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Apologetics

In Apologetics, Blog, Book Reviews on
June 19, 2023

The Reason for God

We live in an age of skepticism.

Faith is seen as something ridiculous, something to be laughed at, despite the fact that all of us put our faith in something, whether that be God, a politician, or the chair we sit in every day. People want facts, proofs, guarantees, which is admirable in a sense. They don’t want to believe in something just because it’s believed by their parents or was taught to them as children. They’re looking for studies and data, something to back up what they believe. And for many, this means throwing faith to the wayside.

But these same people need faith, perhaps more than they know. They might scoff at this notion, but the truth is that faith is not just a blind belief in fairytales. It’s a trust in what’s been revealed to us as truth. Faith may carry a different connotation in our culture, but it can actually be both logical and intellectually satisfying. Though atheists and agnostics may think otherwise, there is good reason to believe in God, the Bible, and the gospel, and this is what the late Tim Keller explored in his book, The Reason for God.

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In Apologetics, Blog, Book Reviews on
January 31, 2023

Counterfeit Kingdom

Some of my most beloved worship songs from youth group and summer camp were created by Bethel Music, the music label that was birthed out of the music ministry at Bethel Church in Redding, California. Songs like “You Make Me Brave,” “No Longer Slaves,” “King of My Heart,” “Raise a Hallelujah,” and “Goodness of God” became some of my favorite songs to listen and sing along to. Despite not intentionally listening to these songs in many years, much of these lyrics are committed to my memory.

However, as I’ve grown in my faith over the last several years, I’ve learned more about Bethel Church and the doctrines she teaches. The more I’ve learned, the more skeptical I’ve become of their theology and philosophy. And within the last year or two, I’ve come to realize that the kingdom they preach is a counterfeit one.

Bethel Church subscribes to a belief which has been named the New Apostolic Reformation (or NAR for short). As Holly Pivec and R. Douglas Geivett argue in their book Counterfeit Kingdom, NAR is an extremely unbiblical and dangerous movement.

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In Apologetics, Blog, Book Reviews on
May 2, 2022

Mama Bear Apologetics

If the past two years or so have shown us anything it’s that we live in a crazy, broken world. We’re having conversations and facing situations that we would never have thought of in our wildest imaginations just a few years ago. The culture is constantly telling us that what’s wrong is right and what’s right is wrong, and they’ve even begun instilling this in our children. When I was in elementary school, I was taught reading, writing, and arithmetic. Nowadays, kids are being taught how to march in a protest, how to choose their gender, and how to reject the values and morals of their parents. They’re being trained in a postmodern worldview that is dangerous and unbiblical.

What’s a mother to do? When her children are coming home regurgitating secular ideologies they learned at school. When her children’s favorite TV shows feature characters who discuss their gender identities and sexual preferences. When her children appear to be drifting further and further from biblical Christianity. As author Nancy Pearcey once wrote, it’s a parent’s God-given responsibility to protect and educate his or her children.[1] That means it’s time for mama bears to rise up and empower their kids to challenge the lies of the culture and live in obedience to Scripture. And how exactly can this be done? According to Hillary Morgan Ferrer, mothers must engage in apologetics.

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In Apologetics, Blog, Book Reviews on
October 4, 2021

Surviving Religion 101

Most college students raised in a Christian home leave the church after going off to college. In a study that was released in 2019, Barna reported that sixty-four percent of 18-29-year-olds who were active in church as a child or teen have withdrawn from church involvement.[1] There are a plethora of reasons for this exodus, but one big one is an inability to answer doubts.

Children and teenagers who grow up in church are often told what to believe, but they’re not always told why they should believe it. Many are never exposed to other belief systems, and they have blindly believed what their parents and Sunday School teachers have taught them (which is not necessarily a bad thing). Some have even been scolded for asking any kinds of questions about their faith.

Then, they go off to college and enroll in a religion or philosophy course, and that’s when things go south. Their entire belief system is challenged by older and seemingly wiser professors, and they have no idea how to rebut the arguments. Instead of searching for the truth, they go with the flow and accept the theories and philosophies of the sacred texts of their universities (aka college textbooks). They leave true, biblical Christianity for a pseudo-Christianity, atheism, or another religion altogether.

This is obviously a big problem, and to help solve this problem, scholar Michael J. Kruger wrote a book called Surviving Religion 101.

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In Apologetics, Blog, Book Reviews on
January 25, 2021

Another Gospel?

Several weeks ago, I was searching on YouTube for a podcast episode when I came across a video from a channel called “God is Grey.” The video appeared to be a woman’s response to a critique from a Christian woman I highly admire and respect and listen to often. Out of curiosity, I clicked on the video and watched it. I discovered that the woman’s name was Brenda and that she had some unorthodox and even unbiblical views, even though she claimed to be a Christian. I decided to watch some of the other videos on the God is Grey channel, and I learned that Brenda believes things like the Bible is simply full of human writings, homosexuality is not a sin, Christians should vote pro-choice, and having sex outside of marriage is just fine to do.

I would describe Brenda as a progressive Christian. Progressive Christianity is both dangerous and harmful to the Church, which is why Alisa Childers wrote her book Another Gospel?.

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