"Suicide Tactic" (Class 4 recap)

On Monday June 8th we met for our fourth class to study the book Tactics, written by Greg Koukl.

Since we've been off for a month we spent a good amount of time just catching up. Terrence shared about his evangelism trip to Ocean City with Eric Dressel. He spent two days sharing the gospel with high school and college kids out there for senior week.Terrence developed a short 6-question survey to gather data and start the conversation. He found that it was helpful in getting more people engaged but a lower percentage of those who took the survey wanted to continue on in conversation.

The questions on his survey were on the topic of Christianity and consisted on things like "were you raised in a Christian home?", "is Christianity a good, bad, or neutral thing for society?", "Who is Jesus?", and "How does a person become a Christian?". The biggest "miss" was on that last question in which people often answered by saying "go to church to become a Christian." Though church is obviously important many unfortunately forgot the fundamental concepts of faith and repentance. Overall though, Terrence reported good things and had a great time being out there. 

Next we spent our remaining time watching the video lesson on the "Suicide Tactic". The Suicide Tactic is the action of identifying a self-destructing statement and watching it kill itself. An example of such a statement would be "I can't type a word in English" or Yogi Berra's advice, "Always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't come to yours." The statements are internally contradictory in that they can't be both true and not true. It can't be that I "can't type a word in English" and that the statement itself entails that I've typed words in English!

We ended our time reviewing some discussion questions in the middle of the lesson on identifying the suicidal aspects of statements like "It's wrong for missionaries to try to change other people's religious reviews", "All religions are equally true and valid", and "Truth is only gained through science."

"Perfecting the Columbo Tactic" (Class 3 recap)

On Monday April 13th we met for our third class to study the book Tactics, written by Greg Koukl.

We started off the class with a short quiz on the topic of "Who was Jesus?" as a review of the On Guard material. Terrence went over the answers to our quiz from last time on the topic of morality and handed back our grades. Remember, each person's quiz grades will be summed from week to week to and there's a rumor that a prize will be given out to the person with the highest overall score at the end of the course! So keep studying. The quiz for next time will either be on Suffering (On Guard chapter 7) or Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? (On Guard chapter 8). 

Next we reviewed the lessons from our first session of the Tactics course and then started the new material from this second session. The topic this week was about "Perfecting the Columbo Tactic: Exposing a Weakness of a Flaw". 

This third step in the Columbo tactic involves careful listening, insight, and practice. It requires us to see the flaws in others' arguments and lovingly expose it.

No one likes to hear that they are wrong. So to soften the blow when exposing a weakness, use an indirect approach by starting with things like, "I'm just curious...", "Maybe you can clear this up for me...", or "Something about this bothers me...". Additionally, ask for permission to share an alternative way of thinking or asking if they think an alternative would work better to help ease into your challenge.

An example of this third step that we discussed was a response to the hypothetical challenge: "you shouldn't push your morality one me!" The flaw is that this challenge indicts itself. It is telling me what I ought to do (morality) which is the very thing it is saying not to do! So we want to help to other person see that contradiction. We could respond by asking if the person is making a moral claim in telling us what not to do in order to gently expose the flaw.

Finally we discussed what to do if someone uses the Columbo tactic on you. What if you are in the hot seat? First, stop the advance. Then regain control. And if all else fails just ask if you can think it over for a while and get back to the other person. 

The presentation from Monday is available digitally on the website here.

Next time we will meet on April 27th, same time, same place (starting at 6:45pm with coffee, desserts, and fellowship). Hope to see you there!

"Refining the Columbo Tactic" (Class 2 recap)

On Monday March 23rd we met for our second class to study the book Tactics, written by Greg Koukl.

We started off the class with a short quiz on the topic of God and morality as a review of the On Guard material.

Terrence went over the answers to our quiz from last time and handed back our grades. His wife graciously graded the quizzes based on what she thought were good responses. Everyone was given a secret moniker so that grades could be posted by our code names (the names were based on Transformer names!). Terrence will sum each person's quiz grades from week to week to and post the standings to help foster a little healthy competition. There's a rumor that a prize will be given out to the person with the highest overall score at the end of the course! So keep studying.

The quiz for next time will either be on Suffering (On Guard chapter 7) or Who Was Jesus? (On Guard chapter 8). 

Next we reviewed the lessons from our first session of the Tactics course and then started the new material from this second session. The topic this week was about"Refining the Columbo Tactic: Reversing the Burden of Proof." 

