More Christ

Adele and Doug Calhoun have decades of experience in caring for the soul. Adele is an author, speaker, retreat leader, pastor, spiritual director, pilgrimage leader, and a certified enneagram trainer. Adele’s sweet spot is giving people tools to help them make space for God in their lives. Doug is a pastor, spiritual director, pilgrimage leader, a certified enneagram trainer, and has a doctorate in Male Spirituality. Doug’s sweet spot is resourcing pastors, leaders, and individuals in their spiritual journey. Check out their website, here: https://www.calhounministries.org/

This is the second story in my new series of short stories and is a traditional Irish tale. My wife and I recently completed our storytelling course with Storytellers of Ireland, so I decided to take what I have learned and apply those lessons here. Special thanks to my friend, Fr. Ryan Duns, who has allowed me to use his music for this series. He is offering a great service by keeping traditional Irish music alive and bringing it to a new audience. You can listen to his music and follow him here: Ryan G. Duns (Ryan G. Duns, SJ) - YouTube As always with More Christ, I hope this is for the glory of God and good of Man. I offer a brief 'theology of storytelling' here: Introducing More Christ Short Stories: A Brief Theology of Storytelling (youtube.com)

Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski is an American philosopher. She is the Emerita George Lynn Cross Research Professor, as well as Emerita Kingfisher College Chair of the Philosophy of Religion and Ethics, at the University of Oklahoma. She writes in the areas of epistemology, philosophy of religion, and virtue theory. Please check out Linda's books, talks, and papers. It's well worth the effort: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Books-Linda-Zagzebski/s?rh=n%3A266239%2Cp_27%3ALinda+Zagzebski https://open.spotify.com/episode/2UVXHhZGZRRopfoevC95Lg https://open.spotify.com/episode/7qaLOflbdSE54DnurmVs03 https://philpapers.org/rec/ZAGWIK

Connie Marshner is the author of the book Monastery and High Cross: The Forgotten Eastern Roots of Irish Christianity. She holds a Master’s degree in Gaelic Literature from University College Cork. For more and to buy the book, see her website here: About the Author – Connie Marshner Séamus Ó Fianghusa, known as ‘Séamus na Gaeilge’ in the Donegal Gaeltacht, is an author and US Army soldier. He is the author of a book on St Jude, patron saint of lost causes, Gaelic culture, and his Catholic faith.

Fr. Conor McDonough is a Dominican priest and a lecturer at the Dominican House of Studies in Dublin and is originally from County Galway. He is a renowned scholar, with degrees from the Universities of Fribourg, Maynooth, and Cambridge, specialising in Theology and Philosophy. He has also been involved in an exciting YouTube series called Treasure Ireland, focusing on the hidden gems of the history of the Catholic faith in Ireland. For more, please see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROBFYalO4Ws&t=0s https://soundcloud.com/thomisticinstitute/fire-in-the-head-paganism-in-irish-christianity-fr-conor-mcdonough https://soundcloud.com/thomisticinstitute/christianity-and-nationalism-fr-conor-mcdonough-op

This is the first story in my new series of short stories. My wife and I recently completed our storytelling course with Storytellers of Ireland, so I decided to take what I have learned and apply those lessons here. Special thanks to my friend, Fr. Ryan Duns, who has allowed me to use his music for this series. He is offering a great service by keeping traditional Irish music alive and bringing it to a new audience. You can listen to his music and follow him here: https://www.youtube.com/@RyanDunsSJ As always with More Christ, I hope this is for the glory of God and good of Man. I offer a brief 'theology of storytelling' here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWkPBXjzaIw&t=0s

In this short video, I introduce my upcoming series of short stories and aim to convey why I think it is important to embrace stories as Christians. This is a very brief theology of storytelling, inspired by Jonathan Pageau, Jordan Peterson, Paul Vander Klay, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and many other vital figures.

