Everyday Opinions on Apologetics – Salesman
In our ongoing effort to understand how regular Christians respond to apologetics, we ask a salesman a series of questions about their experience with defending the faith.
Blog Post
Shalom & Change
In his book, Until Justice and Peace Embrace, Nicholas Wolterstorff asks, “Will the church, once it sees clearly that its calling is not to turn away from the social world but to work for its reformation, become an active agent of resistance to injustice and tyranny and deprivation?”
Guest Post: The myth of religious tolerance.
So why can’t we all just get along? I’m sure you’ve seen the “Coexist” bumper sticker before (see the image above): each of the letters are formed to represent a religious or other ideological view. The implication is that these ideologies have not been doing a good job of peacefully coexisting, and that world would be better if we all just got along. Is that a fair interpretation of the message being communicated here? Isn’t this also the message expressed by my friend?
We just made a tent.
So much is being said in the apologetic community right now about bi-vocational \”tent makers.\” I agree with the sentiment over all, even if I have my own thoughts about it that may be unique.
We\’ve been doing Tactical Faith for 3 years now and have worked with tons of speakers and lots of great people. We\’ve seen all the sides: full-time, academic and bi-vocational. And, it\’s no secret that these tent makers often go unnoticed, yet have fantastic things to say, and work to share with the church.
So, what does making a tent look like in the real world? Let me share a snapshot of Matt and Scott\’s schedule last week:
Building a framework.
I\’ve been watching the stream of the Defending the Faith conference all week. It\’s been super.
One thing that\’s caught my ear during the Q & A sessions is how many times the question is asked: \”How would you answer _____ objection.\”
Well, of course that type of question would be asked. It\’s an apologetics conference after all. But, it feels a tad bit simplistic to me. There\’s something missing from that type of question and I think I know what it is.
What I think\’s missing is summed up in what David Calhoun said in his talk: \”We should know something about those we minister to.\” And, the \”something\” we should know is what their belief system looks like.
The tent-maker question.
I\’ve grown to hate this question: \”What do you do for a living?\”
Why do I hate it? Because, it forces folks to paint such an inaccurate picture of themselves. I\’ve seen quite a few highly skilled and intelligent men and women get asked this question and simply wilt in response. They don\’t want to answer it because they feel it unfairly boils down who they are, and what they\’re capable of to simply what they do to earn money.
A single point of failure.
We started live streaming the Defending the Faith conference last night and things went well… until they didn\’t. Just a little while into the stream our Mi-Fi device decided to power off. That\’s very bad, since that device is the only link between the streaming computer and the internet. If it\’s down, it\’s all down.
Defending the Faith Conference
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary\’s annual Defending the Faith conference starts today. Tactical Faith has partnered with NOBTS this year to live stream the conference for those who cannot attend in person. The sessions begin with Doug Groothuis tonight at 7:00pm.
A busy start to 2014.
It\’s going to be a busy start to 2014 for Tactical Faith. In addition to pushing out the new website this past week, we\’ve got 3 events in the span of just a few weeks:
“Enemies” By Dennis Delcamp
I suppose we all have them in our lives. I am referring to people who make us cringe at the very thought of them. Oh yes, the reasons vary. Some inspire this response because of their shamelessly poor treatment of others. Some cause us to feel this way because of the deeply held beliefs that are polar opposites to our own. Perhaps they are a little to willing to speak with a cruel sense of disdain about everyone and everything we care for, or they may literally be guilty of violent and abusive acts against us. Regardless of why they cause our blood to boil, our skin to crawl, and our desire to be merciful to evaporate, Jesus has instructions for us.
