Point of View May 28, 2025 – Hour 2 : 12 Crucial Truths of the Christian Faith

[00:00:04] Across America Live, this is Point of View, Kirby Anderson. This hour we're going to spend some time talking about both theology and apologetics, really understanding what you should believe as a Christian and know how to defend it.

[00:00:29] It is part of this new book that has just come out, 12 Crucial Truths of the Christian Faith. It's kind of an abridgment of a book that came out a number of years ago, Unshakeable Truth. Dwayne Zook, who is at the Josh McDowell Ministries, came up with the idea of maybe this is a diamond in the rough, and I think that it is. Because if we really want to educate ourselves and the next generation to think about how to articulate biblical truth and how to defend biblical truth, this is such a great book in that regard.

[00:00:59] The co-author, of course, is Sean McDowell. Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell have written the book, 12 Crucial Truths of the Christian Faith. Sean McDowell, Dr. Sean McDowell, is the Associate Professor of Christian Apologetics at Talbot School of Theology. You might also have seen his YouTube channel in which he discusses everything from culture to apologetics to worldview issues on his YouTube channel, and I certainly would recommend that as well. We have a link to his website.

[00:01:26] And, Sean McDowell, it is always great to have you on the program. Kirby, I enjoy it every time. Let's see if we can get into this, because we won't cover all 12, but I think it would be good to see if we can give people a good foundation. One, of course, is that God exists, and that is central, of course, to the Christian faith. But you also have a section here on some of the arguments for the existence of God.

[00:01:51] And so even before we start talking about whether the Bible is true or use the Bible to begin to help us understand the nature of God, there are these sort of common grace arguments to actually help us understand how when we have a conversation with our friends and neighbors or other individuals and places of work, where we can actually begin to give them arguments for the existence of God.

[00:02:17] You know, if all of our arguments for the existence of God failed, that wouldn't mean God doesn't exist. It would just mean that we can't demonstrate it or show it. But it turns out that there's quite a few solid, good reasons to believe that God exists, that if we are ready to give a basic answer to these, it's amazing how many times people ask. I was sitting on a plane one time, and a girl asked me, she's like, so you believe in God? We had started a conversation. Why do you believe in God?

[00:02:47] Pulled out a napkin and laid out one of the arguments we put in this book, which is just simply called the Kalam Cosmological Argument for the Existence of God. Sounds fancy, but it starts with whatever begins to exist has a cause. The universe began to exist. Therefore, the universe has a cause. And I literally, those two premises and a conclusion. It's solid. It's defensible. Now, that's only one argument.

[00:03:15] There's the fine-tuning argument from design to a designer. There's the information in the cell argument. This blew me away when we updated this book. If the average human body has 100 trillion cells, if you uncoiled the DNA in one cell, it would be nine feet in length. That means the DNA in your body, Kirby, or mine on average would, when strung together, would go from here to the sun and back about 200 times. Unbelievable. Well, DNA stores information.

[00:03:45] Information points towards the mind. So it's really simple saying, again, the universe points towards the beginner. The fine-tuning points towards a fine-tuner. The information cell points towards an information giver. The moral law points towards the moral law giver. I would say human consciousness points towards a larger conscience as a sufficient explanation. And, of course, there's prophecy, the scriptures, the resurrection.

[00:04:11] We start off by trying to give Christians confidence that God exists, and also with just practical tools to pass on to their kids and to share with unbelievers when they have questions. Ken, the book came out just recently, 12 Crucial Truths of the Christian Faith. And just before I move on to some others, I thought let's stay on the one on God exists and maybe what is oftentimes called the teleological argument or the design argument, 30 trillion cells. But you made a point in passing which is really important,

[00:04:41] and that is this book originally came out, I think, about 15 years ago. But the bottom line is there's so much more information. And as an individual that has dedicated your life to working in the area of apologetics, this really has almost become the golden age of apologetics because there's so much more evidence. We're going to talk about archaeological evidence this is a minute here. We're talking about biological evidence. Everywhere we turn, there's more evidence than we've ever seemingly had before.

[00:05:10] I think that's right. When we published this book in 2010, the best source I could find said DNA went from here to the sun in the human body about 70 times. Now, my friend at the Discovery Institute says, I think we can document it's about 200 times. In other words, the further we go, I think the better evidence we find.

