Mind Games Camp (radio transcript)

Mind Games Camp 2023There’s one thing we do here at Probe that is my favorite part of ministry. Our Student Mind Games Camp is a week-long, total immersion, give-it-all-we’ve-got experience for high school and college students that changes minds and hearts forever.

download-podcast

Beautiful Camp Copass in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area is surrounded by a lake on three sides and it feels very secluded—even though it’s not far from the Dallas-Ft. Worth airport, so students can easily fly in. We teach Christian students how to think biblically on a wide range of subjects: understanding how others think as they understand their worldviews, how they can know that Christianity is true, creation and evolution, human nature, the differences between guys and girls, the problem of evil and the value of suffering, campus Christianity, and even how to watch a movie with their brain turned on. They learn about Islam, a compassionate but biblical view of homosexuality, different views of science and Earth-history, and genetic engineering.

Returning campers get to experience what is always a highlight for our students, a special alumni track with new lectures in an intimate, personal setting. The alumni always tell the first-timers what an amazing difference it makes to come back a second or even third time, because they get so much more out of the conference than they ever thought possible.

The Probe teachers don’t just give the lectures, though; we continue conversations at meals where we eat and visit with the students instead of each other. We break up into discussion groups to help the students process what they’re learning in the sessions. There is free time every afternoon and evening to hike, swim, play basketball or card games, read or nap. Or of course, just hang out with new friends.

The students are delighted to meet other thinking Christians from all over the country, students eager to think and grow in their faith as they learn to love God with their minds together. They enjoy getting to know us as the instructors, too. We’re not only available the whole week; we look for opportunities to engage in conversations that will encourage and affirm what God is doing in the minds and hearts of these precious young people.

We’ll be talking about Mind Games in this article, but you can go to our website, Probe.org/mindgames, and check out our videos, a typical week’s schedule, and lots of other information. In the next sections you’ll hear a little bit from several lecturers, and also from several of our Mind Games alumni.

Sneak Peek of Probe Lectures

Here are snippets from lectures of four of our Probe Mind Games instructors, speaking on the Biology of Human Uniqueness, LGBT, Islam, and Nietzsche for Beginners:

Dr. Ray Bohlin:

Fire is also necessary for creating tools, particularly metal tools. You have to be able to heat metals to a really high temperature: copper, silver, gold—all their melting temperatures are over a thousand degrees centigrade. So you have to get a really hot fire to do that, and to be able to make the tools liquid, to make them malleable. So you’ve got not only to be able to make a fire, you have to be intentional as to how you make a really hot fire.

Sue Bohlin:

What I really love is my title for this, which is “Grace and Truth About Homosexuality,” because I think we need both. We need to be coming from a heart of compassion and sympathy and understanding for the sexual and relational brokenness that results in homosexuality, but we also need to be absolutely camped out on the truth of the Word of God.

Paul Rutherford:

The third of the five pillars of Islam is the giving of alms, what they call zakat. It’s much similar to Christian charity, to giving to a church or giving to the poor; Muslims likewise have a heart for their community, have a heart for those who are down and out. This is the giving to “the least of these,” as Christians might call it. The fourth pillar of Islam is Ramadan, and Ramadan is a fast. It is a month-long fast. This is a time when they train themselves in discipline, of practicing not eating during the day, and when they train themselves in increasing their desire for God, for Allah.

Todd Kappelman:

Adolph Hitler, when he was coming to power after 1939, he ordered just crates and crates and crates of Thus Spake Zarathustra and would give to his captains and his commanders and everything, and we believe by this action in some of Hitler’s own words that he saw himself to be the inheritor of much of Nietzsche’s philosophy and especially the aspect of the overman, the great world historical figure that Nietzsche is going to advocate for solving some of the problems that he’s going to look at.

Comments from Alumni, Part 1

In this article we’re talking about our memorable, life-impacting, week-long summer Mind Games conference. But you don’t have to take our word for it. Consider what some of our alumni have to say.

