Tools for Your Apologetics Tool Box

This week in class, we had the opportunity to hear from Kerby Anderson, a radio talk show host and author of many books on apologetics and world religion. We discussed in detail how to engage people who are from different faith traditions and the core tenets of each of those- Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism and Mormonism. We then discussed the ideas of postmodernism or relativism and how those relate to the newer culture of atheism that is prevalent in the Western world today. Finally, we discussed ways to engage the millennial generation (our own- those born from 1980-2000) in the context of media and technology that invade every part of our lives. It was a rich several days, and I’m thankful for what Anderson called the tools to put in our toolbox to engage a lost and broken world.

That summary aside, I want to focus for a moment on what I’m truly passionate about- how to engage people who lack an understanding of absolute truth, particularly those of Hindu and Muslim backgrounds. 

As many of you know, I have a major passion for seeing God’s truth come to people of cultures around the world. It was three years ago nearly to the day that I returned from six months of service in South Asia. The pervasiveness of the Hindu religion is such there that it affects every single aspect of government, city planning, music and media, and family life. To be born in this area of South Asia is to be Hindu. I devoted the majority of my time in college to understanding the religions and cultures of the world and reading thousands of pages of theory about how to engage them with the gospel. Yet  when it comes to actual, practical conversation with those of other religions, I had very few. Then I moved overseas. Talk about a shock to the system. (If you’d like to read more about those days of my life, look further back on this blog to posts from 2011 or let me tell you a story or two!) The HIndu or Muslim framework of understanding not only came across boundaries of language difference, but from an entirely different view about God, the role and value of man, the sacredness of life, and how we should live. I learned that my friends spent all their lives trying to earn the favor of a gods who may or may not choose to save them. Salvation is utterly man centered and based upon obedience to complicated tenets and traditions. Indeed, what I was most bothered by was that most of my friends did not understand their holy scriptures at all, but seemed to blindly follow the traditions of their people for ages past. 

It is important to understand two things about most major world religions, especially those of the east

1. Decisions of faith are NOT made in a linear, logical fashion which is dictated by a neatly outlined set of dogmatic principles. A Hindu might worship all, several, or none of 330 million gods. A Muslim might believe the sanctity of the Qu’ran to his core, but have no idea what it really says. What IS important is the traditions of your people and keeping those in order to preserve the honor and separateness of your family, your people, and your culture. 

According to our teacher, Kerby Anderson, it does not bother a Hindu person in the least to spend their days as a doctor or scientist and then go home to make an offering to the elephant god. Their faith is not based upon logical compatibility, it is based upon tradition that is deeply entrenched in every part of who they are. 

2. Decisions are not made based upon the will of the individual, but on the good of the community. It matters little what the individual believes about how they should practice faith, what career they should have, even whom they should marry. They are always bound to what their parents and the leaders of their community say. This system of accountability filters down to every level of life. When you ask a person of Hindu, Muslim, or Buddhist faith to consider the truth of the gospel of Christ, you are asking them to leave their family and their community. To abandon the traditions of their faith is disloyalty. This is why many of my friends have been disowned permanently by parents, spouses, even their own children when they choose to follow Christ. 

In light of understanding these two major things about the life of a person with an Eastern faith tradition, we must understand how to ask good questions and how to present the gospel clearly. One of the major things I learned in witnessing to Hindus and Muslims is that you can present the gospel in a way that does not immediately attack their faith (which is who they are in many ways). The gospel and God’s love speak loudly enough that it’s good to present the stories of God’s word and his character and ask them questions about what they’ve learned, rather than providing a long sermon on every reason religion x is incorrect. 

Mr. Anderson said there are two main reasons Muslims who followed Christ cited as what drew them to Him- God’s love and eternal security. I feel that these reasons are common to those who leave any religion to follow Christ. Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, and Mormons are never able to be certain that they will achieve salvation. They follow rules and traditions that enslave them to fear that they may not be good enough. Not only this, but the gods they worship do not unconditionally love them. These are the key differences between the faith of a Christ follower and that of another religion. It’s important to remember that each of these followers of other religions were created to worship the God who dwells within us, and they long to be known and loved by Him. It’s our responsibility to announce this love and truth to them as we build relationships, ask good questions and walk carefully so that the love of Christ is clearly communicated. 

