CARM Newsletter 12-09-05

Welcome to the Dec. 9, 2005 Newsletter

Last month was CARM's 10-year birthday.  Today he is my 49th birthday.  So, I took today off and made time to write this newsletter.

Radio Show

Good news.  Today I had a meeting with the assistant manager (Dave) of a local root Christian radio station (www.myfamilyradio.com) and the account executive (Mike).  They are both great guys.  We met over coffee and for about two hours discussed me starting a radio show. Praise God.  My show, Faith and Reason with Matt Slick, will start on the first Monday of next year which will be January 2, 2006. The show will be one hour long, five days a week, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. (Mountain Time). We are going to commit to a three-month show and see how it goes. After the three months, we will know if I'm going to continue being the host or if we should shut it down. The format of the show will be live call in where people can ask all kinds of questions dealing with Christianity, the Bible, cults, etc. It will be challenging but enjoyable. Also, the show will be streamed live on the Internet so people from all over can listen to it. There will be a toll-free phone number to call as well. Please pray for its success that it can be used by the Lord to help equip the body of Christ, exposed error, and give a reason for the validity of Christianity.

Thanks to all of you who have contributed financially to support the cost of doing the show.  It has been a big help and has made this endeavor possible. If you are interested in supporting a CARM radio show that you could hear via the internet, you can donate in two ways.  First, you can go here http://www.carm.org/goods/radio.htm.  Second, you can donate via CARM at PO BOX 995, Meridian, ID  83680.  Thanks.

Abortion

In the past few weeks I've been engaged in conversations with pro abortion advocates on the CARM discussion boards. (http://www.christiandiscussionforums.org/dc/dcboard.php).  Their rationale for justifying killing unborn babies is both astounding and sad. Basically, all the arguments ignore the person of the humanity of the life in the womb and focus on a woman's rights, that unwanted children lead to crime, that the fetus in the womb is a parasite, etc., in support of killing babies. If you're interested in checking out the dialogues, go to the discussion boards (with over 7100 members already) and check out the Abortion and Sanctity of Life board. It will be interesting and invigorating and we definitely need more Christians defending the week and the innocent.

CARM has a Chat Room

A couple of weeks ago, we opened up to a Java-based text chat room.  It seems to be a success and we have had as many as 20 people in it at a time.  People come and go and averages about eight people.  So, if you are interested in chatting with me or others, then check it out.  It's located here http://www.carm.org/boards/chat.htm.

The Tax Bill From Last Month

CARM was hit with a $3200 tax bill last month.  It hurt.  But, a lot of people stepped in and helped defray the unexpected expense.  If it wasn't for them helping, we would not be able to do the radio show, we probably would have to live on credit cards, and our kids would not have a Christmas.  So, I want to thank all of you who contributed.  Enough was raised to allow us to not have to live on credit cards.  Again, thank you.

Weekly Teaching Time

Every Thursday evening I host a live discussion room on platlak.com. Paltalk is a free voice chat system that is quite good. Paltalk is full of Christians as well as non-Christians and the battles over truth are frequent. It is however, a good place to learn how to defend your faith. Anyway, if anyone is interested in you would like to check it out and join us for our weekly discussion, then go to paltalk, download the program, and join us on Thursday evenings.

Need a staff:  someone to raise support and move to Boise, ID.

I'm still hoping that by God's grace he will provide one or more individuals who would be willing to relocate to the Boise area, be discipled in apologetics, and work with me in developing CARM to a much broader audience as well is developing more content.  I'm looking for someone who is educated and/or has a passion for apologetics, who can write, and wants to work with CARM.  I firmly believe in increasing the ability of others to do the work of this Ministry.  I'm not in it for my glory.  I'm in it to equip the body of Christ and bring glory to God.  This world is not a playground.  It is a battleground.  We are to be fishers of men, not keepers of the aquarium.  So, I'm aiming to do the best I can with what God has given me.... and I need help to do it.

$5 Support

Please consider supporting CARM. CARM depends upon your giving in order to continue. I am not quite full-time with CARM yet. I have a part-time 20 hours a week job and I write and research for CARM an additional 50 hours a week. So, I work 70 hours each week and have been doing this for years.  It is tiring. I desperately want to do CARM full-time for two reasons: first, to be able to spend more time with my family. Second, to facilitate acquiring a staff in order to produce more material.

I have the passion, the experience (25 years in apologetics), and the education (Masters of Divinity).  But, I cannot do it all on my own.  Please consider supporting CARM with $5 a month.  It is easy to do and it does help a great deal.  If interested, please sign up here.

From the Theological Dictionary
Anthropic Principle
The idea that the universe exhibits elements of design specifically for the purpose of containing intelligent beings; namely, humans.  Much debate surrounds this issue.  Is the universe necessarily arranged by God so as to make life possible or is it simply that the universe is godless and that life came into existence due to the chance state that we now find it in?

Be fishers of men, not keepers of the aquarium