Born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1961, Mike became a Christian at the age of 10 and grew up in a Christian home. He attended Liberty University where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Music Performance (Saxophone). During his undergraduate studies, he had a strong desire to know God, devoting himself to studying the Bible daily. He decided to learn Koine Greek in order to read the New Testament in its original language and later completed a Master’s Degree in Religious Studies. Toward the end of his graduate work in 1985, Mike began to question the veracity of his faith and wondered if there was any evidence to support it. He decided not to go into Christian ministry at that time. Finding answers to his questions consumed him and he almost jettisoned his faith. He investigated the evidence for Christianity and a number of other major world religions. He also considered the arguments for atheism. His investigation solidified his belief that God exists and that he has actually revealed himself to mankind in Jesus Christ and that the Christian view provides the most plausible and unified theory of reality. In July of 1997, Mike formed TruthQuest Ministries in order to give an official name to his growing ministry and to allow future donors to make tax-deductible gifts. In October 2001, the ministry was renamed “RisenJesus” in order to avoid confusion with other ministries named “TruthQuest” and more closely reflect its vision of equipping 100,000 Christians to share their faith using the evidence for Jesus’ resurrection. Mike has a Ph.D. in New Testament (University of Pretoria). He completed all requirements “with distinction” and the highest marks. He is a frequent speaker on university campuses, churches, Christian groups, retreats, frequently debates, and has appeared as a guest on dozens of radio and television programs. He is a member of the Evangelical Theological and Philosophical Societies, the Institute for Biblical Research, the Society of Biblical Literature, and the prestigious Studitorum Novi Testamenti Societas. Mike is Professor of New Testament Studies at Houston Christian University and the president of Risen Jesus, Inc. Mike is married to Debbie and they have two grown children, Alexandra and Zachary. Mike is the author, co-author or editor of seven (7) books Why Are There Differences in the Gospels? What We Can Learn From Ancient Biography (Oxford University Press, 2017) The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach (IVP Academic, 2010) Evidence for God: 50 Arguments for Faith from the Bible, History, Philosophy and Science, with co-editor William Dembski (Baker 2010) Paul Meets Muhammad which is a debate on the resurrection of Jesus between the apostle Paul and the prophet Muhammad The award winning The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus with co-author Gary Habermas which is a comprehensive self-study course Cross Examined, a legal novel defending the historicity of Jesus’ resurrection Behold, I Stand at the Door and Knock which lays out in a concise manner what to say to Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses when they knock on your door. Jesus, Contradicted: Why the Gospels tell the same story differently (Zondervan Academic, 2024) Raised on the Third Day: Defending the Historicity of the Resurrection of Jesus, with co-editor W. David Beck (Lexham Press, 2020) For more, please see: https://www.risenjesus.com/mike-licona Mike Licona - YouTube

Ryan Duns, SJ works at the intersection of philosophy and systematic theology. He has published on Karl Rahner, Jean-Luc Marion, René Girard, and his most recent work has involved a sustained engagement with William Desmond’s metaphysics. His dissertation, “Spiritual Exercises for a Secular Age? William Desmond’s Theological Achievement” argued that, when read as a form of spiritual exercise (Pierre Hadot), Desmond’s philosophy can re-awaken a sense of the Transcendent. Now available in updated form as a book, Spiritual Exercises for a Secular Age: Desmond and the Quest for God. https://www.youtube.com/@RyanDunsSJ On the Monstrosity of Christ - Theopolis Institute Amazon.co.uk Fr. Ryan G. Duns, SJ (@DunsSj) / X

Gerard Casey is an Irish philosopher and former politician who is Professor Emeritus at University College Dublin. He was active in Irish politics in the 1990s and led the Christian Solidarity Party between 1993 and 1999. He now holds libertarian and what he terms (philosophically) anarchistic views. His philosophical interests include political philosophy, philosophy of law and philosophy of religion. https://mises.org/profile/gerard-n-casey https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Gerard-Casey/author/B0034OKK5E?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1719686093&sr=1-1&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true Dr. Wanjiru Njoya is a Scholar-in-Residence for the Mises Institute. She is the author of Economic Freedom and Social Justice (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), Redressing Historical Injustice (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023, with David Gordon) and “A Critique of Equality Legislation in Liberal Market Economies” (Journal of Libertarian Studies, 2021). https://mises.org/profile/wanjiru-njoya https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?i=digital-text&rh=p_27%3AWanjiru+Njoya&s=relevancerank&text=Wanjiru+Njoya&ref=dp_byline_sr_ebooks_1