Christian Worldview...and other updates

Hola a todos!

Wow, I have so much to update you on!! Where to begin?? I'll give you a quick summary of some of the fun things I've done in the past 2 weeks and then I'll pass on a few things I've learned in my Christian Worldview class. Ready? Here we go...

So, Valentine's Day 2011 definitely beats all the rest by a long shot! That morning, my roommate and I wake up to the sound of knocking. When we opened the front door, we found our next door nieghbors had made us a breakfast of omlets, sausage, pancakes, fruit, and toast--how fun! We found out later that the 11 guys in FLI had each taken one room of girls (a few doubled up) and made breakfast for each room. How sweet! Then, after breakfast, we were given a personal invitation to a Valentine's banquet that night. The guys had reserved a nice dining room in one of the buildings on the Focus on the Family campus and had Italian food and cheesecake catered just for us! Not only was there valet parking, but there were rose petals leading from the outside door to the dining room, live music (one of the guys plays piano beautifully), and they were all dressed in suits and served us dinner! After we finished dessert, the guys went from table to table and slow-danced for a few minutes with each girl--what an incredible night! Every girl there felt so loved and special. :) Some of the girls with long-time boyfriends even slipped up and said that this was the best Valentine's Day they had ever had!

Two weeks ago I was able to be on an episode of Your Family Live, which is a webcast put out by Focus on the Family weekly. That week, their guest was the author of one of the books we're reading in our Marriage & Family class, Gary Thomas. His book, Sacred Marriage, is incredible! I definitely recommend it, whether you're not dating yet, currently dating, newly weds, or have been married for 50 years! Also, Stephen Kendrick who helped direct and produce "Facing the Giants" and "Fireproof" and wrote "The Love Dare" was live-streamed for his interview. Here's the link to the webcast--Don't get too excited, I'm just in the audience :) http://www.focusonlinecommunities.com/community/webcasts/2011/0209

Also, I was able to sit in the studio with the other FLI students during two daily broadcasts hosted by Jim Daly, Juli Slattery, and John Fuller--it was so cool to meet and talk with them! On the first broadcast, Gary Smalley and Ted Cunningham were the guests and on the second one, Josh McDowell and his son Sean were there! On the second broadcast I was even able to ask a question and have it answered by Josh! I'll let you all know when the broadcast is aired. :)

A week ago yesterday all 44 FLI kids and most of the staff went to Copper Mountain to go skiing and it was SO MUCH FUN! I had been "skiing" once before when I was 12 years old, but I don't really count it because I stayed on the bunny slope the entire time and hated every second lol. This time was so different. It snowed a lot that morning, so it was very powdery (so it hurt less when I fell--which was often!) and Copper had so many different slopes--it was a huge ski complex! The mountain's green slopes were perfect for me because they weren't very steep and they were long, so it allowed me to really practice my form. :) Besides almost running into a tree at full speed and almost decapitating my friend as we got off the ski lift, I had a wonderful time!

This past Saturday I went to the AFA (Air Force Academy) campus with a few FLI girl friends and one of their Air Force guy friends to go horseback riding at the campus stables. It was so much fun! It was an incredibly beautiful 70 degrees outside and the view of Colorado Springs was breathtaking. I've posted pics below :)

Ok, so onto my Christian Worldview class...

This class is taught by the VP of College Student Ministries at Focus, Dr. Chris Leland, and I am amazed at how wise this man is. He has such an incredible wealth of information about the Bible, other religions, and how believers can effectively defend their faith. He has debated some of the most famous liberal and atheist leaders in the country and is so talented at explaining why he believes what he believes. He really challenges his students in every single class.

So far, for his class we've read The Universe Next Door, The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis, Five Sacred Crossings, and To Everyone an Answer. All of these books concern either the various worldviews that exist or Christian apologetics. The main worldviews we'll be studying are Christian Theism, Atheistic Naturalism, Pagan Mysticism, and Postmoderism. So far, we've studied the basics of Christian Theism and the two foundational presuppositions of this worldview: 1) God is 2) God reveals Himself (generally through Creation and specifically through his Word). How incredible is that? Those two principles alone should blow our minds! Not only that the God of the Universe exists, but that He loves us enough to reveal Himself to us. Wow.

We've also studied that the bottom line to every worldview that ever existed, exists, or will exist is this simple statement: Either God is or God isn't. A worldview's belief about this statement shapes the rest of its entire belief system. Worldviews are essential for a human being to live on earth. Why? Well, for a few reasons: 1) We need to unify thought and life experience 2) We need to define the good life and find hope and meaning in life 3) We need to guide current thought and actions 4) We need to deal with our diverse culture. So, every person on earth, whether they realize it or not, has a worldview.

We've also studied a little about how to defend our faith as Christ-followers. In order for a Christian's defense of their faith to be Biblical, the truth claims must first be biblically based and then culturally relevant. It must also be personally relevant, intellectually responsible, and respectful of persons. It is so important for believers to be able to defend why they believe what they believe. As believers we are encouraged to do this in 1 Peter 3:15: "But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect..."

One topic we touched on that I found very interesting was the different methods of sharing your faith that Christians have utilized over the years. The mains ones are: 1) Crisis prayer 2) Lifestyle evangelism 3) Socratic evangelism 4) Moral confrontation 5) Invitation to church or Christian event. The most popular among people ages 45 and older have been #1 and 4. For Christians under 45, #2 and 3 are used the most. Interesting...

We also studied how to communicate worldviews to the community in a way that will change society. The 3 ways to do this is 1) Make issues moral not biblical 2) Know the culture 3) Engage in principled persuasion. We must be educated about our beliefs and know the culture and opposing beliefs so that we are not taken off guard by questions that come up. However, we must never enter a spiritual debate with the sole purpose of winning. Our goal should be to be used by the Holy Spirit to draw that person closer to salvation. So many Christians get heated in debates and lose sight of what their motivation should really be. Many times, they end up being an awful witness for Christ as they selfishly just want to make themselves look good by winning the argument and making the other person look stupid. That method will win no one to Christ.

Lastly, we studied four great questions to use when discussing spiritual beliefs with another person: 1) What do you mean by that? 2) How do you know that to be true? 3) Where did you get your information? 4) What happens if you're wrong? The RIGHT questions will always work much better than accusations when trying to show the other person the holes in their belief system.

So...my question is: Are you sufficiently prepared to defend your faith??

If not, I encourage you to read any or all of the books I've listed above. All of them have changed my view of Christian apologetics and how I should discuss what I believe with those who hold opposing beliefs.

Thanks for reading :)

Our wonderful breakfast the morning of Valentine's Day!

The FLI worship team all dressed up for the Valentine's banquet

Some of my closest FLI girl friends after the banquet

The amazing guys who made Valentine's Day 2011 so wonderful!

Goofing off with my roomie, Danielle :)

Slow-dancing to live music with the hosts of the evening

FLI Valentine's banquet 2011

Josh McDowell and John Fuller discussing a mess-up that they had to re-record :)

The comedian, Jim Daly--that guy's hilarious :)

(From left to right) John Fuller, Sean McDowell, Josh McDowell, and Jim Daly posing for pictures after the broadcast recording

All ready to ski on Copper Mountain!

(Thanks Gehrman family for all the gear!)

Riding the ski lift--this was right before I almost decapitated the girl on the right

Fortunately, she survived the experience :)

What skiing all day did to Berkeley's body...yeah.

A few of my beautiful FLI girl friends :)

Horsebacking riding at the AFA in gorgeous 70-degree weather :)

Me with my horse, Mac

All the girls at the AFA stables