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Survivor brings message to Troy
Published Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Austin Carty, best known for being “the Christian guy” on Survivor: Panama, will bring his message of “Life, Faith and Figuring It All Out” to Troy today.
Carty will speak at 8:29 p.m. at the Claudia Crosby Theater of the campus of Troy University about his book, “High Points and Lows: Life, Faith and Figuring It All Out.” Carty’s book is being positively reviewed by Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.
The program is an outreach event for the 8:29 College Ministry of First Baptist Church of Troy and the student-led ministry, “Momentum.”
The public is encouraged to attend.
Bobby Jon Drinkard, who is also an alumnus of the popular television reality show, “Survivor,” is a friend of Carty and said Carty’s book is a funny and irreverent account of his fumbles along the way to finding the courage to be himself.
“I met Austin about four years ago at a Survivor charity event,” Drinkard said. “Austin was on Survivor a season after mine. We are both from the same neck of the woods, and we both love the Lord so we immediately hit it off. We have always kept in touch. When he told me about his Southeast book tour and that he was going to pass through Troy on his way to Atlanta, I just knew we had to get him to make a stop in Troy.”
Carty’s book tour includes 30 cities throughout the Southeast and as far away a California. The book tour began on Jan. 28 and will conclude, for the most part, on March 20.
He was in Jackson, Miss., over the weekend and will be the guest speaker in Fairhope before arriving in Troy tonight.
“I’m a speaker as well as a writer,” Carty said. “I was self-published when I was 21 years old, and between that time and the time Pelican (publisher) picked me up, I had about a million rejection letters for my work.”
Carty said it was by “accident” that he became an inspirational speaker and author.
He was doing a Survivor trade show and he followed his talk with a question and answer session.
“It was surprising that more questions were asked about Jesus than about anything else,” he said. “So, I saw a need and started to speak at churches and to youth groups. Before long, I was speaking at Saddleback Church.”
For Carty, speaking about his faith was almost as natural as breathing.
“I grew up in North Carolina in a Christian family and attended a Christian high school,” he said. “I played soccer at a Christian university. My faith has always been an important part of my life. I read a lot of books on faith and often wished that my faith was as devout – and that I had it as together – as it was talked about in those books.”
However, Carty wanted to read about the doubts, fears and struggles facing those his age. So, once he gained enough life experiences of his own, he felt compelled to write about the pressures and stresses he has encountered.
“In the book, I don’t claim to have all the answers,” he said. “I just relate my own experiences – my struggles, fears and doubts – so that those who are going through similar circumstances can know that they don’t have to go through them alone.”
There is no charge for the event and the public is invited.
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Posted by DarrylDavis (anonymous) on March 3, 2010 at 8:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Carty said this above: "“It was surprising that more questions were asked about Jesus than about anything else,” he said. " I have a question about Jesus........ Why is there no historical evidence about him anywhere?
You can find no history on Jesus other than 2 paragraphs in the huge book of Josephus and these paragraphs were forged by Bishop Eusibius of the Catholic Church early in history and this is well known.
You can find historical evidence of Pilate, The Pharasees, The Saducees, Alexander the Great and a host of others but not a peep about Jesus and that is bothersome especially since he raised the dead, healed sick people,walked on water , turned water into wine, and raised himself from the dead. If I was going to give my heart to someone then I would like to know that they were real or actually existed.
Posted by Jote (anonymous) on March 3, 2010 at 9:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)
There have always been (and will always be) those who wish to deny the existence of Jesus. Jesus was not a secular person and to find an account of his life in secular writings would be almost as difficult as finding writings about any other “average Joe” who lived at the same time. I have included in these comments a link to a website of Peter Harris. The website is “sowhataboutjesus.com”. It includes several sources for anyone’s review. When it boils down to it, I don’t think that the issue is whether he actually existed or not. I really believe that the issue is whether one will accept him or not. At any rate, here is the information from Peter Harris. It will list comments/writings/reports from several people, such as Cornelius Tacitus, Lucian of Samosata, Suetonius, Pliny the Younger, Thallus and Phlegon, Mara Bar-Serapion, and Josephus.
http://www.sowhataboutjesus.com/existed....
