3 Lies Your Kids Want To Believe (2 Corinthians 11:14) | Dr. Frank Turek

Summary

Dr. Frank Turek discusses three common misconceptions that children gravitate towards about Christianity and life. Drawing from an email from a distressed father, the narrative unfolds how a college student quickly abandons her faith after exposure to atheist arguments. Turek identifies the lies: the idea of a personal truth, that love equals approval, and seeing the Bible as a fairy tale. He underscores the importance of teaching children the truth and maintaining traditional beliefs in the face of cultural pressures. Turek challenges the audience to nurture a strong grasp of logical thinking and fortify belief systems with evidence-based Christianity.

Highlights

• A father's email reveals the heartache of seeing his daughter abandon Christianity due to college influences. 📬💔
• The importance of preparing kids with evidence for their faith before heading to college. 🎓🛡️
• Examining beliefs can reveal truths that withstand cultural lies, such as postmodernism and relativism. 🔍
• The Law of Non-Contradiction is key in identifying false claims about truth. 🎭
• Jesus' teaching on judgment is often misunderstood and demands a closer reading of scripture. 📖
• Embarrassment in religious texts can actually bolster authenticity, revealing the truth behind them. 🤔📚
• Critical thinking and logic can prevent falling prey to self-defeating statements. 🧠💡

Key Takeaways

• Children often fall for the lie of creating their own 'truth,' a hallmark of relativism and postmodernism. 🤔
• Love doesn't always mean approval; sometimes it's about helping others see the error of their ways. ❤️🛡️
• Parents must actively engage and educate their children in faith to counter cultural influences that might lead them astray. 📚👨‍👩‍👧‍👦
• The resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone of Christianity and offers strong evidence against skepticism. ✝️🔍
• Even skeptics and non-believers need to grapple with the historical and evidence-based claims of Christianity. 📜

Overview

In a gripping message by Dr. Frank Turek, three popular yet erroneous beliefs among children about Christianity are exposed. Rooted in a powerful story of a young girl swaying from her faith due to outside influences at college, the discussion pivots towards understanding how these misconceptions gain traction. Parents are encouraged to prepare their children with a robust foundation of evidence-based Christianity before they head into environments that challenge their beliefs.

Highlighting pivotal concepts such as the Law of Non-Contradiction and objective truth, Turek demonstrates how cultural ideas like postmodernism and relativism crumble under logical scrutiny. He emphasizes the idea that true love often involves correction rather than blind approval, and defends the veracity of Biblical accounts through evidence of the resurrection and the authenticity of embarrassing details.

By equipping children with critical thinking skills and a firm grounding in their faith, Turek advocates for resisting cultural narratives that distort Christianity. The seminar concludes with a call to cherish the influential role fathers play in nurturing a strong faith amidst a world filled with distractions and falsehoods.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 05:00: Introduction and Story of a Distraught Father The chapter opens with the speaker greeting the audience and referencing an old email from a United States Marine. This Marine reached out not to showcase toughness but seemingly in a state of vulnerability or distress, hinting at a deeper, personal story to unfold.
• 05:00 - 10:00: Questioning Christianity and Rational Decisions In the chapter titled 'Questioning Christianity and Rational Decisions,' a concerned father expresses his distress over his daughter's transformation after being a devout Christian during her high school years. She excelled as a Christian student and was recognized with multiple scholarships, enabling her to attend any college of her choice. Despite her initial mission to evangelize at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, significant changes in her beliefs ensue, causing concern for her father.
• 10:00 - 15:00: Challenges in College and Evidence for Christianity The chapter discusses a parent's experience with their child who began questioning their belief in God during their first semester at college. It reveals a moment when the daughter calls her father, stating she no longer believes in God, a decision influenced by an atheist professor at her college. The father drives down to Chapel Hill to talk with her over the weekend, but struggles to make progress in understanding or changing her new perspective.
• 15:00 - 20:00: The Question of Truth and Self-Defeating Statements The chapter titled 'The Question of Truth and Self-Defeating Statements' discusses a point raised in a New Testament class, where it was suggested that the authorship of the gospels is unknown and the Bible contains errors. As a reaction to this, a young girl declared herself an atheist. The narrator questions whether the girl had truly examined all the evidence for and against Christianity within four weeks to make a rational decision, implying that such a thorough investigation is unlikely.
• 20:00 - 25:00: Logic, Contradictions, and Cultural Statements The chapter discusses the challenges faced by a student who attended college without a strong understanding of Christianity, leading to doubts about their faith. It highlights common reasons why young people may choose to leave their religious upbringing behind, such as the desire for independence and the removal of perceived moral restrictions. The narrative reflects on the role of the ministry in addressing these issues.
• 25:00 - 30:00: Judgment and Hypocrisy in Christianity The chapter discusses the theme of judgment and hypocrisy within Christianity, framed around evidences presented to support the truth of Christianity. It references the book 'I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist'. The setting includes an event for Q&A sessions, notably at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, known for its skepticism towards religious texts like the Bible. The narrative seems to focus on interactions at these sessions, particularly addressing unbelievers who express hostility.
• 30:00 - 40:00: Love Does Not Require Approval The chapter explores the idea that belief is not solely dependent on reason, but rather on heart and personal will. It discusses scenarios where individuals may openly reject certain truths, using the example of an atheist who admitted they wouldn't become Christian even if Christianity were proven true. The discourse highlights the distinction between rational acceptance of evidence and personal or emotional barriers to belief, suggesting that love and belief are not dependent on external validation or approval but are deeply rooted in personal choice and internal acceptance.
• 40:00 - 45:00: Jesus' Tough Love and Truth The chapter "Jesus' Tough Love and Truth" explores the idea that people often reject the existence of God because they want to be in control of their own lives. Instead of seeking truth, many are on a quest for happiness, choosing beliefs they think will bring them happiness. However, while short-term happiness might be achieved through selfish and sinful actions, it ultimately leads to long-term disaster. The lesson shared is a common realization among those over 40, who may have personally experienced this struggle. To achieve true contentment, a direct and truthful approach is necessary.
• 45:00 - 50:00: Understanding Biblical Truth vs Fairy Tales The chapter explores the concept of truth, specifically contrasting biblical truth with fairy tales. It highlights the teachings of Jesus as the embodiment of truth and criticizes a self-centered lifestyle, referred to as 'me monster', which prioritizes self-interest over others. The negative consequences of such a lifestyle, such as broken relationships and isolation, are discussed. It emphasizes the importance of living beyond oneself to foster meaningful and lasting relationships, rather than ending up divorced, addicted, or alone due to selfish living.
• 50:00 - 60:00: Impact Events and Resurrection Evidence The chapter discusses the concept of impact events and their correlation with resurrection evidence. A central theme is the misleading beliefs or 'lies' that children are inclined to accept. Coinciding with Father's Day, the commentary further highlights the critical role fathers play in shaping the beliefs and perspectives of their children, their influence being notably significant.
