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Stephens Retreat Apologetics2009
Stephens Retreat Apologetics2009
A Paper
Presented to
Jayanthi Benjamin
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In Partial Fulfillment
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by
10 Echodale Ave.
Baldwinsville, NY 13027
December 2009
Introduction
I had the privilege of attending the Apologetics Institute 2009 (13-14 Nov
2009) conference hosted by the New Life Worship Center in Smithfield, RI.
This is the second year I have attended this event. Last year's conference
apologetics education into the church at all levels. The conference was
divided into four tracks. Since I was attending with a fellow church member I
thought it best to "divide and conquer" the various tracks. He chose the
church track while I attended the youth track. This made sense since I teach
and apologetics.
While most speakers may not have been as recognized as last year's
youth leaders - spoke on the various topics and shared their real
number of topics. I was blessed to learn Chuck Colson has devoted a good
portion of his energy into apologetics and weave it with current events within
Washington. Ravi Zacharias did not disappoint during his plenary with mind-
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stretching topics and feats of poetry recitation that left me humbled and
running to the bookshelf. Os Guinness rounded out the plenary trio with his
talk. Being an early influencer of Ravi's work made me want to listen intently
to his remarks. Having just finished a biography on the Guinness family and
their influence into social action and Christianity around the world made me
curricula for youth. While folks like Lee Strobel and Ravi Zacharias have
authored youth (and even kids) editions of their books, it is difficult to find
one thing but having it distilled into materials that can be picked up and
and share it with a few folks from the conference to see if we can 1) grow the
serves as a root path into the arts and sciences. Artists like Michaelangelo
and scientists like Newton saw their work closely connected to their
relationship with God. Colson continued to discuss how Christ is the logos,
the cause of sin and suffering, and finally our ultimate purpose.
breaks down in a relativistic society and leads to all sorts of problems. The
those odd nerdy fellows who sit in the back of church. All of us need to
is the idea unless one can use the five senses to detect an object and/or
prove its existence it is invalid. Scripture clearly states that God is a Spirit
Brett Kunkle hosted the first session of the youth track by using direct role
perspective, was the Trinity. He had difficulty with how three beings could be
one.
address his concerns. Brett played along and provided a number of classic
atheist objections in addition to the previous one. One feisty woman went
moral values, she contended, why not cheat your taxes, school, or your
spouse? This remark left Brett (playing the atheist) rather quiet.
After the role-playing Brett settled into providing real, practical help in
our children (Deut 6) in the ways of God. Apologetics can be taught to all age
groups and should probably be woven into all Sunday School curricula. While
the names and terminology will need to be repurposed, the concepts can still
be addressed to the young mind. Where mixed age groups are present he
encouraged leaders to address the youngest in the crowd in order to get the
most retention. Some older students might get a bit antsy but they can turn
and Ning are effective ways to reach youth. Developing solid relationships is
visual materials is also very effective along with role playing (as
to READ; school isn't the only place where youth should feel challenged
intellectually.
Christianity. Brett spent a fair amount of time on the topic of relativism and
the consequences of it. Statistics from Barna are showing that a minority of
youth believes in absolute truth. Huge gaps now exist in young minds on the
Os Guinness Plenary
apologetics within the church. His holistic approach to the topic started with
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a brief discussion of globalization. The world, because of various
Secondly, there is a spiritual war underway and has been for millennia.
Christians that are not accurate. Christians should combat these accusations
remain relevant in the coming decades. Her theological and spiritual identity
Pat Richardson gave a talk on the issues facing churches specifically in New
rest of the U.S. Minimally one could extrapolate the qualitative points safely.
New England was once positioned as a "city on a hill" for the remainder of
the nation with regard to theological thought. Unfortunately, liberal rot has
(inaccurately) to Christianity with the likes of Dan Brown and his series of
The impact of these factors has yielded the following observations. First,
sixty-five percent of Roman Catholics are pro-choice. Half of these folks are
camps.
with the realities he described. First, one should be careful to not bash
"keep the main thing the main thing". Reading through the Scriptures or
with just one other individual - that may lead to salvation or revival of the
is entirely valid. Forty authors over millennia composed this work with
Sex is a challenge for youth today. And it doesn't matter how often they go
$10 billion business. One million abortions are performed annually. This is a
result of an amoral society that has accepted the message of "free love"
Issues that present themselves include the boundary question. For the
Christian youth, how far is too far? Opinion and attitude often come into play
when this topic is discussed until the topic of fornication is brought up.
Unfortunately, rates of pre-marital sex inside and outside the church are
the topic of sex and youth. The first idea, naturally, is prayer. The youth in
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the church need this desperately. It is important for leaders to use a bit of
humor but push past the snickers and discomfort to confront the issues. One
should focus on being biblical and loving; using the Proverbs is an excellent
approach.
Dollar also cited, but did not necessarily endorse, a recent article from
position do not advocate for child marriage, they contend the following. First,
society has degraded the value of marriage severely; many couples choose
allow for "sowing one's oats" in their early years. Third, the optimal
reproductive years for couples is in their late teens or early twenties. The
idea of early marriage helps the young Christian avoid the sexual
Ravi's talk first outlined the decay of western thought throughout the
imago dei - are no longer accepted. Some have suggested that man is no
longer considered the highest living being on the planet. They have argued
are not uncommon within society today. An increase of fatherless homes will
lead to a fatherless world which has a negative impact on society. The lack of
Ravi rounded out his talk with a discussion of tactics Christians can use to
used the example of Paul from Acts 24 where he leveraged his opportunity of
the situation to deliver the content of the gospel. He also used his
Application
While this paper is longer than required I wrote it in order to fully reflect
writings to this very audience. However, I still struggle to find good Sunday
networking with the youth leaders from the New England conference via
or syllabus of topics that could be used at any age group with terminology
and content tailored for the particular audience. I am also planning to deliver
key elements of this paper to the youth group at our church. Additionally, I
will present this material to the local (Syracuse, NY) youth workers coalition