Greetings Contenders, In recent years, Christians are encountering a hostile cultural climate. Our faith, once the bedrock of society, has lost respect. People are not indifferent towards Christians—they are indignant, both as a people and the beliefs we hold. Attacks have come even from within our ranks. And yet, the New Testament letter of Jude exhorts us to CONTEND for this Christian faith. What are we to do?
This event is part of our Underground Sessions ministry, which seeks to model and equip Christians to have conversations in tough areas, particularly politics and culture. The focus of this weekend was to equip believers in the area of APOLOGETICS, so they can respond with love, grace, and boldness to the challenges of the day. On Saturday evening, we put this into practice by hosting an Underground Sessions event answering the toughest questions of today’s culture. The word, “contend” is both a military and athletic term—it implies a struggle. Jude is exhorting his readers to preserve the faith. The purpose of this conference was just that—equipping followers of Christ to answer the tough questions, raise up a confident next generation, and engage the marketplace with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
When our time comes we must be prepared to respond. I hope these videos are both an encouragement and a challenge as we learn to CONTEND for the faith once and for all delivered to the saints.
BE PREPARED TO RESPOND
For God’s Glory, Pastor Bob Erbig
About the Underground Sessions: If you are new with us, Underground Sessions is a live and online forum we hold several times a year where we discuss challenging and relevant issues in our world today. We do this with a spirit of grace and compassion while maintaining biblical faithfulness. Our events feature culturally relevant interviews with guest professionals specializing within the topic of discussion. Our chosen topics are often controversial. As such, we expect there will be aspects of disagreement. This is a good thing, as we hope we learn to disagree well. As you explore this web portal, we invite you to step into the tension as we create a space where respectful dialogue can happen, difficult topics addressed, and ultimately where Christ is exalted.
Session ONE
Mama Bear Apologetics
Full Conference – Session
Short Talk
Keynote
Interview
TEASI CANNON (Keynote Speaker) The youngest and most vulnerable members of the Church are growing up in a society that is vastly different than the one in which many of us grew up. While unbiblical ideas aren’t new, their accessibility, volume, and frequency are. It’s been said we are navigating a battle of ideas, many of which strategically target the next generation of Christians, tossing them into an onslaught of animosity, skepticism, and sophisticated arguments that seek to demolish their faith. That’s where Mama Bears come in. And Papa Bears … and any Bears who love all our cubs and are willing to do what it takes to shore up our own faith so we can help them trust the authority of God’s Word, sort through the noise, and cling to the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Biography:Teasi is the author of Lord, Where’s My Calling, and contributor to Mama Bear Apologetics. She obtained her master’s degree in Pastoral Counseling from Liberty Theological Seminary. She is a confessed book addict who can’t get enough of apologetics and theology, and when she’s not spending time with her family, you can find her sitting on her favorite spot of the couch with a book in one hand and a hot mug of coffee in the other.
Session TWO
Cultural Apologetics
Full Conference – Session 2
Short Talk
Keynote
Interview
PAUL GOULD (Keynote Speaker) Christianity has an image problem. No one wants to hear what we have to say. All too often our lives are fragmented and unlovely. And we generally don’t see the world any different than anyone else. As a result we’ve lost the Christian voice, the Christian conscience, and the Christian imagination. The gospel is often viewed as unreasonable or undesirable or both. In our time together we’ll explore this question: Given this cultural moment, with all its challenges, how can the gospel get a fair hearing? To answer our question, we took a look at Paul’s encounter with the Greeks in Athens and then applied our insights to this day and this age.
Biography: Paul is an Associate Professor of Philosophy of Religion and director of the M.A. Philosophy of Religion program at Palm Beach Atlantic University. Gould earned his doctorate in philosophy from Purdue University. He is the author or editor of ten scholarly and popular-level books including Cultural Apologetics, Philosophy: A Christian Introduction, and The Story of the Cosmos. He has been a visiting scholar at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School’s Henry Center.
Session THREE
Cultural Intelligence
Full Conference – Session
ShortTalk
Keynote
Interview
DARRELL BOCK (Keynote Speaker) How do we have cultural intelligence in a culture that is so pluralistic and contentious? How we see the challenge will determine how we approach it. Our weekend gave a fresh biblical look at how we should see our engagement, especially with those who are not a part of the church. We have no theology of cultural engagement in the church and we need it. We hope to give you a way of approaching engagement that is biblical and practical by looking specifically at 6 core texts and also how to have difficult conversations.
Biography: Darrell is a Humboldt Scholar and an author of over 40 books, including well-regarded commentaries on Luke and Acts and studies of the historical Jesus, and works in cultural engagement as host of the seminary’s Table Podcasts. He was president of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) from 2000 – 2001, served as a consulting editor for Christianity Today and serves on the boards of Wheaton College and Chosen People Ministries.
