thinking matters

Asking the deep questions, Seeking the hard answers, Developing the Christian mind...

Thinking Matters is an inter-denominational group (supported by Bethlehem Community Church) where you can come to analyse and discuss some of the deeper issues of the Christian faith in the areas of Philosophy, Science and Apologetics (see definitions here).

The purpose is to make Christian truth claims more relevant to an increasingly sceptical and secular culture, showing the reasons why we believe what we believe and providing answers that make sense.

Current and Future Events

We are currently running:
The Truth Project
An In-Depth Christian Worldview Experience

You and I are engaged in a cosmic battle—a battle that is raging for the hearts and minds of people the world over, pitting the truth claims of God against the lies of the world, flesh and the devil. It is a battle over what you truly believe.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.Romans 12:2

The Truth Project is a small group study designed to equip followers of Jesus Christ with a systematic and comprehensive biblical worldview. We pray that you will encounter God in a new and powerful way as we endeavour to gaze upon His face and seek to know Him more deeply through a study of His truth claims.


Dates: From 16th March to 22nd June 2010 (with a 2 week break during the school holidays). Please download the leaflet for the dates of each session.

Times: 7:30pm to 9:30pm Where: Bethlehem Community Church, 183 Moffat Rd.

Format: Gather at 7:30pm to watch a 60 minute training DVD before breaking into small discussion groups to unpack what you have learnt. It is highly recommended you attend all 13 sessions to gain the full benefit of the material.

Cost: Free – but donations encouraged. Optional course manual is recommended and available for $20.

Download the promo leaflet by clicking here to see more details.

Or visit The Truth Project website by clicking here to view the trailer and see more information.

The Truth Project




The Objectives of Thinking Matters Tauranga

  1. To provide biblical philosophy, apologetics and worldview training so you can more effectively engage an increasingly sceptical culture in your day-to-day life.
  2. To equip Christians to confidently respond to increasingly hostile challenges to their faith.
  3. To build faith and confidence by providing answers to the hard intellectual questions while showing the reasons why we believe what we believe.
  4. To have fun while doing it!
  5. But most importantly: To allow us to better love God with all our minds, giving Him glory through our knowledge of Him.

Who is Welcome?

It’s open to Christian and Non-Christian alike – anyone who is seeking the truth in philosophy, science and scripture.

Come to be transformed by the renewing of your minds (Romans 12:2)
so we are better able to love God with all our minds (Mark 12:30)

When and Where

When

Tuesday nights (normally fortnightly, but the Truth Project will be run weekly) from 7:30pm until 9:30pm.

We encourage you to join our mailing list so you can be kept informed of events as they come up.

Where

Bethlehem Community Church Centre, 183 Moffat Road, Bethlehem, Tauranga, New Zealand. We are very grateful to Bethlehem Community Church for the use of the venue.

Topics

Some of the topics we hope to cover include:
  • How to share and defend the Christian faith in our culture today.
  • Evidence for the existence of God.
  • The nature of Truth, Knowledge, Belief, Certainty and Reason.
  • The formation, transmission and reliability of the biblical accounts.
  • Moral relativism; "That’s true for you, but not for me…"
  • Worldview analysis and how our worldview affects us.
  • An introduction to logic, argument and logical fallacies.
  • An introduction to Intelligent Design, and problems with the theory of evolution.
  • What it means to ‘Think Christianly’ in our culture.
  • Who was Jesus? His claims and the historical evidence.
  • Biblical history; archaeological and anthropological evidences for the claims of Christianity.
  • And more... (Please contact us with your suggestions!)

Any one of these topics could be an entire course of study, but we hope to make the material accessible and interesting to the lay-person. We hope an introductory grasp of these subjects inspires people to do more in-depth study.

What’s the format?

We hope to have a mixture of the following:
  • DVD screenings of documentaries and presentations, followed by discussions.
  • Live presentations delivered by local pastors, academics, teachers and experts who can contribute material from a chosen field.
  • We will also be seeking potential international speakers to see if they are interested in a New Zealand tour – this will depend on the formation of a national network of people and help from the NZ Apologetics Network who can help to pull together the right people to organise, promote and host such events in all the main centres (please contact us if you think you can help out with this).
  • Professionally prepared small group courses such as 'The Truth Project' by Focus on the Family, ‘Tactics in Defending the Faith’ by Greg Koukl and ‘How now shall we live’ by Chuck Colsen & Nancy Pearcey.
  • Bite-sized You-Tube screenings and follow up discussions from presenters like Greg Koukl from Stand to Reason.
  • Other great resources from great Christian thinking such as William Lane Craig, Greg Koukl, Ravi Zacharias, and a wide variety of speakers on the Veritas Forum and B-Thinking sites.

We are also looking for local presenters (pastors, teachers, academics, etc…) who are willing to deliver content that is consistent with the objectives of the group. Please contact us if you think you can help out.

Don’t forget to click here to join the mailing list to get email reminders for coming events!