During a recent visit to the doctor's office, I thought it would be a good idea to bring my recent purchase, God's Crime Scene by J. Warner Wallace, with me since one never knows how long the wait will be.
When the doctor walked in, I quickly put down my book on the counter next to me so I could give my attention to the examination. But I noticed the he quickly glanced at what I was reading and it immediately sparked the question "So what are you reading?" I then began to explain how the book is written by a cold case detective who uses the same approach of examining evidence for a case as he does when looking at the evidence for a divine being. I mentioned this was his second book as the first one was entitled Cold Case Christianity and focused on the reliability of the books written in the New Testament.
The doctor then asked me, "Are you a policeman?" I chuckled and said "No, but I like to read/study this type of information so I can give people a reasonable explanation why I believe what I believe." This all happened in a matter of 1-2 minutes. I may not have offered the most graceful of explanations, but I think it was effective. At the end of my visit, the doctor thanked me for sharing about the book and said "I'll have to check into that." I walked out of the office with a grin and thought that was probably one of my most productive doctor visits ever!
But I was also reminded of Dr. William Craig's words from On Guard on the importance of apologetics-
"This people group, though relatively small in numbers, is huge in influence. One of these persons for example, was C.S. Lewis. Think of the impact that one man's conversion continues to have! I find that the people who resonate most with my apologetic arguments tend to be engineers, people in medicine, and lawyers. Such persons are among the most influential in shaping our culture today. So reaching this minority of persons will yield a great harvest for kingdom of God."1
I don't know if the doctor will actually check out what I was reading, but my prayer is that the seed that was planted will be indeed be watered!
Sincerely,
Chad Vaughn (The Other Chad)
1: On Guard pages 22-23
When the doctor walked in, I quickly put down my book on the counter next to me so I could give my attention to the examination. But I noticed the he quickly glanced at what I was reading and it immediately sparked the question "So what are you reading?" I then began to explain how the book is written by a cold case detective who uses the same approach of examining evidence for a case as he does when looking at the evidence for a divine being. I mentioned this was his second book as the first one was entitled Cold Case Christianity and focused on the reliability of the books written in the New Testament.
The doctor then asked me, "Are you a policeman?" I chuckled and said "No, but I like to read/study this type of information so I can give people a reasonable explanation why I believe what I believe." This all happened in a matter of 1-2 minutes. I may not have offered the most graceful of explanations, but I think it was effective. At the end of my visit, the doctor thanked me for sharing about the book and said "I'll have to check into that." I walked out of the office with a grin and thought that was probably one of my most productive doctor visits ever!
But I was also reminded of Dr. William Craig's words from On Guard on the importance of apologetics-
"This people group, though relatively small in numbers, is huge in influence. One of these persons for example, was C.S. Lewis. Think of the impact that one man's conversion continues to have! I find that the people who resonate most with my apologetic arguments tend to be engineers, people in medicine, and lawyers. Such persons are among the most influential in shaping our culture today. So reaching this minority of persons will yield a great harvest for kingdom of God."1
I don't know if the doctor will actually check out what I was reading, but my prayer is that the seed that was planted will be indeed be watered!
Sincerely,
Chad Vaughn (The Other Chad)
1: On Guard pages 22-23
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