Defending the Faith

NEW at Art of Eloquence: UPDATED Sample Lessons

May 23, 2011 by Art of Eloquence

We’ve updated all our sample lessons!

Over the last year, I have been working almost exclusively on new communication studies, especially the ones that you have told us you needed. Over the year, we have released:

Say What You Mean Debating the Issues

Say What You Mean Overcoming Social Anxiety

Say What You Mean Beginning Debate

Say What You Mean Avoiding, Reducing and Resolving Conflicts

This past year has left me precious little time to do some much needed revising of our website…and you all know how UNtechie I am. Well, in the past few weeks, I’ve been working on several aspects of our website and today I’m ready to announce our first series of changes: UPDATED Sample Lessons!

After much techie frustration, I have finally been able to update and upload revised versions of the seven sample lessons that we have had, mostly for our homeschool curricula, and HEEEEEEAR they are!

Say What You Mean for Preschoolers

Say What You Mean for Kids

Say What You Mean for Teens

Know Your Audience

Say What You Mean: A Creative Speech Course

Say What You Mean: Defending the Faith

Say What You Mean When You’re in Business

Each sample lesson link is located toward the bottom of the page so feel free to browse! I am currently working to create sample lessons for some of our newer studies which do not yet have them. I should be finished with them all by Wednesday, so come on back to the blog and check them out!

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Filed Under: Art of Eloquence News Tagged With: audience, beginning debate, business, conflicts, creataive speech, debating, Defending the Faith, excerpts, faith, free, issues, kids, lessons, Preschoolers, sample, Say What You Mean, social anxiety, Speech, speech course, Subscribe Here!, teens

I dunno or Let it Go

April 20, 2011 by Art of Eloquence

Have you subscribed to Communication FUNdamentals’ RSS Feed? Don’t miss a post!

We’re getting near the end of Grace Month. Just a few more posts to go and then I’ll have a seminar on Grace and Godly Communication with even more information on this topic and a chance for you to get involved in the discussion and share your thoughts and experiences on the topic.

Today I’d like to share with you two more excerpts from my article, 10 Quick Ways to Disagree in Grace. These two sound kind of like no brainers, but you’d be amazed at how little they are used!

7. Say “I Dunno”
When you don’t know the answer someone needs, the most intelligent thing to say is “I dunno.” The quickest way to lose credibility with someone is to speak too quickly. If someone asks you something about the Bible and you can’t remember where the scripture is, tell them you will find it for them. People appreciate honesty!

There is a social stigma today whereby people think they must know everything about everything or they risk looking stupid. So there is often an urge to fill in one’s knowledge with, shall we say, assumed truths. Made up facts or opinions disguised as facts are commonplace especially in business. Many Christians feel that they cannot effectively share their faith if they don’t have all the answers. This is part of the reason I wrote Say What You Mean: Defending the Faith. It helps answer the issues the unbeliever has about God. Not knowing all the answers keeps Christians from sharing and also gives us temptation to fill in our pregnant pauses with something that passes for knowledge.

If you feel the Lord leading you to speak out on a particular topic, by all means become educated on it! However, there is nothing wrong with admitting you don’t know something. In fact, it can be quite endearing and refreshing.

8. Let it Go
In order to avoid an argument, when they are no longer listening, stop talking! As soon as someone is giving off signals that they are not accepting your views, it’s usually best not to press the issue and begin an argument.

Now I’m not talking about not sharing your ideas or backing off a discussion just because someone disagrees with you. I’m talking about not pushing things beyond where you will do no good. You can usually tell when someone’s had enough and is no longer listening to you. No matter how sweetly you say it, they aren’t listening and so it’s rather redundant to keep talking. Along the same line is when someone is annoyed because the speaker has been pushy. Either way, the listener, isn’t. You can do more harm than good by continuing on at this time. It’s better to let it go and live to discuss another day.