Underground
Saturday Evening Underground Sessions
Have you ever asked big questions about life but never received adequate answers? Meaning, suffering, faith, identity—we all wrestle to some extent. The Christian faith offers good answers to our questions, but we don’t always talk to the right people. On January 28th . Millington Baptist Church hosted an Underground Sessions event: “Answering the Toughest Questions.” If you are someone who has difficult questions about life and faith, but you haven’t gotten good answers—this group discussion, and an expert panel if for you.
Saturday Evening Full Session
Paul Gould Talk
Teasi Cannon Talk
Darrell Bock Talk
Panel Discussion
Sunday
Sunday Morning Services 9:00am & 10:45
On January 29, Paul Gould and Darrell Bock conclude the Contend conference in our Sunday morning services.
Paul Gould gives a sermon as a part of the Contend Conference entitled “Beauty in Exile” on Exodus 31:1-11.
Darrell Bock finishes our Conference with a message entitled “Difficult Conversations” based on James 1: 19-20.
Breakout Sessions
Where's My Calling?
Suffering as an Opportunity
Reaching Muslims
Faith In the Workplace
Don’t Debate, Discuss
Reaching Buddhists
Where's My Calling?
Lord, Where’s My Calling?
Teasi Cannon: This session focused on understanding the difference between a calling and your divinely designed purpose. Once we get this paradigm shift, it can change our life today and forever—as well as how we represent our faith to others.
Suffering as an Opportunity
Seeing Suffering as an Apologetic Opportunity
Pastor Bob & Amanda Erbig: In this session we discussed how our suffering can be seen and used as an effective opportunity to point people to the hope we have in Christ.
Reaching Muslims
Evangelism to Muslims
Amoon Sharon: In this session we discussed challenges, opportunities, and practical strategies on how to share our faith with Muslim neighbors.
Faith In the Workplace
Navigating Your Faith In The Workplace
Jesse Nash: In this session we discussed how to fulfill the Great Commission through our interactions at the workplace.
Don’t Debate, Discuss
Don’t Have a Debate, Have a Discussion
Steven DiSebastian: Sharing your faith can be difficult, especially in these contentious times. Learn to use a simple technique of asking questions to create spiritual conversations while defusing heated debates.
Reaching Buddhists
Sharing Christ with Tibetan Buddhists
Mark Avery: In this session, we talked about sharing Jesus with a Tibetan Buddhist – a worldview that grew out of Hinduism and has deeply affected the global “new age” thinking as well as American culture today!
Now you can watch us on YouTube! Subscribe to the Millington Baptist Church YouTube channel, MBC Unhindered, to watch missed Sunday sermons, special teaching topics, and various fun and inspired content.
Welcome to the online web portal for our virtual Underground Sessions event, “ENTER EVENT NAME”If you are new with us, Underground Sessions is a live forum we hold several times a year where we discuss challenging and relevant issues in our world today. We do this with a spirit of grace and compassion while maintaining biblical faithfulness. Our events feature culturally relevant interviews with guest professionals specializing within the topic of discussion. Our chosen topics are often controversial. As such, we expect there will be aspects of disagreement. This is a good thing, as we hope we learn to disagree well. As you explore this web portal, we invite you to step into the tension as we create a space where respectful dialogue can happen, difficult topics addressed, and ultimately where Christ is exalted.
Guest Speaker Os Guinness Os Guinness is an author and social critic. Great-great-great grandson of Arthur Guinness, the Dublin brewer, he was born in China in World War Two where his parents were medical missionaries. A witness to the climax of the Chinese revolution in 1949, he was expelled with many other foreigners in 1951 and returned to Europe where he was educated in England. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of London and his D.Phil in the social sciences from Oriel College, Oxford. Os has written or edited more than thirty books, including The Call, Time for Truth, Unspeakable, A Free People’s Suicide,The Global Public Square,Last Call for Liberty,Carpe Diem Redeemed, and The Magna Carta of Humanity. His latest book is The Great Quest: Invitation to the Examined Life and a Sure Path to Meaning, published in 2022. Since moving to the United States in 1984, Os has been a Guest Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Studies, a Guest Scholar and Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Senior Fellow at the Trinity Forum and the EastWest Institute in New York. He was the lead drafter of the Williamsburg Charter in 1988, a celebration of the bicentennial of the US Constitution, and later of “The Global Charter of Conscience,” which was published at the European Union Parliament in 2012. Os has spoken at many of the world’s major universities, and spoken widely to political and business conferences across the world. He lives with his wife Jenny in the Washington DC area.
