Living the Godly Life

"His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
-2 Peter 1:3-11

Wow. I don't know about you but I found this passage to be amazing! It has so many deep truths packed into a few short verses! I'm pretty sure these verses appealed to me because the spoke comforting words to my perfectionist nature, as well as satisfied my "student" side by giving direct instructions. I just love it when the bible gets specific, and yet remains universally relevant through the ages!

1) God equips us to live a godly life.

This passage begins by stating that God enables us all to live a godly life when we are in intimate relationship with him. This should silence any legalistic whispers in your heart and mind! I don't know about you folks, but growing up I found myself emphasizing good works as a means to impress God. Living a works-based faith is tiresome, worrisome, and highly unsatisfying--and it's no wonder!-- a works-based faith will always end in failure!

However, a faith that starts with relationship will automatically end up in a godly life! Close relationship with God allows our hearts and actions to be changed miraculously because we allow God to have a direct impact on our lives. We don't have to try to live a "good life" because we have allowed God to have such an intimate role in our lives that our actions will automatically be good.

Think of it this way:  In works-based faith I try to do good things because I want to "manipulate" God to love me. In love-based faith, I do good things because I love God so much!

2) Faith is built, step-by-step, with the end result being perfect LOVE

Love is a rare virtue in our world. I'm not talking about "Rom-Com" love or infatuation. I'm talking about love that sacrifices until it hurts, even for people who will never return the favor. The perfection of the Christian faith is to be like Christ, which is to love sacrificially. However, this passage points out that we do not spontaneously learn to love in this manner. There are stages of growth and maturity that we need to go through to get to the point where we can love and these stages will require effort.

a) Faith: -first comes the miracle we have been called to--belief in the grace God has offered us through Christ. However, we shouldn't stop here! After we recognize the truly amazing gift God has given to us by calling us to faith, it is now our job to continue to grow.
b) Goodness: -our actions should reflect our faith.
c) Knowledge: -our faith should be intelligent and informed. We shouldn't be drifting through life on "good feelings". Our faith has a legacy of wisdom and history, we should know the story (Bible) so that we can be assured of our place within that story.
d) Self-Control: -our faith, goodness, and knowledge should now enable us to see others as God sees them. We should be able to control our own impulses because we see the "big picture". We can be patient with people and circumstances.
e) Perseverance: -because of our patience, we can persevere through the tough times because we have hope in the end result.
f) Godliness: -persevering through tough times, with God at our side, increases our faith and understanding of God and his ways, enabling us to be more like him.
g) Mutual affection: -we are able to treat others with respect and kindness.
h) Love: -we are able to serve others without concern for ourselves.

I think that where we land in this process has a lot to do with where our relationship is with God. If I haven't put any effort into my relationship with my heavenly Father, sometimes all I am able to do is simply believe. However, the more I get to know Him, the more He enables me to reach the next "level" of faith. The key is we should not attempt to work on fostering these qualities in ourselves without God. We need to maintain and deepen our intimate relationship with Christ throughout the whole process, and it will be God who equips us, rather than our cheap counterfeit version.

3) Never Stumble Again

Well, I imagine it would be quite obvious to you all why this phrase stood out to me. The fact of the matter is, I get stuck trying too hard to "be good", that I forget to love God. I will never grow past a very weak faith and will always be tripping over myself and back into sin if I insist on creating my own faith separate from relationship with God. I need to stop trying to manipulate God into "liking" me and start getting to know Him and start falling madly in love with Him...everything else will fall into place if I can cultivate a deep and meaningful relationship with Him.

It's no wonder people fail to see the "appeal" of the Christian "religion"... so many Christians live their faith as a rule book of "To Dos" and "Do Not Dos." Instead, Christianity should be a vibrant, satisfying, and joyful personal relationship with the God of the Universe! What could possibly be more exciting that that?!

A Stumbler's Walk with Christ: A Personal Testimony

“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” –Romans 10:9-10 (NIV)

I am fortunate and blessed to have a legacy of faith in my family. For as many generations as my family can remember, we have been Christians. There is a heritage in Christ. However, that’s not to say that my lineage hasn't had its share of non-believers. Every individual needs to make the choice for him or herself. Some choose to continue the legacy of faith, and some don’t. The important thing here is that Christianity isn't just a family tradition for me. Christianity is a hard-fought faith. My faith has been a journey for me and I have wrestled with difficulties and doubt along the way—which is how my blog developed its moniker!