Here’s three-time alumnus, Noah:

Mind Games is a fun place of fellowship, you get a lot of excitement, there’s a ropes course that you go on so there’s a lot of excitement there, you do a lot of team-building activities, it’s a ton of fun, you get to learn a whole lot about life, about faith, about people, about relationships. You get to experience a whole new world of things that you’ve never experienced before in the faith. A lot of people, they just have a surface-level faith, but here at Mind Games we go a whole lot deeper into that faith, we lay it out and we explain philosophically how it works, reasonably how it works, how it works with science, how it works with other people, how it works with suffering, how it works with everything, just how the world works with faith.

Here’s Esther:

My faith before Mind Games was a little crazy . . . I had thoughts about suicide a few times, and then I started to doubt, “Is God even there?” Like, if He was there, then wouldn’t I feel His presence? Then I came to Mind Games and I was like, there’s no way He’s not real. For someone who hasn’t been here, Mind Games is a great experience. You not only gain friends and family, but you learn more about God and how to stay stronger in your faith.

Tyler had a major shift between his first and second time at Mind Games:

I’m Tyler Lord from Athens, Georgia. Last year when I came I was actually agnostic, so I didn’t really know. But kinda having experiences throughout the year after Mind Games and coming back, I’ve become a Christian. It’s lots of fun. You come and, you know, it’s not really all about religion. There’s a bunch of free time you get to play around. You come in, and you don’t really know what to expect, When you get here and you think, oh, it’s gonna be a bunch of lectures, but it’s really not. You get a good bond with everybody’s who’s here, like the other campers. And even though there are lectures, they’re really interesting. The apologetics ones are great for like if someone comes up to you and they’re like, “Why are you a Christian?”

Comments From Alumni, Part 2

Here are a few more alumni comments, starting with Arty:

Mind Games is a wonderful time of fellowship, worship and just gaining a lot of knowledge into why Christianity is reasonable, how Christianity can work with science, how your faith and science can work together and not against each other. Mind Games is fun, it’s very much about the relationships that you build, it’s about the people who you interact with on a daily basis for the week.

This was Anya’s second time through:

After this second round of Mind Games, I feel like I’ve grown much more as a person, not just due to time but also how much Mind Games has affected me personally, If I had to describe Mind Games to someone who’s never been here before, I would say it’s something that completely blows your mind away. Not in the sense that it’s all weighing over your head, but just how much they describe, how much detail and information you have on how to defend your faith. First year it was amazing, and second year it got even better.

Ben also returned:

Well it’s really that the first Mind Games for me was like planting the seed, this time it’s nurturing the plant. It was really so I could re-establish what they had taught me last year, cause last year was such an eye-opener I wanted to see if either I could experience that or build upon it this year, which I have.

Amy set a record of coming to Mind Games!

My name is Amy Klaschus, I’m from Orlando Florida, and I’ve been to Mind Games five times now! What keeps me coming back to Mind Games is the people, because I love the teachers—they’re very nice and they’re always willing to help and answer questions. Every year there have been at least a few people among the students who are just so welcoming and so Christian in a way I can’t really find back home as much. I know that in shaping my growth in faith, Mind Games has been just completely essential, because it’s given me the perspective and the ability to think biblically about all the problems I face, all the problems I faced in high school and now all the problems I’ve been facing this past year of college.

Why Go to Mind Games?

We now know that three out of four high school seniors who had been part of a church youth group drop out of church within a year.{1} One reason for this is that they don’t own their faith; they don’t know that Christianity is true, and they don’t know why it’s true. They tend to equate faith with a warm fuzzy feeling that doesn’t stand up to the challenges of life. Many students are afraid to express their doubts so they never learn that there are good, solid answers to their questions. They are sensitive to the disconnect that happens when those who profess to be Christ-followers act no differently from unbelievers.

For over twenty years, Probe’s Mind Games conferences have been preparing young people for the challenges to their faith. In that time, we have witnessed firsthand the incredible thirst for a reliable trustworthy faith. Again and again we hear that some had despaired of ever finding something like Mind Games. The conference consistently exceeds expectations, and students often tell us they wish they had brought their friends.

Alumni from these summer conferences have gone on to become leaders on their campuses, the government and the military. This week-long immersion truly changes lives, giving them a new confidence in their God, His Word, and in their role as His ambassadors. We know this because some of them come back as alumni a second or third year, and because they contact us years later and let us know how Mind Games continues to impact them.

