Live Broadcast with ABN

Live Broadcast with ABN

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Quick update. Aramaic Broadcasting Network (ABN) invited me to participate in their “Jesus or Muhammad” Apologetics Series these past three days (November 27th – 29th). David Wood, Sam Shamoun and many others covered various topics. The three I participated in were:

1. “The Current Persecution of Christians in Iraq”
2. “The View of Women in Islam”
3. “Was Muhammad Foretold in the Bible?”

My husband grabbed a couple of short clips:

Correction to the Surah 61:6, “Ahmed” versus “Muhammad” section: It is the Hilali-Khan translation that inserts “Muhammad” for Ahmed. Yusuf Ali translates the name of the Apostle as “Ahmad,” Pickthall translates the name as “Praised One.”

A caller on the show said this is a mistranslation and misinterpretation by some Muslims. However, the verses following Surah 61:6 of the Qur’an have strong indication that this “Ahmad” is Muhammad:

Surah 61:6 – And remember, Jesus, the son of Mary, said: “O Children of Israel! I am the apostle of Allah (sent) to you, confirming the Law (which came) before me, and giving Glad Tidings of an Apostle to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad.” But when he came to them with Clear Signs, they said, “this is evident sorcery!”

Surah 61: 9 – It is He Who has sent His Apostle with Guidance and the Religion of Truth, that he may proclaim it over all religion, even though the Pagans may detest (it).

Surah 61:10 – O ye who believe! Shall I lead you to a bargain that will save you from a grievous Penalty?
Surah 61:11 – That ye believe in Allah and His Apostle, and that ye strive (your utmost) in the Cause of Allah, with your property and your persons: That will be best for you, if ye but knew!
If this passage from Surah 61: 6-11 is not referring to Muhammad as the messenger or apostle of Allah, then to whom is it referring? Now I see why the Hilali-Khan translation makes this connection between Ahmad and Muhammad. Otherwise, it appears as though you have another messenger or apostle of the Religion of Truth that you must believe in to save you from a grievous penalty in Islam other than “Allah and His Apostle,” the apostle mentioned by Jesus in Surah 61:6.

Thanks for your prayers and support for this vital ministry!

MJ

ETS/EPS Annual Meeting and Apologetics Conference

ETS/EPS Annual Meeting and Apologetics Conference

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I just returned from the annual Evangelical Theological Society and Evangelical Philosophical Society conference in Atlanta. I attended papers by William Lane Craig, Gary Habermas, JP Moreland, Alvin Plantinga, and Angus Menuge. I heard arguments against naturalism and materialism, saw the latest research on the Shroud of Turin, and heard a response to Graham Oppy on the argument from consciousness. I also attended a session at the Society of Biblical Literature on “Is Yahweh a Moral Monster?” This discussion was outstanding. It included New Zealander, Matthew Flannagan, Canadian, Randal Rauser, also, Paul Copan and Richard Hess. Paul’s new book, “Is God a Moral Monster?” on this subject will be released December 1, 2010, but can be pre-ordered at Amazon.com.

While I was attending the annual meeting for ETS/EPS, I also gave a presentation at the 9th annual EPS apologetics conference,

“Set Forth Your Case,” at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church. Johnson Ferry’s pastor, Bryant Wright, is the new president of the Southern Baptist Convention. It is so exciting to see the new president of the SBC hosting an apologetics conference!

This event was well-attended with at least 1000 to 1100 participants. My session, “The Redefining of ‘Faith’ and How Christians Can Respond,” was also very well-attended. The chapel was packed full of people who were ready to interact with the material! One very interesting comment came when I asked “Who cares if our society redefines faith as a lack of critical thinking or as opposed to evidence and reason? And why does it matter?”

Several folks responded with answers, but a lady in the front row said something I had not heard from an audience member before: it was offensive to her as a medical doctor–as a professional–for people to denigrate her reasoning skills in this manner. Usually, the audience members discuss how it can stifle conversations before they even get started or they discuss the impact on the Church. I responded, in agreement with the doctor’s statement, that this is ad hominem. I further discussed how ad hominem attacks seek to divide rather than to thoughtfully consider the issue.
One sweet moment came after my session when a gentleman brought his family back to meet my husband and me. He wanted his son to ask me some particular questions he’d been struggling through. Roger and I talked with the family for a while and interacted with both of their sons’ questions. It was a great reminder of why we do these conferences: to touch lives.
Finally, after all the ETS/EPS activities had wrapped up, I had the privilege of speaking at Roswell Street Baptist Church to their youth and college group on “Asking the Right Questions.” They asked me some hard questions on the problem of evil, on science and religion, on talking to people who believe in “fate,” and on talking to people

