Having started this blog on February 22, 2018 with the intent of encouraging people to "get off the fence" and put their trust in Jesus, in March 2018 I started then a series of 10 blogs on "Reasons to Not Believe" in which I presented 10 arguments or excuses for not believing and I attempted to give reasonable responses to each, with the hope of maybe nudging someone off their fence. Then roughly a year later I did a second series of 10 reasons, but this time focusing on the positives of the Christian message of reasons to believe. Maybe this helped to pull someone off a fence instead of pushing? I don't know.
At the bottom of this blog are the 20 reasons listed out with hyperlinks for handy access. I'd be interested to know which ones resonated most and which really didn't click for you. Faith is a personal thing and the ways and means by which God draws people to Himself are varied. I'd love to hear your faith story if you're willing to share it either publicly in a comment, or privately directly to me.
If you want a full life, and not be comfortably numb; if you can overcome cultural constraints and worries about missing out on what this world may offer; if you apply your mind to intellectual objections or plain ignorance; if you take the initiative and don't wait until later, overcoming peer pressure or misconceptions about Christians; if you seek the unique path God has for you and realize no-one is ever too far gone for Him to reach you... then you can leave the fence and enter into love, joy, peace, hope, restored relationships, community, logic, eternal life and a reward as a new creation in Christ Jesus.
If you're still on the fence but want to respond, check out this website from Billy Graham Ministries or drop me a note. I'd love to help you in your faith journey: https://peacewithgod.net/
With all due respect Andy the first 3 or 4 of the positive list should be at the end as they are not a reality for many Christians except in tne afterlife which isn’t that big a deal to modern people.
ReplyDeleteIronically we have less cultural constraints than in any other generation but we aren’t rushing to God.
Jesus didn't come to offer these things in the Afterlife AKA Eternal Life with Him. God is Love, He Loved you so much he gave his some to pay for the sins of the World. That included all of us. The Joy comes I knowing that even as we go through this life, and at times it just isn't easy, we are never alone. If you reach out to him, he will always respond. The Peace & Hope are within You. You decide how to walk in the peace and You Always have Hope, Never Give that up. When You trust and believe God will, he shows up in so many different ways; the instant idea, that person who just provided some form of comfort or paid for you lunch when you just needed a bit of kindness. And when you can't get what you need, provide that same thing to someone else; that smile, that hug, that kind word. Oh he shows up, just not in the way you may think, Know that He Loves YOU, just as you are today
ReplyDeleteThank you for your thoughtful response. Indeed Jesus is alive today, working through the Holy Spirit. Also He taught us to love one another as if we were doing it for Him: “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:40). We do need to consider what Jesus did for us whilst He was on the Earth and our response to that by believing in Him or not: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (John 3:16-18)
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