I was going to close this series, but found these two clips both fascinating and personally helpful, and will lead to an edifying week. Thank you if you prayed for “What’s Next” because I know — and we begin a Summer Series next week that I feel confident will help us all.
Sunday:
1. How have you experienced the goodness of the Lord this week?
Monday: Are You Resolutely Convinced?
2. Watch all of the above video and share one thing that stood out to you?
3. What are the three elements that Keller believes must come together for faith to be solid?
4. Read Luke 24:13-35 and find the three elements in this historical account that formed the faith of the two on the road to Emmaus:
A. What intellectual evidence were they given that would have helped their faith?
B. What emotional experience did they have that would have helped their faith?
C. How did their fellowship with the other believers help their faith?
Wednesday: Your Turn
5. What are some of the intellectual reasons you believe Christianity is true? Give at least four, using Scripture as it is appropriate.
6. How has your fellowship with other believers helped you to believe Christianity is true?
7. What emotional reasons have led you to believe Christianity is true? Be specific.
Thursday: How He Strengthens our Faith
8. Watch the above and share what elements went into strengthening Keller’s faith.
9. What particularly stood out to you from the above and why?
Friday: Your Turn
10. Often, our inability to control life leads to a deepening of our faith, as it did for Keller. Share a time when you truly realized you did not control (as if we ever do) but how it led you to cry out to Him, press into Him, and how it strengthened your faith.
11. Cry out to Him now concerning an area in which you are struggling. If you don’t want to write it here, write it somewhere.
Saturday:
12. What’s your take-a-way from this week and why?
Sunday:
1. How have you experienced the goodness of the Lord this week?
—Having my son Tyce return home safely from India and to be able to come back with a good report of the work that God is doing among the Indian Church was a real blessing.
The commitment by the Indian pastors to serve God faithfully in a hostile Hindu influenced culture and government was inspiring to hear. And to see his pictures and hear his stories was encouraging.
Also the Women’s Ministry event on Saturday at our church was a good outreach and well attended. I had a number of good conversations with women there and am trusting God worked for good.
Sunday: 1. How have you experienced the goodness of the Lord this week? – knowing that I have a wonderful group of friends and my family that will immediately pray for me and any situations that I have come up is such a comfort to me. It helps me know that I don’t have to face my trials by myself. I know God has placed each person in my life to walk along the path God has me on right now. When I told some friends that Joe’s PSA level has jumped up 2 points since February, they immediately sent a prayer back, said they would be praying and asked if they could add him to prayer lists. These are true blessings from God.
Sunday:
1. How have you experienced the goodness of the Lord this week?
As we approach the anniversary of our granddaughter’s home going, my son wrote a poem in her memory. His poem is a testimony to our great God and his bigger plan for us in eternity. Even as our hearts are broken at our loss, we are hopeful for eternity in Christ.
Oh, Chris, homegoing anniversaries for our loved ones are bittersweet. Your son’s poem will be a treasure. This is so true: ” Even as our hearts are broken at our loss, we are hopeful for eternity in Christ.”
After listening to this first clip of TK and his 3 necessary elements to our faith, I realize that in our loss of our granddaughter, for instance, when I am struggling with grief so deep that I am about to despair, it is then that someone else’s faith might lift me up from that pit (as my son’s poem did.) It reminds me of the Pilgrim’s Progress story of Christian and his journey to the Celestial City. All along the way, there are snares, traps, and pits to fall into as the great dragon, Apollyon, and plain old sin, lure Christian off the path, but his friends come along and bring him back to the narrow way that leads to the King. Community is key to our faith-we must live in community and share our faith. I’ll never forget when my grandmother passed away at 100, and my uncle said to me as I was going to speak at her funeral, something like, I hope you’re not going to talk about God because we aren’t like that. He knew of my faith and I did not bow to his wishes. I saw my grandmother’s faith, even though she did not speak very openly about it. She shared bits and pieces of it with me and I knew her faith to be real. I shared the gospel that day, as much for me as for others there. This is how our faith grows, by encouraging one another in our faith, and reminding each one of the gospel daily.
Thank you Chris. I needed to hear this, this morning. I am struggling tremendously now. It’s not that I am losing faith, just don’t know how to get myself out of a few situations, or anxious about how things will pan out in the next couple of weeks. I am trying so hard to lean into Him for support. It will surely be a miracle getting through! Thank You Lord for being my wingman! Thank You Chris, for reminding me how important it is to help each other keep our focus on what is important.
Sunday:
1. How have you experienced the goodness of the Lord this week?
I met with a lovely 18-year-old member of our church to develop a schedule for the nursery for the summer. Avery just graduated from high school, and she is moving out of state to go to college. She offered to help this summer at church, and I jumped at the opportunity to get her involved with the children’s and youth ministry while she is still in town. I asked for her ideas, and she volunteered to coordinate the nursery schedule instead of me doing it! Wow-I wasn’t expecting that! Moreover, she told me she would be glad to get our youth together for some fun activities.
I have been praying for other members of our church to step up and volunteer, and I saw God’s goodness in this answered prayer through Avery this week.
Bing, How sweet to have volunteer help to come forward and cover a need and lighten your load a bit. Having been part of two church plants and what it is like functioning in a smaller church setting I know what that is like. God bless Avery!💕
Thank you, ladies, for your encouragement. I was greatly surprised at Avery’s offer; a reminder for me that God hears our prayers. Without a doubt, He is at work. I think of Ephesians 3:20-21. Avery wasn’t on my radar at all.
Monday: Are You Resolutely Convinced?
2. Watch all of the above video and share one thing that stood out to you? His first comment, more so than ever, he believes Christianity to be true. Our faith is a growing process. Also,I did not know that most of the rest of the world does not have a hard time with Jesus being the only way to heaven, interesting. Also, his convincing comment at the end of being willing to take a bullet for his faith right there and then. That is resolutely convincing proof of faith.
3. What are the three elements that Keller believes must come together for faith to be solid? Intellectual, personal, social. This makes sense to me.
1. How have you experienced the goodness of the Lord this week?
I think I experienced God with his peace in my life. A methodical week, where things were accomplished and life droned on with musical measure. He is in all that we do.
Incidentally, I have been a bit down. I posed the church question with my professor and he came back with his “following” is the world. Of course it would be! He’s a volcanologist. Now to respond. These lessons are helping me so much. I can wait to hear TK this morning! It is all so timely.
Yay, Laura, for being bold and asking the professor! Praying for the Lord to lead your response through the Holy Spirit. Also, I love when we can see his presence even in the methodical aspects of life.
Laura,
I am pretty much right brained but I see the beauty of how you function well in both sides of your brain. You remind me of my youngest daughter who is an accomplished pianist. That musical bent and your comment “life droned on with musical measure” and your insight that “He is in all that we do.” I pray that He will give you a greater measure of joy by his presence in your life this summer as you break from the school routine. I sense you have been emotionally and physically tired. Both which make you vulnerable to being a bit down.
Monday:
Are You Resolutely Convinced?
2. Watch all of the above video and share one thing that stood out to you?
—His comments about every culture has a different set of objections to Christianity. It reminded me of past discussions we had on how the culture we witness to about the Gospel will dictate to some degree how we witness to that culture. It requires us to address their particular objections with an understanding of where they are coming from. I think in particular of the challenge we have today in dealing with the concept of truth and the false assumption that everyone has to find their own truth. Where we as Christians know there is only one Truth and that is the Person of Jesus Christ.
I was impressed by the fact that Keller was resolute in his answer to the interviewer not just that he was convinced but so much so that he would die for it.
3. What are the three elements that Keller believes must come together for faith to be solid?
Intellectual
Wrestling with the concepts of Christianity intellectually.
