Loving Your God with All Your Mind: Part 1 :: By James Pannafino

How are we to develop and build a reasonable faith?…

For example… Jesus’ resurrection? Should our faith be based on objective, historical facts, or should our beliefs merely be a matter of ‘faith’ alone?

Is objective truth relevant to authentic Christianity…

Though this question is quite simple, it holds some profound implications in our postmodern world of today.

• The reality is that Christianity no longer enjoys the cultural acceptability it once did.
• In past generations, we could reasonably assume that most people had been exposed to Christianity; even if they rejected it, they understood what it was.
• The times have changed in this generation! Many Americans live in willful rejection and defiance of our Christian heritage.

Many people today are overwhelmed with a multitude of confusing ideologies, philosophies, and competing world views…

• What makes the marketplace of ideas more challenging than ever is that today the very concept of truth is often rejected.
• The assumed position among the ‘enlightened’ is pluralism, which is not just the awareness of multiple options, but the assumption that all views are equally true.

John 8:31-32 “Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’”

Many people now believe that we actually make our own truth (i.e., moral relativism) …

• Truth is often seen as purely subjective and relative to each person.
• We are demanded by our culture to be ‘tolerant’ of every perspective (with the exclusion of one worldview, historic Christianity).

The need for apologetics has never been greater, and our mandate remains…

1 Peter 3:15 “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”

• The word translated “answer” comes from the Greek word ‘apologia.’

We are each commanded to prepare to give a defense for the Christian faith…

Considering the competitive nature of the marketplace of ideas, it seems that few Christians are adequately prepared to defend their faith.

• It is much easier and more pleasant to stay within the church walls, feeling good about ourselves (i.e., buildings, programs, achievements, etc.).
• Many in our churches have apparently believed we can ignore this battle that rages throughout our culture.
• But our youth grow up, go to college, and enter the marketplace of ideas, and the intellectual war for their minds pursues them, so, have we prepared them?

Research indicates that up to 80% of our ‘evangelical’ church kids lose their faith in college. What happened in our churches and youth groups to allow for this tragic truth?

• By way of analogy, what nation would willingly take 80% casualties in a war?
• If we don’t train and equip ourselves in apologetics (a reasonable defense of our faith), we will continue to suffer massive casualties, and lives will be eternally lost.

We have an abundance of effective apologetic resources available for the building of our faith as we learn to love the Lord with all our mind…

But, as with theology, many Christians in the pew don’t make the effort to equip and prepare themselves for active ministry in the real world.

• Why is this the case? Lack of time, too many distractions, laziness, apathy, maybe just a cold heart?
• It should be the greatest desire of every true Christian to fully experience the power, love and joy of the Lord, with nothing less than personal revival in our faith journey.

Learning to grow and defend your faith is essential…

One of God’s greatest gifts to mankind is the human mind, our capacity to think and communicate ideas.

• The ideas of our mind will result in consequences in our life, as well as the life of others!

https://perspectiveinprophecy.com

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