Posted by DarrylDavis (anonymous) on March 3, 2010 at 10:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Jote, I can appreciate your remarks as I spent the better part of my life involved in church(religion). But I never went outside of the King James bible so therefore I stayed in the dillusion of faith. You made this statement above : "I don't think that the issue is whether he actually existed or not. I really believe that the issue is whether one will accept him or not. If he is not real then how can any of the story line of the New Testament be taken serious???? I am more versed in this than you think. Jesus is a non existant character as he is a symbol. John chapter 1 verse 1 : "In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God". Look up the word "WORD" in the Strong's concordance and you will see the greek word is "LOGOs " . A logo is a symbol and that symobl is the SUN.
Jesus is the sun of God as he is reborn every morning and he dies and "Goes into hell" every evening( the earth or the grave) only to be born again the next morning(look at Revelations 22 verse 16 and you will see Jesus saying that he is the " Morning Star".) Here is a UTube link for you to look at so that you can have the understanding.(Be sure to click on part 2 and part 3 for the greater understanding of the bible.) Thanks for your comment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNf-P_5u_...
Posted by Jote (anonymous) on March 3, 2010 at 11:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Mr. Davis,
Thanks for the reply. Actually, Mr. Pierce has already sent me that link and I have watched it. In love and respect, I sent him the reply below. You may wish to take a look at it as well. There is a link at the bottom of the first page that will take you to several email correspondences between the author of the book and a Christian trying to research the statements made in the video. Also, the New Testament is mostly translated from Koine Greek, or common Greek, not Classical Greek. The term “Logos” does in fact mean “word, or saying”. I have also pasted a portion of John 1:1 from an interlinear Bible for your review. You mention in your earlier post that you spent the better part of your life in the delusion of church/faith, and then you mention (religion). Please know that belief in Jesus is not a religion, even though our society tries to tell us it is. Belief in Jesus is a one-on-one personal relationship with a savior, the son of God. We get it so confused when we try to inject our secular definitions into this relationship. Mr. Davis, I pray that you find this information helpful to you. May God bless you in your studies.
“mrpierce,
Thanks for the video link. I watched the videos and they are informative. I have heard of this issue before, though I am a bit rusty. In reply, I would send you to the link below. It should provide a balance to the videos for you. In addition, you are quite right, religion is indeed personal. Each person is responsible for whether he believes in Jesus Christ or not. I do not have the power or the cleverness of tongue to persuade them. This article really deals with the issue of gambling and I do not want to stray too far off course. I believe that gambling is a danger to us and I would not feel good about the ideal of just remaining silent and not at least offer a balanced conservative editorial. I do not wish to attack anyone’s faith. As you so wonderfully put it, it is a personal choice. At any rate, here is the link for your review.”
http://www.kingdavid8.com/Copycat/JesusH...
The Deity of Jesus Christ (John 1:1)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
jEn {PREP} ajrch'/ {N-DSF} h\n {V-IXI-3S} oJ {T-NSM} lovgo?, {N-NSM} kai; {CONJ} oJ {T-NSM} lovgo? {N-NSM} h\n {V-IXI-3S} pro;? {PREP} to;n {T-ASM} qeovn, {N-ASM} kai; {CONJ} qeo;? {N-NSM} h\n {V-IXI-3S} oJ {T-NSM} lovgo?. {N-NSM}
http://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInter...
Posted by Virtuous (anonymous) on March 3, 2010 at 11:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I John 2
Posted by DarrylDavis (anonymous) on March 3, 2010 at 1:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Jote, As per your reply I see that you have seen the video because of Mr. Pierce. I still do not see how you come to the conclusion that a "personal relationship " with Jesus is needed to keep you out of a burning pit of fire.(this is not in the bible) I have been looking up the history on the bible and it's list of characters for years and have found that the bible is a plagerization of the Egyptian religion along with a little here and there from all of the other cultures from that time in history and before. The stories come from other cultures including the Jesus character. I have found the bible to be based on fertility , ancestor worship and astrotheology. You say secular definitions cause confusion , well word lookups in Strong' concordance and etymology definitions gave me real reason to be concerned.
