Cody Knox

Jesus the Game Changer 4 of 10: WOMEN & CHILDREN

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Jesus the Game Changer

This is the fourth post in a series of posts running parallel to weekly screening of the series Jesus the Game Changer on Shine TV.

Do you know what it is like to be treated as a second-class citizen? A valuable thought experiment is to delve into the life of a woman or child in the Greco-Roman world to experience what this was truly like. Women and children were viewed as inferior citizens regardless of which social strata they found themselves in. This sentiment is found in countless writings from that period and irks the modern progressive (despite modern treatment of women and children being no less unjust).

Both yesterday and today, we witness an urge to subdue the vulnerable that is endemic to mankind. As with all injustice, Jesus Christ comes to right these wrongs.

Jesus and women

Jesus was by no means afraid to get intimate with the lesser – with those the cultural elite  controlled. Through his interactions with the bleeding woman, the thirsty Samaritan and countless prostitutes, Jesus was declaring a massively important theological truth – we are all equal in that we all stand equally in need of mercy and grace for the rebellion in our hearts.

The resurrection accounts contained in the four Gospels report that women were the first to see the shattered stone and empty tomb. This is no passing detail for the authors – this is a punch to the face of ancient female relations. If you wanted to create your own religion in first century Palestine, one of the first steps you would take is to avoid having women play an integral part in the genesis. But they did. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John must have missed that lesson.

Jesus and children

All of Jesus’ gentle interactions with children (or little ones) was not to demonstrate how good of a Sunday School teacher he would have been. As with so many of Jesus’ words and actions, we have to dig deep for the gold beneath the surface:

At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:25-30)

Did you catch that? We are the children. We are the helpless, vulnerable, dependants who require constant adult supervision to avoid getting lost or cracking our skulls on the coffee table. God’s gracious will was to reveal his plan of salvation to us – foolish and misunderstanding children – to give something infinite to those infinitely undeserving

Yet again we see Jesus, the great Leveler – he definitively levels the playing field by not only teaching with his words and actions that all men are equal, but by focusing every eye and shutting every mouth via the truth of sin and judgement. No matter your gender or age every person stands empty-handed before a holy God who justly demands perfection.

With unparalleled gentleness and meekness, this carpenter from Nazareth stoops down to the prostitute and the little ones, opens his arms and says, “Come to me all who labour and heavy laden and I will give you rest.”

We, the prostitutes and fools of this world, are adopted as his children. Game changing.

Cody Knox

Jesus the Game Changer 2 of 10: EQUALITY

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Jesus the Game Changer

This is the second post in a series of posts running parallel to weekly screening of the series Jesus the Game Changer on Shine TV.

A constant cry heard around the modern world is for equality. People have a deep seated sense of injustice seeing other people treated differently based on their race, sex, or religion. But where does this pursuit of equality come from?

The Genesis of equality

Today’s opinionated secularist will attribute these inequalities to a backward, religious aftertaste from our ignorant past. However, the source of Western civilisation’s obsession with equality and fairness stems from the world’s most influential religion – Christianity.

Through the teachings of the Bible generally, and Jesus specifically, we discover that we are made in the image of God, placing significant worth and dignity on every human being. In the biblical accounts of creation, human beings are clearly differentiated from every other living thing by this image woven into our being.

As sin came into the world, this imago Dei in man was obscured, becoming unrecognisable. The default condition of the human heart transitioned from love of God and neighbour to idolatry and murder.

The History of equality

Since the days of the New Testament, the apostolic authors demonstrated this countercultural idea by exhorting Christians to treat all men as equal. Slaves, women, children and Gentiles were seen through the Master’s eyes – as lost sheep in need of rescuing.

This ethic developed historically through institutions such as hospitals and orphanages – expressions of the uniquely Christian desire to love the lesser.

One of the most notable historical examples is of William Wilberforce and the Clapham Sect. His lifelong quest to abolish slavery from the British Empire was driven not by some vague and groundless humanitarianism but by the imago Dei – the image of God in every human being, making us all equal before our Creator.

The Future of equality

Can other worldviews account for this innate sense of human equality? Short answer – no. No other belief system can come close to offering a robust explanation for human equality. They can definitely treat others with genuine dignity and worth – they just don’t have a legitimate reason to do so.

