Dear Prayer Partners,
I am at the end of a long Monday. We left the Apologetics Summit location about 8:40am and arrived at the location for the Apologetics Summit at 3:15pm. And we’ve spent most of the time to now (8pm) “hanging out” and planning. We met with the hosts, the pastor and some members of Ishaka Community Church and by the time the meeting was finished I felt like the bar for my presentations was being set pretty high.
I may or may not have mentioned that during the Summit (Fri-Sun) one participant was kind, complementing me for the wisdom I shared “every time I spoke.” I thanked him. Keep in mind, this is a young doctor. Fast forward a couple of days.
THE WISE GUY
Just before dinner we met the host pastor and some of the church members, most of which are doctors, from what I’ve heard. And the same gracious doctor introduced me to the pastor and the rest and again mentioned “how much wisdom there is when I speak.” Well, caught on as much as I tried to deflect it. And before I knew it, everyone wanted to hear “the wise man” tomorrow. I changed the description to “wise guy.”
THE LEAST OF THE APOLOGISTS
I am one member of a three-member team from the US. The other two have apologetics degrees. The woman is a PhD candidate. Her dissertation is demonstrating that Artificial Intelligence will never be able to reason like a human (which science is trying to develop… see “transhuman” studies). Me? I am a rookie to this apologetics stuff. I’ve done a few small things but being on the same platform with the other two with a reputation of being a “wise guy” is a little intimidating.
HOW DO YOU SPELL WISDOM? AGE.
But that brings me to the title of this blog. What is the definition of age? Wisdom. The African cultures automatically respect “age.” And age alone brings with it a certain amount of supposed wisdom.
My talk Tuesday is on the topic of “Worldview Matters.” Worldview is like a set of glasses through which you look at and try to understand the world. I’ll be comparing the biblical, theological worldview with other popular worldviews. My second talk on Wednesday is on the topic of “Finding Purpose and Meaning From the Bible.” I have also been told to prepare to answer some assigned questions. 1) How are we live out our faith in the current culture? 2) Why Should We Trust What the Bible Says? 3) Why should we listen to Christians? They are all such hypocrites.
Please pray for me. I feel relatively confident and the trained apologists who I’m with are both easy going. I don’t think I could disappoint the two of them. But disappointing the organizers could happen if this wise guy flubs up. Or maybe not. Maybe because of my age, this culture will equate anything I say with wisdom.
ADDENDUM FROM THE SUMMIT
One thing I neglected to mention yesterday was this. As a part of my closing comments I asked the reps of the schools represented to consider adding a certificate program for pastoral training and work with us. Wouldn’t it be great if a pastor could attend out seminars and get credit towards a Bible Certificate? Reps from three schools took copies of the E4 Church Strategy booklet I brought. Time will tell.
Thanks for caring and praying.
By His grace,
Steve