Personal
Seeing your own weakness and neediness.
Socially
Seeing a group of people who are Christians that you have respect for and becoming part of that.
I loved seeing his confidence too. In one interview shortly before he died he said that he and Kathy were thankful for the cancer for where it had taken them with the Lord.
2. Watch all of the above video and share one thing that stood out to you?
That Keller is so convinced Christianity is true, he’d be happy to die/take bullet right there.
3. What are the three elements that Keller believes must come together for faith to be solid?
Intellectual – wrestling with different objectives to Christianity.
Personal – you need something besides your own power to get through life.
Social – being in a community of Christians you have respect for.
2. Watch all of the above video and share one thing that stood out to you?
Keller gives three tenets that must prevail to be able to accept Christianity being true. I wonder…can’t you just believe? Child like faith? I know he is talking to the educational elite, but I don’t think I need the things he attested to in the video to believe it is real. Just sayin’ 🤷🏻♀️.
3. What are the three elements that Keller believes must come together for faith to be solid?
I see your point, Laura. But without realizing it, I think even a child has the bud of those elements and maturity comes as those elements grow.
I know, for example, so many who claim to be Christians, and perhaps are but they are not involved with Christian fellowship in church or even deeply with friendship, and I also don’t see the growing. Or they think of it more in terms of a certain kind of morality instead of a personal relationship.
I do believe Keller is not just speaking to the educational elite, but to everyone. Keller says he believed from the beginning of his walk, but his faith has become solid through these other elements. We are relational creatures and we depend upon one another in every aspect of life. We were created this way and when our faith is tested through the many hardships in life, it is then that these tenets strengthen our faith. Does that make sense?
I suppose I see what you’re saying. I guess I was just saying that to believe it’s true, I don’t need the relational or the cultural. I can believe in Christianity because I believe in the Bible. For example, I have acquaintances at church, but I don’t have any deep friendships. I’m involved in church and I care about my church, however. But, that doesn’t help me believe in Christianity any more than I already do.
Tuesday: Considering the First Believers
4. Read Luke 24:13-35 and find the three elements in this historical account that formed the faith of the two on the road to Emmaus:
A. What intellectual evidence were they given that would have helped their faith?
—Jesus himself took them back through the writings from Scripture to think about and explained to them what would happen to the Messiah and all the things concerning Himself.
B. What emotional experience did they have that would have helped their faith?
—Their hearts burned within themselves as he was explaining the Scripture to them and they begged Him to stay. Then He revealed himself and they saw for themselves it was Jesus. They were so stirred in their hearts and minds they couldn’t even wait til morning to go back and be with the other disciples.
C. How did their fellowship with the other believers help their faith?
—They felt compelled to regather with the other disciples and affirm that they had seen Jesus. And when back together found out that Jesus had appeared to Peter as well. Coming together and sharing about Jesus was what drew them to each other. He was the bond the had. Jesus is the reason Christians gather. He is the reason we come together on this blog and are encouraged by one another. 💕
Monday: Are You Resolutely Convinced?
1. Watch all of the above video and share one thing that stood out to you?
That he is so resolutely convinced that Christianity is true and more so than ever, that he is willing to take a bullet for it.
3. What are the three elements that Keller believes must come together for faith to be solid?
Reasonable Intellectual aspect- you wrestle intellectually and realize that every culture has a different set of objections to the claim of Christianity, that there is only one way to God.
Personal resonance – you have to acknowledge that you need something beyond your power to navigate this life; to be able to see your weaknesses, your own feet of clay.
Socially, you have to see a group of Christians and a community that you want to be a part of, and have respect for them.
Tuesday: Considering the First Believers
Prepare your heart with this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIeFirvD7-I
I love this, Dee! I have not heard this before.
“Seen too much to deny, too much to say goodbye.”
Where else can I go but to you?
4. Read Luke 24:13-35 and find the three elements in this historical account that formed the faith of the two on the road to Emmaus:
A. What intellectual evidence were they given that would have helped their faith?
The two were intellectually wrestling while they were talking to each other. They were collating pieces of evidence themselves they had seen, what they had heard, Jesus’ death through crucifixion, and what they heard from the women and what their companions said when the latter went to the tomb. Then Jesus retold the scriptures and the prophecies. I thought it was interesting how Jesus used the question in vs. 23, “Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” I felt that was a prompt to their memory.
B. What emotional experience did they have that would have helped their faith?
Their hearts were burning within them when Jesus “opened the Scriptures” to them while they were on the road.
C. How did their fellowship with the other believers help their faith?
They were able to put their stories together and agree that what they have seen, heard, and experienced is true!
I am looking forward to reading our answers to tomorrow’s questions! Oh, what joy to be resolutely confident in the gospel!
Dee, I agree with you. Peterson feeds my soul as well. His composition speaks of God’s anointing, and I think one of the reasons is that the lyrics are from the Bible. To somebody like me who expects rhyme in songs and a certain beat, his words are creative, and the rhythm, pleasantly surprising and beautiful.
4. Read Luke 24:13-35 and find the three elements in this historical account that formed the faith of the two on the road to Emmaus:
A. What intellectual evidence were they given that would have helped their faith?
They saw the miracles Jesus did, saw Him crucified (yet they were wrestling whether He was the Messiah), women followers of Jesus in their group gave them the amazing report that His body was missing, had seen angels and told them Jesus was alive! Then some of their men ran out and confirmed what the women told them. Their eyes were suddenly opened and they recognized Jesus after He took the bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to them.
B. What emotional experience did they have that would have helped their faith?
Their hearts burned within them as Jesus talked to them on the road to Emmaus.
I liked this from David Guzik… ”Neither of them knew the other’s heart burned until after Jesus left. After that, they could have a fellowship of flaming hearts together. One reason Jesus left was so that they would love one another, and minister to one another.”
C. How did their fellowship with the other believers help their faith?
They gathered together and shared their experiences of seeing Jesus.
I liked this from David Guzik… ”Neither of them knew the other’s heart burned until after Jesus left. After that, they could have a fellowship of flaming hearts together. One reason Jesus left was so that they would love one another, and minister to one another.”
Sharon, I love Guzik’s quote, too. “Fellowship of flaming hearts”-wow! This blog has that kind of fellowship. Kind of like, “you, too?” (Another Keller quip, I believe.)
I’m not sure I am understanding what to write here. 4. Read Luke 24:13-35 and find the three elements in this historical account that formed the faith of the two on the road to Emmaus: A. What intellectual evidence were they given that would have helped their faith?
They had the teachings of the prophets and Moses to which they could refer to know about Jesus.
B. What emotional experience did they have that would have helped their faith?
They witnessed the events that led up to the crucifixion. They had eyewitness accounts from their peers at the tomb. His body was gone and angels told them He was alive.
They had their own account of eating with Him that day. Their hearts burned as they walked and talked to Him.
C. How did their fellowship with the other believers help their faith?
They gathered with the disciples to eat and tell their story. They heard that Jesus had appeared to Peter. Is this a separate account from the two on the road who saw Jesus?
Laura — I’m going to pray for some Christian friends for you right where you live. I’m so glad we have you here, but you carry so much, I know fellowship would help you where you are. I really can’t imagine doing all you are doing without that kind of support.
Father, You know Laura’s needs and exactly how to give her more support. I ask that You would provide that for her.
5. What are some of the intellectual reasons you believe Christianity is true? Give at least four, using Scripture as it is appropriate.
Jesus is referred to over and over in the OT.
“Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot— yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.”
Isaiah 11:1 NLT
Jesus was a man who lived with the disciples.