The teachings of Jesus not only show us how we ought to carry out our horizontal relationships (man and man), but reveal the true state of our vertical relationship (man and God). Jesus, the ultimate leveller, has shown all man that they are indeed equal in the most important way – by coming and revealing the hopelessness of all before a holy and perfect God. He came to live a perfect life and die a perfect death in our place to offer forgiveness and salvation.

All men are created equal and stand in equal need of a Saviour.

Jesus The Game Changer
David Billing

Jesus the Game Changer 1 of 10: JESUS

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This is the first post in a series of posts running parallel to weekly screening of the series Jesus the Game Changer on Shine TV.

Who has had the greatest impact on history? Who is the most important person who ever lived? Who is the most unexpected person to ever be remembered?

Jesus.

The Romans built Bath in AD 70, 2000 kms from Rome itself. At the same time in Palestine, a small group of people existed who had no power and authority, claiming that a person who had died in obscurity was the Messiah. If you had to guess which would last the longest, what would you say? 2000 years later Christianity is still here and Rome is long gone. How did this happen?

The Impact of Jesus

In the episode this week, Karl interviewed a computer scientist, Steven Skiena, who undertook a study to analyze Wikipedia with the goal of finding the relevance of people in history. He looked for things like how long an article is, how many times it is read, how many links to it, and how many times it was edited. Jesus came out number one. This is significant, it shows that Jesus is, today, the person around whom there is the most discussion and controversy. Who would have ever thought that Jesus would still be so popular? A man who lived and died 2000 years ago? It is strange because Jesus died in obscurity, having written nothing and in a state of utter and complete humiliation, was crucified on a cross. For everyone, surely, this was a clear sign that Jesus was nothing. Yet today, people are still talking about him. According to a 2005 study, Jesus is followed by approximately 2 billion people, around 33% of the world’s population[1]. For a person who never led an army, never held government office, never had children, never wrote anything but who died on a cross in obscurity 2000 years ago, this is remarkable. Jesus is the most controversial figure today.

So, what is the evidence that Jesus existed?

Evidence for Jesus

Nothing in history is certain, however, we do have some pieces of evidence, and what we have is better explained by the existence of Jesus of Nazareth than his non-existence. Some of the best pieces of evidence, are writings by hostile historians who mention Jesus, people like Josephus, Pliny, and Tacitus. These sources are pieces of external evidence, yet we also have a great deal of internal evidence coming from the gospel accounts themselves, four different accounts that have differences but yet a striking similarity. People in history didn’t record things in the same way that we record things, we want perfection, but such a thing is not a realistic perspective for ancient history. Rather, when dealing with history, we want independent accounts from as many different perspectives as possible. A great example is the video ref in rugby. The more cameras that have a perspective on the play, the better the picture is of what happened, and the better the judgement is of the ref. Thus, it is possible that what skeptics call contradictions may in fact be merely a difference in perspective, a different angle on the same event.

So, if we accept that the gospel accounts are all relatively reliable perspectives on the same event, how do we know we have what was written?

It may seem strange to you, but the New Testament is the most well attested document in history. If you have 200 manuscripts of a particular document, that is significant. However, for the New Testament we have over 5800 manuscripts in Greek, and 8000 Latin manuscripts. This is simply incredible; the wealth of manuscripts we have today means we can be almost certain that the documents we have today are actually what was written. But what about the authors, what do we know about them? Well, for one thing, they had no incentives to lie. Think about it. Your messiah has been killed, and you are hunted by the authorities. If you knew the whole deal was a lie, would you really write a book that might get you killed? No, you must believe what you are writing is the truth, and is truly important. The gospel accounts are four biographies, claiming that Jesus did some things that were seen, and that those things were recorded so that the readers might have eternal life.

However, some may object by saying that many of the events recorded in the gospels are miracles, and miracles can’t happen because the laws of nature cannot be broken. This objection only works if we live in a closed universe without a creator who created the universe. Yet, this is not what Christians claim. We agree, people cannot naturally turn water into wine, walk on water, create bread, and rise from the dead. However, the universe is an open universe, created by a being who can step in and alter the natural course of events.

Even so, miracles aside, why is Jesus unique, how is he different?

All the other teachers drew men to themselves and have others do things for them. However, Jesus came and did something for us, rising from the dead and by that, opening the door to eternity. He gave himself away in the ultimate act of self-sacrifice, doing that which we never could have done, reconciling us to God, and giving us life everlasting.

