Apologetics and Evidence

            “The beehive is a good example of how different individuals can work together for one common goal. There is very little time to bicker when each bee’s contribution is necessary for survival. When each different group makes its contribution, the hive is strong” (Arnold and Black n. pag.).  It seems that this analogy draws the best picture as to why small groups should form in the first place—for one common goal. This common goal, since we are speaking of Christian small groups, should normally be focused on everyday life situations (such as apologetics, evangelism, philosophy, discipleship, divorce, serving, love, compassion, community, frustration, anxiety, theology, transparency, sex, addictions, etc.), and how the Bible and theology should be applied to these life situations. Small groups, it could be argued in any generation, should have an apologetic bent to them in order to build up new believers, and to encourage mature beli...

I am often confronted with many arguments for the idea that women should be in pastoral leadership. I hear that many women were leaders in the Bible from Deborah, to Anna, to Lydia, and I think we should look at each of these. It seems that the first thing we have to look at is what do we mean by leadership ? I think the question points to eldership (overseer). In other words, can a woman be an elder in the church? A pastor is an elder by office, and therefore, the question is ultimately, should a woman be a pastor (overseer) in the church? This is the question that this article ultimately seeks to answer. It seems that this is a good place for us to see what the scriptures say about women in leadership and then discuss them in turn. Following this examination of scriptures, I will list several arguments concerning the biblical stance, some in regard to the biblical female characters already mentioned. But first, let's look at how the family unit is supposed to operate. Let us ...

Finally. Mormons are admitting to the polygamous lifestyle of their founder, Joseph Smith. According to the NY Times, some of the members’ reaction to the news is very disturbing, revealing a loss of hope ( http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/11/us/its-official-mormon-founder-had-up-to-40-wives.html?smid=fb-share ). The “transparency” of the LDS in this case might just be the straw that broke the camels’ back for many Mormons across the globe. For many of the members of the LDS, they were unaware of the polygamous status that Smith had. It seems that the LDS has covered this up—well—from their members for several decades. Because of this, there are definitely a few questions that this “transparency” of the LDS will create. For one thing, what else will they admit about their history? Will they admit that Joseph Smith made up the language of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics? Will they admit that the wars in the Book of Mormon never took place since there is no real evidence archaeolog...

                 I, like many, like to do things my way . But God seems to sometimes allow a person to get into situations in order to teach them. This is something that we, as apologists and evangelists should invite. This can be hard, especially early on in his career, but it is good.  Redesign:                 The Holy Spirit teaches me that I must not only do things His way, or the way of others, but that I must not necessarily do things MY way. We must take the Spirits lead, and we understand His leading through the lens of the Word of God: The Bible says, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures...   You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world become...