• 60:00 - 70:00: Motivations and Martyrdom of New Testament Writers The chapter discusses the motivations and potential martyrdom of New Testament writers. It argues that understanding and teaching the truth about Christianity can make it harder for individuals to walk away from their faith, as opposed to doubting it throughout their lives. It highlights the difficulty for individuals to emotionally embrace beliefs that their minds question, emphasizing the necessity of having evidence to support one's faith.
• 70:00 - 80:00: Impact of Fathers on Faith This chapter explores the influence of fathers on the faith and beliefs of their children. The main argument presented in this segment is the importance of evidence in belief systems, as backed by scriptures and common sense. The speaker proposes to offer evidence to support this claim. Additionally, there is a discussion on the allure of certain false beliefs among young people, emphasizing control and popularity as the perceived benefits of adopting these beliefs. Specifically, the text hints at a 'first lie' that individuals, especially the youth, might want to believe to achieve control over their lives and gain popularity.
• 80:00 - 90:00: Conclusion: Identity in Christianity The chapter discusses the concept of truth in the context of Christianity, contrasting it with postmodern or relativistic perspectives prevalent in contemporary culture. Postmodernism suggests that there is no absolute truth, and that individuals construct their own versions of truth.

3 Lies Your Kids Want To Believe (2 Corinthians 11:14) | Dr. Frank Turek Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 good morning ladies and gentlemen I want to go back to an email that I got several years ago from a United States Marine Marine mating call ladies and gentlemen right there this guy wasn't writing me as a tough guy he was writing me as a
• 00:30 - 01:00 distraught father he said my daughter was the top Christian Student in her high school class she led several youth groups she won several scholarships from Christian organizations to go to college she could take him to any college she wanted to and so my daughter this man said wanted to go to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to win the campus for Christ and it needs to be one for Christ and event he
• 01:00 - 01:30 said four weeks into her first semester I got a phone call from her and her words devastated me she said dad I don't believe in God anymore don't believe in God anymore what he said I got in my car I drove four hours down to Chapel Hill that weekend I sat down with her and I got nowhere with her what do you mean you don't believe in God anymore what happened and she said well you know we have this atheist Professor who teaches
• 01:30 - 02:00 the New Testament class and um he said we don't even know who wrote the gospels and the Bible has heirs in it so Dad I'm an atheist Now Now ladies and gentlemen do you think that this young girl by the way that's not her um do you think that this young girl in four weeks investigated all the evidence for and against Christianity and made a rational decision it was false no you probably couldn't even do that in 4 weeks what happened instead what happened is she
• 02:00 - 02:30 had gone off to the college unarmed she didn't know why Christianity was true and as soon as she heard what seemed to be reasons it wasn't true she decided she was just going to walk out on Christianity and why wouldn't you when you go to college you don't want to do everything your parents said you don't want to have the perceived moral restraints of Christianity on you you want to do your own thing which is one reason why we go to college es through our ministry and we
• 02:30 - 03:00 present evidence that Christianity is true it's from a book called I don't have enough Faith to be an atheist and we always set up a microphone for Q&A here is a picture from an event we had at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and they love the Bible there about as much as the University of California berserk does and um whenever an unbeliever gets up to the microphone and express any any expresses any hostility at all I'll
• 03:00 - 03:30 normally stop and ask the unbeliever a question and I recommend you ask unbelievers this question here's the question if Christianity were true would you become a Christian I've had atheist stand at that microphone in front of hundreds of people and say no no wait I thought you claimed to be reason reasonable I thought you claimed to be rational how is it reasonable you wouldn't believe something that was true well it has nothing to do with reason it's not a problem it's a heart problem
• 03:30 - 04:00 they don't want it to be true they don't want there to be a God why because they want to be God over their own lives they're not on a truth Quest are on a happiness Quest and they're just going to believe whatever they think is going to make them happy now here's the problem you can make yourself happy over the short term doing a lot of fun but ultimately selfish and sinful things yet over the long term it's a disaster and everyone in this room over 40 knows what I'm talking about because many of us have tried it ourselves right if you want contentment you got to go straight
• 04:00 - 04:30 through truth and Jesus is the truth but a lot of people want to try it themselves look ladies and gentlemen if you just live for yourself all the time if you just become a me monster and it's all about you all the time how long are your relationship's going to last who's going to put up with that and if somebody does you're probably not going to have a very fruitful relationship no you live for you all the time you're ultimately going to wind up divorced addicted broken alone and probably
• 04:30 - 05:00 prematurely dead you can't just follow your whims or your desires all the time and we're going to get into it a little bit today because there are a lot of lies out there that your kids want to believe in fact we're going to talk about three lies that your kids want to believe and this is especially appropriate on Father's Day because as we'll see at the end of this fathers have a disproportionate amount of influence over what their kids believe and
• 05:00 - 05:30 do now let me preface this by saying I'm not saying that just because you teach your kids the truth about Christianity that they're necessarily going to wind up to be Christians they still might walk away but I will say this though it's much harder to walk away from something that you know beyond A Reasonable Doubt is true it's easy to walk away from something you've doubted your whole life and by the way it's really hard for the heart to rejoice in what the Mind doubts so you ought to have evidence for what
• 05:30 - 06:00 you believe the scriptures tell us this and Common Sense tells us we ought to have evidence for what we believe so what I want to do is give you some evidence and by the way these three lies that kids want to believe today the reason kids want to believe them is because if they believe them they're going to be in control of their lives they think so anyway and they're going to be really popular if they believe these things the first lie that young people want to believe and probably some older people too is that I I have my own
• 06:00 - 06:30 truth I can live however way I want because I'm the Arbiter of truth I'm the standard of Truth and this really is what has been the dominant philosophy in our culture it's called postmodernism or relativism and it's basically the view that there is no truth everybody makes up their own truth now what I'm about to talk about in the next few minutes I think is the
• 06:30 - 07:00 most important thinking skill I've ever learned and to show you what a dimwit I was I was 33 years old I already had a master's degree and I did not know what I'm about to tell you right now this thinking skill which is extremely important and why didn't I know it because I Never Had A Course in logic how many people in here have have ever had a course in logic can I see your hands please all you see these people with their hands up these are the homeschoolers see them here they are we
• 07:00 - 07:30 don't teach logic in public school anymore we should instead of teaching kids how to think we're teaching them what to feel and that's dangerous because if you live your life by feelings without reason you're going to wind up in a very dark place yes emotion makes life fun but logic makes life safe and what we're going to talk about here is something called The Law of non-contradiction it's a fundamental law of logic you all intuitively know it but you you may have forgotten you've known
• 07:30 - 08:00 it it goes like this opposite ideas cannot both be true at the same time and in the same sense for example we can't both be at Chino Hills and not at Chino Hills at the same time and in the same sense right it's one or the other God can't both exist and not exist at the same time and in the same sense it's one or the other you with me what we're going to do is apply this law of logic to some of these statements we hear in our culture today that support relativism and postmodernism
• 08:00 - 08:30 like this one there is no truth if someone were to say to you there is no truth you should ask that person a question what should the question be yeah is that true is it true that there's no truth because if it's true that there's no truth the claim there is no truth can't be true but it claims to be true did I say that right can everybody see that this is a self-defeating statement what's a self-defeating statement I'm sorry my voice is failing
• 08:30 - 09:00 on me a little bit ladies and gentlemen but I'll try and get through this what's a self-defeating statement a self-defeating statement is a statement that violates the law of non-contradiction a self-defeating statement would be to say something like I can't speak a word in English if I were to say I can't speak a word in English what would you say hey you just used English to say it or it' be like saying my parents had no kids that lived or my brother is an only child or everything I say is a
• 09:00 - 09:30 liee some of you will get that tomorrow or all generalizations are faults some of you will never get that one all right these are known as self-defeating statements and here's the thinking skill to identify self-defeating statements you turn the claim on itself you turn the claim on itself so you ask the question if somebody says there is no truth you ask the question is
• 09:30 - 10:00 that okay now you can Amaze your friends with this why because you're not being unkind You're simply asking questions you're not saying hey you bonehead that's self-defeating what you're saying is a question they say there's no truth you say is that true and then they're going to be shocked they're going to be stunned because they're going to realize what they just said is like saying I can't speak a word in English all right now this is said in different ways in our culture sometimes it's said this way all truth is relative if somebody says
• 10:00 - 10:30 all truth is relative if you turn the claim on itself what question you going to ask back you guys are sounding like Charlie Brown's teacher right now come on if somebody says all truth is relative it it's always a question you're going to ask is that is that a relative truth no that's an absolute truth can everyone see that's a absolute truth claiming all truth is relative it defeats itself now in our culture it's more often said this way there isn't the truth only my truth truth you know you have your truth I
• 10:30 - 11:00 have my truth you live your truth I'll live my truth we'll all get along I mean this sounds so right doesn't it it sounds like we all ought to believe this it sounds so Oprah doesn't it there's just one problem with it it's logically self-defeating because if somebody says there isn't the truth only my truth you simply ask them is that just your truth or the truth in other words it's the statement on top just your
• 11:00 - 11:30 truth if it is why should I believe it you know it's just your opinion so why should I believe it but if you're saying the statement on top is the truth can everyone see the first half of that statement says there aren't any the truths can everyone see this is a the truth statement claiming there are no such thing as the true statements this defeats itself now I know it's very unpopular to say this but I have to say it anyway there's no such thing as your truth there's no such is my truth
• 11:30 - 12:00 there's just the truth I mean if you want to say you have your own truth you might as well say well thank you five people go yeah that's right hey that's just true for you over there I mean if you want to say you have your own truth you might as well say I have my own math I mean imagine if say if Pastor Shadrach said hey Frank can you hang around here tomorrow at Chino Hills we got a lot of work to do in the courtyard if you can help us out uh yeah look I'll pay you I'll pay you $10 an hour you just tell me how many hours you work at
• 12:00 - 12:30 the end of the day I'll pay you now actually Pastor Shadrach would never do this he doesn't pay that much but but let's suppose I I hung out for like 15 hours I work Dawn to dust tomorrow and I'm done and he goes okay what yeah okay see let's see I worked 15 hours times $10 an hour you owe me $150,000 he's going to say $150,000 no I owe you 150 and I go oh no you don't understand I have my own man he's going to say you're crazy there's
• 12:30 - 13:00 not my math or your math there's not my truth or your truth there's just math now I know some of your parents are going oh you don't see the kind of math my kid brings home that ain't my math no I'm not talking about that all right look there's one answer to a math problem not your answer or my answer and there's one truth not my truth or your truth and if you want to say you have your own truth you're actually uttering a self-defeating statement because you're claiming that is the truth truth you with me now
• 13:00 - 13:30 sometimes it's said this way it's true for you but not for me well Christianity may be true for you but Buddhism is true for me what do you say to that this is also self-defeating it's just a little bit more subtle if somebody says it's true for you but not for me you need to ask hey is that true for everybody is true for you but not for me true for everybody because it's true for you but not for me is true for everybody then true for you but not for me it can't be true because it's true for everybody did I say that right I know that can
• 13:30 - 14:00 give you intellectual constipation if you think about it long enough but that's because it's self-defeating it violates the law of non-contradiction it's doing exactly what it says can't be done actually there's a more fun way of dealing with this if somebody says it's true for you but not for me say sure try that the next time you get pulled over let's say you're going down highway five you're going 100 miles an hour cop sees you pulls you over walks up to the car knocks on the window you put the glass down he says you were going 100 it's easy to get out of a ticket you
• 14:00 - 14:30 simply say ha that's true for you but not for me and you speed away you can't give your ticket if it's not true for you no if it's true you're going a 100 that's true for all people at all times in all places when referring to you at that time it's just True by the way if it's true Jesus rose from the dead that's true for all people at all times and all places whether you believe it or not Now ladies and gentlemen if he didn't rise from the dead that's true as well even if you believe
• 14:30 - 15:00 it truth doesn't matter it doesn't matter what you believe facts don't care about your feelings I mean do you have to believe in gravity to stay on the ground to people who don't believe in gravity float away hey look there's another one hey if you believe you'll come back no that's not the way it works there's not gravity true for you but not for me
• 15:00 - 15:30 if it's true it's true it's true for everybody now actually this is probably a bigger one you hear in our culture you ought not judge Jesus said don't judge why you judging you Hypocrites all right first of all let's leave Jesus as I for just a second what's the problem logically with the claim somebody says you ought not judge you're going to say isn't that a isn't that a judgment or you might want to say if we're not to judge then why you judging me for judging but wait a minute didn't Jesus say don't
• 15:30 - 16:00 judge nope never said it sure he did Frank he said it in Matthew chap 7:1 The Sermon on the Mount this is his his b his most well-known sermon all right I know it's going to sound odd for just a minute but stick with me there are no verses in the Bible there are no verses in the Bible I mean when Matthew was writing his biography which we now call a gospel do you think he said here's chapter 7 verse one no when were the chap and verse divisions put in about 500 years ago to
• 16:00 - 16:30 help us navigate the text which is important right it'd be really hard to find your way around this big series of books or this big series of books we put under one binding if you didn't have numbers I mean imagine if you didn't have numbers in your Bible and Pastor Jack didn't have numbers in his and one Sunday morning he just got up with this big book and he opened it and he looked at you and he went let's go about 2third of the way in let's see if we can find the same spot right like you couldn't do that right
