This presentation describes eye-witness accounts of numerous healing and other miracles that took place in Bungoma in Kenya, as investigated by Gordon Stanger.
Patrick and Joseph at Bungoma: Eyewitnesses to the Kenya miracles.
And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
However, for those who act upon these words with child-like faith, this text is validated; these, and other miracles do occur. Some extraordinary miracles occurred in a Christian children’s ministry in a remote part of Kenya, as reported in a book by Jennifer Toledo. These included practical deliverance from the evils of witchcraft, which sound bizarre from our cultural perspective. Gordon happened to be working in that part of Africa, so he made a detour to check out the reality of these miracles, the results of which are reported here.
We also discuss the purpose of such miracles. God’s extraordinary miracles aren’t confined to places ‘far away’ in different cultures. Raf has been walking close to the Lord for many years, here in Australia as well as overseas. He relates some personal testimonies of remarkable healing, words of knowledge, and other modern-day miracles.
Dr Gordon Stanger is a geologist, hydrologist, water resources specialist, and a climate-change impact analyst. He also spent significant time in Africa, where he came in contact with many people who received miraculous healing or who had other experiences of the miraculous. He is an RFA committee member and is semi-retired.
On the 11th July Bronwyn Pearse spoke on a Christian perspective on the occult.
In the Western post Christian era, the 21st century has seen an upsurge in people exploring spiritual experiences. How should the 21st century Christian view Occult practises? Are they harmless, as some argue, or do they really hold potential power?
Does the Bible say anything them? C.S Lewis himself said “We cannot biblically dismiss the reality of external, personal evil forces diametrically opposed to the kingdom of God; ones which actively work against the one who came to bring humans life in all its fullness- mind, body and spirit.”
This talk explores what today’s Occult practices look like and what the Bible says about Ghosts.
Bronwyn Pearse is a primary school teacher and a Christian. Bronwyn has personally found that apologetics has strengthened her faith and helped her to answer questions from unbelievers on the problem of evil, how Christianity is unique amongst the world religions and how science and faith connect.
On the 27th June, Stephen White spoke on the Pentecostal/charismatic movement.
At the Global Christian Forum in Accra, Ghana, 16-20 April 2024, Dr. Gina Zurlo, co-director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, pointed to the surprising statistic that today 44% of Protestant Christians reside in Africa:
“The Pentecostal Charismatic Movement, originating in the early 20th century, has become a hallmark of Global South faith, encompassing diverse manifestations within classical Pentecostalism, the Catholic Charismatic Movement, and other charismatic movements. Wherever Christianity spread, and in the 20th century, the Pentecostal charismatic movement spread with it. It appears that the future of global Christianity seems to be Pentecostal.”
The Pentecostal Charismatic movement hails back to the founding of the church on the Jewish Harvest Festival Feast of Weeks, 50 days after Passover (7 weeks or 50 days Pentecostal in Greek) when Jesus died and rose again. From that time many miracles were performed by the Apostles and other members of the church. The first one was speaking the gospel in languages understood by Jews from other parts of the world gathered for the festival.
In St Paul’s first recorded letter to the Corinthian church, about 55AD, he lists the charismatic gifts and places some restrictions on how they should be used in orderly church meetings.
After the completion of the recognized New Testament books recordings of miraculous signs seemed to lapse until just over 100 years ago when they burst out at the Azusa Street revival in Los Angeles in 1906.
Since then, the Pentecostal Charismatic movement has spread widely particularly in Africa and Latin America, as well as in Australia and the USA.
R.T. Kendall, former minister at Westminster Chapel in London, has said that the Word Churches and Spirit Churches have much to learn from each other, and both recent Popes have encouraged their flock to encourage the charismatic movement in the Catholic church.
Stephen White has had a career as a physicist and is now retired. He has been a very supportive member of the Reasonable Faith Adelaide committee for a number of years.
On Thursday, the 23rd of May Gordon Stanger spoke on “We are saved (Thank God). Now what?”.
Here is a summary:
For the most part today’s Christian disciples are a pale and insipid shadow of the powerful and dynamic discipleship that we read about in the book of Acts. Is it commonplace for us to go into hostile places to teach people about Christ, and to validate our testimony by the power of God in practical and dramatic ways? Do we:
Heal the blind and the lame,
Cleanse the sick,
Cast out demons,
Raise the dead,
hear God and act upon his word on a daily basis, or
utilize the gifts of prophesy, discernment, and words of knowledge?
Generally, no, we don’t. Are we, Jesus’s contemporary disciples, actively involved in spiritual warfare? If not, then what is the meaning of “Deliver us from evil?”
Outside the church the dominant culture has a one-word summary of the church – irrelevant! So much of church leadership is tradition-bound, inward looking, self-serving, status-quo-retaining and bereft of the Holy Spirit’s power. It is largely tepid, clueless and faithless.
Inside the church we do a lot of good stuff with loving intent. But the good can be the enemy of the best. Fund-raising car boot sales, social outreach, and all manner of good works are all very well, but that’s not at the heart of what Jesus trained and commissioned his disciples to do.
