Worldviews
The Newsletter of the Apologetics Resource Center
January 2005
Changes
Yes, this is January’s newsletter, and you’re
getting it in February. That’s because we have decided
to return to a monthly format rather than bimonthly. And
we’ve decided to reduce the content to four pages rather
than eight. Several people have suggested that we do a more
condensed, reader friendly format with larger print and a
few pictures rather than the 5,000 word, short article style.
They reasoned that only a few will read the current format
because of its daunting appearance.
I have a deep-seated
conviction about this particular topic. My conviction is
that our culture
continues to slide in the
direction of sound bytes, quick fixes,
and a conditioning process towards non-reflection. So, I’m caught with
the reality of wanting Christians to think and reflect—to read our material,
and the fact that many may not because of its lengthy format. Help me work
through this issue by providing feedback to
me. Upcoming Events
1. Consider attending Evangelical Ministries to New Religion’s (EMNR)
annual conference this year at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas
City, Missouri, February 24-26 (www.emnr.org).
The conference kicks off Thursday night
with one of America’s top philosophers
and apologists, Dr. J.P. Moreland, speaking on “The Three-Way Worldview
Struggle for America’s Soul.” ARC’s Craig Branch will present
workshops on “Understanding Islam and Jihad” and “The New
Apostolic Reformation Movement.” ARC’s Keith Gibson will speak
on the International House of Prayer (Mike Bickle’s Kansas City Prophet
group).
There is a wide range of subjects including
the Da Vinci Code, astrology, Bill Gothard, Mormonism, Hinduism, Word-Faith,
alternative medicine, many
New Age
subjects, Freemasonry, Inerrancy, the Trinity, Homosexual “Christianity” and
many more.
2. Southeastern Bible College World
Missions Conference-February 21-24. Steve, Clete and Craig will conduct
workshops.
Josh McDowell’s Youth
Conference
Josh McDowell’s Beyond Belief conference is coming to Birmingham,
Alabama in two forums. The first is February 10th at Briarwood Presbyterian
Church
from 7-10pm for parents and grandparents. This event is the preparation
for the “Bold Youth Tour” to be help April 1, 7-10pm at the
UAB Bartow Arena for teenagers. For tickets and reservations, call 205-871-8886
The
most strategic forum is the first one for parents. Parents especially
need a wake up call regarding what their children are being exposed
to and are doing—even
Christian kids. For too long parents generally relegate the spiritual
discipleship to Christian schools or church youth programs. There is
a generally significant
disconnect between what they are taught and what they experience at
home, school, and avenues of influence in their lives.
McDowell points out that 2/3 of teenagers leave church when they
leave home. Only 9% of “born-again” youth are certain
that absolute moral truth exists. McDowell will confront the distorted
beliefs and present how Christ
is real, relevant, and brings a life-giving relationship. The kids
will be challenged and motivated, but what are the parents to do?
The conference provides
ways to sustain true growth.
Very recent Barna research demonstrates
that parents believe that children under 13 (the age where most
values are in place) are “not being prepared
well for life.” Their studies indicate that only 18% are
being prepared well intellectually, 13% physically, and 12% emotionally.
Only 8% were said
to be spiritually well-prepared while 71% of adults believed spiritual
preparation was inadequate.
Barna noted from the rest of the survey
that the parents who are
anguished are the ones who are responsible yet inadequate in
taking that responsibility.
Too many parents, including Christian parents, are too absorbed
in chasing the “American Dream” of financial prosperity
and personal fitness to be engaged redemptively with their children.
Two
recent “heads up” stories from England and Canada
describe the “alarming growth” of the Goth subcultures
there. “Goths” are
focused on death, rebellion, an obsession with expressing themselves
in black, baggy fashion and dark, murky (and often macabre)
music, and with drugs. The
U.S. is already headed in the direction of these countries
and will continue unless the Church awakens.
The Apologetics
Resource Center wants to focus on these issues
by developing curriculum, and a generation connected with
Christ, to
one another,
to families, and ministry. And to do it in a way to see God
work and move
in His salt
and light bearers—transforming His people and the culture
where we live, and beyond. ARC’s
Areopagus Journal
ARC’s purpose is to deepen the Body of Christ’s understanding of
God and His redemptive will, personally and culturally. We are called to a
radical commitment to be salt and light in a hostile world, to the glory of
God, and overflowing with gratitude in our elected grace.
One major vehicle for “equipping the saints for service” is the
knowledge gained through our bimonthly publication, Areopagus Journal. We have
gotten very positive feedback both from scholars and lay people alike on the
relevance and accessibility of our content. However, our current subscriptions
provide only half of what we need to break even on costs. We have recently
promoted the journal to over 400 Christian colleges and seminaries around the
country and are getting a good response.
