Volume III, Issue 1
Volume III, Issue 1
www.midwestapologetics.org
This newsletter marks the third year of our ministry. We are excited about what God has already done with us and are excited to see what lies ahead for this year.
Inquiring Young Minds Want to Know
I am now in my fifth year of teaching high school students and have spent more than a decade working with them in various youth group functions. I am saddened by what I see as an ongoing problem with Christian teenagers today. The church, by and large, is still not training young people how to think through the many difficult issues they face. They are not taught about the importance of defending their faith. Instead, too often, we promise them a life full of peace and happiness when they “ask Jesus into their heart” (note: this phrase is never used in the Bible). Several comments are in order.
First, I just observed a high school class in which several teenagers asked the teacher dozens of questions concerning the Christian faith. Not only did they ask a lot of very good questions, they actually paid close attention for the answer. This might come as a huge surprise to some of you but it does not surprise me a bit. You see, in my experiences with youth, I have found that, more often than not, young people are very interested in learning about some of the deeper issues of the Christian faith.
Sadly, most youth programs are designed to keep the biblical instruction at a basic level and focus more on having fun and developing relationships. I am not against fun and relationships but they should not be over-emphasized at the expense of sound biblical teaching. As a result of this neglect to train youth to defend the faith, the church is becoming more and more biblically illiterate.
One of the main problems with biblical illiteracy is that believers will start to fall for a multitude of false teachings. George Barna has conducted numerous polls of those who call themselves born-again Christians and the results are extremely discouraging. Consider some of the following results found on Barna’s website (www.barna.org):
- 32% believe in moral absolutes
- 28% believe Jesus sinned during His time on earth
- 33% believe one can earn a place in Heaven by being good enough
- 46% believe that Satan is not a living being but a symbol of evil
The Bible certainly teaches that there are moral absolutes, that Jesus lived a sinless life (if He did not, then He could not be the sacrifice for our sins as He would needed to die for His own sins), that salvation is by grace alone and received through faith alone – not of works, and that Satan is a living being (a fallen angel who strives to thwart God’s plans for His creation but will fail).
What do these poll numbers have to do with young believers today? Each of these subjects has been discussed recently in the class that I observed. The students enjoy wrestling with these concepts and trying to form a consistent belief system that is biblically accurate. The church cannot afford to shy away from instructing young people in the essentials of the faith. In addition, the church needs to train these young people how to defend their faith and show others that Christianity is not a “blind faith” but a well-reasoned faith.
Tim had a blood test on Monday, January 22, and the results were very encouraging. All the numbers were normal. He will be going in for another bone marrow biopsy in a month. We are confident that the results will be negative again. Thanks again for all your support and prayers.
Tim has been invited to present several talks during a conference at Bethel Baptist Church in Green Bay, WI in February (2nd – 4th). Duane Gish from The Institute for Creation Research is scheduled to headline the event. James Kraft, a former high school science teacher and speaker will also present several talks at the conference. Tim will speak on the following topics (see website for full schedule):
- Why do Bible Difficulties Exist? (Friday)
- How Should a Person Deal with Bible Difficulties? (Friday)
- The Uniqueness of Christianity (Friday)
- Leukemia and the Lord (Tim’s testimony – Saturday)
- The Futility of Old Earth Arguments – Part 1: The Age of the Earth (Sat.)
- The Futility of Old Earth Arguments – Part 2: The Extent of the Flood (Sat.)
If you would be interested to have Tim speak at your church, school, youth group, etc. please email us for more information.
Please pray for the following items this month:
- Cari G. – PRAISE!!! Cari has received some great news earlier this week. She has been released from the hospital after a recent setback, had her port removed, and her medications reduced. She seems to be on the road to recovery just months after being given a one in three chance to survive. Thanks for your prayers on Cari’s behalf.
- Gayla S. – the niece of a close friend of Midwest Apologetics has recently been intellectually convinced of the Christian faith but needs to take that step of faith to place her life in Christ’s hands. Please pray that she will take that next step.
As always, if you have any questions, comment, concerns, corrections, ideas, prayer requests, etc., please email us and let us know. Also, thank you for your prayers. Please continue to keep us in your prayers throughout this month.
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