{The burden of proof is on the person making the claim to give reasons or evidence to back it up.}

In practice this can take the form of a simple question like, "How did you come to that conclusion?" or "Why do you say that?" or "What are your reasons for thinking that?".

The first Columbo tactic was all about finding out what someone believes. The second is about why they believe it.

Asking for reasons might leave the other person with a blank stare because frankly they might not have thought through why they believe what they do. They may not have really reached a conclusion. It's a good way to call out those fanciful stories that others may throw out as explanations. Remember, "an alternate explanation is not a refutation." 

For example, Greg Koukl related a story of a person "refuting" intelligent design by offering an alternate explanation along the lines of "there was a point in the nothing and then it caused ripples that eventually spun out galaxies and stars and planets." That might be an alternate explanation but it's on the person making the claim to back it up to show that it is more than just a "once upon a time..." story. 

This class wrapped up a few minutes short of finishing the second session. So we'll finish that up next time. Until then here's some homework: First, practice the Columbo tactics. Second, review the material from this class. Third, read ahead in the next session (page 42 to 59 in the Student Manual). Fourthly, review the topic of suffering and "Who was Jesus?" for a quiz on either one next time. 

Overall it was a great class with a lot of really important practical tips and good discussion.

The presentation from Monday is available digitally on the website here.

Next time we will meet on April 13th, same time, same place (starting at 6:45pm with coffee, desserts, and fellowship). We'll learn about "Perfecting the Columbo Tactic". Hope to see you there!

"Refining the Columbo Tactic" on Monday March 23rd

Just a quick reminder that the next Tactics class will be held this Monday, March 23th, 2015. We'll meet in the basement of Mt. Zion UMC. I'll have coffee and some desserts at 6:45, start the class at 7, and go until 8:30pm. We'll be going over "Refining the Columbo Tactic". Hopefully you all have been trying out the Columbo Tactic (asking "what do you mean by that?" to folks in conversation) and have some stories to share. Also if you have a chance, please review the upcoming material (pages 20-42 in thestudent manual) and be ready for a brief quiz on either morality or suffering. Hope to see you all on Monday! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Check out this video for a review of the "Columbo Tactic" as presented by Greg Koukl. To see an example of TV's Columbo using his unique investigation style, check out this clip from the show. Enjoy!

"Learning the Columbo Tactic" (Class 1 recap)

On Monday March 9th we met for our first class to study the book Tactics, written by Greg Koukl. We started off the class with a short quiz to review some On Guard material. The intent is just to reinforce what we've learned, no one is being kicked out for failing the quiz! The quiz asked for how we'd respond to objections like "it's arrogant to claim that only one religion is true", "a loving God wouldn't send people to hell", and more. Terrence will review our responses and go over the quiz next time.  Next we started the video in which Greg Koukl was teaching the material. The video is designed to be paired with the Student Manual (available here). Throughout the video Greg instructed us to pair up and discuss. That was a great way to break up the class and allow us to chat about what we just heard. For instance we talked about how we feel when we think about discussing Christianity with non-Christians: relish the encounter, willing but nervous, it scares me, or I try to avoid it. We also were asked to talk about what we'd say in hypothetical scenarios. For example, imagine it's the night of a weekly small group meeting and a friend says that the essence of Christianity is loving God and neighbor, who's to say Christianity is better than any other religion, and all religions seem to teach the same basic thing. You're concerned about your friend's statement and no one else is speaking up. What do you say? This gave us a chance to practice the first tactic we learned, the "queen mother" of all tactics, The Columbo Tactic. This tactic just involves asking questions like "what do you mean by that?". This tactic is easy and and an effortless way to keep you in the driver's seat in the conversation. It allows you to get clarification on what someone means and puts the other person in the position to think through exactly what they mean. In response to the scenario above we might ask, "what do you mean by 'all religions seem to teach the same basic thing'?" or "In what way are all religions basically the same?". Another very important point Greg Koukl stressed is that these tactics are not used as tricks to belittle or humiliate someone. We should be genuinely interested in a person's view and not just making them seem dumb. We need to be sincere and kind when employing any of the tactics. This class wrapped up with some homework. First, we are challenged to practice the Columbo tactic. It's easy and nonthreatening. Simply ask questions to people! We don't need to go beyond that. Second, we were asked to review the material from this class. Third, read ahead in the next session (page 20 to 42 in the Student Manual). Fourthly, Terrence asked us to review the topic of suffering and morality for a quiz on either one next time. Overall it was a great class with a lot of really important practical tips and good discussion. The presentation from Monday is available digitally on the website here. Next time we will meet on March 23rd, same time, same place (starting at 6:45pm with coffee, desserts, and fellowship). We'll learn about Refining the Columbo Tactic. Hope to see you there!

