Tas Walker in Palmy North 26 Sept

Tas Walker from Creation Ministries international is in Palmy North on Friday night.

Details: Friday 26 September, 7.30pm, public meeting, Central Baptist Church, 190 Church Street, Palmerston North.

More here.

North Island ‘Evidence For Design’ Tour with Dr Tas Walker

Friday 26 September, 7.30pm, public meeting, Central Baptist Church, 190 Church Street, Palmerston North.

Dr Tas Walker has been working for CMI–Australia since 1999 and is one of the conrtributing editors for the world-renowned Creation magazine which has subscribers in over 140 countries.

Tas is an engaging speaker, answering many questions such as, ‘Is the creation/evolution debate just a side issue?’ or ‘Doesn’t evolution remove the need for a designer?’ In his easy-to-understand illustrated presentations, Tas will show how you can be confident in the Bible, strengthen the faith of your family, and witness with enthusiasm to your neighbours and friends.

This is your chance to hear a scientist talk about:

• evidence for the accuracy of the Bible

• evidence for creation and against evolution

• evidence that geologic observations confirm the event of Noah’s Flood

Islam Expert Patrick Sookhdeo in Palmerston North

Patrick Sookhdeo from the Barnabas Fund will be in Palmerston North in September.

Venue: Kingston Street Community Church (website), Palmerston North.

Date:  Wednesday, 3 September

Start time:  7 p.m.

Event sponsored by Global Connections in Mission.

Muslim Awareness Week

I decided to go to a “Koran and Bible” talk at Massey University tonight, held as part of Islam Awareness Week. It was mildly interesting, and perhaps would have been more so had the material been easier to follow. Here are a few thoughts about the meeting:

• Most of the people there were Muslim, with a small handful of others I suspect were non-Muslim.
• The speaker made it abundantly clear, several times, that he did not want to offend anyone.
• He also made it abundantly clear that he was not there to convert or try to convert anyone.
• He made an intense effort to show Muhammad within the Bible, in prophecies and other verses.
• I met several people there who I had taught over the last couple of years, and had a quick and pleasant chat to a few of them.

With those comments in mind, here are a few responses:

• First, the Bible tells us the gospel is offensive. That is not to say that we ought to be offensive! 1 Peter 3:15-16 in fact commands the opposite. But we must not let the presentation of the gospel be subdued by the offense it may cause as it is intrinsically offensive.

But set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess.  Yet do it with courtesy and respect, keeping a good conscience, so that those who slander your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame when they accuse you. (1 Peter 3:15-16)

• The Bible claims that there is only one true God and that those who do not follow Christ in this life will be absent from Christ’s kingdom and presence in the next life. It makes many other claims that exclude the possibility of both the Bible and Koran being God’s revelation. So, they cannot both be true. They could both be false, but let’s not fool around by suggesting they could both be true. Simple logic dictates that this is impossible.
  So, if a Muslim stands before people and talks as a Muslim, he is implicitly saying that his beliefs are right, and it logically follows that the beliefs of Christians are wrong. So, the Muslim, believing he is right, must believe that the Christian (me) is wrong. So let’s not beat around the bush — he may not explicitly want to convert me, but it is certainly in the back of his mind, because I am following a religion that is not true, or at least not as true as Islam.
  Personally, I would prefer to be more up front. I would love to have gotten up and shared the gospel with these people, whom I happen to quite like and respect by the way. And I would love to have told them that I DO want to convert them, because I believe they are wrong, their religion is false, and their eternity does not rest in good hands. I would love to have told them they need forgiveness — and that they can have it freely — and that it is by grace and not any works they have to do.
• The thrust of the talk covered a lot of verses in quick succession which would all need to be looked up. There are some great talks and debates on YouTube and www.bethinking.org.uk that cover many of the arguments used.
• Lastly, I hope to have more contact with these people - the men at least. I have found the Muslim women very reluctant not only to talk to me, but even to look at me. I find this sad, but Patrick Sookhdeo from Barnabas Fund (soon in New Zealand) gives this advice in his excellent little book “A Christian’s Pocket Guide to Islam“:

The Christian should only seek to talk to those of the same sex. Any conversation with the opposite sex should be at the Muslim’s initiative. Never touch anyone of the opposite sex, even to shake hands, unless the other person initiates it. Try also to avoid eye contact with the opposite sex, even if a conversation develops.Treat both the Bible and Quran with great respect, not placing them on the floor and not writing in them.

News from the Apologetics Network in Tauranga

Hi Everyone,

We had a good meeting on Thursday night, with roughly 50 people turning up to view “Unlocking the Mystery of Life” followed up by some interesting discussions afterwards.  For those who asked about getting their own copy of the DVD – you can do so for $25.95 DVD or $14.95 VHS from the Focus on the Family online shop.

Coming events

Thinking Matters Planning and Progress Meeting

To discuss progress after our first events, and table new ideas and suggestions. Anyone interested in being involved in this ministry is welcome.

When:  Tuesday 8^th 7:30-9pm (note later than normal start time)

Where:  Meeting Room, Bethlehem Community Church Centre, 183 Moffat Rd.

