Great opposition, yes. I’ve been witnessing to another
friend for three years but can’t seem to get past her contention that God is a
bully and that I am a bigot because I am against same-sex marriage. No comment
that love the sinner and hate the sin made any impression so I dropped it in
deference to our long-term friendship. That said, I still subtly witness to
her.
A few years ago I was visiting a good friend who was selling
at a swap meet. There were no customers around so I did nothing to detract from
his selling effort. Then his partner came over and told me to get out even
though I haven’t said anything other than to complement him on how well their
area was organized. Once more this individual told me to get out of his area so
I left bemused. My friend didn’t stand up for me at the time but came over
later and apologetic. However, seemed that it was my fault his friend attacked
me because I talk about being a Christian. I pointed out that I haven’t said
anything but my friend said you don’t have to it just shows. I thought to
myself that wow I graduated and my light was recognized by evil.
The Road Runner
tactic as spelled out in " I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an
Atheist" by Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek deals with how to identify
and refute self-defeating statements. One example is when someone says
"There are no absolutes" respond with "Are you absolutely
sure?" A helpful tactic indeed.
Again what I want to learn from this course is how to be any
effective Christian apologist.
Ron adds clarity to the subject of salvation by stating that
man must understand the existence and character of God, the purpose and power
of the Bible and the person oh Jesus Christ, most importantly, is Jesus Christ
God? Then the zinger, "What is the nature of man?" His suggestion to
ask "What is your understanding" will be helpful in future witnessing
following a “decision tree” of yes or no questions.
The God of the mountain is also the God of the valley. I
found the reference to David going into the valley armed with only his
slingshot and five smooth stones to be inspiring. Of course by this time King
Saul had lost his anointing by God to the young David. The comparison between
David's Brothers mocking him and the criticism coming from other Christians was
interesting. In my case, my brother used to denigrate me, "how do I know
that is so." As I became more versed in Evidential Apologetics he no
longer does.
Like Satan, Goliath was armed to the teeth both with weapons
and defensive measures. And yet David's stone found just the right spot to
knock Goliath down. To wonderfully add insult to injury to Satan's minion,
David used Goliath's weapon to cut off his (Goliath's) head.
I’ve long since understood that it’s not my job to convict
someone, rather I share the good news and let the Holy Spirit do the convicting.
As to the question of why does God allow evil to exist, Dan’s answer because
“God allows us to live” most assuredly will be a conversation starter.
Very helpful is remembering Dan’s comment “When we witness
in the knowledge that the holy spirit is with us, we are indeed armed!”
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