Josh McDowell has been teaching apologetics (a defense of the faith) for decades. When I heard that his “Josh McDowell Institute for Christian Apologetics” was holding their Collision Conference at Oklahoma Wesleyan University this month, I was beyond excited.
Ever since I first read Evidence That Demands a Verdict back in the early 1980s, I’ve been a fan of Josh McDowell. In fact, in my freshman year of college, I gave his book, More Than a Carpenter, to an atheist friend of mine. She wrote to me 4 years later saying she found “some book” on her bookshelf and didn’t remember where it came from. But she read it and had become a Christian. That book was the book I had given her. I eventually went on to teach a 6-month apologetics course at one of my churches and eventually wrote my own 14-week apologetics study that I’ll be sharing as a course on this website in April.
This morning I watched the first video from the conference and was blown away. This is precisely the type of information we need to engage our culture and to dispel the myths that have become a stumbling block to accepting Christianity as a viable alternative to atheism or one of the other world religions.
Christians, if we ever hope to engage and impact the world, we will need to equip ourselves to be able to provide an answer to their honest questions. We can’t ignore the world when our mandate is to love them and show them Jesus. OKWU gave me permission to include this list of videos (below) that they had included on their website. Watch when you have time. Enjoy them, but use them to make a difference, one person at a time. Or post one of the videos to Facebook to share with your friends or a specific friend. Or plan to take one issue a week and dispel a myth in a conversation with a friend or relative. Just do something so you’re ready the next time one of these topics comes up. You might just have an opportunity to show someone close to you how loving and compassionate our God is and how much He loves THEM.
JMI Video & Audio
Collision Conference 2018: Identity
Session 1: Laura Perry with Pastor James Biesiadecki – Sexuality and Identity
Session 2: Star Parker – Ethnicity, Economics, and Identity
Session 3: Abdu Murray – Religion and Identity
Collision Conference 2017: Being Bold in a Whatever World
Session 1: Sean McDowell – The Atheist Challenge
Session 2: Abdu Murray – Clarity in a Culture of Confusion
Session 3: Jo Vitale – Foreigners, Slavery & Women in the Old Testament
Session 4: Dr. Everett Piper (Rejoice Church Session) – Being Bold in a Whatever World
Collision Conference 2016: Who Does Your Thinking for You?
Session 1: Cameron McAllister – Who Does Your Thinking for You: Confronting & Disagreeing
Session 2: Alycia Wood – Who Does Your Thinking for You: Biblical Justice Issues
Session 3: Abdu Murray – Who Does Your Thinking for You: Issues of Religion
Collision Conference 2015: Marriage & Sexuality
Session 1: Ryan T. Anderson – What is Marriage? Man and Woman
Session 2: Ryan T. Anderson – What is Marriage? Man and Woman: Defense
Session 1: Rosaria Butterfield – Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert
Session 2: Rosaria Butterfield – Sexual Identity and Union with Christ
Session: Abdu Murray – Is Anything Wrong with Anything?
Session: Drs. Anderson & Butterfield Q and A
Collision Conference 2014: Inaugural Event
General Conference Sessions:
Session 1: Abdu Murray – A Son from a Stone
Session 2: Frank Turek – Intellectual Predators
Session 3 (Chapel): Josh McDowell – Unveiling the Lodz Torah Scroll
Session 4: Dr. Everett Piper – Defining Our Terms
Session 5: Sean McDowell – Passing Your Faith to the Next Generation
Session 6: Josh McDowell’s Closing Address – The Greatest Apologetic
Pastor’s Conference Sessions:
Session 1: Josh McDowell – Teaching Truth in a Whatever Culture
Session 2: Alex Himaya – The Process of Evangelism
Session 3: Frank Turek – Ministry with Young Adults
Session 4: Abdu Murray – Evangelism to People of other Faiths