• 16:30 - 17:00 you need numbers to try and find your way around the problem is we tend to think if it's got a number in front of it we can take it out and make it say whatever we want we can't we need to read Around The Passage to see what's going on did Jesus just say judge not and he stopped right there no he said judge not lest you be judged by the same standard you judge others you'd be judged by that standard so before you try and take the speck out of your brother's eye you hypocrite notice that's a judgment you hypocrite take the
• 17:00 - 17:30 log out of your own eye first then you'll be better able to help your brother then he goes on to talk about don't cast your Pearls Before Swine which requires another series of judgments is Jesus telling us not to judge here no he's telling us to take the speck out of our brother's eye that involves making a judgment he's simply saying get that problem out of your life first so you can better help your brother so this is not a command not to judge it's actually a command on how to judge don't judge hypocritically if
• 17:30 - 18:00 you've got that problem fix it then go help your brother it would be completely ridiculous to say don't make judgments number one it's a judgment itself number two you'd be dead already if you didn't make judgments you made a 100 judgments this morning just getting over here and now you're going this was a bad judgment this guy's crazy where's Pastor Jack everybody makes atheists make judgments they judge there's no God they judge Jesus didn't rise from the dead they judge the Bible's not telling you the truth truth they judge there's no objective meaning or purpose to life
• 18:00 - 18:30 when you die you're just going to become worm food it's over your life's meaningless it's hopeless have a nice day these are all judgments the question isn't whether or not you can make judgments the question is are your judgments true now we have to make judgments but we have to make judgments without being judgmental and quite often Christians are accused of being judgmental in fact what is the biggest objection
• 18:30 - 19:00 you get if you're a Christian what do people say about Christians in general you're a hypocrite now when somebody calls you a hypocrite you know what I think you ought to say at least two things number one you're right so what follows from that I don't live up to my standards do you live up to yours you realize that nobody lives up to their standards nobody is completely
• 19:00 - 19:30 consistent all the time we're all Fallen the second thing you can say Do You Realize you've just given evidence for God why why is hypocrisy wrong if there is no God why is anything wrong if there is no God nothing's wrong if there's no God there's no standard Beyond ourselves that we're obligated to obey you can't say anything's right or wrong it's just your opinion so if you think there's something wrong with hypocrisy you've just given evidence for God number of years ago I had a couple of
• 19:30 - 20:00 debates with Christopher Hitchens who was a brilliant British atheist who sounded more brilliant than he was because he had a British accent you can see these debates on our YouTube channel and he went on and on about how much evil religious people have done to which I said to him you know you're right Christopher you have done we have done a lot of evil but you're proven our world view we admit we've done evil that's why we need a savior and I don't live up to the pure Words of Christ evil either I'm a hypocrite and when people say I can't go to church cuz there's too many Hypocrites down there I always say come
• 20:00 - 20:30 on down pal we got room for one more the church is a hospital for Sinners it's not a country club for Saints in fact when people say when there's a couple of saints right here when people say I can't go to church because there's too many Hypocrites down there they would be like saying I can't go to the gym because there's too many out of shaped people down there it's one of the reasons you're going to the gym it's one of the reasons you're coming to church now as Gus said
• 20:30 - 21:00 during the worship you know a lot of times people have trouble imagining a heavenly father because their Earthly father was a hypocrite Earthly father's been a jerk I get it we're all Fallen none of us are perfect but I want to ask you a question if you've had somebody in your life who claims to be a Christian and that has turned you off because of what they did or how they conducted themselves here's the question when somebody plays Beethoven poorly who do
• 21:00 - 21:30 you blame who do you blame you don't blame Beethoven when somebody plays Jesus poorly who do you blame you don't blame Jesus amen look just because I'm not true and beautiful doesn't mean Jesus isn't true and beautiful just because your dad wasn't true and beautiful doesn't mean Jesus isn't true and beautiful news flash Christianity is not Christian Christianity is
• 21:30 - 22:00 Jesus Keep Your Eyes On Jesus especially this Father's Day and let's sum up this section this way can everybody see that this statement right here shoots itself anybody see that all right of course there's truth out there ladies and Gentlemen by the way it makes no sense to send your kid to a College where some postmodern
• 22:00 - 22:30 relativistic Professor is going to teach him or her the truth that there is no truth why would you ever do that don't send your kids to that kind of college send them to a good college or don't send them to college at all you you might you might say well Frank you've been to college you have a doctorate and all that yeah but the give this the current state of of American Academia I mean you when you have people roooting on the new Nazi party on
• 22:30 - 23:00 campus where does that come from it comes right from the pit of Hell and if they are going there you better prepare them the second lie your kids want to believe is that love means approval why if well love means approval they can approve of everybody regardless of what they want to do they don't have to stand for Truth at all it could be all about just acceptance but that's not love ladies and gentlemen
• 23:00 - 23:30 in fact uh number of years ago here at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills I did a sermon on does love require approval I'm just going to summarize it you can see the entire thing on the Calvary Chapel Chino Hills website but let me ask you a question this way how many parents do we have in the room here all right how many former children do we have in the room here okay good that's all of us then all right question if your parents approved of everything you wanted to do when you were 13 years old would they have been loving no of course not love doesn't
• 23:30 - 24:00 mean approval love doesn't mean enabling people to do evil love means you're standing in the way of evil if you don't if you approve of everything some kid wants to do you're not loving you're unloving you're an enabler in fact in the passage that everybody reads at their wedding but nobody obeys 1 Corinthians 13 here's what Paul says about love love does not rejoice in wrongdoing love rejoices in the truth love love always protects love always perseveres you
• 24:00 - 24:30 don't protect people when you're approving of the evil they're doing you're doing the opposite knock it off in fact Jesus who went to the cross for us gave us one new command you know what the one new command is here it is he says a new commandment I give you love one another as I have loved you so you must love one another how did he love us he sacrificed himself for us so what is love for us it means sacrifice
• 24:30 - 25:00 it doesn't mean approval do you know when we fail to say what we know to be true because we don't want to hurt anybody's feelings we're not really loving people we're enabling them to do evil and a lot of times we won't tell them the truth because we don't want them mad at us and you know why we do that because we want to take the easy way we will sacrif ice them for our benefit rather than sacrificing
• 25:00 - 25:30 ourselves for their benefit that's what love is to sacrifice yourself for the benefit of others so you need to tell people what the truth is in as tactful a way as possible here's one way you could do it you might say to somebody you love who say is wanting to approve of say aberant sexual practices they're all over now you might say to them hey if I was about about to go down a road you knew that would hurt me and hurt
• 25:30 - 26:00 others and would be against God's will would you love me enough to tell me what's the other person going to say well of course great can I do the same for you right now love does not mean approval Thomas soul is now 94 years old and says everything well put it this way he said when you want to help people you tell them the truth when you want to help yourself you tell them what they want to hear how often do we tell people what they want to
