Though it is an unusually pleasant Colorado Springs morning outside my window today, I understand that in much of the country, that is not the case. Here are 5 apologetics videos and podcasts that you can have playing in the background as you do a puzzle, drink some hot chocolate, and avoid shoveling those sidewalks. It’s the perfect day to learn something new!
To be fair, I’m probably not the right person to be penning this post. In a given month, there are many days during which I “just can’t even” and don’t scrounge up sufficient motivation to accomplish much-needed tasks- mopping floors, raking the chicken run, and reading a book falls by the wayside. Cracking my Bible open begins to feel like a chore. That’s when I know the motivation needs to happen and the “can’t even” excuses need to end, and I suppose that’s why I’m writing this post: defending the faith is an active process, we’ve ALL been through a drought, and we can help each other out.
I can’t believe it’s been 4 years since we started blogging and producing books for Picture Book Apologetics! That’s crazy talk, since it feels like it can’t have been more than a year? Then again, in those 4 years, we’ve made 70 blog posts, started up Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts, and produced 5 children’s books (9 if you count the translated versions, and 11 if you count the 2 that will drop before the end of this year!). Not to mention the 2 children that have joined our family during that time. I suppose it really HAS been 4 years.
This summer, our church’s Sunday School program pulled together a curriculum for the K-5th grade students. They focused on God and science. Biologists, mathematicians, astronomers, nurses, and chemists from our church congregation presented lessons to the children each Sunday morning, accompanied by group experiments, worship songs, and more. The kids came alive with each presentation and excitedly discussed God and science in one breath. We could all see that something uniquely important had taken place this summer. God and science aren’t two opposed “things” to these children; they go hand in hand. It was a beautiful effort on the part of our teachers and members, and is one of the many reasons we’re thankful to presently be part of this church body.
Last week, I wrote about Natasha Crain’s forthcoming book, and as I composed that post, I asked one of my sons what they would say if a skeptic asked “How do you know God exists?”
He replied, “Let’s start with this, God made everything, right? But if people said He didn’t, it couldn’t just exist by itself! Only God can make everything by saying a word… and because He’s doing many miracles. (pause) And the Bible.”
At the time, I made a mental note of those points, in the hope that we could circle back and address them at a future date. Providentially, my son brought that conversation up today and rather confidently reasserted that a person who doesn’t believe God exists should just read the Bible.
While that is true, and that the Holy Spirit often brings people to a saving knowledge of God through the Word, my child’s smug tone called for some correction and guidance; So I became the skeptic.
Have you asked your kids “How do you know God exists?” lately? I’m not sure I’m brave enough to ask mine and share their answers here. I like to think my husband and I do a pretty good job of helping them think carefully about God… but we all know how kids have a way of humbling us. Often publicly. However, in the interest of encouraging you to continue/start talking with your kids about God, I’ll ask one of them and share their answer. Here we go.
There are some questions about the Christian faith that you’ve undoubtedly heard, wondered, and/or been asked. When the questions arose, it’s very likely that you either already had an answer, didn’t have an answer but felt confident you could find one, or were straight up stumped. All of us have been stumped at one time or another (or more frequently than that for some of us!) but it’s our response to being stumped that’s important. We either let our puzzlement fester into doubt or seek out an answer from respected sources. I hope you’ll always choose the latter!
Friends, we recently finished reading Why Does God Allow Evil? by Dr. Clay Jones. It’s the fantastic culminating work of decades of teaching and research. Buy it. Read it. The end.
I’m tempted to leave this as is and let that be the extent of our review. But, lest you still need convincing that this book belongs in your hands and on your shelf, I’ll say a bit more.
Is Jesus a myth? No. But that certainly doesn’t deter some people from claiming that he is. Thankfully, many theologians and apologists have responded to this assertion well. We’ve rounded up some great responses and videos that throttle and trash the claim that Jesus is not what Christians believe him to be.