Mornings start with an informal devotional by Probe staff and a time of prayer. They receive twenty-five hours of lecture using video clips, role play, Q and A, and other teaching techniques. They connect with each other and process what they’re learning in small groups. We as staff get to know and truly love them.

The Student Mind Games Camp is for those who have finished their junior or senior years of high school, and for college freshmen and sophomores. [Note: especially motivated students younger than that are welcome, though!] Please go to our Web site, Probe.org/mindgames, and check out videos. You can look at a typical schedule, and find out all the details. And then register someone you love. It will make a difference in time and eternity.

Note

1. Steve Cable, Is This the Last Christian Generation? probe.org/is-this-the-last-christian-generation/

©2018 Probe Ministries


Why Every Christian Student Needs Mind Games

You’ve probably heard or read that the vast majority of young Christians are leaving the church after they graduate from high school. But they don’t have to “graduate from God” after they get their diploma.

There are several reasons young adults leave the church, and many of them jettison their faith as well. The biggest reason is that their questions and doubts—which started in junior high school—were not answered by their parents or youth leaders.

Another reason is that they don’t believe Christianity is true. Immersed in a cultural brine of religious lies and deceptions, they don’t know what the truth is and why biblical Christianity blows the false ideas and religions away.

A third reason is that they caught their unbiblical beliefs and practices from their parents and other adults in the church. It turns out that Mom and Dad were almost as pickled in the cultural brine as their kids!

But Probe offers a great way to push back on these reasons.

Our summer Mind Games camp is a total-immersion, life-changing week of instruction in worldview and apologetics designed to build students’ confidence that Christianity is true, and why Christianity is true. We lay the foundation of three major worldviews to give them understanding of how other people think and why Christianity is better because it matches reality. Then we teach them why they can be sure that God exists, why the Bible can be trusted, and how we can know that Jesus is God and the only way to heaven.

After these basics, campers learn how biblical principles apply to issues they need to grapple with: truth and grace about LGBT, how faith and science work together, why a good God allows pain and evil, the value of suffering, how to watch a movie with their brains turned on, genetic engineering, understanding Islam, and more.

But it’s not just lectures. Plenty of free time is built into the schedule for processing what they’ve learned and developing friendships with other campers. The relationships that students form at Mind Games is one of their biggest takeaways. With a max of 40 participants, everyone can enjoy connecting to other campers, and many of the friendships endure year after year.

The biggest reason for leaving the church is unanswered questions and doubts. Probe staffers assure students that Mind Games is a safe place to ask any question—anonymously—and address any doubt. Many of the questions campers come with, are answered during the week in our lectures and discussion times. Whether in large group or the many opportunities for one-on-one conversations with Probe teachers, campers have many ways to get help wrestling with obstacles to their faith.

For over twenty years, Mind Games alumni have grown into leaders on campus, in public service, in the military, and in the church. The fruit of their time with us is “fruit that lasts” (John 15:16).

Mind Games Camp 2021 is June 13-19 at Camp Copass in Denton, Texas, in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Some scholarships are available. Check out videos and much more information at Probe.org/mindgames.

Can you think of a high school student who doesn’t need Mind Games?

We can’t either.

 

© Probe Ministries March 2018, updated March 2021


Mind Games 2017 Daily Schedule

 

 

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

7:30

 

Devotions

Devotions

Devotions

Devotions

Devotions

 

8:00

Breakfast

Breakfast

Breakfast

Breakfast

Breakfast

Breakfast

 

Clean
up, pack up, pick up and GO

9:00

Worship

Worship

Worship

Worship

Worship

9:15

 

 

 

Worldviews
1

 

 

 

Apologetics
1: God

 

 

Apologetics
3: Jesus

 

Alumni:
Gay Theology (SB)

 

Science
and Earth History

 

Alumni:
Technology (TK)

Genetic

Engineering

 

Alumni: EMOTIONS:

8
Tools for Living (Hannah Gleghorn)

10:30

Break

Break

 

Break

Break

Break

10:45

 

Worldviews
2

Apologetics
2: The Bible

Grace
and Truth About LGBT

Problem
of Evil and Suffering

Flow
of Western Culture

12:00

Lunch

Lunch

Lunch

Lunch

Lunch

1:00

 

 

Free
time

Pool
open 1:00-2:00

Free
time

Pool
open 1:00-2:00

Free
time

Pool
open 1:00-2:00

Free
time

Pool
open 1:00-2:00

Free
time

Pool
open 1:00-2:00

3:00

 

 

Check
in

Human
Nature

Origin
of the Universe and Life

Is
Jesus the Only Way?

