News

PEP Talk Podcast With Andrew Roycroft

by Solas

Today on PEP Talk we explore the changing relationship of culture and Christianity, with a look into the example of Northern Ireland. How do we adapt as Christians and churches to be authentic salt and light whether we are a cultural majority or marginalised minority? Andy and Kristi speak to a pastor, author and poet for some great thoughts on reaching out.

With Andrew Roycroft – PEP Talk

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Amazon Music
RSS Feed

Our Guest

Andrew Roycroft recently became pastor at Portadown Baptist Church, before that he served 10 years at Millisle Baptist Church. He is married to Caroline with two children. Read his blog on theology, poetry and literature at thinkingpastorally.com He is also the author of Kristi’s favourite exam survival guide.

About PEP Talk

The Persuasive Evangelism Podcast aims to equip listeners to share their faith more effectively in a sceptical world. Each episode, Andy Bannister (Solas) and Kristi Mair (Oak Hill College) chat to a guest who has a great story, a useful resource, or some other expertise that helps equip you to talk persuasively, winsomely, and engagingly with your friends, colleagues and neighbours about Jesus.

Support the Podcast

Have You Ever Wondered….. If You Can Truly Change?

by Editor

All of us love stories about transformation.

Whether it’s an inspirational account of someone’s weight-loss journey or the Cinderella story of an athlete who against-all-odds reaches the pinnacle of their sport, the penchant for tales of metamorphosis appears to be something that is deeply human. And the subject of change with which we appear to be most inveterately intrigued is human character: who a person is, or becomes, at the deepest level of their nature and personality.

Consider for a moment just how wide this idea of character transformation is within storytelling. Sometimes that change is a tragic tale, where we follow a protagonist’s character arc as it degenerates hopelessly into psychological and moral catastrophe – think Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Tolkien’s Gollum, Jack ‘Here’s Johnny’ Torrance in Stephen King’s The Shining, or Game of Thrones’ Daenerys Targaryen.

But our most beloved stories are often those that depict radical transformation in the opposite direction. These are the tales of redemption, where a formerly corrupt and detestable character emerges transfigured, born-again as a now morally-virtuous, admirable individual:” think of Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, or everyone’s favourite festive conversion: Ebenezer Scrooge in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

 Why does the concept of transformation resonate so meaningfully with the human heart?

Might the reason why these stories connect with us so profoundly be because of their plausibility? Does their power resides in the fact that, as we observe them, we are in some sense looking into the mirror of our own very real faculty for change in either moral direction?

The Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn once observed that: “…the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.” Could it be then that these kinds of tales connect with us, not simply because they are the story of a fellow human being, but because they are the story of every human being? As we read them, they read us; they imaginatively remind us of our primal capacity for both evil or good, a fall from grace or glorious redemption.

But beyond our mere love for the idea of transformation, how achievable is change in the real world? Is transformation just a romantic pipe dream or a realistic hope?

When it comes to physical alteration at least, it would appear that the promise of change is incredibly believable. The multi-billion dollar success of the fitness, weight-loss and cosmetics industries are testament to just how marketable the promise of transformation in this area actually is.

But what about character change?

I wonder if real change appears dubious to many of us is largely because of disappointing personal experience. Perhaps we once put our faith in the assurance of change vowed to us by another person – a spouse, a father, a child – only to painfully discover there was no change. Leopards cannot change their spots. Or perhaps the frustrated change is in some area of our own lives and we have wearily resigned ourselves to the fact that we can never be different.

In an article entitled, ‘Why Most People Don’t Really Change’, author and psychotherapist Joseph Burgo offers three reasons why people often fail to change. We find character transformation so difficult, Burgo says, because: a) most people don’t have an accurate view of who they truly are and, therefore, don’t recognise where they might need to change, b) we have a human propensity to blame other people for our short-comings (e.g. family or political systems), and c) effecting change involves hard work and making difficult choices.

If Burgo’s diagnoses are correct, it would seem that our only hope of true change is to find a meaningful source of light, love and power. We need a light that can accurately and indiscriminately illuminate the reality of who and what we are; we need a love that will patiently continue to believe in us and pursue our ultimate good, despite the ugliness of what the light may reveal; and we need a power that can authentically change us to be and live differently from the deepest levels of our humanity.

What is so interesting is that in many of the tales of transformation we often enjoy, this light, love and power is discovered not by an individual’s introspection or conjuring of personal willpower, but via an external – often supernatural – agent that intervenes in the course of their life. This is certainly the case for old Ebenezer Scrooge. It is the painful, yet loving supernatural light of what the ghosts reveal that awakens Scrooge to his true condition and empowers him to transform from a man who lives in darkness at so many levels, to become “… as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man as the good old city knew.”

I wonder if that is why many people also find Christianity so compelling. After all, Jesus claimed not simply to provide light, but to be the Light of the World (John 8:12). He promised that whoever followed him would never walk in darkness but would have light that empowers life as it is meant to be lived. At the heart of the Christian faith lies not an exhortation to try harder to do better, but rather the promise that when we put our faith in Jesus, then God’s power makes us “new creations” – new at the very deepest level of our nature – so that we then can think, act and feel from this place of transformation.

This promise and power of Jesus to truly change us is a claim that is testable, for it is a promise that has been personally verified by millions of people down through history. For example, ask my friend Thomas A. Tarrants, a former violent Klansman once consumed by hate, but who upon following Jesus was transformed and became a champion of racial reconciliation and one of the most loving men I have ever met. Or think of John Newton, the eighteenth-century slave trader who was radically converted to Christianity and became a clergyman and abolitionist, penning perhaps the most famous song about character change ever written: 

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me;
I once was lost, but now am found,
T’was blind but now I see.

 Now there’s a story of transformation. And it’s not fiction, but biography.

So if you’ve ever wondered if real change is possible – possible even for you – perhaps Christianity might be worth looking into. For as the atheist journalist Matthew Parris once confessed in The Times: “Christianity changes people’s hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth real. The change is good.

