Know Why You Believe

 This book was recommended by Tracey, and it is now in my Amazon cart. 

Amazon: Know Why You Believe by Paul E. Little  

Christian Books

Do science and Scripture conflict? Are miracles possible? Is Christian experience real? Why does God allow suffering and evil?

These are just a few of the twelve most common intellectual challenges to faith that Paul E. Little encountered during his twenty-five years of speaking and teaching in the university. These questions need solid answers, and that's what a million people have already found in this clear and reasonable response to the toughest questions posed to Christian belief.

Sprinkling in a few "sure-fire jokes" and other humorous illustrations, Little uses these questions to jog readers' thinking and help them examine their present worldviews, ranging from scientific determinism to rabid existentialism. By thinking through the most common challenges to Christian faith, believers will be prepared to answer others out of the wellspring of their own certainty.

This edition, revised and updated by Marie Little in consultation with experts in science and archaeology, provides twenty-first-century information and offers solid ground for those who are willing to search for truth. Including a study guide for individuals or groups, Know Why You Believe is the classic answerbook on Christian faith.

Reasons - Questions - Answers

 As we discussed the Reason-Giving Style of Faith Sharing today, Susan shared the two questions unbelievers often have below.

Is the universe highly complex? Absolutely! Take a look around. Since our universe has amazing precision, could it have resulted from an explosion? William Paley gave a great example when he said that every watch requires a watchmaker. Imagine you're taking a walk through a forest near your home. Halfway through your walk  you look down and you see a beautiful gold watch lying near a tree stump. Immediately you wonder how it got there. Do you think, "did the wind and rain come together to form such a beautiful piece of art?" 

No, you would never think such ridiculous thing! You would think something like, I wonder if someone dropped this beautiful watch. You know that the watch was designed by a very talented watchmaker. It didn't result from the wind, rain, erosion, or an explosion. It has clear marks of design. It has a purpose, it conveys information, and it is specifically complex. 

The universe is much more precise and awe-inspiring than that watch. The same characteristics we use to recognize design and something like a watch are the characteristics we use to recognize design in nature. When Isaac Newton studied our solar system he said, "this most beautiful system of the Sun, planets, and comets could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful being." 

One of the most powerful arguments that the universe has an Intelligent Designer is the anthropic principle, which states that the earth is perfectly designed for life. For instance if the oxygen concentration in the atmosphere was only slightly higher, materials would too easily catch fire. If the carbon dioxide levels were slightly higher, Earth would have a super-hot environment like Venus. If they were lower, plants would not be able to survive.

There are also more than 100 precisely defined constants describing the structure of our universe. One is gravity. If the strength of gravitational force were altered by the tiniest fraction (1 x 1036 or 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000001%), our sun would not exist, and we wouldn't either! Other constants, such as the strong nuclear force, weak nuclear force, and electromagnetism have to be exactly balance, otherwise life anywhere would be impossible.

If God created the world, why does evil exist? Did God create evil?

This is a question that has plagued many people through the history of mankind. It is important to realize that evil was not created in the sense that a rock or a tree was created. Rather, evil is something that occurs and exists. Evil is the absence of good. For example, consider a plot of dirt that is ready to be planted with vegetables. The gardener digs holes in preparation for planting the seeds. What are those holes? In reality the holes are just the absence of dirt. In the same way, darkness is the absence of light and cold is the absence of heat. Evil is the absence of good. When God created the universe, all that existed was good. God gave humans the freedom to choose good. In order for them to choose good, He allowed another choice - evil.

Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?

Natural disasters kill thousands of people, a father hurts his children, cancer plagues a child. We often ask, "why do these things happen?" When God created the first humans, He allowed Adam and Eve the freedom to choose right or wrong. They chose wrong and evil entered the world. Often, bad things happen as a result of evil in the world. Sometimes bad things happen as a result of someone's bad decision. For example, someone driving drunk kills an innocent person. God's creation of that person did not cause him or her to drive drunk. It was a wrong choice that the driver made. In our circumstances, remember that God has a greater good, a good bigger than ourselves. The best person who ever lived, Jesus, suffered greatly for God's greater good.

No matter what situations we face, we can be certain that God is in control of the ultimate outcome whether we are there to witness it or not. God will bring about a greater good from a desperate situation.

Why Believe by Investigate Evidence for Faith By: Melissa Houdmann

Sunflowers and Jesus

 

Sunflowers are fascinating plants. Indigenous to North America, they can grow up to a height of 30 feet, but that's not event the most amazing thing about them. Sunflowers exhibit a behavior called heliotropism which means that they follow the sun. At dawn, they face east and as the sun makes its trek across the sky throughout the day, the flowers turn their faces to track its journey. This ensures that the plants get the light they need to thrive. In the same way, people need light too.

The light of Christ came into this world 2,000 years ago, and it hasn't stopped since. But unlike our sun that shines at predictable times and ways, God's Son shines through people just like you and me.

The Christian writer C.S. Lewis once remarked, “I believe in Christ like I believe in the sun, not because I can see it, but by it I can see everything.” When we help others to see their story as part of the story, that light shines in us.