Christ : Strong's Greek word number 5547 and 5548 " Christos ...anointed or smeared with oil
This is more than likely where Pillsbury derived the name for its cooking oil "Crisco"
Lord is a new word originating from 1600 from the King's english or middle English "Lard" (oil again)
Salvation , the product of Jesus shedding his blood for the payment of sin : the root of the word is Salve: in the south is pronounced saave. ( oil again)
Jesus mentions virgins having and lacking oil.
Jesus's has his head anointed with oil .
Oil: Strong's Hebrew word 8081: Shemen :grease ,especially liquid. We lose the "H" in english to use this word as the male fertility fluid.
The history that I have looked at and validated from that time shows this to be true. For you to have looked at this data and still be in the hunt for a saviour that is a plagerization of all the other cultures before it and with no evidence whatsoever of an existance of Jesus being a real man that did all of the feats written about him tells me you must be ignoring what you do not want to look at. The truth is stranger than fiction. I was saved , baptized, and devoted for 40 years but when I discovered the whole thing to be a fraud, then I started researching. The bible says prove all things..... Thanks for your remarks
Posted by Virtuous (anonymous) on March 3, 2010 at 2:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The bible talks about the book of life. To have your name written in the book of life you must be saved. Romans 10:9 says, "That if you confess with your mouth, the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." When you get saved, you begin to get to know the Lord; therefore, developing a personal relationship with Him.
In order to save time, I'm going to copy and paste (instead of typing it out) Revelations 20:10-15...
"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, From whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire".
Posted by DarrylDavis (anonymous) on March 3, 2010 at 4:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Virtuous, The entire bible is a story book about the sun , the stars and the moon. It is about creation (fertility). In the story of Sampson and Delilah Samson's name means "Sunshine" and Delilah's name means night. Delilah shaves off the hair (Sun rays) of Samson and he becomes weak but when it grows back again he becomes strong and defeats the enemy. Jesus is the Sunshine also as even the bible tells you this. In Luke 1 : verse 78 , speaking about the new born baby Jesus: "Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the DAYSPRING from on high hath visited us." Dayspring's meaning is DAWN, or SUNRISE ....Strong's Greek word 395.New born sun equals newborn son (wordplay) Matthew 24 verse 27 : "For as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. (what comes up in the east and shines into the west?) Matthew 24: verse 30 "and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."(where do we see the sun?)
In most pictures painted of Jesus hundreds of years ago he has a yellow glow around his head. Have you never wondered what that really meant? Christians call the day of the sun, SUNDAY their holy day and on EASTER notice the word east in the word EASTER (east is where the sun rises), a SUNDAY MORNING SUNRISE SERVICE is conducted. Jesus's birthday is on the winter SOLSTICE OF THE SUN and if you back up 9 months from December 25th you end up at EASTER which is a time of fertility and is also the vernal equinox of the SUN. If Jesus is not the SUN then why are all of the pertinate holidays for Jesus based on the sun? Jesus sits at the right hand of God the father and the definition of "right" in Hebrew is "south" Strong's concordance Hebrew word 5045 and " left" in Hebrew is " north" Strong's concordance Hebrew word 8040. So if your right hand is pointed south and your left hand is pointed north then what direction are you facing??? EAST where the sunrises. Didn't the character Jesus say having ears they cannot hear and having eyes they cannot see lest they gain the understanding. Tradition and ritual have hidden the understanding and you will not hear this stuff in church as it is hidden and it would cause church membership to falter. Come off of the crooked path and come over to the straight path. Do not be guilty of Hosea 4: verse 6. Study hard Thanks for your remarks
Posted by Virtuous (anonymous) on March 3, 2010 at 4:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm not guilty of Hosea 4:6. I will not perish for lack of knowledge because I seek God. Proverbs 1:7
"THE FEAR OF THE LORD IS THE BEGINNING OF KNOWLEDGE: BUT FOOLS DESPISE WISDOM AND INSTRUCTION."