Sports Chaplaincy Ireland – National Conference

by Editor

Solas has a growing relationship with Sports Chaplaincy Ireland through Philip Mitchell, one of its leaders. Solas had been talking to Philip about how we can help and support Sports Chaplains in the evangelistic component of their role within sports clubs for some time during lockdown – which led to our participation in their National Conference, which was the first time they had all met together since Covid.

I ran two 75 minute sessions in which I explored how we communicate Christ in today’s sports environment. We looked a little at the changing context for evangelism in Northern Ireland where Christianity is moving towards the margins in what is increasingly becoming a post-Christian culture. In that context people’s objections to Christian faith are moving from the older accusation that it is “irrational” and “irrelevant”, towards the new charge that it is “immoral” or even “harmful”.

We looked together at how chaplains might effectively begin to communicate in this context through the relationships we have – specifically in terms of conversational evangelism. I explored some of the dynamics of 1 Peter 3 which was written to Christians who were marginalised. Peter’s teaching there includes not being afraid, setting apart Christ as Lord in our own hearts and being convinced in our own minds that Christianity is true and beautiful, and not separating our evangelism from our own personal discipleship. We then considered the practical challenges of being prepared to engage with people’s questions. Then finally we looked at the tone and character of our evangelism, making sure we do it with gentleness and respect. Part of what that means today is not taking offence at people’s genuine questions or not short-circuiting their real concerns and difficult experiences when it comes to faith.

Even though some social distancing measures were still in place which limited some of the conversations which were able to take place, it was a very encouraging event. There were about 75 sports chaplains present over the two sessions who were really positive about the event.

I was encouraged with the levels of engagement from the chaplains, and I believe they left with a sense of being equipped because many of them felt that there has been something of an evangelistic gap in their chaplain’s role. It is a difficult thing for people to navigate and they want to do it carefully and sensitively – they are there at the invitation of the club and they don’t want to compromise or lose the position that they have. Nevertheless they want to take seriously the command to share the gospel and the practical dynamics involved as well.

Sports Chaplaincy is a great organisation who I love serving alongside, they have some inspiring people doing some great work and I look forward to having the opportunity to see them again.

Are Some Natural Disasters a Form of Punishment?

by Solas

Often when large-scale disasters occur in our world some people attribute these tragedies to the judgement of God. In this Short Answers episode, Gareth Black explores the logic of Karma and whether there is any basis for claiming natural disasters as a form of cosmic punishment.

Share

Please share this video widely with friends or family and for more Short Answers videos, visit solas-cpc.org/shortanswers/, subscribe to our YouTube channel or visit us on Twitter Instagram or Facebook.

Support

Short Answers is a viewer-supported video series: if you enjoy them, please help us continue to make them by donating to Solas. Visit our Donate page and choose “Digital Media Fund” under the Campaign/Appeal button.

Mind the Gap – The Full Series

by Editor

So many Christians want to be more faithful in sharing the gospel of Jesus with others, but find it really difficult in practice. I know, because I’m one of them! In hundreds of conversations in churches all around the country, we have discovered that there are a handful of “gaps” which stand between most of us and faithful evangelism. The Mind the Gap series has looked at strategies for identifying and overcoming the barriers we face to faithful evangelism – to make us bolder, braver and more effective witnesses for Jesus.

In his introduction to the series, Andy Bannister asked us to identifying our own ‘gaps’ – the specific things which hold us back in evangelism. He then shows us the way forward!

 

 


Gavin Matthews explores how we might overcome our debilitating lack of confidence.


David Nixon adresses the problem of doubt, and why it need not be a disaster for our faithfulness.


Not knowing ‘all the answers’ makes evangelism hard. David Nixon shows us how to navigate the limitations of our knowledge.


The Rusty Gap – is what we face when we get out of practice in sharing our faith! Gareth Black looks at how we can get moving again.


Fears such as rejection or being ill-equipped, are a hindrance to many. David Nixon investigates.


Gareth realised that a lack of deep friendships outside the Christian faith meant that he all too rarely got speak to people who didn’t agree with him about Jesus – and why he changed that.


Evangelism can make us feel guilty, which in turn can paralyse us from speaking joyfully and naturally about Jesus. Re-engaging with God’s grace is life-giving, says Gavin Matthews.


A lack of assurance of salvation removes joy and confidence from the Christian life, and dampens evangelism. Gavin Matthews points us to some answers.


“I feel inadequate” – is a common response to the challenge of evangelism. David Nixon responds with some encouragement to the humble!


If God is sovereign, why do we need to bother with evangelism? If not, then is there any hope that anyone will respond? Andy exposes two theological emphases which stifle evangelism.


“Talk to God about people, before you talk to people about God” – otherwise we fall into the prayer-gap, and our evangelism is powerless!


For some Christians, firstly recovering the art of conversation is a vital step, if meaningful conversations are ever to be about Jesus.


“Use apologetics and trust God – don’t trust apologetics and try to use God” writes Gareth Black. The life of the mind is very important, but reliance on God is an absolute!


What can we do when our hearts are cold, we are unmoved by the state of the world, or the lostness of those outside Christ? Andy Bannister helps us to unfreeze when our hearts are in apathy’s icy-grip.


In The Apathy Gap – Part Two, Gavin Matthews looks at ways we might be able to interest people who are apathetic towards our faith, in serious conversations about the gospel.


“Your religion is harmful” is a a charge that silences Christians across the land. Steve McAlpine helps us to shape a helpful response to this most difficutl contemporary ‘gap’.


Fearing the ‘killer-question’ that we can’t answer, many of stay silent about our faith. In the Knowledge Gap Part Two – Gavin Matthews looks at how we can respond when our answer to the question is an honest, “I don’t know”.


“Just give -up the West is lost to secularism”. Is that true? Andy Bannister responds.


