About Kevin Ott and This Blog

Kevin is a writer and a worship leader who is beginning a project called "David's Tabernacle." In this worship experiment, Kevin will attempt to organize a worship "center" in his church where people are worshiping 24 hours a day, seven days a week in worship team "shifts," slightly similar to how King David set things up in his tabernacle. The vision is simple: create a place where worship is happening round the clock, where Christians can come at any time, day or night, to "glorify Christ and enjoy Him forever," as the Westminster Catechism says. You can learn more about Kevin at his website.

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Now You Can Listen to the Audio from My Red Carpet Interviews with Cast of New Film "Saints & Strangers"

The film “Saints & Strangers,” which airs on National Geographic in two parts beginning Sunday, Nov. 22 9/8c, tells the true story behind Thanksgiving. It chronicles the quest of two groups – the pilgrims and the opportunists on board the Mayflower – who came to the New World under very different pretenses. The film is a thrilling period piece adventure/drama that places a surprising emphasis on the faith of the pilgrims and shows how their reliance on God got them through the hardest of times.

I attended the film’s premiere in Beverly Hills and had the privilege of interviewing the cast and filmmakers – including actors like Ron Livingston (“Office Space”), Anna Camp (“The Help”), and Raoul Truillo (“Apocalypto”). Now, in my latest podcast episode, you can listen to my audio from the red carpet as if you were there by my side:




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Monday, November 9, 2015

New Podcast Interview with Jordan Feliz (Billboard #1 Artist): When God Calls Us to the Scary Unknown

I had the joy of chatting with Christian singer Jordan Feliz (whose new single “The River” is taking radio stations by storm and topping the charts). I was surprised to learn that he and I have some cool things in common, and I was incredibly inspired by the story of his faith journey – how God called him to dive into the unknown, and the amazing story of how God provided in the midst of the unknown.

Check it out here:

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Sunday, November 1, 2015

The Emptiness of the World's Pomp and Possessions

Matthew Henry, in his commentary on Daniel 11, says this about Alexander the Great:

Olympias, Alexander’s mother, killed him, and poisoned Alexander’s two sons, Hercules and Alexander. Thus was his family rooted out by its own hands. See what decaying perishing things worldly pomp and possessions are, and the powers by which they are got. Never was the vanity of the world and its greatest things shown more evidently than in the story of Alexander. All is vanity and vexation of spirit.

Ecclesiastes makes the same case, though, as Timothy Keller pointed out in one of his sermons, it pertains only to “all that under the sun,” meaning the temporal things of this present world. But there is a different world to come, a “better country, a heavenly country,” as Hebrews 11 says, and a “new heaven and a new earth” as Revelation 21 says.

No wonder the human soul suffers such unbearable emptiness and bottomless cynicism when it looks to this world to fill its ever need. We crave the Bread of Life and the Living Water and don’t even know it.


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Friday, October 30, 2015

Why Science Also Makes Faith-Assumptions (Especially the Theory of Evolution)

Note: a version of this initially appeared in an article for RockinGodsHouse.com – a review of National Geographic Channel’s new series called “Breakthrough,” which looks at the latest tech breakthroughs.

The first episode of “Breakthrough” called “Fighting Pandemics” presents little hints of a Naturalist worldview that assumes the theory of evolution to be fact. For example, when describing how killer viruses come into being, the narrator says, "Evolution has created the perfect assassins.“ To be clear though, the episode does not bash religious people at all. I’m venturing into tangential territory that is not addressed in this episode.

But in any documentary tackling a scientific topic from a Naturalist worldview, the assertion of evolution as fact is usually inevitable. I love science, but I also love faith. I do not see them as irreconcilable. I relish documentaries like these that cover new technology. It’s incredibly fascinating to see what humanity is capable of creating. That being said, there are illogical presuppositions going around about the nature of science itself. It’s been happening for decades – so long that these assumptions have taken the form of cultural tradition. But we need to at least question those presuppositions.

For example, the use of the theory of evolution to explain our origins is, in its own way, a faith-assumption. Sure, some folks will prefer that faith-assumption over any religion any day of the week, but I’m tired of hearing that science itself contains no faith assumptions or metaphysical claims embedded deep within the layers of its process, its language, and its many theories.