We have researched
and have a wonderful opportunity to get our journal in
the hands of thousands of Christian readers.
We would like to advertise the Journal
in WORLD magazine. Some like-minded colleagues have done so with wonderful
results. If even 1% of their readership subscribed, we would increase our
circulation by 1,500!
Would you consider
a designated gift for this specific opportunity? We have
included
the full page ad we would like to run. One full-page
ad costs $2,730
and a three-ad campaign costs $6825.
Also, would you consider
getting a personal subscription for your family? On the
back of
the enclosed ad you will find a listing of themes of
the
back issues,
upcoming topics, and you may access more information about these issues
on our website. Not only will you be more equipped but we encourage our
readers
to copy the relevant articles and send them to your evangelism contacts.
SPECIAL BONUS: For all brand new subscribers, we will send you a copy
of The Coming
Darkness, by John Ankerburg and John Weldon, which addresses a range
of topics in the area of the occult. On one end, most
neglect it altogether.
On the
other end, some become overly preoccupied. This book provides a good
balance covering
topics such as the modern occultic revival, spiritual warfare, Satanism,
witchcraft, psychics, spiritual deception, deliverance, and the current
craze of the new
age search for enlightenment. To get your copy, make sure you check the
box on the form at the end of the newsletter that says “New Subscriber
Bonus.” Culture Watch
Part of the process of edifying and equipping the Church is to provide a context
and wake up call to Christians, hopefully to be motivated not to slumber
but to engage.
Many Christians are encouraged by the results of the presidential and congressional
elections. Clearly the Christian moral conservatives had a very significant
impact on the outcome, as exit polls and surveys disclosed. Now we are seeing
articles and commentaries indicating Democrats are shifting their political
ideologies more to the “center,” including Hillary Clinton.
But
besides this probably being window dressing or pragmatic rhetoric, Christians
too need to be neither complacent nor smug. Certainly it is a very right
thing to work hard at impacting the marketplace with biblical values
and policies
as part of our calling as being salt and light.
But that is not the gospel.
Without more and more new, discipled Christians, this shift will
not be sustained. A significant, committed and informed few
had an impact but the data demonstrates that Christianity is being conformed
more and more to the culture. And new conversions are on the decline.
Barna’s
research has noted some encouraging signs. Weekly Bible reading increase
from 36% in 1999 to 44% in 2004. Small group participation increased
from 12% in 1994 to 20% in 2004. But religious behaviors which remained
flat were church attendance (43%), Sunday School attendance (21%), and
ministry
volunteering (24%). A majority of “born-again” Christians do
not believe divorce is a sin. The gap between adults and teenagers in holding
to
biblical truths is quite alarming. And 30% of the adult population believe
that homosexuality is morally acceptable. Visit www.barna.org and get motivated. Personal Evangelism
It is my view that the lack of personal evangelism is the largest problem in
Western Christianity today. Yet research shows that 55% of “born-again” adults
have shared their faith with a non-Christian in the past year, down from
58% in 1999. And only 35% of adults believe they have a responsibility to
share.
The most effective way to share
Christ and His gospel is in the context of servinging and supporting
those in need of encouragement. The second most
effective
way to share is through lifestyle (friendship) evangelism, utilizing a Socratic
approach, i.e. starting a discussion with a non-Christian and continuing
to ask questions on a spiritual or moral topic, exploring the implications
of
their answers and eventually sharing the truth of the gospel. They say 69%
engaged in this approach while 47% invited unbelievers to church or an evangelistic
event.
Personally, I have some difficulty
believing that many Christians share their faith. My own research
in strongly evangelical churches demonstrates
that
only about 1/3 at best have shared their faith in the past two years. If
people
are sharing, many are not coming to faith. One probable factor is a lack
of apologetic knowledge and practice which would have more impact on an
increasingly secular or new age population. Culture Shorts
1. Homosexuality—Actually, a continuum began with the
sodomy laws being reversed. Who defines marriage? What is
the basis for morality? Or is it true that you cannot legislate
morality?
Of course we believe that
the last charge is both naïve and nonsensical.
All legislation is someone’s moral standard. But what is the basis
for morality? Secularization logically leads to a very slippery slope.
Europe
and Canada are examples of countries based on Christian principles
that grew apostate. Now newspaper stories there are pointing out the inevitable.
On the heels of same-sex marriage being permitted, the new focus is on
legalizing polygamy.
Some stories quote, “The government expects polygamist defendant
to claim that outlawing polygamy violates their Charter right to freedom
of religion.” And, “Justice
Cotler is wrong to dismiss the possibility that polygamists will use the
victories homosexuals have won to push for acceptance of their practices
as well.” Now
an AP story in Seattle announced that a Utah lawmaker (a Mormon) publicly
defended the practice of polygamy as natural and not necessarily harmful.
