In defending the unity of the church, the biggest obstacles which must be overcome are the misunderstandings that result from frivolous use of the word church. The word “church” is misapplied far too often. This usually happens because the term is misunderstood. [...]

Happy Valentine’s Day, Veritas friends! In case you missed it, The New York Times recently published the definitive secret to a successful relationship.
Coincidentally, the core idea is something the Bible figured out a long time ago.

According to the Times, the most successful relationships are ones in which each person feels the other person has helped them improve:

Dr. Aron and Gary W. Lewandowski Jr., a professor at Monmouth University in New Jersey, have studied how individuals use a relationship to accumulate knowledge and experiences, a process called “self-expansion.” Research shows that the more self-expansion people experience from their partner, the more committed and satisfied they are in the relationship.

In other words, if your boyfriend/husband is introducing you to new people, new books, new places, he becomes more indispensable; the relationship becomes tighter. It’s not so much that the other person is awesome, but that you think he is making you awesome. [...]

We at TVN are so very thankful for Dr. Alvin Reid and his work in the area of student ministry, evangelism, and Christian leadership.  It is an absolutely humbling thing to interview him on The Veritas Network.  I hope you all enjoy reading this interview as much as I did, and that you are equipped and refreshed in your understanding and view of youth culture, as I was.

Dr. Alvin Read serves as Professor of Evangelism and Student Ministry at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, where he has been since 1995.  For the rest of his bio CLICK HERE.

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Greg: What approach do you take in teaching young people apologetics?  What do you teach?  How often do you teach on it?  Can we focus too much on teaching apologetics to the neglect of the Scripture?  And what is the proper balance?

Dr. Reid: I do not actually think of it as “teaching apologetics” although I certainly value the discipline. I have observed the church overly compartmentalize disciplines from one another (evangelism from discipleship from apologetics, etc). There is a place to separate, but I think American individualism has driven too many to think of themselves as “apologetics” focused, “evangelism” focused, etc. Francis Schaefer considered himself an evangelist, for instance.

I prefer focusing more on a gospel centered life, where the gospel, not apologetics or some other discipline is dominant. Out of that context, or worldview, I try to help students learn to defend their faith.  For instance, I am about to lead a “Hard Questions” series with our college pastor at the church where I serve as director of young pros. I will deal with the problem of evil and the uniqueness of Christianity two of the nights. In each case I will make the gospel the focus of the discussion and the remedy.

We can certainly focus too much on any discipline to the neglect of Scripture. In fact, in the book The Convergent Church I co-authored with Mark Liederbach, we note where evidential apologetics, while important, “over-reached” in its focus on answering questions to the neglect of a larger framework of a gospel-driven life. [...]

Human rights. The general consensus among people in the world today is in support of the protection, advocacy and defense of human dignity. Principles nearly universally favored – aid to the poor, help for the sick and marginalized, and the just treatment for people of all races – prompt people to assist in a number of possible ways. Individuals, governments and organizations have programs for the amelioration of weaker, downtrodden groups. It’s rare to find anyone who would dare question or criticize another helping the disenfranchised. Such a person would invariably be considered calloused and selfish: a base character worthy of neither respect nor admiration. [...]

The generations preceding ours fought important theological battles concerning the Bible, specifically for inerrancy and infallibility.  The fight in our day will be for sufficiency.  The following quote is from Andy Naselli, a PhD student of D. A. Carson, from the recent book Don’t Call It a Comeback (Crossway: 2011), edited by Kevin DeYoung.  With these words Naselli addresses one of the most serious attacks on the sufficiency of Scripture today:

Some evangelicals believe that God continues to reveal himself with special words and special guidance.  Whether we agree that God still speaks like this or not, we must agree that these special words do not carry the authority of Scripture.  We can’t be absolutely certain that they actually come from God, so we should never treat these forms of communication the same way we treat God’s communication to us in the Bible.  Otherwise we would be adding to the Bible, which is already sufficient as it stands (Kindle edition).

Last Sunday I had the opportunity to lead worship at the local church of which I am a member.  Our youth pastor requested we sing this song after his sermon.  It is a truly amazing song.  Enjoy!

Often at the beginning of a new year believers make a resolution to read the Bible more than they did the year before, perhaps by reading through the entire Bible once in a year.  This is certainly a good resolution to make!  What I want to address in this blog is why reading the Bible is indeed so important.  I addressed this topic partly in a previous blog called “Why the Bible Must Receive at Least the Same Interpretive Respect as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”  Nevertheless, given that it is the beginning of 2011, and the plethora of Bible reading plans mentioned in the blogosphere recently, it seems important to consider afresh precisely why Bible reading is important. [...]

As we enter into a new year, I want to discuss a mounting challenge for Christians in the increasingly multicultural, postmodern melting pot of American society. I want to address the problem of a creeping increase of theological liberalism. You see, The Veritas Network endeavors to support and inform young adult Christians, and young adults between the ages of 18 and 30 are the ones who are most susceptible to the lure of a liberal theological outlook. [...]

In this article Ben Montoya discusses part 2 of his interactions with Rob Bell’s ‘Velvet Elvis.’  This heavy, but very important article on Rob Bell is something that all 20-somethings who care about the foundation and authority of Scripture should read and work through. [...]

Picture someone walking into their favorite local bookstore and going to their favorite section.  Perhaps he went into the fiction section of the store and picked up one of the Harry Potter books.  This person picks up the last book of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, turns to p. 458, and reads the following:

“‘Well, Draco?’ said Lucius Malfoy.”   This is the first time this person has even glanced at the words within this book, ever.  Nevertheless, immediately after he finished reading these words he looks down the aisle at another person standing a few feet away examining some other fictional book and says, “I know what this line means.” [...]