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Apologetics4all – Dr. Williams' Religion Blog

~ Respectfully giving reasons for faith – 1 Peter 3:15

Apologetics4all – Dr. Williams' Religion Blog

Tag Archives: Ratio Christi

Stopping the Exodus

31 Thursday Mar 2016

Posted by D. L. Williams in Campus Apologetics

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Tags

College Apologetics, Ratio Christi, Student Apologetics, Youth Retreats

You have heard dismal news.2016-stopping-the-exodus

  • 70 % of youth leave the church in college.

As we sound the alarm in our congregations, think of what the youth are thinking.

  • Is this the way it is supposed to be?
  • Will I make it through college with MY faith in tact?

Here is some good news:

  • The 70% exodus from church is overstated.

This research revealed that many of the 70% merely take a hiatus from regular church attendance during the college years. There are many factors which drive this. Some of which are good, not bad.

For instance, many students are very active in para-church ministries, which technically are not church, and would not be seen as regular church attendance. I have been involved with these students and these ministries for years at multiple campuses. The spiritual needs of these students are being met with regular worship, small group Bible study, discipleship groups, service projects, and Christian outreach. These students go on to more stable lives and return to church when jobs, marriages, and kids come along.

That is NOT to say that there is no exodus. There is. But it is not 70%.

Here is some better news:

  • We know the traits of those students who DON’T leave the church during the college years?
  1. They REALLY are Christians, and were not just in youth group for the pizza.
  2. They were equipped by their youth program, not just entertained.
  3. Their parents preached the gospel to them.

Here is some BETTER news.

Ratio Christi College Prep (RCCP) exists to train mentor youth leaders to run high school apologetics clubs within the church or school. The purpose of these clubs is to:

  1. Disciple the youth, helping them become confident in their Christian convictions.
  2. Equip the youth, helping them be comfortable in ANY conversation with ANY person about ANY topic related to the Christian faith.

Contact me to set up a training in your area. I’ll put you in contact with the RCCP Coordinator.

And for you in Huntsville, Texas, here is the BEST NEWS!

We are hosting a High School Retreat to:

  1. EQUIP your kids.
  2. ENCOURAGE their faith in Christ.
  3. ENABLE them to confidently meet future challenges.

Your youth will meet college mentors from SHSU who have NOT lost their faith in college. Instead, these college students have grown closer to the Lord through Bible study and through the study of Christian Apologetics – the Rational Defense of the Faith.

That’s what Ratio Christi is all about.

I sincerely hope you will support us by telling the youth in YOUR church to attend our High School Retreat on April 16, 2016.

All they have to do to sign up is text “@16retreat” to 81010.

The High School Retreat landing page is here.

God bless you and your youth.

-Darren

dw8

My Top Seven Apologetics Resources

13 Friday Feb 2015

Posted by D. L. Williams in Uncategorized

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Tags

Christian Apologetics, Ratio Christi, Student Apologetics

I spoke at CRU at SHSU’s meeting last Wednesday, and had a great time. Afterward, Shaneil came up to me and asked me what apologetics resources I would recommend. She followed up with an email so that I could put some thought to my answer.

Instead of merely answering this in an email to one person, I thought this would make an easy and broadly applicable blog post. So here goes…

  1. The poached egg is an “aggregation site” now associated with Ratio Christi that pulls together the blog posts of Christian Apologists world wide. (www.thepoachedegg.net )
    Scavenger Hunt topic: Where does the reference to a poached egg come from? It is in a famous book and the answer is on the web site.
  2. For doing research on famous apologists or even famous atheists, Brian Auten’s website is a one-stop shop. (www.apologetics315.com )
    Scavenger Hunt (riddle) topic: Why 315? You’ll feel silly when you figure this one out. I don’t think it is explicitly stated on Brian’s site because I think he thinks it is obvious. And as you get into apologetics, it IS obvious.
  3. For the best audio podcasts (and now video) on Christian Theology I go to Dr. William Lane Craig’s site Reasonable Faith. (http://www.reasonablefaith.org/ also available on iTunes) I say this is the best, not because I think his theology trumps that of other theologians. I say it is the best because Dr. Craig is so careful to present ALL theological views on a given passage or topic before telling you what HE thinks is the most reasonable view of the passage or topic.
  4. For the most encouraging messages for Christian living and apologetics, Ravi Zacharias is my encourager. In many ways he has been my Pastor for the past three years through his daily podcasts. I listen to him every morning on the way to work. His podcasts are on iTunes or can be downloaded directly from his web site (www.rzim.org )
  5. Anything written by Greg Koukl is a must-have. His book Tactics – A Game Plan for Sharing Your Christian Convictions has got to become required reading for any Christian interested in evangelism via apologetics. Often, a person is completely closed off from hearing the Gospel before their misconceptions about God, Christians, the Church, the Bible, etc are addressed in a caring and personal way. He also has topical newsletters which would be PERFECT for your small group. They are downloadable pdf’s. Find them at www.str.org or http://www.str.org/explore#&format=Article. Finally, Greg hosts a call in radio show for 3-hours every Tuesday. He posts a podcast of this radio show to iTunes on Wednesday of each week and I listen to these faithfully as well because of the excellent and wise way Greg handles the VERY difficult questions that callers ask him. (I wouldn’t know where to begin with some of these questions.) Greg Koukl’s podcast has enabled him to be my mentor from afar.
  6. Few people do live Q&A better than Frank Turek. His books are good. We are using his I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist curriculum with the junior high and high school kids in our church. But if you want short topical video content for a small group, see Frank’s video page (http://crossexamined.org/videos/ ). Scavenger Hunt 3 = see if you can find the videos that were shot in the LSC Theater on the SHSU campus, Fall 2014.
  7. If I have time or a particular interest I will listen to other podcasts like Justin Brierly’s Unbelievable, or the Lutheran Hour Ministries Issues Etc, or apologetics.com radio. These are all good, but personally can be hit or miss for my particular interest at the time.

I hope this list has provided you with some new resources. Let me know in the comments section if you use some of the same, or if you have some different suggestions.

-Darren Williams

30.714199 -95.548203

Newborns and new apologetics blogs

25 Monday Aug 2014

Posted by D. L. Williams in Uncategorized

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Tags

Christian Apologetics, Higher Education, Ratio Christi, Student Apologetics

This site is 10 minutes old and counting. As is the case with newborns, most of the beauty is in the eyes of the parents, family and friends. To everyone else, it is just another baby.

Berlin, Charité, Frauenklinik, Wöchnerinstation

However, this site’s content will be cross-posted on the Sam Houston State University’s Ratio Christi Chapter Blog. Head over there for a sampling of content that will show up here soon.

Why duplicate the posts?

WordPress sites get more traffic, have excellent analytics, and provide outstanding comment moderation tools.

Welcome aboard. Comment below on what topics you would like to see addressed, and subscribe to be alerted to new posts.

Veritas,

Darren

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