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Hello friends, Greg Cocoa here stand a reason and it is always fun for me to do an interview with someone who first of all has made a tremendous contribution to helping Christians stand firm and stand tall for Christ especially the youth where it's especially needed today and but also someone who I have a history with and have been very close with for many many years of course

both of these things are true of my guest today doctor Sean McDowell Sean I'm still not used to calling you doctor I'm still not used to hearing it to be honest I still turn around look for my dad or something how long how far back do we go you know I first remember hearing about you and I was a student by all mid to late 90s and then I went to a conference you did with Dennis McCallum on truth oh my goodness yeah that was like earliest days of standard reason right Dennis McCallum who had been a light and powerhouse

that's right I was first to Christian now he's the pastor of a really big church in Columbus Ohio called Zenoz Christian fellowshiping the big church they like they scattered all over the city now so you went to that conference huh I did I probably said hi but I wasn't doing any speaking any writing there was no context or reason why I'd be different than anybody else that was there some kid I just went out everyone was talking about postmodernism and Dennis's book was exploding right heard you in chapel a couple times and thought you know

byola right byola I'm going to take a Friday and or Saturday whatever it was and go take some notes and I remember that well yeah but I think we both connected when we did the M.A. Phil program right and start having classes together and they did the mentoring group probably early 2000 yeah I have a picture of that group about five of us that were

Alex Lehman was in that Stephen Stephen Wagner was in that both became standard reason staffers eventually and there's a couple of others that another M.A. Phil student that was in their A.M.E.

at Kelly M.E. who was you know she's everybody's got a story now so that was a great group and I look at that picture now again because you were such a young little twerp there you know you were a young guy that's almost 20 years ago you know

last picture was taken you know I was digging around well you got a new book and we're going to get to that in a minute but I just got to say I did quite accidentally yesterday evening I was digging around in old old notes that I

taken and it was an old notebook you know you spiral thing in a stuffed little notes and these are things I took when I was

over early Christian and I opened it up but I could not believe I saw in this in this note it said Josh McDowell August 11th 1974

wow in other words August 11th 74 I wasn't even a year old in Christ but I was sitting in a talk that your dad had given and what you were you board so I was born in 76

yeah I was negative too you weren't even a twinkle in your dad's eye at that point huh so anyway this was really surprising and here it is it's like it's on Matthew 9

and John 4 you know and here's all this stuff that was great stuff you know and I made these really nice neat notes but so your dad's influence on me goes back from what before you were born and of course he was one of the people I read when I was there weren't very many back then you know through your dad there was France a shaffer there was Walter Barton there's Norm Geissler there was John Montgomery and that's about it you know in the United days and now and now we're just we have so

many quality people like yourself that have been making a contribution and it's it's really fabulous now you have a new book I'll tell you about this I can really jump in 74

evidence demands verdict came out 1972 so he was really just starting to build his platform recognition and his ministry that's right so for me to see that the fact that you kept it obviously had some influence on you

you've had a huge influence on me Greg I've told you this a bunch of time but definitely want your viewers and listeners to hear this you're one of the top people that shaped my thinking in so many different ways so to see that generational handoff is pretty special yeah well I know you got a lot from your dad but I'm glad to be kind of one of the people that has been able to pass something on past the baton so to speak a little bit to you and of course you've you've taken what you've been given from wherever it's been and you've used it so well I mean here you have a new book and I was just wondering

what number is this what number is this well either editing or writing or co-writing I think it's about 20 okay that I get exhausted just thinking about I got four you know and every one of them was I'd mentioned before the show I just handed off the manuscript is

under been like a few days ago and was like an albatross around my neck I finally got at least that portion of the enterprise accomplished as you know when you write a book you hand

off the manuscript okay that's the big hump you get over and then you get it back a bunch of other times you got

to reread it four or five times your own stuff and and so I still got work ahead of me but you've done this

multitude of times including helping your dad release a new edition of evidence which all kinds of

added material etc etc that was one of the most special projects because that book has just had

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