What matters most — whether we are beginning our conversations with Adam and the origins of humanity, with America and the birthing of a nation, or with the civil rights movement and the history of the fight for racial justice — is that we bring Christ into every moment of human history and every point of human concern. 30
Our willingness to embrace the realities of our neighbor’s difficulty is what empowers our witness and makes our testimony of Christ effective and hearable. 34
Far too many of our churches have become hideouts instead of training centers designed to equip Christians so that they can face the world. Apathy is defeated and believers are inspired whenever they live on the front lines for their faith. 41
Most people enjoy discussing their opinions, interests, and convictions when asked in a respectful and inquisitive manner. 48
Christians must reject any system of morality that is built upon the false assumption that people are basically good . . . . There is an optical effect to sin: it causes us to be farsighted when it comes to our own selfish desires and nearsighted when it comes to the delayed gratification associated with obeying God. Only in Christ can we see our situations accurately. 56-57
By objectively following the Lord’s judgments, humanity is freed from the moral conflicts that arise as a result of our self - centeredness. 60
They have successfully pitted the protection of babies against the liberation of women and a woman’s right to choose, creating what is perhaps the greatest moral tension our nation has seen since slavery. 64
Love that does not include the mother falls short of the Christian vision and is dangerously hypocritical. 73
To summarize Jesus’ view, biblically defined marriage is the only permissible format for sexual expression. Anything outside of this construct is sinful and unacceptable to God. 89
Regnerus discovered that children of gay parents are nearly 4 times more likely to receive public assistance, 2 times less likely to have a full - time job, 3.5 times more likely to be unemployed, over 3 times more likely to have had an affair while married, 12 times more likely to have been sexually abused by a parent or adult, and nearly 4 times more likely to have been raped than the children raised in heterosexual, intact, biological families. 92
Our children are falling away because we are asking the church to do what God designed the family to accomplish. Discipleship and multi - generational faithfulness begins and ends at home . . . . They need to see parents who are so committed to raising championship children that they put themselves into strict training on how to disciple good and godly kids. 100, 104
In a time when biblical preaching is shunned by many and lifestyle evangelism apart from gospel proclamation is the preferred evangelistic methodology, we are in danger of trying to win people through kind acts and social service alone. But the example of the apostles and earliest followers of Jesus contradicts this sort of approach. 105
There are four major uncertainties about life that the various faiths strive to address:
Is there a God, and if so, what is He like?
What does it mean to be human — what is the nature of a human being?
What is the problem with the world — why are things so messed up?
What is the solution? 112
The NT is by far the best - attested work of Greek and Latin literature from the ancient world.”117
Either God exists and, therefore, good and bad can be defined objectively, or He doesn’t exist and we have no way of claiming anything is bad or wrong. But they can’t have it both ways. 125
The other central fault with the problem of evil argument is that it assumes that human beings have full knowledge of all the outcomes of a particular act. In other words, the only way for us to know if something is truly evil is if we can know with certainty that no greater good came from the act. If a greater good did come from the act, though painful, then it can no longer be viewed as evil. 125 The real question that we must wrestle with is, why are human beings moral in the first place? 128
When one examines how the world looks whenever Christian ethics are properly applied, the evidence is clear that divine imperatives are far superior to social contracts and subjective emotionalism. 128
In his commentary on Isaiah 58, Calvin writes,” Uprightness and righteousness are divided into two parts; first, that we should injure nobody; and secondly, that we should bestow our wealth and abundance on the poor and needy. And these two ought to be joined together; for it is not enough to abstain from acts of injustice, if thou refuse thy assistance to the needy.”132
Apologists should have calluses on their brains from thinking, on their hands from serving, and on their knees from praying. 150
DEFINITIONS
A practical definition of ethics is the study of how we determine good from bad as well as how to apply our knowledge of the good to our daily actions. 52
Relativism, for example, is mostly defined by its stance against the concepts of absolute truth and universal morality, which is the belief that there are certain actions that are always right and certain behaviors that are always wrong. 54
Postmodernism, on the other hand, is a rebuke against the Enlightenment’s (1700 to 1850) belief that there is an overarching narrative that governs all reality (i.e., science or religion). 55
Our cosmology is our belief on how the world has been created and the practical principles that should impact the way we live as a result of these beliefs. 141
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