The Answers – 2010
The Answers 2010: A conference in Chesapeake on March 13, 2010 for anyone looking for answers. Information here is adapted from the conference website:
Questions come at us from every angle: our friends, our relatives, even ourselves. These questions ask, “Does God Really Exist?”, “Is the Bible trustworthy?”, “Why does God allow so much suffering?” The questions are difficult, and they’re important. Now, it’s time to get The ANSWERS.
This conference is designed to help Christians answer these questions and more. Parents, teens, college students, home-schoolers, new believers, and pastors: EVERYONE can come here to get The ANSWERS. Experts from all over the country are gathering here to answer questions related to: atheism, Islam, Creation vs. Evolution, the Bible, the Resurrection, Pop-Culture phenomena like the Da Vinci Code, and more. Some of the speakers include best-selling author Mark Mittelberg, nationally renowned scholars Dr. Michael Licona and Craig Hazen, and former-Muslim Christian evangelist Dr. Nabeel Qureshi. The evening will conclude with a live debate between international debater David Wood and atheist author John Loftus on the topic “Does God Exist?” Seating is very limited, so sign up early to make sure you are here to get the ANSWERS!
More information on speakers here. Contact Tom Gilson if you’d like to join a group going to this great conference!
One More View of Living By Grace
A Discipleship Journal article of mine from a while ago: “The Map or the Fuel? (Living By Grace);” including,
God’s commands are the picture: They describe how God wants us to live. But they cannot give us the power, or spiritual strength, to live that way (see Romans 7:2-23). We fall from grace when we begin to look at God’s commands, the picture of the life he wants for us, to be our power.
I did something similar on a trip I took a few months ago. After flying to Milwaukee, I rented a car to drive to Madison. I hadn’t been to either city in decades, so I knew nothing about the route. I gratefully accepted the map the rental car company offered me. In fact, since it was free with the rental, I asked for several dozen. I took the maps to the car, opened the gas cap, and stuffed them into the tank one by one….
GAiN In Haiti
Many of us in the church have helped Global Aid Network’s humanitarian aid efforts, in Pennsylvania at the Distribution Center, and in Belarus, North Africa, and Jamaica. Some of us have had the opportunity to meet GAiN’s CEO, Duane Zook. Here is his latest report from Haiti (Jan 19).
Christ Before Christmas
We’re in the season of expectancy, preparing to celebrate the birth of Christ. There was a season of expectancy before his actual birth 2,000 years ago–expectancy both on earth, where prophecies of a coming Messiah were passionately studied and only partly understood, and also in heaven, where the eternal God was preparing to break in to time and space and human life. It has been said that Jesus was the only person who chose to be born.
Matthew and Luke tell the story of Jesus’ birth “from the ground up,” through the eyes and ears of Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the Magi. John (John 1:1-14) gives us the view from the sky, as it were:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John [the Baptist]. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The Word became flesh on that first Christmas. We use words to express meaning and to connect with one another. From the beginning there was meaning and there was relationship among the three Persons of the Godhead. From the creation of man, God’s intent has been that we would live with full understanding of meaning, and in close relationship with him, with one another, and with all of his creation. No one needs to be convinced that we have not lived out that ideal. The Word became flesh to restore us to it. Merry Christmas indeed!
He was and he is both life and light. By coming to live as a human among humans, he opened to us the door to true life in true light. John says his own people did not receive him, and tragically some still will not see his bright light. But those who do receive him are born into new life through him. It’s a life of grace and truth: truth to guide us, to show us what is real and what is right, and grace so that we can recover from our failures in living by what is real and right.
The message of Christmas is not just about a stable and a star, not just a mother and a child. It’s about the glory of God shining on earth, through one who became flesh to show us his great glory.
This is what heaven was looking forward to during that first advent season. Merry Christmas indeed!
Why I Signed the Manhattan Declaration
Cross-posted from ThinkingChristian.net (where, for most readers, the first paragraph is not such an ordinary thing as it is around here).
Maybe it’s the Yorktown effect. I live just a few miles from the battlefield where America won its independence from Britain, and my commute to work actually takes me through that battlefield. Just a few blocks from there is the home of a patriot named Thomas Nelson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, who “gave most of his fortune to purchase supplies for the Patriots and died in debt, but as an American citizen” (waymarking.com). He was one of those who agreed to “pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor” to the cause of independence.
I do not mean to over-state the Manhattan Declaration’s parallels with the Declaration of Independence; yet there are similarities, in their common call to stand in unity for true liberty under God and in the solemn commitment signers make to stand with that truth even if current law denies it. I have made that solemn commitment, and I am grateful and humbled to have my signature under it. I am also grateful that as of this writing almost one-quarter million others have signed it. You can join this growing group of Christians making a stand.
As for the Yorktown effect, I’m quite sure I would have signed the Declaration regardless of where I lived, because it’s really about the truth. The Manhattan Declaration rests firmly and solidly on biblical principles of life, marriage, and liberty. If these matters are not of God, then what anyone believes about them is of no consequence. But I believe God has spoken on them, and we have no option but to accept his word as true. Thankfully it is a good truth; and the Manhattan Declaration makes a positive stand for that truth.