So, what is Faith? What does it mean to have Faith in Jesus?

Faith in Jesus

The Christian faith is 3 things:

  1. Information
  2. Agreement with the Information
  3. Trust in the Information

How does this apply to Jesus?

  1. Jesus died and rose from the dead
  2. It may seem impossible, but it is hard to explain the facts any other way so we accept them
  3. We act on the Information and trust Christ for our salvation

Jesus the Game Changer

Jesus was and is a game changer, not just for people alive today, but also for the apostle Paul. Paul was a man who hated Christians, who made a living seeking out Christians and throwing them in jail. Yet when Christ entered Paul’s life, everything changed for Paul. This is still true today. Maybe you feel that because you can’t believe in God or Jesus as the Son of God, then you are out of luck. However even today, Jesus is a game changer. He comes the way he did 2000 years ago, telling stories that haunt us, and bringing us to the realization that we need him. Give Jesus a go, step into his story, there is more there than is on the surface. Only in Christ do we have hope. Life is very brief.

In this week’s episode, Mary Jo Sharp commented that reading the Bible got along the path, but didn’t get her to Jesus. She only realized she needed Christ when she heard the truth of the Gospel which says that we are sinful, separated from God by our sin, and that only through Christ is the path unto salvation.

Do you know Christ? Have you accepted His offer of forgiveness? Have you repented of your sin and now rejoice in newness of life?

Jesus is a game changer, He has changed my life, and I know that He can change yours.

References

[1] http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html

Rodney

Jesus the Game Changer – DVD Series now available

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We are excited to announce a partnership with Olive Tree Media to bring you Jesus the Game Changer – a 10 part documentary series on how the life and teaching of Jesus changed the world and why it matters.

Jesus the Game ChangerJesus Christ has made an indelible mark on human history and He continues to do so through His followers. Yet many people do not realise that the values western democracies are built on originate in the life and teaching of Jesus – including:

  • The equality of all
  • Servant leadership
  • Care for the poor and marginalised
  • Dignity of women and children
  • Education
  • And others…

In this small-group DVD series, host Karl Faase travels to the US, UK, Australia, Singapore and India interviewing over 30 authors, speakers and modern-day game changers on these topics and more to examine in depth the impact Jesus has had on western culture.  Guests include top thinkers and cultural commentators; Eric Metaxas, Christine Caine, John Ortberg, Rodney Stark, Rico Tice, Mary Jo Sharp and many others.

WATCH TRAILER

SHINE TV SCREENING

Thinking Matters is proudly sponsoring a screening of this series on Shine TV on Tuesdays at 8pm – starting Tuesday 6th September 2016.

After each week’s episode we will publish a blog post on our site where you can discuss the episode with others.  Visit www.ThinkingMatters.org.nz/GameChanger for the latest post during the screening.

PURCHASE NOW

We are selling copies of the full series on DVD on our online store.  Click here to purchase.

Note stock will be arriving on the 6th September when the Shine TV screening starts – so your order will not be shipped until then.

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David Billing

Assurance of Salvation: 3 Reasons Why Apologetics Fails

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If someone asked you right now “How certain are you that you are going to heaven?” what would you say? Could you put a number on it? This is what is known as Assurance of Salvation, the knowledge that God has saved us from our sins and that we are in a right relationship with Him.

Now for an Apologist, one given to studying the supporting arguments and evidence for Christianity, the temptation is to give the very arguments themselves the role of being the ground of assurance of salvation. For example, it is demonstrable from arguments like the Kalam Cosmological Argument that a space-less, timeless, immaterial, and immensely powerful personal being exists, who we call God. When this argument is conjoined with the historical evidence for Jesus Christ, God is shown to be the God of the Bible, a being who loves the world and sent his son Jesus Christ to die for the sins of sinners, rescuing those who accept the offer of salvation from eternal judgement (Romans 10:9-10, John 3:36, Acts 4:12). However, using arguments and evidence as the sole ground for assurance of salvation fails for the 3 following reasons:

  1. The conclusions of Natural Theology are disputable
    The conclusions of the arguments and evidence for the existence of God are very powerful, and if true, have a great deal to say about our lives and the world around us. However, many of these conclusions are supported by premises that are not absolutely certain, and as such, the conclusion cannot be absolutely certain either. If this is true, though we may believe beyond a reasonable doubt, we can never have complete confidence that we are indeed saved.
  2. Our ability to reason is fallible
    It is clear that human beings do not have impeccable reasoning abilities. We often construct flawed arguments and make judgement errors. Can we really place full confidence in our own ability to reason? Now this is not to say that we cannot reach true conclusions in which we have a great deal of confidence, for if we could not, then it is odd that I would be writing this article seeking to persuade you of what I believe on this topic. I think what I believe is true, and that I have good reasons for it. I am not trying to argue that I am right even though I don’t know I am right. Rather, I mean that what we arrive at using our own reasoning, we ought to never simply assume as absolutely true. We must always be willing to admit we are wrong, and since certainty cannot exist where the possibility of being wrong is present, one cannot have absolute confidence.
  3. We have a limited and often errant experience and perception of the world
    It is clear that we are limited and do not fully know the world around us. Some people have more knowledge than others while still other believe and have been taught false ideas. If one needed to have perfect knowledge of the world to truly believe in God, no person could ever fully believe. Moreover, many people have no evidence and some even believe that the evidence points away from God. Are we simply to assume that they are not justified in believing in God simply because of what they think they know? Surely not! God is not so cruel as to allow us the possibility of fumbling around in the dark, without any hope of seeing the light.

For these three reasons, I am skeptical of anyone who claims they are certain of the claims of Christianity simply by arguments and evidence, and nothing more. God is not a God who abandons us to the whims of our fallible faculties which we use to make probabilistic judgements on sometimes errant information. Scripture asserts that we can KNOW that we have eternal life (1 John 5:13). If arguments and evidence do not provide this, we must look elsewhere for the sure foundation of our belief. The purpose of Apologetics is actually somewhat modest. Instead of using it to know Christianity is true, we rather use it to SHOW that Christianity is true. However, this leaves the knowing position quite open, and that which fills it is what I will address in my next post.

Unshaken Conference
Rodney

Unshaken Youth Conference Tauranga is back

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Our first Unshaken Youth & Young Adult (15 to 25) Apologetics Conference was held last year at City Church in Tauranga and was so well received we are doing it again in August:

FRIDAY NIGHT 12th August – 7:00pm – 9:30pm
SATURDAY 13th August – 10:00am – 6:00pm
Some of the feedback from last years conference includes:
“An excellent introduction to Apologetics.”
“The authenticity and sincerity of speakers who wrestled with truth and living in this tension was refreshing and challenging for us.”
“Great to hear things explained in a way that is easier to understand.”
“I feel that if I had missed this event and not been brought to think over certain matters, I would have walked into University blind and unprepared for things I will certainly be confronted with.”
“Well catered for. Well organised. Smooth experience. Thank you!!”
For more information – and the speaker line-up – visit our conference page here.
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David Billing

Ron Smith vs Matthew Flannagan | “Morality Does Not Need God” | Waikato University

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Hello readers, today we have uploaded the the debate with Dr Ron Smith and Dr Matthew Flannagan to YouTube, though some of you may have noticed it floating around Facebook. It was a well-attended debate, in total 200 people came along and participated.

This sort of event is what we like to see at Thinking Matters, people from both sides of the “God” debate coming together and engaging in a civil and intelligent conversation. You will be able to tell that Matthew and Ron disagreed with each other, yet they disagreed with “reverence and respect”, showing that disagreements over religion do not necessarily divide. In addition, the questions that were asked of the interlocutors, were penetrating but at the same time, cordial. No one got offended and everyone was calm.

In his opening remarks Dr Frank Scrimgeour, the moderator commented:

“It is an important occasion, and an important topic that befits a university, particularly a contemporary university that seeks to place more moral claims on its students, more than was the case when I was an undergraduate student … I trust that it will be a fun evening and I look forward to crowd response, but I request that it will be done with dignity and good nature. I am sure that enhances the quality of the conversation … I am not interested in moderating a debate where people cannot hear the participants. So I guess the more you disagree with someone, I challenge you to listen harder and be ready to ask the insightful question at the appropriate time … Think hard and enjoy yourselves.”

