What You Believe And Why

March 21, 2023 Gracie

Do You Know What You Believe And Why?

A few days ago, I read the results from a study where teenagers were asked about their spiritual lives. Among the surprising findings, almost none of the Christian committed teenagers could “articulate the most basic beliefs of the faith.”(Stand To Reason, n.d.)¹

Now granted, this is from an older study.

But, I can’t imagine it’s gotten any better when you consider the onslaughts against our faith and traditional family values in the news, among certain celebrities, and worse, being taught in some public schools.

Are your kids prepared to defend their faith?

Are you?

Do you know what you believe and why?

To these teens, religion was about being nice and enjoying a relationship with a God who mostly wanted them to be happy and feel good about themselves—which was, as it turned out, the very same religious view of their parents (emphasis added.) – Stand To Reason website.²

Let that sink in . . . “the very same religious view of their parents.”

Sadly, what this means is that many believers are woefully unprepared to contend earnestly for the faith.

In his letter, Jude warns of the spiritual battle between good and evil which spans the generations. His appeal is quite clear:

³Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all time handed down to the saints. – Jude 1:3, (NASB).³

Contending: Know What You Believe And Why

Human nature rebels against the notion of Sin. In today’s contentious world, anything goes and any sense of what’s right and moral has mostly vanished.

Even though we can expect pushback (sometimes violent) from a wicked world, we must contend for the essential truths of the gospel.

What we believe isn’t some kind of “faith du jour” teaching.

The Bible is the Word of God.

It is crucial to know what you believe and why.

The mockers of our christian faith are hoping you will stammer and look foolish.

As adults it may be easier for us to prepare for this.

But for the younger generation? Defending their faith is even more challenging.

Some Apologetics Tools for Parents

It’s best to prepare yourselves and your kids for the modern atheistic world.

Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you the right words to say when your faith is challenged.
Role play with your family so that you can all respond respectfully, and with grace, to the hard questions that are sure to come. There are some important tips in this video for Christian parents.
Search out Christian resources and apologetics websites for help. Here is one idea for your consideration on AFA.net, including a unique Christian speech writing contest for students.

Don’t think your kids need guidance for defending their faith?

Watch this . . .

In the Bible, Paul wanted a united, Philippian Church, to stand courageously together to share the good news, even while under persecution.

It’s a lesson for all of us today as well because experiencing the majesty and splendor of our triune God awaits the Faithful.

²⁷Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; ²⁸and in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and this too, from God. ²⁹For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer on His behalf, ³⁰experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me. – Philippians 1:27-30, (NASB).⁴

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^1-2From Christian Living | Contend Earnestly For The Faith (n.d.). Author Greg Koukl. Web. Accessed 16 March, 2023. Contend Earnestly reference.

Our Exceptional God

Disrespect For Life

October 26, 2021 Gracie

Disrespect For Life

Sometimes I think we’re living in bizarro world.

Are you a biological “machine?”

disrespect for life

Are your kids just simple “products,” or are they little boys or girls created by God?

“Products?”

No way.

“Biological machines?”

I didn’t think so.

Are you outraged at this popular thinking? Because you should be.

Created by God

The fact that we are created by God offends many people. We must be compassionate and pray for them, but at the same time, never compromise our convictions.

God created the heavens and the earth

There are schools across the United States that teach evolution as THE explanation of how the world was created.

We might just as well have “evolved” from a rock.

But, Christians know better.

Jesus died for our sins.

His incomprehensible love is beyond our imaginations, it is that deep.

Don’t tell me His death on the Cross was for nothing.

The world doesn’t like our beliefs, but praise God, this world is not our final home.

If you reject God and His Word, then anything goes—there’s no absolute standard on which to base your thinking. In this view, children are just biological machines, the product of millions of years of evolution. They aren’t given to parents—they are just a “choice” parents made. – Ken Ham, Answers in Genesis,¹

We are not products.

We are not biological machines.

It’s absurd thinking, but sadly people are buying into this.