Moderator Pastor Bob Erbig Bob Erbig is the Lead Pastor for Preaching, Family, Life and Mission at Millington Baptist Church. Bob has a particular passion to equip Christians to engage culture and worldview issues. He oversees the Underground Sessions ministry and is always excited to have a good conversation on a challenging issue. Along with his co-pastor, Dave Hentschel, he is the author of the book A Beautiful Mess, which speaks to dysfunctional family issues in the OT book of Genesis. Bob received his Master of Divinity degree from Denver Seminary and has been married to his wife, Amanda, for 8 years and they have three children.
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Ask a Question
Now you can watch us on YouTube!
Subscribe to the Millington Baptist Church YouTube channel, MBC Unhindered, to watch missed Sunday sermons, special teaching topics, and various fun and inspired content.
Welcome to the online web portal for our virtual Underground Sessions event, “ENTER EVENT NAME”
If you are new with us, Underground Sessions is a live forum we hold several times a year where we discuss challenging and relevant issues in our world today. We do this with a spirit of grace and compassion while maintaining biblical faithfulness. Our events feature culturally relevant interviews with guest professionals specializing within the topic of discussion. Our chosen topics are often controversial. As such, we expect there will be aspects of disagreement. This is a good thing, as we hope we learn to disagree well. As you explore this web portal, we invite you to step into the tension as we create a space where respectful dialogue can happen, difficult topics addressed, and ultimately where Christ is exalted.
Matthew Arbo. Infertility. Walking Through Infertility: Biblical, Theological, and Moral Counsel for Those Who Are Struggling (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2017).
Web Sites
Them Before Us: A comprehensive website that deals with issues related to children’s rights in the family. There are stories and articles highlighted here: https://thembeforeus.com/
Public Discourse: An online journal that moral foundations in free societies. They assert that the second pillar of decent society is the “institution of the family, which is built upon the comprehensive sexual onion of man and woman.” They have an excellent section on issues related to sexuality and the family, as well as the human person: https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/
CanaVox: This is a marriage movement that offers reading groups to friends who support the historic understanding of marriage. The website offers reading lists and helpful videos: https://canavox.com/
ERLC: The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptists is an excellent resource on marriage, family and ethical issues: https://erlc.com/
The Colson Center’s “BreakPoint”: A prime resource for articles of culture and worldview issues. They also feature the popular “BreakPoint” podcast which tackles the latest issues in the news: https://www.breakpoint.org/
Think Biblically: This is a blog/podcast featuring Drs. Scott Rae and Sean McDowell from Biola University. They tackled topics from a Biblical lens as they think about faith and culture: https://www.biola.edu/blogs/think-biblically
The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network: The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network (CBC) addresses bioethical issues that most profoundly affect our humanity, especially issues that arise in the lives of the most vulnerable among us. https://www.cbc-network.org/
First Choice Women’s Resource Center: A partner ministry of Millington Baptist which ministers to families. First Choice Women’s Resource Centers exists to encourage and equip women and men to make informed pregnancy decisions. We do not benefit financially from any decision a client makes and we do not charge for our services. We believe that women and men are capable of making their own choices when given accurate information. https://1stchoice.org/
Katy Faust Katy Faust is the Founder of Them Before Us, the only organization solely devoted to defending children’s rights in family structure. She did her undergraduate degree in Political Science and Asian Studies at St. Olaf College and then received a Fulbright scholarship to Taiwan. Her fluency in Mandarin assisted her when she worked with the largest Chinese adoption agency in the world. In 2012 Katy began blogging about why marriage is a matter of social justice for kids. Her articles have appeared in USA Today, Public Discourse, LifeSite News, and The Federalist and The Daily Signal. She has filed three amicus briefs supporting children’s rights and advocated for the rights of children with lawmakers in the US and abroad as well as at the United Nations. She currently appears in a video series called Dear Katy which offers advice on how to live sexual integrity in the midst of morally permissive cultures. She is married and the mother of four children, the youngest of whom is adopted from China.
Moderator
Pastor Bob Erbig Bob Erbig is the Lead Pastor for Preaching, Family, Life and Mission at Millington Baptist Church. Bob has a particular passion to equip Christians to engage culture and worldview issues. He oversees the Underground Sessions ministry and is always excited to have a good conversation on a challenging issue. Along with his co-pastor, Dave Hentschel, he is the author of the book A Beautiful Mess, which speaks to dysfunctional family issues in the OT book of Genesis. Bob received his Master of Divinity degree from Denver Seminary and has been married to his wife, Amanda, for 8 years and they have three children.
Due to the nature of this topic, this chat will be monitored for content. Please keep the discourse civil, respectful, and on topic. Responses that do not adhere to this will be removed. Participants may also be permanently removed if there is a pattern of disrespectful dialogue.
Ask a Question
Now you can watch us on YouTube!
Subscribe to the Millington Baptist Church YouTube channel, MBC Unhindered, to watch missed Sunday sermons, special teaching topics, and various fun and inspired content.
Teasi Cannon:
