Glenn wrote:
>Years ago I ghost wrote a book for Josh McDowell. I remember one thing he
>said that made a lot of sense to me (although I don't think he really lives
>by it). He said,"The heart can not rejoice in that which the mind thinks is
>false."
>
>It is not intellectual belief which is powerless. Without it we have
>absolutely no reason to believe in the resurrection.
I didn't say powerless, but *relatively* powerless. I absolutely agree with
Josh McDowell. I thank God that He allows us to use our mind along with our
heart and soul to love the Lord! I thank God that the intellectual questions
I had have been sufficiently answered for me to believe and not have to take
crazy notions on blind faith. But its not the intellect that wooed my heart
to Christ. It was Jesus' powerful message of love, peace, grace,
forgiveness.
>And maybe some turn away because they don't think it is true. That is the
>reason my former boss who was an atheist and the son of a preacher left
>Christianity. He no longer thought Christianity was true. I asked him once
I still believe that is only a part of the picture. Probably more realistic
is that your former boss didn't believe God really loved him personally.
Maybe he struggled with a continual sin he couldn't renounce. It's a lot
easier for your former boss (or whoever) to simply say they no longer
believe in the truth of Christianity than to say "I have been struggling
with pornography or an affair with this woman or ...(insert whatever sin)
and although I know it's wrong in God's eyes, I really enjoy it. I really
just am not ready to give it up. As a Christian I hate myself that I can't
seem to find the power of God to free myself from these chains that bind me.
Where is God? Why isn't He helping me? Therefore I no longer believe in
God."
This is just a scenario but I'd be hard pressed to believe turning away from
Christ isn't more complicated than your former boss (or whoever) would like
to let you believe. That is where acceptance and love of the person without
condoning the sin is critically important for Christians! It's so much
easier for the church to just condemn certain sins and the people committing
them, than to love the people and believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to
work in their lives to bring about their own repentance, in God's time not
ours. Where people are weak, suffering, struggling, that is where God lives
and works.
Just my thoughts,
Wendee
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