If we make our evangelism about anything other than Jesus, it places an intolerable burden on us. David Nixon looks at ways we’ve got this wrong, and how Jesus-centred evangelism is much easier!


Gareth Black exposes the damaging myth that evangelism is essentially a specialist task like brain-surgery, best left to professionals.


Evangelism for introverts might not play to traditional Christian stereotypes – but Kirsten Abioye has found many fruitful ways to share the gospel!


Our witness can be hampered by our sin, but God used sinners throughout the Bible! How holy do we need to be for evangelism? Gavin Matthews explores this difficult area – after several scandals have ruined evangelistic work in recent years.


Evangelism done badly has put many people off. In the Negative Experience Gap, Part One, David Nixon examines the problem and suggests an answer.


In the Negative Experience Gap 2 – Gareth Black writes about the time he tried to do some evangelism and was left feeling deflated. He talks about how he overcame that experience and didn’t give up and how God blessed his faithfulness.


Evangelism is risky and we are intuitively risk-averse people today. How can we step-out into all the uncertainties of sharing our faith? Gareth Black is our guide.


Pippa Halpin discusses our natural fear of people who are very different from us in their views, language, culture or religious background. She explains how we can put aside our fear of those who seem different to us, and the joy she has found in sharing Christ across the divides.

We trust and pray that as you prayerfully consider what holds you back from speaking mroe openly about your faith, these articles will inspire you to speak for Jesus. Many Christians have been effectively silenced by many of the ‘gaps’ we have discussed here; yet all the while are longing to tell others about what jesus has done for them. Our vision at Solas is to see churches across the country full of people who are confident, willing and active in sharing their faith in Jesus. It’s the Good News that people in our society desperately need above all else. We are also aware that the path towards that destination is punctuated by thousands of small steps – and that these articles define some of the steps we need to start taking. Thanks for reading these – we trust they we be useful to you. Thankyou too, to all the many writers, both in house at Solas, and the guest writers who contributed to the series. Many thanks.

PEP Talk Podcast With Sharon Dirckx

by Solas

When sharing the gospel, perhaps no response is more common or more scary than “How can God allow suffering?” It’s an ancient question, but can relate to the present moment more than anything else. Sharon Dirckx joins us today to think about how to navigate this particularly sensitive and personal area of evangelism.

With Sharon Dirckx – PEP Talk

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Amazon Music
RSS Feed

Our Guest

Sharon Dirckx is a Senior Tutor at the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics (OCCA). She has a PhD in brain imaging from Cambridge and has held research positions in the UK and USA. Sharon speaks and lectures in the UK, Europe and North America on science, theology, ‘mind and soul’ and the problem of evil. She is also the author of the award-winning and recently re-released book on suffering, entitled Why?: Looking at God, evil and personal suffering. Her latest book, Am I Just My Brain? (2019) examines questions of human identity from the perspectives of neuroscience, philosophy and theology.

About PEP Talk

The Persuasive Evangelism Podcast aims to equip listeners to share their faith more effectively in a sceptical world. Each episode, Andy Bannister (Solas) and Kristi Mair (Oak Hill College) chat to a guest who has a great story, a useful resource, or some other expertise that helps equip you to talk persuasively, winsomely, and engagingly with your friends, colleagues and neighbours about Jesus.

Support the Podcast

Frontlines / Christians at Work: The Offender Rehabilitation Mentor

by Editor

In this edition of Frontlines we spoke to Emma* – who spends her working life helping to rehabilitate ex-offenders.

Solas: Please could you tell us who you are and a little about your job?

ES: Hi, I’m Emma and I work with ex-prisoners, helping to rehabilitate them into the community on their release. We have several aspects to our work, with women, families, children and with people who are caught up in the criminal justice system themselves. My team mostly works with men coming out of prison, many of whom are aged between 16-30, who are often released with some of their sentence still to be served in the community. They have to work with a probation officer, but we are put alongside them as extra support.  In practice my job looks very different with every client I work with; but it usually starts with me picking someone up from the prison gates as they are released. I don’t have statutory reports or targets to meet; we are very flexible and work towards goals the client want to achieve. The aim is to reduce the rate of re-offending in that age-group. I studied social work at university, but ended up working in the voluntary sector for many years, but my first exposure to this kind of work was when I was sixteen, helping in the kitchen of a probation approved hostel, and I just loved it.

Solas: Of all those things, what’s your favourite bit? What gives you job satisfaction?

ES: I have friends who work in formal social work settings, and they have a huge amount of legislation, and paperwork to navigate as they take responsibility for clients. And while I have a responsibility to report any criminality, clients only work with us on a voluntary basis, and so the guys really open up to us. When you pick someone up from the prison gate, you find them a meal, take them to the housing authorities to get accommodation, apply for ID, register them with a doctor – they realise from day one that we’re on their side. I love getting to know the clients and I have a case load of about ten guys at any one time, which means I can be quite creative about what I do. One client might want to revisit somewhere from his childhood, another might want to try to repair a broken relationship with a grandparent, and I get to do that with them. I love working with people that society has largely written off. Many of them are in a cycle of re-offending, and prisons, hostels, and substance abuse – chaotic lives stemming from negative childhood experiences. If they miss appointments with me, I don’t write them off, I can give them another chance. It’s all about the clients for me!

Solas: So what are the challenges of this job, and how does your Christian faith help you to navigate those?

ES: The truth is that there are not a huge number of clients who make it. I’ve known clients fall victim to suicide and drug-overdoses. Some of my colleagues might say; “have you heard who’s out of prison again? I just don’t know what to do with him this time?” Despair can creep in for some people, but I take a different attitude because I genuinely believe that if I can introduce this person to who Jesus is, there could be a complete breakthrough and a total change in their life. My boss is supportive of my stance here – while obviously you can’t ‘preach’ at work; their attitude is that if the subject of faith comes up I do not have to shy away from saying what I believe. I worked recently with one older man with learning difficulties who was quite vulnerable. He was released on a Friday afternoon and had nowhere to go – or the capacity to find a solution. He fell between the cracks of all the different government agencies, and so it was left to me to find somewhere for him at 4PM on a Friday afternoon. A lot of people want to forget about these guys and say that they are just suffering the consequences of their own bad life choices. I understand that, and many of them have made dreadful decisions. However, many of them have been born and raised in circumstances that were very, very difficult to break out of. So, there is a huge challenge there in the messiness and sadness of peoples lives; but as a Christian I get the opportunity to pray for the clients and my colleagues too – because the work can be exhausting.

