Tag: Christianity

Don’t mistake winning an argument for winning a soul

Published on by Texas Gospel2 Comments

DAVID INGRAM

If you’ve spent much time defending the Christian faith online or in person, you’ve probably noticed a familiar pattern. It has become so common that it’s almost predictable.

Someone confidently declares, “There is no God.”

When you ask them to support that claim, the response is often, “The burden of proof is on you because you’re the one who believes God exists.”

At first, that may sound reasonable. But think carefully about what has happened.

The statement, “God exists,” is a claim. The statement, “God does not exist,” is also a claim. Both are assertions about reality. The only position that avoids making a claim is, “I don’t know.”

A common mistake in reasoning is to assume that only one side has a burden of proof. This is known as shifting the burden of proof. It occurs when someone makes a positive assertion but insists that only the other person is responsible for providing evidence. If a person claims there is no God, they have made a claim just as surely as the person who says there is a God. Neither side should be exempt from defending what they affirm.

As Christians, we should never be embarrassed to acknowledge that we are saved by faith given as a gift from God so that no one may boast. To be clear: I believe the Bible tells us that our faith is not something we manufacture on our own or that stems from our own ability to understand.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
— Ephesians 2:8-9

We do not hide our faith because it is God’s gift, not our achievement.

What should concern us is when someone confidently declares there is no God while insisting they owe no explanation for that conclusion. That is not skepticism. It is simply another belief being asserted without defense.

Yet even this is not the heart of the matter.

Christians can become so absorbed in debating logical fallacies that we forget why the conversation matters in the first place. We begin treating apologetics as though our mission is to outthink the unbeliever.

It isn’t.

The deepest reason people reject Christ is rarely intellectual. Scripture says the problem is spiritual.

“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.'” (Psalm 14:1)

Notice that Scripture does not say the fool has examined all the evidence and reached an unavoidable conclusion. The issue begins in the heart.

Paul explains that humanity already has sufficient knowledge of God through His creation, yet suppresses that truth.

“For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them… So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him.”
— Romans 1:19-21

The Bible teaches that unbelief is not caused by a lack of information. It is a suppression of truth. Sin affects not only what we desire but also how we think.

This does not mean every objection to Christianity is dishonest. People often have sincere questions that deserve thoughtful answers. We should always be prepared to give a reason for the hope within us, doing so “with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).

But we should never imagine that the right argument alone can produce saving faith.

Paul wrote,

“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
— 1 Corinthians 1:18

And again,

“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him… because they are spiritually discerned.”
— 1 Corinthians 2:14

No one is argued into the Kingdom apart from the work of the Holy Spirit.

That should change the way we engage unbelievers.

Yes, expose faulty reasoning when it appears. Correct logical fallacies when necessary. Defend the truth faithfully. But do not mistake exposing an error in logic for addressing the real issue. A person can lose every argument and still reject Christ. Another can ask difficult questions and, by God’s grace, come to faith.

Our confidence should never rest in our ability to corner someone intellectually. Scripture warns us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).

Don’t work so hard to open the door of human reason that you neglect the door only the Holy Spirit can open.

Winning an argument is not the mission.

Leading people to the Savior is.

The Kingdom Heirs remind listeners that grace never runs out

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AMY TURNER

Southern Gospel has a way of turning heartbreak into hope, and few groups do it as naturally as the Kingdom Heirs. “This song really spoke to me,” says Andy Stringfield of the quartet’s new single, “Always get the grace.” “It not only has a beautiful melody, which usually is the first thing that catches my attention, but a unique and powerful message.”

The message is a simple one, though simple doesn’t mean easy. Written by Barbara Huffman and Marcia Henry, the song asks its listeners to sit with an uncomfortable truth; Prayers don’t always get answered the way you hoped. Sometimes the miracle comes exactly as planned. More often, life hands you something you didn’t ask for and can’t fully explain.

Sometimes you get the miracle Just the way you planned But often God does something different That you don’t understand But through it all He’s still loving, caring, and holding you No matter what you face Sometimes you get the miracle But you always get the grace

The Kingdom Heirs give the song room to breathe, building it into a fully orchestrated arrangement that shifts between Chris Bryant’s lead vocal and the full quartet’s blend. It’s the kind of production that lets a lyric like this land without needing much embellishment.

For Stringfield, the song’s honesty is what sets it apart. “When we’re in the midst of a storm in this life, we don’t always get the exact answer we’re looking for when we pray,” he says. “Sometimes you get the miracle, but as a child of God, no matter what you may be going through, you’ll always get his wonderful grace.”

