Defend the Faith

“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…” (1 Peter 3:15, NIV)

There’s no doubt about it. Our Christian faith is under attack. In just a short span of time, we have faced bestsellers from Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code (who wrote that “almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false”) to Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion (who wrote that “when one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion”). What do we do? Ignore it and wait for it to blow over like the proverbial ostrich’s head in the sand? But there is no sign of waning. Instead the attacks are intensifying. What we can do is make the most of the opportunity.

“Opportunity?” you may be asking incredulously. Well, thanks to Brown, Dawkins and other skeptics who are churning out these attacks, sales of books that explore religion or spirituality grew by more than 50 per cent in the past three years (Source: Amazon.com) In fact, these attacks “also prompted a 120 per cent increase in sales of the Bible,” according to the online newspaper Guardian Unlimited. That means that “religion has become a pivotal topic in the early 21st century.” (Ibid)

That's why we praise God for the 300 pastors and workers who joined the FaithSearch’s Discover the Ah-ha! of Life seminar here in our church last Monday, November 12. Almost 70 joined the teacher training. One of the facilitators, Dr. Don Bierle, was our guest speaker in our English Worship Service the day before the seminar. Dr. Bierle holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in the life sciences and an M.A. in New Testament Studies. He is also an academic dean and college professor for nearly 25 years. He is skilled at communicating complex subjects in a clear, original, and fascinating way. May his tribe increase!

Brethren, let us “contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.” (Jude 3)