[00:05:28] Now, with that said, Kirby, also because of YouTube, because of social media, now also people making the argument against God has direct access to our kids through TikTok, et cetera. So while the evidence is better, we can't sit back and go, this is great. We've got to learn it. We've got to teach it. And we've got to help our kids think critically. That's why it's more urgent than ever.

[00:05:56] Well, again, I'm so grateful for what you do in terms of the books you write, but also your YouTube channel. And we have all those links there. Let's, if we can, maybe get started on the second one. God's word can be trusted. And again, some of those diagrams and charts were in evidence that demands a verdict. I've got the original autographs. And, of course, you have a more updated one now than ever before. But is that not a good example of the fact that we have more manuscripts? We have more archaeology.

[00:06:25] We have much more to point to the fact that we can indeed trust God's word. I think that's right. And when we talk about trust, there's two components here. I think what partly makes this book unique is we call it relational apologetics. So it's about how to build relationships with others and with God. And it's about how to learn that Christianity is true, defend the faith. So when it comes to trust, there has to be the evidence that the Bible is actually true.

[00:06:52] We have a list of archaeology that supports the New Testament and Jesus. We have ancient manuscripts that we found. We have internal evidence that the biblical writers report embarrassing material which says these guys care about truth even if it comes at a social cost to them. So we can make that apologetic. But I'm more and more convinced today that perhaps the most important, I don't know if I say resource or attribute we have to have to communicate truth to this generation is trust.

[00:07:22] Because there's a million voices speaking in nonstop, again, educational systems, TikTok, Netflix, Disney+, their friends, their school, you name it. Why are they going to trust you and why are they going to trust me? Well, one reason we've got to know what we're talking about, right? We go to a dentist and we trust him because we assume he knows how to work on our teeth. But also relationships. Relationships build trust.

[00:07:48] Now, we need to build real relationships, but that's why sometimes social media influencers act like they care, act like they have a relationship with you because they know you're more likely to listen. Well, we need to lean in and build relationships with this generation and help them know they can trust the Bible because they see us trusting the Bible through difficult times and leaning on God's word for the way we live.

[00:08:16] So that's the way we have to do apologetics today. So, again, we're doing relational apologetics and we've covered some basics, but now we're going to get into some more controversial areas if you think about it. All have sinned. God became human. Jesus was God's perfect sacrifice. Some very important aspects of that before, of course, we get to the resurrection and a variety of other issues. But it is all part of this book, 12 Crucial Truths of the Christian Faith.

[00:08:45] Josh McDowell, Sean McDowell are the authors and we'll continue with Sean right after this. This is Viewpoints with Kirby Anderson. During a radio interview with Professor Winfield Bevins, he told the story of how the president of Asbury Theological Seminary welcomed incoming seminary students. He began,

[00:09:11] Welcome to life on the fastest growing mission field in the world, North America. Consider the estimates just from the United States. Approximately 180 million have no connection to a local church. This makes it one of the fastest growing mission fields in the Western Hemisphere. One survey estimated that as many as 700,000 people leave the traditional church each year. Surveys done by Barna, Pew, and Probe Ministries conclude that more than a third of emerging adults could be identified as nuns,

[00:09:39] or perhaps more accurately, the unaffiliated. When you add in everyone who does not identify as either Protestant or Catholic, in other words, adding in Hinduism and Islam, the percentage of emerging adults who do not identify as Christian are essentially half of the cohort. This is a growing mission field that Christian leaders need to reach with the gospel. But some commentators have tried to assure us that these unaffiliated young people are individuals who are Christian, but don't want to identify with a particular religious tradition.

[00:10:08] However, if you go to the surveys we have done and separate out the nuns, you can see if they hold orthodox beliefs and attend church at least once a month. Sadly, only one or two percent of emerging adults that can be identified as practicing Christians. Another assumption is the need to build church programs to reach the unaffiliated. I call this the field of dreams myth. If you build it, they will come. We've built over 350,000 churches in America. They aren't coming. If we are to be successful, we need to go to them.