There’s a lot more than just being saved. We are commissioned as foot-soldiers of the Lord’s army, to do his bidding for His kingdom. I’m still a novice in this warfare, but I suggest that His disciples engage in much more proactive activities that will involve closeness to the Lord, deeper faith, faster personal growth, advancement of the Kingdom, and many other benefits. The days of “irrelevance” are over!
Dr Gordon Stanger is a geologist, hydrologist, water resources specialist, and a climate-change impact analyst. He is an RFA committee member and is semi-retired.
The wrath of God is not a popular or frequent topic for Sunday sermons. There is more focus on the positive aspects of the Biblical message. Why upset people? Will it offend people? Will it help build a church? Is it an apologetic liability?
However, it is mentioned frequently in the Bible and is a common theme from Old Testament prophets.
It is also a common topic of ridicule cited by Christianity’s opponents. Thus their criticisms should be considered and answered carefully. Otherwise, we fiddle while Rome burns.
Also, is the Biblical teaching on the wrath of God part of the whole counsel of God, and is our proclamation deficient if we ignore or suppress it?
Dr Kevin Rogers is the director of Reasonable Faith Adelaide. He was an electrical engineer and then became a lecturer, researcher, and research supervisor at the University of South Australia. He is now mostly retired but continues with part-time research. He is also learning New Testament Greek, attends Ingle Farm Baptist Church and is blessed with a wife, 4 children and 8 grandchildren.
The strongest argument against the existence of a loving God is supposedly the problem of evil, but probably the second strongest argument is called the hiddenness of God. The argument is basically as follows:
If God wants us to believe in him, why doesn’t he make himself known more clearly and unambiguously? But He doesn’t. So, the most likely explanation is that he doesn’t show himself clearly because he doesn’t exist.
Paul claims that God’s ‘invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So, they are without excuse’ (Romans 1:20). Apologists also use arguments for God’s existence based on the observable world and from logic. However, many are not convinced. They object that these general arguments are not convincing enough. and that God could or should have made his existence more obvious.
In this presentation, the following questions will be considered:
Is general revelation sufficient?
Are we without excuse?
Does God deliberately make his existence known only to those who have eyes to see?
Does he reveal himself personally to some and hide himself from others?
If we seek, will we find; If we knock, will God answer?
Is the Divine Hiddenness argument a good argument?
Kevin Rogers is the director of Reasonable Faith Adelaide. He is a former electrical engineering lecturer, researcher, and research supervisor at the University of South Australia. He is now mostly retired but continues with part-time research in acoustic atmospheric tomography. He is also learning New Testament Greek, and is blessed with a wife, 4 children and 8 precocious grandchildren.
Sensus Divinitatis is a Latin term that refers to a natural sense of God that is present within every human being, but what does this actually mean?
This talk covered:
What were the views of major Christian figures on the Sensus Divinitatis?
What does the Bible say about it?
Can it be suppressed?
Is it innate or
Is it derived from observation of the creation?
Is it dependent on culture and upbringing?
What are the major objections to the sensus divinitatis?
How does it affect Christian apologetics and the proclamation of the gospel?
Kevin Rogers is the director of Reasonable Faith Adelaide. He is a former research fellow, lecturer and research supervisor at the University of South Australia. He is now mostly retired but continues with part-time research.
On the 9th February 2023, Kevin Rogers provided a presentation on Apologetics for young people.
It covers:
Is there a decline and how great is it?
What are the causes?
Are deficiencies in lack of apologetics for children a significant factor?
Kevin Rogers is the director of Reasonable Faith Adelaide. He is now mainly retired after having an electrical engineering career for 40 years and then working as a research Fellow, lecturer and PhD student at the University of South Australia.
On the 23rd February 2023, Kevin Rogers provided a presentation on What is an experience of knowing Christ?’
He describes his talk as follows:
It is often claimed that being a Christian means having a personal relationship with Christ, but what does this mean, how should it feel like, and do I have one?
Within conservative protestant circles, assurance is often based on scriptural promises. E.g., we can know we are a Christian if we have put our faith in Christ, or ‘Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so’. However, although these statements are true, they do not go far enough. Both Jesus and Paul state that assurance goes beyond this, and Paul expects his readers to share in his own experience.
Apologetics by reasoned arguments is commanded and is useful for providing intellectual support, but it does not go the whole way. God can do more than that such that we can we truly know. The Spirit can attest with our spirit that we are children of God.
During this talk, I will cover:
The value and limitations of apologetics,
My own Christian experience,
The Biblical warrant for Christian experience and assurance,
Paul’s teaching on knowing Christ, and
The conditions for knowing Christ,
Kevin Rogers
Dr Kevin Rogers
Kevin Rogers is the director of Reasonable Faith Adelaide. He is now mainly retired after having an electrical engineering career for 40 years and then working as a research Fellow, lecturer and PhD student at the University of South Australia.
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the idea that this is the best of all possible worlds was popular in Europe, particularly in many leading philosophical circles. To Francois-Marie Arouet, more commonly known as Voltaire, this was nonsense, and he set out to lampoon the concept in brilliant satire.
But:
What was the basis of this belief in the first place?
How effective is Voltaire’s response?
And what should we make of it today, particularly in our covid-ravaged world?