who don’t seem to care about the question of God.
After our session, Roger and I worshiped with their “Connections” service. They had a phone number on the big screen during worship that congregates could use to text questions concerning the sermon. At the end of the service, about four text questions were answered and then the rest were answered in the Q&A room. What a great idea! Our thanks go out to Roswell Street for hosting us on Sunday. We had a great experience there.
It was a wonderful week of learning, seeing old friends, making new friends, and encouraging the life of the mind! I hope to see even more of you in San Francisco at the annual conference next year.
MJ
Bryant Wright & William Lane Craig

Bryant Wright & William Lane Craig

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Pastor Bryant Wright (new President of the Southern Baptist Convention) talks with Dr. William Lane Craig about the upcoming Evangelical Philosophical Society Apologetics Conference. Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, Georgia will host. The dates of the conference are November 18th – 20th, 2010.

On Guard Apologetics Conference

On Guard Apologetics Conference

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November 5th & 6th

Friday: 7:00pm to 9:30pm

Saturday: 8:30am to 4:00pm

William Lane Craig, J.P. Moreland, Sean McDowell, Mike Licona, Craig Hazen, & Paul Nelson

Hosted by Denton Bible Church

Topics include:

  • Can you trust your Bible?
  • Did Jesus really rise from the dead?
  • Is evolution true?
Negeen & Mary Jo

Negeen & Mary Jo

Posted on by confidentchristianity@gmail.com

Negeen is a recent convert from Islam to Christianity. She is a Freshman in college and has a strong desire to learn as much as she can about Christian apologetics.

Mary Jo is the director of Confident Christianity Apologetics Ministry. Every dollar of this non profit apologetics ministry comes from individuals.

Can you help us fly Mary Jo to Dallas, help her with car rental expenses and purchase the conferences tickets for both her & Negeen? They’ll be in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area together for the event Friday & Saturday. Every $5, $10, $50 donation adds up quickly!

To learn more about the conference: http://www.brianauten.com/Apologetics/OnGuardConferenceBrochure.pdf

Dearborn Mayor on Anderson Cooper 360 show (CNN)

Dearborn Mayor on Anderson Cooper 360 show (CNN)

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The Dearborn Mayor made an appearance on Anderson Cooper’s 360 show yesterday to respond to comments made by Sharron Angle–who is running for Harry Reid’s seat in the Senate–about Sharia law in Dearborn, Michigan. In the course of his interview, Cooper played a very small portion of the YouTube video by Acts 17 Apologetics from the Arab International Festival last year (2009). Here’s the video:
A couple of major concerns that I have about this interview:
1) You can see that a woman (the voice) is being hit by male security guards. What I want to know is why neither Cooper or O’Reilly seem concerned that a woman is being hit in the video. Mayor O’Reilly has never expressed concern or care for the fact that the first time I attended his city’s major annual festival I was smacked around by the security guards. The guards did this while I was lawfully partaking of the festival. Yet here is another interview in which the mayor expresses his ill-regard for what he thinks about our motives. So the message the mayor appears to be implicitly sending is that if he disagrees with your reasons for being at his city’s festival–even if he doesn’t take the time to reasonably understand your motives (personally contacting the individuals involved would be a good place to start)–he does not concern himself when your safety is compromised. Not only this, but he apparently feels justified to publicly slander you. This is not a good message to send whether intended or unintended.
2) “This is not a city-sponsored event…it’s facilitated by the city because it’s in our town.” What is the mayor implying in this statement? Does he mean to say that he is not responsible if people get assaulted at the festival spanning fourteen blocks of his city?
3) “They suggest that Christians aren’t allowed at the festival.”
Nope. The video from last year, as well as follow-ups to the video, have all stated that we felt we weren’t allowed to freely ask a question at the Islam Q&A booth while videoing the interaction (due to the security guards); nothing like “Christians aren’t allowed at the festival.” We know Christians are allowed there, but we also know Christians weren’t allowed to walk around and hand out Christian literature (court decision for 2009, see here and follow-up here). We also felt that security was abusing the court decision against leaf-letting (relevant to the scene shown in the CNN clip). The Acts 17 guys have specifically countered O’Reilly’s statement above, but it just doesn’t seem to matter to him. Plus, this year, four Christians with Acts 17 were arrested for….? Remember, Mayor O’Reilly, the jury did not find them guilty of the cause of arrest. Isn’t that four false arrests? But in his original response letter to this incident, Mayor O’Reilly said, “They were not handing out flyers but were aggressively engaging passers-by in confrontational debate when they were arrested and cited for Breach of the Peace and Failure to Obey the Lawful Order of a Police Officer.” Well, the jury doesn’t agree with you, Mayor, that this incident was unlawful; and it was the video evidence (from 2010) that exonerated them.*
4) There was no apology for the false arrest of these law-abiding citizens in Dearborn. The mayor had a chance on national television to say, “It was unfortunate that these citizens were falsely arrested while at Dearborn’s festival. I’m doing everything I can to make sure all Americans feel welcome at the festival.”
5) Look at the differences here between 2009 and 2010:
  • In 2009, when three citizens are hit and threatened by the security guards at the festival, no one gets arrested…even though the raw video footage is right there at the time of the incident for police review.
  • In 2010, when four citizens are walking around videoing interaction with people who first approach them, all four get arrested…even though the raw video footage is right there at the time of the incident for police review.
The actions of the Dearborn police and city officials speak louder than the mayor’s words.
MJ
*It must be noted that the Failure to Obey charge was on one person, who was found guilty. However, since the jury established the defendant’s activity was lawful, there will be an appeal on this verdict, since the officer had no reason to arrest her.
** Also, please remember that Mayor O’Reilly does not represent all American citizens living in the Dearborn area. There are people in Dearborn who are concerned about what happened both years. This post is not meant as an attempt to slander the city of Dearborn, but to inform readers with a response to Mayor O’Reilly’s charges.
The Berkeley Mission

