Okay, so after two weeks of not doing my job, I am still doing a last-minute topic that was based on the timed write we took, but I hope it will teach us all an important lesson. In the prompts that Mrs. Fiechtner gave us there was one that really stood out to me and I think we can all apply this to ourselves. The prompt said that apologetics is mainly described as just a tool for discussions against non-believers and what else is apologetics used for besides that. For me, I think that not all of us, but some including me, think to ourselves that this class is something that we will never use beyond this class because we won’t be planning on getting in some heated discussions. So even if we don’t get in discussions with non-believers, there is such a benefit that we get from this class. Already in this short time that we’ve been in class there has been so much information that has been thrown our way and at times it can be very confusing. But since we are learning about how to defend our faith to all people, we are introduced to new concepts of Scripture that we can use to increase our own faith. This class is also a class of open discussion and I feel like we have to take advantage of that more. I think Dylan, Linnea, Morgan, Maddy and Avery do a great job of leading discussions and I feel like others should be encouraged to chime in on conversations. Discussion time gives us the ability to talk about things that we may not be all that confident in when it comes to our faith in God and it is good to get input from other people.
Apologetics is a class that can seem confusing and you wonder when you would ever use this, but it has a great purpose, but it might be a different purpose for different people. My hope for you all is that you will find your own purpose for taking this class and not think of it as a chore to walk into apologetics class, but to think as it as a new opportunity of growing closer to God in your journey of faith. In all, I guess what I’m trying to say is let the Holy Spirit guide you and listen to His commands and you will find your purpose in this class
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*Sigh* This week. What a week. I’m tired. Let’s just take a moment to thank God above that He gives us energy and strength to continue on, that He never ever gets tired. Because let’s be honest: He has a much harder job than all of us. He holds the universe in His hands, and yet He still has time to care for and love each and every single one of us. It’s crazy.
So. Holy Spirit. I like how we just completely changed topics for the week, just because we felt like it. I’m actually loving it though, because the Holy Spirit is one of my favorite people to talk about. I want to stray away, though, from the factual, academic analysis that we’ve been doing all week and share about some of my own experiences with Him. I think there’s no greater tool for evangelism and encouragement than a personal testimony, so here’s mine. Hopefully you can get something out of this. Eight-grade Dylan. Most of you didn’t know me then, and that was probably for the better. I was very excited though, because this was the first year that I could go to the high school summer camp at my church, which I had heard great things about. The games were fun, the team-building was good (even though we lost), and the meals were pretty excellent, for camp food anyway. But what stood out to me most were the chapel sessions. I don’t really remember most of them, and the one that I do remember I can only recall one part… but man, that night. The pastor’s name was JJ Vasquez, and I’m convinced that he is anointed by God for ministry. Throughout his entire message, I had felt the Holy Spirit move in my heart, a new kind of presence that made me feel apprehensive yet excited the whole time. He made the altar call, and said that he wanted to divide the room up on two sides. The right side was for people who needed deliverance, and the left side was for those who had dreams for the future. Nothing especially pressing was going on in my life, so I went over to the left side of the auditorium. He went to the right first, praying that the healing power of God would rest upon them, and that they would be free from any bondage or sin in their lives. As he finished, I again felt that nervous tug on my heart, like butterflies in my chest. He walked over to us, and this is what he said: “Tonight, I am believing that the Holy Spirit is in this place, and this is what I feel He is leading me to do. I’m not going to pray any special prayer over you, I’m not going to do some ritual or whatever… I’m just going to count to three. And when I say three, not by my power, but by the Holy Spirit’s… I believe He’s going to reveal some dreams for you guys. Are you ready?” I was. “One...” “Two…” “Three…” Immediately my eyes began to tingle. I haven’t experienced anything like it to this day. The Lord was giving me sight, new life through His Holy Spirit. I began to speak out in a new language, one that I couldn’t understand. It sounded like absolute gibberish to my ears, like a random string of syllables pulled out of a hat—but I knew what I was saying. The Holy Spirit was speaking through me: I was praising Him, I was loving Him, I was confessing of my sins and letting him change my heart. The tingling of my eyes and now of my hands continued, and I prayed in tongues continually. I prayed for what seemed like not long enough, in awe of the new language that I was speaking and just