More Info: Click here

DVD screening of ‘The Privileged Planet’

A high quality documentary exploring the evidence of a grand designer in the cosmos. 

When: Tuesday 15^th 7-9pm

Where: Bethlehem Community Church Centre, 183 Moffat Rd.

More Info: Click here

Website Recommendation

www.BeThinking.org

The BeThinking website is a fantastic source of hundreds of recorded presentations and written articles from high calibre speakers (including William Lane Craig).  Recordings and articles are classified into Introductory, Intermediate and Advanced and grouped under the following topics:

· What is apologetics?

· Culture & Worldview

· History & Jesus

· Islam

· Other Religions

· Resurrection & Miracles

· Right & Wrong

· Science & Christianity

· Spirituality

· Stories & Illustrations

· Suffering

· Truth & Intolerance

· Who am I?

· Who are you God?

The content on this site is a must for all who are searching for greater understanding and knowledge.  After listening to some of the recordings on the computer, you will be inspired to purchase an I-Pod or MP3 player (if you don’t already have one) so you can listen to these in the car and while walking the dog/husband.

Hope to see you at the coming events!

Bill Craig - Bill Cooke Debate

It happened in Auckland…

http://mandmandmandm.blogspot.com/2008/06/battle-of-bills-review-of-craig-cooke.html

My small idea of getting Dr William Lane Craig to have a debate at Auckland University ended up being an event that far exceeded my expectations. Despite the New Zealand Association of Rationalists and Humanists (NZARH) booking a larger lecture theatre at the last minute we still had to open up three additional lecture theatres with live video feeds and we still had people sitting on the floor! Question time had to be extended because of the interest. The range of people in attendance was excellent; hardened skeptics, evangelical Christians and everyone in between, young and old, high school students through to tertiary faculty.

And is about to happen in Palmy…

http://christiannews.co.nz/2008/debate-bill-craig-and-bill-cooke/

Meeting: December 2007 — Who was Jesus Christ and did He have a Christmas tree?

Hi everyone. We are having our final meeting for the year at 7-9pm, Monday 10^th December at Saint Albans Church, 339 Albert Street, Palmerston North. I have described the next meeting as follows:

Who was Jesus Christ and did He have a Christmas tree?

Merriment aside, the Bible makes comes outlandish claims such as: Jesus was born of a virgin?!?

Why do Christians insist upon this seemingly unreasonable claim? What happens to Christianity if Jesus’ unnatural conception and His resurrection from the dead were falsified? Why did ‘God become flesh’ in the person of the God-man, Jesus Christ? Why has this seemingly outrageous set of claims lasted well into the scientific age?

Joe Fleener (B.Sc., M.Div.) from the Shepherd’s Bible College in Hasting will address this topic.

Meeting: October 2007

October 2007 Meeting Agenda

• 7pm start, welcome and general introduction (RW)
• DVD Resources
• Quiz: recent atheist book authors; Michael Ruse quote re Richard Dawkins (RW) (~5 minutes)
• Brief overview of the ID movement and where it fits with apologetics (RW) (~5 minutes)
• Wikipedia and criticism of Jonathan Wells; practical importance of knowing the genetic and poisoning of the well fallacies (RW+CG) (3 minutes)
• Icons of Evolution DVD – Jonathan Wells (CG) (~60 minutes)
• Recent Biology books (e.g. year 2000) — STILL have Haeckel’s embryo (CG)
  

Read more

August 2007 Meeting

Hi everyone,

The next Manawatu Christian Apologetics Society meeting will be Tuesday August 14th at 7pm at Saint Albans church.

The program for the evening will be as follows:

• 7pm Start
• Introduction + welcome
• A few minutes on anthropology and implications (actually really easy !!!) (~10 minutes)
• Continuation of Logical Fallacies series (really hard !!!) (~10 minutes)
• The Colombo Tactic DVD presentation by Greg Koukl. Question: Do you get scared when facing a person who hold opposing views to yourself? Solution: The Colombo Tactic. This is really an simple but essential part of your witnessing toolkit.
• Q & A and discussion time
• 9pm Finish with tea/coffee/biscuits

In light of MCAS goals to get people involved, if you have a short apologetics-related news item, announcement, question or other, please email me asap to reserve a slot.

Please remember to bring pen and paper to record notes and questions. Is anyone offering to bring the biscuits?

Hope to see you all there.

December 2006 Meeting

Next meeting is on 5th December 2006, 7pm at the usual location. Topic will be Moral Relavitism and will be presented using video. Presenter is Greg Koukl of www.str.org. Q&A will follow.

August Meeting - Is there a Biblical Case For Smacking?

Suggested audience: ages 15 and over

Craig Smith, director of Family Integrity (www.familyintegrity.org.nz), will be answering this question and many more:

• Is smacking Biblical?
• Is smacking a form of abuse?
• Is beating the same as smacking?
• Are children born good, bad or neutral?
• Is there research on the effects of smacking?
• Is smacking abuse or an effective form of discipline?
• Should Christians be concerned about smacking being outlawed?
• Is ‘Time Out’ better than smacking or is it psychological abuse?
• And many others…….