I also stick to what I was taught in the beginning. Don't be guilty of 1 John 2:19, 22.
Posted by DarrylDavis (anonymous) on March 3, 2010 at 6:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Here are some verses for you to "chew" on for your edification. Joshua 10: verses 12 and 13 :" Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel and he said in the sight of Israel, SUN, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou MOON , in the valley of Ajalon." Verse 13 : " And the SUN stood still and the MOON stayed, until the people had avenged themselves... The question on these verses is : What is wrong with these verses?????
Answer : the writer of these words had no understanding of science and did not know that the earth rotates in it's own orbit and not the sun rotating around the earth. I thought the holy spirit inspired these verses to be written. That was the Old Testament so maybe that doesn't count to some people . Matthew 4 : verse 8 and 9 : " Again the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world , and the glory of them; " verse 9 " And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Question: what is wrong with these verses????
Answer: the writer of these words had no understanding of science and thought that the world was flat as who can see all the kingdoms of the world from even Mount Everest?? I thought that the holy spirit inspired men to write these words. You said this above Virtuous : " I also stick to what I was taught in the beginning" That is called indoctrination as I suffered from the same thing . What has been drilled inside your head is almost impossible to change once we become old. Old dogs cannot learn new tricks and that is for sure. Jesus was deified by Constantine at the council of Nicea in 325 AD . Jesus was a creation of the church at Rome as haven't you ever heard that all roads lead to Rome? Maybe you should look at the UTube link posted above . There is a difference in being enlightened and indoctrinated. The factual truth will stand on it's own. Prove me wrong and you will win the argument. I appreciate you remarks Virtuous
Posted by Amen_Ra (anonymous) on March 3, 2010 at 8:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Amen brother, greetings from the capstone city and screw consensus reality!
Posted by Virtuous (anonymous) on March 3, 2010 at 10:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
DarrylDavis,
You are absolutely correct. We do agree on something. The truth will stand on its own.
I'm afraid you have mistaken. This is not about me winning an argument. The word of God speaks for itself.
Posted by DarrylDavis (anonymous) on March 4, 2010 at 9:16 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Virtuous , I did not say the truth will stand on its own, but instead I said the factual truth will stand on it's own as there is a difference. I spent 40 years as a pew dweller , a muted spectator in agreement with whatever was belted out from the pastor's mouth. That changed when a man who said he had read the bible and was a learned man in the Holy Bible told me that I needed to read it with the understanding . My religious instinct was to tell him that he was wrong and that he was going to go to hell. But being curious , I held back and investigated the matter , telling him thank you for sharing.
The bible is based on duality IE : Jesus - Devil, Good - Evil , Dark - Light, etc. etc. Jesus has no existance for a reason and that is because he is a symbolic metaphor. He is the personification of light( the sun ) and the devil is the personification of darkness (sunset, night). If you are telling someone how smart your child is , in the conversation you would say " My boy is so intelligent that he is brilliant, or enlightened or bright. On the other hand if you are ashamed of your boy then you would say in your conversation "My boy is ignorant as he is in the dark on most everything. So therefore intelligence equals light and ignorance equals darkness. The bible is not a history book as most think and I had to find that out the hard way through much research. The people that I attended church with were good people but did not read their bibles and were unread and unlearned as the "SCRIPT"ures say "casting your cares on him for he careth for you" so they just attended church and nothing more . Religion is the root and cause of the government running stupid on the people . The Religous crowd will not say or do anything as they have read Romans 13 which tells them is they disobey government that they will be damned. My bubble "got busted" years ago and I am glad as no one could have convinced me that things were the way they were in faith. I am in the "facual truth" now but I had to work for it as it is not going to fall into your lap by association with church. Church is a buisness as 99.9 percent of these operations are 5013c tax exempt with Ceasor . The church and the state are one and the same. The name " Holy Bible" is correct as the stories are full of holes . How important is your faith to you? Study hard Thanks for your remarks
Posted by Virtuous (anonymous) on March 4, 2010 at 10:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
DarrylDavis,
That's the difference between you and I. I am not a pew dweller, a muted spectator in agreement with whatever is belted out from the Pastor's mouth. Nor am I religious. I am a followerer of Christ..a Christian.