 

Alumni:
Climate Change (RB)

The
Value of Suffering

Campus
Christianity

4:15

Break

Break

Break

Break

Break

4:30

Small
Groups

Small
Groups

Small
Groups

Small
Groups

Small
Groups

5:30

Dinner

Dinner

Dinner

Dinner

Dinner

Free
time

6:30

 

Orientation

 

Worship

Worship

Worship

Worship

6:45

 

Ethics
101

 

Islam

Gender Is Over!
Or Is It?

How
to Watch a Movie + Film

Dinner

Film

 

Free
time

8:15

Break

 

Free
time

 

Free
time

 

Free
time

 

Free Time

8:30

Orientation

10:30

In
Dorms

In
Dorms

In
Dorms

In
Dorms

In
Dorms

In
Dorms

11:00

Lights
Out

Lights
Out

Lights
Out

Lights
Out

Lights
Out

Lights
Out


Mind Games 2016 Schedule

Mind Games 2016 Schedule

 

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

7:30

 

Devotions

Devotions

Devotions

Devotions

Devotions

 

8:00

 

Breakfast

Breakfast

Breakfast

Breakfast

Breakfast

Breakfast

 

Clean
up, pack up, pick up and GO

9:00

 

 

Worship

Worship

Worship

Worship

9:15

 

 

 

Worldviews
1

 

 

Apologetics
1: God

Apologetics
3: Jesus

 

Alumni:
The Signature in the Cell

Science
and Earth History

 

Alumni:
Postmodernism

Genetic

Engineering

 

Alumni:
What Difference Did Mind Games Make This Year?

10:30

 

Break

 

Ropes
Course

Free
time

 

Break

Break

Break

10:45

 

 

Worldviews
2

Grace
and Truth About LGBT

Problem
of Evil and Suffering

Flow
of Western Culture

12:00

 

Lunch

Lunch

Lunch

Lunch

Lunch

1:00

 

 

 

Free
time

Pool
open 1:00-2:00

Free
time

Pool
open 1:00-2:00

Free
time

Pool
open 1:00-2:00

Free
time

Pool
open 1:00-2:00

Free
time

Pool
open 1:00-2:00

3:00

Human
Nature

Apologetics
2: The Bible

Is
Jesus the Only Way?

 

Alumni:
Kierkegaard for Beginners

The
Value of Suffering

Campus
Christianity

4:15

Check
in

Break

Break

Break

Break

Break

4:30

Small
Groups

Small
Groups

Small
Groups

Small
Groups

Small
Groups

5:30

Dinner

Dinner

Dinner

Dinner

Dinner

Dinner

6:30

 

 

Orientation

 

Worship

Worship

Worship

Worship

Worship

6:45

Ethics
101

Origin
of the Universe and Life

Islam

How
to Watch a Movie

Film

8:15

Break

 

Free
time

Break

 

Free
time

 

Free
time

 

Free
time

8:30

Orientation

Gender
Differences: Mars and Venus

10:30

In Rooms

In
Rooms

In
Rooms

In
Rooms

In
Rooms

In
Rooms

11:00

Lights
Out

Lights
Out

Lights
Out

Lights
Out

Lights
Out

Lights
Out


Mind Games Conference Overview

How can we equip high school students to withstand the assaults on their faith that await them in college?

How can we keep them from “graduating from God” after they graduate from high school?

How can we keep our teens from becoming sad statistics of spiritual shipwreck?

A recent study by Fuller Seminary found one factor that proved most effective in helping young people retain their Christian convictions during high school and after graduation: having a safe place to wrestle with doubts and questions before leaving home. The study concluded, “The more college students felt that they had the opportunity to express their doubt while they were in high school, the higher [their] levels of faith maturity and spiritual maturity.”{1}

Mind Games Camp is tailor-made for giving students this safe place to ask questions and express doubts. Probe teachers delight to reassure students that not only is this good and important for spiritual health, it is one way we can love God with our minds!