I’ll be the first to admit that I am not perfect, nor do I have all the answers. However, in exploring my faith honestly and critically, I can resolutely and with peace of mind declare: Jesus is true. Jesus is the perfect Son of God who was killed and miraculously resurrected so that I (along with anyone else who acknowledges the truth) could be reunited with God.

However, being the emotional and academic person that I am, this declaration is not always an easy decision to stick to. Becoming a Christian is more than a momentary “conversion experience.” Being a Christian involves a daily (or even minute-by-minute) decision to put my own desires on the back-burner and bring God’s agenda to the front. It’s not easy, and I have had more than my fair share of screw-ups.

My earliest memories begin to surface as the age of five. I remember telling my mom one night at bedtime that I wanted to be a Christian. She guided me through a simple prayer…

Dear Jesus,

I believe you died for me and rose again. Forgive me for my sins. I want you to come into my heart.

Amen.

While many have prayed some variation of a “Sinner’s Prayer”, this moment was the beginning of a journey for me. In my early childhood I remember being frightened of not “really” being saved, and therefore repeated some variation of a Sinner’s Prayer over and over again throughout childhood and adolescence. For better or for worse, I was raised in a denomination that I now consider fairly legalistic—I feel like the emphasis was on rules and being saved from hell, rather than the emphasis being on grace and a relationship with God.

However, regardless of the pitfalls of some of the ideas I had growing up; the blessing comes in the fact that I had a good start. I was raised in a family of faith and in a caring church community. I am forever thankful for that early kick-start!

At age six I decided it was time to take the next step in my faith commitment—I decided to get baptized. For those unfamiliar with this ritual, this can seem a bit strange… however, this is the symbolic expression of a Christian’s commitment to their faith. It represents the death of selfish desires and the resurrection of righteousness in Christ. I know that’s a lot of “Christianese”, but suffice it to say that this was an important step in my journey. The timing of my baptism was unusual, however. I do not believe in infant baptism, and as such most people that grow up in a similar denomination wait until adulthood to get baptized. However, I was a tenacious and zealous child and as such I was able to demonstrate an understanding of baptism to my pastor that convinced him I was ready to take that step!

My tenacity of faith continued through my adolescence. I was a passionate child, and while I’m often nostalgic for that carefree heart-first faith, I know it sometimes got me into trouble. My legalistic knowledge of my faith led me to be pushy and judgmental when it came to “witnessing” to my friends. While my intentions may have been good, I’m afraid I went about advertising my faith in the wrong way.

Along the way I went to countless nights of Bible camps and many Christian youth conferences/retreats. Being a Christian was easy. Everything seemed black and white. Emotions ran on over-drive.

But one day, reality hit.

In August 2003, at the age of 16, I went to Ecuador for a year-long exchange trip. This trip affected me in many ways and, by no means the least of these effects, was the fact that this was my first taste of independence. This was my first experience of stepping outside the bubble of protection my parents had carefully constructed around me. I was on my own.

This year was, simultaneously, one of the best and worst years of my life. I cried out to God in my homesickness and loneliness, and, for one of the only times in my life I was completely dependent on Him. As a result, my relationship with God was closer than it ever had been. God was the only one who understood the words I spoke for many months as I struggled to learn the language. He was the only one I could go to, and my utter dependence on him was rewarded by a rich, fulfilling and very real relationship. God was real and near. God spoke to my heart so loudly it was nearly audible.

Ah, but how quickly blessings and mini-miracles are forgotten when the distractions of life creep back in. This seems to be a theme in my life. I have been blessed with some acute close encounters with God. Mini-miracles that I know God had a direct hand in. In those moments I am on a mountaintop and my faith is made real and all doubts removed. However, it doesn't take long for the memory of those moments to fade and for life to pile on the distractions once more.

Another one of these “mini-miracles” happened in my marriage. My husband and I met in high school and were shopping for engagement rings before graduation. We married at the tender age of 19, in 2006. I have no regrets in how young we got married, but we had a great deal of maturing to do and we had forced ourselves to do so together—slowly and painfully.

In 2010, these growing pains reached a critical point. We were both incredibly selfish people and had said and done things to hurt one another along the way, and sparing the unnecessary details, our marriage reached a precarious tipping point. At that point, as I was staring over the cliff’s edge and seeing the death of my marriage looming before me, God took over. He gave me the words to say, patience and love like I’ve never experienced before, and a saturating peace that could only come from Him. God saved my marriage and transformed my husband and me in the process.

