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So a question from Lori, how 
do you explain to a die-hard non-believer how and why you 
believe God is real? A person who has read all sorts 
of books discrediting the truth of God. I would want to make 
a distinction between how I know personally, you know, within 
me, the subjective versus the objective content of Christianity. And I'd probably want to move 
the discussion more into the objective content of Christianity. Obviously, why I believe it's 
true is because God saved me, God changed my heart, God gave 
me faith and repentance. That's an experience the atheist 
doesn't have. And he hears that and he thinks, 
well, you know, that's all fine and well for you, but it does 
nothing in terms of, you know, his breaking down his resistance 
to the scripture. So, I think ultimately, when 
we discuss truth with an atheist, the idea is that we not convince 
him of our religious experience, but the truth content of Christianity. And I would say that one of the 
things that we do first is recognize the Apostle Paul in Romans 1 
argues from the effect or the creation to the Creator. In other 
words, Paul basically says when we look out in the world around 
us, it resonates that God made, that God created, that God is 
the one who put all these things into place. So, I would definitely 
use that tact with that particular person, try to preach or teach 
or tell him that there is a God who is responsible for everything 
that we see around us. And then based on that, then 
I would start leading into the realm of the categories of special 
revelation, you know, who Jesus is, what the purpose for Jesus' 
coming is. And I think that oftentimes, 
you know, atheists, if they've heard the gospel, it hasn't been, 
you know, a good, robust explanation. You know, in my experience dealing 
with irreligious or nonreligious people, And, you know, I've talked 
to them and they'll say things like, you know, I grew up in 
a church, I've been to church, and I never heard that before. 
Now, I'm not a PhD. I'm not the rocket scientist. 
That's not the point. The point is they're getting 
very shallow, vapid approaches to Christianity. And I think 
we're not doing ourselves any favors when we can't articulate 
the truth of what we believe. So, I want to move it out of 
the realm of my subjective belief in Jesus or God to the objective 
certainty of Christianity as it's revealed in Holy Scripture. 
Yeah, I think just piggybacking off of that, I think, you know, 
Paul does in Acts 17 and Acts 14, he does argue from the light 
of nature and the fact that all in him we live and move and have 
our being, but so we move from the realm of general revelation 
that there is a God, but then we go to show by way of special 
revelation who this God is and what he has done in Christ Jesus. The reality is only God can change 
their minds and hearts, but certainly we can reason from the light 
of nature and Scripture with them and hope and pray that He 
works in them. I would say, in light of the 
Acts 17 reference, you know, when you're talking to an atheist 
or somebody that is an avowed opponent of God and His gospel, 
never underestimate the ethical element. You know, oh, well, 
I've studied the truth of Christianity and I've realized that it's just 
fake, it's false. I've studied the philosophical 
systems of the world and I have determined, there can sound like 
an intellectualism and a healthy skepticism. Sometimes it's just 
ethical. Sometimes people love to sin. 
You know, when we look at Acts 17, what drove Paul to preach 
the way Paul preached at the Areopagus? Well, when he comes 
to Athens, it says that his spirit is provoked within him because 
the city was given over to idols. So, in his preaching, he doesn't 
leave that undealt with. He makes sure he hammers them 
on the fact that they were idolaters. You know, Peter preaching on 
the Day of Pentecost to Jerusalem sinners. This wasn't just a question 
of does Jesus check off the boxes as the Messiah promised in the 
Old Testament. No, he says in 236, this Jesus, 
whom you crucified, God has raised up. He's made him both Lord and 
Christ. So, the person that says, well, I'm an intellectual, I've 
got a PhD, and Christianity is just so much nonsense. Hey, what's 
your girlfriend's name? What kind of bank account have 
you comprised from theft? I'm not saying you necessarily 
challenge them in this way, but there's an ethical dimension. 
Man in sin doesn't come to the light, John 3. The darkness doesn't 
come to the light because it doesn't want its darkness exposed. You know, I don't say go ahead 
and hammer them on every sin they've ever thought, but realize 
there is an ethical dimension. It's not just intellectual. I 
disagree with the truth of Christianity. Yeah, but you've got a prejudice 
against it already because you love sin. Yeah. Obviously, Ray 
Comfort has the thousands of videos where he does this. He 
always starts with creation, right? Look at the wonder of 
the human eye and like, how could that have happened? That's right. 