Solas: And how does your faith affect the way you go about your work?

ES: Well I’ve found a job that I love! It doesn’t feel like a chore but an absolute privilege to work with these clients.

Solas: You talk about it more like a ‘calling’ than a ‘career’..

ES: Yes, 100%! Now of course in this work I get lied to or manipulated sometimes, but I get to give people another chance. They might have burnt their bridges with everyone else; they might be homeless, wanted by the police, breached parole, but I am the person that gets to give them another opportunity, another chance. I think that is an outworking of the deeply Christian idea of “grace” because I get given umpteen chances by Jesus. I find myself asking forgiveness every day for the same thing – and he gives grace. So when a client says to me “Emma, why are you still here?” I can say that my faith tells me that I am loved even when I don’t deserve it, and I want them to know what that feels like. Sometime they say, “Oh you’re off on one again!”, but there are other times when that makes a real impression on them. I’m constantly inspired by how Jesus was with people. He stopped, had time for people and went to their level. And so I count it as a huge privilege to walk with those who society sees as the very least.

Solas: So both colleagues and clients know you are a Christian. What have reactions to that been like?

ES: I’ve never had a hostile reaction – which I am thankful for. Apathy is more common: “I’m happy for you, but it’s not for me” type responses which are difficult to navigate, because that just stops conversations before they have gone anywhere. However Covid has given people the opportunity to “see” church. When people have asked if my church is still going I’ve said, “Yes – do you want to see it, here’s the link!” I’ve been able to show them videos or things on my phone and that’s been helpful. There aren’t many Christians in my workplace, which is fine, but that gives me more of a responsibility. The reaction of colleagues has varied. One colleague has been really searching for years and I’ve had all kinds of conversations with him and his wife, which has been lovely. I have offered to pray for colleagues when they are struggling, and sometimes they laugh that off – but sometimes they say they’d appreciate that. What is so important with both clients and colleagues is the relational aspect, if any of them are ever going to see that Jesus is real, then he must impact all that I do, so that they see that reality in me; how I speak, how I listen, stories I tell about family life, how I work; everything! Similarly when I get something wrong, I confess it and don’t pretend to be better than I am.

Solas: So the conversations you’ve had about your faith, do they come up spontaneously or have you set out to have them intentionally?

ES: I find they happen quite spontaneously. There are over 100 of us in the office and we hot-desk, so you never know who you are going to be sitting next to – so conversation is spontaneous; but that suits me! The only times I’ve had significant conversations which have been intentional have been when a colleague has asked me a question, and I’ve had to go away and think about the answer and get back to them. But relational and spontaneous is how I work best!

Solas: And have you ever had much push-back or objections raised to your faith?

ES: Well a few years ago there was a very high profile court-case to do with sexuality – it was all over the news, and some colleagues picked up on that. I felt quite burdened about that because I wanted to speak the truth, but do so in a way that speaks of love and justice and forgiveness, grace, mercy and kindness. So I do a lot more listening than speaking when those sorts of topics come up. It’s the same with the question of suffering, because we see a lot of kids who are brought up around criminality and chaos with their school reporting that they are smelly, unkempt, hungry, and that no homework being done. And it’s so important to listen and acknowledge the reality of suffering and not rush in with answers about what I think or believe. I’ll see where the conversation goes and where I can share that I believe that Jesus loves these people and can transform any life. The problem with hot-topics is that if you say too much too soon, the barriers go up and you lose the whole conversation. I’ve learnt that through my own family experience too, where my family has got it wrong and relationships have broken down because we jumped in too quickly. Listening to people, meeting them where they are at, and walking with them, might give me the opportunity to introduce them to Jesus.

Solas: You are obviously motivated to share your faith? Why is that?

ES: Well, God saved me as a child, in a challenging enough upbringing. And since I was seven God has been my constant companion, He has never let me down, never failed, always lets me come back – always forgives; and there’s something about that that I can’t keep to myself. I think in the work that I do, it just spills out. Because I am motivated to be with people who really have nobody else, and I want other people to have what I have been given. If I get to be just one small seed in their lives; then that is just such a huge privilege.

Solas: What advice would you give to a young Christian starting out in your workplace, who wants to stay faithful to Christ there?

ES: Well, start by reading the Bible as much as you can, and prioritise time alone with God – so that you know how loved you are by God and can share His love with people who have perhaps never known love. That way you’ll be able to show others how loved they are by God, by the time you give them, how you listen, and the way in which you speak to them, and how you forgive. If you try and do all this while you’re spiritually running on empty, the cracks with show. Then practically, find another believer who works in a similar sector to yourself, who understands the challenges. My job can be tough, because of the many sadnesses we experience, but I’m very grateful that my boss is a Christian, and that’s helpful. Then don’t be afraid to have a sense of humour about the work, even if that can be a little dark! And then for me, I always remember that this work is a privilege – to serve these people who so often get written off.

Solas: Thankyou for speaking to us Emma

ES: I hope that’s useful!

*name has been changed for reasons of professional confidentiality

New Apologists in the Making – Andy at Wycliffe College

by Editor

Wycliffe College is a largely Anglican, evangelical training college connected to the University of Toronto, where I am a regular visiting professor. Over the last two years I have helped to put together and deliver a thirteen-week module which is part of their MA programme, and takes up to thirty students through a rigorous approach to apologetics.