In the Image of God

We live in a world where the majority of our nation’s leaders have no problem with women terminating pregnancies in the womb for convenience – a so-called “choice.”

With that destructive brand of thinking, how can we expect younger generations who are “lucky” enough that their parents let them be born, be expected to, in turn, “value” anything?

The ungodly have such a disrespect for life. We see the results of this on the news every night.

Is it too late to tear down the ideologies meant to degrade us, reduce us to simple “products”, and separate us?

I believe there is still time to change some minds, but not much time.

We have to face the facts.

The Enemy wants to capture the hearts and minds of your children . . . of all ages.

Taking A Stand

Defending the faith (apologetics) is vital teaching as your children get ready to face a hostile world.

This will mean a dedicated commitment of your time to invest in the Christian education of your loved ones while they’re at home.

It’s what God wants us to do.

Think about your sons and daughters right now.

Do they recognize that God created the heavens and the earth?

Can your children (or teens) defend their faith (respectfully) to an authority figure?

They desperately need your guidance.

Do you talk about Jesus with them?

Once or twice isn’t enough.

If you don’t teach them about Jesus, worldly agendas being forced on every aspect of our society will lead them astray. If you’re not sure how serious this is, research the growing attacks on Christians all over the world.

When the family is strong, the church is strong. And when the church is strong, the nation is strong. But when the family breaks down, the nation breaks down with it. I believe there’s a full-throated, all-out attack on the family in our nation today. It’s time for moms and dads to be the spiritual leaders in the home. And it’s time for grandparents to be spiritual leaders too. – Pastor Greg Laurie, Bible teacher and author.²

Disrespect For Life Culture

How can parents and grandparents protect their kids in this spiritual fight for their minds and hearts?

Besides prayer, it’s important to establish a foundation of faith early on in your home.

Read the Bible to your children.

Let them see YOU reading it.

You can even take something like a child’s favorite hobby and bring even that back to God’s wonderful provision.

child hobbies brought back to God

I like the way Pastor James Kaddis puts it . . .

That father says you know God gave you the talent to put that thing together kiddo. You want another one. Let’s pray to God. Let’s ask God to provide it for us. And every single time father and son get together to do that very thing, it’s used as a lesson for the goodness of God in that kid’s life.
Let me tell you something. The next time that that kid goes and runs towards that hobby that he’s learned to do as a kid, he’s always going to bring the Lord into it. And when he’s raising his generation up, he’s raising his children up, you know what he’s going to do? He’s going to teach his (own) children to associate the wonders and the goodness of God with the things that they love the most in life. And thus, God is associated with that which is wonderful. – Senior Pastor James Kaddis, Calvary Chapel, Signal Hill.³

Christians – there’s still time until Jesus calls us home.

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¹ Ken Ham quotation, courtesy of Answers in Genesis.org, “Who ‘Owns’ Children.” August 26, 2021. Retrieved from https://answersingenesis.org/family/who-owns-children/

²Pastor Greg Laurie Daily Devotions, courtesy of oneplace.com., “It’s Time To Step Up”. August 23, 2021. para. 4. Retrieved from https://www.oneplace.com/devotionals/greg-laurie-daily-devotions/its-time-to-step-up-greg-laurie-devotion-august-23-2021-11848809.html

³From Kaddis, Pastor James, “Which Way Will You Go, Part 2.” Courtesy of oneplace.com. Podcast, [18:31-19:12]. August 18, 2021. Web. Retrieved from: https://www.oneplace.com/ministries/light-on-the-hill/listen/which-way-will-you-go-part-2-899676.html

Our Exceptional God

Sharing Your Faith

August 14, 2019 Gracie

Sharing Your Faith

Courageously Sharing Your Faith

To “share” or “not to share”, that is the question.

At least on this blog post. 🙂

Seriously though, does the idea of sharing a favorite Christian meme or Bible verse on social media give you pause?

If it does, I certainly understand.

