A Word from the Pastor
The Year Ahead
There are several things I hope to
accomplish or see happen this year.
One
thing is a study of Apologetics. A few weeks ago, Glenn Carron asked
me about Apologetics. He wanted to know more about it. The word comes
from the Greek word apologia, which means “defense”
or “answer.” When it comes to spiritual matters like God
and faith, there are many questions that some believe it impossible
to answer. They reason, “There is no way to know,” or
they simply conclude, “There is no God.” This year, I am
going to include on this page a monthly study on Defending Your
Faith In God. It will be reasonably simple. I hope it will help
you better understand your own faith, and give you some simple tools
for sharing that faith with others.
A
second thing I want to accomplish this year is to focus my ministry
and preaching on Recognizing and Reflecting the Greatness of Jesus
Christ. When we truly know the historical Jesus and the Light he
brings into the world, we tend to be a reflection. We become more
like him, and those around us begin to see him in us. Hopefully,
those who are not saved will be able to come to a saving knowledge of
him through us. The goal is stated in Ephesians 4:13: that we may
“all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of
the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature
of the fullness of Christ.” We will aim for that this year.
A third
thing I want to do this year is to conduct a Living in Christ
Seminar. I had scheduled it for Saturday, January 2, 2010. That now
seems to be a bad date (Da!). I am rescheduling it for Saturday,
January 16, 2010. More information will be coming.
The
final thing I would like to see happen this year is to begin the
initial door-to-door survey in the Shannon Hill area of Louisa County
to see if there is interest there to begin a new work, that could
possibly lead to a new church plant.
These
things I would like to see happen in 2010. They may all happen. Or
some of them may happen. But whatever the year does bring, I know it
will be an exciting year. I hope you will pray that God will lead our
church into His good and perfect and acceptable will in 2010, and
that you will join us as we go forward to serve Him.
DEFENDING YOUR FAITH IN GOD
This
section contains a defense of the Christian faith.
Keep
these monthly notes for reference or use in sharing with others.
(First
in the series)
Many of
you who know me and have heard my life-story, know that my early
years were spent believing there was no God. I based that belief on
the experiences of growing up with an alcoholic and abusive father,
and on the assumption that if there were a God, He wouldn’t let
things like that happen. My response was to just put it all out of my
mind and live life the way I wanted to. It was a convenient way to
live without accountability.
However, to say as I did, “I know there is no
God” was somewhat arrogant, especially considering the amount
of knowledge I had. When you consider the combined knowledge of all
people who exist today, along with all the knowledge of those who
have existed in the past. That amounts to quite a bit. And if you add
to that all the future knowledge that can be known but is not yet
known (like the next technological breakthrough or the cure for all
cancer), the knowledge I had was pretty small. It still is!
Look at
the illustration where the circle represents all accumulated
knowledge now and in the future. With my little knowledge, for me to
say “There is no God” was presumptuous to say the least.
Unless a person knows everything there is to know and can ever be
known, how can the person honestly say, “I know there is
no God”?
Knowledge
is not just objective. It is not just about people and things.
Knowledge includes thoughts and feelings. It can be subjective as
well as objective, spiritual as well as physical. Until a person
knows everything, he or she cannot honestly say, “I know
there is no God.” How can you know something doesn’t
exist if you don’t know everything?
The
first step for anyone who claims they know there is no God is to
acknowledge that they do not know everything, and to at least accept
the fact that it is possible that God could be part of the knowledge
they have yet to learn. If that is true, it should at least encourage
them to consider the evidence for God’s existence. If not, they
should at least begin to say, “I just don’t know,”
and honestly admit they don’t want to know.
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