Tag Archives: Youth

Podcasts

Brian Auten interviews Jim Wallace of Please Convince Me

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I spotted this on Apologetics 315. This is really well done.

The MP3 file is here. (43 minutes)

Details from Brian’s post:

Today’s interview is with Jim Wallace of PleaseConvinceMe.com and host of the PleaseConvinceMe Podcast. As a cold case detective, Jim brings a unique perspective to his approach to apologetics and a very down-to-earth logical style. In this interview, Jim talks about his approach to the evidence (inference to the best explanation), Tactics and apologetics, debate vs. dialogue, pitfalls to apologists, and more.

Topics:

  • Jim’s background as an Catholic-raised atheist, and cold-case detective
  • Jim believed in the progress of science to answer all the unresolved questions
  • How did Jim become an atheist?
  • Why didn’t Jim respond to Christians witnessing to him without evidence?
  • What approach worked to start him thinking about becoming a Christian?
  • What did Jim do to grow as a Christian?
  • How did Jim’s police training help him to investigate Christianity?
  • What investigative approach is used in his police work?
  • Does “abductive reasoning” also work for investigating Christianity?
  • What sort of activities did Jim get involved in in his community?
  • How Jim’s experience as a youth pastor convinced him of the value of apologetics
  • How young people learn best by training for engagement with opponents
  • How Jim takes his youth on mission trips to UC Berkeley to engage the students
  • Is it possible to run an apologetics ministry part-time while keeping a day job?
  • Do you have to be an expert in order to have an apologetics ministry?
  • What books would Jim recommend to beginning apologists?
  • How the popular apologist can have an even bigger impact than the scholar
  • How the tactical approach is different for debates and conversations
  • Jim’s advice for Christians who are interested in learning apologetics
  • How Christian apologist need to make sure they remain humble and open-minded
  • How your audience determines how much you need to know from study

Jim’s reason for becoming an atheist, (his mother was excluded from the Catholic church after her divorce), is one I have heard before. Without saying anything about the Catholic church’s policy. I like the way he eventually came back to Christianity. No big emotional crisis, just taking a sober second look at the evidence by himself, and talking with his Christian friends. I’m impressed with the way he has such a productive ministry, as well.

Events

Tuesday night webcast explores why young people are leaving the church

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Details here on Frank Turek’s blog.

Why are 75% of youth leaving the church after high school?
What can you do about it?

Get answers January 19th from Dr. Frank Turek, co-author of “I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist” and founder of CrossExamined.org. Frank will be joined by Josh McDowell, Dr. William Lane Craig, Dr. Bill Dembski, Dr. Mike Adams and others who will equip you the critical information you need keep yourself and your family firmly grounded in the truth.

Tuesday, January 19, 6:30-10 p.m. CENTRAL time: Live on 200 radio stations (http://action.afa.net/Radio/) and simulcast here: http://action.afa.net/Webcast/WebcastPlayer.aspx?id=2147491014

And in a later post more details: (there is a trailer in this post, too)

This Tuesday, January 19th I’ll be hosting a live radio and internet simulcast event called Church Dropout: Overcoming the Youth Exodus. The producers at the American Family Association tell me that this program will draw an audience of over 200,000 to hear and see evidence for Christianity. The program is intended to help reverse the trend that 75% of Christian youth leave the church after high school.

And that post also has speaker biographies:

We’ll start the evening with the man who is currently the best debater on our side, Dr. William Lane Craig (http://www.ReasonableFaith.org). Bill does scores of college events every year, and he provides great resources on his website. You need to hear Bill’s evidence for the existence of God– irrefutable!

We’ll then turn to one of the founding fathers of the Intelligent Design movement– Dr. Bill Dembski (http://www.designinference.com). Bill has two PhD’s, but he’ll show us very simply how life points to an intelligent designer, and how most of the so-called “evidence” for macroevolution is based on materialistic and counter-factual philosophical assumptions.

My third expert guest will be Dr. Mike Adams, a Christian professor on a secular campus (Yes, there are a few!) and one of the most popular conservative columnists on www.Townhall.com. Mike gets students motivated to make a difference for Christ! He will give us advice on how to prepare yourself (or your child) for the radically anti-Christian environment found on many college campuses (he’ll make you laugh too!).

We’ll then cap the show with one of my all-time heroes of apologetics– his books helped bring me to faith– the one and only Josh McDowell (www.Josh.org). Josh will give us very helpful insights on the importance of relationships to a young person’s faith. Josh is not only the most popular apologist but also the most passionate!

Here’s a little bit about Frank Turek:

Frank Turek is the founder and president of CrossExamined.org and its primary presenter. Frank is a dynamic speaker and award-winning author or coauthor of three books: I Don’t have Enough Faith to be an Atheist, Correct, Not Politically Correct and Legislating Morality. He hosts a TV program each week called I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist that is broadcast Monday nights at 8:30 pm Eastern on the NRB network, DirecTV Channel 378. CrossExamined with Frank Turek is a live call-in radio program that airs on 126 stations every Saturday morning at 11 am eastern time. Frank also writes a column for Townhall.com and has appeared on many TV and radio programs including: The O’Reilly Factor, Hannity and Colmes, Faith under Fire, Politically Incorrect, The Bible Answerman, and Focus on the Family. A former Aviator in the U.S. Navy, Frank has a Masters from George Washington University and a Doctorate in Apologetics from Southern Evangelical Seminary.

I am familiar with the work of all 5 of these guys. These are 5 of my favorite Christian in the whole world. If anyone can tell you directly why young people are leaving the church, it’s these guys. I hope you can tune in!

News

Unemployment for young Americans surges to record high of 52 percent

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Here’s a story from the New York Post. (H/T Gateway Pundit)

Excerpt:

“The unemployment rate for young Americans has exploded to 52.2 percent — a post-World War II high, according to the Labor Dept. — meaning millions of Americans are staring at the likelihood that their lifetime earning potential will be diminished and, combined with the predicted slow economic recovery, their transition into productive members of society could be put on hold for an extended period of time.”

“The number represents the flip-side to the Labor Dept.’s report that the employment rate of 16-to-24 year olds has eroded to 46.6 percent — the lowest ratio of working young Americans in that age group, including all but those in the military, since WWII.”

And they’ll have to pay for the trillions that Obama is adding to our national debt, too.

Remember, young people really liked Obama during the election:

I’m thinking that those young people should be more careful about considering a politician’s voting record instead of listening to their government-funded public school teachers. It seems to be that government-run public schools will always indoctrinate children to vote for bigger government, and that means higher unemployment in the private sector, especially for entry-level job-seekers. Maybe the young people didn’t think that far ahead, but then they should be more cautious about forming opinions without asking their parents for input.

You may also be interested in a wonderful video linked here that shows several prominent Democrats assuring us that the stimulus bill was needed to create millions of jobs and keep unemployment below 8%. They don’t understand economics – they’re Democrats. The know less about economics than my keyboard. If young people want to learn about economics, then they need to read Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams. Those are the two greatest living economists, and they teach economics so that regular people like me can understand.