Ron echoed this sentiment saying:

“I was an easy target for the invitation to speak in this because I have become increasingly concerned, to be frank, about the extent to which the university has attached itself, and areas within it, to particular ideological views, and really shutdown discussion in a variety of areas … where discussion is inhibited. Now if there is anywhere in the community where discussion ought to proceed without persons needing to be protected against the possibility that arguments don’t sit well, it’s a university. The university has failed to live up to its obligation, so this is the test of the principle.”

Both of these men understand how important debates on the existence and nature of God are, and have identified that a university ought be a perfect place for such a discussion to go ahead. One of the key reasons why the debate was a true victory, was because it showed that people can disagree about the most important things in life and still part on good terms. Matthew defended the Christian conception of God and Morality in the true spirit of 1 Peter 3:15-16, where St Peter commands:

“but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”

May this also be something we never forget.

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Cody Knox

The Age of the Expert

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Where would we be without the Internet? This Network of networks, the Internet has empowered mankind with infinite information, an avenue for democracy and a foundation for building relationships across geographical barriers. It has started revolutions and graciously given you the name of the song stuck in your head all day.

A cursory glance through the history of technological development will notice that the Internet wasn’t the only leap forward that had titanic impacts on how we live. The wheel and automobile helped us get from A to B in much shorter time, while the alphabet and book were game changers in how common man viewed language and the accessibility of knowledge. In a similar way, the Internet’s advance has empowered people to learn more and more, because it is so easy to find information. Don’t know the names of Jupiter’s moons? Google it. Nobody got time for the library.

Who’s the boss?

Just like the hammer in the shed, we believe that the Internet is just another tool we harness for our benefit. We assume that we are masters of self and are immune to any sort of external trickery, especially by machines. But as the foremost philosopher of communication theory, Marshall McLuhan, suggested, media aren’t just channels of information. They do supply the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought. In words for today –  the Internet is changing our brains. It is naive to think otherwise.

Nicholas Carr, author of The Shallows: How the internet is changing the way we think, read and remember, describes our consumption of knowledge before and after the internet:

“Whether I am online or not, my mind now expects to take in information they way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving steam of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.”

Furthermore:

“Dozens of studies by psychologists, neurobiologists, educators, and Web designers point to the same conclusion: when we go online, we enter an environment that promotes cursory reading, hurried and distracted thinking, and superficial learning.”

Have you ever been in a Facebook comment thread debate? Then this will feel painfully familiar. Shallow thinking spawns shallow engagement with others. The common courtesies you learnt as a child or in debating class to understand, listen to, and respect other viewpoints are thrown out the window. People feel free to hurl abuse and ridicule not just at each other’s arguments but at each other. The social network becomes antisocial. Alanis Morissette, eat your heart out.

How does this effect us?

Wading in the shallows of knowledge the Internet offers is not something that affects a particular demographic: it affects anyone who uses it for an extended period of time. That means all of us. For some strange reason, we assign ourselves expert status after watching a few YouTube videos. You would think that with the proliferation of information on virtually very topic, the most outspoken among us would do their due diligence to understand the view they espouse or oppose. This is not the case. Straw men abound.

Take, for example, how we talk about religion and God on the internet. All too often the norm is to belittle and dismiss our opponent’s arguments without seeking to engage or understand them. We settle for memes or parodies that build the faithful but antagonise everyone else. Perhaps we believe that by repeating, reposting and retweeting caricatures over and over again they might spontaneously come into existence.

Don’t get me wrong – I love the Internet and the capability it puts at our fingertips. However, any medium that encourages short and pithy truth statements is not conducive to deep understanding.

While the Internet has contributed greatly to knowledge, democracy, and communication, there is a darker side to this technology. It has made us think we know what we are talking about with minimal effort. My encouragement to everyone is this – study hard and know what you believe and why you believe it. Not only your views, but those you oppose. This is true intellectual satisfaction and honesty. For in the deep things of life, the shallows just aren’t good enough.

David Billing

Free Audiobook

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https://d1zmzmyvi2f82j.cloudfront.net/siteimages/freebook/DelightingInGod_3DCover.png

Here at Thinking Matters we love free stuff, so whenever something is free and of a high quality, we go for it!

The free audiobook this month is Delighting in God by A. W. Tozer; you can find it at christianaudio.com/free/. Usually it will cost you $15 (US), however, for one month only, it is free of charge.