The Declaration makes a positive statement for life and human dignity. Its stand against abortion is accompanied by its call to help innocent victims of war and its stand against
the neglect and abuse of children, the exploitation of vulnerable laborers, the sexual trafficking of girls and young women, the abandonment of the aged, racial oppression and discrimination, the persecution of believers of all faiths, and the failure to take steps necessary to halt the spread of preventable diseases like AIDS.
… all of which is rooted in God’s own loving regard for us whom he created in his own image.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10)
The Declaration makes a positive statement for marriage. Its strong stand against same-sex “marriage” is prefaced by its biblical definition of marriage’s intent:
The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man.” For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh (Genesis 2:23-24).
This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband (Ephesians 5:32-33).
And it is also balanced by a call to
stop glamorizing promiscuity and infidelity and restore among our people a sense of the profound beauty, mystery, and holiness of faithful marital love. We must reform ill-advised policies that contribute to the weakening of the institution of marriage, including the discredited idea of unilateral divorce. We must work in the legal, cultural, and religious domains to instill in young people a sound understanding of what marriage is, what it requires, and why it is worth the commitment and sacrifices that faithful spouses make.
In other words, it is about strengthening marriage in all ways. It’s not just about “gay rights,” it’s about all that God says about this one most crucial institution of all societies.
It is an uncompromising call to truth, yet wrapped round with grace:
We, no less than they, are sinners who have fallen short of God’s intention for our lives. We, no less than they, are in constant need of God’s patience, love and forgiveness. We call on the entire Christian community to resist sexual immorality, and at the same time refrain from disdainful condemnation of those who yield to it. Our rejection of sin, though resolute, must never become the rejection of sinners. For every sinner, regardless of the sin, is loved by God, who seeks not our destruction but rather the conversion of our hearts. Jesus calls all who wander from the path of virtue to “a more excellent way.” As his disciples we will reach out in love to assist all who hear the call and wish to answer it.
The Declaration makes a positive statement for religious liberty. Laws regarding “hate crimes” and conscience clauses, and “political correctness” in general, threaten one of the Western world’s (and especially America’s) most basic, bedrock principles: that a person’s religious conscience is not to be coerced by law. As the Declaration says,
Immunity from religious coercion is the cornerstone of an unconstrained conscience. No one should be compelled to embrace any religion against his will, nor should persons of faith be forbidden to worship God according to the dictates of conscience or to express freely and publicly their deeply held religious convictions. What is true for individuals applies to religious communities as well.
The roots of this are deeply biblical:
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners (Isaiah 61:1).
Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s (Matthew 22:21).
Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard (Acts 4:19-20).
Yet it is not some strange new theocratic threat; its civil foundations go back at least to George Mason and the 1776 Virginia Declaration of Rights, not to mention the already-mentioned Declaration of Independence. It is not only biblical, it is also thoroughly democratic and American.
But if it were merely democratic and American, that would not make it worth attaching my name to it so publicly. I support the Manhattan Declaration because I am convinced its call is based in the truth, and because I am convinced that its truth is founded in the God of truth.
Three Questions
Are these three principles—life, marriage, and liberty—Christians’ only priorities in today’s world? No, and the Declaration does not say that they are. They are certainly high priorities, however, for they involve the strength and structure of all of society.
Is it wrong for Protestants such as myself to cooperate with Roman Catholics and Orthodox believers in a statement of this nature? The answer seems obvious to me: the Declaration affirms important matters on which members of all these groups can heartily agree, and on which a unified stand is more effective than a divided one.
Is this a statement I am making on behalf of Campus Crusade for Christ, the mission agency with which I work? No. The Declaration says,
We, as Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical Christians, have gathered, beginning in New York on September 28, 2009, to make the following declaration, which we sign as individuals, not on behalf of our organizations, but speaking to and from our communities.
[It is also not a statement on behalf of Seaford Baptist Church—but it is one I would like you to be aware of.]
Thank God For a Great Business Meeting
Some people reading the title I put on this blog post are going to wonder if I’ve lost my mind. Who likes business meetings at church? And besides, we came out of there without a budget decision! What’s great about that?
I’m well aware of those things. But tonight we demonstrated unity of heart and spirit, even if not a two-thirds majority on certain business questions. There’s a sense in which that’s almost more encouraging to me than if we had all agreed on everything. To be able to disagree in love, and yet be able to move forward in a process together, is a great sign of God at work. Compared to meetings we had a year and a half ago, our church has moved a long way in the right direction.
What about the disagreements? We don’t have an approved budget for next year. But is there any place in the Bible that says a church has to accomplish all its budget work in one business meeting? I don’t mean by that to overlook the uncounted hours our committees worked in preparation for tonight. I know their members may have been disappointed in the outcome. I’m sure they knew going into this meeting, though, that not everybody was convinced of their recommendations. That’s a fact everybody knew we were dealing with. Considering that, it’s not so surprising or disturbing that we didn’t get everything taken care of in one business meeting.
