Personal Narrative- Christian Apologetics
Two weeks of this past summer rank high as some of the most rewarding times of my life. Next to my salvation, the experience has become an important turning point of my youth. This experience changed my worldview into a biblical perspective, and strengthened my faith in the Lord.
For the first time, I was on my own, flying cross-country to spend two weeks in Colorado, not for a vacation I might add. I was to attend a Christian apologetics course sponsored by Summit Ministries. The coursework was grueling, intense, and mind stretching. My living quarters were a small, rickety, 100 year old (and counting) hotel with paper thin walls shared with 99 other students. I left my sheltered home-school and was introduced to the modern, secular world of weird people, graphic videos of abortion, and the persecution of Christians in Sudan through science, history, theology, and philosophy. We were taught about the chain reactions that develop in a nation caused by unwise decisions, and looked at problems our country faces today and studied them using the Bible.
Many knowledgeable Christian professionals fed us their studies and wisdom taught by the Bible. A former Mob boss gave his moving testimony, and an outgoing evangelist who witnessed to Michael Jordan, presented us with arguments and strategies to combat false religions, yet be effective witnesses.
Those two weeks were intense, mentally and emotionally, and I got a taste of the real world. Now I often think about my generation, and if it is truly ready to undertake the leadership of our great nation. Many are blind and sinking in the bog of humanistic and atheistic views of today’s society, and will not be ready when the torch is passed on to them.
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, said to be one of the best organists of his time (Baroque Music). He was born in March 1685 in Eisenach, Thuringia as the youngest of eight children. His father Johann Ambrosius was also a musician and a court trumpeter for the Duke of Eisenach, and Director of the musicians in Eisenach (Baroque Music). Bach came from a family with a music talent, with his family members having held positions as organists, Cantors, instrumentalists in Thuringia.
Genocide: The deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular group or nationality. When people think of this forbidding word, their mind immediately flashes to images of concentration camps and Adolf Hitler’s army raising their arms, saluting to swastikas used during the Holocaust in WWII. But what people don’t realize is that genocide is not such a rarity. Thousands, even millions of civilians die each time genocide strikes. Genocides have been committed since the beginning of humanity, but three massacres since Hitler’s reign left the world shocked again at its own cruelty.
The Party’s fight for redistribution of wealth and the establishment of social, political and social equality across gender and color barriers made it one of the first organizations in U.S. history to militantly struggle for working class liberation and ethnic minorities (Baggins, Brian). The Black Panther Party set up a ten-point program much like Malcolm X’s Nation of Islam that called for American society to realize political, economic and social equal opportunity based on the principles of socialism, all of which was summarized by the final point: "We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice and peace" (Newton, Huey P). The Black Panther Party wanted to achieve these goals through militant force. In the words of Che Guevara, “Words are beautiful, but action is supre...
1. The voting game was interesting, and it was an analogy to real life situations. Initially I was confused and really did not understand the game. At first I assumed that if I voted the number 1 I would not receive any money, and if I voted the number 0, I would receive money. I was thinking this was a tricky game, and everyone would vote 0 because if they voted 1 they wouldn’t receive any money. I was wrong. Only fifteen students voted for the number 0: the rest voted for the number 1. I received $30,000 while the people who voted the number 1 received $38,000, $8,000 more! I then understood the game and how I should vote, but then a classmate pleaded his case and hoped everyone would vote 0, so the money we received would increase and we
Goheen, Michael, and Craig Bartholomew. Living at the Crossroads: An Introduction to Christian Worldview. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008. Print.
Johann Sebastian Bach was one of the greatest composers of music history. Bach was born in Eisenach
Estep, J. R. & Kim, J. H. (2010). Christian formaton: Integrating theology and human development. Nashville, TN. B&H Publishing Group.