In this ongoing debate, Creationists are critiqued for using the terms microevolution and macroevolution ontologically in a way that scientists never used them originally. But I think there is some merit in the distinction because it reveals that the theory of evolution does contain at least one faith-assumption.

Let me explain what I mean by that: the observable changes in a mutating virus is an example of the small genetic changes of microevolution – which is certainly verifiable by observational science and is not contradictory to Biblical viewpoints about origin – but microevolution’s observable mutations have only been limited to the rearrangement, corruption or loss of preexisting genetic information. However, the theory of evolution assumes that a vast accumulation of microevolution leads to macroevolution – i.e. a fish experiences small genetic mutations (changes in size and color), so we can safely assume that enough of these small mutations will eventually evolve the fish into a human being. 

But there is a barrier that gets in the way of that seemingly logical assumption: microevolution has only been observed to be a rearrangement, corruption or loss of preexisting genetic information – never a process that sees an addition of new genetic information. Macroevolution requires new genetic information to be added that did not exist before. Therefore it is a faith-assumption to believe that this new addition of genetic information that didn’t exist before just magically appears at some point in the eternal accumulation of microevolution.

I mention that because it bothers me when people claim that science is 100% empirical and 0% faith-based. That is simply not true, and evolution is just one minor example, really. In fact, the evolutionary-based philosophy known as Verificationism put forth by the Logical Positivists in the 20th century, particularly A.J. Ayers – the bedrock of today’s New Atheism – collapsed under its own weight and was eventually abandoned for being self-refuting (i.e. "Can the principle of verification be verified?” as they said) for this very reason: there are faith-assumptions and flecks of metaphysics that lie in the very foundation of science. It is not wholly empirical.

However, people will use the claim that science (and the theory of evolution) is 100% empirical and thus superior to any other worldview that has a faith-assumption. This leads to a deep sense of superiority among those who make this claim – an arrogance that actually (oddly enough) reminds me of the works-based, moralistic, religious arrogance of the ancient Pharisees. (And there is, by the way, a difference between works-based religion and grace-based religion, but I cover that in an another article.)

But there really are faith-assumptions in Science. That’s my point. The evolutionary argument is just one example.

Sure, you may prefer those faith-assumptions to the beliefs of a religious person, but – to be totally honest, here – it doesn’t help the situation when you make yourself out to be superior to religious people because you think your view is not “contaminated” by faith.

To be clear, this is a major tangent because, thus far, Episode 1 “Fighting Pandemics” does not make explicit claims about the superiority mentioned above. It’s certainly not bashing religious people. Its mentioning of evolution is very peripheral and not central to the topic. Evolution does take on a more central role in future episodes, however, so this debate eventually becomes much more relevant.


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Sunday, October 11, 2015

New Podcast Episode: Kevin's Interview with Dolly Parton about Miracles

One of my fondest memories is having a brief chat over the phone with Dolly Parton. I am finally releasing the audio of that conversation in my second podcast episode for Aslan’s Paw. This podcast episode also includes a personal story about a miracle that happened to me years ago, and I also share my email interview with Ian McCormack, the man whose miraculous story is the basis for the film “The Perfect Wave” starring Scott Eastwood (Son of Clint Eastwood) and Rachel Hendrix (star of “October Baby”).

Check out the episode here: http://ift.tt/1N6mY09


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Saturday, October 10, 2015

I Predict that We Will See Turkey Become a Dictatorship (and Possibly the Revival of the Ottoman Empire) in Our Lifetime

This is completely unrelated to the theme of my blog and my website, but after the horrific events in Turkey today, I have to speak out. The West needs to have a greater awareness of the drama unfolding in Turkey presently. It will have far-reaching consequences. (And if you didn’t know this about me already, I am a total geopolitical nut. I spend as much time if not more reading news headlines from foreign papers than I do reading domestic news. We live in very critical times.)

Today’s tragedy in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, is shocking and deeply saddening. If you haven’t heard, two bombs went off this morning during a Pro-Kurdish peace rally in the nation’s capital. It killed 86 people and wounded 186. The MIT (Turkey’s version of Homeland Security and the CIA, and very loyal to President Erdogan) has, shockingly, said that is has no intelligence on what is the deadliest act of terrorism in Turkey’s history. The Turkish people are outraged at the MIT, to put it mildly. Why does the MIT even exist? they’re asking. And there are signs of something very fishy because the timing of the attacks and the nature of the attacks stand to greatly benefit President Erdogan’s AK Party in the November 1 elections. (And these Nov. 1 snap elections themselves are historically unprecedented for Turkey because President Erdogan and the AK Party refused to broker a unified parliament government after the June elections, which were not in his favor).