There were disagreements in the early church: Galatians 2:11-14, Acts 15:1-21, and Acts 15:36-41 are examples. The second one is the closest to our church situation, because they called a council together to settle a problem. It doesn’t give all the details there, but it seems likely that the issue wasn’t settled in just an hour or two. It took some leadership, some prayer, some process, and probably many hours or even days.
Tonight the church took part in a process, and the process is working. We decided some things, we decided not to decide some other things quite yet, and when we re-convene, we’ll still be in the same process moving together toward our decisions. I’m predicting we’ll get those decisions made next time.
In the meantime I’m very encouraged by our unity displayed in all of this. God has done a work in this church, and I thank Him for it. It bodes well for our future as a body.
Things Our Youth May Need
Here are six (maybe seven) things young people may need more of in a difficult time:
- To share what’s going on inside, with someone who will really listen and support them.
- To spend time on their own: praying, seeking God, thinking, journaling, and so on.
- Rest. The kind of experience they’re going through can be tiring.
- Exercise. It’s one of the best ways to lift one’s mood.
- To help others. Whether it’s lending someone a listening ear, mowing a neighbor’s lawn, or whatever, helping someone else is another of the best ways to lift one’s mood. It does the other person good, too.
- Normalcy. That includes helping around the house and staying with the family routine.
Students need more of all these kinds of things when they’re going through a tough time. All of these take time, and they might not all fit in a day. Some will be more important on some days than others. So they need a seventh thing, too:
- Help from their parents, sorting all this out, with a loving mix of grace and guidance.
Come to think of it, other than possibly number 7, these things could really help all of us.
Keep Your Faith In College
Audio from last week’s talk with students on “Keeping Your Faith In College” is available here, edited for length. Parents, if you want to know what your students’ college experience can be like—and what to do about it—you will also want to listen to this. It’s part of a short series on Staying Christian In College.
Resources for Keeping Your Faith In College
Books on Christianity and College
Website: Boundless.org Focus Section—highly recommended!
Campus Ministry Groups
- Campus Crusade for Christ
- Intervarsity Christian Fellowship
- Navigators
- Baptist Student Union (I cannot find a national level website for BSU)
- (others? please add them in the comments)
What does it mean to say “Christianity is true”?
- The Truth Holds Us
- Come to the Wrong Conclusion, or Wrong to Come to a Conclusion?
- Religious Pluralism
- LeaderU: “One Way?” Collection
- “Our tolerance of our own tolerance is making us intolerant of other people’s intolerance, which is intolerable.”
Websites on Knowing the Truth
Stand To Reason’s Website Lists
Christianity’s Relationship to Science
- LeaderU Special Focus on Science and Religion
- Seaford Baptist Talk by Tom Gilson
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- Seaford Baptist Talk by David Heddle
For Students and Parents, On Staying Christian In College
Students are heading back to college soon. What’s it like for Christians on secular campuses? For some it’s a spiritually rich experience where pressures and opportunities come together to build faith. These students discover great fellowship, see God work through them to lead others to Christ, and grow in leadership skills for a lifetime of ministry.
College may not be the huge faith-defeater some have said it is. Still, for some it’s like what a friend of mine in Midland, Michigan described:
If you wanted to build a system for young adults that would tear down all the values their parents raised them to believe in, where sex and drinking were turned into normal things to do, and where almost everyone in authority tries to beat all vestige of Christian belief out of them—and get the parents to pay for it!—you couldn’t do any better than the University of Michigan.
(He could have named almost any secular school.)
Which is true? What’s college really like today? My friend was not exaggerating. It isn’t that way everywhere, but for many places his description was exactly on the mark. It depends on the university (some are better, some worse), the field of study (business and education tend to be better than humanities and social sciences, for example), and specifics like who the student gets as professors and roommates. Christ wants his name known even in the most challenging places, though. And even in the toughest situations, students can thrive spiritually.
I’ve been looking through several books written to help students prepare spiritually for college. I’ll have them on hand for a session we’ll be doing with students on this topic tomorrow after church. Parents could learn from these, too, to find out what’s happening in college these days, and how to support your student in his or her faith there. (You’re welcome to come to the talk tomorrow, too!)
One website on this stands out above all others: Boundless.org Focus Section
I’ve found six excellent books for parents and students. The idea is not to read them all (some of them I have only skimmed through, myself). Just pick one. Parents will probably be most interested in one of the first four; all six are appropriate and helpful for students.
Welcome to College: A Christ-Follower’s Guide for the Journey
Fish Out of Water
How to Stay Christian in College (Th1nk Edition)
University of Destruction: Your Game Plan for Spiritual Victory on Campus
Ask Me Anything: Provocative Answers for College Students
Finally, if you search Amazon on this topic you’ll probably run across one more that I did not include on my list of “excellent” books: Can You Keep Your Faith in College?: Students from 50 Campuses Tell You How – and Why