When we call and check on the people God has put into our lives, that light shines in us. When we refuse to become discouraged at the news coming from our TV's and computers and trust that despite any and all evidence to the contrary, God's got this, that light shines in us. It shines when, like those sunflowers, we set our faces toward the Son and follow wherever He goes.

One more cool sunflower fact – a sunflower isn't just one flower. Inside the head of the average sunflower are between 800-1000 tiny smaller flowers, arranged in a series of interlocking spirals. Each one is capable of producing a sunflower seed. From just one plant, if the conditions are right, you can end up with 1000 more.

That's the source of abundance that the Creator fashioned in this amazing flower, and He fashioned it in us too. When we let our light shine, and we share our stories with others, a seed is planted. Each time we do this we have no way of knowing the sort of yield it may have. It could be that a seed we plant doesn't take root, or it could be that it does, and it produces 30, 60, 100, maybe even 1000 more. And each time it does, those seeds can grow on to keep producing, and their seeds can grow on to keep producing. So, no matter what, keep on shining! Keep sharing the light so that others may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.

Chapters 3-7 Outlines

 Contagious Faith Styles

Style #1 Friendship-Building

Key Skills:

1. Start and Strengthen Relationships

• Deepen Current Friendships

• Renew Lapsed Friendships

• Start New Friendships

2. Initiate Spiritual Conversations

• Bridge from Standard Topics to Spiritual Ones

• Ask Curiosity Questions

• Turn Invitations into Conversations

3. Invite Friends into Life-changing Environments

• Tailor Invitations to Interests and Needs

• Provide Printed Information

• Bring Your Friend with You

Cautions Concerning the Friendship-Building Style

• Stay Genuine

• Establish Boundaries

• Prioritize Truth

Style #2 Selfless-Serving

Key Skills:

1. Nurture a Spirit of Empathy

2. Make Room fort Divine Interruptions

3. Develop Discernment about Who to Serve

Cautions Concerning the Self Style

• Serve without Conditions

• Explain What Motivates You

Style #3 Story-Sharing

Key Skills:

1. Use Questions to Draw Out Your Friend's Spiritual Beliefs

2. Communicate Your Story around a Natural Outline

• Discovery

• Decision

• Difference:

3. Relate Your Story to Your Friend's Situation

Cautions Concerning the Story-Sharing Style

• Embrace Your Story

• Tailor to Your Audience

• Speak in Plain English

Style #4 Reason-Giving

Key Skills:

1. Be Prepared to Give Sound Answers and Evidence

2. Respond to Questions with Gentleness and Respect

3. Move from Good Answers to the Good News

Cautions Concerning the Reason Giving Style

• Clarify the Question

• Study Up

• Admit It When You Don't Know

• Win People, Not Arguments

• Expect a Little Tension

Style #5 Truth-Telling

Key Skills:

1. Be Bold in Initiating Spiritual Conversations

2. Get to the Central Message of the Gospel

3. Ask People to Respond to the Gospel

Cautions Concerning the Truth-Telling Style

• Seek God's Guidance and Wisdom

• Resist Being Overly Cautious

• Affirm the Other Styles

Outlines for Chapters 1 and 2 of Contagious Faith

 Chapter 1 Reached By God to Reach Others

Essential Components of a Contagious Faith

1. This is God's Mission

• Jesus came to seek and to save the lost world, and then told us to go into our world and do the same. Matthew 28:18-20

2. This Mission Is for Every Believer

• God's challenge to reach a lost world is not a task that's reserved for elite Christians, those with special gifts or training. We are ALL members of the church to which Jesus gave the Great Commission.

3. We Must Have it Before We Can Give It Away

• Evangelism is best described as overflow – it's letting the good we have in Christ spill over into the lives of people around us. But that means we really need to have it first.

4. God Can Use Us at Any Stage of Development

• Most of us feel 'out of season' or not ready most of the time. But if we'll make ourselves available to Him, He knows how to make up the difference, using us at whatever our current stage of development might be.

5. We Must Be Fueled by Love

• Christ's love compels us

  • If you're driven to share your faith by any motivation other than love, then you're running on the wrong fuel.

  • Our mission is ultimately not to win arguments, to prove people wrong or get them to join our church or cause. It's to lovingly point them to the Savior so that they too, can experience the love and forgiveness of our gracious God.

6. We Must Grounded in God's Truth

• If you want to lead others into the faith, then you must first make certain that the faith you're leading them into is anchored in the clear and consistent doctrines of God's Holy Word, the Bible.

7. We Must Communicate Through Both Works and Words

• Good works can open hearts; grace-filled words can open minds. The Holy Spirit can use the two elements together to redeem lives for eternity.

8. Reaching People is a Process

• Those we hope to reach rarely make the journey to true faith in one fell swoop. The journey usually happens over time.

• We need to show people why these beliefs make sense – and this requires time, energy, information, and patience.

9. Reaching People is a Team Activity

• The process of someone coming to faith in Jesus is NOT all dependent on you.

• We just need to be prepared and available, and then “make open doors to spiritually encourage and speak to people for Him.

• As each of us is faithful doing our part, He will use us TOGETHER as a team to communicate his purposes of grace and redemption.

