ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 2126, Garden Grove, CA 92842-2126 USA
E-mail: danjuma1@aol.com, Web Site: www.assistnews.net
From www.assistnews.net - by permission
THE BIBLE ANSWER MAN ANSWERS BACK
Hank Hanegraaff talks about “The Bible Answer Book”
By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries
CHARLOTTE, NC (ANS) -- Hank Hanegraaff, the host of the popular Bible Answer Man radio broadcast, is never one to duck difficult questions about the Bible so, during an interview conducted recently at the National Religious Broadcaster Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, he agreed to talk about the questions he has been most asked over the years.
He was at the NRB to talk about his new book, The Bible Answer Book, published by J. Countryman, the inspirational book division of Thomas Nelson Inc.
"What I have tried to do in the book is to take questions and answers that I have been given over the past 15 years and chisel them until just the gem has emerged," he said.
"I have taken the most significant questions that I have been asked over the past 15 years in Christian radio and codified them in this book and, ultimately, the reason I did it was to equip people so they can do what I do and work myself out of a job." (Pictured: Book cover for The Bible Answer Book).
What would he say was the most asked question?
"You probably would not guess this, but the most asked question is over the years has been, 'How do I find a good church?' and that's across the board, not just in the United States and Canada, but also in the rest of the world.
Basically I answer that in the book by saying that you have to know what you are aiming at. A good church is a one that worships God through prayer, praise and the proclamation of the Word; a church in which you have genuine fellowship as codified in Romans chapter 12 and one in which you are equipped to communicate what you believe, why you believe, and who you believe."
Like many listeners to his radio show, I wondered if he had a bank of computer screens with Bibles on them to help him with his answers.
Hanegraaff said that he doesn't. "If you come and do the show, you will see nothing but the Bible that I have in my hand,” he said. “I do this not only in the studio, but also live on location in many places too, and really, if you want to answer people's questions and demonstrate that the Christian faith is historic and evidential, you should be ready to give an answer. So if you are using notes, I think you are defeating the purpose."
So, does he have a photographic memory?
"No, I have a trained memory. There is a difference between a photographic memory and a trained memory," he replied. “A photographic memory, if you think it about it, is a memory where your eyes are the lens of a camera, your brain is the film with a storage agent and you'd be able to look at a page and later be able to recall that page because it is photographed in your mind.
A trained memory is something different. It is where learn the principles of memory; the principles of observation and association and so forth. And these kinds of things become tools by which you can learn to memorize. And there's also a principle that the more you can learn because you have so many hooks on which you can hang information." (Pictured: Hank at the microphone).
THE FAITH MOVEMENT
I then said that when the faith movement came along, he appeared to become very upset with them, so I asked if this had been one of his number-one beefs.
"It is, yes, and I think a lot of people see this as a campaign against the leaders of the faith movement," he said. "For me it's not. It's about the people who are impacted by the faith movement and who fall out, metaphorically, the back doors, throw up the hands and don't know what to believe or who to trust any more.”
HIS PERSONAL LIFE
I then asked him about his personal life. "I am the father of nine children (Michelle, Katie, David, John Mark, Hank Jr., Christina, Paul, Faith, and baby Grace) and I have four grandchildren," said Hank, who lives with his family in Southern California. "I'm intimately involved in the lives of my children. I always take one of my kids wherever I go. So when I come to a convention like this, one or two of my kids come along so they can see what I do and participate in it.
“My wife Kathy, and I, are going through what we call our second love which is a love which goes beyond infatuation. It is a love that is ultimate personified by the real trust and intimacy that is born out of a relationship that has withstood the bumps of life.
"God doesn't put two identical people together because, if they are identical, one of them would be unnecessary. He puts opposite together and, as a result of that, there is a lot of friction that goes on, but after a period of time you become a better person, as does your wife, and you get to that point where you are no longer trying to change your spouse, but you are enjoying the diversity that God creates in people."
"Kathy is from Virginia and I am from Holland," he revealed. "I was born in Leiden and I came to the North America when I was three years old; that that was in 1953. My family came to the United States via Canada and then we immigrated here when I was 14."
I concluded by asking Hank if he would ever like to retire?
"No, I don't think that I would ever want to do that," he said. "I feel that every moment is precious. There is only one life soon to be passed; only what is done for Christ will last and so I want to continue as long as I am useful for Christ and His Kingdom."
For more information on Hank Hanegraaff’s ministry, go to www.equp.org.