The talk will be followed by questions and answers with the aim of encouraging reasoned and informed discussion.

July Meeting

Hi everyone,

The next Manawatu Christian Apologetics Society meeting will be Tuesday July 11th at 7pm at Saint Albans church (map ).

Our speaker will be Robert Hunt. Robert will be presenting an overview and brief evaluation of some of the more common interpretations of the Biblical creation account. He will also look at the growing Intelligent Design movement and comment on its relevance to Christians. The talk will not be too technical and will also be suitable for high school students. The presentation will be followed by a question / answer time and then a look at some helpful resources for future study.

I will aim to speak for less than an hour to allow time for questions and interaction afterwards. Some materials (mostly DVDs) may be available for loan.

Bio:

Robert and Margaret Hunt have six children and a passion for exciting people about the truth and relevance of the Bible. Robert is a Massey graduate with qualifications in Industrial Engineering and Information Science. After working for almost a decade designing and implementing microcomputer based systems, he retrained in linguistics and translation and has spent most of the last two decades working as a Bible Translator in the Southern Philippines.

The program for the evening will be as follows:

• 7pm Start
• Introduction + welcome
• Main talk for the evening: “An Overview of Christian positions on Creation, Evolution and the Intelligent Design movement“ (~60 minutes).
• Q & A and discussion time
• 9pm Finish with tea/coffee/biscuits

In light of MCAS goals to get people involved, if you have a short apologetics-related news item, announcement, question or other, please email me asap to reserve a slot.

Please remember to bring pen and paper to record notes and questions. Is anyone offering to bring the biscuits?

Hope to see you all there.

May Meeting

The next meeting will be on Tuesday May 9th at 7pm at Saint Albans church. Our speaker will be Dr. Garnet Milne and the topic will be “Is the Christian Faith Defensible? Two Suggested Methods to win the war of ideas.”

This talk will build a framework for how we ought to think when we are defending the faith. Are you sometimes confused about how to respond to assertions people make when they oppose your Biblical point-of-view? This talk should help you to see beyond the questions or assertions and help you go to the heart of the matter.

The program for the evening will be as follows:

• 7pm Start
• Introduction + welcome + a science snippet (RW) (10 minutes)
• A short summary and a few comments on the Da Vinci Code book (JH) (10 minutes)
• “Is the Christian Faith Defensible? Two Suggested Methods to win the war of ideas.” by Dr. Garnet Milne (45 minutes). (Notes will be provided).
• Each of the above will have Q & A time as appropriate to encourage discussion
• Final comments + suggestions etc. from ‘the floor’
• 9pm Finish with tea/coffee/biscuits

In light of MCAS goals to get people involved, if you have a short apologetics-related news item, announcement, question or other, please email me asap to reserve a slot.

Please remember to bring pen and paper to record notes and questions. Is anyone offering to bring the biscuits?

Lastly, if anyone is going to hear Patrick Sookhdeo talk on “Islam and the suffering Church” (Crossroads Bible Centre, Saturday 29th April, 7-9pm), perhaps a 3 minute summary of his message would be good. Any offers?

Hope to see you all there.

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Previous Meeting Materials

Following is a list of materials we have used and produced from previous meetings. All materials are Copyright MCAS 2006. Please contact us if you would like to use them.

NOTE: Sometimes clicking on a PDF link appears to do nothing. We suggest you download the files onto your computer by using right-click, Save-As.

2007 Meetings

March 2007

• Meeting Agenda (PDF) (PowerPoint)
• Logical Fallacies (PDF) (PowerPoint)
• Apologetics: The Basics (PDF) (PowerPoint)
• The Last Tomb of Jesus (PDF) (PowerPoint)

August 2007

• Meeting Agenda (PDF) (PowerPoint)
• Logical Fallacies (PDF) (PowerPoint)
• Imago Dei versus Imago Animalia (PDF)
• Greg Koukl Tactics notes (PDF) (PowerPoint)

October 2007

• Meeting Agenda (PDF) (PowerPoint) (pending)
• Logical Fallacies (PDF) (PowerPoint) (pending)

2006 Meetings

March 2006

• Inaugural Meeting (PDF) (PowerPoint)

May 2006

• Meeting Agenda (PDF) (PowerPoint)
• Is the Christian Faith Defensible: Dr. Garnet Milne (PDF) (MS Word doc)

June 2006

• Meeting Agenda (PDF) (PowerPoint)

July 2006

• Meeting Agenda (PDF) (PowerPoint)

August 2006

• Meeting Agenda (PDF)

October 2006

• Meeting Agenda (PDF)
• The Emergent Church (PDF)
• Islam: Jet Tour (PDF)
• Jehovah’s Witnesses (PDF)
• Logical Fallacies (PDF)

December 2006

• Meeting Agenda (PDF)
• Logical Fallacies (PDF) (PowerPoint)
• MCAS Survey (PDF) (MS Word doc)
• Greg Koukl Lecture notes on Moral Relativism (PDF) (MS Word doc)