The Black Panther Party for Self Defense was the most significant activist group during the Civil Rights Movement Era. It was founded in Oakland, California by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in October of 1966. The Black Panthers Party was founded to fight for and protect the rights of African Americans. Believing that the approach Martin Luther King Jr. was expressing would take too long, the approach Black Panther Party took was more along the lines of Malcolm X more aggressive theories rather than Martin Luther King Jr.’s more peaceful strategy. Although it gained a lot of support quickly it was ineffective in its main agenda’s due to, government actions against them, disorganization within the BPP, and the loss and shortcomings of its leaders.
"The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense knew what they wanted. They were young. They were black. They couldn't be ignored. Their ten-point platform was just the beginning of an unforgettable period in the history of this nation's civil rights movement. By 1967 the Black Panthers had established themselves as a force to be reckoned with. Their ideas, their agenda, their fight for equality for African Americans, put these outspoken youth on the map of American politics." (Haskins) Almost 40 years ago, in 1966, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale led a revolution that was driven in response to the oppression of black people. They sought to change that. Today, thanks to their fight for civil rights, extreme risks, and development of social needs, people around the world can enjoy some of their modifications, such as free breakfast programs. The formation and movements of the Black Panther Party were directed by the F.B.I, who sought to bring every party member down; as well as their radical alliances, such as The Resistance, (which kindled the rebirth of the party during hard times), and the brave women who joined the party, such as Afeni Shakur, stood up for their rights in a time in which Americas looked down on women as less than equals helped their cause.
The party was inspired by revolutionaries such as Mao Tse-tung and Malcolm X. Malcolm had represented a militant revolutionary, with the dignity and self-respect to stand up and fight to win equality for all oppressed minorities. Influenced by the teachings of Mao's Red Book the organization became more of a Marxist-Communist group that favored violent revolution, if necessary, to bring about changes in society. Equipped with rifles and the knowledge from many law books the Black Panther Party fed the hungry, protected the weak from racist police, and presented a Ten Point Platform and Program of Black political and social activism. The platform is stated as follows: 1.) We want freedom. We want power to determine the destiny of our Black Community. 2.) We want full employment of our people. 3.) We want an end to the robbery by the CAPITALIST of our Black community. 4.) We want decent housing, fit for shelter of human beings. 5.) We want education for our people that exposes the true nature of this decadent Ameri...
Baggins, Brian. "Black Panther Party." Black Panther Party. Marxists Internet Archive, 2002. Web. 09 May 2014. .
In the late 1960's and early '70's posters of the Black Panther Party's co-founder, Huey P. Newton were plastered on walls of college dorm rooms across the country. Wearing a black beret and a leather jacket, sitting on a wicker chair, a spear in one hand and a rifle in the other, the poster depicted Huey Newton as a symbol of his generation's anger and courage in the face of racism and classism. He is the man whose intellectual capacity and community leadership abilities helped to found the Black Panther Party (BPP). Newton played an instrumental role in refocusing civil rights activists to the problems of urban Black communities. He also tapped the rage and frustration of urban Blacks in order to address social injustice. However, the FBI's significant fear of the Party's aggressive actions would not only drive the party apart but also perpetuated false information regarding the Panther's programs and accomplishments.
Many girls of different ages fantasize about the perfect wedding, perfect husband, a gorgeous dress, and the happiness to come after the wedding. At one point I was just like these girls. I saw marriage as a paradise that everybody should experience. Around tenth- grade, my rose tinted glasses were removed and I witnessed just how bad a marriage could get to the point of divorce. The divorce my parents went through, changed my entire view on monogamy. I now see marriage in a more realistic point of view and that it is not an easy journey as I once had thought it was.
For as long as I can remember, I have gone to church. My entire life I have known this concept of Jesus and who he was. And for some reason, that was supposed to be important to me. As a kid, I could tell you the majority of the Bible stories, after all, I heard them all the time. Even at a young age, though, I could tell there was more to the whole Jesus thing. It seemed that some people understood on a deeper level what all this church stuff was actually about. As I began to learn more about this Jesus, I began to question why he was important to me and what he had to do with the life change in the people around me.