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| Daniel Negreau's Poker Blog A Case for Faith Negreanu blogs about religion, Darwinism, God, golfing and promoting PokerStars in Sweden |
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| A Case for Faith |
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September 5, 2008
I became a believer in late 2003 due in large part to a book called "A Case
for Christ" written by a former atheist by the name of Lee Strobel. He
conducted interviews over a full year examining the case for Christ, from
the resurrection, to the validity of the Bible. After reading that book I felt
convinced that there was enough evidence to suggest not only that Christ
was a man who existed (few would debate that) but also that he was the
son of God.
Of course, there is a necessary leap of Faith and that is an obstacle that
often keeps people from being able to believe in God. Lee Strobel has
several questions as well that would gnaw at him so he went on another
journey, conducting more interviews in the hopes of answering "The Big 8."
The 8 most asked questions that turn people away from becoming
believers. In no particular order, they are:
1. If there's a loving God, why does this pain-wracked world groan under
so much suffering and evil?
2. If the miracles of God contradict science, then how can any rational
person believe that they are true?
3. If God really created the universe, why does the persuasive evidence of
science compel so many to conclude that the unguided process of
evaluation accounts for life?
4. If God is morally pure, how can he sanction the slaughter of innocent
children as the Old Testament says he did?
5. If Jesus is the only way to heaven, than what about the millions of
people who have never heard of him?
6. If God cares about the people he created, how could he consign so
many of them to an eternity of torture in hell just because they didn't
believe the right things about him?
7. If God is the ultimate overseer of the church, why has it been rife with
hypocrisy and brutality throughout the ages?
8. If I'm still plagued by doubts, then is it still possible to be a Christian?
I'm actually reading the book a second time and taking notes. I was
riveted by much of it, specifically the theory of Evolution and Darwinism. I'm
not going to get into too much detail about all the specifics of the book, but
if you do have doubts, or are even an atheist or an agnostic, I think this
book is well worth the read. It certainly couldn't hurt you.
It starts out telling the story of Charles Templetom, a former pastor who
became an agnostic because he couldn't answer these questions and it
kept him from being able to have faith. He brings up some strong points,
but Lee Strobel's journey answered some of those tough questions that
Templeton raised.
************************************************************
*****
Sweden was a quick in and out as I was there doing some promotional
work for PokerStars. I also had a chance to talk to Mats Sundin and was
thoroughly impressed with him as a man as well as a hockey mind. He
cares about Toronto way more than the people in that city realize.. it's a
shame management hasn't made the best of decisions over the years...
************************************************************
*****
PokerVT: we shot some new stuff this week in our new studio that's been
built solely to create live content for the site. More and more live videos will
be added over the next little while.
************************************************************
*****
I golfed one day when I returned and obviously didn't hit the ball too well
considering the long lay off. While golfing, my buddy Sam, the center of
many of our jokes said something that had me rolling on the floor. We
talked about playing a house game of Badugi that evening and he
mentioned that he noticed PokerStars was going to have Badugi soon. He
said, "I went to open up the Badugi tab and it said, 'coming soon' so I
waited for like an hour and nothing happened." LOL, he went on to say
that he does that every day for like an hour and it always just says
"coming soon." You have to know Sam to know how funny that is.
We did play Badugi that night over at my buddy Ted's house. We would
have played at my house, but my house was destroyed while in Sweden.
Patty hadn't been at the house while I was gone so when a leak from the
sink made it's way to the game room and even the office, there ended up
being like a foot of water on the ground. The walls are still drying, but
luckily none of my electronics were damaged.
So that night we played a mix of Badugi, 2-7 triple draw, A-5 triple draw,
and 5 card draw triple draw, all limit. I didn't win anything and ran pretty
bad
The next day is when I shot all the VT stuff. After that we got together for
dinner at Bellagio's new restaurant YellowTail. Cool atmosphere, ok food.
After that we headed to the poker room where my Korean buddy John
Smith was playing $30-$60 hold'em. I said hello, then when he got up from
the table I decided to play a round for him. I played two pots and won
them both. Hand 1 I raised from the cut off with Qh 6h and the big blind
re-raised. The flop was 10-6-2 he bet I called. The turn was a Q and we
got 4 bets in. I cracked his AA.
The other hand I played was from under the gun where I raised with 6s
9s. I got a call behind me and the big blind. Flop was 10-5-2 with two
spades, I bet and the big blind called. The turn was an ace, she checked
and I stole it on the turn.
We hung out in the poker room for a bit, and then I just randomly sat in a
guys chair and played a round for him too. He didn't seem to care when he
got back as it was all in good fun. The room was buzzing a bit and then I
ended up doing some autographs and pictures before heading out to a
Karaoke joint in Chinatown.
Karaoke is a blast, especially with Sam because he has to be the worst
singer in the world but loves to sing. After a while, John Smith chose a
Korean song and since no one was backing him up, I decided to give it a
try. It was a remake of a Cyndy Lauper song and I thought I did pretty
good. Especially during the rap part, where I did my best impression of a
Korean rapper. All there gave me a thumbs up for authenticity in terms of
the accent, etc.
************************************************************
*****
I've got one more day at home until my month long European trip. Today I
played in the 5 card draw WCOOP event and got close to the money. It
had 1000 players or so and I got down to like 180th before busting after a
failed bluff attempt where I tried to represent two pair but all I really had
was a busted flush draw. The guy called me with a pair of 88. Good call.
************************************************************
*****
Politics is getting crazier and crazier and in the forums at Full Contact Poker
in my blog section people are blabbing away at each other defending their
candidate. It gets pretty heated sometimes, as politics often does, and I
usually don't stick with the threads all the way to the end because they
get too nutty.
I was appalled with the GOP convention. I was actually warming up to
McCain and feeling like he might be a decent guy, but the speeches of
Guliani and Palin disgusted me. They were rude, obnoxious, and they not
only mocked Obama but essentially mocked and belittled any of his
supporters. I hated watching it, I thought it was just awful.
It's always annoyed me that abortion always plays such a large role in
many voters minds as to who they'll choose since it's not even a federal
issue. There will always be people in this country that are both pro-life and
pro-choice, but I think both of those groups should instead focus on their
common goal: reducing the number of abortions. That would be a good
place to start, IMO. Taking an extreme stance either way doesn't get
anything done. Pro-lifers see abortion as murder and have every right to
voice their opinion, as do those that aren't religious who feel that allowing
a woman the right to choose is the morally correct thing to do. My opinion
on the issue is totally irrelevant. The thing is, I also feel like the opinion of
the president is only slightly more relevant since they don't have the
power to overturn Roe vs Wade.
Oops, I'm getting into politics, abortion, and RELIGION in this blog! Wow, I
should know better, seriously :-)
Read More Entries from Daniel Negreanu's Poker Blog
I became a believer in late 2003 due in large part to a book called "A Case
for Christ" written by a former atheist by the name of Lee Strobel. He
conducted interviews over a full year examining the case for Christ, from
the resurrection, to the validity of the Bible. After reading that book I felt
convinced that there was enough evidence to suggest not only that Christ
was a man who existed (few would debate that) but also that he was the
son of God.
Of course, there is a necessary leap of Faith and that is an obstacle that
often keeps people from being able to believe in God. Lee Strobel has
several questions as well that would gnaw at him so he went on another
journey, conducting more interviews in the hopes of answering "The Big 8."
The 8 most asked questions that turn people away from becoming
believers. In no particular order, they are:
1. If there's a loving God, why does this pain-wracked world groan under
so much suffering and evil?
2. If the miracles of God contradict science, then how can any rational
person believe that they are true?
3. If God really created the universe, why does the persuasive evidence of
science compel so many to conclude that the unguided process of
evaluation accounts for life?
4. If God is morally pure, how can he sanction the slaughter of innocent
children as the Old Testament says he did?
5. If Jesus is the only way to heaven, than what about the millions of
people who have never heard of him?
6. If God cares about the people he created, how could he consign so
many of them to an eternity of torture in hell just because they didn't
believe the right things about him?
7. If God is the ultimate overseer of the church, why has it been rife with
hypocrisy and brutality throughout the ages?
8. If I'm still plagued by doubts, then is it still possible to be a Christian?
I'm actually reading the book a second time and taking notes. I was
riveted by much of it, specifically the theory of Evolution and Darwinism. I'm
not going to get into too much detail about all the specifics of the book, but
if you do have doubts, or are even an atheist or an agnostic, I think this
book is well worth the read. It certainly couldn't hurt you.
It starts out telling the story of Charles Templetom, a former pastor who
became an agnostic because he couldn't answer these questions and it
kept him from being able to have faith. He brings up some strong points,
but Lee Strobel's journey answered some of those tough questions that
Templeton raised.