That kind of steadiness has defined the Kingdom Heirs for decades. The group traces its roots to the mountains of East Tennessee, where Southern Gospel isn’t a genre so much as a way of life. They built a following playing churches and concert halls before landing a residency at Silver Dollar City in 1982, four years before the park rebranded as Dollywood. The Kingdom Heirs have been the park’s resident gospel act ever since, a run that now stretches past 40 years, matching Dollywood’s own milestone this year. Millions of visitors have passed through the park in that time, and for plenty of them, the Kingdom Heirs’ harmonies are as much a part of the Smoky Mountains as the scenery.

Kitchens, cathedrals, and the faith of a coal miner’s wife

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TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

Chosen Road’s Jonathan Buckner remembers where he was standing the first time he heard “Kitchens & Cathedrals.” He was in his own kitchen, phone in hand, wife nearby, when he hit play on a demo written by Lee Black and Gina Bowe. He didn’t make it past the first verse before he was crying.

“I never will forget the moment that I opened that demo up and I listened to it,” Buckner says. “I was with my wife in our kitchen and I hit play, got through the first verse and I was in tears.”

The song pulled him straight back to his grandmother’s house. She was a preacher’s wife raising ten kids largely on her own, since her husband spent long stretches on the road as a traveling evangelist. Buckner’s grandfather had started out as a coal miner before answering a call to ministry, leaving his wife to hold the household together through faith alone.

“She was an amazing woman who just loved the Lord,” Buckner says of his grandmother. “She really had to lean into her faith.”

That instinct, leaning into faith when circumstances demand it, has defined Chosen Road for more than seventeen years. Formed in the mountains of West Virginia, the band built its sound the way bluegrass has always been built: on front porches and in small country churches, with harmonies worked out standing close enough to hear one another breathe. Their catalog stretches from traditional bluegrass into country, gospel, and Americana, resisting easy genre labels in favor of something the band simply calls honest.

Albums like Appalachian hymns and the newer American morning have carried that approach to a growing national audience, landing on bluegrass and gospel radio charts along the way. “Kitchens & Cathedrals” continues that trajectory, less a departure than a return to the values the band was founded on: faith, family, and music that means something to the people singing it as much as the people hearing it.

For Buckner, the song’s power lies in the way it collapses decades in a single verse, turning a kitchen table memory into something closer to scripture. It is a small moment made large, the kind Chosen Road has spent nearly two decades trying to write.

Don’t mistake winning an argument for winning a soul

Published on by Texas GospelLeave a comment

DAVID INGRAM

If you’ve spent much time defending the Christian faith online or in person, you’ve probably noticed a familiar pattern. It has become so common that it’s almost predictable.

Someone confidently declares, “There is no God.”

When you ask them to support that claim, the response is often, “The burden of proof is on you because you’re the one who believes God exists.”

At first, that may sound reasonable. But think carefully about what has happened.

The statement, “God exists,” is a claim. The statement, “God does not exist,” is also a claim. Both are assertions about reality. The only position that avoids making a claim is, “I don’t know.”

A common mistake in reasoning is to assume that only one side has a burden of proof. This is known as shifting the burden of proof. It occurs when someone makes an assertion but insists that only the other person is responsible for providing evidence. If a person claims there is no God, they have made a claim just as surely as the person who says there is a God. Neither side should be exempt from defending what they affirm.

As Christians, we should never be embarrassed to acknowledge that we are saved by faith given as a gift from God so that no one may boast. To be clear: I believe the Bible tells us that our faith is not something we manufacture on our own or that stems from our own ability to understand.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
— Ephesians 2:8-9

We do not hide our faith because it is God’s gift, not our achievement.

What should concern us is when someone confidently declares there is no God while insisting they owe no explanation for that conclusion. That is not skepticism. It is simply another belief being asserted without defense.

Yet even this is not the heart of the matter.

Christians can become so absorbed in debating logical fallacies that we forget why the conversation matters in the first place. We begin treating apologetics as though our mission is to outthink the unbeliever.

It isn’t.

The deepest reason people reject Christ is rarely intellectual. Scripture says the problem is spiritual.

“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.'” (Psalm 14:1)

Notice that Scripture does not say the fool has examined all the evidence and reached an unavoidable conclusion. The issue begins in the heart.

Paul explains that humanity already has sufficient knowledge of God through His creation, yet suppresses that truth.

“For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them… So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him.”
— Romans 1:19-21

The Bible teaches that unbelief is not caused by a lack of information. It is a suppression of truth. Sin affects not only what we desire but also how we think.

This does not mean every objection to Christianity is dishonest. People often have sincere questions that deserve thoughtful answers. We should always be prepared to give a reason for the hope within us, doing so “with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).