This tip applies to sharing your faith as well as any other topic. Being right isn’t a synonym for being effective. If you watch a lot of police shows, it may make more sense this way, “It doesn’t matter if he’s guity; it only matters what I can prove.” In order to prove our point, we need to put it in a way that is grace-filled in order that the hearer is truly listening. Nothing says “I’m not listening anymore” quite like the face you see when someone is pushing an idea past the point of civility.

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Filed Under: Communication Articles Tagged With: being right, Defending the Faith, disagree in grace, discussion, effective, faith, godly communication, grace, let it go, month, seminar

Why We Can't Put Off The Great Commission

April 26, 2010 by Art of Eloquence

Ever try to share your faith with someone where the discussion turned from conversation to confrontation? Has that experience made you feel more uncomfortable about sharing your faith in general even though you know the Lord commands us to do so in love? Have you felt the Lord tugging at your heart to share the Gospel with someone, but your head is tugging back because you don’t know how? Do you know someone who is on fire for Jesus, but their approach more closely resembles hitting their “target” over the head with the King James Bible? What if I told you that sharing your faith can be as easy as having a conversation with a friend?

Cindy Rushton has asked me to return this year as a speaker at The Ultimate Homeschool Expo. I’m teaching during tomorrow’s Preview Event 11am PST/2pm EST, “Why We Can’t Put Off The Great Commission” which you all can attend free of charge. I’ll be sharing 5 reasons why we cannot put off The Great Commission in our lives, why sharing the Gospel is more important than ever, and some tips to help us share about the Lord in a more conversational, respectful, effective, and grace-filled way.

Join Me Live Online:
http://www.Talk-a-Latte.com/chat

The room is closed (password protected) until the chat-the room will be open about 15 minutes before we go live. No password needed to join us while we are recording.

OR…Join Me Live Via Phone:
Phone Number: (724) 444-7444
Call ID: 38181#

PIN: 1# (Or your Talkshoe PIN)

Join me tomorrow morning at 11am PST/2pm EST for “Why We Can’t Put Off The Great Commission” and you’ll learn some general tips that will help you feel prepared and ready to discuss this often intimidating topic in a much more comfortable way!

You can also get your ticket and attend my other seminar during The Ultimate Homeschool Expo on May 3rd. My topic is “The Great Commission Easy Button.” Here’s where I get into even more of the meat of exactly how to share the Gospel effectively and respectfully. I’ll share why a one-size fits all approach doesn’t work as well as specific tips for making sharing and defending the faith less stressful and more natural (conversational). The Ultimate Homeschool Expo tickets are on sale now. Details are on their website.

If you know someone who would benefit from these seminars, please forward this blog post link!

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Filed Under: Communication News, Seminars/Worshops Tagged With: Cindy Rushton, Defending the Faith, Great Commission, Sharing the Faith, Ultimate Homeschool Expo, why we can't put off the great commission

When not all your family is Christian at Christmas

December 7, 2009 by Art of Eloquence

I am winding down my career as a weekly podcaster with just three live shows left to go! I’ll be sad to see it end in a way, because I simply adore reaching out to my listeners and teaching on a live show. It’s been a blast even though it’s taken quite a bit of my free time. (Wait…”free time”? I’ll have to look that up again. I keep forgetting what that is!)

This Thursday is a very special show. Do you have members of your family who are not Christians this Christmas? Have you tried to share your faith with them this year? Do you worry about how you’ll get along at the family Christmas gathering? Do they fear having anyone bring up their salvation each time the family gets together? I know what that’s like. I’m one of the only Christians in my family. Whether you have never shared the Gospel with that special family member and you feel lead to do so this Christmas or your family has tried to several times but you notice him cringe when he walks in the door or anything in between, this show is for you!

How do we share the faith with family members? When should we try? When should we not? I’ll be sharing these and other questions about “When not all your family is Christian at Christmas” on the next Communication Comedy Network’s Talk Talk Show.

If you have an experience to share or if you have a question, please call in!

The Talk Talk Show: “The Talk Show About Talking” is on the Communication Comedy Network Thursdays at 8am PST/11am EST.