• 26:00 - 26:30 hear oh we don't want to risk the relationship well what kind of relationship do you have anyway if you can't tell them the truth what are you risking and by the way Jesus wasn't always nice Jesus told people the truth in fact if you think Jesus was a nice guy who's never said a bad word about anyone you have not read John chapter 2 John chapter 8 or Matthew chapter 23 what happens in John Chapter
• 26:30 - 27:00 2 Jesus makes a whip and he goes and he jacks people up in the temple oh sweet and gentle Jesus did this yes and then Jesus in Mark chapter 8 I'm sorry in John chapter 8 goes after the Pharisees and who are the Pharisees they're the religious and political leaders of Israel some of them were on the Sanhedrin that's the Jewish ruling Council to whom Rome delegated day-to-day law making Authority they were the
• 27:00 - 27:30 politicians and Jesus went after these people are you telling me Jesus got involved in politics yes and he wasn't so nice doing it in fact in John chapter 8 as he goes after these politicians what does he say to them he's right in the middle of an argument when he says your father is the devil Jesus you can't say that that's not very Christlike excuse me I am Christ can you imagine you have an argument with somebody and you stop right in the middle and you go your father is the devil never try that with
• 27:30 - 28:00 a sibling by the way and then in Matthew 23 Jesus really goes after these politicians what do you scribes and Pharisees you Hypocrites you strain out a net and swallow a camel oh you look great on the outside you're whitewashed tombs but on the inside you're full of dead men's bones you go a mile to make a convert and then once you make them a convert you make them twice as much a son of hell as you are how will you avoid being condemned to
• 28:00 - 28:30 hell what sweet and gentle Jesus said this Jesus was not Barney can't we all get along boys and girls no I came to bring a sword it's going to divide mother and daughter father and son how often do you hear those passages talked about but most of you in this room know those passages are true why because you're divided in your own family over Jesus guess what you ought to be you ought to be following
• 28:30 - 29:00 Jesus and not the world Jesus did not come to bring Unity not with the world he came to bring unity in the church but not the world so Jesus was tough and he didn't approve of everything quite obviously in fact if love required approval then Jesus was unloving if love required approval then you couldn't love your children now you love them when they're little but when they come teenagers yeah you love them but you always feel
• 29:00 - 29:30 like you love them right you probably never thought of Abandonment but you thought of murder several times if love required approval you couldn't love your spouse you couldn't love your enemies how do you love your enemies if love requires approval in fact God couldn't love you if love required approval love does not require approval in fact let me change one word in this and it still stands if love required
• 29:30 - 30:00 feelings then Jesus was unloving you couldn't love your children you couldn't love your spouse you couldn't love your enemies God couldn't love you you don't always feel good about people you love right this is even true in marriage as you know CS Lewis in the uh the book Mere Christianity his chapter on marriage is fabulous where he talks about that feelings are not what sustains a marriage feelings may be the spark that
• 30:00 - 30:30 started the relationship but it's not the engine that keeps it going in fact when you go to a marriage altar you don't vow to feel a certain way for the next 50 years you can't vow feelings you might as well say I'll never vow to be hungry or angry or tired again you can't vow those feelings all you can vow is action and love means you're seeking what's best for the other person and by the way you don't need a vow when you have the feel feelings when you're all lydy when you first meet somebody you're
• 30:30 - 31:00 all infatuated with them all you can think is the other person you can't do anything else your heart's beating like a hummingbird right you don't need a vow you already want to be with them you need a vow when you wake up after 20 years and you go you again why did it have to be you again look you put two broken people in one relationship there's going to be
• 31:00 - 31:30 trouble this is why Rodney Dangerfield famously said my wife and I were happy for 20 years and then we met love is not a feeling it's a decision to seek what's best for the other person For Better or Worse one guy agrees
• 31:30 - 32:00 everybody else wants out as soon as it gets [Applause] tough the third lie your kids want to believe is that the Bible is a fairy tale why because if the Bible's a fairy tale then again they're the moral Arbiter of the of their lives they don't have to bow to God they get to do their own thing of course what they for get is the Supreme advantage of the Bible being
• 32:00 - 32:30 true and that is you're going to know the god of the universe The God Who created you and you're going to be in a state of bliss with him and your loved ones who have also accepted the invitation why wouldn't you want that to be true but a lot of people don't and what I want to do is spend a little bit of time why we know Jesus rose from the dead why because if Jesus rose from the dead Christianity is
• 32:30 - 33:00 true this is what we point out in the I don't have enough Faith to be an atheist book I don't have time to go through all the argumentation here today but let me just say this a lot of people can't believe in a resurrection because they've never seen one we cover all this in the book but the resurrection is not the greatest miracle in the Bible the greatest miracle in the Bible is the first verse in the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth if that verse is true every other verse including verses about a res Resurrection are at least possible you know the interesting
• 33:00 - 33:30 thing ladies and gentlemen the interesting thing is is that even atheists are admitting the evidence for the first verse they're saying there was a beginning to the universe well ladies and gentlemen if space time and matter had a beginning out of nothing what could have caused that it seems to me only a spaceless Timeless immaterial powerful personal intelligent cause could have cause space matter and time to come into existence out of nothing that sounds a lot like God look if Genesis 1:1 is true a
• 33:30 - 34:00 resurrection like the resurrection of Jesus Is Possible the only question we have now is what evidence do we have that it really did occur and in the book I don't have enough Faith to be an atheist we have a chapter called the top 10 reasons we know the New Testament writers are telling the truth we don't have time for 10 I just want to give you two the first reason that I think we know beyond A Reasonable Doubt as they told the truth is that there's embarrassing stories in there that they never would have invented you say what is this about look historians know that there if there's something embarrassing to the author or
• 34:00 - 34:30 authors in the text it's probably true why because you're not going to invent details that embarrass you you're not going to invent details that make you look bad you might invent things that make you look good right but not bad in fact let me ask you guys a question how many people in here have ever lied to make yourself look good look if you don't have your hand up right now you're lying to make yourself look good and it's not working we we know you're lying all right how many people in here have
• 34:30 - 35:00 ever lied to make yourself look bad you don't do that you might lie to make yourself look good but you won't lie to embarrass yourself well the New Testament writers have filled the New Testament with embarrassing stories and details they never would have invented that's why we call this the dove Factor they're not making this up let me just give you a few of them Peter their leader is called Satan by Jesus do you think invented this you think Peter or Mark who wrote this down
• 35:00 - 35:30 at one point said to Peter hey Pete I'm going to make this a real interesting story I'm going to have the Lord call you Satan what do you think Peter would have said have him call you Satan this doesn't look good I'm the leader here and then Peter says Lord I'll never deny you what does he wind up doing he denies him three times and then at the crucifixion all the disciples maybe with the exception of one they all run away this is like a Monty Python movie run wa and who are the brave
• 35:30 - 36:00 ones the women that's right that's right ladies on Father's Day I Am Woman hear me roar you didn't run away like you pants men did now who wrote the New Testament documents down men now now what man is going to
