Here we are back for week nine of this blog entitled "Who Can We Trust? Rightly Dividing The Word of Truth!" We've been discussing who we can and can't trust in mainstream evangelicalism today. Today is on the positive and we'll be focusing on Ravi Zacharias . In case you missed the first few weeks worth of entries I do suggest that you go back and read them as well when you're finished here.
We can all agree that we live in a generation and culture(if you're in America) of easy believism where people have the ability to get their message out to millions with just the click of a mouse. With that said, there is a slew of theological information at our fingertips. One quick google search and you can get commentary and scripture interpretation from Billy Graham to Benny Hinn and everything in between. With so many choices and the deceitfulness of our own hearts we're apt to listen to whomever we "like" or whomever our friends listen to or whatever makes us feel good. In light of this reality let us be diligent in determining who we let speak into our life! Every heretic speaks some truth sometimes or no one would listen. My goal over the course of a few months is to do two blogs a week, both critiquing prominent evangelicals in our day, one on someone who is trustworthy, someone who rightly divides the Word, someone who doesn't twist the scriptures, and the other on someone who is untrustworthy, possibly deceived, and even possibly an apostate, who for filthy lucre, distorts the Gospel. Let me say up front that there may be some of these critiques that you absolutely agree with and some you may vehemently reject and at times you may think that I'm being judgmental, harsh, or you may even think I'm crazy but I challenge you to research the Word and the person and then decide. I will praise some of these men and I will reject others, it's not personal but as a Pastor with a Pastor's heart I feel compelled to protect the flock from wolves and to lead the flock to spiritual food that will equip them for this life and the next, that is the sole intent behind these blog entries! Lets get started!
Ravi Zacharias is a seasoned apologist fighting in the trenches for the Christian faith! With a soothing voice and the reason of an intelligent philosopher Zacharias is a giant of the faith, defending it, proclaiming it, and living it! Ravi Zacharias is the founder and spokesman for RZIM, an apologist foundation who's primary goal is the defense of the Gospel. From lectures to Q&A's to sermons Ravi Zacharias is a trustworthy evangelical who we can all learn and glean from. With his quotes from C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton and his ability to present illustrations that bring biblical truth to life Zacharias is one of my favorite speakers and as I listen I find myself hanging on to every word! You can find more about Ravi and his literature at his website www.rzim.org.
Born in New Delhi and growing up in the land of a thousand gods, Ravi quickly became a skeptic in his teenage years which led to hopelessness and thoughts of suicide. At seventeen he heard the words of Jesus in John 14:19 "Because I live, you also will live," and in a time of helplessness and unbelief he committed his life to Christ!
With this commitment came one of my favorite quotes by Ravi, "I will leave no stone unturned in my pursuit of truth." With that passion and the truth of the Word found in John 14 where Jesus says "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." it has been Ravi's mission as an apologist to proclaim the good news of the Gospel and he's still doing it over 45 years later!
Zacharias’s calling to preach was first confirmed when he was awarded the Asian Youth Preacher Award at the international Youth Congress in Hyderabad at the age of nineteen. Years later, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association invited Zacharias to be a plenary speaker at the inaugural International Conference for Itinerant Evangelists (“Amsterdam ‘83”) to address a gathering of 4,000 other speakers. It would be another turning point for him, as he began to seriously consider the critical need of apologetics to remove the intellectual and existential barriers that kept many skeptics from considering the truth claims of Christ. A year later, in 1984, he founded Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM).
At age 71 he remains committed to his calling to represent the gospel of Jesus Christ through historical, philosophical, and moral foundations and to defend it against objectors with grace, clarity, and coherency. He has laid the framework of the truth of the gospel to millions of people in more than 70 countries, including on the campuses of some of the world’s leading universities.
Ravi Zacharias is a seasoned apologist fighting in the trenches for the Christian faith! With a soothing voice and the reason of an intelligent philosopher Zacharias is a giant of the faith, defending it, proclaiming it, and living it! Ravi Zacharias is the founder and spokesman for RZIM, an apologist foundation who's primary goal is the defense of the Gospel. From lectures to Q&A's to sermons Ravi Zacharias is a trustworthy evangelical who we can all learn and glean from. With his quotes from C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton and his ability to present illustrations that bring biblical truth to life Zacharias is one of my favorite speakers and as I listen I find myself hanging on to every word! You can find more about Ravi and his literature at his website www.rzim.org.
Born in New Delhi and growing up in the land of a thousand gods, Ravi quickly became a skeptic in his teenage years which led to hopelessness and thoughts of suicide. At seventeen he heard the words of Jesus in John 14:19 "Because I live, you also will live," and in a time of helplessness and unbelief he committed his life to Christ!
With this commitment came one of my favorite quotes by Ravi, "I will leave no stone unturned in my pursuit of truth." With that passion and the truth of the Word found in John 14 where Jesus says "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." it has been Ravi's mission as an apologist to proclaim the good news of the Gospel and he's still doing it over 45 years later!