Loving God with our minds is the most ignored part of the greatest commandment, to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind” (Luke 10:27). We believe that the same God who invites us to “Come, let us reason together” (Is. 1:18) welcomes us to discover that His word is trustworthy, that biblical teaching is intellectually robust, and that there are good answers for our questions.

This 6½-day conference (Sunday evening to Saturday morning) is a total immersion, give-it-all-we’ve-got experience for high school and college students that changes minds and hearts forever. We lay a foundation of biblical worldview, which equips students to recognize truth and error in both the classroom and the culture. They are able to discern the explanations of life offered by their college professors, media figures and entertainment producers.

Then we build confidence in their faith through classical and cultural apologetics. They learn the evidence that Jesus is God and their Bibles are trustworthy. They grow in a biblical understanding of science, sexuality, human nature, art, evil and suffering, and world religions.

• Instructors engage in lively conversations, eating all meals with students and not each other.

• Daily small-group discussion times assure the opportunity to process what students are learning and how they are challenged.

• Instruction and discussion in how to watch a movie. It’s not just entertainment; there are always worldview and value issues behind every film and movie. Students won’t ever watch a movie the same way again.

• Probe staff members engage in recreation time and informal conversations with students.

• Morning devotionals and prayer time

• Not just lecture: teachers use video clips, role play, Q and A, and other teaching techniques

• Questions and doubts are met with respect and engagement; if we don’t know the answer, we’ll find it out.

• Plenty of free time is built into the schedule!

Instructors build confidence in Christianity as a reasonable faith, not one dependent on warm and fuzzy feelings. We believe there is no “silver bullet” evidence that will blow away objectors, but we can equip students to defend their faith with gentleness and respect (1 Pet. 3:15).

Mind Games Camp doesn’t just build confidence—it builds leaders. Alumni of Mind Games have gone on to become leaders on campus, in business, in politics, in ministry and in the military. Many students make lasting friendships with other Christ-followers from around the country who are serious about their faith.

Location: Camp Copass in Denton, Texas, a 45-minute drive northwest of Dallas.
Cost: $495.00 for lodging, meals, notebook and instruction.
Time: 4:00 p.m. Sunday, June 13 to 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning, June 19, 2021
Age guidelines: Completion of sophomore year of high school. Mind Games is geared for high school juniors and seniors, and college freshmen and sophomores. (Especially motivated younger students are welcome, though!)

Typical schedule here.

Online Registration

Mail-in Registration Form

For more information:
email Sue Bohlin at [email protected]
or call her at 972-977-8301.

 

Note

1. Lillian Kwon, “Survey: High School Seniors ‘Graduating From God’,” The Christian Post, 10 August 2006.


National Student Mind Games


 

Students don’t have to “graduate from God” after high school! This total immersion week of worldview and apologetics, with lots of discussion and recreation built in, builds confidence that Christianity is true and it makes the most sense.

National Student Mind Games
Conference 2021

Camp Copass, Denton TX (Dallas/Ft. Worth area)
4:00 p.m. Sunday, June 13
to
9 a.m. Saturday, June 19
$495.00 (Optional $20 recreation fee for Ropes Course)
$425.00 for alumni ($445 with Ropes Course)
Online Brochure Typical Daily Schedule
Register Online Mail-in Registration Form
Scholarship Application Mind Games Camper Forms

 

More Information

Conference Overview
Mind Games Conference Radio Program Transcript
2015 Camp Pictures
2013 Video
Contact Us: Email Sue Bohlin     Call Sue: 972-977-8301

 

  • Please arrange transportation to arrive before 3 p.m. on Sunday, June 13 and depart after 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 19.
  • Dallas has two airports you can fly into: Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) and Dallas Love Field (DAL).
  • Email Sue Bohlin ([email protected]) with your itinerary so that she can coordinate your transportation to and from the camp.
  • You will get travel confirmation from her about pickup time and directions in mid-May.
  • Feel free to contact her with further questions by email or phone, 972-977-8301

 

Artie Graefen video Aimee Klaschus video Dana Grassmid video
More videos

 

 


About Probe’s Weekend Mind Games Conference

The conference offers a Reasons to Believe track and your choice of the following other tracks:

Reasons to Believe
Whether this is your first exposure to apologetics or your favorite area of study, the Reasons to Believe track is fundamental. Learn the differences between three of the major worldviews and why the truth claims of Christ and the Bible are consistent, reasonable, and worth sharing with others.

