Episode 24E01a – How to Defend your Faith – Apologetics Session 1 (Part 1 of 4)
(Transcript from Dr. Kip Wehrman 01/07/2024)
Before we get started today, I want to start with a song that really captures our purpose.
I’m just a Nobody, trying to tell Everybody about Somebody who saved my soul.
Nobody by Casting Crowns (Video Link)
Let’s Pray.
Before we begin, I need to tell you there is nothing we are going to talk about that will convince a committed atheist to believe in God. Pascal put it best, “In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don’t.”
What he means is God will not override our will. If someone honestly wants to know about God, then God will provide them with exactly what they need to find Him. But if in your heart you don’t want there to be a God, then God will give you exactly what you need to avoid the obvious. Just enough shadow to hide God, as not to override your free will.
C.S. Lewis said this, “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done. ‘ All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. “
God loves us enough to allow us to make the choice. God or something else. We all choose, we have everything we need to make the choice. God loves us that much. The Bible says nothing can separate us from the love of God. That includes our bad decisions, it includes hell. God loves everyone even those that will spend eternity in hell.
I could not find the exact quote but John Bunyan wrote in Pilgrim’s Progress a prayer that asks God to give me peace with the choices of my loved ones. Meaning. They choose, and we pray that we can accept their choices even if it means they are going to Hell. We should never give up on them, keep trying but in the end be willing to accept their choices and trust God.
Many of you know me but you may not really know about me. I grew up in a sleepy little town in central Nebraska. I graduated with like 16 or 17 from high school. My hometown was so small the cows outnumbered the people many thousands to one. I was an athlete in high school and some of College.
I was on the football team at Nebraska.
The football stadium, Memorial Stadium in Lincoln holds 80 or 90 thousand people. My athletic career was short lived due to injuries. I graduated from Nebraska with a Chemical Engineering degree.
I went to Auburn University for my PhD in Chemical Engineering. I did research for NASA and other government agencies. I taught at Auburn. Then I became a safety consultant in the Oil & Gas industry for the last 25 years. I worked in like 50+ countries around the world. Every continent except Antarctica. I’ve made lots of money and lost lots of money. But I’m fully surrendered to God. Our family has been operating PUNLA Christian ministries for 8 years.
And I am the host a YouTube channel call @ the PUNLA CoffeeTable. And I don’t even drink coffee. Last year I went back to school and got a MA and ThD in Christian Apologetics from two different seminaries in 5 months. So that’s me, I have two doctorate degree but don’t call me doctor. I can’t cure any diseases. I’m just Kip. Okay
How many of you know what this is? (PIC) Yes, this is an Apollo Command capsule from the Apollo NASA Missions in the 1960’s. Specifically, this is an artist depiction of the Apollo 13 Spacecraft. The crew of Apollo 13 was Commander James Lovell, Command Module Pilot Thomas Mattingly, and Lunar Module Pilot Fred Haise. Just days before launch, Tom Mattingly is replaced by John Swigert. The actual spacecraft would have had the lunar module attached as it flew out of earth orbit toward the moon.
Somewhere between earth and the moon, something happened. Most of us know these words, “Houston we have a problem”. In fact, that is the movie version. His actual words were, “Houston, I believe we’ve had a problem here.” And yes they had had a problem. An oxygen tank had ruptured, damaging their spacecraft.
There are actual pictures available which show the external damage. If you don’t know the full story, please go check it out. It is an amazing story. They had problem after problem yet managed to slingshot around the moon and back to earth, survive a re-entry with a damaged heat shield. A miracle.
Houston, we have a problem!
Well let me say it this way. Church, we have a problem! For far too long, we, the church have allowed the culture around us to devolve. We have acted as if we are powerless against this slow decay around us. Wake up Christians. Church, we have a problem. We are failing in the task Jesus gave us. Go make and teach disciples. Not let it all fall apart around us. We are to impact the culture for Christ. We must stop ceding ground to the enemy and get back into the fight. Which is why I went back to school and why you are here.
I want to think about memorial stadium again. I would guess many of those attending the games would profess to being a Christian. Can you image if they actually all lived as Christ instructed us to in our culture. We would live in a much different place I would imagine.
This Seminar Series is titled “How to Defend your Faith.” As many of you may know I recently completed my doctorate of theology in Christian Apologetics. Apologetics is one of those disastrous seminary terms which simply means “defense.”
If you haven’t noticed the battle is waging out there. I was a Boy Scout or actually an Eagle Scout and our moto was “be prepared.” Church we need to get prepared. We need to understand how to answer the many questions and accusations that are thrown at us. If we don’t get prepared, then shame on us.
One of our missions at PUNLA Christian Ministries is to equip people to stand strong. Be prepared, the battle has already begun.
We must own our Faith. It is not enough to believe what you have been told. As followers of Jesus, we need to put effort into our faith. Which is why you are all here. There are a lot of critics out there who are eager to embarrass us or put doubts in our minds. There is no excuse not to be ready. It’s simple but that does not mean it won’t take effort. It won’t be easy. It is important to know why we believe and it is important to understand what a Church Tradition is and what is actually in the Bible.
This is the end of How to Defend your Faith Session 1: Apologetics (Part 1 of 4)
