Hard to believe it’s been 4 years since I started this blog and began giving professional apologetics presentations at a variety of churches and events. God’s been good to me even though I faced a bunch of life challenges and transitions from the very beginning of my formal apologetics ministry.
By 2011, God opened doors for me to teach apologetics at William Jessup University and Western Seminary. In 2012, He directed me to the Master of Theology program (Th.M.) at Dallas Theological Seminary. And here I am today, with over half of my 4-year program completed in just three semesters (69 out of 120 units).
In this post, I’ll share 7 apologetics ministry highlights from 2013.
But first, I want to thank you for being a part of the journey by following my ministry and using my Accessible Apologetics resources to help your group defend the faith with confidence. I really appreciate your encouragement and support.
Remember, we’re in this thing together. If God can use me, He can use you!
7 Highlights from 2013
1. I spoke at the Truth Matters Apologetics Conference in Georgetown, TX
The Lord allowed me to start off the year speaking at a great event alongside Craig Hazen, Mark Mittleberg, and my friend Melissa Travis in Georgetown, Texas. I had a great time at my very first apologetics conference in the Lone Star State!
The first evening, each of us kicked off the event by sharing a quick 10 minute talk that got everyone excited to come back early in the morning. The next day, I gave a talk on the problem of evil called “Does Evil Disprove God?” and then I closed out the entire event with my presentation, “Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?” I met some awesome people and had a great time training believers at this event. I especially love this part of my ministry!
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2. I edited A Reasonable Response by William Lane Craig
When I got the pre-pub manuscript from Moody, it was twice as long as the final book that went to print!
It was an awesome read, but kind of tough to decide on how to edit down all the great content from one of my apologetics heroes! Still, this is a great, approachable book that can help you address direct challenges with wisdom and defend the faith with confidence.
In this book, you read William Lane Craig’s responses to questions he gets at events and online. Based on his methods, Joe Gorra gives advice on answering questions in a variety of contexts. Practical and useful stuff! Click here to look inside the book and you’ll find my name on the copyright page.
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3. I edited Loving God with Your Mind: Essays In Honor of J.P. Moreland
This was the second book I worked on for Moody and it was a bit more challenging both philosophically and linguistically—I even got to edit some Greek and Latin, too!
But it was truly cool to work on this, especially since I first got interested in apologetics while working for J.P. Moreland many years ago. Not only that, but it felt like visiting my former professors and mentors to work on contributions from Scott Rae, Scott Smith and others.
The general editors, Paul Gould and Richard Davis, put together a great team to celebrate J.P.’s work. This book has three sections with articles on philosophy, apologetics, and spiritual formation. A challenging read, but worth it. Click here to look inside the book and you’ll find my name on the copyright page of this one, too.
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4. I began working with Darrell Bock at Dallas Theological Seminary
As part of my Master of Theology (Th.M.) internship, I began a mentoring relationship under Darrell Bock at the Hendricks Center for Christian Leadership and Cultural Engagement.
After a few months, I joined the staff as a Cultural Engagement Fellow, assisting Darrell and working on The Table Podcast for the center.
One of the highlights was my part of his plenary session on the Historical Jesus at the big event called “The Table Conference: Presenting God to Those who See Christianity Differently” in Carrollton, Texas. Check out the interview here.
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5. I launched an accredited, online course in World Religion
This year, William Jessup University (Rocklin, CA) asked me to create an online version of my classroom course in World Religion. This Spring, I’ll be teaching both my Apologetics and World Religion courses online.
In a recent guest post, one of my students wrote about her experience in my World Religions course:
“My favorite part was not only learning about different religions, but learning ways to approach the people from different religions. Professor Del Rosario also went over how to best contextualize the Christian message… I feel more grounded in my own faith.”
– Haley Morris (B.A. International Psychology)
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6. I appeared on two episodes of The Table Podcast
In this series, I joined Darrell Bock and two of my fellow seminarians to discuss international perspectives on cultural engagement overseas and in the United States.
In this series, called “What We Can Learn from Global Christians,” I talked about cultural engagement in the United States and the Philippines, focusing on the importance of asking good questions and understanding someone else’s worldview as we engage with a variety of issues and cultures both here and overseas. Click here to watch the first episode.
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7. I launched a FREE course on How to Run an Accessible Apologetics Conference
I partnered with my friend Dena Davidson (a fellow graduate of Biola’s M.A. in Apologetics) to create a series of 6 videos that will help ministry leaders plan, organize and coordinate a successful apologetics conference.
If you’ve ever thought of bringing an accessible apologetics conference to your church, I’d like to help you benefit from the things I’ve learned the hard way through my experiences with all aspects of these events–as a speaker, event staff member, and conference organizer. This course will help you think through the details from start to finish.
Want to dream big in 2014? Sign up below.
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