Passing the Baton

The Ongoing Task of Every Believer

And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
—the apostle Paul to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2—

Key point: For Christianity to survive, the next generation of believers must be able to articulate, not just what they believe, but also why they believe it. God is using young Christian adults to challenge their peers not just to believe in Christ, but also to be His disciples. In this case, you can participate in their effort. They’ve got some important insights to share, and you can help share them!

Chuck Colson once shared that his work with prisoners led him, essentially, to his work in promoting and helping people understand the biblical worldview. People wound up in prison, he discovered, because of bad ideas, and bad ideas lead people astray. If good ideas, or truth, can be imparted earlier, people are less likely to be led astray. Of course, the ultimate source of truth is God, who has revealed Himself in His Word, the Bible.

Culture can be changed, ultimately for the good, only as people’s hearts are changed one at a time by the transforming power of Jesus Christ. Yet beyond this, Christians need to see Christianity not merely as the way they can get into heaven, but as a comprehensive belief system that rests on truth and that addresses every area of life.

My Passion and Dream

As a committed Christian, I become acquainted with some of these principles as I studied the Scriptures, observed cultural trends, and learned from insightful and gifted teachers and pastors like Chuck Colson, James Dobson, Ravi Zacharias, and others. In March of 2015 as an Alliance Defending Freedom Ambassador, I began writing weekly articles about cultural issues from a biblical perspective. A few weeks later, in April, I launched www.wordfoundations.com to preserve my work. I sensed that, not because I am a great writer, but because I was writing about great and timeless truths, most of my articles never would become outdated.

Yet, if timeless truths aren’t passed on the the next generation of Christians, we—believers in Christ, the church, and society—lose the benefits they offer in community settings. My readership grew, but slowly. Burning within me was and is a passion to pass along the Christian faith, including the biblical worldview, to the next generation of believers.

Accordingly, during April through August of last year, I wrote a series of articles titled, “Equipping Members of the Next Generation of Christians to Defend Their Faith and to Embrace a Biblical Worldview.” It currently stands as a 14-part series, but I likely will add one or two more articles to it before officially calling it complete. One of its main points harks back to a concern I had raised in a previous article.

The church has endeavored to win converts and failed to make disciples.

A New Ministry

To continue fulfilling its mission to reach the world, we don’t simply need converts. We need disciples. We need Christians who know biblical apologetics and can defend their faith. We need Christians who live life comprehensively, according to the biblical worldview. I endeavored to explain this critical need in part one of the series. It is titled, “An Open Letter to Pastors and Student Pastors in America’s Churches.” It is no wonder young people are leaving the church and the faith! They barely know what they believe, and even if they do know that, they don’t know why they believe it, or even that they’re solid reasons for doing so! That has to change.

I moved on to another topic in my writing—to an important one, to be sure, but to a different one nonetheless. Then, in late October, I met a Mr. Drake Moore through acquaintances on Facebook and through Facebook itself. Drake is a Biblical Studies student at Cedarville University, where he also is the Campus Coordinator for Turning Point USA.

He and a fellow Cedarville student, Alex St Onge, had partnered together and were working to launch a new apologetics website. Its purpose would be “to make biblical ideas and explanations readily available to the everyday Christian.” Drake and Alex were on the verge of launching, but they needed an editor. Editing, of course (in addition to writing), is what I do! I agreed to work with them at least during their launch and in the early stages of their new ministry.

Equipping Christians to Defend The Faith

Currently, Always Ready Ministries (ARM) has a website with a growing library of articles written mostly by young adults who are committed Christians and students at Cedarville. Other believers, including a Cedarville professor, also have contributed. More individuals and institutions and will be represented as the library of articles continues to grow on a weekly basis.

It is a privilege and an honor for me to partner with my brothers in Christ at Cedarville University in this effort. As the ARM mission statement declares,

First Peter 3:15-16 presents a clear command to Christians from all walks of life. Affirming Christ as holy and as Lord, we as believers must always be ready to defend the hope we have in Him. That alone can be challenging enough, but we’re also to perform this task with gentleness, respect, and integrity. This means loving others authentically and being prepared to make the case for our faith with sound arguments and clear reasoning.

At Always Ready Ministries, we strive to make biblical ideas and explanations readily available to the everyday Christian. Armed with these and with practical arguments, believers grow in their love for Christ and others, and in their confidence to help others find the hope they enjoy.

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Always Ready Ministries strives to make biblical ideas and explanations readily available to the everyday Christian. 

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Embrace Biblical Truth! Join the Conversation!

With this post, which, by the way, is significant in that it is my 200^th, I want to recommend Always Ready Ministries to you as a resource for learning and as a platform for spirited conversation on topics relating to culture, biblical truth, and theology. The ARM Facebook page is available here. 

Also, be sure to visit www.wordfoundations.com regularly, reading and sharing the posts you find here. Explore, for here, too, is a mine offering insights and truths that will equip you to always be ready!

 

Copyright 2019 by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.

Note: Unfortunately, the Always Ready Ministries website did not last. However, the articles ARM published still are available. Go here to access them.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture passages have been taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.