You can listen in live via your computer just by clicking this link and following the prompts or you can call into the show via phone by dialing: (724) 444-7444 and the Call ID: 19736 followed by the # sign when prompted.

This is one of my very last podcasts ever. I’ll be going off the air as far as podcasting goes after this year. I will attempt to post the audios for those who cannot make it to the live show, however, I have had some trouble periodically with hecklers whose foul mouths have caused me to opt NOT to post the audio. While Talk Shoe does allow me the ability to mute someone, it does not provide the tools to edit your broadcast easily.

For this reason, I urge you to attend the live show. I promise to filter my callers as best I can during the live show. The feedback from last week’s show (and the ones with prior hecklers) has shown that their time was well spent despite the momentary lapse in decorum. The things I share will be tips from one of the most important studies I have ever written, “Say What You Mean: Defending the Faith”. I usually sell this information but I feel the need to give some of it away this Christmas season in order to help my listeners enjoy a Merry CHRISTmas with both their saved and unsaved family members. If something I share during this show will allow just one soul to come to know Christ Jesus, it will be well worth enduring a heckler on the air.

Remember, even if I am able to post the audio, all of the Communication Comedy Network audios will be coming down after the first of the year anyway when I transition to hosting 10-12 full seminar/workshops in 2010. So don’t count on that audio! Be there live and, if you have a special story to share that relates to my topic, please post it here so I can share it on the show or call in to the live show!

God bless you all this Christmas from the Art of Eloquence.com family to yours!

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Filed Under: Art of Eloquence News, Techie Communication, Your Faith Tagged With: Audios, Christian, Christmas, Comedy, communication, Defending the Faith, hecklers, network, Subscribe Here!

Defending the Faith Mini Series Audios

June 6, 2009 by Art of Eloquence

Did you miss Mini Series May over on Grace Talk Soup?

If you did, you missed an amazing 4 shows! But not to worry! The audios are available on the show’s site so you can listen on demand any time you like! However after a while, they can get lost in the archives.

Our first mini series was from my most important study, Say What You Mean Defending the Faith. We shared tips for answering four of the world’s most common questions and misconceptions about the Lord and I have posted the direct links to the audios here:

1. Introduction: Why do we need to learn to share?

2. “I’m a good person; why do I need God?”

3. “Men wrote the Bible and men make mistakes.”

4. “What about all the horrible things done in Jesus’ name?”

The feedback on this Grace Talk Soup, our first ever mini series, has been amazing!

Everyone learned so much! If you want to learn even more of the 18 most common questions and misconceptions about how to share and defend your faith, we now have SWM Defending the Faith Online classes you can register for along with our eBook of the same name. Not only will this help you share and defend your faith, but it will help you and your household strengthen your own faith as well!

Check out what others are saying about our Defending the Faith course:

“This is such a needed class and I can see how easily both boys are learning some of the ways to respond (and ways not to respond) to some of the common things people say. I can see how they are understanding their faith in new, deeper ways and making their faith their own. This class has also helped to facilitate discussion in our family around the dinner table. You have a way of presenting things in a straight forward way that is so understandable.Thank you JoJo” -Marcie, Homeschooling mom of two

What’s so different about Art of Eloquence University?

* They are ongoing! You pay a one time-fee and you can continue to attend FOREVER!
* You can start at any time because each class automatically starts over again when it is finished!
* Classes are available online from the comfort of your own home!
* You can access the class on YOUR schedule!
* Your membership in the class is good for anyone living in your home! No need to pay extra for additional students!
* Choose from an increasing number of Art of Eloquence study titles! We are adding more all the time! (One flat fee per class title)

Start preparing now for your family’s future.

The world is a more complicated place and it requires so much more communication skill in order to carry out the Great Commission and even, according to statistics, for teens to get through college with their OWN faith in tact! Let Art of Eloquence help prepare your family to share and defend the faith in grace. Click here to find out more about our unique Online Classes!