Cults and World Religions
Chances are you know someone who is a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Mormons or a non-Christian religion. This track gives an overview of the basic beliefs of other religions as well as some practical tips for how to dialogue with them about Jesus and His gift of salvation.

Faith and Science
Everyone’s been exposed to the “facts” of evolution. Here’s an opportunity to examine Darwinian teaching compared to the arguments for intelligent design. This track also investigates current scientific dilemmas such as cloning and environmentalism to evaluate them from a biblical perspective.

Faith and Politics
This track covers what most history books leave out. Learn about the often overlooked role Christianity played in the early development of the United States. Critical issues will be analyzed regarding church and state, civil disobedience and the Constitution of America.

Faith and Sexuality
Discover some of the current issues regarding gender, relationships, and challenges facing the family. A biblical perspective on LGBT issues calls for a balance of truth and grace, and the church needs to be equipped to think biblically about sexuality lest people (and entire churches and denominations) depart from orthodox Christian teachings to embrace the world’s perspective.

 


 

Typical Conference Schedule

FRIDAY EVENING
6:30-7:00 Registration
7:00-7:30 Orientation
7:30-8:30 Reasons to Believe: Worldviews
Faith and Science: Science and Worldview
8:30-8:45 Break
8:45-9:45 Reasons to Believe: Evidence for the Existence of God
Faith and Science: Origins
SATURDAY MORNING
8:30-9:00 Coffee and Donuts
9:00-10:00 Reasons to Believe: Is Jesus the Only Way?
Faith and Science: Intelligent Design
10:00-10:10 Break
10:10-11:10 Reasons to Believe: The Deity of Christ
Faith and Science: Christian Environmentalism
11:10-11:20 Break
11:20-12:10 Reasons to Believe: The Authority of the Bible
Faith and Science: Christian View of Science and Earth History
12:10-12:30 Closing

Who Should Attend?
The Mind Games conference is designed for students (at least 16 years old) and adults who want to learn to love God with their minds through the development of a Christian world view.

To schedule a Mind Games Conference or
to request further information, please contact us:

Probe Ministries
2001 W. Plano Parkway, Suite 2000
Plano, TX 75075
(972) 941-4565
[email protected]

If you e-mail us for more information, be sure to provide a physical mailing address.


Student Mind Games Conference (radio transcript)

Conference Overview

There’s one thing we do here at Probe that is our favorite part of ministry. Our Student Mind Games Conference is a week-long, total immersion, give-it-all-we’ve-got experience for high school and college students that changes minds and hearts forever.

download-podcastWe teach Christian students how to think biblically on a wide range of subjects: worldviews, basic apologetics, creation and evolution, human nature, the differences between guys and girls, the problem of evil, the value of suffering, campus Christianity, and even how to watch a movie without swallowing it whole. They learn about world religions, a compassionate but biblical view of homosexuality, science and Earth-history, feminism, and genetic engineering. We talk about how not to lose their faith in college and give specific, practical help connecting with the campus ministries at whatever college they’re headed to.

The Probe teachers don’t just give the lectures, though; we continue conversations at meals where we eat and visit with the students instead of each other. We assign readings by authors who don’t have a Christian worldview, and break up into discussion groups to help the students develop their discernment skills and tune up their baloney detectors. There is free time every afternoon for everybody to hike, swim, play basketball or card games, read or nap. They learn how to be discerning in watching movies, and get practice at it by watching several movies during the evenings.

The students are delighted to meet other thinking Christians from all over the country, students eager to think and grow in their faith as they learn to love God with their minds together. They enjoy getting to know us as the instructors, too. We’re not only available the whole week; we look for opportunities to engage in conversations that will encourage and affirm what God is doing in the minds and hearts of these precious young people.

In what follows you’ll hear a little bit from several lecturers, and also from several of our Mind Games alumni.

Sneak Peek of Probe Lectures

Here are snippets from lectures of four of our Probe Mind Games instructors, speaking on Apologetics, Origins, The Value of Suffering, and Nietzsche for Beginners:

Dr. Pat Zukeran:

When we begin apologetics, when you engage the non-Christian world, where do we begin? Worldviews. Very good. Now there are three major worldviews; what are they? The first one is. . . ? Theism. Theism teaches what? God made all. The second one is. . .? Naturalism, or atheism: no God at all. And the third one is Pantheism, God is all. Remember all three of those.

