Mary Jo Sharp stopped by The Alisa Childers podcast to talk about her conversion to Christianity from atheism, and some of the obstacles she encountered in the church. She also tells us about her new book, Why I Still Believe. Check out #58 A Former Atheist and the Bad Reputation Some Christians Give a Good God: With Mary Jo Sharp or watch below!
Mary Jo Sharp interview with Timothy Paul Jones from Three Chords and The Truth Podcast.
Mary Jo joined Jana Harmon for The Side B Podcast. You can listen to their interview here.
The SIDE B Podcast is a story-driven apologetics forum that helps listeners understand why and how people are pushed away or drawn towards God and Christianity, to ‘listen to the other side’ in a practical, conversational way.
Interviewing one former atheist each show, SIDE B Podcast encourages both Christians and non-believers to listen to the stories and views of former atheists and learn their reasons for rejecting God, becoming open towards God, and eventually becoming a Christian.
In a culture that readily dismisses Christianity as not plausible and not attractive, SIDE B Podcast shows how and why thoughtful, intelligent people can and do move from disbelief to belief.
Mary Jo was a guest on the That Makes Total Sense Podcast with Alexis Busetti. Check out Episode 64 where Mary Jo and Alexis discuss her book Why I Still Believe. Mary Jo shares about when she experienced hypocrisy in the Church and how that impacted her budding faith. Hear her explain how she felt her faith was getting trampled by those who were supposed to be helping her see Jesus clearly and how that has propelled her to where she is now.
Mary Jo spoke with Jennifer Rothschild for 4:13 Podcast. Check out Episode #112: Can I Have Doubt and Faith At the Same Time? With Mary Jo Sharp
You’ll hear a candid and approachable case for believing in God when you really want to walk away. It’s both logical and loving. So, if you, or somebody you know, is struggling with faith and doubt, this episode of the 4:13 Podcast is for you! Keep reading to learn about the 3 Practical Ways to Have Faith When You Feel Doubt
Mary Jo was pleased to sit down with Josh Ahrens, director of Israel Collective for a podcast interview. Mary Jo, Roger and Josh traveled with others to Israel together several years ago and have been friends ever since. Listen to their podcast conversation here.
To create a community that walks out the teachings of Jesus by asking how we can love Israelis and Palestinians in a way that makes God smile. As His followers, we are called to take a different path, to love others as He loved them, and to bring joy and life to our brothers and sisters in the Holy Land. This means cultivating living friendships based on love, truth and respect, and enabling our fellow Christians around the world to do the same.
Mary Jo’s latest article just published over at SOLAS. Here’s a preview:
In thinking back to when I was not a Christian, I often felt a sense of indignation when people would cheat on their exams or when some jerk would bully a kid in my class. Watching the news at night, I’d respond with disgust when a criminal would rob a person or threaten that person’s life, especially when the victim wasn’t able to defend themselves, such as an elderly lady. I would think: That just isn’t right. People shouldn’t do those kinds of things. Conversely, I’d affix a value judgement of goodness to a situation when someone returned a wallet full of money to its owner or when people gave time to work at a homeless shelter. Yet, from where did I derive this sense of right and wrong? Was it just because of my culture and upbringing that I felt these things shouldn’t be so? Would I have different views if I were raised somewhere else or were these kinds of things always right and wrong?
During my search for answers to these questions, I encountered an argument called the Moral Argument for God’s existence. There are three basic ideas in the argument:
Idea #1: If God does not exist, objective moral values and duties do not exist.
Idea #2: Objective moral values and duties do exist
Idea #3: Therefore, God exists.
Objective: independent of people’s (including one’s own) opinion.
Subjective: dependent upon people’s opinions, feelings, and personal preferences.
The opposite of objective is subjective.
Mary Jo spent time with Zac at Adherent Apologetics this week talking about doubts as a Christian as covered in Why I Still Believe. Thanks to Zac for a great conversation and insightful questions.
Enjoyed speaking with Phil from the Critical Witness Team recently. Check out our interview over on YouTube!
We discussed my book Why I Still Believe as well as these questions:
Today Confident Christianity is participating in the COVID-19 Giving Tuesday campaign. We agree with heart behind this global initiative that seeks to mobilize the world through giving.
“We believe that generosity has the power to unite and heal communities in good times and bad. A global threat like COVID-19 touches every person on the planet, and it presents an opportunity to come together as a global community.”
#givingtuesdaynow campaign
As a result of Covid-19, the entire economy of Victoria Falls Zimbabwe has collapsed overnight. The 35,000 inhabitants of this tourist destination town have regularly faced significant hardship with dignity. However, for the first time with tourism at a standstill the loss of income and starvation is beyond their control.
With the entire town now unemployed, The Jafuta Foundation is assisting with training programs for local small scale farmers to learn new farming techniques that are vital for future sustainability, but there is an immediate need to ensure food is available now as well.
Our connection to these people goes back to an apologetics conference in New Zealand. Though it sounds crazy…it actually is kind of crazy. While speaking at the Confident Christianity Conference in NZ, I met a young apologist who showed immense concern for the value of human life, Narelle Henson. She is witty, fun, but also speaks with great compassion and conviction. I was immediately impressed with this young apologist, but then I learned that she was going to pack up her family and move across the world to Zimbabwe to be a light in the Victoria Falls community. I’ve been following her family’s journey via Facebook and stayed connected through messages back and forth. Recently, she messaged me that she had started reading my book, and so I took the opportunity to ask how her family was doing through the COVID pandemic. Her reply floored me. She said that they were doing alright, but the people of Victoria Falls were facing possible starvation.
Victoria Falls’ economy depends largely on Western tourism for their livelihood, and so 90% of the people are without jobs due to the pandemic. Without a stable government to provide life-sustaining support, the people are faced with dire circumstances. Narelle has started a community garden in which she is attempting to grow food for the people around her, but the need is immediate. While I know there are more situations out there like this one, I want to try to help where I can. So, I’m asking you to join Confident Christianity in donating towards food and supplies to help the people stabilize their situation.
The photos above are from the urban planting initiative Narelle writes about here. This initiative will be another great long term solution for local food. Below, Mary Jo and Narelle pause for a picture at the Confident Christianity conference in New Zealand.
The Jafuta Foundation is a registered 501(c)3 organisation in the USA. It is 100% NOT FOR PROFIT and all funds donated go directly towards our causes and projects. There are no administration costs and the Foundation relies on donations to continue its operations.