In fact, a very detailed article came out today showing how many of Turkey’s intellectuals suspect that there is something extremely devious behind these deplorable attacks.

If you pay attention to geopolitics, you really don’t have to be a prophet to know what’s coming in Turkey. You just have to read the news – or at least what’s left of it in Turkey. Their government just arrested another editor-in-chief of one of the few remaining free papers. Why? Because he Tweeted something critical of the president.

The fact that President Erdogan of Turkey is rounding up all dissenting voices and throwing them in prison is just the tip of the iceberg of what his party (the AK Party) has been up to in recent years. (And when I say ALL dissenting voices, I mean ALL dissenting voices. His government arrested a 16-year-old for criticizing Erdogan on Facebook.)

Tragically, Turkey is headed straight toward a dictatorship.

And a Turkey dictatorship under Erdogan – a man who was known to carry a copy of Hitler’s Mein Kampf with him and who has a very Anti-Semitic history – would be horrifying on many levels. Turkey’s impossible-to-get-rid-of but extremely charismatic and eloquent president, whose power becomes more entrenched every year, is the strongest candidate for becoming the 21st Century’s Most Charismatic Dictator – which, as history has shown, is usually a deadly combination for that dictator’s country and for the world.

As the Wall Street Journal reported:

Mr. Erdogan and the AKP are hollowing out the institutions of Turkish democracy. The Turkish government has in recent months attempted to ban YouTube and Twitter ; dealt brutally with peaceful protesters; fired or reassigned thousands of judges, prosecutors and law enforcers deemed insufficiently loyal; and earned the dubious honor of being the world’s top jailor of journalists in 2012 and 2013, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

And that was back in 2012. Things are much worse now. Erdogan has fired thousands of police chiefs across Turkey and likely replacing them with local law enforcement officials who are loyal to him. In the WSJ above it countered its criticisms of the AK Party by citing Erdogan’s then-much-publicized attempts to bring a peace deal with the Kurds in Turkey. Well, now someone has bombed a pro-Kurdish peace rally and the government mysteriously has no leads on who or why. In addition, since Erdogan’s party lost the June election, a mysterious spike in violence and conflict with the Kurds has been erupting.

Many of Turkey’s journalists are connecting the dots and wondering aloud if Erdogan is trying to create chaos before the Nov. 1 election. Those journalists, unfortunately, are going to prison.

So what is Erdogan’s intentions behind all of this? Many believe he wants to revive the Islamist Ottoman Empire in all its glory, and that, ultimately, he wants to become the Sultan over the Middle East and the Sultan of Islam itself. As wild as it sounds, I believe that Erdogan sees himself as the Mahdi, the prophesied unifier and “messiah” of Islam. There is indeed a dangerous Cult of Erdogan in Turkey. Erdogan has been depicted healing the sick, and those who adore him describe the simple act of touching Erdogan as a form of worship, as chronicled in this extensive news report on the Cult of Erdogan. Based on the evidence, I think that all of these claims are not as far-fetched as you might think.

And Erdogan’s apparent ambitions to revive an Islamist Ottoman Empire have been noted and analyzed by many mainstream publications, such as The Telegraph, The Guardian, and The World Post – just to name a few.

The bottom-line is this: more difficult days are likely ahead of Turkey. The West needs to pay closer attention to what’s happening in Turkey because it could have massive ripple effects in the world. And we need to keep the Turkish people in prayer.


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I Predict that We Will See Turkey Become a Dictatorship (and Possibly the Revival of the Ottoman Empire) in Our Lifetime

This is completely unrelated to the theme of my blog and my website, but after the horrific events in Turkey today, I have to speak out. The West needs to have a greater awareness of the drama unfolding in Turkey presently. It will have far-reaching consequences. (And if you didn’t know this about me already, I am a total geopolitical nut. I spend as much time if not more reading news headlines from foreign papers than I do reading domestic news. We live in very critical times.)