Zacharias’s calling to preach was first confirmed when he was awarded the Asian Youth Preacher Award at the international Youth Congress in Hyderabad at the age of nineteen. Years later, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association invited Zacharias to be a plenary speaker at the inaugural International Conference for Itinerant Evangelists (“Amsterdam ‘83”) to address a gathering of 4,000 other speakers. It would be another turning point for him, as he began to seriously consider the critical need of apologetics to remove the intellectual and existential barriers that kept many skeptics from considering the truth claims of Christ. A year later, in 1984, he founded Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM).
At age 71 he remains committed to his calling to represent the gospel of Jesus Christ through historical, philosophical, and moral foundations and to defend it against objectors with grace, clarity, and coherency. He has laid the framework of the truth of the gospel to millions of people in more than 70 countries, including on the campuses of some of the world’s leading universities.
Zacharias has spent the past 45 years commending the Christian faith and addressing life’s great existential questions of origin, meaning, morality, and destiny with eloquence and grace. He fully believes the truth of Jesus Christ can endure the toughest critiques and philosophical attacks. He has authored or edited over 25 books in the fields of theology, apologetics, comparative religion, and philosophy. Zacharias and his wife, Margie, have been married for 45 years and have three grown children. They reside in Atlanta.
My favorite quotes by Zacharias.......
When you find your definitions in God, you find the very purpose for which you were created. Put your hand into God's hand, know His absolutes, demonstrate His love, present His truth, and the message of redemption and transformation will take hold.
“Love is a commitment that will be tested in the most vulnerable areas of spirituality, a commitment that will force you to make some very difficult choices. It is a commitment that demands that you deal with your lust, your greed, your pride, your power, your desire to control, your temper, your patience, and every area of temptation that the Bible clearly talks about. It demands the quality of commitment that Jesus demonstrates in His relationship to us.”
“In the 1950s kids lost their innocence.
They were liberated from their parents by well-paying jobs, cars, and lyrics in music that gave rise to a new term ---the generation gap.
In the 1960s, kids lost their authority.
It was a decade of protest---church, state, and parents were all called into question and found wanting. Their authority was rejected, yet nothing ever replaced it.
In the 1970s, kids lost their love. It was the decade of me-ism dominated by hyphenated words beginning with self.
Self-image, Self-esteem, Self-assertion....It made for a lonely world. Kids learned everything there was to know about sex and forgot everything there was to know about love, and no one had the nerve to tell them there was a difference.
In the 1980s, kids lost their hope.
Stripped of innocence, authority and love and plagued by the horror of a nuclear nightmare, large and growing numbers of this generation stopped believing in the future.
In the 1990s kids lost their power to reason. Less and less were they taught the very basics of language, truth, and logic and they grew up with the irrationality of a postmodern world.
In the new millennium, kids woke up and found out that somewhere in the midst of all this change, they had lost their imagination. Violence and perversion entertained them till none could talk of killing innocents since none was innocent anymore.”
They were liberated from their parents by well-paying jobs, cars, and lyrics in music that gave rise to a new term ---the generation gap.
In the 1960s, kids lost their authority.
It was a decade of protest---church, state, and parents were all called into question and found wanting. Their authority was rejected, yet nothing ever replaced it.
In the 1970s, kids lost their love. It was the decade of me-ism dominated by hyphenated words beginning with self.
Self-image, Self-esteem, Self-assertion....It made for a lonely world. Kids learned everything there was to know about sex and forgot everything there was to know about love, and no one had the nerve to tell them there was a difference.
In the 1980s, kids lost their hope.
Stripped of innocence, authority and love and plagued by the horror of a nuclear nightmare, large and growing numbers of this generation stopped believing in the future.
In the 1990s kids lost their power to reason. Less and less were they taught the very basics of language, truth, and logic and they grew up with the irrationality of a postmodern world.
In the new millennium, kids woke up and found out that somewhere in the midst of all this change, they had lost their imagination. Violence and perversion entertained them till none could talk of killing innocents since none was innocent anymore.”
“I think the reason we sometimes have the false sense that God is so far away is because that is where we have put him. We have kept him at a distance, and then when we are in need and call on him in prayer, we wonder where he is. He is exactly where we left him.”
“I came to Him because I did not know which way to turn. I remained with Him because there is no other way I wish to turn. I came to Him longing for something I did not have. I remain with Him because I have something I will not trade. I came to Him as a stranger. I remain with Him in the most intimate of friendships. I came to Him unsure about the future. I remain with Him certain about my destiny. I came amid the thunderous cries of a culture that has 330 million deities. I remain with Him knowing that truth cannot be all-inclusive.”
“Truth by definition excludes.”
“Worship is a posture of life that takes as its primary purpose the understanding of what it really means to love and revere God.”
“The Samaritan woman grasped what He said with fervor that came from an awareness of her real need. The transaction was fascinating. She has come with a buket. He sent her back with a spring of living water. She had come as a reject. He sent her back being accepted by God Himself. She came wounded. He sent her back whole. She came laden with questions. He sent her back as a source for answers. She came living a life of quiet desperation. She ran back overflowing with hope. The disciples missed it all. It was lunchtime for them.”
God Bless!
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