It was after the revitalization of my marriage that I made the decision to actively return to my faith. I truly believe God used that heartbreaking experience to strengthen my faith in Him. For years—our entire young marriage—my husband and I had been drifting in our faith and stagnating--we all but walked away entirely. However, after that restoration of our marriage we were drawn back to Him and He transformed our very hearts. My husband and I were both healed and delivered from some very damaging sins.

And yet… the joy of blessings is once again replaced by hopelessness and doubt…

Fast forward to the near-present you will find my husband and me struggling with unexplained infertility. We have been trying for over a year to conceive a child, to no avail. I find it tempting to slip back into despair and accuse God, rather than trust him. However, I have once again come back to a point where I am convinced that God is ready to perform another “mini-miracle” in my life. God has always used the most difficult circumstances of my life to draw me back to Him.

“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” –Romans 5:3-5 (NLT)  

^“ Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” –James 1:12(NIV)

Why do I believe in God, in Christ? Beyond all the “academic” reasons I've explored already, I believe in God because I have experienced him in very real ways. I have always felt a tugging at my heart in my darkest days, as though the Spirit within me is straining at the bars of my rib cage to drag me back to God. The Prodigal Son didn't recognize his need for his Father until he reached rock-bottom. A person doesn't appreciate water until he’s truly thirsting. A soul doesn't understand its need for God until it’s in turmoil.

I am growing. I am an imperfect person who struggles with anger, impatience, selfishness, and jealousy, but I feel God shaping me and teaching me to be a better person. No one can refute the relationship I know I have with God on a very real, very personal level. I have felt and seen God work in my life. God has brought me through life’s difficulties with a fortified soul. God is proving to me that he is faithful.

And because God is faithful, I have hope in dark times. I have purpose in suffering. I have meaning in life. I have an eternal future that starts today. I have joy because I know I’m forgiven for the times I mess up. I have peace in the promises to come.

Thank you, God. 


*This personal testimony was the conclusion to the "Why Believe?" series

Disciples and Followers of Christ

“Jesus said [to Thomas], ‘So, you believe because you’ve seen with your own eyes. Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.’” –John 20:29 (The Message)

In my opinion, some of the strongest evidence for the truth of Christ lies with his followers—both ancient and modern. First, we must consider Jesus’ hand-picked disciples and those who knew him while he was alive. After Jesus’ death, there would be no reason to be loyal. Some assert that his disciples faked Jesus’ resurrection. However, it is important to note that Pilate had already thought of this and had ordered that the tomb be guarded to avoid this from happening (Matthew 27).

Beyond that, however, we must also consider the cost of clinging to Christ’s miraculous resurrection and claim of divinity to his followers. Nearly all the disciples were tortured and killed for their beliefs. All early believers (and many still today) were persecuted mercilessly for their beliefs. Now, it just doesn't make any logical sense whatsoever for someone to stick to a lie on pain of torture and death. People suffer and die for truth, not for lies.

Consider how one writer explains this fact:

Let's use this analogy: Mr. X decides to invent a fantastic story in order to receive wealth and fame. The media goes hog wild and is willing to pay him for his story. But one day the government shows up at Mr. X's door, arrests him, tortures him, and threatens to kill him for his testimony. Chances are, a sane Mr. X would confess to the sham. 

Scenario B: Mr. X decides to invent a fantastic story knowing he would be met with persecution, hardship, and death. Would a sane Mr. X go through with this plot? Probably not. 

Scenario C: Mr. X, his family, his friends, and his coworkers all decide to invent a fantastic story knowing they would be tortured, imprisoned, and killed for their testimony. Does this seem plausible? Not remotely. 

The early Christian witnesses had nothing to gain and everything to lose with their testimony- many losing their property, freedom, and even their lives. A sane person may be willing to die for something they believe to be true but no one would die for something they knew was a lie.

Unlike many religions where the core beliefs hinge on the subjective experience of one spiritual leader, Christianity and its events are corroborated by many historical documents and the testimony of many people. The New Testament provides journalistic evidence from many perspectives of the events that happened before and after Christ’s death.

We are fortunate that God is sympathetic to our tendency towards doubt! Jesus didn't just appear to one or two people after his resurrection. God made sure Christ’s resurrection could be independently verified by many different sources, not just one or two individuals.

