church and culture northern ireland. europe protestant north, catholic south orthodox east. islam,...
TRANSCRIPT
Church and Culture
Northern Ireland
Europe
• Protestant North,
• Catholic South
• Orthodox East.
• Islam, Communism, Secular Humanism. New Age.
Northern Ireland Today
• 1.8 million people • 30% attend Church – down from 45%
ten years ago –• Committed, Affiliated, Non-Affiliated.• 2020 – 21% non-religious. • PCI – Down from one third to one fifth.
Why?
1) Materialism
2) Secularisation
3) False Religion
4) Insipid Loveless Christianity.
5) Failure to pass on to the next generation
What?
• Circle the Wagons
• Concede
• Confront
• Change
Why persuasive evangelism?
• Our evangelism is stage one, not stage five evangelism
• Defeater Beliefs.
• Our Reasonable Faith
• The best product in the post modern marketplace of ideas
• Total apologetics – the whole gospel to the whole person by the whole church.
Origins of Solas
• The New Atheism
• The Da Vinci Code
• The Dawkins Letters
• Gordon Wilson, the BBC, Universities.
• Where can I find Jesus?
10 target areas of engagement
• Society• Science• Café• Music• Art• Medicine• History• Media• Philosophy• Church
1. SOLAS SOCIETY
• Road to Recovery• Family Support• Euthanasia• Pregnancy support• Christians in Politics• Constructive Engagement
with Politicians.• Pray for Kings and those in
authority.
2. SOLAS SCIENCE
• Science/Faith Interaction• The Apologetic of Science• Challenging claims of
scientism.• Christians in Science.
3. SOLAS CAFE
• Quench• The Marketplace• Public Forums• Street Evangelism
4. SOLAS MUSIC
• Atheists ain’t got no songs!
• The Apologetic of beauty.
• From Mozart to Metallica
5. SOLAS ART
• Can Artists be Atheists?
• Europe’s rich artistic heritage and it’s Christian roots and ethos
• Christians in art.
• The word through image.
• Contemporary media
6. SOLAS MEDICINE
• Christian Medical Fellowship
• Medical Ethics eg. Euthanasia
• Healing the Sick
7. SOLAS HISTORY
• History is His Story
• The Apologetic of History
• Where do we come from? Where are we going?
• Those who do not know their history are condemned to repeat it.
8. SOLAS MEDIA
• Christians in Media
• A contact point for the secular media
• Development of high quality Christian Media.
9. SOLAS PHILOSOPHY
• Greeks to Goths – we are what we think.
• Plantinga and Craig.
• Renewed Minds, Renewed Hearts
10. SOLAS CHURCH
• God’s instrument for outreach not self- preservation
• 1,000 Churches reaching 1,000 communities
• An Open Door? Church planting, re-potting, renewal.
• Contemporary Biblical Churches for 21st Century Ireland