Apologetics

I've been hearing the word Apologetics thrown around more and more in the church these days. To tell you the truth I really didn't know what it meant and then when I found out, it still seemed foreign to me. I've been hearing all of these Christian Pastors and teachers and musical artists saying things like "I know what I believe but I just needed to figure out why I believe it" This statement simply amazes me, and it amazes me because of this simple fact. How can anyone who truly feels Christ living inside of them, the Holy spirit bursting within them, the power of the almighty God transforming them really ask the question "Why do I believe this"?

My Grandfather is a Baptist minister. And he is of the old school of thought when it comes to worship and healing and so forth. No matter how much you argue with him, no matter how many scripture you show him, no matter how many logical reasoning's put forth to him, he will never change his mind on these matters. It's the same thing with people like the Jehovah's witnesses who don't believe that Jesus was God in the flesh. You can argue with them until you are blue in the face and put forth all of the scriptural evidence in the world and they still will not change their minds. Now, these two examples I've just given you are of two groups of people who believe in the Bible, if it's that hard to convince Bible believing people of the Biblical truths using logic and scriptures then how much more difficult will it be to try to convince an atheist? Apologetics tries to convince people that the Christian way is the right way by showing them logical reasons for believing. Many Christians study apologetics to firm up their own beliefs so that when questioned by an unbeliever "Why do you believe?" they will have the logical answers. But this entire line of thinking seems completely contradictory to the Christian faith as I know it. As a Christian, Christianity is very logical to me, BUT I didn't come to believe in Christ because of logic. It didn't become logical to me until I believed, because until you believe, Christ is not living in you. When Christ comes in, then it all comes together, it's all logical. But to try to then turn around and use that logical knowledge given by the entrance of Christ in your life to try to persuade an unbeliever, is simply folly. Because like you, the unbeliever will need Christ to make Christianity logical. How then are we to witness to the unbelievers? First I'm going to make a statement that might not go over very well at first but stick with me here. I do not believe in Jesus because of the accounts of Him in the Bible. I don't believe that He was the son of God/God in the flesh because the Bible says so. I believe these things not because of the writings in the Bible, but simply because Christ makes me believe them. I don’t believe in Christ because of the Bible, I believe the Bible because of Christ. I don't have to read books about why I believe, I don't have to study and pray to come up with the answers, because the answer is very simple, I believe because Christ makes me believe. If an unbeliever asked me why I believe in Christ I wouldn't go into some long philosophical speech filled with logic and scriptures, I would simply say that not one second goes by that Jesus doesn't prove to me who He is, not a second goes by that He doesn't show me Himself, not a second goes by that I don't feel the almighty God living in me. To share the feeling of having God living in you is the most powerful witness of all. And as for those people like my Baptist Grandfather and the Jehovah's Witnesses who are both more concerned with tradition rather than Biblical truth, when they ask you why you believe what you believe, say..."I believe because I share a life with God, Gods spirit reveals His will to me, God's power flows through me. And every second of every day He never fails to prove Himself to me.... Why do you believe?"

What Is Christianity?

What Is Christianity?

What exactly is Christianity? How does one accurately describe it? Some will describe it as a religion; still others will say it's a philosophy or a lifestyle choice. Personally I wouldn't apply any of these labels to it. All of these labels that we give it all have something in common, they are all based on the person doing certain things to achieve "Spirituality" For example, the meaning of the original word for Religion is - a series of ritualistic and outward acts to achieve a higher level. A religious person asks the questions "What can I do to be more spiritual?" - "How can I be more like God?" - "What can I do to change my behavior?" - "How can I please God?" Do you notice a trend in these statements? The "I' in these questions is the difference in being a Christian and being religious. The religious man tries to shape his own life by performing acts and rituals to make himself a better person. The focus is still on himself, only with the pretense that it's about doing the will of God. How Hypocritical. The true Christian man [or spiritual man] doesn't ask the same questions as the religious man. For he realizes that there is nothing that "I" can do to change my life. There are no good deeds I can do or no seemingly spiritual acts that I can perform to gain favor with God. There is nothing we can do because of the simple fact that we as born again Christians are dead. Yes, God placed us on that cross with Christ and just as all of humanity fell by the act of one man, so to was all judgment on humanity carried out through one man put to death on a cross. So the questions of the religious man are spiritually flawed for the "I" is no more, it is dead. You are dead, I am dead. If I am dead then why am I still living and breathing you may ask. As Paul so eloquently put it "It is no longer I who lives but Christ who lives in me" You see, the question is no longer "How can I be more like God?" or "How can I change?" or "How can I please God?" Since you where killed with Christ and also raised with Him with a new life, a life that He lives through you, you no longer have to ask these questions, all you need is the realization of your own death in Christ to understand fully His power over your life. Once this is attained then you become more like God because He controls you and makes you more like Himself, you please God because He lives through you, you are more spiritual because His spirit flows through you, you change because He changes you. The "I" is gone and the focus is where it belongs, On God. Christianity really is not a religion, it's not a philosophy, it's not a lifestyle choice, it's God moving in His children and shaping them into His image. When we try to humanize it and label it that is when the process of God is aborted. The result is a shallow and powerless "Religion"