[00:10:38] We have a mission field right next door. I'm Kirby Anderson, and that's my point of view. Go deeper on topics like you just heard by visiting pointofview.net. That's pointofview.net. You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth. Continue our conversation today with Sean McDowell as we talk about 12 Crucial Truths of the Christian Faith.

[00:11:08] It is a book that you can find in your local bookstore. We have information about it. It is published by our good friends at Harvest House. But again, if you'd like to know more, we have a link to Sean McDowell's website, as well as so that you can get a copy of the book. And Sean, the third chapter, of course, deals with all have sinned, and really back to this idea of relations, because we're talking about a relational creator God who had revealed himself through a reliable word,

[00:11:35] and then that relationship between God and human beings was broken because of sin. And so that really is the next step in the human story, isn't it? It is. Now, when we first wrote this book in 2010, I'm going to assume you've had this experience as well, Kirby, where you write a book and then you look back and you go, you know, if I update this, this is something I want to tweak or expand or do better. That is exactly how I felt for a decade about this chapter.

[00:12:05] I think we downplayed the powerful case for human depravity and human sinfulness. Now, I remember when I was in high school, we were watching something on the news, some story, and I was like, wow, that's inhumane. And my dad stalked me. He goes, son, that's not inhumane. Inhumane means not human. It's humans who did that. Yes. And at that point, I remember thinking, huh, human being did that. I'm human.

[00:12:35] Do I have the capacity or potential for that in my heart? And, of course, as a high school kid, I was like, no, I would never do that because I've gotten older. I thought, wow, Jesus said it's out of the human heart that comes wickedness and idolatry and sloth and pride and lust and so on. And Romans 3, Paul makes it clear that no one has done good, none.

[00:13:01] And so we expanded this section and even just pointed towards a friend of mine, Clay Jones, did a massive study just on evil in the 20th century. Right. And you know the atrocities, of course, in communist China, communist Russia, the Holocaust, North Korea, on and on and on.

[00:13:21] And he said, this wasn't done by a few deranged individuals, but masses and masses of people contributed to these death machines or did nothing to stop it. He said, when the pressure is on, that's when human nature comes out. And I read that article, and that made me really, it was about a decade ago, really sunk in. I have downplayed the power of human sinfulness.

[00:13:49] So we really made this chapter more robust. But without really understanding the depth of human sinfulness, Christianity makes no sense. Why did Jesus have to get tortured to death? Why did hell for eternity? If you don't have a robust sense of how broken human beings are, the Christian story makes no sense at all. So we really played that up. I want folks to stop and read it and go, holy cow, thank God for his grace in my life.

[00:14:17] I love one of the quotes there from Alexander Solzhenitsyn. I mentioned Solzhenitsyn yesterday, of all things, because of a book that we think very highly of. It said, if my life had turned out differently, might I have been a guard at Auschwitz? Yes. You know, you think of this, and of course you update it. You know, could you have been one of the soldiers with Saddam Hussein? Could you have been one of the individuals releasing nerve gas on the Kurds, torturing Kuwaitis?

[00:14:42] Or take it even more contemporary, could you have been one of the Hamas terrorists going to Israel? And the answer is yes. If you really understand human sinfulness and depravity, you really have to understand that. And once you understand that, then the idea of mercy, the idea of grace means so much more, doesn't it? It does. That is the whole point of why Jesus had to die.

[00:15:07] If we don't understand the depth of our sinfulness, then the Christian story doesn't make sense. I don't believe that I really need to get saved. And we point out that every worldview identifies something wrong with the world, right? Marxism says there's the haves and the have-nots. Capitalism is the root of all evil. Freud would say it's, you know, some kind of sexual repression. New Agers would say we've forgotten that we are God. Critical theory would say it's some kind of imbalance of power.

[00:15:36] Well, Jesus said it's the human heart. That's why we need to be born again and be made a new creation. And the more I live my life and the more I look at the world, the more I think Jesus got it exactly right when he diagnosed human nature. Let's, if we can, then get to Jesus just before we maybe take another break. We have a little bit of time to cover. First of all, God became man and then being the, of course, perfect sacrifice.

[00:16:02] But God becoming man gets us into the claims that Jesus made. And we've talked about before. You can't really say he was lying about that. You can't say that he was a lunatic. You really can't even say he was a legend because we have the various documents. So it brings us back to one of the kind of foundational issues that you and your father have written about for decades. Yeah, it really does.