“Soon afterward Jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and villages, preaching and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom of God. He took his twelve disciples with him,”
Luke 8:1 NLT
There are eyewitness accounts of His miracles and crucifixion.
“And immediately, as everyone watched, the man jumped up, picked up his mat, and went home praising God.”
Luke 5:25 NLT
“But Jesus’ friends, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching.”
Luke 23:49 NLT
The faith is still prominent even today! The Bible is the most sold book, every year in modern times! People still believe after all this time.
6. How has your fellowship with other believers helped you to believe Christianity is true?
I have spent many hours over many years here, with believers, on this blog, studying the Bible and learning things that I would have not known without your/their help. The women here are so knowledgeable and faithful that it resonates with others, including myself. Being with others who are like minded stretch us and test our faith.
7. What emotional reasons have led you to believe Christianity is true? Be specific.
When I am lost, depressed, unsure, scared, I ask God for help and He comes to my rescue! It amazes me every time. I love kisses from the King! On Monday, I was setting up a complicated lab for a couple of classes. It takes time to gather all the materials, make copies (when the copier is broken and you have to find another machine…2 more are out of order as well!), etc. I was still not ready but had to teach another (different class). I thought I could manage, as the other class worked, to pull it off. Well, little did I realize, but it ended up being “senior skip day,” which meant I only had 5 students for class, and I allowed them to complete a project while I kept working on the lab! It all worked out so well, it had to be Him! Thank You Lord. I need you now, close, for the next week and a half as I try my best to finish the school year well. Lots going on!
I see your giving the Lord credit as evidence of your faith and praise Him for his work in our lives, which to us often seems to be in the nick of time, but for Him is perfect timing!
Laura, I was so blessed by your articulate answers to question 5. I really need people with a mind like yours to lay it out well for me. also delighted to see how God answered your prayers.
I so relate to what you shared on question 7! The copier is not working. check. lol Isn’t it wonderful when God gives us some relief when least expected? I totally get this one!
Tuesday: Considering the First Believers
Prepare your heart with this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIeFirvD7-I
4. Read Luke 24:13-35 and find the three elements in this historical account that formed the faith of the two on the road to Emmaus:
A. What intellectual evidence were they given that would have helped their faith? Jesus spoke (verse 27) to them about the prophecies he fulfilled even as they were questioning whether or not he was the Messiah! So cool. I love this story.
B. What emotional experience did they have that would have helped their faith? There hearts burned within them (verse 32).
C. How did their fellowship with the other believers help their faith? I love how the scripture says in verse 28 that Jesus “acted as if were going farther.” Did he want to see if they would ask him to stay? They did ask and it was at the meal that their eyes were opened. AND THEN, he vanishes from their sight! This is amazing. They were so moved that at that same hour they left for Jerusalem, found the eleven and others and spoke that famous Easter greeting, “The Lord has risen indeed!” Their witness to one another about seeing Jesus and his witness to them all works to build faith in what has happened. This is no ordinary earthly event!
Wednesday: Your Turn
5. What are some of the intellectual reasons you believe Christianity is true? Give at least four, using Scripture as it is appropriate.
I’m with Laura here in that I have never felt like I needed the intellectual reasons to believe, though there are many that I find fascinating.
1. The many prophecies fulfilled in scripture: Isaiah 7:14 “the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son…”-Matthew 1:18-23 “…the birth of Jesus…”
2. The genealogies traced through the Bible that trace God’s people as far back as the beginning. It is a demonstration of God’s faithfulness. I especially love the genealogy of Christ in Matthew chapter 1, and I love Poor Bishop Hooper’s song about it.
3. I love how Christ can be found throughout scripture. I love John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Also, Isaiah 50, which I am studying in depth for the first time with our small group. Verse 7 “Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.” Such a great verse showing God’s faithfulness.
4. Archeological evidence of the accuracy of the Bible: there are many discoveries which have provided valuable support for the historical context and reliability of the Bible. One of the most famous being the Dead Sea Scrolls which date back to the second century BC and contain fragments of various biblical texts and a complete Isaiah scroll.
6. How has your fellowship with other believers helped you to believe Christianity is true? This is probably most important to me. I first came to believe at a VBS when I was probably only five years old. This was child like faith. Growing up in a home that did not go to church, pray or sing to the Lord, my faith was stilted until I became a teenager and began going to Young Life. After getting a New Testament at a Young Life camp where I prayed the “sinner’s prayer”, my faith truly began. I shared my faith with my siblings immediately after camp and began praying before meals and reading my bible. After meeting my husband in high school and we began dating regularly, he invited me to church. My faith definitely grew more being in relationship with other believers. I see all of this as evidence of growing belief in the validity of my faith. The true tests of my faith have come in facing tests like health challenges, identity crises, death of babies, and more. These times always push me to the Word and to other believers and I admit to questioning is this all really true? The thought might have been fleeting or at times more deep, but the need to affirm the validity of my faith has come up and I must say that other Christian’s have been a huge factor in affirming my faith through prayer, kindness and faithful friendship always pointing me back to Christ.
7. What emotional reasons have led you to believe Christianity is true? Be specific. Hmm. I have needed to think about this. I’m not exactly sure. I feel like this is one area where I feel doubt in my faith. In past studies, where there has been mention of changes in a person due to faith, like joy or security in the future, that sort of thing, I have wondered, is my faith doing that for me? Is my faith real? Especially, in seasons of difficulty where depression or deep grief set in. I have a very clear picture of a time shortly after my experience at camp when I remember my thinking had changed from before I believed. I had a new sense of who I was in Christ and who I was before and felt very good about that. Over the years, I believe the enemy has tried to deter that clarity by speaking doubts into my life. I think this is why I like the verse in Nahum 1:7 so much. I struggle to believe that the Lord really loves ME. That his work on the cross really covers MY sin. What Keller has taught us about has really helped when he says regarding the why of suffering we face on earth and how it is NOT that he doesn’t love us, because look what he suffered on the cross, for us. This is the biggest emotional reason I believe Christianity to be true. The other is rather sad, but beautiful at the same time. At the graveside of both of our grandchildren we lost, we sang as a family at the end of the service before burial. For Lucy, when her life support was turned off we sang “All Creatures of our God and King” and then at graveside, another song I sadly can’t remember the title of now, and for Malachi, we sang the doxology. I cannot explain the beauty of everyone lifting their voices to the Lord in that deep moment of grief. I am sure, if we could see them, angels were there joining us in praising God. Moments like this are so poignant, like the disciples describe their hearts burning. It can be nothing but the Lord working. There can be no other explanation for praising God in such a trial.
Chris, tears. I will never understand why my dad had to die when I was 12, and then other sad points in my life that just don’t make any sense. I have always had the feeling that everyone has their “thing,” and those were mine. I remember Job mainly, that he never knew why, but he always kept his faith. I have never understood the song phrase from Blessed be the Lord “…He gives and takes away…” I agree that Keller made it clearer for me when he described how Jesus suffered too. I also remember how Adam and Eve sinned and made it impossible for us to live with God.
With my dad dying, God spoke to me and said, “Don’t worry, I will always be your Father.” I heard it in my mind as I stood at my dad’s hospital bed. It was a man’s voice inside my head. It wasn’t my voice (thinking)! I didn’t know what/who it was, and it took a very long time for it to sink in, but I knew it was God. Something made me know. I have clung to that my entire life. He is real, He loves me, and He will always be there to take care of me.
Oh wow. I love that you heard the Lord in your head as a young girl experiencing such a huge loss. That you have been able to hold onto that all your life, knowing it was Him. This makes me feel that burning in my heart that the Lord is good. He is so good to us. May he continue to reveal himself to you. You might like to read the poem my son wrote. I will try to put it in our Facebook page.
