Seven Reasons Why This WVC Lectureship Is Important


J. D. Conley


Reason 1 - To Reflect And Focus On The One True God. Man has grown disinterested in God and, consequently, has either withdrawn from Him or rejected Him altogether. Though the world will not admit it, it is emaciated and starving for God. This lectureship is needed to satisfy this hunger man has done his best to ignore.


Reason 2 - To Reinforce Our Faith. If our faith is weak and small, we will never be able to convince others of God's existence, much less their need for Him in their lives. Even some Christians have a skewed understanding of what faith really is. Bible faith is a type of knowledge that is based on reliable testimony. It is not a blind leap into the dark. 


Reason 3 - To Rearm Ourselves To Refute Atheism. The Bible says, "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good" (1 Thessalonians 5:21). One of those "things" we must prove is the existence of God. In doing so, atheism is refuted. The atheist's big argument is the problem of evil and human suffering. This can be used against them in that only an all-loving God would create man with free moral agency. The reason human suffering and evil exist is because God exists, not because He does not. The bad in the world is here because, in spite of God's warnings, man has very often made the wrong choices.


Reason 4 - To Rearm Ourselves To Reaffirm Theism. It is not the case that the atheist has been convinced there is no God, but rather he has purposely rejected the evidence for His existence. He has done precisely what Paul accuses him of doing in Romans 1:28, i.e., refusing to acknowledge God. No wonder twice in the Psalms is recorded, "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God" (Psalm 14:1; 53:1). 


Reason 5 - To Remind Ourselves We Are Not Alone In The Fight. It is easy to get the "Elijah Complex," and think, "woe are we." The fact of this upcoming lectureship proves we are not alone or helpless as we go out and "Prepare To Answer." Furthermore, we must always remember, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31)


Reason 6 - To Renounce The Ridiculous Results Of Atheism. The atheist, not the theist, is the one that takes a blind leap into the dark, a quantum leap at that! He must have much more faith than we do to subscribe to the absurdities he does. He simply must believe the unbelievable. 


Reason 7 - To Encourage Us To Redouble Our Efforts To Tell This Godless World There IS A God! Atheism remains the biggest threat to the church and the world. If left unopposed it will chew up and swallow all people, including God's. Therefore let us defeat it by obeying the command of 1 Peter 3:15. “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”


May God give us the will and time to do so! -102 Laramie Rd., Marietta, OH 45750.

 



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