Exciting opportunity for Reasonable Faith Chapters to interact with Dr. Craig On Friday April 10th Dr. Craig will be visiting and speaking at the Dallas Reasonable Faith Chapter and the event will be livestreamed exclusively to Reasonable Faith Chapters!  So please save the date and take the opportunity to participate. Details on how to access the livestream will be available closer to the event.

"Tactics" Pre-start Class Recap

So some good and bad news about our attempt to start our new study of the bookTactics, written by Greg Koukl. The bad news is that we only had three of us in attendance so we decided to delay the start of the study to our next meeting on March 9th. But having only three of us turned out great because we were able to have some really great conversations about how to share your faith.

Our own Terrence Johnson will be leading this next study of Tactics related to conversing with others about our faith. Terrence is a veteran in this area so Donna and I took the opportunity to ask him for advice on how to start religious conversations with people. Religion doesn't normally come up in conversations so how do you bring it up? Terrence offered us his experience to tell us about his old and current method. His old method was to just dive in, insert a religious topic into a conversation and feel out his opportunity to delve deeper to share the gospel. But he said he's received feedback that that method seems disingenuous because it seems like deceptive proselytizing. Instead Terrence has used a current, more effect way of initiating religious conversations to simply ask the person if they'd mind talking about religion for 5 minutes and then they can leave it alone after that if they want. That way is more upfront and also gives the other person a moment to prepare themselves. and to hear about his experiences. It was very encouraging and empowering to hear Terrence discuss his experiences of having religious conversations with friends, family, or even strangers!

Terrence then discussed some opportunities to go out and share our faith in the local community. He'll talk more about them during the next class but briefly they include opportunities to share the gospel in Ocean City, Havre de Grace, the Inner Harbor, Baltimore's Lexington Market, and more. All of which entail going out with a group to talk with folks about your faith.

So our next meeting will be on March 9th starting at 6:45pm to 8:30pm when we will start the study of Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions. Hope to see you then!

"Tactics" details

Ever gotten into a religious discussion and didn't know what to say or do? Maybe you felt awkward, nervous, or unprepared. In this course we'll learn how to stay in control in a controversial conversation even if you don't know all the answers. On February 23rd we will be starting a new study of Tactics, by Greg Koukl, led by our very own Terrence Johnson. We'll meet at the same place, same time (starting at 6:45pm with coffee, desserts, and fellowship). Please print out the Student Manual for this course, available here, to fill out during the classes. If you would like to get the book to read along it is available on Amazon here.

The goals of this study are to: Present a game plan to discuss your Christian convictions Teach you how to maneuver in conversation and maintain control Give you confidence in sharing Gospel The study will span a total of 9 sessions: seven to learn about and practice each tactic presented in the book and two weeks hearing from some local missionaries about their experiences sharing the Gospel and offering us from training.  Here's a rundown of the schedule. (The funny names of the tactics will make sense as we learn them!) Learning the "Columbo" Tactic (Feb 23, 2015) Refining the "Columbo" Tactic (Mar 9, 2015) Perfecting the "Columbo" Tactic (Mar 23, 2015) The Suicide Tactic (Apr 13, 2015) Missionary Eric Dressel, Evangelism Training (Apr 27, 2015) Missionary Chris Peeler, Evangelism Training (May 11, 2015) The "Taking the Roof Off" Tactic (June 8, 2015) The "Steamroller" Tactic (June 22, 2015) The "Rhodes Scholar" and "Just the Facts Ma'am" Tactics (July 13, 2015) The classes will generally consist of a video teaching with along with prayer, discussion, practice, and review. We will start each class with prayer. Then we'll do a short ice breaker and break into groups of two or so. (In the videos Greg Koukl instructs students to do various exercise or group activities.) We'll then do a brief quiz to review the core content from On Guard and encourage us to memorize it. Then we'll watch the Tactics teaching video and have discussion. Afterwards we'll take a look at what's coming up and present some opportunities for sharing the Gospel. I really would encourage anyone to come out to this course. No matter if you're a new Christian or a seasoned veteran, this course will provide a game plan to help anyone maneuver a controversial conversation. Also, please feel free to invite a friend. Hope to see you Monday!