[00:16:26] I mean, once we go from sinfulness and we understand the problem, then the question is how do we fix human sinfulness? And the Christian story is that we need somebody who is the God-man. Jesus is man, so he represents us. But he's God, so he's divine and he's infinite and can be a sacrifice that satisfies our infinite debt to God. Comes down, lives a sinless life, performs miracles.

[00:16:54] And on top of that, claims to be God. Did things that only God could do like forgiving sins and judging and was called by people near him and treated by people near him. They worshiped him and he allowed it. But then he said things like, I am who I am. Basically claimed to be the God of the Old Testament.

[00:17:19] Now, if we really have those claims of Jesus and he really did those miracles, which, by the way, even critical scholars now are recognizing that we have powerful evidence that Jesus was a miracle worker. It's in all four Gospels. It's in extra-biblical attestation. It's an embarrassing account. There's no early evidence that Jesus, like for a story where he's not a miracle worker.

[00:17:50] Even the skeptics said, well, he's, you know, he's demon-possessed or he's acting on top by Satan, which concedes his supernatural power. If all these things happen and he claims to be God, then we only have so many options, right? One, he's lying, which makes no sense because they got him crucified. Number two, he's just mentally unstable, which I think makes no sense because he's given us some of the greatest moral teachings in the Sermon on the Mount.

[00:18:20] Or he's actually God. And Jesus didn't just claim to be a God, like Thor or something like that. But he claimed to be the eternal, all-powerful God of the Old Testament who is an uncreated creator of the universe. That's who Jesus claimed to be. Then we can either follow him or we can reject him.

[00:18:45] So that's where Lewis said the idea that Jesus is just a moral, you know, a good moral teacher is like somebody who says he's a post-egg. This is crazy. It makes no sense. Jesus is God or he's not. We believe in him or we don't. Again, these are really just the first four chapters of the 12. We may not cover all 12. When we come back, we'll talk about Jesus was God's perfect sacrifice, how that fits in, because that's a very important principle there as well.

[00:19:12] And then, of course, you will, I think, assume that we'll talk about Jesus rose from the dead and the very important issue of the resurrection. Then how we're justified by faith and how Christians are transformed. I think you will see that this is just very good teaching of theology, but also giving you some very good ability to defend that faith, because it's part of what we're talking about in terms of relational apologetics.

[00:19:37] And if you'd like to know more about the book, you can go to the website point of view dot net. If you'd like to know more about Sean McDowell, we have a link to his website, Sean McDowell dot O R G. Now, I've mentioned his YouTube channel, but he also was on tick tock and Instagram. He's also on X. There's also a blog. As a matter of fact, his most recent posting here was a wonderful story of an individual who actually was a militant Marxist and atheist who found God.

[00:20:07] But then you have still have the thinking biblically podcast and a number of other great resources there as well. So this is just an attempt to kind of pull together a lot of different aspects of the Christian life so that you would really be able to kind of deepen your understanding of what you believe. More importantly, why you believe and how you can actually defend that belief to a skeptical world that certainly is less likely to listen to you.

[00:20:35] A lot of that comes back to trust and credibility. Are you a trustworthy source of news, information, commentary and perspective? I think developing that right relationship with others and with God going to give you a much more effective way to make a difference. And so, again, if you'd like to know more about Sean McDowell, let me encourage you to go to SeanMcDowell dot O R G. There's his blog, his podcast, his books, even his schedule. If you'd like to have him come and speak, he is available for that as well.

[00:21:04] And there's a contact point and much more. So we'll come back and talk a little bit more about now that we've established that Jesus is God. Why did he have to die? And was he the perfect sacrifice? And more importantly, did he prove that indeed he was God from rising from the dead? All that coming up right after this. Where does moral truth come from?

[00:21:32] According to 58% of Americans, individuals determine moral truth. A quarter of Generation Z says society determines moral truth. And morality can even change over time. Only 42% of Americans believe that truth comes from God. I don't know about you, but I find these numbers extremely troubling. It really is a crisis of truth. And that crisis has consequences. Look at society. Evil is called good. Good called evil.