By whose understanding were you asked to read? His? Yours? Not all curiosity is good curiosity thus the saying, "Curiosity killed the cat." Provers 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not to thy own understanding".
I don't have a religious instinct but I do have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of me to lead and guide me. For it is the spirit that reveals all things.
Posted by OldSchoolPike3Worker (anonymous) on March 4, 2010 at 3:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Darryl, I don't understand you position on Christ. Do you think he is light or oil? I will pray that you get your faith back.
Posted by DarrylDavis (anonymous) on March 4, 2010 at 5:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
OldSchoolPike3Worker , If you were to ask the average christian how he or she felt about vampirism (drinking another humans blood) or how they (christians) felt about cannibalism (eating another humans flesh) they would be appalled and say those type of folks are evil and they are going to hell........
Well this practice takes place most every month in most churchs as they call this the "Lords Supper". The partakers do not actually drink human blood or eat someones flesh as it is done using symbolism. This practice was done with all of the other sons of God that existed before the bible character Jesus. Canabilism and blood drinking was practiced thousands of years before the time of the bible character Jesus . Babies were eaten because the people thought that if they ate the baby that they would inherit the life or years that the child had coming to him. Eating the flesh of the bible character Jesus is mentioned because if one eats the flesh of a so called god then he would live forever. OldSchoolPike3Worker , you said that you would pray that I get my faith back. I would suggest that you pray that your eyes would be opened and be able to see real truth and not what you have had drilled into your head since you were a child. You have a computer, look up this stuff for yourself. As I said earlier , prove me wrong on all of these facts that I have listed.
Virtuous , if you have the Holy Spirit living inside of you that reveals all things, then what does the spirit say to you about the material that I have posted?
Posted by regis (anonymous) on March 4, 2010 at 8:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"Harold Letterman after what has seemed like an endless string of diatribes, how do you have it?"
"OK Jim! At this point I got it nothing to nothing. I tell you, this has to be the most uneventful match we have ever had on The Messenger After Dark. It seems like both sides are giving all they got but neither one has given or gained an inch."
"Thank you Harold Letterman. I could not agree more. This has truly been a feast for those who enjoy the endless spouting of pablum, yet absolutely nothing has been accomplished. Stay tuned! Coming up next, Regis and Turtle debate the best way to boil an egg. Should be exciting after this snooze fest."
Posted by regis (anonymous) on March 4, 2010 at 8:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Sorry. Doc gave me some kind of turbo charged cough medicine and apparently I was s'posed to take a teasepoon and not a table fork cuz I now have a biller kuzz. Scuse me...I gotta go lay down...
Posted by Virtuous (anonymous) on March 4, 2010 at 9:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
DarrylDavis,
1 John 4: 1 "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try [test] the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world."
Posted by OldSchoolPike3Worker (anonymous) on March 5, 2010 at 10:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Darryl, I don't know what Bible you are reading. But Jesus broke bread and drank wine. That's what I do in remembrance of him. You view is very distorted. Goodbye
Posted by MMcCawley (anonymous) on March 27, 2010 at 12:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
DarrylDavis:
" I would suggest that you pray that your eyes would be opened and be able to see real truth and not what you have had drilled into your head since you were a child. You have a computer, look up this stuff for yourself. As I said earlier , prove me wrong on all of these facts that I have listed."
So what is the real truth? That vampires or cannibals existed? I will agree, that is truth, they have existed and the Bible documents them. But is it the whole truth? No Also, I'm not sure what this have to do with what the Bible teaches about salvation? Not much... Salvation is found only in the Son of God who came down in human form to die for our sins. By the way, this isn't just "belted out by my pastor" it can be found in the Bible.
Jesus Christ is not the sUn, the Moon or the Stars... He is the sOn and the Bible could not be more clear about this. Please explain John 14:6 ""I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." From my understanding of your interpretation, we must travel to the "sUn" to get to the father. With all respect, I don't see how you can read the Bible and come to this conclusion.
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