Dr. Ray Bohlin:

That is why many were upset for a long time. Many rejected the Big Bang because of the philosophical implications of a beginning. Where does this particle come from? Here’s the problem. See, something must be eternal. Something has to have always been here. Otherwise, something had to come from absolutely nothing.

Sue Bohlin:

Pat explained to you the philosophical aspects of suffering and pain, and now I want to get intensely practical. l want to share with you five of the things that God showed me over a five-year period about the value of suffering. God never wastes our suffering, not a scrap of it. He redeems all of it for His glory and for our benefit. We have a God who scoops us up, and holds us to His chest where we can hear His heart beating, and says, “It’s okay. l love you, buddy. Dad knows the way home. It’s gonna be okay.” And in the midst of our suffering, that’s when God is holding us the closest.

Todd Kappelman:

What Nietzsche says is, “Listen, there are smart people, there are strong people, there are the artistically gifted, there are geniuses which comprise one percent or less of the population, and then there’s the ninety-nine percent.” What Nietzsche as an atheist wants to do is, he wants to look at good art. He wants to make a place in our culture for good art to be produced. The problem with good art being produced is you need a good audience that appreciates good art in order for good art to be produced.

Comments from Alumni, Part 1

Sarah relates how she happened to come:

I’m Sarah, l have an older sister, this is her third year, and she got me into this. She’s, like, “This, is the most awesome thing ever, you gotta go.” I’m like, “Whatever.” I came because she would always come back saying that she had this awesome time and everything. l was just like, “Okay, I’ll go, I’ve been to other conferences before so I don’t think it’ll be anything different.” This was really amazing because other conferences that I’ve been to, it’s been just lectures, lectures, lectures. But like Sue and Pat and Todd and Heather and Ray, they would talk back to you. They wanted to get to know you, they wanted to know what you thought, they let you ask questions and they would answer it in the best way that they do, and it was just really nice to have someone older and wise that could give their information to where you could understand it, and it’s free to ask questions.

Here’s Kayla:

I really enjoyed the variety of the workshops, realizing that Christianity does apply to all aspects of life, that we have a worldview that is livable, and that whether it be about homosexuality or abortion or genetic engineering, our worldview applies to that too, and knowing those answers will help me that much more in the secular university.

Austin shares what helped him the most:

It especially helped with the readings, the secular readings. It helped me to point out the flaws in their teachings and to see, okay, he’s wrong here, here, here, here; he’s kinda right here; this is where he needs to change a little. It helps me interpret what I’m reading better.

And Bekah responds to my question: Do you feel equipped to handle the anti-Christian, the hostile influences on the college campus?

Yes, because we had to interact with the “devil’s advocate” so much here, and I think it really just prepared us for situations we’re actually going to face.

We love and enjoy the students who come to Mind Games, and they know it.

Comments From Alumni, Part 2

Here are a few more: Jon, Ashli, Jonathan and a returning alumnus, Daniel:

Jon:

It was more than I expected. I thought I was going to come here and learn ways to defeat people’s arguments and destroy what they believe, but that’s not what I learned. I actually learned WHY people believe what they believe, and so because I can understand what they believe better, I can love them better as a person, and that’s really how you witness to them: you love them first and then they’ll ask you, “What‘s so special,” and then you can do it. So Mind Games for me was about learning and understanding more of what other people believe so I could understand and love them better.

Ashli:

The lectures—l loved them, because my dad’s always about, he wants you to gain the knowledge, he wants you to know stuff, and I . . . don‘t. I learned so much, and I got so much out of it, and I had so many questions that I had answered. I was almost embarrassed by the questions, that I should already know the answer, but I felt comfortable enough to ask them, and they answered them clearly, and it was awesome.

Jonathan:

There’s just something amazing about this place where everyone wants to be here. The lectures were really great, there’s just so much emotion and information to it. They just tell sides of things you never hear in the culture, it’s just so informative. Like Ashli said, you really get just a zeal for learning about this stuff and you realize how little you know about your faith, and how much you want to learn, so I’m definitely going to come back and try and learn some more.