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Filed Under: Art of Eloquence News Tagged With: Audios, Defending the Faith, Grace Talk Soup, Mini Series

Last Week for the GTS Defending the Faith Contest!

May 26, 2009 by Art of Eloquence

May Grace Talk Soup Defending the Faith Contest Rules:

Help us promote this show and you could win: Say What You Mean Defending the Faith! It’s this easy!

1. Post the Grace Talk Soup link encouraging others to join us on the live show to your Twitter orFacebook page, your blog, newsletter, website, Yahoo group, etc.

2. Email gts@artofeloquence.com and give us the link where you posted it or just tell us where you posted it and we will enter you in this week’s contest!

Winner will be announced on the show!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

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Last week of the Grace Talk Soup Defending the Faith Mini Series:

This Thursday is the last day of our first ever mini series! Three parts of the Defending the Faith Mini Series are already available as audios for your listening pleasure: http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/19736

Just scroll down to Past Episodes and click the orange “listen” button next to the one you want to hear. So far we have answered the following issues:

~Introduction:”Why we should learn to share and defend our faith?”

~”I’m a good person; why do I need God?”

~”Men wrote the Bible and men make mistakes”.

This Thursday is the last in the series and we will be answering the issue “What about all the horrible things done in Jesus’ name?”

Come join us live Thursday 8am PST/11am EST and invite those you know to come share their thoughts on this very special episode of Grace Talk Soup. http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/19736

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Filed Under: Contests, Your Faith Tagged With: contest, Defending the Faith, Grace Talk Soup

I’m a good person; why do I need God?

May 14, 2009 by Art of Eloquence

MINI SERIES May on Grace Talk Soup

This month is our very first mini series and it all continues this morning on Grace Talk Soup! Today’s topic is: I’m a good person; why do I need God? Carla and I will be answering this question and giving tips for sharing this issue with unbelievers in grace. Come join us and share your experiences!

On the Menu: For the entire month of May, we will be discussing how to answer 4 of the most common questions and misunderstandings people have about Christianity from my eBook, Say What You Mean Defending the Faith!

To join the call live (8am PST/11am EST) via your computer:
http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/19736

To join the call live (8am PST/11am EST) via phone:
(724) 444-7444 Call ID: 19736

Can’t join us live? Listen to the audio:
http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/19736

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Filed Under: Your Faith Tagged With: Defending the Faith, Grace Talk Soup

Defending the Faith Online Classes

May 3, 2009 by Art of Eloquence

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Say What You Mean: Defending the Faith Online Classes are new over at Art of Eloquence University!

There are so many questions and misconceptions the world has about the Lord and the Christian faith! We are going through the study one week at a time and then starting over again. This means that you can join the class at any time and take the class over and over as often as you like.

“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:” 1Peter 3:15

Are you comfortable with questions like these? If not, you can be after taking this online class!
~What about all the horrible things done in Jesus’ name?
~If there is a God, why is there so much suffering?
~Why are Christians so intolerant?
~Doesn’t the Bible contradict scientific evidence?

Why do most apologetics courses fall short?
~God didn’t make Cookie-Cutter People so a one-size-fits-all approach reaches few unbelievers.

~If people are approached the wrong way, not only will they not accept the Lord, but they will build a wall between themselves and God which includes anyone who would speak to them again about the Lord, the Bible, Salvation or Jesus!

~They most often teach you what to say, but fail to instruct you on how to say it or why these questions are often asked

~They often teach you to open with scripture or statement that doesn’t reflect the concerns of the listener and so they tune you out, or worse, get angry!

~They don’t always teach you how to answer the most common questions and misconceptions

This study is the only one I know of that includes not just what to say but how to say it! God didn’t make cookie cutter people and there is no one size fits all approach to sharing the faith. Folks have questions and misconceptions that need to be addressed on an individual basis. Paul knew this and he talks about how important it was for him to approach people a way that would be most effective in allowing him to save as many souls as possible: 1 Corinthians 9:19-27 (KJV)

“For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you. Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”

What’s unique about Art of Eloquence University Online Classes:

*One low fee and you gain access for your ENTIRE HOUSEHOLD!
*Pay for the class one time and gain access indefinitely!
*Revolving classes begin again automatically so you can take and retake any class you like!

