Embarking on conversations about faith can be a daunting prospect in a world brimming with diverse beliefs. Yet, it's within our personal spheres of influence where we can truly make an impact, planting seeds of faith with the help of the Holy Spirit. This episode doesn't shy away from the tough discussions, including the exclusive Christian claim of Jesus as the only way to God. Lisa and I discuss how to approach these conversations with both authenticity and respect, staying true to our convictions while honoring the perspectives of others.
Connect with Lisa
Check out Lisa Quintana’s blog Think Divinely at https://thinkdivinely.com/
Do you want to learn how to study the Bible? Check out the YouTube channel Faithfullyliven youtube.com/@faithfullyliven
Do you want to read about how to live faithfully? Check out the blog http://lyfe102.org
Get a free Road Map to get started learning how to study the Bible https://mailchi.mp/88f9c9405da0/bible-study-road-map
Embarking on conversations about faith can be a daunting prospect in a world brimming with diverse beliefs. Yet, it's within our personal spheres of influence where we can truly make an impact, planting seeds of faith with the help of the Holy Spirit. This episode doesn't shy away from the tough discussions, including the exclusive Christian claim of Jesus as the only way to God. Lisa and I discuss how to approach these conversations with both authenticity and respect, staying true to our convictions while honoring the perspectives of others.
Connect with Lisa
Check out Lisa Quintana’s blog Think Divinely at https://thinkdivinely.com/
Do you want to learn how to study the Bible? Check out the YouTube channel Faithfullyliven youtube.com/@faithfullyliven
Do you want to read about how to live faithfully? Check out the blog http://lyfe102.org
Get a free Road Map to get started learning how to study the Bible https://mailchi.mp/88f9c9405da0/bible-study-road-map
Welcome to Faithfully Living, the Podcast, where we learn how to live for Christ in our daily lives. I'm Dwan, your host, and I would like to invite you on a journey with me to explore and learn how to be a faithful follower of Christ. Hey, everyone, welcome to Faithfully Living, the Podcast, where we strive to encourage you to live for Christ faithfully by offering guidance on studying the truth. It seems to be evasive all over. You know our world and our culture, and how do we effectively communicate the timeless truth of the hope that we find in Jesus, christ, christ. So whether you're wrestling with doubt, seeking to understand opposing viewpoints or looking for practical tips on engaging with others, I hope you will stay tuned for this episode when I talk with Lisa Quintana about sharing our faith in a culture of confusion. But before we get started with my conversation with Lisa, let me tell you a little bit about her.
Speaker 1:Lisa is a Christian apologist and the lead instructor at City Church and Christian Life College in Madison. She's a contributing writer for the Worldview Bulletin, occasionally speaks on apologetics. Her blog has been published on numerous websites, including Apologia, homeschool Devotional, the Post Egg, reasonable Faith, the Biola University Chime newsletter and many articles for the Women in Apologetics website. Lisa Q was taught and mentored by Sean McDowell, world-renowned apologist, biologist, professor, author and YouTube host. She lives with her husband of over 32 years and has two grown children. All right, so let's dive into today's episode. Well, thank you for coming on the show. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2:I really look forward to having a good conversation with you.
Speaker 1:All right, before we get started, tell us a little about yourself.
Speaker 2:So I've been a Christian since I was 25 years old that was a little over 35 years ago, so do the math as a news reporter. And it was really weird because I was a news reporter, you know, reporting on the bad news, and as a baby Christian I wasn't raised in a Christian home, so that's a whole nother story for another podcast. But it was weird because I was going and reporting on the bad news. I used to work for KTMS Radio in Santa Barbara as a radio reporter and I wanted to eventually get into TV news or whatever. But I didn't last that long because what happened is I would go home and I lived with Christians and we were all praising the Lord. Then I'd go to work and it'd be bad news, bad news, bad news. And then I'd go back home and good news, good news.
Speaker 2:So I was living in a weird dichotomy, right? So I didn't want to. I don't want to do that anymore and I got out of the news business and began a career in public affairs for a local hospital that I met my husband. Husband had a baby and we decided to stay home with my daughter for a lot of reasons. And that was really hard because I always, my mom always said don't ever rely on a man. Whatever you don't rely on a man. It's like sorry, mom, I missed the memo, I am relying on a man. So we moved out to the Midwest, from California to the Midwest, because my husband got a really good job teaching photography, and so I stayed at home with my, my daughter, and then I had a son and I stayed home longer than I expected and so I wasn't really competitive in the job market after that.