Wednesday: Your Turn
5. What are some of the intellectual reasons you believe Christianity is true? Give at least four, using Scripture as it is appropriate.
—For me it is tied to God’s Word, the Scriptures. I was taught the Bible as a child and as an adult continued to attend church and hear it taught by preachers from the pulpit and by teachers in Sunday School Classes as well as consistently being in Bible studies. My thinking has consistently been challenged to consider if Christianity is true based on the Bible.
Another reason would be the influence reading books have had on my life.
Books that challenged and encouraged me in my Christian walk. Great biographies of Christians who have come to Christ and lived their lives for Jesus impacted my thinking. A particular example of someone I read about in my early twenties was “The Hiding Place” of Corrie Ten Boom’s story. It left an indelible impression on my thinking about Christianity.
In the more recent years I have enjoyed discussions and research on theological issues which have challenged my thinking as to whether what I thought I believed about Christianity was biblically sound or not. As a result I solidified much of my thinking about God and his Word.
Today we have many resources readily available to explore and examine regarding Christianity. But You are right in asking for Scripture because it all has to be anchored there.
I think of these verses. “You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”
2 Timothy 3:15-17 NLT
6. How has your fellowship with other believers helped you to believe Christianity is true?
—Being part of a church, the corporate body of believers for most of my life has been an important element of seeing Christianity practiced in life and in the world. It has been the source of some of the deepest joys and also the deepest heartaches I have had in life but when it has all shaken out I find that the church has been a major source of sweet fellowship that has encouraged me in my walk in living the Christian life. Seeing many other faithful saints live their lives for Jesus through hard trials and still give voice to their salvation and their faith in God has inspired and given me cause to remain true to my faith as well. Seeing lives genuinely changed that have stood the test of time gives a very strong voice to the claims of Christianity.
7. What emotional reasons have led you to believe Christianity is true? Be specific.
—I have experienced very real deep joys in my Christian walk. Seeing family members and friends come to accept Jesus and watch their lives change deepens the hope we share in what Jesus did on the Cross for us. The other thing would be the peace I have experienced in times of heart ache and trouble that can only be explained by the presence of the Lord. You can’t observe the deep works of God and experience His presence and not have the core of your being touched emotionally. At some point in life all the godly men I know have revealed their tears and their emotions in some way. I don’t include women in that statement because we are just naturally more emotional. True Christianity doesn’t harden people. It does the opposite and softens them. I believe that is the work of repentance.
Wednesday: Your Turn
5. What are some of the intellectual reasons you believe Christianity is true? Give at least four, using Scripture as it is appropriate.
This is the hardest of the questions for me to answer. I go back to the song when I was a child, “God said it, and I believe it,” Yet I also realize the implications of I Peter 3:15: ‘ But in your hearts set Christ apart [as holy—acknowledging Him, giving Him first place in your lives] as Lord. Always be ready to give a [logical] defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope and confident assurance [elicited by faith] that is within you, yet [do it] with gentleness and respect.” Amplified Version Bible I also believe that I should benefit from the satisfaction of mind (intellectual), body (social), and spirit (emotional/personal) in what I believe about Christianity. I realize there are many verses that speak to this, but I thought about the book of Romans.
A, The unity of the books of the Bible and its infallibility Romans 1:3-6 …the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him, we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
B. CreationRomans 1:20 …for since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
C. Historical pieces of evidence like the Dead Sea Scrolls… I have listened to the Our Daily Bread ministries in the past, exploring the 7 churches in Revelation, and did the study of Revelation by Bible Study Fellowship since September of last year. I also remember studying it here. The Book of Revelation has helped me intellectually.
D. My awareness of my sin and its penalty, and God’s rescue through Jesus Christ
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God; Romans 6:23 for the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ Romans 5:8 …But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
May I add the following: (and would this be under personal reason?)
As a classroom instructor, all that I have learned and passed on to my students about Human Anatomy and Physiology points to a Great Designer.
I love how the Lord speaks to each of us uniquely through the word. I love how you denote the 3 reasons as mind, body and spirit, as we are 3 dimensional creatures, even as God is a trinity, which is so interesting. What a depth there is to the way the Lord uses the scriptures in our lives. Such a rich book, Romans is, and you found all you needed right there. And isn’t it true that believers can have a sense of knowing someone with their common connection of faith, when that person might be very little known to them. There is a comfort in that sense of common faith and being able to worship anywhere around the world and find that common thread.
5. What are some of the intellectual reasons you believe Christianity is true? Give at least four, using Scripture as it is appropriate.
1. It starts in Genesis for me. Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” I look at all the creation around me and I know that it just didn’t happen. It’s proof to me that there is a Creator and according to the Bible, He’s God! This also continues in Roman 1:20, “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature.”
2. The Old Testament prophecies of the birth of Christ…Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7:14; 9:6; Micah 5:2; Hosea 11:1 and many more, over 300!
3. The Old Testament prophecies of His death and resurrection…Psalm 22.
4. The lives I have seen changed after becoming a Christian. 2 Corinthians 5:17.
6. How has your fellowship with other believers helped you to believe Christianity is true?
It has helped me by being challenged, digging in for the answers myself and sharing what I learn. I will admit that right now the only fellowship that I’m immersed in with other believers is this blog and a Bible study over zoom.
7. What emotional reasons have led you to believe Christianity is true? Be specific.
Feeling His presence and loving arms wrapped around me after the loss of our son. His promise is true…”Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; He will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Deuteronomy 31:8
Absolutely, changed lives! I love your reasons as well Sharon. His comfort in loss is so rich and important. How would do some survive it without? Not well, I’m afraid. Praise God for his plan of salvation.
Bev Jensen
June 5, 2025
Sharon I love that you started with the fact of your intellectual basis for belief being Genesis 1:1. “ In the beginning God……” That is the bedrock of the Christian faith.
6. How has your fellowship with other believers helped you to believe Christianity is true?
There is no human explanation of the “drastic” changes that I see in people when they commit themselves to God. When we were in the Philippines, we saw young people change from shyness to boldness for Christ, one older man from being an alcoholic and womanizer to a godly husband and father, a whole family coming to Christ-all a result of love shown to them by Christians. All of these happened right before our very eyes as we share in fellowship, whether at church or other outside settings. Christians reached out to me when I was in need without strings attached and loving me through the sorrows and pains of life in general.
7. What emotional reasons have led you to believe Christianity is true? Be specific.
That God knew me personally and had chosen me, and had a purpose for my life when I was floundering regarding my future. Jeremiah 29:11
Many answered prayers that are beyond my asking or imagination, Ephesians 3:20
An ongoing awareness through the years that He has not left me nor forsaken me. Hebrews 13:5-6 and Deuteronomy 31:8
I love your stories, Bing. I believe it is so important to record these sightings of God in our lives and those we love, as we are so apt to forget the great work he has done. In only one generation, my family fell away from the Lord for a time, and I fear this is so common. We must continue to recount the miracles we see here on earth to reaffirm our faith and pass that on to our children. The word needs to be first and foremost read daily and encouraged in our homes, and speaking about our faith as we go about our day. I love that these memories of genuine faith in others stand out to you, including the “ongoing awareness” you have of his presence.
8. Watch the above and share what elements went into strengthening Keller’s faith.
Faith and peace helped to strengthen his faith more.
9. What particularly stood out to you from the above and why?
He read a book about the reason for the resurrection that helped him know it was true. it was 800 pages! How could this author (NT Wright) have so much to say about this topic? Side note, I have appreciated NT Wright on the YouVersion Bible app. He has done the daily devotional at times.