Jesus appeared 12 times todifferent group sizes ranging from just one person to 500 people: 

1) Mary Magdalene (Mark 16.9-11; John 20.11-18) 

2) The other women at the tomb (Matthew 28.8-10) 

3) Peter in Jerusalem (Luke 24.34; 1 Cor. 15.5) 

4) The two travelers on the road (Mark 16.12,13) 

5) Ten disciples behind closed doors (Mark 16.14; Luke 24.36-43; John 20.19-25) 

6) All the disciples, with Thomas (excluding Judas Iscariot) (John 20.26-31; 1 Cor. 15.5) 

7) Seven disciples while fishing (John 21.1-14) 

8) Eleven disciples on the mountain (Matthew 28.16-20) 

9) A crowd of 500 (1 Cor. 15.6) 

10) Jesus' brother James (1 Cor. 15.7) 

11) Those who watched Jesus ascend to heaven (Luke 24.44-49; Acts 1.3-8) 

12) Paul  (1 Cor. 15.8-9, Gal. 1.13-16, Acts 9.1-8, 22.9, all of chapters 22 and 26, 1 Cor. 15.10-20; Gal. 2.1-10)

I, personally, find Paul’s experience to be the most dramatic and convincing. Paul had absolutely no reason whatsoever to make up a story about Christ’s resurrection. For those unfamiliar with Paul’s story, let me just say this guy was anti-Christian. He made a great living hunting down and killing early Christians, until one day—dramatically—Jesus made an appearance (after his death) and told Paul to leave his followers alone. There is absolutely no reason why a person who is respected, supported, and well-compensated would suddenly turn around and follow the religion he’s been hell-bent on destroying! No reason unless, of course, he miraculously discovered beyond a shadow of a doubt that the religion he was persecuting was actually true!

Finally, you have the proliferation of this belief and the billions of people who claim Jesus is Lord, Son of God, Saviour of the world. Across time and culture, people are acknowledging with their hearts and minds that all of this makes sense and rings true. People give up their own lives in metaphorical and very literal ways to follow Jesus and all he stood for. People have made—and continue to make—costly sacrifices in the name of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Messiah, TRUTH.

To take this to a personal level, my next and final installment in my “Why Believe” series will be my personal testimony and the impact God and Christ have had on my life. I hope this journey through “Why Believe” has impacted you in some way. I hope that, as a believer, it has bolstered your faith and reassured you. I hope that, perhaps as an unbeliever or a doubter, that at very least this lays out where Christians are coming from in their faith; but more than that, I hope it has made you ponder your own beliefs and if this perhaps makes sense and sounds like a truth you’d like to pursue, please feel free to email me.


*This was part 6 of 7 in the "Why Believe?" series

Jesus: Fulfilled Prophesies

“…Jesus said…’Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?’” –Matthew 26:52-54

Perhaps one of the most amazing aspects in exploring Christ’s validity and divinity is the revelation of the many, extremely specific prophecies that Jesus fulfilled. These were prophesies, or predictions, made hundreds—if not thousands—of years prior to Christ’s birth!

Consider this:

“… by using the modern science of probability in reference to eight prophecies, ‘we find that the chance that any man might have lived down to the present time and fulfilled... eight prophecies is 1 in 10¹⁷."  That would be 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000.  In order to help us comprehend this staggering probability, Stoner illustrates it by supposing that "we take 10¹⁷silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas.  They will cover all of the state two feet deep.  Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state.  Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one.  What chance would he have of getting the right one?  Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man."

Stoner considers 48 prophecies and says, "We find the chance that any one man fulfilled all 48 prophecies to be 1 in 10¹⁵⁷, or 1 in 10,00,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000.” 

(Josh McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict)

Throughout the Old Testament are many references to the promised Messiah. Jesus fulfills all of the prophesies. Some of these prophesies are explored in-depth here if you are interested in reading about them in detail (including some answers to skeptic questioning), however allow me to summarize the main points:

a.       Lineage: Jesus fulfilled many prophesies in regards to his family tree and the declaration of his divinity. He was:  the Son of God, Seed of Woman, descendent of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, from the tribe of Judah, of Jesse, of David, and born to a Virgin.

b.      Geography: Jesus fulfilled many prophesies surrounding his birth and the places he would go.

c.       Ministry: Jesus fulfilled specific prophesies concerning his ministry, including the fact that a Prophet proceeds him,  his healing and parables, riding a donkey, being rejected by Jews and accepted by Gentiles

d.      Betrayal: Jesus fulfilled extremely specific prophesies regarding his betrayal including the facts that he would be betrayed by friend and for 30 pieces of silver.

e.       Suffering: Prophesies outlined that the Messiah would undergo suffering

f.       Death: Prophesies outlined that the Messiah would die a horrific death, that his blood would be spilt. 

g.       Triumph: -Jesus' rising from the dead was foretold. 

h.      Timing: -Jesus’ life and death happened at a very specific, foretold time in history.

