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Showing posts with the label Evangelism

Sharing the Gospel in Unfriendly Cultures

Sadly, many professing Christians will see that the subject is about evangelism and read very little, or skip it. People are dying and going to Hell, a place of unimaginable torment. Do you care? Jesus commanded his followers to share the gospel of God's love. Paul, Peter and others also emphasized it. Do you care? Evangelism is not just a job for the professionals, but all of us must be ready to share the gospel on some level. It can be done in groups or teams, but we must be able to do it by ourselves, which can be daunting. Outdoor conversation, Unsplash / Priscilla Du Preez Others may laugh, get angry, ridicule us ("Atheists will say mean things about me!") — but what did Jesus endure for us, again? There are ministries to help equip Christians to share the gospel, and creation science ministries exist to help us remove stumbling blocks that others have regarding origins. Of course, it is vitally important for professing Christians to be more than just professing  Chr

A Creation Apologetics Pickle Analogy

This is a title I never thought I would use. A recent post on Twitter asked what you would say to a stranger on the street, but that is not usually the best approach. When it comes to apologetics, Christians and creationists who are informed on their subjects use analogies and other things as springboards. Indeed, I have referred to Stargate SG-1 , and used Star Trek:TNG  as inspirations for creation articles. Augustine probably never made a pickle analogy (apologies to  Pietro Perugino ) Sometimes when watching a show, I will remark to my wife about how something we are seeing was designed by our Creator. In conversations, people like to have something in common or relatable. The discussion can move into more important subjects. I was surprised that a kosher dill pickle can be used to make four points about creation and in evangelism. Food, even dill pickles, can provide relevant insights for creation apologetics. Since November 14th is National Pickle Day, this is a good time to cons

Answering the Critics Without Being Foolish

There is a pair of verses that may perplex Christians at first glance, and scoffers call it biblical contradiction. This is Proverbs 26:4-5. The claim that they are a contradiction is easily dismissed, but the question about not answering a fool according to his folly, followed by answering, can be clarified. It is also a powerful method for defending and presenting the faith. Originally, this now-public domain image by Sidney Paget was used to illustrate the 1903 Sherlock Holmes story " The Empty House " The Bible makes it clear that God calls unbelievers fools . That's not God being on the prod and calling them stupid, but it is deeper than that because it is about character, not intelligence (although some exhibit a lack of intelligence). Do a Bible search with theWord , other software, or online and look for fool , foolish , and similar words. It's not gratuitous abuse. I can't think of a good way to open a discussion by telling someone that he or she is a foo

Proof and the Unbeliever

There are times when a mocker will say something like, "Prove to me your God exists". A Christian may ask, "What kind of evidence are you willing to consider?", which is a reasonable question. (One actually told me to provide it, then he would consider if it was acceptable. I knew where that would lead!) Unbelievers already have all the evidence they need, but they suppress the truth (Rom. 1:18-23). Credit: Photos-public-domain.com We can present all the evidence (or proof) we can, and if someone does not repent and make Jesus the Lord of his or her life, we may think that we've failed. But our job is to sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts and be ready to make a defense of our hope (1 Peter 3:15), and salvation comes through the working of the Holy Spirit, not because of our skill and eloquence (1 Cor. 2:1-5). Considering how many Christians get uppity because they have the One True Interpretation of Scripture™, perhaps pride is one reason that God has not mad

Secularists Using Dinosaurs to Indoctrinate Children

Now there is a provocative title! Believers in an old Earth, evolution, and similar things are probably clutching their pearls while expressing their outrage. Secularists (and many professing Christians, unfortunately) insist that deep time is a scientific fact . We must teach children real science, right? Credit: Flickr / Marco Verch ( CC BY 2.0 ) What is actually happening is that children (as well as the rest of us) are being given stories based on naturalistic interpretations about the past; there is no actual empirical evidence that obliges us to believe that the earth is billions of years old. Children have been enamored with dinosaurs for many years, and this has been increasing in recent years. It is not surprising to find a youngster who can rattle off the names, secular dates, locations, and more of those terrible lizards. Movies and merchandising helped fuel the interest of many people. (I wonder how many were annoyed when the Jurassic Park movies made the Velociraptors

Christians Must Stop Being Defensive

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Since this post will undoubtedly get many people angry, timorous Christians can stop reading now. Is there anybody left? Great! I have some blunt truth for both of you. Just recently, I had a crisis of — what do I call it? Not of faith. The reasoning of online village atheists is childish, full of logical holes and excuses so I'm not going over to the darkness. It's also a great time to be a biblical creationist, as we already had a passel of evidence and reason to support special creation and refute the Bearded Buddha's evolutionary machinations. But I wanted to give up. More than once. Charge of the Rough Riders at San Juan Hill , Frederic Remington, 1898 This may seem a strange time to tell y'all this, but it's in keeping with the rest of the article and the one linked below. When everything's looking good with faith, reason, and evidence, why should I want to quit? Because of professing Christians. Because of lazy  Christi