10. Reaching People is a Spiritual Activity

• Helping people come to Christ is not just giving them information or answers to their questions and objections. Nor is it just about being passionate or persuasive.

• It is a spiritual struggle that is being fought at an unseen level, and because of this, we are all out of our league and need God's wisdom, help, and intervention.

• Ultimately it is the Holy Spirit who draws people into God's loving arms. We need to be as attuned to Him and His workings as we possibly can be.

• This will come only through spending deep and consistent times with Him in prayer, as well as regularly studying God's Word, the Bible.

• Pray frequently and fervently for the people in your life who need to know Christ. In doing so, you will activate divine forces and unseen activities that we can barely understand – but which will nevertheless impact eternity.

We Were Made to Live for So Much More

• A life spent following Christ is a good thing, but one spent contagiously spreading the grace of Christ to others is an extraordinary thing.

• There is nothing more rewarding than knowing that the God of the universe is loving through you, that He is speaking through you, that He is reaching through you, and that He is in the process of changing the lives of precious men, women, and children through your efforts to bring them to Him.

Ripple Effects of a Contagious Faith

• Seriously, what could be more rewarding? What could be better? What could be more important? What could be more urgent? What else can we invest in that will last forever? In what other ways could small risks turn into changed lives, transformed families, and more and more people headed for eternity with God?

Chapter 2 Finding An Approach That Fits You

Discovering Your Natural Approach

• We categorize evangelism as an activity for one of two kinds of Christ followers: Superstar Christians who have the skills needed to share the gospel effectively, or Offbeat Believers who lack those skills but do it anyway!

• The vast majority of believers end up in “evangelistic no-man's land,” thinking somebody ought to spreading the Good News – but that somebody isn't going to be them. Unfortunately, studies bear this out. A recent LifeWay Research publication reports, for example, that less than half of the churchgoers they surveyed (45 percent) had shared information on how to become a Christian with someone in the prior six months.

• You can be that spiritual ambassador. You can be a God-appointed missionary, sent at least initially to reach the people you know best. Now you just need to get prepared. You need to find your natural niche for spiritually influencing others. You'll also want to hone a few Key Skills on how to tell them about your faith.

  
  
  

Encouragement in Current Times

 I love pretty journals and notebooks. I just smile when I see one, and the feel of it in my hands is comfortable and happy. Of course I do write in them too! I have one for quotes that I collect, one for the current Bible Study that I'm involved in, and one for random thoughts and quotes from the devotionals, radio & TV broadcasts, podcasts etc. I just looked over what I've collected over the past couple months and found several on encouragement that I'd like to share with you.

The gospel alone can triumph over the many challenges we are facing in our culture and our world at this hour. Spiritual warfare is real, and it's growing more intense as time grows shorter. We cannot be discouraged, not a bit! "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge in every place."  2 Corinthians 2:14

One recent news report said, "the gospel is spreading through Iran at a sizzling pace." Another report said "the Holy Spirit is on fire in Iran."

 David Jeremiah recently said, "We can have unwavering joy, even in these last days, because the gospel is triumphant, and Jesus is victorious. Nothing can stop him, and no one can stall his work on earth. As the apostle Paul said, "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ." 2 Corinthians 2:14. "As followers of Christ, we read the news differently than other people. When you hear reports of the Iranian nuclear deal or the ayatollahs apocalyptic threats, remember there's more going on than meets the eye. The Lord is at work behind the headlines, and the gospel is spreading into every corner of the earth with its message of triumph."

We have no reason to be discouraged and cast down if the religion we profess is not popular and few agree with us. We must remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: 'The gate is narrow'. Repentance, and faith in Christ, and holiness of life, have never been fashionable. The true flock of Christ has always been small. It must not move us to find that we are reckoned singular, and peculiar, and bigoted, and narrow minded. This is the 'narrow way'. Surely it is better to enter into eternal life with a few—than to go to Hell with a great company. JC Ryle

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:  “For your sake we face death all day long; we are  considered as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  ~Romans 8:35-39

New Study Fall 2022

 

Contagious Faith by Mark Mittelberg

As disciples of Christ, we are called to share the gospel, but few of us are naturally comfortable with evangelism. We wrestle with internal fears, a lack of preparation, and the sense that reaching out to others might force us to act like someone we're not. What if we could find a way to talk about Jesus that fits our personalities, makes us feel confident, and ignites a fire in others? You were created for more than just loving your family, building your career, or attending weekly church services. You were made to share God's love with others in ways that can impact their lives and redirect their eternities. Mark Mittelberg explains in a down-to-earth fashion several key skills that will help you communicate your faith in infectious ways, illustrating his message with real-life accounts of ordinary believers who applied these principles for extraordinary impact. The five Contagious Faith Styles--Friendship-Building, Selfless-Serving, Story-Sharing, Reason-Giving, and Truth-Telling, help you discover which of these approaches (or combination of them) will enable you to naturally share your faith in Jesus with the people around you.

Whether you are an introvert or extrovert, a thinker or a feeler, this book will give you practical ways of sharing your faith that reflect how God has made you to help build his kingdom.

This study will begin on September 29, 2022 9:30-11:00