Speaker 2:And so I went back to school and I wanted to study what I really, really loved God and theology, right. So I started looking at different programs and I went to a local program in the Madison area and I felt like I needed more education. And so my friend said hey, have you checked out this Biola program in California? They have a degree in apologetics. I'm like Apollo, what. I didn't even know what apologetics was, right.
Speaker 2:So then I, looking at all these classes that they had. They have scientific apologetics, they had why God allows evil, they had evidence for the resurrection, they had cultural apologetics, I mean just ethics, I mean all these kinds of really good, good classes, and I'm like that's what I want to study, because I, you know, coming out of a secular humanist, you know, home people thought I joined a cult, right, they were like asking me questions that I could never answer, and apologetics really has good answers for that. So I got a master's degree in apologetics and then I've been doing Christian apologetics and teaching the Bible ever since then and God's opened doors for me to do that locally at my church, and I was involved in women and apologetics and I've done speaker, you know, speaking engagements and that kind of thing. But I'm kind of settling down into my local church job now, which I really really like Because I engage with people more intimately that way and so so, yeah, so I'm the you know, staff apologist or whatever you want to call me.
Speaker 1:So yeah, yeah, well, that's a good segue into our topic today about sharing our faith in, you know, difficult and confusing, confusing times. So how would you define sharing one's faith in you know, today's cultural context particularly? You know, we have different belief systems and we have a lot of people that are confused about what they believe.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Well, I think we need to demonstrate genuine care and concern for people first. So most people living in the United States already think they know what Christianity is and there's a lot of presuppositions. So many of those assumptions you know are false. So I think Christians need to demonstrate their faith by showing it first, and that's loving your neighbor and being a good listener, helping people if you can, or you can even offer to pray with them, and if they don't want to do that, that's okay. At least they know that you cared enough to ask. But I think there's so many assumptions of what Christianity is.
Speaker 2:We just had on Saturday at the state Capitol in Madison there was this national movement of moms praying for their kids and there were protesters that were against Christianity. That came out in Madison's pretty liberal town and there's lots of anti-Christian rhetoric here. Matter of fact, madison Wisconsin is the home for the Freedom From Religion group. It was founded in Madison, wisconsin, so we have a lot of anti-Christian kind of rhetoric, and so there was a ton of people yelling while we were trying to pray for the kids and they had a communion and somebody was yelling about communion. One guy said blood is hate, right? I'm like, oh my gosh, what you know? And they were yelling at us that we're hate mongers and just all kinds of presuppositions of what Christianity is. So a lot of those people maybe were in a church as a kid and they got hurt and they're mad and they're angry and their idea of what Christianity is has been completely warped. So that's why I say, you know, show them first before you tell them, and have you know, have maybe a good relationship with them, or to try to develop a type of relationship with them.
Speaker 2:I think we need to really demonstrate that. You know, jesus said that we're, we're to even love our enemies, right, right, enemies. That's hard, you know. It's easy to love fellow Christians, you know, but and we're supposed to do that, right, we're supposed to do that, but we're also supposed to love our enemies, and so we need to, you know, step it up a little bit. And I think that part of what happened on Saturday with that protest is Christians have done the same thing. We've gone to LGBTQ plus rallies and have yelled at them too, and you know what that goes? Nowhere, it really goes nowhere. Nobody leaves leaves from those kinds of places, changing their mind. Oh, I'm going to become a Christian now that doesn't happen. So so that's why I think we need to be just more about loving our neighbor.
Speaker 2:And then one of the things I've done is I've experienced that if people hardly ever refuse to pray like if you ask, hey, you know, is there something I could be praying for you about? You don't even have to say anything more than that, and that usually people will say, well, yeah, sure Can you pray. I just got in a car accident and I need a new car or something. And so most people just say thank you, and sometimes, if you want to, if you're bold enough, and our pastor at our church always says, hey, just pray for them. Right then, and there you know, like, let's say, you have a waitress and she's looking like she's having a bad day. So I tell you a really short story.
Speaker 2:I went to Subway one night with my son at the time he was 13 years old, and it was just me and my son and the Subway chick and she the time he was 13 years old, and it was just me and my son and the subway chick and she was looking like she was having a bad day, like she was having a bad day and in my mind I heard this pray for her, like, just pray for her. I'm like not here, not for everybody. There's nobody else in the in the thing except for Josh, my son. But I kept on having this urgency like I should be praying for this woman. I got up the guts and she was looking like she was. You know, she didn't even want to make my sandwich, right.