• 36:00 - 36:30 invent that he was hiding for fear of the Jews why the women went down discovered the empty tomb would any man in here invent that no if I was making it up I'd make myself look good wouldn't you I mean I'd write down let's see we marched right down there and we overpowered that Elite Roman guard yeah that sounds pretty good huh John said get out Peter roundhouse kicked him Thomas said will be back no
• 36:30 - 37:00 doubt some of you may get that tomorrow and then on Sunday morning we marched right down to the tomb and we saw Jesus who congratulated us on our great faith and then we went and comforted the trembling women I would never say it was Mr pants why the women went down and discovered the empty tomb and oh by the way why would you never say the women were the first Witnesses in that culture
• 37:00 - 37:30 I mean forget about the fact it was embarrassing to men it was but independent of that why would you never say the women were the first Witnesses yes because a woman's testimony in court of law was not considered on par with that of a man so you'd only have the men be the first Witnesses and all four gospels say the women were the first Witnesses which is telling us what they were in fact one of the women was a formerly demon-possessed woman gee what incredible witness you got there huh no they're not making this
• 37:30 - 38:00 up they would never invent this I had a lady come up to me once she said Frank I know why Jesus appeared to the women first I said why and she said because he wanted to get the story out I said that is an excellent point I had not thought of that cuz ladies when your man comes home from work does he say much there could have been a nuclear
• 38:00 - 38:30 explosion down at the plant he's not going to tell you you'll see it on the news before you hear it from him you'll be watching the news going hey h what oh yeah I forgot to tell you yeah the nuke blew up I've been hot for three days what's for dinner he's not going to tell you I was at the University of Cincinnati this past November and some guy came up to me after the presentation he said you think that's bad I know of a
• 38:30 - 39:00 friend of mine who was on a a plane just he and a pilot a private plane and the pilot died and this guy didn't know how to fly the plane so just like in the movies the tower talked him down well that guy went home that night and his wife said how was your day dear and he said same old same old I can't even believe this past Mage this verse is in the Bible but in
• 39:00 - 39:30 Matthew 28 when Jesus takes his disciples on the hill in Galilee to give them the Great Commission this is the climax of The Gospel of Matthew you know the part where he says go therefore Make Disciples of all Nations Noti he doesn't say make Believers he says make disciples right anyway as he's giving them the Great Commission it says of the disciples this is Matthew 28:17 it says believed but some
• 39:30 - 40:00 doubted what he's standing resurrected right in front of them they're doubting how embarrassing is that I mean they're standing there go you see that guy over there yeah that guy over there is Jesus oh no it can't be Jesus he was just killed not long ago no I'm telling you it's him look they killed him I'm telling you it's him do you know what the Romans did to him they put nails in him all over the place they put a spear in his side blood and water came out punctured his heart they whipped him if the Romans didn't kill them the Roman soldiers themselves could have been killed for not properly executing I'm
• 40:00 - 40:30 telling you Jesus is dead it's him it can't be it is how do you know the women told me they're not making this up there's even potentially embarrassing details about Jesus in Mark 3 it says that Jesus's own family wanted to seize him
• 40:30 - 41:00 and take him home because they thought he was out of his mind they thought he was nuts that's embarrassing his own Brothers don't believe in him that's embarrassing too we learn later however that James the half brother of Jesus who wrote that little book in the New Testament called Jes man you guys are sharp this morning Jack's taught you well that James the half brother of Jesus
• 41:00 - 41:30 actually dies as a martyr as the pastor of the church in Jerusalem in 62 ad about 29 or so years after the alleged crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus now why would he suddenly believe that Jesus is the Messiah his brother when before the resurrection he didn't it said his own Brothers didn't believe in him well you know who tells us that James was martyred not it's not in the Bible it's Josephus the Jewish historian who probably in Jerusalem at the time he lived from about 37 ad to about 100 AD
• 41:30 - 42:00 and heg Aus a writer who lived later they tell us that James dies as a martyr why well according to the early evid earliest evidence for the resurrection anywhere it's actually in a Creed in First Corinthians 15: 3 to8 ACC Creed is an early statement that the followers memorized and Paul just put it in writing in 55 ad to the church at Corinth but it it talks about who Jesus appeared to and one of the people he appeared to was James so before the the
• 42:00 - 42:30 resurrection James didn't believe his brother was God after the resurrection he did you know before he said yo bro you ain't God after the resurrection yo bro you're God now how many people in here have a brother all right how many people have a brother who thinks he's God yeah you don't believe in him either right neither did James until he saw the resurrected Jesus then Jesus is called a drunkard he's called a Madman he's called demon possessed you think they
• 42:30 - 43:00 invented this he has his feet wiped with the hair of a prostitute which easily could have been seen as a sexual advance and oh by the way then there are two prostitutes in Jesus's bloodline the messiah's bloodline who are they Rahab and Tamar now do you think that Matthew at one point said to himself you know what I think I really need to spice up the messiah's bloodline a little bit let me put put a couple of prostitutes in here let's see Rahab No in fact there's a lot
• 43:00 - 43:30 of shady people in the messiah's bloodline Judah from where we get the term Jew from not a good guy Jude is the guy that sold his brother Joseph into slavery in Egypt and he slept with Tamar his daughter-in-law was playing a prostitute and this guy's in the bloodline of the Messiah David's in the bloodline David a man after God's Own Heart yeah but he's a liar adulterer and a murderer gee I guess there's hope for the rest of us then huh huh B Sheba is in the bloodline
• 43:30 - 44:00 in fact when Matthew gets to her in the genealogy he doesn't mention her name but he still identifies her what does he say yah's wife oo he's telling the truth who is Uriah husband of basiba whom David had killed so he could cover up the crime Matthew's telling the truth but it's a slam you don't find this kind of
• 44:00 - 44:30 embarrassing documentation in other histories You' never find this kind of in in in a in a Pharaoh's genealogy a pharaoh would chop the head off his his his his history guy if he were to say such things in fact you know um Dennis Prager conservative Jewish radio host who believes in the Old Testament says one of the reasons I believe the Old Testament is true is because nobody would invent such an embarrassing history about
• 44:30 - 45:00 themselves and I agree with Dennis on that but I would say to Dennis if embarrassing testimony and embarrassing stories are evidence for the Old Testament why aren't they also evidence for the new they wouldn't have invented this there's more in the book on this but we got to move on to our last piece of evidence that the New Testament writers are telling the truth and this is called excruciating deaths and it's important to know that the people who wrote this stuff down all of them with the exception of
• 45:00 - 45:30 Luke all of them were Bible Old Testament believing Jews who thought they were God's chosen people they already were part of what they believed was the True Religion Luke is the only Gentile everyone else is a Jew why would they say that a man claimed to be God and rose from the dead claiming to be God was blasphemy raising from the dead they didn't expect until the end of time why would they say this happen if it really didn't why would they invent
• 45:30 - 46:00 this in fact it's really important to recognize the apostles beliefs and practices before and after the resurrection before the resurrection they believed in animal sacrifice they've been slaying Lambs to Yahweh for hundreds of years but they give all that up they go we don't need to slay these Lambs anymore cuz these Lambs are just symbols of the the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world here he is Christ sacrifice