[00:22:02] People with biblical beliefs are called bigots. Or worse, they're canceled. But there is hope. The Bible promises the truth will set us free. And that's why Point of View is relentless in our commitment to the ultimate source of moral truth, God's Word. At Point of View, we know that God's truth is eternal. And if we stand together, we can help more Americans apply his truth in their daily life.

[00:22:28] Help Americans find truth again by giving at pointofview.net. Or call 1-800-347-5151. That's pointofview.net. And 800-347-5151. Point of View will continue after this.

[00:22:50] You are listening to Point of View. The opinions expressed on Point of View do not necessarily reflect the views of the management or staff of this station. And now, here again, is Kirby Anderson. Back once again as we continue our conversation about the book, 12 Crucial Truths of the Christian Faith.

[00:23:17] If you'd like to know more about Sean McDowell, go to seanmcdowell.org. We have a link on our website there. As a matter of fact, you might hit that button that says Schedule. I was looking through that. And he's going to be in many of the places where we broadcast. And so you might have a chance to go out and to hear him and to hear him speak and to interact with him. Again, we have some of the links on social media where you can follow him. And most importantly, I do recommend this book. It's published by Harvest House.

[00:23:45] It, of course, has 12 chapters because we're talking about these 12 very important, crucial truths of the Christian faith. It's about 350 pages. Just great material. But, Sean, we talked about, of course, the fact that Jesus was God. We talk about human sin. Now we bring that together in one of the truths. Jesus was God's perfect sacrifice. And, again, I think it's important to help people understand that that sacrifice was necessary.

[00:24:15] And now because you have helped us understand the issue of sin, we can now see why that sacrifice was necessary, can't we? We can. And it also has a real relational connection. Since I made the theological point ahead of time, we know what we love by what we sacrifice for. That's why Jesus said where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

[00:24:40] I often tell people how you spend your time and how you spend your money reveals where your heart is. To love something is to sacrifice for it. That's what's so profound about the Christian story, is that God sacrifices himself through Jesus, who is God in human flesh, for us.

[00:25:05] And so, number one, the cross reveals the love of Christ relationally. But also, it makes sense because Jesus lived a sinless life. He lived a sinless life. That's important for people to realize. They're going, oh, this is theology 101. I get it. Friends, I had a conversation, not a debate. It was a substantive conversation with a friend of mine who is a progressive Christian. And one of the things that he argues is that Jesus sinned.

[00:25:35] He argues that Jesus sinned. Yes. He had TikTok videos and others that have gone viral. So I brought him on my YouTube channel and just lovingly pushed back and said the scriptural evidence for this is not there. So I'm emphasizing this because if people are listening and thinking, oh, this is basically theology. Kids know this. As you know, Kirby, they don't. The data shows the number of self-identified Christians who think that Jesus sinned. That's right. Is stunning.

[00:26:03] So it's only because he lived a sinless life and he's the God man that he can be the perfect sacrifice for us. Again, in case you wonder about that, I think we've published this before. One of the surveys we did recently where you were talking primarily, the interviews were with Generation Y and Z. It was kind of a Barna-type interview that we had done. And again, just amazing how many people self-professing Christians who nevertheless believe that Jesus sinned. But that's why this chapter is important.

[00:26:30] And again, it's easy to brush over it, but it illustrates again the reason for us to be thinking biblically about these issues. Well, that brings us to the obvious one. And that is, it wouldn't be a good conversation with either Josh McDowell or Sean McDowell without talking about the resurrection. And of course, Gary Habermas, we were talking about this the other day, has his evidence of the resurrection. And that part one is a thousand pages, Sean, a thousand pages.

[00:26:59] So you were very good in being able to limit yourself to about 30 pages. But again, what do we need to know about this issue of the resurrection? Because that really is the foundation stone upon which the Christian faith is resting. Well, first off, there is remarkable evidence. I'm holding Gary Habermas' new volume one in my hand. It's a $70 book. It's five pounds. It makes evidence that demands verdicts look small. It's massive.

[00:27:27] And that's one volume of four. Just on the evidence. That's exactly right. In the next volume, he's responding to naturalistic challenges. I've started that one, but it's going to take me weeks more. Well, we've summed up that evidence in 30 pages for people. Because most people with their kids, with skeptics, just want to know, did Jesus live? Did he really die on the cross? Do you have good reason to believe he rose on the third day?