Speaker 2:And I'm like, hey, can I be praying for you about something? And I thought, you know, this is Madison. I could get a really bad response, like she could say, no way, I don't believe there is no God, or she could say something like that. But this is how God works sometimes. Right, she turns to me and she goes yeah, you could pray for me, I'm really having a hard time. She got a new baby, she wasn't sleeping, she was exhausted, and so I prayed for that. And then she's like like what church do you go to? And I said I go to City Church. And she goes what she goes? I go to City Church. What are the odds, right? So I mean, that was just like one of those things that happened, and randomly. So it's a big church, so that's why I'd never seen her before. There's two services and she was going to a different service. But that happened once.
Speaker 2:And there was a woman at Walgreens that I prayed for once, just in the middle of Walgreens, right by the candy aisle, and I was like I didn't really want to, I was not really looking for it, but I I guess all this to say is that that's the point. If we can start demonstrating out there in the world, hey, christians aren't what the media portrays. You know, we're real people who care. We'd be happy to pray for you. You know, or do something. You know, show a different side of Christianity that is kind and thoughtful. And, you know, love your neighbor as yourself. And do you know your neighbor Like, do you know your next door neighbor's name? You know? And if you don't, well, maybe you should try to get to know them and just start to be countercultural. You know? I mean we need to demonstrate that selflessness. So I think that that's probably a primary way to sort of evangelize.
Speaker 2:Now is, people are looking for authenticity, you know. And one thing I learned about apologetics you can have really good arguments, but that's going to hit the head. You got to hit the heart authenticity. And one thing I learned about apologetics you can have really good arguments, but that's going to hit the head. You got to hit the heart. And the arguments are good for people that are truly asking questions.
Speaker 2:A lot of people nowadays are deconstructing, right, and so maybe if they had really good questions that were answered by somebody who knew how to answer them correctly, maybe that would be the answer for them, you know. But but for people that are just average people on the street, they're not looking for those heady like arguments for apologetics. They're just wanting to know are you a good person, are you going to be nice to me? So I think, I think that's a good place to start is just just to ask, you know, ask if you could pray for somebody if they're looking like they're having a bad day, and be a good tipper. Please be a good tipper when you go. And then you know, even on the on the bill, if you can, you know, like God bless, you, give an extra, you know, an extra little bit more that you normally would have. If God lays out on your heart to do that, you know, cause that can really bless people.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I think it, and if you offer their praise, it shows that you're taking time to care about who they are as a person.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and if you happen to like regularly go to the same store and you see the same person and you're kind of scared to talk to them. You don't really want to talk to them. It's kind of awkward. You don't have to talk to them, you can actually just start praying for them in your own quiet space and you would be surprised at how God may answer some of those prayers. You start praying for somebody and it may take a day, or it may take two months, it may take a year, I don't know.
Speaker 2:But if you're faithful and praying for people, god will open the doors and he'll show you ways to you know, be kind and to love your neighbor. You know, and, and I always say, don't worry about trying to save the world, just just worry about your, your, your circle of influence, like where you know, if you go back to what Jesus did, he poured himself into 12 people, right? Those 12 people changed the world, right. And in our culture it's all about influence and having bigger numbers and you know bigger reach and it's like no. And having bigger numbers and you know bigger reach and it's like no. On your podcast, if one person listens to this and a seed is planted, that that's the kingdom of god right there.
Speaker 1:So yeah, and it's good to think, to know also that you know it's not entirely on on us, we're just. We're just the vessel god uses, just we got to act when he tells us to do things, you know.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, absolutely. It's not on us. All we can do is, you know, plant the seeds. It's got to be the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has to come and give a person some sort of insight or revelation, or that aha moment. You know, that's what happened to me, like I a lot of christians I was meeting in my life and I was like blow them off. I'm like the money, interested in you. You're weird or whatever, but it was.
Speaker 1:It was finally just like that, this moment where I finally started thinking, well, maybe there is something there, and so it was a holy spirit so kind of going on the flip side as far as you know us sharing our faith, but what would be some misconceptions that people might have about sharing their faith?
