What Why How?

"Apologetics is knowing what we believe, why we believe it, and being able to effectively communicate it to others." - Voddie Baucham

But HOW do we communicate it? Good question.

First, we must KNOW WHAT we believe. And HOW do we do that? We read the Bible. We study it. We find a good, Bible-believing church, with a great teaching pastor and attend every Sunday.

"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." - 1 Peter 3:15

We must also be ready. Another important, and often overlooked, part of this verse is "to everyone who asks." That said, what do we say? Do we have our testimony prepared to give? And what actually gives us hope?

The answer to that question is Jesus. It has to be. He sacrificed his own life here on earth for our sins so that we could be with him in heaven. We have hope for a future beyong this world!

But what else? What is missing?

I think love plays a big part. "Love your neighbor," as Jesus says. And as Paul tells us, in just one simple verse. But what a verse!

"So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love." - 1 Corinthians 13:13

Our faith gives us hope. Sharing that hope is simply an act of love for the lost.

The Sting

Nothing gets a parent's attention faster than a painful scream from one of their children. Instinct kicks in and the parent charges into whatever it is that's hurting their child. Last Thursday night it was a nest of ground bees.

There was no deliberation on the part of the parent. There was no thinking, "Maybe this would be a good life lesson" or "Let me pray about it before I pull Johnny out of the nest." Nope. Only action, And without regard for self on the parent's part either.

We react. That can be either good or bad. For example, when my little brother was still in diapers, he came walking out of the kitchen carrying a knife. By the sharp end. My sister reacted swiftly and yanked the knife out of his hand. Medic!

Reaction is something that is instinctive. We can't help it. So, how do we react when someone attacks us because of our beliefs? Do we react? Or do we think or pray about it before we speak?

Life lessons are important for all of us to learn. Sometimes those lessons sting. Would you run into a nest of bees to save your beliefs from being attacked? Are we ready to act quickly and in love when someone challenges our faith?

"But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander." - 1 Peter 3:15-16

My young friend who got stung by bees this week was grateful that his father reacted quickly, the father sacrificing his own safety to rescue his son. May we react just as quickly when someone attacks our faith. Not for OUR sake, but for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Sing Like Never Before

Well, I just got back from a Christian leadership conference. It's kind of weird, the way I'm feeling. On one hand I am feeling empowered, filled and refreshed. On the other I feel drained, convicted and humbled. All good things for a Christian.

It was good to be there with my brothers and sisters. It was kind of like being at church only it lasted 12 hours or so. I had many "take-aways" I will share with you here. Some encouraging, some scary.

1. Sing Like Never Before - Things are speeding up in this world. Biblical prophesy regarding the end times is beginning to be fulfilled. Things are ramping up. The persecution of Christians, The distancing of U.S.-Israeli relations. Earthquakes, wars, rumors of wars. Many feel that Jesus will return sometime in the next 10-15 years. That means time is short.

We sang a worship song today - 10,000 Reasons. There is a line in the chorus that spoke to me - "Sing like never before.

2. Preach The Word! We need to step up our efforts to reach the lost, to spread the Gospel, to become more bold than ever before. I often fail at this but I am going to try harder. There are just too many people who need to hear the Gospel! I need to try harder!

3. Pray more, and more effectively - Sometimes my prayers seem to be a laundry list of to-do items for God. Not good.

4. Read more - Prayer and reading are two ways that God communicates with us, through His Holy Spirit. Why would we not want to do both of those things as much as possible?

5. Learn to defend the faith better - When people ask us questions, will we have the answers? We are commanded to! When someone asks you "How can a loving God allow so much pain and suffering in the world ?" or the always popular, "How come bad things happen to good people? I'll be writing something about all these in the future. In the meantime . . .

If time is getting short, why are we sitting around doing nothing? We profess to be Christians but do we act like one? Either we don't really believe the end is near or we are simply too lazy to do anything about it. Probably the latter. We are like the disciples in the garden when Jesus went off to pray by Himself. He asked them to stay awake and keep watch. They failed just like we're doing.

"18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” - Matthew 28:18-20

Well, I for one am going to increase my efforts. I am going to send messages, lovingly confront people, engage the world more actively for Christ. How many of these five things will you commit to join me in?

Will you pray more? Will you read your Bible more? Those two are pretty easy to do. Start there! I encourage you to try improving in all five areas this week. I double-dog dare ya! It could mean the difference between life and death . . . eternal life . . . of eternal death . . . for someone you know. That's one good reason we should do something. There are only 9,999 more reasons to go.

10,000 Reasons - Matt Redman