In my early ministry, I was strong on apologetics, which is defending the divine origin and authority of Christianity. But I came to think that it is of little use in ministry. People are not spiritually convicted through apologetics, and apologetics suffuse one's ministry anyway. I made sure, though, that we had excellent resources to help Church members who were asking questions. In three of my Churches, these were (are) in Church libraries. OBSERVATION: It is a curious situation in Africa. In city ministry especially, I found that I was dealing with completely different perspectives on apologetics. In such a situation, apologetics may do as much harm as good. Wife E, when she embarked on theological studies, was shocked that apologetics even existed.
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