Speaker 2:so I think I think, kind of on on the heels of what we just said, that you don't have to seal the deal, like there's a misconception, that that you know, oh, you have to bring them all the way to faith at that very moment. And I think that that's not necessarily the truth, because even the Bible talks about that, as like well Jesus said in Mark, chapter four, verses 26 and 27,. The kingdom of God is like a man who scatter seeds on the ground night and day. He sleeps and wakes, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he knows not how. All by itself the earth produces a crop First the stalk, then the head, then the grain ripens within, and as soon as the grain is ripe, he swings the sickle because the harvest has come. So that's an encouragement to everybody you don't have to seal the deal. You could just sow the seeds and somebody else may reap. That you know, and I think that's primarily the majority of us, the majority of us are going to be the seed planters, and then somebody else is going to come along and water the seed. Only God can make it grow right, but somebody else may harvest it. So that's a humbling thing.
Speaker 2:It's like, well, I want how many people have you gotten saved? You know people say that all the time how many people have you led the Lord? I'm like, yeah, I don't know, maybe five or whatever in 30-something years. I don't even know how many and that doesn't sound like a very big number. You know, and you have these other people.
Speaker 2:You know Billy Graham or whatever. That wasn't the people who got saved and stuff got saved and stuff. And it's like, well, billy Graham didn't do that by himself, right? I mean he had people praying for those crusades and he had people working for him and I mean God was working on a lot of those people's hearts way before they walked into that crusade. So I think that's the key is that we don't have to seal the deal, and that's a common misperception and I think that's what scares people. So if you think, well, you know what common misperception and I think that's what scares people. So if you think, well, you know what I'm, that it's not up to me, I'm going to throw the seed out there, and it's not up to me, I'm going to just be faithful with the seeds.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely so. So what would be like some cultural or worldviews that could be a challenge for people sharing their faith?
Speaker 2:So I think the biggest challenge for Christianity right now is that we claim that there's only one way. That is super unpopular because we are in a culture of options. Right, everybody wants options and they want to customize menus and customize this and give me options, you know. And so we're so used to having this consumerism and this mentality of all these choices. So how could there be one way? Really, come on, you know, and so that that's what. That's what you hear a lot and so. And then you hear stuff like well, all paths lead to God. Oh, all religions basically say the same thing, and all religions, when you start digging into them, do not say the same thing. And all religions, when you start digging into them, do not say the same thing. So, anyways, I think it's really important to know that if it's offensive to people that there's only one way, we're not the ones that said it, we're just carrying the seed. Jesus said in 14.6, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. So Jesus said it first. Right, so we need to explain, like, why that's not a problem.
Speaker 2:And some use the analogy of cancer. They say that if there is one cure for cancer found, would people refuse it just because there's only one cure for cancer? So it's kind of like salvation, right, jesus Christ has the cure for sin, which is kind of a soul cancer if you will. So why not accept it? It's a free gift, right? So with Christianity, jesus paid for it all. We just need to receive it by faith.
Speaker 2:And that's hard for some people to grasp. They think it's too easy, too good to be true. Couldn't be that easy. But that's why it's called the good news, right. So, but what will happen?
Speaker 2:Happen and you'll find out as you have conversations with people that pretty much everybody likes jesus, everybody's into jesus, like some. Every religion kind of borrows a little bit jesus, right, even buddha, like buddha, like was, you know, like people were, like you know, into into jesus and stuff. So, um, I mean that buddha was before jesus. So I mean I'm just saying the buddhism, you know, buddhists, I think, look at Jesus as a really cool, like you know, prophet or something like that. And so I think pretty much nobody really like, gets like anti-Jesus. They get anti-Christianity and anti-church because I think they have, you know, again these presuppositions and these assumptions, again these presuppositions and these assumptions. So what I always tell people it's like well, you know what? You have a little piece of the pie Like you. You may, you know, you may have a little bit of piece of the pie in that other religion, but Jesus is the whole pie.
Speaker 1:So come on and eat the whole pie. You know what I mean. Don't just go for a slice. That's a good analogy, especially with the one with the cancer's only one, and certainly you know people wouldn't discard that one option if absolutely so why would you?
Speaker 2:I mean, why is it such a offense? I, I I really find that moderately weird. I think it's just a deception or something that people believe that you have to have more than one way. But you know, you only have one earth, you only have one body. There's only, there are lots of only ones. So anyways, but I think the cancer thing is a good analogy. So I would, I would try to use that if, if that comes up, because that might come up, you know, because most people really are into that whole mentality of consumerism and they want options and stuff.