My Family Tree

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! 
        What a rich season it is. The chill in the air this month has often made me want to complain, but every time I take a dive out into the frigid air, I'm reminded of how much God wants to wake His people up. I want to continue this journey of sharing what I'm learning with you. I cannot tell you how beneficial my time in studying God's Word has been this year. I could tell you story upon story, so please, if you want to know more or have any questions at all, let me know!

        This week we had the privilege of hearing from my favorite teachers, Chad Hampsch, about the incredibly rich and complicated 2,000 years of church history that have come since the writing of the Bible was completed. Rather than list information about epochs of time, I'd rather talk about some themes I saw in our history and how God has worked through all of it. But why study church history? Why not just know the Bible and be done with it? I see several reasons for devoting one's time to studying those who have gone before us in faith. 

• First, we need to know our family tree. 

• Just as most people know what kind of biological heritage they came from, so the Christian must be aware of the heritage they have in faith in the family of Christ. The Bible says that our family in Christ is of a higher priority than our earthly family and it is also eternal. This is not to say that God doesn't place us where we are in time in the family we are in for a distinct purpose, but it is to say that Christ is the priority over any human relationship or commitment. 
• If we know where we have come from, we can see how God has been working over thousands of years to bring a sinful and broken people back to the knowledge of Him.
• The Bible wasn't even translated into the common language of the people until about 500 years ago. We have to recognize the immense privilege it is to have the entire completed word of God in our own language and give honor to those who gave their entire lives, even unto death, to make this possible. 
• Second, we need to understand why the world is the way it is.

• If we can put our finger on the pulse of Church history, we can put our finger on the history of the world. The institutions of the Western world are deeply rooted in Christian tradition. Not only this, the problems in the Western world are problems that began due to frustration with the church and a departure from absolute truth- that is, the gospel of Jesus Christ. I could overwhelm you with example upon example of how we have seen error in the Church turn into a tidal wave of hurt in society. This rippling effect of the breakdown of truth and compromise upon and adding to the gospel of Jesus Christ has created a culture in which absolute truth is rejected absolutely. Spirituality is praised, relativism glorified and religion rejected as archaic and nonsensical. Yet the inherent logical error is this- postmodernism says "My truth is my truth. Your truth is your truth. There are many ways to understanding." But if everything is true, then nothing is. The essence of truth is that it stands no matter who speaks it. Jesus Christ is the only way to understanding and the only way to truth. We have 2,000 years of millions of men and women who have died for a faith that glorifies man not at all and places each of us under the loving sovereignty of the God who loves us. What an honor to die in such service. 

• Our teacher, Chad, said, "Man couldn't write the Bible if he tried, and he wouldn't if he could." There is no way that people would invent a religion that asks you to take up your cross (instrument of torture), abandon selfishness, love others, reject the comfort and the sin of your life and place total trust in God. It rides against everything our flesh has to say, everything that is natural and common to people. Christians must be able to defend from historical evidence and the attestation of thousands of accurate Bible manuscripts that our faith has both meat and veracity! 

Here are just a few of the many ways I see that God has worked in Church history:

• Where persecution abounds, the church only grows. We see this in the book of Acts when the Jewish authorities are befuddled at the fact that killing Jesus Christ did not kill His message. In fact, thousands of converts were added to the kingdom of God in just a few short years. His message spread across the world, and touched peoples and continents that were absolutely pagan and should never have come to a knowledge of God. 
• We see this later in the time of the Reformation, where a hunger for the truth of God's word motivated Martin Luther to decry the Catholic tradition that men need mediators other than Christ. The works that Luther published, commentaries on Scripture were read by common men and women across Europe, and the message of the gospel exploded and created the Evangelical faith as we know it. 
• We see John Wycliffe, committed to the printing of Bible's in every person's language, who was killed for his faith, and yet today, the Wycliffe Bible Translators have helped to accomplish the translation of scriptures into 1,300 languages. 
• With the dawn of the Age of Reason, philosophers and thinkers such as Voltaire predicted that Christianity would die within the next hundred years. (Today, the French Bible Society prints and distributes every Bible in France from Voltaire's home. Talk about God's sense of humor!) 
• In countries where Christianity has long been declared illegal, the church only grows. There are an estimated 200 million believers in China. It is said that the Communist government will have to declare Christianity to be legal in the next ten years, lest it take over the nation. 

• God is serious about his plan to use the church as a the redemptive organization for the world. We need to be serious about getting behind what the church is doing. The only true change that can occur in people's lives is from the inner change the gospel brings- when we try to legislate morality, it doesn't matter because nothing truly changes. If church is a place where you sit for an hour each Sunday and listen to a man talk and listen to some other men sing and hear a list of do's and don'ts to make your life better- then we're attending a speaking function ora social club. If the church can reject this idea of moralistic therapeutic deism- the idea that God exists to give you a list of to-do's and to make you feel better- the gospel will explode on earth. Our brother, John Wycliffe said it well, 

“The gospel alone is sufficient to rule the lives of Christians everywhere...any additional rules made to govern men's conduct added nothing to the perfection already found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ” -John Wycliffe

        God doesn't need us to accomplish His purposes. He chooses to use us. He chooses to give us personal ownership in the process of making His kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. He chooses to give us the great task of making Him known as we learn to know Him. Don't run away from the Church, friends. Be a part of a local body that preaches the Word accurately. Be a part of a community where truth is declared and accountability to the Word of God is paramount. Be a part of the change we will see in people's lives and hearts when the love of God overtakes him. The battle for unity in the community of Christ is one of the greatest challenges of our time. But it's so worth it. He is coming back to judge and to rescue, let's declare His coming. 

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."

Matthew 24:14

In Wrath, Remember Mercy

“The Bible contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s charter. Here Paradise is restored, Heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed. Christ is its grand subject, our good the design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. “Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. It is given to you in life, will be opened at the judgment, and be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the greatest labor, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contexts.” --Gideons International pocket Bible

If you're like me, you've spent a great deal of your life reading the Bible and skipping through a certain section in the middle, known as the prophets. It wasn't until college that I really began to understand that God intended each part of His word to be relevant and resonant with His people across the centuries. The 17 men of God, called prophets, who cried out to the unrepentant Israel and Judah before the time came for them to be destroyed by conquering empires wrote words that are relevant to the church today. Why? Because the issue of man's sin and total depravity before God has never changed. Because God has never stopped pursuing His people and asking them to repent and turn back to Him. Because there are many words they spoke that have yet to be fulfilled.

Two weeks ago in class, we had the great privilege of hearing from Blake Holmes, a member of Watermark Church's staff, about the prophets of the Old Testament. This was definitely my favorite class topic so far because it's the one I've known least about. Blake gave us some great principles for interpreting the prophets, which I'll share at the end, and then went through an overview of each of the 17 prophets- who they wrote to, when they wrote, their main message, and where we see their prophecy quoted or fulfilled in the New Testament. It was nothing short of fascinating. My favorite part was that each time we finished a prophet, we paused to discuss how we would apply the message of the prophet to our situation today. For instance, Hosea is about God's unrelenting love for the nation of Israel despite their unfaithfulness, which is similar to that of a prostitute, or an unfaithful wife. So the question he asked was, who does this book minister to today? It ministers to anyone who feels they've messed up or gone so far away that they cannot be redeemed by God, like they're the exception to God's grace. We, like the people of Israel, all have 'prodigal' situations, where we're far from God, he pursues us, and we're redeemed and forgiven by him.