E-mail: danjuma1@aol.com, Web Site: www.assistnews.net
From www.assistnews.net - by permission
THE BIBLE ANSWER MAN ANSWERS BACK
Hank Hanegraaff talks about “The Bible Answer Book”
By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries
CHARLOTTE, NC (ANS) -- Hank Hanegraaff, the host of the popular Bible Answer Man radio broadcast, is never one to duck difficult questions about the Bible so, during an interview conducted recently at the National Religious Broadcaster Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, he agreed to talk about the questions he has been most asked over the years.
He was at the NRB to talk about his new book, The Bible Answer Book, published by J. Countryman, the inspirational book division of Thomas Nelson Inc.
"What I have tried to do in the book is to take questions and answers that I have been given over the past 15 years and chisel them until just the gem has emerged," he said.
"I have taken the most significant questions that I have been asked over the past 15 years in Christian radio and codified them in this book and, ultimately, the reason I did it was to equip people so they can do what I do and work myself out of a job." (Pictured: Book cover for The Bible Answer Book).
What would he say was the most asked question?
"You probably would not guess this, but the most asked question is over the years has been, 'How do I find a good church?' and that's across the board, not just in the United States and Canada, but also in the rest of the world.
Basically I answer that in the book by saying that you have to know what you are aiming at. A good church is a one that worships God through prayer, praise and the proclamation of the Word; a church in which you have genuine fellowship as codified in Romans chapter 12 and one in which you are equipped to communicate what you believe, why you believe, and who you believe."
Like many listeners to his radio show, I wondered if he had a bank of computer screens with Bibles on them to help him with his answers.
Hanegraaff said that he doesn't. "If you come and do the show, you will see nothing but the Bible that I have in my hand,” he said. “I do this not only in the studio, but also live on location in many places too, and really, if you want to answer people's questions and demonstrate that the Christian faith is historic and evidential, you should be ready to give an answer. So if you are using notes, I think you are defeating the purpose."
So, does he have a photographic memory?
"No, I have a trained memory. There is a difference between a photographic memory and a trained memory," he replied. “A photographic memory, if you think it about it, is a memory where your eyes are the lens of a camera, your brain is the film with a storage agent and you'd be able to look at a page and later be able to recall that page because it is photographed in your mind.
A trained memory is something different. It is where learn the principles of memory; the principles of observation and association and so forth. And these kinds of things become tools by which you can learn to memorize. And there's also a principle that the more you can learn because you have so many hooks on which you can hang information." (Pictured: Hank at the microphone).
THE FAITH MOVEMENT
I then said that when the faith movement came along, he appeared to become very upset with them, so I asked if this had been one of his number-one beefs.
"It is, yes, and I think a lot of people see this as a campaign against the leaders of the faith movement," he said. "For me it's not. It's about the people who are impacted by the faith movement and who fall out, metaphorically, the back doors, throw up the hands and don't know what to believe or who to trust any more.”
HIS PERSONAL LIFE
I then asked him about his personal life. "I am the father of nine children (Michelle, Katie, David, John Mark, Hank Jr., Christina, Paul, Faith, and baby Grace) and I have four grandchildren," said Hank, who lives with his family in Southern California. "I'm intimately involved in the lives of my children. I always take one of my kids wherever I go. So when I come to a convention like this, one or two of my kids come along so they can see what I do and participate in it.
“My wife Kathy, and I, are going through what we call our second love which is a love which goes beyond infatuation. It is a love that is ultimate personified by the real trust and intimacy that is born out of a relationship that has withstood the bumps of life.
"God doesn't put two identical people together because, if they are identical, one of them would be unnecessary. He puts opposite together and, as a result of that, there is a lot of friction that goes on, but after a period of time you become a better person, as does your wife, and you get to that point where you are no longer trying to change your spouse, but you are enjoying the diversity that God creates in people."
"Kathy is from Virginia and I am from Holland," he revealed. "I was born in Leiden and I came to the North America when I was three years old; that that was in 1953. My family came to the United States via Canada and then we immigrated here when I was 14."
I concluded by asking Hank if he would ever like to retire?
"No, I don't think that I would ever want to do that," he said. "I feel that every moment is precious. There is only one life soon to be passed; only what is done for Christ will last and so I want to continue as long as I am useful for Christ and His Kingdom."
For more information on Hank Hanegraaff’s ministry, go to www.equp.org.