The course begins with some foundational material such as ‘what is apologetics?’ and ‘the biblical basis for apologetics’, then moves onto some of the frameworks for apologetics and then looks at some of the practicalities of being an effective apologist. Core topics within the course were then, the person of Jesus, the reliability of the Bible, the problem of evil, what it means to be human (and the rise of digital technology, A.I. and transhumanism) and then other religions.

The course contained lots of assessments. My favourite one is where we task the students with interviewing someone from a different faith (or an atheist), and finding out about their worldview and how that operates. Significantly they were tasked to not preach at the interviewee, their first job was to seek to understand them. The students had to write the interview up in such a way that the interviewee agreed that the student had really understood them and summarised them well. That’s the formal part of the assessment, but what we find time and again is that conversations then develop from that, and interviewees say – ‘but what about you Christians, what do you think of all this?’ So it’s been great to see the way in which getting students to have these conversations in which they are sent out to listen, end up being gospel opportunities.

I love doing these courses, because the students are so enthusiastic. On one hand it’s an academically demanding course on which we examine some serious ideas. Then on the other students say at the end, ‘this has been great, I’ve had all these great conversations about my faith’. A new development in this course was that students could choose how they were assessed at the end. Some opted for the traditional 5,000 word essay; but others opted for the new oral exam. In this, the course leaders interviewed the student on Zoom for an hour – taking the role of three different personas; an atheist, a pluralist and a Muslim. So when I was adopting the role of the Muslim I raised common Muslim objections to the student, saying “You’re Bible has been corrupted, you should follow the truth as given to Muhammad (peace be upon him) and abandon your Christianity” – and the students had to engage; wisely, patiently and thoughtfully. Similarly we levelled atheist objections about origins, and pluralist ones about truth-claims to them, to see how they handled them. It was a hugely enjoyable way of assessing them – some struggled a bit, but several were outstanding; certainly their apologetics were better than my acting!

The students came from all across Canada from Alberta to Nova Scotia, from all age-groups and were both men and women. What was also encouraging was that Toronto, which is a very ethnically diverse city; that context was also well reflected in the makeup of the student body. That hasn’t always the case in these kinds of courses so that is progress well worth celebrating. Every community has its questions which need to be answered, and having people from those communities doing that work it so important.

This course is slated to run again in the Spring of 2023, by which time we will have rewritten some of the material to reflect some of the newer challenges which are emerging.

Are There Two Different Gods in the Old and New Testaments? (Part Two)

by Solas

In the second part of our exploration into whether the Bible presents two contradictory pictures of the character of God, Gareth Black explores why it might be that the Old Testament God lays down so many ethical rules compared to what we see in the New Testament. Is this evidence of inconsistency in God’s character, or is there more to it?

Share

Please share this video widely with friends or family and for more Short Answers videos, visit solas-cpc.org/shortanswers/, subscribe to our YouTube channel or visit us on Twitter Instagram or Facebook.

Support

Short Answers is a viewer-supported video series: if you enjoy them, please help us continue to make them by donating to Solas. Visit our Donate page and choose “Digital Media Fund” under the Campaign/Appeal button.

The Fear Gap (2) “Fear of people not like us”

by Editor

I don’t know about you, but I’m not a huge fan of the unfamiliar. If I look down a menu in a restaurant, I’ll almost always go for a dish I know. I’m perfectly aware that the Moules Marinières might be delicious, but because I’ve never had mussels before, I’m wary. I have no experience of eating them. They could be tasty or they might not be, and I’m not prepared to risk it. I’m fearful of what I don’t know, and so I retreat and stick to what I perceive as ‘safe’.

Fear of ‘The Other’

It can be the same when as Christians we meet other people. Usually, as Christians, we are familiar with spending time with other brothers and sisters in Christ – we talk to them at church, we pray with them in prayer meetings, we share our lives with them and walk alongside them in their struggles and joys, and long to point each other to Jesus. Being with other Christians should feel right, and like home.

But when we meet people who do not yet know Jesus, we can feel like we need to hide a part of who we truly are, and that we can’t really be honest about our thoughts and our reactions, because ‘they’ won’t understand. We instinctively see people who do not yet know Jesus as ‘them’, ‘The Other’. We find ourselves thinking ‘They’ are not like me, ‘they’ don’t believe in the things I believe. I feel threatened. I feel fearful. That’s not necessarily because the person is being aggressive or antagonistic about our faith, but simply because ‘they’ are not ‘us’ – they have a completely different worldview and it’s not one with which we’re familiar and it’s not one that feels safe and so our instinctive reaction can be to retreat.

Different Christians will respond differently of course, but I imagine many of us find it challenging to step towards people who are unlike us. Perhaps it might be an atheist family member, or a Muslim colleague, or a radical university friend, or an uninterested neighbour. Perhaps it might be someone from a different country, or a different culture, or a different political viewpoint, or a different socioeconomic background. You will know best the people that you most consider ‘Other’ to you. We will all have this fear of the unfamiliar on some level.

A Spirit of power, love and self-discipline

But just because this fear is common, does not mean that it is commendable. The apostle Paul writes to his friend Timothy: ‘For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.’ (2 Tim 1:7) The Holy Spirit, given to us by our Heavenly Father, empowers us to be loving, and to be disciplined in this love for others. Rather than being shy or timid or fearful in our faith, the Spirit gives us confidence that we don’t have naturally, to step towards those who are unlike us, to love them by seeking to share the truth of the gospel with them. I certainly don’t always feel this confidence – and neither, it seems, did Timothy – but the problem is not that I have no reason for confidence, but that I have forgotten the Spirit’s power, God’s power, and my eyes are only on my own weakness and my fear of ‘The Other’.

How else can they hear?

Aware of our tendency to retreat, Paul writes in the New Testament ‘How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?’ (Romans 10:14) If we do not tell our Muslim colleague about Jesus – who will? How will they be saved? If you do not reach out to your radical university friend with the joy of the gospel – how else will they hear of it? If I do not share the delight of knowing Jesus with my atheist family member – who else will bring this saving news to them? It may seem safer for us to stay quiet, but we know deep down that it is not safer for them. Let it be said of us ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’ (Romans 10:15).