• 46:00 - 46:30 fulfills that sacrificial system that they've been engaged in for hundreds of years before they believed in a binding law of Moses afterwards they say no Christ's life has fulfilled a binding law of Moses before they believed in strict monotheism afterwards they're believing in a trinity three persons in one Divine Essence yes you can get the trinity in the Old Testament but it's much more pronounced in the new before they believed in the Sabbath in fact they thought they could be
• 46:30 - 47:00 stoned for not obeying the Sabbath afterwards their worshiping on Sunday because that's the day he rose and Paul even says don't let anyone tell you you have to obey any Sabbath or Festival day before they believed in a conquering Messiah afterwards a sacrificial Messiah now as you well know going to church here at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills we recognize that Jesus when he comes back again will be conquering but they didn't anticipate the the sacrificial coming initially before they believed in
• 47:00 - 47:30 circumcision afterwards they believed in baptism and communion amen Now ladies and gentlemen let me ask you one other thing does anybody really believe that somebody would invent a religion where this was their entry fee circumcision you want me to join your Club yeah what do I have to do what nobody's inventing this now what would have caused these
• 47:30 - 48:00 people to abandon everything on the left and adopt everything on the right virtually overnight and then go die for this the only thing I can think of is what psychologists call an impact event what's an impact event an impact event it is event that occurs in your life that is so dramatic then it can turn your perspective around 180° just like like that some impact events are so dramatic that despite the
• 48:00 - 48:30 fact you might not remember what you had for breakfast this morning you'll remember an impact event that happened 10 20 30 40 50 60 years ago if you're that old in fact there's probably only a few of you here in this room that can remember this or can raise your hand for this but I'm going to ask it anyway if you can remember where you were and what you were doing November 22nd 1963 hold your hand up and hold it up high ladies and gentlemen you see these people with their hands up these people are very [Applause]
• 48:30 - 49:00 old November 22nd 1963 is my earliest memory I was two years old in two days yes yes I'm 62 years old now I know I know I don't look I don't look a day over 61 in fact when I turned 50 my wife was very encouraging and she said honey you're going to live to be 100 I said how do you know she said cuz you look half dead already anyway November 22nd 1963 I'm a toddler
• 49:00 - 49:30 I'm standing in our home in wamas New Jersey and my mother is on an ottoman sitting on an ottoman in front of a black and white TV weeping uncontrollably Mommy what's the matter what's the matter they killed the president they killed the president President Kennedy assassinated that day I can still see my mother right now in my mind sitting on that ottoman when she was 26 years old she's 86 right now
• 49:30 - 50:00 but I can see her when she was 26 I never saw my mom cry like that that's my earliest memory it was an impact event I don't remember anything before that and very little after that where were you when the second plane hit the tower I was at my home in Charlotte North Carolina and I had the TV on behind me I had seen that the first Tower had been hit I didn't know by what
• 50:00 - 50:30 and I was talking to a pastor on the north side of Charlotte and we were talking about what the topic would be if I came to his church and I said do you have the TV on he said yeah and so we're talking and suddenly screams into the phone he goes the second tower just got hit I turned around looked at the TV the second tower is on fire I said was it a Cessna he goes no no no it was like a big plane it was like a was United Plane it it flew right in there and exploded I said you saw that he goes it was just on live TV I said look look let me call you back hung up the phone for some reason
• 50:30 - 51:00 that morning I had CNN on the Communist News Network and I'm not making this up but the commentator on CNN said this one has to think there's some sort of navigational error here navigational error you dimwit this is the clearest day in the history of the Big Apple what do you think the pilots can't see where they're going you think Stevie wonders flying these
• 51:00 - 51:30 planes I mean come on this is Terrorism I called that Pastor the next day I said we're going to come to your church and talk about Islam because that's what this is related to now 911 was over 22 years ago but if I were to ask you where you were if you're old enough you're going to go yeah I remember something about that day but if I would to ask you where you were 22 days ago most you going to go I don't know let me look at my iPhone what was I doing that
• 51:30 - 52:00 day why can't you remember something from 22 years ago but not 22 days ago no impact event 22 days ago impact event 22 years ago ladies and gentlemen do you think a resurrection would have been an impact event do you think if Jesus really did walk out of that tomb and then did Miracles over 40 days with them that they would have remembered that would they have any trouble remembering that that's the only way I can think of why
• 52:00 - 52:30 they would have abandoned everything on the left and adopted everything on the right virtually overnight how did they go from scared scattered skeptical disciples to the most effective peaceful Evangelical missionary force in the history of the world because an impact event occurred in fact what did the New Testament writers have to gain by making up a new religion what did they get well they got kicked out of the synagogue then they got beaten tortured and killed last time I checked that was not a list
• 52:30 - 53:00 of perks we're going to start a new religion we are yeah what's it going to get us first get kicked out of the synagogue then we get beaten tortured and killed well sign me up what a great idea why haven't we thought of this earlier No in fact they had every motive to say the resurrection did not happen not every motive to say it did now I get a question a lot sometimes people will say well there any non-Christian writers that talk about Jesus and the apostles yeah there are
• 53:00 - 53:30 there are they're all in chapter nine of I don't have enough Faith to be an atheist but you know that question often has an illicit assumption underneath it what's the ilic illicit assumption the illicit assumption is you know you really can't trust the New Testament writers because you see these people were biased you can only trust the non-Christian sources to figure out what really happened now if you think about that for more than 10 seconds you realize how stupid that assumption is what did these people have to gain by saying it was true they had everything to lose by
• 53:30 - 54:00 saying it was true they're not inventing this in fact some of you may know my friend Jay Warner Wallace the Cold Case homicide detective who's been here at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills speaking with me and also speaking individually he doesn't live far from here and Jim is a Cold Case homicide detective that's been on Date Line more than any other homicide detective because he solves murders decades old he also has a website called cold Cas christianity.com where he takes his his detective skills and applies them to the greatest homicide of all
• 54:00 - 54:30 time and so it's well worth checking him out anyway Jim says whenever he finds a body that he knows has been murdered he says I don't need to track down a thousand different possible motivations for that guy being dead he says that guy was murdered for one or more of these three reasons there was either a sex issue a money issue or a power issue sex money or power are the three great motivators that can drive people to Murder By the way way they're the same three motivators that can drive any of us to sin why because sex money and
• 54:30 - 55:00 power are good things in fact they're so good we'll often take shortcuts to get them and so Jim says if you're going to say that the New Testament writers invented this whole story you got to find one or more of those three motivators to make this plausible all right let's take a look at the three motivators ladies and gentlemen did the New Testament writers suddenly get real popular with the ladies for saying Jesus had Resurrected from the dead no they didn't get sex did they get money no
• 55:00 - 55:30 they weren't 21st century Prosperity Gospel Preachers did they get power no they got the opposite they got persecuted Paul had power when he was persecuting the church as soon as he becomes a Christian he's the one persecuted they didn't get sex they didn't get money they didn't get power there's no motivation to make this up and then why would they go die for another own lie you might say wait a minute Frank time out if you're going to