Here is the summary from Christianaudio.com

Delighting in God is the message Tozer intended to be the follow-up to The Knowledge of the Holy. He demonstrates how the attributes of God–those things God has revealed about himself–are a way to understand the Christian life of worship and service. We are here to serve and adore him, but we can only fulfill that role by acknowledging who he is, which is the essence of the Christian life and the source of all our fulfillment, joy, and comfort.

Enjoy!

 

Rodney

Alan Shlemon – New Zealand 2016 Tour Schedule

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We are excited that Alan Shlemon – our keynote speaker at our Confident Christianity Conference – is arriving in just a few days.

Alan ShlemonAlan is a dynamic and entertaining speaker who speaks to thousands of adults and students around the world at churches, conferences and on university campuses on some of the most difficult challenges of our day.  He has dedicated his life to training Christians – both young and old – to thoughtfully articulate their faith and values, as he knows that when people are properly equipped, they’re more confident talking to others about what they believe and why they believe it.  Check out a video on his work here.

Here is his full public speaking schedule:

HAMILTON

Thursday 28th April

The Power of a Question: How to have conversations about God without losing friends

Alan will equip you with two simple questions you can use in your conversations with friends and colleagues. You’ll come away more confident to engage others in friendly conversation and be better prepared to present Christ in an intelligent, yet gracious way.
7:00-9:00pm at Hamilton South Baptist Church, 131 Ohaupo Rd, Melville
A free event.  Click here for details.

AUCKLAND

Friday 29th April

The Power of a Question: How to have conversations about God without losing friends

This is our Auckland Confident Christianity Conference opening night – which is free for everyone – so bring a friend!
Alan will equip you with two simple questions you can use in your conversations with friends and colleagues. You’ll come away more confident to engage others in friendly conversation and be better prepared to present Christ in an intelligent, yet gracious way.
7:00-9:30pm at Windsor Park Baptist Church, 550 East Coast Rd, Mairangi Bay
A free event.  Click here for details.

Saturday 30th April

Confident Christianity Conference

Our all-day conference will equip you to give both intellectually and emotionally satisfying answers to some hard questions and learn how to defend the Christian faith in a reasonable and compassionate way.  We have a line-up of top speakers who will sensitively and skilfully respond to some of the biggest objections that Christians encounter today – to help you live out a confident, yet gracious faith in your everyday life.  At the conference Alan is giving two talks on Islam, to give you a better understanding of Muslims and their faith.
8:30am-6:30pm at Windsor Park Baptist Church, 550 East Coast Rd, Mairangi Bay
Cost $40 Students and Youth and $69 Adults.  Click here for more information and to register.

Thursday 5th May

Truth and Tolerance in a Whatever World: A full day apologetics and Christian worldview training workshop at Kingsway School

For Parents, Pastors, Youth Leaders and Christian Educators.  Topics include:

  • Who’s Waiting for Our Kids? Why Our Students Need Christian Apologetics
  • The Power of a Question: Engaging Our Culture with Conversations That Count
  • Truth and Tolerance in a Whatever World: Why Truth Matters More Than Ever
  • Addressing Homosexuality with Compassion: What Can I Say to my Gay Friend?

9:00am-3:30pm at Kingsway School, 100 Jelas Road, Red Beach, Auckland
Cost $45.  Click here for more information and to register.

TAURANGA

Sunday 1st May

If God Is Good, Why Is There Evil?

The problem of evil is the most common objection to God. If God is good and all-powerful, how can he exist if he allows evil to continue? Though this sounds persuasive, this challenge is riddled with difficulties. Alan will walk you through the solutions to this challenge and explain how, far from undermining God’s existence, the presence of evil turns out to be a powerful evidence that God is real.
Bethlehem Baptist Church morning services at 9:00am and again at 10:45am – At 90 Bethlehem Rd, Bethlehem

A Closer Look at Islam

Islam is gaining more attention every day, but popular beliefs about Islam seem to be missing the true nature of Muslim beliefs and practices. Alan will demystify what Islam really teaches and examine how it stacks up to Christianity, giving you a better understanding of Muslims and their faith.
City Church evening service at 6:00pm – At 252 Otumoetai Road, Otumoetai.