You probably know people who know no Christians other than you. For many years, I was the only Christian in my workplace of thirty or so colleagues. I clearly remember my surprise when one of my politically left-leaning and liberal colleagues stated categorically that I was the first Christian she had ever known: she was in her thirties, had been to university, worked in London, and was active on social media. It was astonishing to me that in all those years she had never before known a Christian – it struck home the deep spiritual need of my workplace and that truth from Romans 10:14: how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

On another occasion, an atheist senior colleague argued with me at length about a Christian talk we’d attended together, where the speaker had said all of mankind was by nature sinful. It was the first time anyone had suggested she was anything other than good and she was deeply angry. No-one had ever before explained to her that ‘There is no-one righteous, not even one’ (Romans 3:10); she had never before been told of her need for the Lord Jesus. Whilst it was a very hard conversation and there was ultimately no obvious fruit, I was hugely grateful she had been given an opportunity ‘to call on the one [she had] not believed in’ (Romans 10:14).

And I can recall another colleague, a man in his forties from a Hindu background but who would consider himself more ‘spiritual’ rather than Hindu, asking me about Protestantism during a finance review (we had been chatting ‘slightly’ off-topic about London architecture, specifically local churches). When I explained the concept of grace to him, he was astounded. He was visibly shocked at how scandalous grace was. Until that point in his life, he had only ever considered ‘good deeds’ as the way to heaven/the divine entity. Grace upset him – it didn’t make sense to him logically. Grace was not something he would ever thought of on his own. ‘How can they hear without someone preaching to them?’ rang very true to me that day.

It will not be easy to step towards people who don’t share your beliefs, who think you are odd, or perhaps even evil, for your faith in Christ. But how else can they hear?

A slow burn

It’s worth saying at this point that opportunities to speak openly about your faith may only come in the context of months of quiet witness, gently trying to start conversations about a church service or a Bible study, and often being shut down. Some of my atheist friends are very happy having a heated debate about Christianity, but my colleagues are clearly uncomfortable talking about spiritual beliefs, even those who are Muslim or Sikh or Hindu themselves. Christian witness may simply involve being a Christ-like friend, neighbour or colleague, waiting patiently for someone to be open to chat about deeper things – praying for opportunities and not shying away from them when they come. After a year of trying to draw alongside a very closed atheist colleague, one day she asked me over a coffee about why Christians marry, rather than live together. It was a long-awaited answer to prayer, and I had the opportunity to talk about the beauty of Christ’s love for and everlasting commitment to his own bride (the church), something that she had never heard of before and which clearly moved her. Other small opportunities like this may seem like they are few and far between, but we trust that the Lord is working powerfully behind the scenes, using our witness, jars of clay though we are, to bring people to him.

The Light of all mankind

Our temptation to retreat from those who are ‘Other’ to us stands in stark contrast to our Lord Jesus. He stepped forwards with love and compassion towards those who were ‘Other’ to him. He came into this world, with all of its sin and darkness and impurity and rejection of God, a world swhic is so ‘Other’ to his righteousness and light and purity and perfect unity with the Father. He died to save those who were far from him, who had no care for him. He died to save not only Jews, but also Gentiles. ‘There is no difference between Jew and Gentile – the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’’ (Romans 10:12-13). We could replace ‘Gentile’ with ‘Muslim’ or ‘Hindu’ or ‘Sikh’, or ‘politically radical’ or ‘left-liberal’ or ‘right fundamentalist’, or ‘staunch atheist’ or ‘apathetic agnostic’, or whatever people group seems most ‘Other’ to you. The same Lord is Lord of all, and if they call on the name of the Lord, they will be saved. Will you be the one who will bring them this good news?

Heavenly Father, in times when we fear approaching those who are different to us, remind us of the Spirit you have given us, a Spirit not of timidity but of power, love and self-discipline. Fill us with love for those who are different to us, who think differently to us. Help us step towards them with the good news of the gospel, as Jesus stepped towards us with his saving grace. May we be those of whom our non-Christian family, neighbours, colleagues, friends ultimately say ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’

Amen

The Dynamics of Effective Evangelism: Gareth Black at Strandtown Baptist

by Editor

Solas’s Gareth Black joined Strandtown Baptist Church in East Belfast for two evenings of equipping and training in evangelism today. About 40-50 people came to each of the two evenings, which were also live-streamed for folks who were not yet able to attend in-person events.

Gareth said, “Over the course of two evenings we really dug into the dynamics of effective evangelism today”.

On the first evening, they examined what Gareth called “the external and internal challenges to evangelism.” The external challenges include where things are going in culture and the challenges that presents to us in evangelism, particularly persuasive evangelism. So we could become ‘activists’, (seeking to control culture, politics etc by lobbying, or protest) or we could ‘retreat’ from culture altogether. A third alternative is to learn to do persuasive evangelism in the context of relationships and gospel conversations.

The internal challenges to evangelism, are addressed in 1 Peter chapter 3, and involve some issues that transcend culture and apply universally.  These are challenges we all face in evangelism. These include firstly fear. Then there are discipleship challenges (setting aside Christ as Lord in our hearts, in a meaningful and public way). Next there’s the problem of being ill-prepared – not knowing what people’s questions are, and not being ready to give an answer. Finally, Peter highlights character issues, stressing the importance of doing our evangelism with gentleness and respect – keeping a clear conscience.

The second evening was all about doing evangelism through the medium of engaging with questions. That means not just answering other people’s questions, but also learning to ask questions too.

Gareth highlighted three key reasons to use questions in evangelism.

  • Because our culture has changed, people think critically and need more than authority driven arguments to help people establish wha;s true.
  • Because it’s biblical and key way in both the Old and New Testaments that people come to faith, was by God allowing them to explore their questions.
  • Jesus used questions to reveal peoples motives and assumptions; and asking and answering questions shows that you take people seriously.

