God's Not Dead: Evidence for God in an Age of Uncertainty (37 page)

   Most Notorious Atheist Changed
   His Mind
,
88
three types of people, xx–xxi
   believer, xxi
   seeker, xx
   skeptic, xxi
three worlds God could have
   created,
58–59
   chaos,
59
   control,
58
   cooperation,
59
Time
magazine,
3
,
23
,
90
Tomasello, Michael,
135
Trajan,
145
trust, xx,
10
,
16
,
29
,
30
,
31
,
145
,
159
,
160
,
226
,
241
trustworthy,
30
,
170
,
174
,
175
,
184

truth/true,
xiv–xviii
,
2
,
4–7
,
9
,
13–15
,
22
,
23
,
31
,
32
,
38
,
39
,
47
,
49
,
50
,
63
,
82
,
86
,
96
,
113
,
117–19
,
124
,
130
,
143
,
159
,
171
,
173
,
178
,
183
,
184
,
185–89
,
191
,
193
,
206
,
208
,
211
,
213
,
221
,
225
,
227
,
239
   grace and truth,
185
,
187
,
188
,
192
   power of truth,
xvii
,
15
   spiritual truth,
117
23 and Me,
125

U

u
ncertainty principle,
159
United Nations,
164

universe,
xii
,
4
,
5
,
7
,
10
,
22
,
24
,
25
,
34–36
,
44
,
45
,
48
,
52
,
58
,
60
,
61
,
64
,
66–71
,
73–87
,
89
,
90
,
100
,
103
,
108
,
112
,
114–15
,
118
,
119
,
123
,
125
,
127
,
141
,
142
,
157
,
165
,
166
,
174
,
193
,
223
,
229
,
237
,
239
,
241

Universe from Nothing, A
,
26

Universe: Past and Present, The
,
66
university,
xvi
,
xix
,
3
,
4
,
9
,
29
,
42
,
167
,
172
,
201
,
212
,
216
,
224–28
University Belt of Metro Manila,
213
University of Buenos Aires,
16
University of Calgary,
172
,
227
University of New Orleans,
72
University of Texas,
231
Urey, Harold,
97

V

Van Til, Cornelius,
43
Victory Christian Fellowship,
213

W

Wall Street,
164
Wall Street Journal
,
141
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
,
164
Wallace, Dan,
168
,
174
,
183
Wang, Ming,
105
,
219–221
Warren, Rick,
119
Watson, James,
90
Wealth of Nations, The
,
198
Wells, Jonathan,
127

Wesley, John,
199
Wickramasinghe, Chandra,
99
Wieseltier, Leon,
33
Wilberforce, William,
xi
,
191
,
199
William of Occam,
102
wisdom,
xiii
,
29
,
54
,
55
,
234
,
240–42
wish fulfillment,
7–8
Wizard of Oz, The
,
77
Wooldridge, Adrian,
209
,
210
World Trade Center,
45
worldview,
xvi
,
1
,
9–11
,
17
,
23
,
39
,
43
,
81
,
85
,
195
,
202
   atheist,
10
,
11
,
83
,
121
   Christian,
24
,
120
,
208
   evolutionary,
52
   godless, xxi
   naturalistic,
11
,
56
,
69
,
107
,
158
   scientific,
47
,
74
   theistic,
9

Z

Z
acharias, Ravi,
61
,
130
Zedong, Mao (Chairman Mao),
11
,
54
,
214
Zeitgeist
,
148

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

THE PROCESS OF WRITING THIS BOOK TOOK ABOUT TEN months from beginning to end. During this time, Jody, my wife of thirty years, and all of my five children have been a constant source of encouragement, inspiration, and constructive criticism. Having children whose ages range from thirteen to twenty-eight has given me a built-in focus group of the age demographic I’m most concerned with in the writing of this book. My deepest thanks to all of them: Charlie, Wyatt, William, Louisa, and Elizabeth (from youngest to oldest). No one is happier that I finished this project than my wife, who will be relieved to have her dining room free from the clutter of paper, books, articles, and coffee cups.

I am indebted to Dr. Brian Miller, a graduate of MIT and Duke in physics, who served as my technical consultant as well as a fantastic research assistant. It was a privilege to bounce ideas off such a brilliant mind as well as benefit from his guidance in the critical scientific commentary covered in the book.

I had a dream team of friends and advisors who read the manuscript, gave comments, and added strategy and insight to this project. Stephen Mansfield, David Aikman, Larry Taunton, Dr. Hugh Ross, Dr. Dan Wallace, Dr. William Lane Craig, and Dave Sterrett are all accomplished writers and thinkers and did
me a great service by taking time to help. My thanks also go to Elizabeth Broocks and Georgia Shaw for helping with various aspects of this project.

I must also say thank you to my friends and ministry partners at Bethel World Outreach Church in Nashville and Every Nation Ministries for their friendship and partnership: Ron and Lynette Lewis, James and Debbie Lowe, Kevin York, Steve Murrell, Jim Laffoon, Russ Austin, and many more I wish I could name.

I am deeply grateful as well for the daily encouragement from Dale Evrist of New Song Christian Fellowship in Nashville. He believed in the importance of this book and is a constant source of inspiration.

I’m grateful for the Engage 2020, Campus Harvest, and God Test team who are dedicated to seeing effective evangelism and apologetics as a part of every local church and campus ministry: Steve and Cindy Hollander, Frans Olivier, Jerret Sykes, Larry Tomczak, Greg Chapman, Louisa Broocks, and Gene Mack.

There are also several families that have taken an interest in my life and have been there as supporters for me, my family, and my many projects. Deepest thanks to Kelly and Joni Womack, and Danny and Diane McDaniel.

Thanks to my longtime friend Wes Campbell, the manager of the Newsboys band. His passion for Christ and for the gospel sparked the initial idea of a book to accompany the band’s hit song “God’s Not Dead.” Because of Wes, I met Dean Diehl, who actually challenged me to write this book.

I also want to acknowledge Troy and Tracy Duhon, Bob and Candy Majors, and Mark and Melinda Flint for their love and generosity.

I appreciate Matt Baugher, Paula Major, Andrea Lucado, and the entire Nelson team for their genuine interest and enthusiasm about this book. It is an honor to be in partnership with you in this project.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RICE BROOCKS is cofounder of the Every Nation family of churches, which currently has more than one thousand churches and hundreds of campus ministries in more than sixty nations. He is also the senior minister of Bethel World Outreach Church in Nashville, Tennessee, a multiethnic, multisite church.

Rice is a graduate of Mississippi State University and holds a master’s degree from Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, Mississippi, as well as a doctorate in missiology from Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California.

The author of several books, including
Every Nation in Our Generation
and
The Purple Book (Biblical Foundations)
, Rice lives in Franklin, Tennessee, with his wife, Jody, and their five children.