Good Sunday Morning! (Continued from yesterday)

1. Question – Are moral issues individual, cultural or Godly?

2.    Thought – It occurred to me some time ago why the skeptic is so enraged by the professing Christian. These so-called skeptics live without worrying about absolutes. They just flow with the culture. When any moral issues come up, skeptics shrug their shoulders and say, “Well, to each his own.” They give the same privilege to others that they give themselves – namely, that moral choices are personal and not absolute. But what angers them about the believer is that the believer is strong in his or her condemnation of someone else’s immoral life while at the same time living a double standard. In other words, the Christian private life is no different from the one who doesn’t claim to be a believer. The only difference is the arrogance of condemnation in one and the acceptance of personal moral choices by the other.

As we have noted in this book, the ultimate calling upon the Christian is to live a life reflecting the person of Christ. This involves a three-fold process. First, we cannot take seriously the skeptic’s difficult questions until we ourselves have also worked through them. Second, when such answers are known, they must be internalized (the process of spiritual transformation) so that, third, these answers will be lived out before a hurting and hungry world.

Because my Hindu friend had not witnessed spiritual transformation in the life of Christians, whatever answers he received were nullified. The Irish evangelist, Gypsy Smith once said, “There are five Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the Christian, and some people will never read the first four.” In other words, apologetics is seen before it is heard. For both the Hindu questioner and the American doctor, the answers to their questions were not enough; they depended upon visible transformation of the one offering them. (Beyond Opinion by Ravi Zacharias) (Continued)

“Those who believe they believe in God but without passion in the heart, without anguish of mind, without uncertainty, without doubt, and even at times without despair, believe only in the idea of God, and not in God himself.” (Madeleine L’Engle)

AND:Why is the Christian faith not evident in so many confessing Christianity?  This indeed is a great question.  It is a troubling question to most confessing Christians. It is also perceived as an insult to those who believe they are Christians when perhaps in all actuality not really Christians at all.  I have had people come up to me and say they see the Christian in me through my mannerisms…though, to me, I have always been the way I am even before choosing this faith as an adult.  I honestly am both flattered and humbled by such a compliment.  And I immediately feel guilty that I’m not a proper representative of Christ…that I never will be.  Why?  I stumble where Christ stands firm.  I falter when Christ would never.  Perhaps my unbelief is still much greater than my belief that what is impossible is truly possible through God alone.  Basically, I sin…if not by action, then by thought.  I believe non-Christians place undue burden on believers of Christ to be the epitome of perfection.  We are not…nor can we ever be in this mortal life.  What is it exactly the evidence these nonbelievers want?  I think they want us to prove perfection is possible in our mortality…but that is not possible nor Biblical.  In this life, we will have trouble.  It is by grace in how we choose to manage such troubles that define us in our faith from the ones who do not know the peace of Christ to overcome.  What sets us apart from believers of other ethical religions?  To me, it is the logic of the Trinity as relayed throughout both the Old and New Testaments…the tragic love story on Calvary for the human race…the hope that blossomed from the sacrificial lamb, risen to a new day.  To me, my God does not falter…the rock of ages.  No other religion has been able to pass the logic of Christianity as I have slowly studied it…allowing it to stew a while in my mind as I contemplated the possibilities of truth.  No other religion compares as they only serve to lead the followers astray…away from eternity with the great I am (God).

AND: Thought I’d weigh in on this one:  Why is your conversion, belief, faith, etc not visible to everyone is your question.

I believe the Christian faith is visible everywhere I look, especially in nature.  Who made the mountains?  Who made the tree?  Who made the river flow to the sea?  And who hung the moon in the starry sky?  Somebody bigger than you and I…..etc.  Remember when Tennessee Ernie Ford sang that one….Then there is the plant and animal life and procreation, having joy in one’s posterity.  Those things are visible.  You can see them.

My personal conversion was rather supernatural, but it doesn’t have to be because consistent prayer, reading scriptures, service to our fellow beings, obedience and sacrifice increase faith and makes for a more fully converted person.

And how can one not believe in the power of humility and love.  The trick is to maintain humility as the blessings pour in from heaven, because when arrogance and pride creep in faith begins waning.  And therein lies the challenge…..to remember that it was through the most difficult struggles, when we were humbled, that we turned to God.  Continuing in gratitude to Heavenly Father for blessings and remaining humble, I believe, is the challenge.

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rem – know the why or lose the way!

Question & Thought & ANDs.

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