We see the purpose of the prophets in 2 Chronicles 2:18-19 “And they abandoned the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the Lord. These testified against them, but they would not pay attention.” So the prophets were not just men of fire and brimstone, telling everyone they were condemned to hell- they were meant to bring people back to the Lord. The ministry of God's prophets was a frustrating one. We see very few examples of the people repenting, even when the Lord's word is made so clear to them? Why? They had abandoned God to worship other things and were consumed with sinful pride. I think their situation is very reflective of ours today. And though Christians in the West may not have an empire coming to conquer them (depending on which latest conspiracy theorist you ask), there is One who will come to judge the living and the dead and He will destroy evil once and for all. That includes the destruction of those who do not follow Him.

We have the privilege of having the whole word of God, the full counsel of His will revealed to us in a way that the prophets never did. Will we respond to God calling out to us, or will we cast out the prophets as an irrelevant part of God's word? We see across the prophetical books that in God's wrath He always remembers mercy. This is a hugely important thing about the character of God- His wrath and judgment are sure, but the moment we cry out to Him, He saves, and that salvation is irrevocable.  

For the King and His Kingdom

The Ozarks are ablaze with the glory of fall. I have been all over the world and I know I've never lived in such a beautiful place. Our busy season of eighty degree days and crisp nights is reaching a frenetic pace. Between working twenty hours a week, my internship with the youth group of First Baptist Branson, twenty hours a week of class, small group Bible study, and untold hours of studying for tests, writing papers, and completing projects, I am surprised I'm awake enough to write at this moment. Apparently, the city of Branson keeps a similar rushing through life pace in its holiday preparations. The Christmas tree on the Branson Landing went up in early October. The holidays known as Halloween and Chrismas receive only a passing mention, if acknowledged at all.

This week we had a wonderful teacher come for three days to teach about the United Kingdom Era of the Old Testament. We traveled through the books of 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles, which tell the story of 120 years of a united Israel under the rule of Saul, David and Solomon. For years, I've gotten lost in the details of this period of biblical history because I only knew the more famous episodes. It was so good to have a teacher paint a clear picture not only of the text itself, but the lessons to be learned from the lives of these three men and the prophet Samuel who advised them.

When the time of the judges over Israel had ended, the people begged God for a “real king.” Of course, God wanted to be their king, they should have been under His authority alone. I think it's interesting how many times God allows us to have things that we ask for that really aren't best for us. The king the people chose, Saul, was chosen because of his good looks and charisma, not his heart. Despite everything Saul had going for him- his wealth, his heritage, his position among the people, and an anointing from God- a litany of bad decision making led him down a destructive path to his downfall.

Following the humiliating rejection of Saul, God chose the great man after his own heart, the humble and courageous David, son of Jesse to be king. David has always been an interesting person, becaue where he succeeded, he shone beyond belief, and where he failed, he caused chaos. Even the smallest decision of someone as influential as David can have an incredible impact. The thing I love best about David is his humility. When he sins, he always repents and reconciles to God correctly. He would probably agree with Paul in calling himself “the foremost” of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). That's what makes him so relatable and our God so much more real to me- He forgives astronomical sin when we are truly repentant and turn toward him.

Yet sin is never without consequences, and the bloodshed on David's hands during his reign prevented him from being able to complete the longed for temple of God. That was for his son Solomon, whose reign produced some of the best architecture of all time. Solomon was an interesting character. His half heart for God made him strong in many areas and weak in others.. Solomon was truly the wealthiest man of all time- he puts the Bill Gates' and the Warren Buffets of today to shame. Not only this, he had full access to the resources of wisdom from the God of the universe. How could he have failed? We can see the crux of Saul's demise in a part of the law given to Moses in Deuteronomy 17,

“You may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.” Deuteronomy 17:15-17

Saul was destoryed by his wealth, the wives he accumulated and the worldliness with which he lived. Imagine what an impact for the kingdom of God Saul might have made if he had been as fully devoted to God as his father David was! Yet still he left us with the treasures of three books of scripture- the Proverbs about wisdom, Ecclesiastes that speaks of meaning, and Song of Solomon that uniquely portrays romance and marital love from a godly perspective. After Solomon's death, the kingdom of Israel was divided between the North and South under the poor leadership of Solomon's son Rehoboam (who, like Saul, was far more concerned with what the foolish general populace thought than listening to wise counsel.).