Having explored the uses of good questions, Gareth completed his session with some practical tips for using questions faithfully and creatively. He explored, how to ask good questions, and the use of specific questions such as Have You Ever Wondered? and Why do you think that? Then he looked as helpful ways of answering people’s questions about our Christian faith – always remembering that there is a person behind the question. That means asking questions to understand why the person has asked this particular question, and learning to let conversation flow freely without demanding to have the final word.

Associate Pastor at Strandtown, Michael Shaw, noted: “As a church leadership team, we wanted to equip our members to be able to winsomely share the gospel with their friends, family, neighbours, and colleagues who don’t yet know Jesus.  The two seminars that Gareth Black delivered were incredibly helpful in achieving that goal.  One of the highlights for me was Gareth’s engagement with God’s word (particularly 1 Peter 3), and Scripture remained at the heart of both seminars.  The second session on ‘questioning evangelism’ provided plenty of food for thought and, above all, was very practical. And when Gareth dealt with complex cultural issues, he always made the content accessible to our audience.  I’m confident that this training from Solas will stand us in good stead when it comes to persuasive conversational evangelism, and I look forward to seeing how the Lord will use it in the life of our church.”

Gareth said, “I really enjoyed my two evenings with Strandtown Baptist. Attendance was good and engagement was high, with really insightful discussion in the q&a with people wanting to apply these things to their particular circumstances.  Some people have been emailing me subsequently about how they are working some of this out in their workplaces.”

Strandtown Baptist can be found online here:

Photo of Derek MacIntyre

PEP Talk Podcast With Derek McIntyre

by Solas

With all the topics, arguments and questions one could address in speaking about the gospel, sometimes it’s hard to know where to start. Today we hear from someone who decided to investigate the simple question “Was Jesus the Son of God?” and was surprised at the overwhelming amount of convincing evidence he found.

With Derek McIntyre – PEP Talk

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Amazon Music
RSS Feed

Our Guest

Derek McIntyre comes from a science background and came to Christianity in middle-age when he discovered the wealth of compelling evidence pointing to Jesus being the Son of God. When he became a Christian, he was compelled to share this evidence with others and so developed the “Jesus: The Evidence” website, presentation and booklet to allow him to do this. Read his testimony on the Solas website here.

About PEP Talk

The Persuasive Evangelism Podcast aims to equip listeners to share their faith more effectively in a sceptical world. Each episode, Andy Bannister (Solas) and Kristi Mair (Oak Hill College) chat to a guest who has a great story, a useful resource, or some other expertise that helps equip you to talk persuasively, winsomely, and engagingly with your friends, colleagues and neighbours about Jesus.

Support the Podcast

Frontlines / Christians at Work : The Financial Marketer

by Editor

In this edition of Frontlines, Gavin Matthews spoke to William Rugg, in the City of London where the financial sector provides some unique opportunities for Christian witness.

Solas: Hi William, how are you?

WR: Great, thankyou.

Solas: Before we explore what it means to be a Christian in your workplace, tell us a little about your job? What are your roles and responsibilities?

WR: I work for Rathbones, which is a wealth management company where I write and edit content for our clients and for the general public as part of our marketing strategy. So I am a writer and editor, working in the financial world. So I am not a typical ‘city worker’ but I work in the communications side of the business.

Solas: What’s the best part of your job? What gives you job satisfaction?

WR: One of the best things is to see the tangible results of my work at the end of the day. Sometimes it might be the production of a nice glossy report that I’ve helped to write, edit or produce. It’s great to see that being completed and then people reading it and responding to it. A lot of people don’t have that tangible-aspect to their work – so that is something I value. I really enjoy writing being at my desk, and getting my head down to work!

Solas: How much of what you do is on line and how much in print?

WR: Well, since lockdown it has all been digital. But I used to produce a couple of long-form printed reports in magazine-style per year. Maybe we will go back to that, it remains to be seen what the ‘new normal’ will be like.

Solas: What kind of challenges does your field of work present – and does your Christian faith help you to navigate those?

WR: Just as in any workplace, it’s human interaction that brings about many of the challenges. Relationships can sometimes be difficult and I think that working in the City, perhaps especially in asset management, there are some forceful personalities around. That’s probably true of a lot of workplaces, but is perhaps particularly so in the City. So, the challenge is to navigate those relationships and – as a Christian – to be “salt and light” and to be distinct in the way that I treat people. As I mentioned, I like to get my head down and get on with my work, but the challenge for me, as a Christian is to be there, every day, as an ambassador for Christ. In seeking to make him known, relationships must be built and invested in because that’s where the opportunities come up. The fact that in this environment some of the people are a bit more forthright can actually be a good thing, because that presents opportunities to talk about my faith.

Solas: And does your faith also affect the way that you go about doing the work itself?

WR: One of the biggest things for me is the attitude I take to work. My job is to serve my boss, the company and our clients, and those people in my team who I line-manage. Jesus himself said, “I came not to be served but to serve”, so he inspires me to see serving others as a very important thing. So I try to bring a servant-hearted attitude to my work. Beyond that I seek to glorify God in my work. That means that there is this amazing purpose to my work, because I want to honour Him in what I do. Ultimately, even though I am serving a company and clients – I am working for God and that work opens doors for my witness about Him to others. I want people to see that I am motivated by something which is beyond this visible world, that’s what I ultimately want people to notice and to know more about.

Solas: I’m aware that the folks you work with know that you are a Christian. What have reactions to your faith been like?