Daniel:

I thought Mind Games was fantastic. It was a great experience, and while I did go to some of the same classes, I took more away from them than I did last year, partly because I stayed awake during different parts but mostly because I was paying better attention and you take different things away every time you go to the same lesson. So that was still valuable even though I’d been here before. And there were definitely talks that l hadn’t attended last year that were really, really interesting, downright fascinating actually, which l was very glad to be a part of, some of which l felt pretty strongly about, so I was glad to be able to participate in those discussions.

Why Go to Mind Games?

We now know that three out of four high school seniors who had been part of a church youth group drop out of church within a year.{1} One reason for this is that they don’t own their faith; they don’t know that Christianity is true, and they don’t know why it’s true. They tend to equate faith with a warm fuzzy feeling that doesn’t stand up to the challenges of life. Many students are afraid to express their doubts so they never learn that there are good, solid answers to their questions. They are sensitive to the disconnect that happens when those who profess to be Christ-followers act no differently from unbelievers.

For over fifteen years, Probe’s Mind Games conferences have been preparing young people for the challenges to their faith. In that time, we have witnessed firsthand the incredible thirst for a reliable trustworthy faith. Again and again we hear that some had despaired of ever finding something like Mind Games. The conference consistently exceeds expectations, and students often tell us they wish they had brought their friends.

Alumni from these summer conferences are going on to become leaders on their campuses and beyond. This weeklong immersion truly changes lives, giving them a new confidence in their God, His Word, and in their role as His ambassadors. We know this because some of them come back as alumni a second or third year, and because they contact us from college and let us know how Mind Games continues to impact them. Others have gone on to become leaders in ministry and heroes in the military.

Mornings start with an informal devotional by Probe staff and a time of prayer. They receive twenty-five hours of lecture using video clips, role play, Q and A, and other teaching techniques. They build their discernment muscles and sharpen their critical thinking skills by reading and analyzing articles by non-Christians, which we discuss in small groups. They worship together, they play together, and they make dear friends. We instructors share our meals and some of our free time with the students, which allows us to get to know and truly love them.

The Student Mind Games Conference is for those who have finished their junior or senior years of high school, and for college freshmen and sophomores. [Note: especially motivated students younger than that are welcome, though!] Please go to our Web site, Probe.org, and check out the reports and pictures of the last few Mind Games conferences. You can look at a typical schedule, and find out all the details. And then register someone you love. It will make a difference in time and eternity.

Note

1. Steve Cable, Is This the Last Christian Generation? www.probe.org/last-christian-generation.htm

© 2009 Probe Ministries


Student Mind Games Conference



Overview of Student Mind Games Conference

Typical Student Mind Games Schedule

Student Mind Games Conference Radio Transcript


Camp Copass

Camp CopassProbe’s Mind Games conferences have been preparing young people for the challenges to their faith for over 15 years. In that time we have had the pleasure of witnessing first hand the incredible thirst for a reliable trustworthy faith on the part of so many young people today. Again and again we hear that some had despaired of ever finding something like Mind Games. The conference consistently exceeds expectations and we frequently hear that they wished they had brought others.

Nowhere has this been truer than at our summer weeklong Mind Games conferences. As opposed to our usual weekend conference, which gives little time for personal interaction, students have time to study, worship, play, eat, and generally just hang out with Probe staff and other students also looking for a “Mere Christianity.” For many, it’s their first opportunity to spend real time with students from all over the country.

Alumni from these summer conferences have gone on to become leaders on their campuses, in the military, in government, in the church, and beyond. This weeklong immersion truly changes lives, giving them a new confidence in their God, His Word, and in their role as His ambassadors. This is an investment in a high school junior, senior or college student that will pay dividends for a lifetime.

“Sheep Among Wolves”

A week of 30-minute broadcasts on Family Life Today featuring the creator of Probe’s Mind Games Conference, the late Jerry Solomon. Jerry interacts with two students, one who attended Mind Games, and one who did not, as he role-plays a hostile professor antagonistic toward Christianity. Listen to these broadcasts, read Jerry’s article, and you’ll understand why it’s so important to send someone you love to Mind Games.

Sheep Among Wolves MP3s and Article