What can we learn about the character of God from these men? I believe that everything that happened to the people of God in the past is relevant to us today because it serves as an example. (1 Corinthians 10:6, “Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.”) The sin we are burdened by has not changed. The God we serve, who overcame our sin has not changed either. Here are a few lessons the chronicles of the United Kingdom teach us about God.

1. God honors those who honor him. He brings blessings for obedience and judgment for disobedience.
   God blessed the times that all three kings obeyed. He also judged them for their disobedience. He blessed Saul, then rejected him when he considered what the people said to be more important than what He said. He blessed David, but there were consequences for his moral failure, such as the death of his first born son with Bathsheba. He blessed Solomon with great wisdom, yet told him at the end of his life that the kingdom would be ripped from the hands of his son because his wealth and wives were more important to him than anything else.
2. It is not a person's position that gives them influence, but their character as it is informed by God's direction.
   David's position in life was not one of wealth, he was a lowly shepherd boy, last among many sons and would have received very little inheritance from his father Jesse. Yet God looked at the character of his heart and saw what He desired. (1 Samuel 16:7)
3. Sometimes God will give you what you ask for, even though it's not what you need to show you it won't satisfy.
   God gave the people of Israel a king in Saul, perhaps in part to show them how worthless a mere man really was in comparison to the One True King.
4. You cannot live in disobedience and justify what you do before God. We see this in the story of Saul in 1 Samuel 15, when he is asked to destroy the godless Amaelikites completely, yet only obeys partially, arguing that he was going to sacrifice the best of their livestock. How often do we only partially obey what God asks and then expect him to bless us?
5. When we focus on God, our circumstances shrink. When we pray we must fix our gaze on God and glance at our request. God should not receive a courtesy call out in our prayers
   We see this prominently in the life of David- when he met the eyes of a ten foot tall warrior who had the entire Israeli army cowering in fear, he didn't see impossibility, he saw someone who was defying God who needed to be brought low. When he gathered with the disenchanted and desperate in the cave at Adullam as he fled from Saul, he fixed his eyes on God, asking for deliverance.

I can hardly believe we're ending our seventh week in school, with just six short months to go until graduation day. What a blessed season of life it has been. What a true blessing it is to spend hours a day, poring over the mysteries of the word of God. Pray for me, friends, that I might learn the truth so well in these days that I can teach it with confidence, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to anyone I encounter. 

Empty Hands and a Full Heart

Blog Post 1- Week Three at KI- Inductive Bible Study

For the first time in seven years, the Lord has uprooted me.

It was a 75 mile journey. Yet it was more gut wrenching and heart rending than an 8,000 mile move to South Asia. 

I wrestled with Him, I questioned, I prayed, I submitted, I left. 

 I have absolutely no idea where I will live or what I will do after April. 

I have never been happier.

 I believe that the most important thing I can do in life right now is study God's word with unprecedented discipline  so that I can teach it to people who don't know. After two years of working in a public school, I learned that I don't love teaching math, science or reading so much as I love sharing truth from God's word. To that end, I chose to spend eight months this school year in Branson, Missouri as a graduate student at the Kanakuk Institute, a biblical training program that serves as a great foundation for any career or ministry. 

With empty hands, stripped of every role and norm I bound myself to my adult life long, I am walking forward by faith alone. What grace He has given me, to allow me to be in such a place- one of the most beautiful places in our country, surrounded by the striking hills of the Ozarks, with 70 of the greatest men and women of God I've ever known.

Each week I'll be sharing briefly about what we're learning in our classes. This was our third week of class, and we devoted most of it to learning a study method known as Inductive Bible Study. If you're unfamiliar with the usage of the Inductive Method, suffice it to say that it's a breaking apart of the Biblical text using a marking system of key words, themes and names and making detailed lists of your observations. 