WR: Well, I haven’t had any direct “push-back” to my faith in my current role. In my previous job in a different firm, I had a colleague who was a professed atheist and was very strong in his views and used to love to debate things. I really enjoyed those conversations even though I never persuaded him to change his mind! Generally while there is some underlying hostility to what Christians believe, that constant veneer of British politeness means that you often don’t really know where people stand. When I have put my head above the parapet and sent out invitations to the whole company to events where we are seeking to share the gospel, I’ve had people come up to me and say things like, “I’m not interested personally, but well done for standing up for being a Christian.” There have been many positive reactions from people who recognize that it took some courage. Other people have been encouraged by it too.  A couple of folks have said to me, “I am so grateful for you doing this, I am a Christian but I have never stood up and made myself known as a Christian at work – and you’ve really encouraged me to do that.” So they’ve joined our prayer and Bible-study group too now. So there have been some very positive responses from Christians and non-Christians to my faith.

Solas: Did you have to get permission to run events in the office like Christianity Explored? Or to email everyone in the office to invite them? How does that work?

WR: We’re really blessed at Rathbones because the attitude of the human resources department is that if you want to put on an event for colleagues you can as long as it is something that everyone feels welcome to – regardless of what their faith is. Of course that is absolutely the very thing that we want to do, to make everyone feel welcome and not make the Christian event exclusive or only open to Christians. So we are delighted to hold events on the basis that they are for everyone.

That’s very different from previous places where I have worked which have been at the opposite end of the spectrum. In the asset management company I used to work for, the policy was that there could be no religious activity in the building of any kind. We couldn’t even use a conference room at lunch time for a prayer meeting. So I wrote an email to the CEO and said to him that there are a group of Christians in the company who would like to hold a carol service to invite colleagues along to – and I invited him to do one of the readings! When he said, “yes – great idea” then we had some backing, and so we used a church close to the office and were able to invite people from work along.

Solas: And is Rathbones a large company?

WR: There’s about a thousand people who work here, across the UK, of whom around five-hundred are in the London office where I’m based.

Solas: And your workplace Christian group..?

WR: There’s about half a dozen of us, and the Mark study group has recently doubled from four to eight people.

Solas; And you were able to run a Christianity Explored course there?

WR: Yes, that’s right. It was actually after lockdown had started so we had to do that one online. But the wonderful thing about that was that a lot of the people who came to that were from the regional offices – whereas previously we’d really only focussed on the London office. Lockdown has made us expand our horizons and think beyond just the local office.

Solas: and you also mentioned dialogue-style events. How did they work?

WR: Well the most recent one took place at Easter. Lots of London churches and their lunchtime ministries work together on a mission called “Questions for Life” every Easter. They sent out a list of speakers who were available to support groups like ours. So we had a speaker come in and we had tea and scones sent out to colleagues in their homes and called the event “Tea with Jesus!” and the talk was about Jesus being the bread of life. Then there was a chance for dialogue, discussion and Q&A. It was really informal and it was from that some more people joined our Mark study group.

Solas: What reactions have there been at work to your Christian group in the office, praying, reading the Bible, and inviting them to events? Have any objections been raised?

WR: There were no objections raised that I am aware of. I know of some Christians who have been approached by other colleagues who are very hostile to Christianity who have been given a hard time; but I haven’t myself. I sent out the email to the whole company to our latest event, and that’s around 1,000 people – but there is a lot of apathy about. I got something between ten or twenty responses to that email and they were all positive. People came along and there was good follow up from it too. Christianity Explored was especially good for that – people had loads of really good questions.

Solas: You are clearly very active in sharing your faith, and not being a hidden Christian. Tell me what motivates you to share your faith with others like this?

WR: Let me preface my answer by saying that doing so takes me right outside my comfort zone! But when I think about the fact that my deepest need is for forgiveness of my sins – and the way that Jesus met that need at immense personal cost to himself; then evangelism flows out of a sense of love for Jesus and everything he’s done for me. I also believe that the forgiveness of sins is my friends and colleagues deepest need too. Without Christ, my colleagues are lost – and I want to be like Jesus in his love for the los. It’s all too easy to lose that perspective and just get on with the work, but everyone’s deepest need is for the forgiveness of their sins (whether they realise that or not). That’s what Jesus offers  – and they are not going to know that unless someone shares it with them.

Solas: What advice would you give to a young Christian entering this field of work who wants to stay faithful to Christ there?

WR: Well the first thing is to take the earliest opportunity to make yourself known as a Christian – don’t hide it! Then pray – obviously! One really good piece of advice I was given by my pastor as I started in the workplace was to pray that God would put another Christian in my path. From there you can pray together, for others, and for your witness. That happened, I met another Christian at work, we started praying together and it grew until we were putting on event and carol services and things. Ask God to send you another Christian and to give you boldness in conversation!

Solas: Thankyou so much – there is so much in there to encourage and inspire!

WR: Thanks Gavin!

 

The Cedarwood Festival

by Editor

Although the Cedarwood Festival is a relative newcomer to the UK’s Christian calendar, it has already made its mark as a great event where Christians from across the churches gather for worship, teaching, fellowship, prayer and unity in the North of England. Solas has had the privilege of partnering with Cedarwood over the last couple of years, which has of course, meant working both in person and online.

Cedarwood Festival Director, David Stretton-Downes said, “We were delighted to welcome Andy Bannister from Solas back to the Q&A panel team for Cedarwood Festival this year, with streaming of the live event taking place non-stop for 12 hours, from a secret forest location in the north of England. Questions ranged from Covid19 and ethics to Islam and politics, and it was fantastic to be able to partner in the gospel again – all be it online!”

In the live Q&A sessions, Andy Bannister was joined by Chris Sinkinson from Moorlands College, and hosted by Karen Todd and David Stretton-Downes. You can see these sessions online below:

 

Cedarwood Festival is really looking forward to July 2022, when they will be able to welcome all their guests back to the festival in person. The team are already hard at work planning the programme and preparing the venue. Details are always on hand at www.cedarwoodfestival.com and tickets are already available here.

Andy Bannister and Solas will be at Cedarwood Festival 2022 and are really looking forward to it again. If you are there, please do come and say hi to Andy or anyone else from the Solas team. We’re really looking forward to it! See you there.