All things considered, even to the scientific, mathematical mind, the fact that Jesus fulfilled all of these predictions is astonishing! His life was a statistical impossibility that demanded Divine Intervention! 

Just think about how often you're wrong when you call a coin toss. Your odds there are a reasonable 50/50 and the prediction you make is relatively simple! The prophesies surrounding Jesus are numerous and incredibly specific. Jesus was not some man who "slipped into" the role of Messiah. He was not some guy who gained followers through grandiose self-proclamations. Jesus was proclaimed to be Messiah by many, many people in many ways for many years preceding his death and resurrection. Jesus was foretold and a fulfillment of thousands of years' worth of Divinely inspired predictions. If that doesn't amaze you, I don't know what will!


*This was part 5 of 7 in the "Why Believe?" series

Jesus: Historicity

“Virtually all modern scholars of antiquity agree that Jesus existed” ­–Wikipedia “Historicity of Jesus” 2013

“They were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and bound themselves by a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up; after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble to partake of food--but food of an ordinary and innocent kind” (Pliny, Roman Governor, 112 A.D.)

Before deciding if Jesus was and is the Son of God, part of the Trinity, the Savior, etc. we must first come to the conclusion that Jesus did, in fact, exist. There are many historical documents from many perspectives documenting and referencing Jesus. I, personally, find the evidence to be overwhelming.

Obviously, the most detailed documentation of Jesus and his life resides in the New Testament, but for those who do not accept this as "historical" in nature, there have been many non-Christian sources in the first few centuries that referenced or alluded to Jesus and his life.

A few examples include:

Cornelius Tacitus-Roman Governor in the first century

“Christus, the founder of [Christians] was put to death by Pontius Pilate…”

Lucian of Samosata: -second century satirist

Alludes to Jesus in his scornful writings

Flavius Josephus: -first century Jewish Historian

Many direct references to Jesus, his execution, and his followers

Suetonis: -first century Roman historian

“…the Jews are making constant disturbances at the instigation of Christus…”

(Source: Evidence that Demands a Verdict, McDowell, 1979)

Even those who did not believe Jesus was the Son of God still referred to him in their historical records. They referred to him as an existing person who had a significant impact on their society. Jesus is an extremely well-documented person, considering the fact that we are gathering evidence on someone who lived 2000 years ago! As Josh McDowell cites in his book Evidence that Demands a Verdict, "Some writers may toy with the fancy of a ‘Christ-myth,’ but they do not do so on the grounds of historical evidence. The historicity of Christ is as axiomatic for an unbiased historian as the historicity of Julius Caesar.” (F.F. Bruce, p.81)

Now, for the critics out there, obviously the contention often brought up is the credibility of the historical evidence. "True" history needs to be "unbiased" to be accepted as "fact." However, every single piece of history ever recorded would need to be dismissed under that definition! History is always the perspective of a biased person recording events as they see them. I always find it amazing at how short-sighted so many people are today. Perhaps it's due to the proliferation of video and its ability to allow everyone to have an artificial "first-hand" perspective on current day "history-in-the-making", but I find that many people are highly cynical of anything they didn't see for themselves. We even have relatively modern events that are being contested (i.e. the moon landing or, in some very controversial circles, even the Holocaust is being brought into question!)

Those trying to prove and disprove Jesus through the use of history may be doing so from a biased intention. Or, as one historian states: “All history [is]..a spiral of knowledge…[an] interaction between interpreter and source material. This is true whether the would-be historian is a Christian, writing about Jesus and Paul with some sort of prior commitment to them, or a non-Christian, writing about them with the expectation that they were misguided.” (Wright, The New Testament and the People of God, p.86)

The fact of the matter is, Jesus is as "provable" a person as any other historical figure. His story is corroborated by many sources. While “...we seldom, if ever, ‘know’ enough, in terms of positive indubitable proof, to give the kind of account we want to give of any period, incident or character from the past...” (Wright, Jesus, p.8), we can rest assured that Jesus is as historically authentic as any major personality recorded in the history books. Jesus' life and death is recorded from a variety of perspectives---from the "first-hand" accounts of his closest disciples to the scornful remarks of his enemies. We know that Jesus did, indeed, walk this earth. The big question that this evidence leads us to is: Was Jesus just an important historical figure, or was he really the Son of God?


*This was part 4 of 7 in the "Why Believe?" series