[00:27:53] And although we believe this by faith, the historical case for this is really remarkable. Now, why does this matter in a few ways? If Jesus has risen from the grave, as my friend Mike Lacona says, it's checkmate, game over. Jesus is God. Christianity is true. So if evolution happened in some fashion and Jesus rose from the grave, Christianity is true. If there happens to be a contradiction in the Bible, I don't think there is.

[00:28:21] But we know that Jesus rose from the grave. Christianity is true. My point being, we've got to keep the main thing, the main thing. And the evidence is there. But second, it has powerful implications for how we live, like how we face and confront death. This is why Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians, we grieve, but not those without hope. We grieve with hope because Jesus has conquered the grave.

[00:28:51] This life is not the end. So the relational apologetics says, here's the truth of this, but here's what it means for my forgiveness. Here's what it means for the release of the Holy Spirit in my life. Here's what it means to forgive others. Here's what it means to face the great enemy of death, knowing death has been defeated. That's just the beginning of why the resurrection matters so much. So much.

[00:29:17] We had Michael Lacona on Tuesday, and he used that old phrase, game, set, match. Oh, there you go. But again, I'd always heard that, but I had not heard that he had said that to Nabil Karishi. But that's a little fun story. But we have been fortunate to have two great apologists on the same week. So this is just as much enjoyment as you can possibly have. And it was great to hear from him and great to hear your short summary of the resurrection.

[00:29:43] And believe me, Sean can wax quite eloquently, choking his father, Sean McDowell, Josh McDowell, and many others on this whole very important issue. But I thought we'd keep the train moving down the road because I want to cover a few more. We are justified through faith. Now that is important because that brings us back to sin. It brings us back to Jesus, who is God. It also brings us back to this idea of the fact that he rose from the dead,

[00:30:11] and thus we are justified through faith. So once again, this is basic theology. But even there, there's some things that we can use in terms of relational apologetics, can't we? I think in more cases than not, this is what separates Christianity from a false religion. I mean, Paul makes it so clear in Ephesians chapter 2. It is by grace we have been saved through faith. And it's not from yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by works.

[00:30:41] So no one can boast. All false religions in some fashion or another turn a relationship with God into a matter of works. You see it in Mormonism. You see it in Islam. You see it in certain kinds of, even in some ways you could argue in like prosperity theology.

[00:31:05] If you're just right in your relationship with God and do A, you get B that comes out of it. We see it in critical theory. You hear people saying all the time there's injustice in the world, so you've got to fight to make it right, and yet it lacks grace and forgiveness. So there's just such a human nature to start working towards our salvation. It's like we can't avoid it because we have this deep need for justification.

[00:31:34] Christianity is one religion that says you can't justify yourself. You can't pay for your own sins. But then when we realize that and rely upon Jesus and realize it's his grace, then I think that's what shapes how we affect other people better. You see this in Matthew chapter 18. The unmerciful servant didn't understand that he had been given mercy and shown grace from the king, and so he went out and treated his fellow servant poorly.

[00:32:03] The point is when we understand how much God has saved us, not by our efforts, but by his, that we're sufficiently humbled and in turn should be able to show that humility and kindness to others. This is one of the most important chapters in the book. I think so. And we'll take a break, and then we'll come back and talk about how that will be actually very connected to the fact that Christians are a transformed people.

[00:32:31] But again, since we're talking about relational issues, just before we take a break, let me just mention that this would then, of course, bring us back to the idea that we could know God personally and that he has a plan for a life, that God loves us. But there is something, as we just shared, that prevents us from knowing God personally, and that is we are sinful and separated, and that then God has provided a bridge for the separation by the fact that Christ died in our place, rose from the dead,

[00:33:01] and that he is the only way to God. And then from there, we can begin to see, because we receive Christ, we become new creatures, we become new people. And so we're going to come back and talk about that in one of the other chapters, about Christians are transformed people. Also a wonderful chapter about the kingdom is at hand and the church is alive and on mission. So we'll try to cover a few of those. But if you find yourself saying this would be a really good study for a personal study, yes, it would.