Speaker 1:So variety, you know.
Speaker 2:You just don't want the same thing over and over again, you know well, I mean, that's why I think god has so many different churches, so so you can have a variety in churches. You can go to a non-denominational church, you can go to baptist church, you can go to lutheran church, you can go whatever church seems to sort of feel right to you or whatever. But but I think that you know there is only one way to eternal salvation and that's through Jesus Christ. So as long as you go to church that preaches that, you're good to go.
Speaker 1:That's the most important thing.
Speaker 2:For sure.
Speaker 1:So what strategies or approaches have you found effective in engaging people with like different cultures, religion, religious backgrounds?
Speaker 2:So this kind of goes back to the you know offer to pray for them kind of thing is is, I think Christians don't. You don't need to have like, the salvation story memorized and and deliver that. What you need to do is you need to ask questions about what the other person believes. What you need to do is you need to ask questions about what the other person believes. So first ask them what do you believe? Don't even talk about, like, oh, what you know. Don't say what Christianity is yet, just say you know, what do you think the meaning of life is, for instance? You know, if you get to that point, you have to have a relationship pretty well to be able to talk about this. You have to have, like your co-worker, that you meet every day at the coffee bar or something like that and you can maybe finally figure out if there's a you know, a sort of a talking point where you can get into a conversation like that.
Speaker 2:Because at the end of the day, I think most people really want to answer those questions and they and they really truly are looking for that. They really want to know, like is, is there more to life than meets the eye? So if you ask them what do they believe, and then why? Why do they believe that? You know? And oftentimes you'll find out that they don't know how to answer the why part. They're like I don't know, I just never thought about it, you know, or whatever you know, and so so it. Even if they can't answer why they believe something, at least you ask the question you make them think about. Like why do they believe it? Like, why do I believe that? I don't know? Maybe I should think about that, you hear what they have to say first.
Speaker 2:Then if again, you have to sort of feel, you have to have a little bit of sense of the conversation. You don't want to just blurt something out. You know, see if it's going to be, you know, a time to talk about this or not, not, or maybe it can come to a later conversation. But if you listen to them first, they're more likely to listen to you second. And so then say, well, gosh, you know, can I share what I believe and why I believe it? And then you just share. You know, share what you believe, but also, really important, why you believe it. Because, again, christianity is falsifiable. It's the only religion that you can actually look up and see. You know, there's all kinds of historical data that lines up with the Bible and the Old Testament and the New Testament. There's archaeological evidence that shows that it's not just a document that is full of stories, it's actually historical. You know the resurrection there's actually evidence for that as a historical event. These are the reasons why you can say you believe and then you can also share your testimony like how radically God changed your life.
Speaker 2:For me, I mean, I used to be a partier and I was doing a lot of self-harm and I didn't really care. It's kind of nihilistic, I didn't really see a point to life. And so finding Christ gave me all of a sudden like oh okay, this makes sense. Christianity makes really good sense of the world. Right, because there's obviously a problem with the human race. There's a problem and it's called sin, and we have Christ. Who's the solution to that?
Speaker 2:Now, you know that's a whole nother conversation. You know it doesn't mean that once you become Christian you completely are sinless. You know and that's another thing we have to clarify to people when we're evangelizing you become a Christian. Then you go through the sanctification process and that process is pretty much a lifetime process. Like I've been walking with the Lord for 30 something years and he's still pruning me. You know, like I'm I've been walking with the Lord for 30 something years and he's still pruning me. You know clipping off, like you know ambition and pride and those kinds of things, and so I'm a lot further along down the road than I was when I was a first Christian. But I mean that's important that people understand that when you become a Christian it just means that you have a Holy Spirit. You know revelation, you believe it's true, now you're forgiven and you're justified, but you're not sanctified yet. So that's why people are confused, because they're like well, christians, aren't they supposed to be perfect? No, there's only one perfect person, and you and I are not that person.
Speaker 1:We're not it. Yeah, far from it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, sure all right.
Speaker 1:Well, I think you kind of touched on our um, this question about maintaining authenticity and respect for other people's beliefs. You know, making sure that we we listen to them first and what they have to say, and then, if there's an opening, yeah to, you know, pursue that opening if you know the holy spirit leads right is there anything else you could, you can think of that might help with being like respectful and authentic?