It is certainly possible to read the Bible simply, taken in plain meaning in a devotional setting. God's word does not return to Him void, and the Word is always transformative. Yet for the text to appear at its richest in the life of a believer, we have to take it to the next level. My professors in college taught me to interrogate the text of the Bible, parsing every "and," "but," and "therefore." But I've never found a method this effective that can be done by a layperson in a conventional setting.

It's key to do these steps before consulting what others have said about scripture (very tempting to do if you have a Study Bible in hand.) Resist! It's better to get a first impression of what God is trying to say to you through His word than to depend on the presuppositions of others.

The following are the basic principles that govern the inductive study of the Bible, with steps included in the process. 

Step 1: Observation- What does the text say? This is the most involved step.

It's important to read the entire text first multiple times.

Ask yourself the 5W questions "Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?"

-Use questions like- who is the author? who else is mentioned? what do I learn about each of these people? What do I learn about God as He is mentioned? Where are the geographical locations in the text? If the text is a letter where is it being written from and who is it to? What words and phrases are repeated?

-Use an observation sheet or a Bible you're comfortable marking in to mark key words, phrases, geographical locations and characters. Look for lists about topics- for instance, if the passage is about Christ, list what the passage teaches you about Him. Note comparisons and contrasts. Note expressions of time. 

-Identify terms of conclusion- these are found in nearly every chapter of scripture, and are prevalent in the letter's of Paul to churches and individuals. Words such as 'therefore' and 'finally' means you should go back and look at what he is saying before because they are bringing to conclusion an important point in the message. We must remember that chapter and even verse markings were created by men who translated God's word long after it written. They're excellent because they take you straight to places in scripture, but we must remember to read the Word thematically and not chapter by chapter. 

Finally, write basic ideas of each paragraph above the paragraph. This will help you track the themes that appear. This will also help you to come to a conclusion about the author's purpose(s) for writing, which you should also record. 

Step 2: Interpretation- What Does the Text Mean?

When you choose to study a book, you should read it over 1-3 times a day, literacy in the text (knowing what it says and how it says it) is massively important as you consider interpreting God's word. 

The first step of interpreting after you've read the text multiple times and written observations is to consider the context (the surrounding verses, the time in which it was written, the book it's found in, and the counsel of the entire Word of God as it relates to that passage). It is impossible to read the Bible through clear lenses, with no bias or presupposition, but the greatest error we can make in reading scripture is taking it out of context to make it say what we'd like for it to say. 

Remember that Scripture does not contradict itself. It's always best to interpret the Bible literally. God meant for you to know what He was saying, it's why the Bible exists. Unless a text tells you that it's a parable, a saying or an example, take it as something that literally happened. 

Try to understand what the author had in mind when writing and let the words speak for themselves.

Step 3: Application-  How does the meaning apply to me?

These applications can have to do with:

-Belief- something to understand as a result of the passage

-Behavior-something to do as a result of the passage

For Example, when Paul writes an epistle, the first part is usually doctrine, the second part is behavior or deeds.  "This is true…because this is true, this is how you act."

I like to ask the Lord what He would have me do, remember, or believe as a result of what I've read. This step is vital, if you have to write these things down, then do it! Otherwise, we're merely hearers of the word who don't do what it says. We have to constantly look into the mirror of Scripture and allow it to show us who we are, who God is and what He is calling us to be. 

If the process seems exhausting or even a bit discouraging, take heart. As our teacher David Lawson said this week, God doesn't teach us to do things that we aren't already wired to do- our nature through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is to love God and people. It's not radical change so much as movement and growth to maturity.

 Studying the Word of God is a workout. Yet just as those who train physically become healthier and stronger, so we will become healthier spiritually and more able to study the Word in depth as we do it. The change doesn't happen overnight, but it's so worth the journey and the effort. That is the journey of my life this year and, I hope. forever afterward.