Schedule Explanations.

So before I get officially started, I'd like to post a little about the (hopeful) schedule and do some explanation.

Sunday- Small Talks
Monday- Series
Tuesday- Devotions
Wednesday- In the News/Articles
Thursday- Bible Study
Friday- Hard Talks
Saturday- Q & A
Everyday- Bible Passage, Prayers

Small Talks- Small talks will range from anything like me rambling on a post about some topic pertaining to Christianity, to things like how to dress modestly (and fashionably).

Series- These posts will be a "series" of posts about a certain topic. For example, I might do a series of posts about a topic that might last several posts- maybe the topic of how to "properly" read the Bible.

In the News/Articles- Articles will be me talking about a news story or an article I've found about Christianity.

Hard Talks- These talks will be me answering "hard topics for Christianity", things like homosexuality, if God is good why is there evil?, and how do I know if God really hears my prayers?

Q & A: Basically where I either answer a question of my own or a submitted question (these don't have to be completely serious, they can be something silly like, "if you could be an animal, what animal would you be and why?"

Devotions and Bible studies- Pretty straight forward I think.

Always with love,
Sarah

I'm not apologizing!- What is Apologetics?

You may be wondering, what does the word, "Apologia" mean? And from looking at the word, its easy to draw the conclusion that it means "apologize", but in fact, while that may be the word from which we get "apologize" from, that's not what it means. Apologia, in fact, means or can be translated into, "defense".

1 Peter 3:15-16

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,¹⁶ keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

 In 1 Peter, we are called to give a defense, or in other translations, give a reason for why we believe in Jesus when asked. At the time when the verses were written, they were given to a persecuted church, and given in a context in which you could lose your life for believing.

So, in short, apologetics is defending your faith or something you believe in. And defending your faith isn't something as simple as "oh well I'm right because I believe it", defending your faith is learning about WHY you believe what you believe, how you can back up your beliefs, and keeping in mind the whole time, do always defend your faith with gentleness and respect.

"In your hearts, honor Christ..."
But before one goes out and starts giving reasons for every question out there, one must be in the right "spiritual place" before Christ in order to engage in any kind of spiritual battle/debate/whatever. One can go and say anything they'd like, but you must also remember that it is wise to know your reasons and have studied them before jumping into a debate. Its best to, think before you speak and consider your answer and questions wisely.

Therefore, apologetics is not just an academic exercise, but it is also a spiritual one. In today's society where few people take the time to actually understand why they believe something and take it upon themselves to learn it without listening to whatever someone tells them, we have become spiritually ineffective because we don't know what or why we believe.

And this can be quite dangerous.

But I'll save that for another day.

Always being prepared. 
Being prepared to give a defense meaning hard work and discipline, with engaging in such work as reading the Bible, talking with other Christians, reading devotions, Bible studies, taking religion classes, going to church, and lots of other ways you can prepare yourself.

But apologetics is also tied up with evangelism and it isn't simply about answering other people's questions. Its also about questioning other people's answers and even the questions themselves. Its even about getting them to ask the right question.

Why ask questions?

1. Asking questions forces people to open up within their general assumptions. 
2. Asking questions forces people to open up within their cultural assumptions.
3. Asking questions reveals bad logic. 
4. Asking questions exposes motive. 
1. Figuring out the motive for why someone is posing a question is very important. Because they could either be asking for negative reasons ("they want to make you look stupid"), or for positive ones (they might generally be interested in hearing about Christ), we must always approach the questions with gentleness and respect. 
5. Asking questions exposes contradiction.
1. There's this wonderful law called the "Law of Non-contradiction". And the reason its wonderful is that if anyone denies the law of Non-contradiction, they're actually agreeing with it! If someone says, "There is no such thing as truth", well, the only way for them to be true, is if truth existed. 
6. Asking questions insures a conversation.
7. Asking questions makes people think. 

Why apologetics?

Out of many of the reasons to start a Christian blog, among them being to share the Good News, another reason I started this blog is because I want an open place where I have lots of space to openly defend my faith and where people can listen and discuss. 

And while the goal of apologetics is to introduce people to Christ, one must remember that it is not us who convert people, but it is only through the Holy Spirit that people come to faith (2 Corinthians 4:7). Apologetics is not to provide answers that no one can disprove, it is to rationally share our faith and why we believe in it.  Peter says not to force our beliefs on anyone (after all, no one likes to be forced to believe anything!) and instead to just be ready to share. 

So therefore, I hope you'll discover some wonderful things about Christianity on this blog and why Jesus is the reason I'm a Christian. Not only that, but the reasons I use to support my believe and hopefully you'll grow in your faith too or even discover it.

With love always,
Sarah

Greetings!

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Welcome, welcome, welcome!

It is so great to finally be able to sit down and write to you, but before I go any further  I should probably introduce myself, shouldn't I?

Who am I?
You may call me Sarah, and I am a Child of God. Born and raised in the southern United States, I was raised in the ELCA, (Evanglical Lutheran Church of America). But then when I was eleven, I moved up to the north where I became a member of the LCMS (Lutheran Church Missouri Senate), and went to private Lutheran schools where I grew in my faith every day and became more and more enthralled with my savior, Jesus Christ.

When I was in fifth grade, I fell in love with writing and have written stories and all sorts of things every since. A couple years ago, I decided to start my own blog, Birds of a Writer, which is primarily devoted to all things writing and randomness. And which I still blog on when I can enjoy every moment of it.

Why blog?

Matthew 28:19-20

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Lately this year as things begin change, I've felt this calling to start a blog devoted to all things Jesus and Christianity. What this blog I'm hoping will be is a tool where one might find strength in their faith, or even discover it if one is not a believer all ready. 

1 Corinthians 1:5-6

New International Version (NIV)

⁵ For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge—⁶ God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you.

If you're wondering what someone like me would be able to write about Christianity, well, I've gone to private Lutheran schools for seven years where I haven't had a day without learning something about my faith, I attend church as often as I can, and I love Jesus! But what I am not, is I am not a pastor, a deaconess  (although that would certainly be fun), a missionary (that would be fun!), or anything really professional in the Christian faith.

But nevertheless, I feel that God as equipped me to help spread His Word through the written word and so here I am, hoping that the Holy Spirit will lead me to say the right things and that through me, His Will can be done. Now I'll not always say the right thing and I know I'll mess up tons, but hopefully through the power of Jesus Christ, I'll be able to be of some use and this journey will be exciting for all of us.

What you'll see hopefully,

• Daily Bible Passages
• Bible Studies
• Prayers (yes, you may submit them for public or private praying!)
• "Hard Talks" (where I talk about the difficult subjects like heaven & hell, homosexuality, sin, doubts, and all sorts of stuff. Feel free to submit topics)
• "Small Talks"- Generally rambling about Christianity and Jesus.  
• Devotions
• Q & A- Yes, send me a question or whatever and I'll hopefully get around to answering it!
• Resources, tips, etc. 

 So in short, there's be more to come, but for now, welcome! 

As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 16: 24, "My love to all of you in Christ Jesus."

-Sarah