Posted on Wednesday, December 2, 2009                                                     by Liza M

If someone were to ask you to explain Christianity and your own personal faith, would you know what to say? Would you be able to defend your beliefs in rational, intelligent manner?

These are questions that are important to ask yourself because sooner or later, you will run into opportunities to explain what you believe and you will need to know why you believe the way you do. Several years ago on the IPF message board, someone began a thread to ask me why I believed there was even a God or something to that effect. I remember being taken completely aback by the question because frankly, I had never had to defend the existence of God to anyone. Needless to say, I had no clue on how to answer or even where to begin looking for help in answering.

I remember quoting the Bible (from which verse I don’t remember) in a sincere yet weak attempt to answer that question. I also recall my explanation being ridiculed because I had used the Bible to prove there was a God who was the supposed author of the Book itself.

That situation as well as several others around that time really shook me up and made me realize there was a lot I did not know. This was the best thing that could have ever happened.

What I want you to know is that even if you feel without assurance to share your faith because you are confused about so much of it yourself, it is completely possible to get out of that rut and turn your confusion into confidence knowing that you are well equipped and “a worker that does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” as Paul tells Timothy in 2 Tim 2:15.

What is the first step in knowing? First of all read the Bible. Learn what it claims about creation, sin, salvation, judgment, etc. This way you at least can dispel myths about the Christian faith to others who don’t know much about it. As a side note it will also help you understand that the notions that all religions are true cannot be since they contradict each other on these important points.

Space is running out, but I quickly want to share another helpful pointer. That is to read books written by Christian apologists. A Christian apologist is someone who devotes him/herself to the rational defense of Christianity through the use of facts and reason.  Some well known apologists are Ravi Zacharias, Norman Geisler, Frank Turek, and John Ankerberg to name a few. One book that I highly recommend for the brave enough (kind of long) is I Don’t Have Enough Faith To Be an Atheist co-authored by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek.

While you may not be able to pick it up and read it, I will be sharing what I’ve learned from that book here on IPF next time. Until then, God bless and have a wonderful holiday season and a very merry Christmas!

   Posted on Wednesday, April 1, 2009                                                               by Liza B

Once upon a time there was a man who had a horse. One day the horse was stolen, so all his good neighbors came to empathize with him. While they were giving him their words of encouragement he said, “Well, we have yet to see of this is a good thing or a bad thing.” A few months later his horse returned with a mare who was now its companion.

As the neighbors learned of the news they all came to the man’s house to congratulate him on his good fortune of getting a new horse FREE! As they congratulated him, he wisely repeated, “We have yet to see of this is a good thing or a bad thing.” That same week his twenty-something year old son fell off the mare (which was the new horse) and broke his leg. Again all the neighbors came to empathize, but the man just said the very same words, “We have yet to see of this is a good thing or a bad thing.” The following week a war broke out in the country and all the village young men were drafted and died at war except for the one with the broken leg.

So what do you think? Was it a good thing or a bad thing?

I know this may be fictional story, but in the financially hard days ahead it is important to remember that when things look their gloomiest you may have just been set up for a wonderful opportunity, or you may have been protected you from something you’ll never know about until you get to heaven.

Remember what the Bible says:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  Romans 8:28