************************************************************
*****
Sweden was a quick in and out as I was there doing some promotional
work for PokerStars. I also had a chance to talk to Mats Sundin and was
thoroughly impressed with him as a man as well as a hockey mind. He
cares about Toronto way more than the people in that city realize.. it's a
shame management hasn't made the best of decisions over the years...
************************************************************
*****
PokerVT: we shot some new stuff this week in our new studio that's been
built solely to create live content for the site. More and more live videos will
be added over the next little while.
************************************************************
*****
I golfed one day when I returned and obviously didn't hit the ball too well
considering the long lay off. While golfing, my buddy Sam, the center of
many of our jokes said something that had me rolling on the floor. We
talked about playing a house game of Badugi that evening and he
mentioned that he noticed PokerStars was going to have Badugi soon. He
said, "I went to open up the Badugi tab and it said, 'coming soon' so I
waited for like an hour and nothing happened." LOL, he went on to say
that he does that every day for like an hour and it always just says
"coming soon." You have to know Sam to know how funny that is.
We did play Badugi that night over at my buddy Ted's house. We would
have played at my house, but my house was destroyed while in Sweden.
Patty hadn't been at the house while I was gone so when a leak from the
sink made it's way to the game room and even the office, there ended up
being like a foot of water on the ground. The walls are still drying, but
luckily none of my electronics were damaged.
So that night we played a mix of Badugi, 2-7 triple draw, A-5 triple draw,
and 5 card draw triple draw, all limit. I didn't win anything and ran pretty
bad
The next day is when I shot all the VT stuff. After that we got together for
dinner at Bellagio's new restaurant YellowTail. Cool atmosphere, ok food.
After that we headed to the poker room where my Korean buddy John
Smith was playing $30-$60 hold'em. I said hello, then when he got up from
the table I decided to play a round for him. I played two pots and won
them both. Hand 1 I raised from the cut off with Qh 6h and the big blind
re-raised. The flop was 10-6-2 he bet I called. The turn was a Q and we
got 4 bets in. I cracked his AA.
The other hand I played was from under the gun where I raised with 6s
9s. I got a call behind me and the big blind. Flop was 10-5-2 with two
spades, I bet and the big blind called. The turn was an ace, she checked
and I stole it on the turn.
We hung out in the poker room for a bit, and then I just randomly sat in a
guys chair and played a round for him too. He didn't seem to care when he
got back as it was all in good fun. The room was buzzing a bit and then I
ended up doing some autographs and pictures before heading out to a
Karaoke joint in Chinatown.
Karaoke is a blast, especially with Sam because he has to be the worst
singer in the world but loves to sing. After a while, John Smith chose a
Korean song and since no one was backing him up, I decided to give it a
try. It was a remake of a Cyndy Lauper song and I thought I did pretty
good. Especially during the rap part, where I did my best impression of a
Korean rapper. All there gave me a thumbs up for authenticity in terms of
the accent, etc.
************************************************************
*****
I've got one more day at home until my month long European trip. Today I
played in the 5 card draw WCOOP event and got close to the money. It
had 1000 players or so and I got down to like 180th before busting after a
failed bluff attempt where I tried to represent two pair but all I really had
was a busted flush draw. The guy called me with a pair of 88. Good call.
************************************************************
*****
Politics is getting crazier and crazier and in the forums at Full Contact Poker
in my blog section people are blabbing away at each other defending their
candidate. It gets pretty heated sometimes, as politics often does, and I
usually don't stick with the threads all the way to the end because they
get too nutty.
I was appalled with the GOP convention. I was actually warming up to
McCain and feeling like he might be a decent guy, but the speeches of
Guliani and Palin disgusted me. They were rude, obnoxious, and they not
only mocked Obama but essentially mocked and belittled any of his
supporters. I hated watching it, I thought it was just awful.
It's always annoyed me that abortion always plays such a large role in
many voters minds as to who they'll choose since it's not even a federal
issue. There will always be people in this country that are both pro-life and
pro-choice, but I think both of those groups should instead focus on their
common goal: reducing the number of abortions. That would be a good
place to start, IMO. Taking an extreme stance either way doesn't get
anything done. Pro-lifers see abortion as murder and have every right to
voice their opinion, as do those that aren't religious who feel that allowing
a woman the right to choose is the morally correct thing to do. My opinion
on the issue is totally irrelevant. The thing is, I also feel like the opinion of
the president is only slightly more relevant since they don't have the
power to overturn Roe vs Wade.
Oops, I'm getting into politics, abortion, and RELIGION in this blog! Wow, I
should know better, seriously :-)
Read More Entries from Daniel Negreanu's Poker Blog
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