Prayer request from Dee: I’m working with my website people on zoom at 11 for I’ve had troubles with this platform and it has been both frustrating and expensive. Laura alerted me a few weeks ago early Sunday morning because the lettering had gone completely wonky.
Please join me in praying:
May Josh be able to clearly explain the problem to me, and may we find a lasting solution. Please help me to be a wise steward of the money and time you have given me, and for us to be able to continue here if this is Your will. I do thank for both this way of communicating, and the dear fellowship we have here.
Dear Jesus, thank You for bringing us together here to learn and know You better with Dee’s guidance Please help Dee and her team figure out the problem with the website. I personally have struggled so much over the years and these ladies and this platform have helped me more than anything. Dees ministry stretches far and wide with this blog and, Lord, who knows who else is like me out there? Please help us now! Thank You Lord. Amen.
Thank you all for your prayers. I did get help — we don’t understand it entirely, but I have some new ways to overcome problems — so I do appreciate your prayers and will soldier on!
Thursday:
8. Watch the above and share what elements went into strengthening Keller’s faith. The intellectual, personal, and emotional. When he went through thyroid cancer and read this book about the resurrection, this really impacted his faith and removed doubts he didn’t know he had.
9. What particularly stood out to you from the above and why? The idea that faith, reason and doubt are intermingled is great and so true in my life. Also, the idea of having doubts that you didn’t know were there. And then having those doubts removed as TK did by reading this book and going through thyroid cancer. For me personally, losing my sexuality created a real identity crisis. It caused me to look at everything in a different light. It made me realize how important relationships are to me and who I am in those relationships versus who God is and how important he is. It’s really something to have that experience. I can’t possibly explain it in a way to help you understand as there is nothing like it and until you have lost a part of your identity, you cannot know. I can only say this, I had been going through life thinking I was comfortable in my faith and prepared for anything, until this loss. And then I realized how much pain this loss really caused and how important this really had been in my life. A similar experience when my daughter was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder and her very life was threatened and I just cried out, “Lord, please, not my Madeline!”, realizing in that moment, I cared more for my relationship with my daughter than the Lord’s great plan for her. As Christian’s sometimes we very gallantly say our children are only loaned to us and are a gift from the Lord, when really we believe they are truly ours and we shall have the final say. There are many other instances the Lord has brought me through very recently, where he has shown me, He is Lord, in every aspect of my life. I am sure there is more to be revealed, as I hang on quite tight to my self-centeredness. I do praise him this week for a liver scan showing my daughter, Madeline has no abnormalities, when only 2 years ago, the doctor was discussing a future liver transplant due to her disease. What a miracle he has worked in her health and I do not pass over this lightly, saying the doctors and treatments have worked, as many suffer with this disease their whole lives. I praise Him and pray this continues for her.
Chris, your testimony speaks to your growing faith and of God’s faithfulness to you. We do well to recognize as you said “He is Lord, in every aspect of my life.“.
Chris — thanks for sharing here. I understand “Lord, please, not my Madeline!” I’ve uttered that with my Sally, and my Johnny. I don’t understand what losing your sexuality means, and I don’t have to understand, but I do pray God will meet you so you can find your identity in Him, as we all so desperately need to do.
8. Watch the above and share what elements went into strengthening Keller’s faith.
—For him reading an extensively theological 800 page book written by NT Wright culminated in his being convinced again of what he already believed to be true about Christianity. That the Resurrection of Jesus really did happen and that it really was true. He was even more convinced of the truth of it even though he had already believed it.
9. What particularly stood out to you from the above and why?
—These comments he made at the very end of the clip stood out to me. “Faith, reason and doubt are mixed up.
Faith takes more reason to believe. Having more reason to believe causes more faith.”
He said there are still doubts in his life but he has more peace too.
That all speaks to me that just like a Tim Keller who sat and read an 800 page tome written by a world class biblical scholar was still growing in his faith.
We can and should never stop plumbing the depths of the knowledge of God and growing in our faith.
Friday: Your Turn
10. Often, our inability to control life leads to a deepening of our faith, as it did for Keller. Share a time when you truly realized you did not control (as if we ever do) but how it led you to cry out to Him, press into Him, and how it strengthened your faith. Oops. I answered this in question 9.
11. Cry out to Him now concerning an area in which you are struggling. If you don’t want to write it here, write it somewhere. Lord, you know my health struggles with my thyroid make my days challenging. Not knowing how much energy I will have and feeling so limited in what I am able to accomplish. I praise you in knowing that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I thank you for providing all that I need. Show me Lord what you would have me do today. Forgive me for feeling discouraged, as you call me to be of good courage. Give me your strength for the tasks in my day and help me to praise you in everything and see your way that is higher.
Friday: Your Turn
10. Often, our inability to control life leads to a deepening of our faith, as it did for Keller. Share a time when you truly realized you did not control (as if we ever do) but how it led you to cry out to Him, press into Him, and how it strengthened your faith.
—I have shared here about my daughter in-law’s accident a little over a year ago and that was a powerful experience of crying out to God and his working in a miraculous way which truly deepened my faith in my God. But another very significant time in my life was about 10 years ago when my only sister had a major health crises. My sister is my most trusted confidant and friend. She is an amazingly godly woman and the sweetest of persons loved by many. She had suffered with a serious condition that had caused diverticulitis over a number of years and as a result her colon was very damaged and she was having episodes of severe bleeding. My mother and I had gone to the hospital to visit her and while there she had gotten up to use the bathroom when she collapsed onto the floor and was bleeding out. Within minutes her room was filled with about a dozen medical staff who went into emergency life saving procedures to actually hand pump blood back into her and then got her prepared and on a helicopter from Kearney to Omaha within a very short amount of time. I knew my sister was dying and I was crying out in prayer. In those moments I told God if He was going to take her home I was willing to trust Him but actually saying I would give her up was painfully hard to do. At that same time she had an experience with God’s presence that has left her with a complete peace and trust in God that she can’t refrain from sharing whenever God gives her opportunity. While the medical staff was working with her she told God if it was her time to die she was ready go with Him and was submitted to his will. In those moments she experienced a peace that truly transcended anything like she had ever known. It flooded through her body and she was completely at rest actually delighted at going to be with Him. From that encounter she to this day exudes a joy about life and her relationship with her Savior that glows from her personality. She can’t share her story without the emotion of tears but you can’t hear it without knowing how real it was. Actually I don’t even do it justice trying to relate it here to you. But God in his providence kept her here and continues to use her life as a strong testimony for Jesus to her children, grandchildren, our family and in her small community. And in that time I cried out, I pressed in and my faith was definitely deepened in my wonderful Father.
11. Cry out to Him now concerning an area in which you are struggling. If you don’t want to write it here, write it somewhere.
I had this thought this morning in regard to crying out to God.
I so often want God to do things for me rather than at times needing to acknowledge He is just with me in the midst of of trials, troubles, pain and suffering. My faith is challenged in that I say with my lips that God is enough but do I really believe in my heart that his presence alone is enough even when I don’t see him working?
I have been crying out to Him over the past months for my dearest friend Lynda. She continues to have serious struggles with a condition called pseudo gout and UTIs. Her levels of pain have been excruciating and I so long for God to bring healing and relief.
This week I have taken her to our local hospital daily for an antibiotic infusion. It has given us opportunity to sit and talk together which blesses us both. There is so much to her life’s story but she and I both cling to God here at the end of life with a bit of a sense of where else can we go but to Him trusting that His presence is enough. We cry out, press into Him and our faith is deepened.