Speaker 2:Yeah, another really good thing is to find common ground. So, even if you can't, even if they don't want to listen to you and then they shut the door I don't want to hear your Christian stuff, you know just try to find something that you both can like, agree upon, and if it ends that way, it ends that way, but at least it ends with respect and they walk away not having a bad taste in their mouth about meeting another Christian. So oftentimes common ground can come in all kinds of forms, like what do you care about, you know? I mean you can find all kinds of things to agree on, like the need for treating people with respect, working towards the greater good by creating new technologies that may help the world, or finding cures for diseases, or feeding the hungry, or taking better care of our natural resources. I mean all of those kinds of things. There's got to be something that you can agree on. So if you find that common ground, it's just, you know, a good idea to sort of leave it there If things kind of go sour with trying to share faith, because at least you can say or the golden rule, so it say, or the golden rule. So it's interesting about the golden rule, and this is.
Speaker 2:This is the part where people think that all religions are the same because there is the golden rule in some of these other religions, right so? So Buddhism does did have a golden rule about, you know, treating each other the way you'd want to be treated. So there is a sort of a common ground in some of these religions that have the golden rule in them. So we can all agree on that. Who doesn't want to agree on that? You know, that's a good place to start. But it's also important to remember that all truth comes from God. So, even if these other faiths have an element of truth in them, that's why they're a little bit deceptive sometimes, because there's an element of truth in them. That's why they're a little bit deceptive sometimes, because there's an element of truth in them, but they're, like I said, it's only a slice of the pie. Like they have a slice of the pie but they don't have the full enchilada and Jesus or the full pie, whatever you want to eat. But I'm just saying it's really important to understand that you can find that common ground and you can say hey, I agree with you on that. I think the golden rule is right on and you know, maybe just let it lie. Let it lie there and then maybe hopefully you can have a relationship with this person, you can come back and talk to them and maybe bring it up again.
Speaker 2:But it's so interesting, my non-believing friends I have several of them, that would you know just not want me to talk about it, not want me to talk about it, not want me to talk about it, and so I just I pretty much respected that. I didn't and I haven't. But guess who they call when they're having a problem? They call me. They're like can you pray for me? I'm really having a hard time. Is heaven real? I just lost my dad. Do you think he's in heaven? You know, I'm like, why would you even be calling me when you don't even think there's heaven? But they called me. So I feel like there's that.
Speaker 1:There's just a little bit of that you know that truth that got into them. So, anyways, yeah, I think you planted the seed. You never know, yep, yeah. So sharing our faith, you know it's not easy. So what advice would you have for someone who is, like, hesitant or afraid to you know, be open with their faith.
Speaker 2:And that's really common. I mean, we're all. One of the reasons why I studied apologetics is because I felt like I didn't have very good answers. Oh, they're going to ask me a question that I can't answer. So I would say the best thing you can do is to pray first is just be prayerful about it, just be praying about that one person that may be on your heart or be praying for you. Know that God would open doors or help you to see somebody that just has a need. And then, if they do ask you a question that you can't answer, just tell them I don't know that, I don't know that, but let me go see if I can find the answer for you and can, can we talk about this next time? So you don't have that, I don't know that, but let me go see if I can find the answer for you and can, can we talk about this next time? So you don't have to be the Bible answer man, you don't have to. You could just. You could just say cause I don't.
Speaker 2:I mean, I've studied this stuff for years and I don't have all the answers to everything you know, and when I teach my classes that people will always ask me something I don't know, and instead of saying, well, I'm trying to like bluff it, I'll just say, good question, I don't know, let me get back to you. So that's something you can do, but I think you need to be patient with yourself and continue to pray about it, because God will open the doors. I mean, that's a prayer God loves to answer, right? He wants his people to share him. I mean, we are his ambassadors on this planet. You know, god works through people. He works through you and me. He's chosen to use us as his mouthpiece, which is blow away if you think about it the creator of the universe using us.