What people are saying about Say What You Mean: Defending the Faith:

Check out the Art of Eloquence University today!

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Filed Under: Defending the Faith SONdays, What's wrong with this picture? Tagged With: Defending the Faith, defending the faith sunday, online classes

Have Scientists Unearthed the Garden of Eden?

March 8, 2009 by Art of Eloquence

One of the reasons Christians need to respectfully speak out is that popular belief holds that science and the Bible are mutually exclusive. However, more scientific evidence is found each year that supports Biblical truths. Here’s one of significance!

On a hot summer’s day in Turkey back in 1994, a Kurdish man made what’s being called “the greatest archeological discovery in 50 years.”

“Following his flock over the arid hillsides, he passed the single mulberry tree, which the locals regarded as ‘sacred’. The bells on his sheep tinkled in the stillness. Then he spotted something. Crouching down, he brushed away the dust, and exposed a strange, large, oblong stone.

The man looked left and right: there were similar stone rectangles, peeping from the sands. Calling his dog to heel, the shepherd resolved to inform someone of his finds when he got back to the village. Maybe the stones were important. “

Contact was made with a German Archaeological Institute in Istanbul and at the end of 1994, archaeologist Klaus Schmidt came to the site of Gobekli Tepe (pronounced Go-beckly Tepp-ay) for excavations.

“Archaeologists worldwide are in rare agreement on the site’s importance. ‘Gobekli Tepe changes everything,’ says Ian Hodder, at Stanford University.

David Lewis-Williams, professor of archaeology at Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg, says: ‘Gobekli Tepe is the most important archaeological site in the world.’”

What exactly was uncovered at Gobekli Tepe?

“The oblong stones, unearthed by the shepherd, turned out to be the flat tops of awesome, T-shaped megaliths. Imagine carved and slender versions of the stones of Avebury or Stonehenge.

Most of these standing stones are inscribed with bizarre and delicate images – mainly of boars and ducks, of hunting and game. Sinuous serpents are another common motif. Some of the megaliths show crayfish or lions. ”

Forty five stones have been unearthed so far but they expect to find hundreds more and there are several unique factors to consider about Gobekli Tepe:

“The first is its staggering age. Carbon-dating shows that the complex is at least 12,000 years old, maybe even 13,000 years old.

That means it was built around 10,000BC. By comparison, Stonehenge was built in 3,000 BC and the pyramids of Giza in 2,500 BC.

Gobekli is thus the oldest such site in the world, by a mind-numbing margin. It is so old that it predates settled human life. It is pre-pottery, pre-writing, pre-everything. Gobekli hails from a part of human history that is unimaginably distant, right back in our hunter-gatherer past.

How did cavemen build something so ambitious? Schmidt speculates that bands of hunters would have gathered sporadically at the site, through the decades of construction, living in animal-skin tents, slaughtering local game for food.

The many flint arrowheads found around Gobekli support this thesis; they also support the dating of the site.

This revelation, that Stone Age hunter-gatherers could have built something like Gobekli, is worldchanging, for it shows that the old hunter-gatherer life, in this region of Turkey, was far more advanced than we ever conceived – almost unbelievably sophisticated.”

I understand that carbon dating has significant flaws, but this quote from a scientist is quite significant. I don’t know if this really is the Garden of Eden spoken of in Genesis, but it certainly is interesting what modern scientists are finding!

We live in exciting times, do we not? What say you?

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Filed Under: Defending the Faith SONdays Tagged With: Defending the Faith, garden of eden, scientific discovery

I dunno or Let it Go

When not all your family is Christian at Christmas

Defending the Faith Mini Series Audios

Last Week for the GTS Defending the Faith Contest!

I’m a good person; why do I need God?

Defending the Faith Online Classes

Have Scientists Unearthed the Garden of Eden?

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