Tuesday, August 20, 2013

How to Unbiasedly Defend Your Faith

Today's post is a difficult one for me. My hubby and I visited our son for his birthday last week. We had some time and the opportunity to discuss some of the things he's experienced with his friends in this big college town. Some of what we heard was quite disheartening. Now, I realize that often college students question their beliefs and are trying to sort out who God is. But, I am amazed at how blinded young people today are. Our son says he is a Christian, but he also questions a lot of things about Christianity that seem so clear to us, his parents(and most Christians led by the Holy Spirit). I think he questions the obvious because of the great influence of his unbelieving friends. This makes my heart cry out, for I know defending our faith is NOT an easy thing to do in this day and age. It seems like people are getting more intellectual, are deeper thinkers, and have become better at knowing how to try to defend their own belief systems, while trying their best to defunct the Christian faith.(Maybe it's always been this way, but I just hadn't noticed.) It's also so interesting to me that most athiests, agnostics, and other unbelievers accuse ALL Christians of being close-minded, but in reality, most non-believers are extremely close-minded with their own beliefs. But, yet, they can't see it that way. There are a few verses from the Bible that speak of this blindness and close-mindedness.
  To fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:
“Lord, who has believed our message
    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
 For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:
 “He has blinded their eyes
    and hardened their hearts,
so they can neither see with their eyes,
    nor understand with their hearts,
    nor turn—and I would heal them." (Isaiah 53:1)
Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world." 
John 12:38-47

 "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them" (II Corinthians 4:3-4).

This is a universal description of the whole human race regarding Christ and the gospel.  Christ is “rejected of men.”  Mankind, as a whole, does not “esteem” or “value” Christ.   
We esteemed him not. (Is. 53:3) 
That is, “We saw no value in him,” because we were blinded by the Devil. 
This is very common among young people today.  They see no value in Christ or His gospel.

But, what are we to do
As parents, we need to pray for our children daily! I just recently bought one of two great books written by Stormie Omartian. The first book is called:
The second book is called:
If you are a parent, I would recommend you read these books!

I'm also learning a lot about how important it is to have an answer for why I believe what I believe.  This is also biblical.
 "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" 1 Peter 3:15

This can be a real challenge in defending our faith today. There are several books written by well respected Christians. The one I have purchased and am reading is 2-in-1 books:

I also came upon a great website and Youtube video source. 
Youtube here
Website here
 I have listened to several of this pastor's videos and highly recommend listening to them, if you, like me, find it difficult to defend your faith, when all the hard questions bombard us from unbelievers(or those who struggle with their own faith).

You could also take an apologetics class online. Here is a list of some online courses.

 Whatever you do, be assured that all Christ-followers will need to be prepared to give an answer. It is a part of living out the Christian life.

I know I have learned a lot already and I'm still learning more all the time. 
I'm praying more, too! 
Praying for my son....
Praying for the unsaved young people at his University. 
Praying for our families, who are often being falsely attacked for taking a stand for what we believe to be the ONLY way to God, Jesus Christ!

Continuing to count my blessings, one by one at   "Multitude on Mondays".
(My list in this post is shorter than usual, due to the longer message I wrote).
1,451 - Beautiful weather!
1,452 - Meeting new friends - one through blogging...the other through Facebook(a friend who has a cottage on the same lake that I do.)
1,453 - Having an unequivocal belief and salvation in Jesus!
1,454 - Having intellect and being able to reason, so we can understand His great love for us.
1,455 -Making difficult choices and taking the right paths, for we all will have to account for those choices someday.  
"So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God" Romans 14:12
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

6 comments:

  1. I hear your heart cry. I can only imagine how hard the college years must be, because my kids are 3, 8 and 10! But, I know college was a time where, though I knew I believed in God and was a Christian, I simply did not practice my faith at all. I'm sure it pained my mom, but it did take me some time to come back around to really walking in faith.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Elizabeth. I know this is a very selfish and yet spiritually grow"ing time in his life. Many of my friends have quoted Proverbs 22:6 - Train up a child..." to encourage me. God says there is power in our prayers(James 5:14-16) and I need to trust that my prayers are heard and God will work in his life. Have a blessed day!

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  2. Ann, thank you for stopping by my blog, Sweet Blessings!

    I hear the cry of a mama's heart. Praying with you for your son and those he is surrounded by. May God touch them in a mighty way and lead them.

    **THANK YOU for catching my goof on my blog!!! I wrote those questions a few weeks ago in my journal after a very hard moment of being hit with gossip about my family. I was so upset and hurt that I wrote quickly and never caught that. I am going in to edit right now. Thank you dear!

    Thanks for linking up with Woman to Woman's Word Filled Wednesday!

    God bless!
    Jenifer

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    1. No problem, Jenifer. I've missed things like that on my blog lots of times. So glad you stopped by! I'll definitely be checking in on your blog again soon!

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  3. "Train up a child in the way he should go,and when he is old he will not depart from it.P Proverbs 22:6. I have clung to that verse, Ann. My kids are a couple of years older than your son, but we experienced some of the same revelations about college. It seems it is not just the "kids" who are questioning their faith, but the professors challenging them to do so. (At least that has been our experience.) But, your advice is the best...PRAY FOR OUR CHILDREN! And trust God with their hearts. He has a plan and the walk they are on now is their testimony. We discovered that questioning is not always "bad". In our experience, our son grew closer to God through his questions and doubts. I love that God can handle it and loves us through it all!

    Blessings to you...and praying with you for our children!

    Trusting Him, Joan

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  4. I absolutely LOVE the photo with the path. So representative of a how many think the path now days goes. This is the second post from UNITE that I have read so far about blindness. God is so good to provide a theme as those in our community write, and listen to Him. Thanks for listening. Thanks for writing. Thanks for linking.~ Jen

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