Bev, such beautiful stories of faith and friendship. If I could choose a lifelong friend, it would be you. Praise God for your sister’s lovely testimony and how it is being used. What a beautiful friend and support you have been to dear Lynda. Prayers for you both to sense a real presence of the Lord and of course healing for her. May the Lord bless you and keep you in this challenging time.
10. Often, our inability to control life leads to a deepening of our faith, as it did for Keller. Share a time when you truly realized you did not control (as if we ever do) but how it led you to cry out to Him, press into Him, and how it strengthened your faith.
Wow…has this happened to me a few times? Absolutely! The best example is when our teenage son went off the rails for a few years. I have mentioned it before here. Totally God, not me, that has turned him around. He even said, recently, that he is becoming more “spiritual.” I hope that means God and not some idol or other “religion.” Prayers for sure!
And then, of course, our daughter and her life. We are in the midst of it every moment. Definitely a different season than we could imagine. It’s difficult, often. I know I am totally out of control and just hanging on knowing He is in charge.
Thursday: How He Strengthens our Faith
8. Watch the above and share what elements went into strengthening Keller’s faith. “Did I believe in the resurrection, the Trinity? Sure.” Reading through the 800-page book by N.T. Wright, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, while he was recovering from thyroid cancer. The birth of Christian history is through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Certainty that there was a resurrection sank “three more floors”, which brought him to read the Bible. Tim not realizing he was conflicted until he was conflicted—the coming together of the head and heart.
Faith, reason, and doubt are mixed up. The more reasons to believe, the more faith I have. Were there doubts, yes; there were.
9. What particularly stood out to you from the above and why?
We can have doubts and still experience God’s peace. The humility of Tim Keller to acknowledge that after having a “bigger” faith now, he still has “a way to go”!. That is very helpful to me. Keep believing even when doubts arise.
Friday: Your Turn
10. Often, our inability to control life leads to a deepening of our faith, as it did for Keller. Share a time when you truly realized you did not control (as if we ever do), but how it led you to cry out to Him, press into Him, and how it strengthened your faith.
My pastor/husband and I have been praying for a younger pastor to take his place this year for health and practical reasons. Although we had a particular person in mind, we kept our hands and hearts open to His leading. In March, this person declined the offer. What now, Lord? We were disappointed to some degree. My mind conjured several negative situations that could arise. I had a few sleepless nights, but God kept reminding me to trust Him. My designated (hah) date for a resolution is coming up, or maybe has come up already (?). Despite the angst that I feel, my mind continues to see His hand at work, providing for our church in ways that I was not expecting. He has given me peace. Our studies here on hard questions have helped strengthen my faith. These are bigger questions on suffering, hell, sexuality, and Christianity, the answers to which are related to His rule and sovereignty. I tell myself the things that concern me are as valuable to Him, and He rules over them as well.
11. Cry out to Him now concerning an area in which you are struggling. If you don’t want to write it here, write it somewhere.
Lord, help me to wait on you, and not to get ahead of your plans. Help me to go with your flow and enjoy the moments of holding on to your capable hands, and that nothing can thwart your plans, including my maneuverings! May the words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14 You know what is best for Richard and me, and for our church. Place your covering upon us, and may the boundary lines fall in pleasant places, and may your name be honored.
12. What’s your take-a-way from this week and why? I love how we looked at the first believers and see their need for belief in their mind, body and spirit. I like how Tim Keller shares his own struggles with belief, sharing that he believed early on, but continued to deepen his faith through trials/suffering/studying as he moved through life. Sanctification is a process and believing is a process. The Lord leads us gradually and it is beautiful and painful at the same time. He uses our testimony to lead others. I wonder what the rest of my journey will look like.
I love this, Chris. “Sanctification is a process and believing is a process. The Lord leads us gradually and it is beautiful and painful at the same time.”
12. What’s your take-a-way from this week and why?
I suppose as usual, I have learned something this week ha ha ha! Believing is one thing, yes I believe, but companionship, fellowship and boosting each other is also important to persist in that belief. When we get down, we need someone to remind us how much He loves us.
In our Christians in Action group (CIA!) at the high school, we have two seniors graduating. We had a little get together yesterday after school to celebrate their graduation and I had the students write a piece of advice for each of them on a little card, that we could make into a bag of cards they could pick from when they needed a boost. Being away from your family in a new place for an 18-year-old is stressful. We wanted to remind them, just who they were and that God was always with them. Many of the students put Bible verses and it was really sweet. I am blessed by having these kids around me who believe as I do in our God. Our creator. Thank you Lord for surrounding me with like-minded believers in my job.
What a blessing, Laura, to be involved with CIA (not the Central Intelligence Agency, lol). That is a sweet thing to have the kids put together cards for the 2 seniors! I’m glad you’re almost done with school. Yes, indeed, fellowship such as ours here is important to encourage each other in our faith.
Saturday:
12. What’s your take-a-way from this week and why?
Thank you, Dee, for adding this one. It is refreshing to recount why I believe Christianity is true. It gives me joy for the journey and hope for the future.
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Sunday:
1. How have you experienced the goodness of the Lord this week?
—Having my son Tyce return home safely from India and to be able to come back with a good report of the work that God is doing among the Indian Church was a real blessing.
The commitment by the Indian pastors to serve God faithfully in a hostile Hindu influenced culture and government was inspiring to hear. And to see his pictures and hear his stories was encouraging.
Also the Women’s Ministry event on Saturday at our church was a good outreach and well attended. I had a number of good conversations with women there and am trusting God worked for good.
Oh I’m sure you are SO glad tohave Tyce home with a good report. And for your Women’s Ministry event!
What a wonderful report from Tyce and the women’s conference. Praising God for His faithfulness!
Praise God for answered prayer.
Bev, so good to hear about Tyce and the women’s ministry event. Praise God!
Sunday:
1. How have you experienced the goodness of the Lord this week? – knowing that I have a wonderful group of friends and my family that will immediately pray for me and any situations that I have come up is such a comfort to me. It helps me know that I don’t have to face my trials by myself. I know God has placed each person in my life to walk along the path God has me on right now. When I told some friends that Joe’s PSA level has jumped up 2 points since February, they immediately sent a prayer back, said they would be praying and asked if they could add him to prayer lists. These are true blessings from God.
Father, we do pray for Joe and foryour peace for Juie!
Prayers for you and Joe. 🤍
Julie, praying for Joe and for you. Yes, it is wonderful to have praying friends.
Julie, so glad you have a group of friends praying for you and Joe … God is good! Praying🙏
Sunday:
1. How have you experienced the goodness of the Lord this week?
As we approach the anniversary of our granddaughter’s home going, my son wrote a poem in her memory. His poem is a testimony to our great God and his bigger plan for us in eternity. Even as our hearts are broken at our loss, we are hopeful for eternity in Christ.
Oh, Chris, homegoing anniversaries for our loved ones are bittersweet. Your son’s poem will be a treasure. This is so true: ” Even as our hearts are broken at our loss, we are hopeful for eternity in Christ.”
After listening to this first clip of TK and his 3 necessary elements to our faith, I realize that in our loss of our granddaughter, for instance, when I am struggling with grief so deep that I am about to despair, it is then that someone else’s faith might lift me up from that pit (as my son’s poem did.) It reminds me of the Pilgrim’s Progress story of Christian and his journey to the Celestial City. All along the way, there are snares, traps, and pits to fall into as the great dragon, Apollyon, and plain old sin, lure Christian off the path, but his friends come along and bring him back to the narrow way that leads to the King. Community is key to our faith-we must live in community and share our faith. I’ll never forget when my grandmother passed away at 100, and my uncle said to me as I was going to speak at her funeral, something like, I hope you’re not going to talk about God because we aren’t like that. He knew of my faith and I did not bow to his wishes. I saw my grandmother’s faith, even though she did not speak very openly about it. She shared bits and pieces of it with me and I knew her faith to be real. I shared the gospel that day, as much for me as for others there. This is how our faith grows, by encouraging one another in our faith, and reminding each one of the gospel daily.
