Chapter Two:
The Fruit of CRI
Prior to CRI, apologetics was almost the Christian church’s best-kept secret. It was largely cloistered in our seminaries and hidden from the view of lay Christians and the unbelieving population at large, where it was needed the most. For almost half a century, CRI has been at the forefront of moving apologetics beyond the confines of Christian academia and placing it into the heads, hearts, and hands of Christians everywhere. We are taking the best apologetic thinking by the best minds in church history and communicating it in a popular and memorable way, through means such as: (1) the Bible Answer Man broadcast heard nationally through the Bott Radio Network and XM satellite radio and heard internationally over the Internet; (2) the Christian Research Journal sold through Christian and secular book stores and available by subscription through CRI and secular retailers such as Amazon.com; (3) the search engine on our equip.org Web site, where hundreds of high-quality resource documents on every kind of apologetics and discernment topic are available free of charge; (4) our equip.org e-store, which makes locating and purchasing highly recommended, readable, relevant, and reliable apologetics books, DVDs, and CDs as easy as a few clicks of the mouse; and (5) our customer service department, which offers direct assistance via phone, mail, and the Internet to people seeking answers to a wide gamut of questions pertaining to the Bible, Christian doctrine, apologetics, Christian discernment, the cults, the occult, and the world’s religions. In short, CRI is in the business of mainstreaming apologetics, and we are doing it to an extent unsurpassed by any other ministry in the world.
Down through the years and up to the present day, the testimonies of people whose lives have been impacted by CRI continue to pour in to our offices. Here are just a few samples gleaned from literally hundreds of testimonies that we have received over the past eighteen months:
Susan Mudd: I started listening to the Bible Answer Man in 2003 because a co-worker told me about some things she had learned from the program and I listened not because I believed but because I wanted to counter what she was telling me. The total opposite happened, unexpected as well. I was hooked. I was interested, I was intrigued, I was humbled! I ended up purchasing The Journey, the study bible for spiritual seekers and have not been sorry. I have been saved. I accepted Jesus Christ as my savior one day in my car on the way to work, overwhelmed with sorrow that I had waited so long in my life to start my walk down this road (53 years old). I know wherever the road leads me it will always be in the direction of Christ and may God bless and keep every single one of you who put so much into this ministry. I am sure there are countless individuals who have found God through your ministry.
Allen Mulkey: I happened to stumble on your broadcast on KQCV in Oklahoma City.…It was like I had stumbled across a lighthouse in a stormy sea. I finally found someone who not only could explain what was wrong with this Word of Faith Theology, but also had the conviction to stand up and refute error when it is evident…Your show was a life raft for me. It came along at a time when I was beginning to feel alone in my struggle against this faulty theology.…Listening to you and using some of the resources of CRI has helped me in my walk with God. In short I have become a better teacher, a better person, and more equipped to handle the everyday attacks on my faith.
Tim Tia: I got saved when I was 17 years old and started out in a Charismatic church that was basically a faith in faith type church.…One day when driving down the road, listening to the radio, I heard Hank Hanegraaff the first time and I began to be offended by what he was saying about teachers that I respected. Then he played tapes, and when I heard those tapes my love for Christ and the Word of God rose up in me and I began to really study the Word of God. That led me into ministry and I went to seminary and continued to listen to Hank, and so many lives have changed.
Man (message left on Bible Answer Man voice mail, October 10, 2007): On Monday, November 24th, 2003 Hank had someone call in. He was a Mormon and Hank talked to him and asked him if he wanted to invite Christ into his life and the man chose to do that. I listened and I prayed at the same time and asked Jesus into my life and that was the turning point in my life. So I really want to thank Hank for being on the air and for all the work he’s done and I can honestly say that he played a part in saving my life.
Woman (message left on Bible Answer Man voice mail, April 9, 2007): Hi Hank. My son would listen to your show and I was a Jehovah’s Witness and you caused me to have doubts. I’m now a Christian and you helped get me out of that cult. I’m so thankful.
Man (message left on Bible Answer Man voice mail, April 28, 2007): I’m a member of the Worldwide Church of God and I want to express my deep appreciation to Hank Hanegraaff and CRI for your positive support of the Worldwide Church of God in the major changes that we’ve made from our cultic beliefs in the past to embracing Jesus Christ now as the focus of our church. I listen to you on a regular basis and I deeply admire your willingness to stand for truth no matter the cost. The Worldwide Church of God knows what that’s all about and I firmly believe as you do that truth matters.
To such testimonies from lay Christians could be added ringing endorsement after ringing endorsement from major Christian leaders. As the following samples illustrate, these leaders are unambiguous about the importance of CRI to their own ministries and to the body of Christ at large.
Joni Eareckson Tada,
Joni and Friends International Disability Center
Hi, Hank…. You know in our ministry among people with disabilities, we encounter families who have some hard-hitting questions about the Bible, and what it says concerning suffering, and believe me, we know the importance of giving God’s Word to people straight. That’s what you do. Especially, in this postmodern world, everybody wants to do what’s right in his own eyes, but I am so grateful that you cut through all that to give us the absolute and unyielding truth of God’s Word. You’ve been doing it for years, and it’s just our prayer that God will grace you with the strength and the wisdom to keep sharing the biblical worldview for years to come.Jack Graham,
Prestonwood Church, Plano, Texas, and PowerPoint Ministries
In a day in which truth is so often on the scaffold, it is so vitally important that Christians think clearly and biblically, and this is why Hank Hanegraaff gives us the straight stuff when it comes to the Word of God—the testimony of Christ…. I’m so thankful for Hank, his personal integrity, his commitment to truth, and the ministry that God has given him, and therefore, has given to us.Ed Young
Second Baptist Church, Houston Texas
Thank God for you Hank, and the fact that God has used you so magnificently, and you have kept the church, the body, the believers, straight in orthodoxy, in understanding basic doctrinal truths, and I’m so grateful to you as my friend and my brother. You mean much to thousands and thousands of people in America and around the world.…I think you are God’s man for your calling for just such a time as this. How we need good biblically minded individuals to accurately divide the Word of Truth. You’ve got the fundamentals down and you understand “in the essentials there is unity, in nonessentials there is diversity,” and you put that together so we can understand what God is doing in His body of believers at this moment. Thank you Hank for being there, for being available; for your faithfulness in your personal life, in your family life, and your commitment to Jesus Christ, to His church, and to the Kingdom.Chuck Colson
Breakpoint
The Bible Answer Man is one of the most stimulating, exciting programs on Christian radio. I love to be on it because Hank is such a great interviewer and it’s always provocative and it always comes down on exactly the orthodox Christian position on issues. I think it provides a great service…it is defending truth in an age that has disregarded truth.
It is this undeniable and critically important equipping work of God’s people in sound theology, apologetics, critical thinking, and interfaith evangelism that Bill Alnor has been assaulting and working overtime to destroy. What comparable contribution do he and his ministry make to the body of Christ? The vast majority of his work has concentrated on attempting to bring down Christian leaders and ministries, with CRI receiving the lion’s share of his attention. If it boggles your mind that anyone could do this, and that anyone could support someone who does this, it should! I can’t pretend to fully understand what makes Bill Alnor tick, but I can supply the historical context that will at least provide some insight into why he is concentrating so much of his energy on Hank and CRI.