• 55:30 - 56:00 say that Christianity is true because of martyrdom don't you have to say that Islam is true as well no why because there's a lot of differences between the Muslim Martyrs of today and the New Testament Martyrs of New Testament times but let me just give you one difference for our purposes here the Muslim Martyrs of today haven't witnessed anything that tells them that Islam is true they just have faith that the New Testament writers on the other hand witnessed Jesus risen from the dead
• 56:00 - 56:30 they saw Jesus they touched Jesus they ate with Jesus they verified with their own senses that Jesus had risen from the dead many people will die for a lie they think is the truth no one will die for a lie they know is a lie and the New Testament writers were in a position to know whether it was a lie or not and they went to their deaths anyway you can't get better evidence than that unless you were there yourself now last thing I'm going to say on this is going to sound like heresy for those
• 56:30 - 57:00 of you who believe as I do that the Bible is the inherent word of God but it's not just stick with me Christianity is not true because a series of documents we put under one binding we call the Bible says it's true in fact Christianity would be true if the Bible never existed you say how can that be ladies and gentlemen do you realize there there were thousands of Christians before a line of the New Testament was ever
• 57:00 - 57:30 written why because they didn't read about it in a book they witnessed a resurrected Jesus themselves then they later wrote it down now thankfully they wrote it down so we could know about it and Orient Our Lives according to it but it would have been true if they never wrote it down because Christianity did not start with a book Christianity started with an event the resurrection in fact we could put it this way the New Testament writers did not create the
• 57:30 - 58:00 Resurrection The Resurrection created the New Testament writers you wouldn't have these documents written down by Jews in the first century claiming a man claimed to be God and rose from the dead unless a man really did claim to be God and really did rise from the dead all right so the three lies I have my own truth self-defeating does love mean approval no it doesn't mean approval love means seeking what's best
• 58:00 - 58:30 and that means sometimes you disapprove and the Bible is a fairy tale no you got to have a lot more faith to be an atheist than you do to be a Christian because the evidence for Christianity is quite strong in fact there's much more evidence in the books so father since it is Father's day if you want to prevent this Dad I don't believe in God anymore you've got to be really deliberate who's discipling your kids if it's not
• 58:30 - 59:00 you I can tell you who is this is your kid get gets a lot more screen time than they do here at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills and probably more time than you talk to them in a given week you've got to have a really strong counterbalance to this in fact if your kid's 16 or below I would I wouldn't give this I wouldn't give one of these to a kid I wouldn't not today anyway in fact Jonathan height who's not even a Christian he teaches at
• 59:00 - 59:30 NYU has come out with some research recently that says this is a disaster not only for kids but even for adults what what what's our attention span now 12 seconds I mean come on it's a blessing and a curse of course but if this goes unsupervised there are just so many lies out there that kids are susceptible to believe in now I couldn't believe this research I'm about to show you when I found it but if it's even close to being
• 59:30 - 60:00 true this is amazing a Swiss study from a generation ago figured out that if a father regularly goes to church the kids will turn out in a certain way and if he doesn't they'll turn out in another way here's what happens if you if the father does not regularly go to church only 2% of kids from such homes will regularly go to church when they become adults this is a longitudinal study
• 60:00 - 60:30 that's where they stay with the same group of people throughout time so it's a really costly study to do but this Swiss study founded only two out of a hundred kids from homes where the father didn't regularly go to church would regularly go to church as adults how about where the father did regularly go to church about 70% did now this doesn't mean that they're necessarily Christians but it's probably
• 60:30 - 61:00 a decent indicator that they are even if this is just close to being true fathers you have an outsized impact on whether or not your kids are ultimately going to become and stay Christians don't drop the ball now if you want to go further in the evidence we brought some books and DVDs and I want to point out all the proceeds from the book books and the DVDs will go to feed needy children mine okay just just so you
• 61:00 - 61:30 know first of all before I get to the books and the DVDs if you follow the Quee on that QR code I'm going to send you this entire PowerPoint presentation in a PDF format and about um five no about 10 other presentations as well for free in a PDF format so just follow the the QR code there and the book in the the books are on the in the courtyard on the table I don't have enough Faith to be an atheist that's what we've been
• 61:30 - 62:00 talking about here that goes through the evidence for Christianity from the ground up there's also a DVD set that comes with that if you want to go further and you can get workbooks off our website if you want to take kids through it or small groups through it that's about seven hours long uh there's a new book my son and I wrote called Hollywood Heroes how your favorite movies reveal God if you want a fun way of getting your kids to be engaged in apologetic and evidence for Christianity through movies check out that book yeah there's a lot of garbage that comes out
• 62:00 - 62:30 of Hollywood but you'd be shocked to understand or to learn that the top movie franchises of the past 50 years have all stolen from The Greatest Story Ever Told The Story Of Jesus so if they like characters like Iron Man and Batman and Wonder Woman and even Harry Potter Harry Potter yeah they're going to love Jesus because all of those characters are modeled after Jesus and then as Jack's been saying the book of the month is in out in the courtyard and also in the bookstore called correct not
• 62:30 - 63:00 politically correct about samex marriage and transgenderism by the way that's not the biblical case we're not quoting Bible verses in there that's the natural law Common Sense medical case why both same-sex marriage and transgenderism are not good for individuals or societies you can give that book to an unbeliever okay so how does your kid find his or her identity you know kids want to put their identity and everything but their savior but as Christians we're not to
• 63:00 - 63:30 put our identity in anything but our savior do you know Christianity is the only world view where you don't achieve your identity you receive your identity your identity is in what your savior did if you have to achieve your identity all the pressure is on you and there's always someone that can do it better but if you just receive your identity you have it for eternity It's Not Fragile like for example you put your identity say in your sexual
• 63:30 - 64:00 preference that's fragile what happens when you can no longer sexually perform or you're no longer sexually preferred you no longer have an identity if you put your identity in your job what happens when you lose your job you don't have an identity you put your identity in another person what happens when God forbid that person leaves you or dies you no longer have an identity no those are not stable identities ladies and gentlemen in fact think about this everyone you love will die everything
• 64:00 - 64:30 you build will crumble everything you say will be forgotten everything you do will come to nothing you and your identity will die and vanish unless the resurrection's true and it is father thank you for fathers
• 64:30 - 65:00 today I pray that you'd urge all of us who are fathers or even just guardians of kids that you would give us the desire to pour more of Our Lives into those young boys and girls because we have an outsized impact on their lives pray you'd motivate us to do that thank you that you've given us evidence that you did in come you did in fact come add Humanity over your deity
• 65:00 - 65:30 allowed us the very creatures that rebelled against you to torture and kill you so you could not only remain just but justify those of us all of us who have fallen short thank you for your great gift to us today we also ask your healing mercies on Pastor Jack that you would heal him up and bring him back to us this Wednesday night for more in the book of Hebrews we
• 65:30 - 66:00 ask this in the name of Jesus Amen