Apprentice Owl Apologetics

                I think I have covered this type of question in passing, but people seem to think that apologetics and evangelism are miles apart when it comes to their disciplines and how they relate to Christian ministry. In fact, I think they are two sides of the same coin. I believe that in today’s culture, with the demand for sources for everything that we assert, that apologetics needs to be woven seamlessly into evangelism and vice versa.                 First, I would like to set my views on evangelism and apologetics. From what I seem to understand, evangelism is the spread of the gospel through our own personal testimonies and speaking from scripture. Apologetics comes from the greek word apologia, a legal term meaning “to give a defense”. This means that Christian apologists use evidence to give a defense for our faith, in obedience to 1 Peter 3:15.                 My problems with evangelism and apologetics are these. In my experience, apologists can fall into the trap

                I have recently, and have before, found myself falling into despair. Not because of my life being bad, it has never been better, but because of my own realization that this is temporary, and I have no idea what comes next. I am afraid of a question, what if there is nothing after? As a Christian, I know the answer that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, and that we will be given new physical bodies in the New Jerusalem. Yet I worry still about the future. God has given us many commands to not be afraid, but here I am as a human. When this fear and panic hits me, I hit my knees and pray to God for peace. I read the Bible and hear his words and his promises.                 I realize in scripture that I am not the only one to have this agony. We can see this in the books of Job and Ecclesiastes. Solomon despaired of his life, and had found it all meaningless in that book. He concluded that even if it is all meaningless, we should rejoice in our

                Jesus even said that the crop is ready, but the workers are few (Matthew 9:37). In my church that my wife and I attend has a sign as you leave the sanctuary “You are now entering your mission field.” We all are called to go and make disciples, so are you working on that mission? I try to work in the large and potentially hostile field of the internet, and maybe you do too. I also try and work in the real world where I can physically show the love that God has for his people. I admit that I don’t always do this, but I am convicted to try and do more. We as a church have gotten lax, at least in the United States, but I think this current social and political climate have gotten people stirring from their metaphorical chairs. We need to keep the love of Christ in mind though and be prepared to add to the discussions with love and respect (1 Peter 3:15). We may also see the church fall from it’s social majority position for the first time since the founding of the United S