Hey, Everyone!!!

This month I will be going down to Mississippi to do a Gospel on Trial & Stage conference at Jacob's Well Baptist Church, and to Lousiana to speak at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary to some students of Dr. William Warren, who is responsible for and to whom I am grateful for this opportunity. I will also give a short presentation, 'The murderous thief theodicy: Why a God who wants to redeem humanity must permit horrendous suffering', and be a panelist at the Ratio Christi meeting on April 27, which would start around 7 PM in the student center of Bradley University. On April 20, I will address students of Dr. Warren's classes at the seminary.

The 'Gospel on Trial and Stage' conference at Jacob's Well Baptist church will be April 16-17. On April 17, I will be speaking at the 9AM and 11AM services, at which I will give my 'Resurrection in a Secular Age' message. In the Sunday school time in between those services, I will give a shortened historical argument for the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

On April 16, I will give a "school of apologetics" that would consist of three educational apologetics talks: 1. Some objections to the traditional authorship of the gospels and why they fail, 2. Can other theories explain away the resurrection? 3. Are there good scientific or philosophical objections to the resurrection? Later in the day on April 16, I will give a Gospel of Mark presentation. I am somewhat excited for this presentation. When I did some Gospel of John presentations in the past, I played piano or keyboard for some of the time that I was reciting Gospel of John material, and in at least one case, I reviewed a medley of Christological sayings after the end of the Gospel of John while I played piano or keyboard. This will be the first Gospel of Mark presentation that I will have done with music incorporated, and I have planned many of the words and much of the piano music for an evangelistic appeal after the end of the Gospel of Mark presentation. Pray that the unsaved would come and that the Lord would transform hearts through the proclamation of his word and of the gospel. I may also get to do a Gospel of Mark presentation at a second church on Sunday, April 17, and at a different church on Wednesday, April 20.

In March, I spoke at Faith Evangelical Free Church of Metamora, where I gave a historical argument for the resurrection. I spoke at two Ratio Christi meetings at Bradley University, in one case looking at the subject whether other theories can explain away the resurrection, and in another looking at the question whether there are good scientific or philosophical objections to the resurrection. Thanks to Pastor Dan Leman and Ryan Foster for the opportunities. A leader of the Bradley Ratio Christi chapter wrote me in March and had this in his email,

"Greetings Paul, I would like to thank you for taking time out to share some of the vast knowledge you have with us.  I loved the presentations and enjoyed the dialogue.  Everyone I spoke with loved the presentations and one person even said they are going to focus their dissertation on the material you presented. ... For the ones who meditate on these issues and the educated skeptic the presentation and material was perfect.  The only note I would make would be to slow down for major points.  I will definitely love to invite you back in the future and am excited for the future of your ministry."

There were two family gatherings at home in March, but on both days, I had a speaking engagement and missed much of the gathering.

PRAYER REQUESTS
1. Fundraising. Financially, one of the hardest seasons for a ministry is the beginning. Please pray that God would bring monthly supporters alongside Credible Faith. Credible Faith is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization and donations are accordingly tax-deductible in the US as permitted by law.

2. The Donation of a Used Car. My car is a 2002 Saturn with over 130,000 miles on it. In itself, that is not very bad, but it became something of a money hole. When I was at Trinity, I think that much of the transmission was replaced, and in January over $700 was paid for fixing part of the transmission system. Yet, there continues to be jolts when shifting, and I am concerned that it will deteriorate as has happened before and again be in a situation where a large expenditure is required. There has also been battery failure and the failure of the starter, both of which were replaced. I do not have much money and don't have enough to buy a good used car. Pray that someone would donate a used card before I would need to sink a lot more money into the one that I do currently have, or pray that the current car would not need significant expenditures.

3. Ministry Opportunities. Pray that doors would be opened for ministry in churches and on campuses and for relationships to be formed that would be mutually beneficial for ministry in those places.

Have a great month!!!

Sincerely,

Paul

Friday, April 1, 2016
Illinois, USA

Quote of the Month

From James Dorn's 'The Scope of Government in a Free Society' (Cato Journal, 32.3, 2012, pp. 629-642): The lack of private property rights within government means there are no owners who bear the consequences of failure or capture the rewards of success. Government officials have little incentive to be resourceful. Most politicians seek to expand, not reduce, the size of government—and use every crisis to do so.