[00:33:29] But let me also recommend to those of you that have a small group or a Sunday school class, it might be something you might want to teach through in your own Sunday school class. We'll talk with Sean McDowell a little bit more about that right after this.

[00:33:41] You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth. Back for a few more minutes, and again, the book is entitled 12 Crucial Truths of the Christian Faith, Building Our Lives on the Unshakable Foundation of God's Word,

[00:34:08] talking about relational apologetics in large part. Sean McDowell with me for just a few more minutes. And Sean, I think in some respects now we've come to the so what questions. Okay, we have been saved and we have been justified through faith. What do we do with that? And that is a chapter in which Christians are a transformed people. And then a little bit later there's another chapter where we certainly talk about the fact that the church is alive and on mission.

[00:34:36] And it brings us back to this question. Okay, if I've been saved, then why are we here? Well, it is to spread the good news and to implement God's kingdom. But tell us a little bit more about how we begin to take these great truths of Scripture and apply them to our lives every single day. I will get back to him in just a minute, but let me just mention that we are talking about this book, of course. Go ahead. Sorry, I muted myself. You're a pro. That was on my end.

[00:35:07] You're right. The heart of the issue is how do we love God and how do we love others? And we do that by living out our faith and by spreading the good news. Now, that's why this chapter talks about Christians are transformed people. The reality is one of the biggest critiques of Christianity is hypocrisy. And I think some of it is overstated, but many times it's true.

[00:35:33] Many times, I think Austinus has said that this is the leading objection people have as they look at Christians and just think, your life doesn't seem very different. Why would I want that? And yet Scripture says we have the power of the Holy Spirit inside of us. And the Greek word is equivalent to dynamite. It's the power of dynamite. That's why in Philippians 3.10, Paul says we live in the power of the resurrection.

[00:36:01] Now, that doesn't mean we don't have a thorn in our side. We won't continue to struggle with sin. We won't have physical failures. In fact, I think sometimes 1 Peter makes it clear that it may be God's will that we actually suffer because of our faith. But it's how we suffer that becomes a testimony to the world. So this chapter, we're really calling people back to what Peter talks about in 1 Peter,

[00:36:27] where there was a church undergoing a kind of persecution for their faith. Now, I don't think Christians are being persecuted, especially in America, but the temperature is being turned up, and people certainly can cost you something to be a Christian. And Paul says, number one, be holy as I am holy. And number two, conduct yourselves in a way that is honorable to nonbelievers and will hopefully draw them to the kingdom.

[00:36:56] We have all the resources within the church, within Scripture, within fellow believers, the Holy Spirit, to live qualitatively different lives. That's really the most important thing that sadly so many times is missing today. And since we're talking about relationships, one of the things I like in this chapter is the very long list goes on for two pages of the one another's of Scripture. Love one another, accept one another, forgive one another.

[00:37:26] I mean, they're just a long list. And again, Sean, that's a reminder that this isn't done in isolation, but it's done in community, isn't it? This point, I just have to give 100% to my dad. He'll say stuff, you know him, he likes to provoke to make you think. And he'll stand up and he'll say, you don't just need Jesus. The idea that all you need is Jesus is heresy. And then he'll just let it sit. And of course he means for salvation, all we need is Jesus.

[00:37:56] But to live the Christian life, it's not meant to be Jesus and me. It's communal. And so this list says love one another, John 13. Accept one another, Romans 15. Forgive one another, Ephesians 4. Be gentle to one another, Ephesians 4. Don't judge one another, Romans 14. Be patient with another, Ephesians chapter 4. Admonish one another, Quash. In chapter 3, submit to one another, Ephesians 5. Rejoice with one another.

[00:38:26] On and on and on. We need each other to live the Christian life and need to get rid of this idea, well, it's just me and Jesus as if we have this individualistic Christian life. That not only doesn't work, it's not biblical. That's so good. Again, let me just mention that your website is one that we will point people to in just a minute if they haven't written it down.

[00:38:48] But some of the latter chapters are on God's kingdom is at hand, the church is alive and on mission, and even Christ will return. And those are topics that we certainly could cover, but I did want to leave a little bit of time at the end, first of all, for you to mention what is available on your website, in large part because if we think about it, a lot of the material that is in this book has also been done in a podcast or in a other book or another blog.

