Google is equivalent to a scholar. A search engine offers information, more or less relevant according to the skill of the searcher. But it does not sift that information; it does not sort fact from fancy, wheat from chaff. It does not explain which facts are relevant and which are beside the point. It does not weigh the merits of competing arguments and tell the user where the balance of evidence lies. A bright amateur armed with the internet may at best be better informed than he would otherwise have been, and he may occasionally catch a real scholar in a factual error. But it will not turn him into a scholar himself. There is no such thing as effortless erudition.”

He’s right entirely. This is why in our day and age discarded theories have come back with a vengeance as people treat old ideas that were thrown out as if they were new. It is as if we were rummaging through someone’s garbage and found an old black and white television and treated this as if it was the latest invention.

The internet is the place of zombies as dead ideas constantly arise to receive new life.

Now of course, most of our information comes from other sources, but if we want to learn it, we must do the necessary research. There are excellent sources online, but you need to know how to sift through those sources and find what is true. Who does that podcast you listen to? Who runs that web site? Who produced that YouTube video? This is much easier with books.

Also, most scholars will not put their work out there for free. They will make you pay for it, and who can blame them? They worked hard to get it to you. Why should they receive nothing for their work? This will require time on your part as well. I find it incredible how many people just can’t be bothered to read books these days.

If you do link to a source, make sure you know something about the source. If you don’t, you lower yourself as you will be embarrassed even if you don’t realize it. You will also be insulting your own opponents as if telling them that your doing a web search is equivalent to their reading of books for years.

Besides, if you are sure your position is true, what do you have to fear from reading the opposition? If it is not, you have the blessing of getting to change a view that is no longer true. It is a win-win situation either way. You will either be more informed in what you hold to be a true view for now, or you will abandon a view that is false.

Either way, you must make sacrifices. As McGrew has told me, you cannot exercise by watching someone else do push-ups. If you want to argue like an authority, study to become one.

In Christ,
Nick Peters