Everybody — please read Chris’s post. So important about the power of community, which is so sweet here.
Thank you Chris. I needed to hear this, this morning. I am struggling tremendously now. It’s not that I am losing faith, just don’t know how to get myself out of a few situations, or anxious about how things will pan out in the next couple of weeks. I am trying so hard to lean into Him for support. It will surely be a miracle getting through! Thank You Lord for being my wingman! Thank You Chris, for reminding me how important it is to help each other keep our focus on what is important.
Chris, love that your son could write a poem, which I know is part of the healing process and even better that it was “a testimony to our great God!”
Sunday:
1. How have you experienced the goodness of the Lord this week?
I met with a lovely 18-year-old member of our church to develop a schedule for the nursery for the summer. Avery just graduated from high school, and she is moving out of state to go to college. She offered to help this summer at church, and I jumped at the opportunity to get her involved with the children’s and youth ministry while she is still in town. I asked for her ideas, and she volunteered to coordinate the nursery schedule instead of me doing it! Wow-I wasn’t expecting that! Moreover, she told me she would be glad to get our youth together for some fun activities.
I have been praying for other members of our church to step up and volunteer, and I saw God’s goodness in this answered prayer through Avery this week.
What a blessing. It can be so hard to get people to commit. Praise for this young lady.
Bing, How sweet to have volunteer help to come forward and cover a need and lighten your load a bit. Having been part of two church plants and what it is like functioning in a smaller church setting I know what that is like. God bless Avery!💕
Wow — people like that are hard to find — but God does supply and surprises us.
Bing, this so encouraged me…great answer to prayer!
Thank you, ladies, for your encouragement. I was greatly surprised at Avery’s offer; a reminder for me that God hears our prayers. Without a doubt, He is at work. I think of Ephesians 3:20-21. Avery wasn’t on my radar at all.
Monday: Are You Resolutely Convinced?
2. Watch all of the above video and share one thing that stood out to you? His first comment, more so than ever, he believes Christianity to be true. Our faith is a growing process. Also, I did not know that most of the rest of the world does not have a hard time with Jesus being the only way to heaven, interesting. Also, his convincing comment at the end of being willing to take a bullet for his faith right there and then. That is resolutely convincing proof of faith.
3. What are the three elements that Keller believes must come together for faith to be solid? Intellectual, personal, social. This makes sense to me.
1. How have you experienced the goodness of the Lord this week?
I think I experienced God with his peace in my life. A methodical week, where things were accomplished and life droned on with musical measure. He is in all that we do.
Incidentally, I have been a bit down. I posed the church question with my professor and he came back with his “following” is the world. Of course it would be! He’s a volcanologist. Now to respond. These lessons are helping me so much. I can wait to hear TK this morning! It is all so timely.
Yay, Laura, for being bold and asking the professor! Praying for the Lord to lead your response through the Holy Spirit. Also, I love when we can see his presence even in the methodical aspects of life.
Laura,
I am pretty much right brained but I see the beauty of how you function well in both sides of your brain. You remind me of my youngest daughter who is an accomplished pianist. That musical bent and your comment “life droned on with musical measure” and your insight that “He is in all that we do.” I pray that He will give you a greater measure of joy by his presence in your life this summer as you break from the school routine. I sense you have been emotionally and physically tired. Both which make you vulnerable to being a bit down.
Father, please be near Laura, lifting her from her sorrow, giving her some encouragement. In Jesus name I pray.
Amen!
Monday:
Are You Resolutely Convinced?
2. Watch all of the above video and share one thing that stood out to you?
—His comments about every culture has a different set of objections to Christianity. It reminded me of past discussions we had on how the culture we witness to about the Gospel will dictate to some degree how we witness to that culture. It requires us to address their particular objections with an understanding of where they are coming from. I think in particular of the challenge we have today in dealing with the concept of truth and the false assumption that everyone has to find their own truth. Where we as Christians know there is only one Truth and that is the Person of Jesus Christ.
I was impressed by the fact that Keller was resolute in his answer to the interviewer not just that he was convinced but so much so that he would die for it.
3. What are the three elements that Keller believes must come together for faith to be solid?
Intellectual
Wrestling with the concepts of Christianity intellectually.
Personal
Seeing your own weakness and neediness.
Socially
Seeing a group of people who are Christians that you have respect for and becoming part of that.
I loved seeing his confidence too. In one interview shortly before he died he said that he and Kathy were thankful for the cancer for where it had taken them with the Lord.
Monday: Are You Resolutely Convinced?
2. Watch all of the above video and share one thing that stood out to you?
That Keller is so convinced Christianity is true, he’d be happy to die/take bullet right there.
3. What are the three elements that Keller believes must come together for faith to be solid?
Intellectual – wrestling with different objectives to Christianity.
Personal – you need something besides your own power to get through life.
Social – being in a community of Christians you have respect for.
2. Watch all of the above video and share one thing that stood out to you?
Keller gives three tenets that must prevail to be able to accept Christianity being true. I wonder…can’t you just believe? Child like faith? I know he is talking to the educational elite, but I don’t think I need the things he attested to in the video to believe it is real. Just sayin’ 🤷🏻♀️.
3. What are the three elements that Keller believes must come together for faith to be solid?
Intellectual, personal, and cultural elements.
I see your point, Laura. But without realizing it, I think even a child has the bud of those elements and maturity comes as those elements grow.
I know, for example, so many who claim to be Christians, and perhaps are but they are not involved with Christian fellowship in church or even deeply with friendship, and I also don’t see the growing. Or they think of it more in terms of a certain kind of morality instead of a personal relationship.
I do believe Keller is not just speaking to the educational elite, but to everyone. Keller says he believed from the beginning of his walk, but his faith has become solid through these other elements. We are relational creatures and we depend upon one another in every aspect of life. We were created this way and when our faith is tested through the many hardships in life, it is then that these tenets strengthen our faith. Does that make sense?
I suppose I see what you’re saying. I guess I was just saying that to believe it’s true, I don’t need the relational or the cultural. I can believe in Christianity because I believe in the Bible. For example, I have acquaintances at church, but I don’t have any deep friendships. I’m involved in church and I care about my church, however. But, that doesn’t help me believe in Christianity any more than I already do.
It keeps me thinking though…
Tuesday: Considering the First Believers
4. Read Luke 24:13-35 and find the three elements in this historical account that formed the faith of the two on the road to Emmaus:
A. What intellectual evidence were they given that would have helped their faith?
—Jesus himself took them back through the writings from Scripture to think about and explained to them what would happen to the Messiah and all the things concerning Himself.
B. What emotional experience did they have that would have helped their faith?
—Their hearts burned within themselves as he was explaining the Scripture to them and they begged Him to stay. Then He revealed himself and they saw for themselves it was Jesus. They were so stirred in their hearts and minds they couldn’t even wait til morning to go back and be with the other disciples.
C. How did their fellowship with the other believers help their faith?
—They felt compelled to regather with the other disciples and affirm that they had seen Jesus. And when back together found out that Jesus had appeared to Peter as well. Coming together and sharing about Jesus was what drew them to each other. He was the bond the had. Jesus is the reason Christians gather. He is the reason we come together on this blog and are encouraged by one another. 💕
Monday: Are You Resolutely Convinced?
1. Watch all of the above video and share one thing that stood out to you?
That he is so resolutely convinced that Christianity is true and more so than ever, that he is willing to take a bullet for it.