Speaker 2:And that's hard for people to believe because they want God to manifest, you know, like the Old Testament. You know the smoke and the fire and all that stuff. I think people really want that. But what we have differently now is we have the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit lives in each believer and it gives us peace, lack of anxiety. There's so much anxiety going on right now in the world and you know, if you pray and you meditate and you ask God to take that from you. He oftentimes will. He'll give you peace. And this is the difference between the Old and New Testament. There's lots of differences, but I think the biggest difference is that back in the Old Testament it was more of a physical appearance of God's manifestation and it happened very infrequently to a few people and then God would give his Holy Spirit to like prophets and stuff, but not everybody had access. Now everybody. You become a believer. The Bible says God will come and live in you through the Holy Spirit. I mean, that's trippy. It's like do we really walk like that? Do we really walk like that? Because we really should, because we have access to the Holy Spirit. He will give you wisdom, he will give you things that you didn't even know, that you could say, and they just tumble out of your mouth. You're like, wow, that sounded good, that wasn't me Right. So I think that you know again. I know I've mentioned prayer a lot, but I think that that's really important.
Speaker 2:And then if you hear something you have a nudging, say yes to it. Don't, don't be afraid to say yes. And just again, don't like, like the subway gal, I didn't want to pray for that gal. I was. I was nervous and scared and I thought maybe it was people might walk in the middle of me praying for her or I'd look foolish. But guess what? We're supposed to look foolish for God, who cares? Right. And it ended up being a great witness to my son, 13 years old. He was looking at it, he's like what. So it turned out to be a really cool thing. So it doesn't always happen that way. Sometimes it's hard, you know, but oh well, you know, if you're just willing to be obedient to God and say yes to those little nudges that come along, I mean he will start nudging you more and you will start. It'll be like an adventure. It's kind of like this. It's kind of fun, you know, because you're like, okay, what's going to happen today?
Speaker 1:You know, it's amazing to see how God works. You know, when we take that obedience Absolutely Well.
Speaker 2:To wrap up, what encouragement would you offer believers who want to live faithfully for Christ? So this one's a hard one, but it's so important. So my pastor taught me this and he says it's not about influence but it's about intimacy. So that's, the goal of Christian life is to develop a close relationship with Jesus Christ through prayer and reading the Bible. And we need each other too as the body of Christ. So sheep kind of need a herd, so you need to go to church. If you're not going to church, you need to go to church. But it's about intimacy over influence. And we get so caught up in America, we get so caught up in influence and I've struggled with this personally. This is how God has pruned me over the years, because I was very much in the secular worldview that you climb the ladder, you're ambitious, you do this stuff, that's success right, and God is like no, that's not, it's like you know I mean. So I think, if you just realize that the foundation of everything comes from intimacy over influence, develop a personal relationship with Jesus, however that looks for you.
Speaker 2:Everyone has different sacred pathways. Some people just really are brainiacs and they love to study theology and that's how they connect to God. Some people love to worship. That's how they connect to God. Some people love nature and they go for a walk in the forest or the beach or the garden and they're like, wow, look at God's creation, and they just sense God. However, that works for you. You need to figure that out and then do that often. You know, and I think, just staying in the word on a regular basis and it's hard for me because I teach the Bible right, so it's hard for me to sometimes not get into study mode. You know, I'm in study mode. I got to learn this, you know, and it's like wait, lise, what about just letting this, letting the water of the word wash over you, you know, and letting God speak to you through the word, not just study it for your Bible class? So I think, I think I mean I'm going to leave you with that. I think it's not about influence.
Speaker 1:It's about intimacy. I think that's so important to focus our attention on God and not necessarily on ourselves.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's hard, isn't it? Not easy, but with God all things are possible.
Speaker 1:Definitely so. Yeah, so if people want to get in contact with you, how could they find you?
Speaker 2:so I I've been blogging for about 10 years now, uh think. Divinelycom is my blog, that's t-h-i-n-k, d-i-v-i-n-e-l-ycom, so I have a whole bunch of articles. I write primarily on apologetics and cultural engagement and worldview. So if you are struggling, if you have some doubts and you're struggling with things you know, go in there and I have a search engine type up whatever you might be struggling with and I've probably written about it. I've written about science and apologetics, I've written about the evidence for the resurrection, I've written about why the Bible is reliable. I've written about all kinds of stuff. So so, yeah, if you want to check out the blog, that'd be great, and I think my email is probably listed there as well, so they can email me.
Speaker 1:All right. Well, thank you so much, lisa, for being on the show. Absolutely, god bless you. You know, sharing your faith can be hard, so I pray that this episode gave you some encouragement to take a small step to connect with the people around you through the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Well, until next time, remember God is always good and he's always faithful. Thank you for listening to the podcast. Do me a favor by following the podcast and leaving a review to help spread the word. I look forward to hearing from you.