Your “friends list” may consist of believers and unbelievers.

With that in mind, you just might get a negative reaction you didn’t expect. How should you respond?

If it were me, I would invite that unbelieving friend to take the discussion offline. It’s better to have a one-on-one conversation than to have it play out in a public forum.

Why Not Be Prepared?

We have to be prepared for resistance to the true gospel message, both online and in person.

Fortunately, there are some online sources for you that are helpful.

Here are a couple of resources for you to consider:

Why not devote a portion of time each week to learning how to answer the hard questions?

You may get questions from someone like:

Why is there evil and suffering in the world? You can find the answer to that here.

Can a Christian lose his or her salvation? You can find the answer to that here.

I’m a student of Apologetics myself. I will never know all the answers, but my heart yearns to learn as much as I can. It’s an insatiable thirst.

The Courage to Share

Always use grace when sharing your faith, an encouragement well-expressed here by Christian apologist, Sean McDowell.

I hope it is helpful to you.

God bless

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Our Exceptional God

Spiritual Armor

June 13, 2018 Gracie

Suiting Up

Do you have a favorite football team?

I’m a New Orleans Saints fan through and through. I get excited when football season starts.

Maybe, just maybe, the Saints will win the Super Bowl again.

the big game

I bet your own favorite team is probably coming to mind right now.

Here’s a question.

Have you ever tried to imagine yourself in their shoes?

Pretend you’re a football player

All 250 pounds-plus of you is getting ready to go into the game.

Now, imagine there’s a rule that says you can’t wear any protective gear.

Helmet of protection

That means no helmet to protect your head.

No shoulder pads to prevent shoulder-to-shoulder collisions.

Nix the gloves too, so your hands are now vulnerable to impact.

Your neck roll is not allowed to prevent whiplash.

You can forget about the mouth guard.

And, finally, all knee, thigh, and hip pads, plus any of the protective wear to cover your privates must go.

Sound a little scary?

Now, your coach says, “Get out there on the field.”

You’d think your coach was crazy, right?

No way coach, give me my gear back!

Spiritual armor

Spiritual Armor

As Bible-believing Christians, how can we, likewise, go into spiritual battles without our spiritual armor?

The whole world now seems like one big spiritual battle – those of us who believe in the one true God, and those who do not.

No doubt, those who mock our faith are very loud and aggressive.

Are we really prepared for this?

It is hard to imagine anyone suiting up for the (football) game without an awareness of the sometimes bloody struggle that is about to ensue. But I have yet to see a player remove his helmet and head for the stadium exit because he finds it all just too rough.
Yet when it comes to Christian living, the field is evacuating quickly because the players have never read the rules nor understood the game plan.

– Alistair Begg, Christian pastor and author, Truth For Life Teaching Ministry.

Questions to ponder:

Are we actively reading and studying the Bible?
Are we attending a church that teaches the authentic Word of God?

We’ve all seen the apostasy starting to infiltrate churches – the dumbing down of Scripture, false teachers, fake signs and wonders, false conversions, the list goes on.

If you’ve looked into an Apologetics study, but then gave up, please reconsider.

You just never know when you’ll be in a situation where you need to defend your faith in our contentious world.

Two excellent books in my iPad library that I can recommend on the subject are:

1. “God’s Crime Scene” by J. Warner Wallace.

2. “Tactics”” by Gregory Koukl.

Both are highly rated, helpful books, to add to your spiritual armor.

Let’s not forget our identity in Christ

It’s easy to get into heated debates (especially on Facebook).

Our intent to peacefully share the Good News on social media can take a wrong turn when the attacks against our faith get publicly ugly. There’s absolutely no reason to respond in kind. That’s not who we are.

Remember Who we belong to!

This short video emphasizes it well.

God bless…

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*Alistair Begg quotation, of Truth for Life teaching ministry. Reference: Made For His Pleasure, Moody Press, 1996, p. 108. https://gracequotes.org/author-quote/alistair-begg/

Our Exceptional God