Honor-Shame Cultures and the Gospel Message

In the United States and many other countries, the gospel message is rather straightforward (with some variations, of course). Unfortunately, evangelists tend to leave out Genesis, which has the origin of everything and tells us where sin and death began. Things get more complicated when dealing with people who have honor and shame in their cultures. Credit: FreeDigitalPhotos /  tawatchai Honor and shame are closely associated with pride, but in some cultures, it affects the entire family. Also, they want to save face , and even help you or I to do the same so dignity is maintained. People will "accept Jesus" without knowing what that means, and those who believe in many false gods will add the real one into the mix.  Missionaries have reported false conversions through misunderstandings, but have had far better success when beginning with Genesis. We need to learn about the people we are talking with and to change tack so we can take their mindset into account. We ca

Unbelievers Riding the Bandwagon

As biblical creationists, we want to be able to share the truth of creation, help equip Christians, and to ultimately share the gospel message. There is clearly abundant evidence refuting evolution and affirming special creation. We also provide evidence for the Genesis Flood. Why do unbelievers reject the truth? Credit: Cropped from Pixnio / Adrian Pelletier There are many reasons. I have long maintained that they reject the truth because they do not want it, preferring instead to embrace materialism as well as justify their rebellion against God. Also, they are under the control of their master down below (1 Cor. 2:14, 2 Cor. 4:4, John 8:44), which supports the idea that it is a spiritual matter and not about evidence. Remember, it is not our job to save anyone, and not every discussion will lead to a commitment to Jesus Christ. We do our parts and leave the rest up to the Holy Spirit. Then there is the matter of pride. Atheists and other evolutionists want the approval of ot

Questions for Confrontations on the Bible

Some people get on the prod and want to attack God, the Bible, creation, and Christians. It seems they just want to watch the Bible burn — and to shake our faith. Others, however, have serious inquiries and we can help remove stumbling blocks. What follows is helpful for Question Evolution Day . Credit: Freeimages / Marek Vesely It is not uncommon for an unbeliever to come roaring with accusations against God and the Bible, and some say, "Prove to me scientifically that God exists". That one is the logical fallacy known as the category error , and is irrational. In other cases, use your discernment and use the principle of Proverbs 26:4-5. That is, do not allow the unbeliever to put you on the defensive and make the rules, but show how his or her views are erroneous. As we have seen before, we need to ask questions. This can be a mite disconcerting for someone who is looking for a fight, but it also shows that you are listening and can be a possible bridge to a discus

Teaching Evolution — the Right Way

As we approach the 9th annual Question Evolution Day , we must remember that people will learn about universal common descent concepts. Some folks have objected and said that we do not need to teach our children that stuff or even learn it ourselves . The opposite is true. Let me 'splain, Loocy. Background image: RGBStock / Steve Woods The school systems have kids for many hours a day for many years, so they are indoctrinated in secular science philosophies and values that run contrary to the Christian worldview. Sadly, many supposedly Christian schools reject biblical authority as well as recent creation and the Genesis Flood. Evolutionary ideas are everywhere, so their is no shielding anyone — which is a bad idea. As I have repeated several times, secularists tell us what to think, biblical creationists try to teach us how to think. That is, rationally and in keeping with God's Word. Something about debates applies here. In a formal debate (not the kind on social

Evangelism and Evolution

People tend to believe in an old earth and accept evolution, often shying away from scientific evidence to the contrary and affirming recent creation. To stand for creation and the young earth invites ridicule from folks who think they are "scientifically literate" and smarter than the rest of us. This is an impediment to evangelism. Credit: Good Free Photos Christians should know that people need Jesus. We are to preach repentance and faith for salvation, but when we compromise on the authority of Scripture and reject creation, we are tacitly admitting that we do not fully believe the Bible. Adding long ages and evolution to evangelism is detrimental to the gospel message. Evolutionary ideas have religious implications. The atheistic notion that nature creates itself—from the Big Bang to the diversity of life on Earth—is contrary to the biblical truth that God created nature. Last month we saw how this strikes at the very doctrine of God. Evangelism deals directly