Monday 2nd May

Truth and Tolerance in a Whatever World: A full day apologetics and Christian worldview training workshop at Bethlehem College

For Parents, Pastors, Youth Leaders and Christian Educators.  Topics include:

  • Who’s Waiting for Our Kids? Why Our Students Need Christian Apologetics
  • The Power of a Question: Engaging Our Culture with Conversations That Count
  • Truth and Tolerance in a Whatever World: Why Truth Matters More Than Ever
  • Addressing Homosexuality with Compassion: What Can I Say to my Gay Friend?

10:00am – 3:15pm at Bethlehem College Performing Arts Centre, 24 Elder Lane, Tauranga
Cost $45.  Click here for more information and to register.

CHRISTCHURCH

Friday 6th May

The Power of a Question: How to have conversations about God without losing friends

This is our Christchurch Confident Christianity Conference opening night – which is free for everyone – so bring a friend!
Alan will equip you with two simple questions you can use in your conversations with friends and colleagues. You’ll come away more confident to engage others in friendly conversation and be better prepared to present Christ in an intelligent, yet gracious way.
7:00-9:30pm at Rutland Street Church, 12 Rutland St, St Albans
A free event.  Click here for details.

Saturday 7th May

Confident Christianity Conference

Our all-day conference will equip you to give both intellectually and emotionally satisfying answers to some hard questions and learn how to defend the Christian faith in a reasonable and compassionate way.  We have a line-up of top speakers who will sensitively and skilfully respond to some of the biggest objections that Christians encounter today – to help you live out a confident, yet gracious faith in your everyday life.  At the conference Alan is giving two talks on Islam, to give you a better understanding of Muslims and their faith.
8:30am-6:30pm at Rutland Street Church, 12 Rutland St, St Albans
Cost $40 Students and Youth and $69 Adults.  Click here for more information and to register.

Sunday 8th May

If God is Good, Why is there Evil?

The problem of evil is the most common objection to God. If God is good and all-powerful, how can he exist if he allows evil to continue? Though this sounds persuasive, this challenge is riddled with difficulties. Alan will walk you through the solutions to this challenge and explain how, far from undermining God’s existence, the presence of evil turns out to be a powerful evidence that God is real.
Rutland St Church morning service at 10:00 am – At 12 Rutland St, St. Albans

Truth and Tolerance in a Whatever World: Why Truth Matters More Than Ever

Relativism has taken hold in our culture and the result is a deep confusion over our Christian understanding of truth, tolerance, faith, and the Bible. Alan will examine some specific challenges we face in our hostile culture and provide you with some tools to help strengthen our understanding of biblical truth.
Cornerstone Campus Church evening service at 5:00 pm – At The Foundry (UCSA Events Centre) 90 Ilam Road, Upper Riccarton

Monday 9th May

Truth and Tolerance in a Whatever World: A full day apologetics and Christian worldview training workshop at Middleton Grange School

For Parents, Pastors, Youth Leaders and Christian Educators.  Topics include:

  • Who’s Waiting for Our Kids? Why Our Students Need Christian Apologetics
  • The Power of a Question: Engaging Our Culture with Conversations That Count
  • Truth and Tolerance in a Whatever World: Why Truth Matters More Than Ever
  • Addressing Homosexuality with Compassion: What Can I Say to my Gay Friend?

3:00pm-7:30pm at Middleton Grange School, The Grange Theatre (Preforming Arts Centre), 30 Acacia Ave, Upper Riccarton, Christchurch
Cost $45.  Click here for more information and to register.

 

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David Billing

Alvin Plantinga on Air Conditioning and Counterfactuals

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Some may think that philosophers and theologians are academics in ivory towers who have little to do with the affairs of men. However, some philosophers are also quite handy, so much so that they are called on as witnesses by the media. An example of this is Alvin Plantinga, a world-class philosopher and apologist, who was consulted regarding the level of education one needs to have to be qualified to service Air Conditioning units. According to the news report:

“I mean, you gotta be, like I say, you gotta have a Ph.D. in engineering just to use your thermostat,” said Alvin Plantinga, whose air conditioning unit stopped working. “And that seems over the top to me.”

He rounded off the news piece by making a counterfactual truth claim, saying that his current situation (of hot weather and a failed AC) would be much much worse if the temperature was a great deal lower:

You know, there are worse things. I mean if it were like say ten below zero, that would be worse.

This article was written in the spirit of the online publication The Babylon Bee, your trusted source for christian news satire.