Jesus as Clark Kent

3. Are Miracles Possible?, Apologetics, Christianity, Christmas, Clark Kent, Gospel, HeavenNotHarvard.com, Hidden Identity, Jennifer Defrates, Jesus, Superman, Theology and Christian Apologetics
My inner geek is going to show for just a second here. I love superhero origin stories. My favorite part of the story is watching them learn who they truly are, struggle with their powers, and choose the responsibility of sacrificial heroism. Can you imagine Jesus as Clark Kent? Jesus is the ultimate hero, but we really don’t know what his life was like before he was the teacher we know. I really wish we could see those early moments of Jesus’s life. Talk about the origin of the hero of all heroes! This advent, I’ve been really focusing on Christ’s coming to earth, becoming human, really imagining what that had to be like for Him, to live as a child while being God. We know from Luke 2, that…
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Is Christ the Center of Your Social Media Message?

Apologetics, Christianity, Gospel, HeavenNotHarvard.com, Internet Apologetics, Jennifer Defrates, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Online Evangelism, Social media
Social media can be one of the darkest places in the world. People comment with cruel disregard for whoever is on the other side of the screen. Yet, Christians have a responsibility to be the light of Christ in everything, including our social media message. Twenty years ago, many of us couldn’t imagine social media existing much less consuming large portions of our lives. But, it has become how most people get news and interact with the global community on a daily basis. I don’t know the exact statistics, but most people check social media first thing each morning. On June 30, 2010 people celebrated the first World Social Media Day, which is around the time I joined the ranks of smart phone users and began to dip my toe…
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Should I Read the Bible? What Christians Should Know

4. Is the NT True?, Apologetics, Bible study, Christianity, Devotional, discipleship, Gospel, Heaven Not Harvard, Jennifer Defrates, Quiet Time, Spiritual Disciplines
Wondering Should I read the Bible? Maybe you’ve never picked one up. Maybe you’ve only skimmed it and never really read it with purpose. Either way, the answer is yes. If you’re a Christian or wondering about Christianity, nothing will change your faith and life more than reading the Bible. Reading the Bible daily is the most important habit any believer can have. It’s so important to read God’s word, deeply and thoroughly, that I say all Christians should be saturated in the Bible. Becoming deeply saturated in the word changed my relationship with God forever. I spent too many years full of misunderstanding and carrying legalistic burdens because I didn’t have an accurate understanding of the Bible and didn’t really know God for myself. My superficial relationship with His word had stunted my…
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Do I have to go to church to be a Christian?

Christian Living, Church, Church-Attendance, Ecclesiology, Gospel, HeavenNotHarvard, Jennifer Defrates, Legalism, Theology and Christian Apologetics
Do I HAVE to go to church to be a Christian? The weekend is finally here, but instead of resting, I hop on my to-do list and finish Saturday feeling accomplished and exhausted. But, as I set my alarm for the morning, sometimes, I’m tempted not to rise and shine. Can’t I give God the glory, glory from home? Can I Worship from Home? Is worshipping from home a legitimate choice? Am I still a Christian if I don’t go to church? Going to church is not a part of salvation. When we add requirements to salvation or Christianity that Jesus did not, we add burdens and weights to the light yoke of Jesus. “Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes…
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How to Talk with Kids about Jesus

4. Is the NT True?, Apologetics, biblical apologetics, Christian parenting, Christianity, discipleship, Evangelism, Gospel, https://heavennotharvard.com/, Jennifer Defrates, Mama Bear Apologetics, Natasha Crain, Talking With Your Kids About Jesus
I used to think I knew how to talk with kids about Jesus to help them establish a lasting faith. It seemed simple enough. Read the Bible. And absolutely, the Bible is where we should begin. Reading the Bible together regularly is the best way to open a dialogue with your kids about Jesus. Everything about Jesus must begin with the Bible because that is how God chose to reveal His truths to us about Himself, the world, and Jesus. But, that isn’t as simple as it used to be. My parents taught me that the Bible was truth, and that was that, until college, where I first faced atheism as the predominant worldview. (And my faith was shaken – but more on that later). But we didn’t have the…
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Do you Dare to Really Know Jesus?

4. Is the NT True?, christology, Gospel, HeavenNotHarvard.com, Jennifer Defrates, Jesus, resurrection Categories: Is the New Testament True?
If you would consider to dare to know Jesus, I invite you to give Him some serious thought today. Whether you’re a Christian or not, you probably claim to know Jesus, at least in broad strokes. In fact, worldwide, no one person has influenced history more than Jesus. The way we even measure history has been using His birth since A.D. 532. While using “BC” (Before Christ) has become less politically correct, the era still changes approximately at His birth. But which Jesus do you know? There is only one historical Jesus in reality. But how He is painted, described, even taught can vary wildly. And sadly, not every person who describes herself as a Christian even knows the real Jesus. We live in a culture of busy. We don’t have…
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Navigating the American Political Landscape

Apologetics, Christianity, Culture and Politics, Democrat, election, Gospel, Heaven Not Harvard, How should Christians vote, Jennifer Defrates, Law, MamaBearApologetics.com, Politics, Republican
Surviving political landscapes as a Christian has always been challenging (ancient Rome was harsh, y’all!). However, this U.S. presidential election cycle feels like the most difficult in recent history, and the American political landscape seems to grow more contentious every year. So, how do we navigate this minefield with truth, love, and joy? It’s not easy, but it can be simple. [If you know how to coopt this “click-to-tweet” function so it redirects to the CE article go ahead, otherwise, let’s Block Quote these] So, how do we navigate this minefield with truth, love, and joy? It’s not easy, but it can be simple. Let’s talk about how. Click To Tweet Should we get Political at all? First, let’s address the elephant (and donkey) in the room. Should Christians even get…
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5 Important Reasons Christians Should Study Apologetics

Apologetics, Bible study, Christianity, critical thinking, discipleship, Evangelism, General Apologetics, Heaven Not Harvard, HeavenNotHarvard.com, Jennifer Defrates, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
All Christians should study apologetics. Christians should study apologetics may sound like a bold claim if you’ve barely even heard of apologetics, but I promise you apologetics has been the most important thing I’ve done for my faith besides reading my Bible regularly. What is Apologetics? Apologetics is a rational, organized defense of the Christian faith. It is the why behind the what we believe. Apologetics has many different aspects. Some people study the timelines of events in the Bible. Astrophysicists study the universe and God’s hand in creation. Some apologists are philosophers who consider the rational reasoning behind having faith. Some are archaeologists who examine artifacts and geographical evidence that supports the Bible. Apologetics has many different branches, but they all stem from the same tree of demonstrating the reasonableness of the Christian faith. Reason 1 why all Christians…
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What is Woke?

Apologetics, christian, Christianity, Critical race theory, CRT, Culture and Politics, Gospel, Heaven Not Harvard, Jennifer Defrates, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Social justice, Woke, wokeness
A recent Huffington Post article about homeschool moms left me flabbergasted. I know, it’s HuffPo. I shouldn’t be surprised anymore, but this article was truly shocking . . . because of the comments of the homeschool parents. In the article, a curriculum developer is selling her books at homeschool conventions. She calls her trade a “girl-empowerment business.” Homeschool parents were rightly curious about the political slant of a historical curriculum and asked if this particular series was “woke.” The authors of the curriculum, asked “What do you mean by that?” (hat tip to Greg Koukl).[i] Now here is the troubling part. The homeschool parents didn’t know the answer. They knew they didn’t want woke, but they weren’t sure what they were rejecting or didn’t know how best to explain it.…
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