Today’s tragedy in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, is shocking and deeply saddening. If you haven’t heard, two bombs went off this morning during a Pro-Kurdish peace rally in the nation’s capital. It killed 86 people and wounded 186. The MIT (Turkey’s version of Homeland Security and the CIA, and very loyal to President Erdogan) has, shockingly, said that is has no intelligence on what is the deadliest act of terrorism in Turkey’s history. The Turkish people are outraged at the MIT, to put it mildly. Why does the MIT even exist? they’re asking. And there are signs of something very fishy because the timing of the attacks and the nature of the attacks stand to greatly benefit President Erdogan’s AK Party in the November 1 elections. (And these Nov. 1 snap elections themselves are historically unprecedented for Turkey because President Erdogan and the AK Party refused to broker a unified parliament government after the June elections, which were not in his favor).

In fact, a very detailed article came out today showing how many of Turkey’s intellectuals suspect that there is something extremely devious behind these deplorable attacks.

If you pay attention to geopolitics, you really don’t have to be a prophet to know what’s coming in Turkey. You just have to read the news – or at least what’s left of it in Turkey. Their government just arrested another editor-in-chief of one of the few remaining free papers. Why? Because he Tweeted something critical of the president.

The fact that President Erdogan of Turkey is rounding up all dissenting voices and throwing them in prison is just the tip of the iceberg of what his party (the AK Party) has been up to in recent years. (And when I say ALL dissenting voices, I mean ALL dissenting voices. His government arrested a 16-year-old for criticizing Erdogan on Facebook.)

Tragically, Turkey is headed straight toward a dictatorship.

And a Turkey dictatorship under Erdogan – a man who was known to carry a copy of Hitler’s Mein Kampf with him and who has a very Anti-Semitic history – would be horrifying on many levels. Turkey’s impossible-to-get-rid-of but extremely charismatic and eloquent president, whose power becomes more entrenched every year, is the strongest candidate for becoming the 21st Century’s Most Charismatic Dictator – which, as history has shown, is usually a deadly combination for that dictator’s country and for the world.

As the Wall Street Journal reported:

Mr. Erdogan and the AKP are hollowing out the institutions of Turkish democracy. The Turkish government has in recent months attempted to ban YouTube and Twitter ; dealt brutally with peaceful protesters; fired or reassigned thousands of judges, prosecutors and law enforcers deemed insufficiently loyal; and earned the dubious honor of being the world’s top jailor of journalists in 2012 and 2013, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

And that was back in 2012. Things are much worse now. Erdogan has fired thousands of police chiefs across Turkey and likely replacing them with local law enforcement officials who are loyal to him. In the WSJ above it countered its criticisms of the AK Party by citing Erdogan’s then-much-publicized attempts to bring a peace deal with the Kurds in Turkey. Well, now someone has bombed a pro-Kurdish peace rally and the government mysteriously has no leads on who or why. In addition, since Erdogan’s party lost the June election, a mysterious spike in violence and conflict with the Kurds has been erupting.

Many of Turkey’s journalists are connecting the dots and wondering aloud if Erdogan is trying to create chaos before the Nov. 1 election. Those journalists, unfortunately, are going to prison.

So what is Erdogan’s intentions behind all of this? Many believe he wants to revive the Islamist Ottoman Empire in all its glory, and that, ultimately, he wants to become the Sultan over the Middle East and the Sultan of Islam itself. As wild as it sounds, I believe that Erdogan sees himself as the Mahdi, the prophesied unifier and “messiah” of Islam. There is indeed a dangerous Cult of Erdogan in Turkey. Erdogan has been depicted healing the sick, and those who adore him describe the simple act of touching Erdogan as a form of worship, as chronicled in this extensive news report on the Cult of Erdogan. Based on the evidence, I think that all of these claims are not as far-fetched as you might think.

And Erdogan’s apparent ambitions to revive an Islamist Ottoman Empire have been noted and analyzed by many mainstream publications, such as The Telegraph, The Guardian, and The World Post – just to name a few.

The bottom-line is this: more difficult days are likely ahead of Turkey. The West needs to pay closer attention to what’s happening in Turkey because it could have massive ripple effects in the world. And we need to keep the Turkish people in prayer.


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