conversing with God. When it was all over, I talked to my pastor about my experience. I didn’t really understand what was going on—Pastor JJ said dreams, after all, so I was expecting some sort of vision or revelation from God, but he said, “No, Dylan. You have something greater. You just got filled with the Holy Spirit.” I can still speak in tongues to this day. I don’t like doing it in front of people, because I feel like it’s personal, just between me and God. But it’s real, it exists, and I believe the Holy Spirit has a gift equally as amazing if not better than that waiting for you. Mrs. Fiechtner talked about prophecy, Maddie said she has witnessed healing miracles—they’re all outlined in 1 Corinthians 12. My encouragement to you is to ask God to reveal them to you. And if you’re not filled with the Holy Spirit yet, what’s stopping you now? Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. He’s waiting for you. Ask him. —Dylan As I was thinking about the options I had to write about for this blog post I quickly determined that they were endless. I decided to choose the question that has been bouncing around my head since I was in first grade. In first grade I gave my little Muslim friend Ivan a packet about accepting Jesus into your heart (because apparently 6 year old Madison had deep philosophical talks about religion on the playground). The next day he told me that he read that packet, believes in Jesus and his mother threw away the packet. Guess who didn't get invited to Ivan's 7th birthday party? My big question ever since that day has been how does the rest of the world see us and what do they want to know? I watched a few videos and found a couple words that were repeated over and over again. Judgmental and perfect. Being a Christian I have a hard time seeing that in my own life but as I look at a Christian as a whole I can see all three of those things which is sad because the bible is a book about God expressing his love to us. 1 John 4:8 says, "whoever does not love God doesn't not know God because God is love." So the problem isn't with God it's with the people that represent God. Which is us. I looked up judgmental and perfection to see what the bible had to say about them. Judgmental Matthew 7:2 "For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Genesis 19:9 "Get out of our way, they replied. This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he gets to play judge! We'll treat you worse than them. They kept bringing pressure on lot and moved forward to break down the door." In these passages it talks about if you judge others then you will be judged by God, so basically if you don't have anything nice to say don't say it. In the passage from genesis is a bit out of context but I'll explain. Men from the city came to Lot's door knowing of Lot and demanded that he allow them to be sexually promiscuous with angels that appeared at his house. Lot refused but offered up his daughters, followed by verse 9. I think now a days people have some what of the same thinking process for example when a Christian does something sinful or doesn't exemplify Christ non-Christians are quick to point it out but evermore so when we have a biblical response but in all truthfulness it's worth it to plant a seed in someone's life even if your words aren't taken seriously or thought about at all in the moment. Perfect 2 Samuel 22:31 "As for God, his way is perfect: The LORD's word is flawless: he shields all who take refuge in him" Song of Solomon 22:11 "But my perfect dove, my perfect one is unique, the only daughter of her mother, the favorite of the one who bore her. The young women saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines praised her." I think this is the topic I can relate to the most because I too feel like I'm on another planet from other Christians that are seemingly perfect but in reality they aren't and are just as sinful as me. The 1st verse reminds us that the only true perfect one is Jesus. Even if we are seen as perfect is his eyes. I really like the second verse because it's Solomon talking about the woman he loves but I feel like that's the way God sees us, perfect and unique, the favorite and blessed. Watch the video below Since my topic is how the world sees us and what do they think about us I decided to watch some videos with real people talking about what they really think. This video is kind of wild to me because ever since 1st grade I thought people had a problem with Jesus which yes some people do but the general public seems to think he was an okay guy. But Christians are a whole other thing which still I can understand that but what does that say about us? What does that say about how we treat people and go about things? 1 John 4:8 says, "whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." I think this semester we need to take the time out of our day to love people and focus on others because I don't know about you but as the people who represent Christ on earth I do not want to look like a hateful group of people.
My challenge for you this semester is to do exactly that. Written By: Madison Moody |
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This blog serves as a collection of thoughts, journal entries, pictures, debates, transcribed conversations, and anything else that might help us, as well as others outside of the class, engage with the questions that arise during our apologetic explorations. Archives
March 2018
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