And everything. And things like this table didn't 
exist without being created. That's right. This room, the 
studio didn't get created without some man thinking it and putting 
it together. That's right. And then he gets into, have you 
stolen? Have you lied? That's right. Have you hit the 
other woman with lust? Yeah, for sure. That's a good approach. 
Yeah. Yeah. But one final thing, though, 
is that, and I appreciate that approach, but I think that we're 
always looking for the approach. We always want the formula. Well, 
how do I speak? You know what? People are people. 
Everybody's got their own background. They've got their own present. 
They've got their own challenges, their own issues. So, you know, 
when we come to, you know, the defense of the faith or Christian 
apologetics, or when we come to, you know, these issues of 
what about this person? It's hard to pigeonhole that, 
you know? There's so many different things, 
and there's been so many approaches in Christian apologetics. Well, 
if you don't do it this way, you're not really doing it at 
all. If you don't come to it this way, then you're not doing 
it right. I just don't see it that way. 
I see, you know, flexibility. I see, you know, difference in 
the way that persons are treated and handled by persons in the 
New Testament. You know, the way that Jesus 
speaks to the religious leaders is a lot more stern and harsh 
than he speaks to the woman at the well. The Apostle Paul, as 
Mike said, Acts 14, Acts 17, he highlights the fact that God 
is Creator. Why is that? Because it's a Gentile 
or pagan or heathen audience that didn't have that concept 
of Yahweh as Creator. When he's in the synagogues, 
he usually isn't discoursing about creation. He's usually 
telling them that Jesus is the Messiah. So, this idea that evangelism 
and apologetics must always look like this I don't think it's 
helping anybody. I think it creates a burden, 
it creates pride on the part of those who do it that way, 
and it just, I think, keeps people from just talking to sinners. You know, in the final analysis, 
what's evangelism and what's apologetics? Talking to sinners, 
telling them the truth about God's holiness, their sinfulness, 
and the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. So, when we make 
it formulaic, or we make it a system, or we have this method, the method 
becomes more important than the sinner that we're talking to. 
You know, I want to evangelize, Pastor. Go out and tell somebody 
about Jesus. I want to defend the faith. Well, 
I'd say learn the faith well. I'd say that with evangelism. 
And then defend the faith. Just live. You'll get plenty 
of opportunities to evangelize and do apologetics. That seems 
to be Peter's emphasis in 1 Peter 3 where we get that word for 
defense. He says, be ready to give an answer for the faith 
when you're asked. The asking seems to be implied 
and the context seems to be when you're suffering and when you're 
going through it, you're not whining or grumbling or complaining, 
you're acting like Christ. in that moment, and Christ will 
give his people the strength they need in those moments to 
act in such a way. And then that can be the platform 
for which we then share the gospel with others. But that's something 
all can do. What has Christ done for me? That is the message of 
hope that seems to be in Christ, the gospel and its work in the 
life of the one who's speaking. And so, and even too, in Philippians 
2, how do we shine as lights? We don't grumble or complain. 
Right? We don't have to be jerks for Jesus. Unfortunately, I think 
I grumble and complain more than anybody. But certainly the life 
that we lead, while it's not the gospel, it's a platform for 
us to potentially share the gospel with fellow sinners. Yeah, and John 9, that man that 
was born blind that Jesus healed, and then he faces all that heat 
from the religious leaders. And I love that, you know, basically, 
and this is the Jim Butler paraphrase, I don't know what y'all are going 
on about, but I was blind and now I see. You know, if that's 
your testimony to some sinner that you meet on the subway, 
praise God. And of course, you tell them 
why now you see it's because of Jesus. I think we have a knack 
in the church to overly complicate things. We've got to have, you 
know, all these different structures in place. Just go talk to people 
about Jesus. That's okay. And yeah, again, 
we can't save people. And it's one conversation at 
a time, just putting a ton of pebble in their shoe. Something 
to think about. That's right. It's what happened 
with us. Yeah. Right.