RC Talk - The Official Blogs of Ratio Christi Chapters

By Rick Schenker, President-Ratio Christi

ROI is a business term that means Return on Investment.  Over the past half dozen years I have been evaluating my giving to Christian causes with much more scrutiny concerning the ROI that I am getting for Jesus. I have been doing this with consideration of both the time and the money that God is giving me to invest in His kingdom.

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by Rick Schenker, President (January 1, 2013)

February 2nd will mark our 2 year anniversary. Our third year of operations (2013) will be a critical year.  Why? Because what is true for most businesses is also true for nonprofits; if you can make it past the first three years, your chances of succeeding long-term are tremendously improved. If God's blessing continues as it has been, we should have the financial stability this year to hire a few support staff that will give us the ability to keep up with the growth and support of this extremely fast growing movement. 

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By Rick Schenker, President of Ratio Christi

The story of David Green, founder of Hobby Lobby is a great inspiration to me. It shows that someone doesn't have to be a “professional preacher” to be involved in a great evangelistic ministry. A recent article in Forbes spoke about Green’s efforts in evangelism:

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By Rick Schenker, President of Ratio Christi

Lately, I have been saying to our Chapter Directors for Ratio Christi, “Gimme Five.” But in this case I am not talking about hand slapping. I am talking about preparing—each year—five new Christian leaders that are truly Ambassadors of Christ. I am asking them to just give us at least five well trained believers every year that have become not only incredibly confident evangelists, but who can also teach what they have learned to others.

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By Rick Schenker, President of Ratio Christi

(Read Part One here)

One of the main reasons I left public office in 2006 was because I wanted to be more involved in evangelism—the spreading of the gospel. Yet, in a self-assessment of my own abilities, I knew I would make a pretty mediocre preacher.  I figured the last thing the world needed was another mediocre preacher.

Not knowing what to do, I started praying a rather outrageous prayer. I thought that if somehow God could answer it, then I would know He could use me to help accomplish something great for His Kingdom. For over four years I prayed, “Father, make me the greatest evangelist to this generation without ever having to preach a sermon.”  Now you have to admit that is outrageous—right? How could God ever answer such a prayer?

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By Rick Schenker, President of Ratio Christi

Recently a minister asked me how Ratio Christi was different from other college ministries. I explained that we focused on apologetics—equipping students and faculty with the philosophical, historical, and scientific evidence for why Christianity is true.  His next statement shocked me. He said, “So you are not focused on evangelism like these other campus ministries, right?" “No," I replied, "we are more focused on evangelism than many other ministries.”  That shocked him.

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Apologetics–It's About the Conversations

by Rick Schenker, President of Ratio Christi

Do you find most “methods” of evangelism forced and uncomfortable? We all know the Great Commission, yet how many Christians are regularly engaged in making Christian disciples of their family, friends, neighbors and co-workers?  From what I can tell, the average Christian goes year, even decades, without even a single convert to Christianity. I find that many were very zealous to talk about their Christian experience at first, but after a few rejections they give up for a lifetime.

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I have attached the required annual information return that Ratio Christi provides to the IRS.  The purpose of sharing this with you is twofold:  First, I want to make sure we are totally transparent about or finances; second, I am asking you to consider helping us toward financial stability by matching a challenge of $2,000 per month from a single donor.

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Year-end giving opportunity

No beating around the bush; please consider giving to Ratio Christi as you are able. We need your help to continue equipping university students and faculty with the historical, philosophical, and scientific reasons for following Jesus Christ.

Our first year operating as an independent 501c3 has been a tremendous success.  God has been good to this ministry. All of our needs have been met. Many of you have given to this vital ministry in our nation's universities. Thank you for your generous partnership in Kingdom ministry. Yet, we need to remain on solid financial ground heading into 2012. Help us raise an additional $15,000 by December 31st. Please include us in your year-end giving. 

Look at what God has done for this brand new organization

• Almost 60 chapters (and many more interested)
• A fully developed web site to handle thousands of chapters
• Nearly $60,000 in revenue
• Ministry partnerships with many of the top apologetics ministries and seminaries

What’s next?

• More chapters all over the U.S.
• An International Division of RC
• Ratio Christi’s speakers bureau and coordinated apologetics calendar
• The Chancellors Council to raise our national budget
• Many more events on campus

Please help us reach our $15,000 target with any size gift.

WAYS TO GIVE

• BY MAIL: Make checks payable to: Ratio Christi, 5531 Gardner Drive Erie, PA 16509
• *Directly by Credit Card - either a one time gift or set up an automatic monthly donation
• By PayPal credit/debit card or e-check

• Give the gift of telling others about this vital ministry. Let your friends, family, and associates know about this vital ministry.
• Give the gift of prayer. Ratio Christi needs wisdom, protection, provision, direction, people, and a continued focus on the Gospel of Jesus Christi. Please pray for these for this organization.

Ratio Christi is nonprofit tax exempt organization under 501 (c) (3) Internal Revenue Code.

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I attended my first meeting(s) of the Evangelical Philosophical Society in San Francisco and Berkeley this month. This is actually TWO tremendous events for apologists. First, there is the day time Annual Meeting of EPS held in conjunction with the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) in San Francisco. The EPS track at the day time event had some of the best lectures and scholarly presentations that I have ever been to. Then there was the annual EPS Apologetics Conference held during the evenings in Berkeley. I must admit, I was a little confused about how this all worked before I went, but remember I am a pretty simple minded former politician.

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