The Berkeley Mission

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This year, I have discovered an unique mission trip that Brett Kunkle of Stand to Reason offers for church youth groups. It is called “The Berkeley Mission.” See the video link below. Students are trained in apologetics, including logical thinking, and then taken to The University of California, Berkeley to hear opposing viewpoints by presenters. The presentations are followed by a question and answer session in which students get to interact with the opposing viewpoints. This follows with Stand to Reason Ministries approach of not isolating ourselves from the world as Christians, but rather of interacting with the arguments and learning how to think well. The students meet together at night and go over the presentations with Christian apologists. They also venture out onto the campus to interact with the college students about their beliefs.

Not only has this been life changing for the Christian students involved, but it has impacted the presenters, as well. Kunkle quotes David Fitzgerald of the San Francisco Atheists,
“Just wanted to send a quick note to say what a great time we had meeting you and your group yesterday. I was really knocked out by the quality of the questions everybody raised. Very refreshing…I was really impressed with your group.”
First of all, kudos to Brett Kunkle and J. Warner Wallace (PleaseConvinceMe.com) for pioneering such an incredible experience for students! Secondly, if you want to know more details about the program and the affect it had on the students, please check out Kunkle’s thoughts in “A Glimpse into the Berkeley Mission Experience.”
Watch the video at Conversant Life.com entitled, “Evangelism at Berkeley.”
MJ
Mary Jo’s Book Down To The Wire!

Mary Jo’s Book Down To The Wire!

Posted on by confidentchristianity@gmail.com

Fund Raising experts tell us that we need to be specific about our needs. Well, we need your support both in prayer and in donations. Mary Jo’s book is due to Kregel Publications January 2011. She is needing to focus in on writing it and having others edit. In order to focus, we need to raise quite a bit in support to cover the ministry needs over the next 3 months.

We are confident that you have seen how this ministry is essential and how it is impacting so many. Sometimes, it is simply getting the message out there at the appointed time.

Can you help us with a donation? $1,000? $500? $100? $25?

Click HERE to donate. (Your donation is tax deductible)

Roger

P.S. – Mary Jo is considering another debate for June 2011. Please commit this request to prayer.

Apologetics Conference 2010

Apologetics Conference 2010

Posted on by confidentchristianity@gmail.com

Marietta, Georgia
November 18th – 20th

“Set Forth Your Case: Equipping Christians for Discipleship and Evangelism”

Experience seasoned teaching by Alvin Plantinga, William Lane Craig, Gary Habermas, Greg Koukl, Randy Newman, Frank Beckwith, Craig Evans, Craig Blomberg, Mike Licona and over twenty other influencers in Christian apologetics as they equip you about the issues facing contemporary Christian witness.

I will be presenting “The Redefining of ‘Faith’ and how Christians can Respond” on Friday Night, November 19th from 8:35 – 9:30. Come find me and feel free to ask questions. Are you planning on going? Here is a link for more info: EPS

MJ