[dillon burroughs] on evangelizing to other faiths

What do you do when you encounter someone of another faith when sharing yours? Many people think they need to know everything there is about the other faith in order to refute it . But rarely does someone change their faith system because someone who knows a lot about it told them all of the reasons that they were wrong.

In this portion of our conversation with Dillon, we discuss a couple of ways that Christians can be effective when evangelizing those from other faith systems:

1. Listen to them and ask questions about what they believe. This approach doesn’t require you to know anything about the other person’s faith when you approach conversation with them. As we discussed in the previous portion of this series (on the value of listening in evangelism), listening first shows the other person that you are interested in them.
2. Share the Bible. Often people of other faiths come to faith in Jesus as their Lord and Savior after reading the Bible (particularly the Gospels). It’s always a good idea to have some New Testaments handy to give away when in situations like this.

.

Check out the rest of this conversation in the christian evangelism 101 series.

mock trial: carrie prejean v. the world

Alright…  I know that there is a lot being said these days on the topic of gay marriage, especially since Miss California Carrie Prejean has openly shared her personal views on the topic. Just for the record, here’s how it went down…

Perez Hilton: Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit. Why or why not?

Carrie Prejean: Well, I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. And you know what, in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised and that’s how I think it should be—between a man and a woman. Thank you very much.

It is not the argument on gay marriage that I want focus on here. There is enough being said about that already. Besides, as a Christian man who is active in his faith, I’m sure that you can figure out where I stand.

I want to focus on the public response to Prejean’s position. Prejean has been on trial by the world for stating her views. So let’s consider the evidence in this case…

Exhibit A:
The First Amendment of the United States clearly states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Argument: Prejean has the right to express and exercise her religious beliefs, and to say what she would like to say.

Exhibit B:
Prejean’s statement in response to the Hilton question. Translation = “I am glad that we live in a place where people have choices. This is my position. You don’t have to feel the same way that I do.”

Argument:Prejean was asked to share her views, and she did so in a respectful way.

Exhibit C:
Giuliana Rancic, an E! News anchor, Twittered that, “I know i’m a journalist, and i should be objective … but she is an ignorant disgrace and she makes me sick to my stomach.”

Argument: Umm…   WHAT?! This is not even close to being a productive statement in any way! It is nothing but a personal attack on someone because they don’t agree with their views! And there are many others like this…

Closing Argument:
I am amazed at the hypocrisy that Prejean’s opponents display. I wonder what the backlash would have been like if Prejean had responded to Hilton (who is openly homosexual) with a statement similar to Rancic’s. Imagine if Prejean said something like, “Ugh! Your homosexual lifestyle is disgusting! I think that all of you are going to burn in hell!”…

The truth is that Prejean did not respond that way. She responded to the question very respectfully, and in a way that doesn’t disparage anyone.

On the other hand, responses towards her are personal attacks that accuse her of being some aweful person that makes others sick to their stomach.

For discussion:
There this standard in America that says that people should be tolerant of other people’s views. So why is it then that people like Prejean get blasted for having a view? Isn’t that the definition of intolerance?

To me if you expect people to be tolerant of your views, then you should also be tolerant of their views as well. Tolerance does NOT mean that other people should HAVE your views, only that we should respect the fact that we have different ones. What gives?

.

Related article: in defense of christian marriage

why we think it's ok to cheat and steal

In my opinion, one of the most interesting discussions related to religious studies is that of morality. I won’t deny the fact that many power-hungry people throughout history have used Christianity and the name of Jesus in the wrong way for selfish gain. However, the message of the Christian Bible is one of love and restoration.

Particularly in the New Testament world where the civil and ritual laws are not specifically renewed from the Old Testament, the moral laws do still stand providing guidance to us for what a Christian life should look like.

In fact, every ‘good’ Christian knows that they shouldn’t do things like lie, cheat, and steal. But many of us (probably all of us) still do it anyway. Why do people, knowing that it is wrong, still do these things? Behavioral economist Dan Ariely actually studied this, and shares his findings here… 

YouTube Video :: Video :: Dan Ariely: Why we think it's OK to cheat and steal (sometimes)

Ariely’s findings here are interesting, but it raises even more questions in my mind. But I first think it is appropriate to examine myself in light of this research. I must ask these questions of myself before I ever point my finger at others accusing them of this type of behavior…

I know that my faith leads me to be honest, but do I give in to the ‘norm’ of my environment, and feel comfortable with my own dishonesty as long as I know others are not being truthful as well? What should the Christian response be to this sort of behavior? Should we justify ourselves based on other people’s behavior, or let the Word of God continue to be our standard?

I certainly feel like as Christians we should be aware of these tendencies that we all have. We should also regularly evaluate ourselves and make sure that we are using the right benchmarks for morality. Thoughts?

muslim man beheads wife?

Normally when we hear about beheadings, it is at the hands of Islamic extremists in the midst of jihadic activity. They are usually making some public statement that is intended to send a political message and strike fear in their opponents. But this one is different…

A recent headline shares the story about a Muslim man who has been charged with the beheading of his own wife, and it happened here in the United States! Apparently she had filed for divorce citing “cruel and inhuman treatment” and even obtained an order of protection from her husband.

In my curiosity, I wanted to better understand if beheadings are an accepted practice in Islam, and if so then what are the guidelines surrounding this practice. What I’ve found is that that these types of killings are seem to be acceptable. However, there are guidelines behind them. Generally, this ‘punishment’ is saved only for the extreme cases during jihad, and are also targeted more towards non-Muslim infidels.

The crazy thing about this whole situation to me is that a beheading seems to be such a cruel and unusual form of killing someone. Assuming that it was the husband that did this, was his decision to behead her influenced by his Muslim faith? Did he consider her an infidel of some sort?

Granted I know that Christians are not immune from immoral behavior, and I know that there are some wackos out there that cling to a ‘Christian’ faith and say that ‘God’ told them to do some pretty horrible things. But I am wondering whether a culture that supports this type of violence against ‘infidels’ may have led to this husband’s behavior.

Christian teaching cites that one should “love even your enemy“. In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus even told Peter to put away his sword. The whole of Christian teaching is not one of violence. And while there may even be some disagreement over things like capital punishment, one thing that is clear is that the punishment should never exceed the crime itself.

For me, this is an interesting difference in fundamental worldviews and perspectives on the value of human life. On one side you have a religion that teaches love and forgiveness, and on the other you have one that teaches that violent killing is acceptable (even if the basic teaching limits it to certain situations).

Please hear my heart here. I am not to trying to make the point that one side is better than the other, or even to say that one religion is right or wrong. More than anything this saddens me that one’s faith may have something in its doctrine that could influence this sort of behavior.

My hope is that Christians who read this would pray for Muslims and their marriages. Pray that they would know love in a way that is deeper than anything that they currently understand. May Muslims all around the world realize that there is a higher road that can be taken, and that even if the ‘rules’ allow such action that they would have a great respect and value for human life. I also wish to pray for peace for the friends and family members that are associated with this horrible incident. May God bless them and pour out His love on them.

 

Related articles:
in defense of christian marriage
fireproof your marriage and the love dare

Next Page »