[00:39:18] There are ways in which I've really encouraged people, especially if you're dealing with younger people that maybe are out there on social media to recognize that you can go to his YouTube channel. You can go to X. You can go to TikTok. You can go to Instagram. You can go to his blog. There are a lot of ways in which you can actually use Sean McDowell's material in an effective evangelistic way. So if you could, Sean, for just a minute, talk about what's available on your website. Sure.

[00:39:47] Thanks for asking. So it's seanmcdowell.org, and right at the top you will see the YouTube page, which you've mentioned. And I just posted a former militant Marxist and atheist who had a radical coming to faith through a dream, had a recent two ex-Hindus. I haven't posted yet, Kirby, but an ex-Muslim who was thinking about jihadi, Saudi Muslim, who knew the Bin Laden family, interestingly enough, came to Christ. Powerful.

[00:40:15] I'm actually posting a video tomorrow where we're just critiquing lovingly, pushing back on the He Gets Us campaign just to bring clarity. What is it about? What is it for? How do we use it with our neighbors? It's my YouTube channel. I post stuff all the time, and I love that because it's free for one. There's a blog there. I post every week or two interviews, articles, resources just to help people. We have a podcast called Think Biblically Podcast.

[00:40:40] Now we actually just add to Kirby a weekly cultural update every Friday where we take three or four big stories a week and just help people think biblically about them. And then I'm all over Instagram. Like you said, I'm on TikTok and use X slash Twitter and social media. My speaking calendar is there. And, of course, the link. If anybody likes to study apologetics, would love to have you study with us at Biola. I've got a fully distanced program. There's some information on there about that as well.

[00:41:09] Again, let me point people to the Think Biblically Podcast, Conversations on Faith and Culture, the most recent one, He Gets Us. That is an advertising campaign we've talked about and even talked about earlier. And that is something that you may want to actually check out. And, of course, if you want to know where he will be speaking, I've found that he's actually, that is, Sean McDowell speaking in a number of places where we do broadcast. So you may be living in a community, and he's going to be speaking in a nearby church.

[00:41:38] And so if you go to the schedule, you can check that out as well. Sean McDowell, it is just always a delight to have you on the program. Thank you so very much for this update on 12 Crucial Truths of the Christian Faith. We covered most of them, not all of them. And that's a good reason why people need to go out and buy the book. And so thank you once again for being with us at Point of View. Thanks, Kirby. Well, again, I hope you appreciated some of the conversation we had today with our good friend Sean McDowell, 12 Crucial Truths of the Christian Faith.

[00:42:06] By the way, that is a book that I've been using lately to teach my Sunday school class, so I highly recommend it to you. First hour, of course, we talked with our good friend Pastor Jack Hibbs about the days of deception. Can't do any better than Sean McDowell and Jack Hibbs. And I might just mention tomorrow we'll have Terry Crisp as well as Bruce Miller. But I thought in just a few minutes I have with you left, let me talk about the fact that as Thanksgiving is winding down, next week on Tuesday will be Giving Tuesday.

[00:42:35] The Giving Tuesday campaign is something where you can support this ministry. And we would really encourage you to think about maybe a one-time gift. I hope some of you might consider a monthly gift. For as little as a dollar a day or more each day of $30 a month, you can support this ministry. And we'd like to send you some great resources, including these booklets. But that's all we have for today. Go to the website pointofview.net. We'll see you back here tomorrow right here on Point of View.

[00:43:05] The Bible tells us not to worry. And yet there is a lot of worrying stuff in our world today. Thankfully, the Bible doesn't stop at telling us not to worry. God gives us a next step. He says we need to pray. But sometimes even knowing what to pray can be difficult.

[00:43:31] And that is why Point of View has relaunched our Pray for America movement, a series of weekly emails to guide you in prayer for our nation. Each week you'll receive a brief update about a current issue affecting Americans, along with a written prayer that you can easily share with others. We'll also include a short free resource for you in each email, so you can learn more about the issue at hand.

[00:44:00] Will you commit to pray for America? Go to pointofview.net. Click on the Pray for America banner at the top of the page to subscribe. Again, that's pointofview.net. Click on the Pray for America banner. Let's pray together for God to make a difference in America.

[00:44:26] Point of View is produced by Point of View Ministries.