Skeptic: I want the joy I see in Christians

I talked to a skeptic today in Orange County, California. He said that he had actually been going to church recently because--although he rejects the Bible--he really wants "the joy, hope, and excitement" that he sees in the lives of Christians. He was upset though that he had been to church a few times and the feelings were not happening.

He thought people got this joy and hope just by going to church.

I explained that Christians have joy because of a relationship that we have with Jesus and that until he submits to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, has his sins forgiven, and is given the Holy Spirit, he will not experience what Christians experience, for those things are the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22).

I share this with you to remind you that the joy of the Lord in your life is something that many nonbelievers find very attractive. Why? They don't have it. Many of them are fighting through feelings of emptiness, purposelessness, guilt, condemnation, depression, bondage to behaviors they know are destructive, etc. So Christian, I exhort you: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!" (Philippians 4:4). Your joy, your hope, your passion to live is a bright light in this dying world.

My Top 10 Apologetics Books for Young Adults

The father of a teenage daughter emailed me a while back. He said:

"Charlie...My oldest daughter is finishing her freshman year in high school. I want to prepare her for college. What 10-20 books do you recommend she read before she attends college so that she will be prepared to stand strong and defend her faith? I plan on her reading at least 5 books per summer and some more during the school year. Your help is greatly appreciated. Thank you."

Wow. What a wise father. I pray more parents have the foresight to prepare their kids this way. In my response to him, I narrowed my list down to 10 books. I include a slightly revised list here with the hope that it might help other parents who are seeking to prepare their teenagers for the real world. Here's what I would recommend. Feel free to click on any of the titles if you're interested in knowing more about the book or buying a copy for yourself in our online store. We have all of these titles on sale.

I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist
by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek

The Case for Christ
by Lee Strobel

The Case for Faith
by Lee Strobel

The Case for a Creator
by Lee Strobel

The New Answers Book (Vol. 1)
by Ken Ham, editor

Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions
by Gregory Koukl

Love Your Neighbor: Thinking Wisely About Right and Wrong
by Norman Geisler and Ryan Snuffer

If God, Why Evil?
by Norman Geisler

True for You But Not for Me: Deflating the Slogans that Leave Christians Speechless
by Paul Copan

So What's the Difference? A Look at 20 Worldviews, Faiths and Religions
by Fritz Ridenour

I am open to suggestions on how this list could be improved. If you were to make your own list, what books would you recommend? Keep in mind that the list would be for young adults (no scholarly tomes). Email your ideas to me at: alwaysbeready.com@gmail.com

Two Jehovah's Witnesses at My Door

After a lengthy discussion with two Jehovah's Witnesses today, they went marching off and one said, "If you really think we're wrong, then you should be out there warning people about us." Exactly.

Here are some of my warnings, and here, and here.

Does God Hate Haiti?

Does God hate Haitians? Was the earthquake a judgment of God against their sin? Why does God allow these kinds of tragedies? These are questions that people are asking. Albert Mohler, a Christian author and apologist that I greatly respect, has written a concise article on the earthquake in Haiti and where God fits into the equation. Click here to read.

A Little Late Night Humor...

I suppose you've heard the one about the atheist and the dust of the Earth. The atheist says to God, "I too can create a man."

God says to atheist, "Try."

The atheist takes a fistful of dust and begins to mold it.

God says, "Disqualified. Get your own dust."

New Edition of One Minute Answers to Skeptics Now Available

I'm excited to announce that Harvest House Publishers has just released a revised, updated edition of my book, One Minute Answers to Skeptics: Concise Responses to the Top 40 Questions. I changed some of the questions and answers and made some slight improvements from beginning to end.

While I'm not a fan of the new cover design (I prefer the original cover), I am excited about the fact that the book is now available as an eBook for the Kindle and other eBook readers. Click here to see the Kindle edition.

Our Website Down for 8 Days: Result of Hackers

UPDATE: AlwaysBeReady.com is back up on 1/9/10. Praise the Lord!

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Our website, AlwaysBeReady.com, was hacked today (1/1/2010) by someone who appears to be an angry Muslim. Before we were able to remove it, when you clicked on the site, what came up instead of our homepage was a picture of a man pointing a gun, some crude language, and some Islamic symbols.

Some of the web servants who help us with the site are working on the problem, but as of now our site has been down 8 days (1/1 - 1/8, 2010). Please pray that God would guide them as they seek to restore service and repair whatever security hole allowed the hacker access. Thankfully this did not affect our online store, which is hosted on a different, very secure server. All of this is certainly a reminder that we are a target of the enemy and we need your prayers! Please pray!