Do you know how to make a
case against same-sex marriage and polygamy? What about abortion?
If not, ask for our free information packets on the
subject.
2. Media Watch—As Andre
Agassi’s camera commercial
sums up media (and political) philosophy, “Image
is everything,” America’s views are broken
down and rebuilt by the savvy media elite. While secularists
cry
out against censorship, against manipulation and control
of “right wing fundamentalists,” they hypocritically
(hypocrites are bad too) are guilty of the things they
condemn.
A recent study by the Parents
Television Council demonstrated that the programming on all broadcast
networks
during prime
time depicted religion negatively at least twice as often
as positively. Mention of God dropped from three times
per hour to one time per hour. NBC was ten times more
likely to be negative than positive. Parents, don’t let
the TV be a babysitter for your children or a time filler
when
that time can be used for something constructive.
Rolling
Stone Magazine refused to run a half-page ad for Zondervan’s
Today’s New International Version of the Bible. It didn’t
even mention God, Jesus or the Church. Rolling Stone’s general
manager responded to a USA Today reporter, “It doesn’t quite
feel right in the magazine. We are not in the business of publishing
advertising for
religious messages.” Yet
in last year’s January issue, they ran a “in your face” parody
T-shirt ad with a cartoon Jesus wearing a crown of thorns, arms outstretched,
with the caption, “Put down the drugs and come get a hug.”
CBS
cancelled the very popular “Touched By an Angel” (which was
theologically incorrect, but they didn’t know it) yet they have
no problem with regularly rerunning “Charmed”, “Angel”, “Sabrina
the Teenage Witch”, and now the new occult/new age series “Medium.” Big Blow to Atheists
One of the most respected (among atheists and agnostics) atheists, Anthony
Flew, has suddenly switched sides. He announced in December that after being
a champion of atheism for 66 years, he is now a theist.
Flew, the son of a
Methodist minister, became an atheist at age 15. Over the years Flew
taught at Oxford, Aberdeen, and Reading Universities in Britain,
spoke in many college campuses in the U.S., wrote numerous books and articles,
and frequently debated theists and Christians.
Now after the compelling weight
of actual science and philosophical arguments, Flew concludes, “that
some sort of intelligence or first cause must have created the
universe. A super-intelligence is the only good explanation for
the origin of life and the complexity of nature. DNA biology has shown
by the
almost unbelievable complexity of the arrangements which are needed to
produce life, that intelligence must have been involved.”
Pray
for Anthony Flew who is now 81. He has taken a big step, but
needs to come to the true God in Jesus Christ the Lord. Order
our latest Areopagus
Journal, “God
vs. Science” for an understanding of whether Science and Christianity
conflict. A Personal Word
Apologetics involves 1) knowing the truth, 2) clarifying and defending the
truth, 3) advancing the truth, and 4) being the truth. It has been a neglected
dimension in the Church, yet the New Testament is filled with these exhortations,
both personally and corporately.
One of the passages the Lord
keeps bringing to bear as we interact with the world around us is Romans
12:1-2. The world culture continues to push us into
its mold rather than what we are called to do—redemptively engage
the world through minds, hearts and life choices that are being renewed
by the
power of the Holy Spirit.
Examine your life. Your daily
patterns, your regular activities will reflect your true values—where
is your time spent? Is quality time spent in prayer, studying God’s
Word, quality time with spouse, children, ministry, real fellowship
with the Body, and with
your neighbor (those outside the
faith)?
I exhort you to devote yourself
to praying Colossians 4:2-6 daily and be attentive to the answers
to this prayer. Don’t wait
until you think you know enough or are good enough to reach out to
unbelievers because you’ll never begin.
As you begin and you encounter questions or issues you don’t have
an answer for (1 Peter 3:15), call upon us to help you—to provide
the truth you need. We’ve done the research. We are here to help
and equip you. We are called in this together.
Letters
Thank you all so much for coming. You really helped the people in our
church who attended the seminar! It was wonderful being with you--very
uplifting!
Farmington Hills, MI I want
to offer my most heartfelt thanks for the preparation and
presentation of one of the most significant events in
our church’s recent history. Your commitment to the
Lord Jesus and to biblical truth shone with sparkling clarity
as you delivered each session with excellence. Our people
were touched, challenged, motivated, and inspired. May the
Lord expand the ministry of the Apologetics Resource Center!
Birmingham, AL
February Issue
In our next Worldviews, we will address recent developments in cults and Islam
as well as issues in the culture.
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