But we should never imagine that the right argument alone can produce saving faith.

Paul wrote,

“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
— 1 Corinthians 1:18

And again,

“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him… because they are spiritually discerned.”
— 1 Corinthians 2:14

No one is argued into the Kingdom apart from the work of the Holy Spirit.

That should change the way we engage unbelievers.

Yes, expose faulty reasoning when it appears. Correct logical fallacies when necessary. Defend the truth faithfully. But do not mistake exposing an error in logic for addressing the real issue. A person can lose every argument and still reject Christ. Another can ask difficult questions and, by God’s grace, come to faith.

Our confidence should never rest in our ability to corner someone intellectually. Scripture warns us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).

Don’t work so hard to open the door of human reason that you neglect the door only the Holy Spirit can open.

Winning an argument is not the mission.

Leading people to the Savior is.

Lauren Talley’s new single traces a path from a viral stadium moment to a song she hopes becomes a church anthem

Published on by Texas GospelLeave a comment

TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

There is a particular kind of creative spark that catches people off guard, arriving not in a recording studio or at a songwriter’s desk but through a phone screen at some unremarkable hour. For Lauren Talley, that moment came about three years ago, while watching a video online.

“I saw a YouTube video that completely changed how I look at life and ministry,” she says. “The Passion Conference, held in Atlanta, showed a moment where the worship leaders stopped singing, fell on their faces before the Lord, and the entire stadium was overcome by the presence of God. That video taught me to pursue His presence above all else.”

It is the kind of moment that is difficult to quantify, the sort of spiritual disruption that either fades quickly or rearranges something fundamental in a person. For Talley, it clearly did the latter. She carried what she had witnessed to Nashville songwriter Tony Wood, a veteran collaborator with credits stretching across the Christian music landscape, and the two built something out of it together. The result is “Look at the Lamb,” her new single for Horizon Records, which arrives with no small amount of intention behind it.

“Out of inspiration from watching that,” Talley says, “I took ‘Look At The Lamb’ to my friend Tony Wood, and together wrote what I think will be an anthem for the church for many years to come.”

That is a confident claim, but Talley is not a newcomer making bold pronouncements from the margins. She has spent the better part of her life inside gospel music, having sung her first solo at age two when, as family lore has it, she wandered onto the stage during one of her family’s concerts and announced she wanted to “thing.” The malapropism stuck. So did the instinct.

As a member of The Talleys, the family group she grew up performing with, she earned a Dove Award in 2015 for “Hidden Heroes” and contributed lead vocals to eleven number one hits. Her solo catalogue spans seven albums, including a 2017 release, “The Gospel,” that reached the top of Billboard’s southern gospel chart, and a 2019 pairing in which she released two full-length projects simultaneously. She holds an honorary doctorate in Worship Arts from John Wesley University and is a recognisable face to the considerable audience that follows the Gaither Homecoming concert and video series.

All of which is to say that when Talley speaks about writing an anthem for the church, there is context behind the ambition.

“Look at the Lamb” opens quietly, with Talley’s voice given room to breathe before the arrangement expands into something more ceremonial. The lyric is straightforward in its theology, inviting the listener to fix their attention on Christ rather than their own circumstances:

Look at the lamb, Heaven’s King Here with us, light from his face His great heart full of love Eyes filled with grace He has come to seek and save Isn’t Jesus so amazing Isn’t Jesus glorious He’s Messiah He is mercy He’s the only worthy one

The Scripture reading embedded in the track is drawn from the same passage read aloud during the Atlanta gathering that first moved Talley, and it is narrated by Gloria Gaither, the songwriter and author whose voice carries its own particular weight in this tradition. Talley describes her as “the incomparable Gloria Gaither,” a characterisation that will resonate with anyone who knows the breadth of Gaither’s influence across decades of Christian music.

The song sits comfortably within the worship genre’s current interest in returning to a kind of reverent simplicity, favouring a direct encounter with the sacred over stylistic complexity. Whether it achieves the anthem status Talley envisions will depend, as it always does, on whether congregations make it their own.

“I pray all else disappears as you ‘Look At The Lamb,'” she says.

Beyond recording, Talley maintains a busy schedule of solo concerts, women’s conference appearances, and studio work as a background vocalist and producer for other artists. She also works as a voice and performance coach for emerging talent, a role that positions her as something of a bridge between generations in a genre that values lineage.

She is, by her own accounting, also a committed Tennessee Volunteers fan who drinks sweet tea and makes time for family. The details are offered without irony. In her world, they are not incidental to the person she is; they are part of what makes the music mean what it does.