Evangelism and the Genesis Flood

While professing Christians claim to believe the Bible, far too many put atheistic interpretations of modern science philosophies into a magisterial position. That is, Scripture is interpreted through the spectacles of long ages. This is backwards. Credit: RGBStock / rkirbycom Some who compromise with secular views put down biblical creation with the falsehood that it hinders evangelism , so they ride for the old earth brand. (Did you ever notice that these folks usually deny the global Flood of Genesis in one way or another?) Bible believers teach the hard truth of sin, Judgment, repentance, and redemption. People may shy away from the Flood because of old earth beliefs, but also because it describes judgment against the wicked people of the day. It is referred to in the Bible, and Peter even likened the Flood to the coming final Judgment (2 Peter 3:5-6). Discussing the Genesis Flood is actually helpful in evangelism. Some Christians claim that insisting on a literal Genesi

Those Specialized Christian Words

"Excuse me, Cowboy Bob, can you spare a moment?" "Sure." "I am concerned with your conduct a few moments ago. It was not consistent with some biblical principles." "Thanks for bringing that to my attention. My sanctification in that area is rather lacking. Please pray for me." Credit: Pixabay / StockSnap People have their own specialized words and terms in various places, and sometimes they seem to be speaking a somewhat different language. A mechanic can tell you what needed to be repaired on your vehicle, the sergeant gives instructions to the troops, my wife tells me what went on in her workplace, the cowboys on the ranch discuss work that is being done, Christians can write and talk to each other, and so on. Some use "regular" words that have entirely different meanings in various contexts, some words are unique for the people involved. Most of us, even as individuals, have lingo that needs to be explained to other folks

Asking Questions to Reveal Answers

While it is helpful for someone to give his or her viewpoint in detail, the good stuff comes after they've finished a presentation. This can be seen in formal debates during what is sometimes called the "cross examination" period ( here is one example ), and audience questions after a press conference or something similar. Credit: Pixabay / Gerd Altmann Most of us don't commence to speechifyin' or debating very often, so how about questions in a more personal setting, without the crowds? Much better. People can ask questions to clarify meanings and positions, and even get to know the other person a little better. On social media, it gets difficult to have a good discussion with someone unless it's in private messages, else other people chime in. Greg Koukl has something he calls the "Columbo Tactic", based on the television detective, that helps you (and often the other person) get to the heart of a discussion. Two short articles on the subje

Those Who Never Heard the Gospel

A subject of debate has existed for a very long time regarding the salvation of those who never heard the gospel. It's a fair question, and many Christians have wondered about it. Misotheists have also used it for the purposes of ridicule, even though the incoherent atheistic worldview should not allow them to care about the actions of God who they claim does not exist. "Why should there be only one way to your God?" can be replied with, "God did not have to provide any way to sinful humanity, but he gives both justice and mercy". Credit: Pixabay / jclk8888 God's Word tells us to share the gospel, and emphasizes the importance of doing so. We must be read (1 Peter 3:15, Matt. 28:18-20). It's vital to be true to Scripture, and not resort to subjective claims of "God told me such and so", or "I was led by the Spirit". Making things up does not work, either, and we cannot assume that someone will be saved based on...wishful thin

Creation in Evangelism

For Question Evolution Day , I thought it would be helpful to emphasize the importance of a strong position on biblical creation when presenting the gospel message. Some people claim that creation is unimportant in evangelism, it's just a side issue after all, and we should just focus on Jesus. Some who believe that Earth is old, especially theistic evolutionists, spread the falsehood that creation is a hindrance to the gospel. Not hardly! Yes, creation is a sort of " side issue ", but it is still very  important. Image credit: Pixabay / qimono When Peter preached in Acts, it was to monotheistic Jews. Paul preached to pagans, and went back to creation as the foundation. Creation evangelism is important on the mission field  and in paganized evolutionary cultures in western society as well as elsewhere. Genesis is the source of all major Christian doctrines, and it is the most attacked section of Scripture. Atheists and evolutionists have teams hitched up to their

Understanding Your Audience

In matters of sharing our faith in accordance with Jesus' command (Matt. 28:18-20, Acts 1:8), we need to take a thoughtful approach. First of all, we must remember that we are not the ones who are doing the saving with our own brilliant arguments, that's the work of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 2:1-5). That's why people come to Christ through simple one-on-one evangelism from an excited new convert who is unskilled in theology and philosophy. Modified from an image on Pixabay by geralt People have pointed to Peter's sermon in Acts 2:14-41 as a model for evangelism, but that message was given to monotheistic Jews. For people who have different religions such as paganism, atheism, evolutionism, Mohammedanism, Hinduism, cults that claim to be Christian, and others, a different approach is needed. A good working knowledge of their worldview is very important to establish communication. People who engage in serious debates take the time to learn where the other is coming