3. What are the three elements that Keller believes must come together for faith to be solid?
Reasonable Intellectual aspect- you wrestle intellectually and realize that every culture has a different set of objections to the claim of Christianity, that there is only one way to God.
Personal resonance – you have to acknowledge that you need something beyond your power to navigate this life; to be able to see your weaknesses, your own feet of clay.
Socially, you have to see a group of Christians and a community that you want to be a part of, and have respect for them.
Tuesday: Considering the First Believers
Prepare your heart with this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIeFirvD7-I
I love this, Dee! I have not heard this before.
“Seen too much to deny, too much to say goodbye.”
Where else can I go but to you?
4. Read Luke 24:13-35 and find the three elements in this historical account that formed the faith of the two on the road to Emmaus:
A. What intellectual evidence were they given that would have helped their faith?
The two were intellectually wrestling while they were talking to each other. They were collating pieces of evidence themselves they had seen, what they had heard, Jesus’ death through crucifixion, and what they heard from the women and what their companions said when the latter went to the tomb. Then Jesus retold the scriptures and the prophecies. I thought it was interesting how Jesus used the question in vs. 23, “Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” I felt that was a prompt to their memory.
B. What emotional experience did they have that would have helped their faith?
Their hearts were burning within them when Jesus “opened the Scriptures” to them while they were on the road.
C. How did their fellowship with the other believers help their faith?
They were able to put their stories together and agree that what they have seen, heard, and experienced is true!
I am looking forward to reading our answers to tomorrow’s questions! Oh, what joy to be resolutely confident in the gospel!
LOVE THAT YOU LOVED “I’VE SEEN TOO MUCH!” PETERSON FEEDS MY SOUL.
Dee, I agree with you. Peterson feeds my soul as well. His composition speaks of God’s anointing, and I think one of the reasons is that the lyrics are from the Bible. To somebody like me who expects rhyme in songs and a certain beat, his words are creative, and the rhythm, pleasantly surprising and beautiful.
Tuesday: Considering the First Believers
4. Read Luke 24:13-35 and find the three elements in this historical account that formed the faith of the two on the road to Emmaus:
A. What intellectual evidence were they given that would have helped their faith?
They saw the miracles Jesus did, saw Him crucified (yet they were wrestling whether He was the Messiah), women followers of Jesus in their group gave them the amazing report that His body was missing, had seen angels and told them Jesus was alive! Then some of their men ran out and confirmed what the women told them. Their eyes were suddenly opened and they recognized Jesus after He took the bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to them.
B. What emotional experience did they have that would have helped their faith?
Their hearts burned within them as Jesus talked to them on the road to Emmaus.
I liked this from David Guzik…
”Neither of them knew the other’s heart burned until after Jesus left. After that, they could have a fellowship of flaming hearts together. One reason Jesus left was so that they would love one another, and minister to one another.”
C. How did their fellowship with the other believers help their faith?
They gathered together and shared their experiences of seeing Jesus.
GREAT QUOTE SHARON FOUND:
I liked this from David Guzik…
”Neither of them knew the other’s heart burned until after Jesus left. After that, they could have a fellowship of flaming hearts together. One reason Jesus left was so that they would love one another, and minister to one another.”
Sharon, I love Guzik’s quote, too. “Fellowship of flaming hearts”-wow! This blog has that kind of fellowship. Kind of like, “you, too?” (Another Keller quip, I believe.)
I’m not sure I am understanding what to write here.
4. Read Luke 24:13-35 and find the three elements in this historical account that formed the faith of the two on the road to Emmaus:
A. What intellectual evidence were they given that would have helped their faith?
They had the teachings of the prophets and Moses to which they could refer to know about Jesus.
B. What emotional experience did they have that would have helped their faith?
They witnessed the events that led up to the crucifixion. They had eyewitness accounts from their peers at the tomb. His body was gone and angels told them He was alive.
They had their own account of eating with Him that day. Their hearts burned as they walked and talked to Him.
C. How did their fellowship with the other believers help their faith?
They gathered with the disciples to eat and tell their story. They heard that Jesus had appeared to Peter. Is this a separate account from the two on the road who saw Jesus?
FOR NOT UNDERSTANDING, YOU DID A GOOD JOB.
Laura — I’m going to pray for some Christian friends for you right where you live. I’m so glad we have you here, but you carry so much, I know fellowship would help you where you are. I really can’t imagine doing all you are doing without that kind of support.
Father, You know Laura’s needs and exactly how to give her more support. I ask that You would provide that for her.
In Jesus Name I pray!
I agree with this prayer for Laura. We are trusting You God to do a good work in Laura’s life by providing this need.
Me, too. Christian friends for Laura who are like-minded.
Laura,
I am not that far away from you! I am praying for Christian friends too! Maybe you could come spend a few hours with me sometime!
Patti
5. What are some of the intellectual reasons you believe Christianity is true? Give at least four, using Scripture as it is appropriate.
Jesus is referred to over and over in the OT.
“Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot— yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.”
Isaiah 11:1 NLT
Jesus was a man who lived with the disciples.
“Soon afterward Jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and villages, preaching and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom of God. He took his twelve disciples with him,”
Luke 8:1 NLT
There are eyewitness accounts of His miracles and crucifixion.
“And immediately, as everyone watched, the man jumped up, picked up his mat, and went home praising God.”
Luke 5:25 NLT
“But Jesus’ friends, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching.”
Luke 23:49 NLT
The faith is still prominent even today! The Bible is the most sold book, every year in modern times! People still believe after all this time.
6. How has your fellowship with other believers helped you to believe Christianity is true?
I have spent many hours over many years here, with believers, on this blog, studying the Bible and learning things that I would have not known without your/their help. The women here are so knowledgeable and faithful that it resonates with others, including myself. Being with others who are like minded stretch us and test our faith.
7. What emotional reasons have led you to believe Christianity is true? Be specific.
When I am lost, depressed, unsure, scared, I ask God for help and He comes to my rescue! It amazes me every time. I love kisses from the King! On Monday, I was setting up a complicated lab for a couple of classes. It takes time to gather all the materials, make copies (when the copier is broken and you have to find another machine…2 more are out of order as well!), etc. I was still not ready but had to teach another (different class). I thought I could manage, as the other class worked, to pull it off. Well, little did I realize, but it ended up being “senior skip day,” which meant I only had 5 students for class, and I allowed them to complete a project while I kept working on the lab! It all worked out so well, it had to be Him! Thank You Lord. I need you now, close, for the next week and a half as I try my best to finish the school year well. Lots going on!
Love your story at the close, Laura. We love having you here. You often question and make us think, and that is so good.
I see your giving the Lord credit as evidence of your faith and praise Him for his work in our lives, which to us often seems to be in the nick of time, but for Him is perfect timing!
Laura, I was so blessed by your articulate answers to question 5. I really need people with a mind like yours to lay it out well for me. also delighted to see how God answered your prayers.
I so relate to what you shared on question 7! The copier is not working. check. lol Isn’t it wonderful when God gives us some relief when least expected? I totally get this one!
Thank you everyone! You know how to make a girl feel better when she is down 😉.
Tuesday: Considering the First Believers
Prepare your heart with this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIeFirvD7-I
4. Read Luke 24:13-35 and find the three elements in this historical account that formed the faith of the two on the road to Emmaus:
A. What intellectual evidence were they given that would have helped their faith? Jesus spoke (verse 27) to them about the prophecies he fulfilled even as they were questioning whether or not he was the Messiah! So cool. I love this story.
B. What emotional experience did they have that would have helped their faith? There hearts burned within them (verse 32).
C. How did their fellowship with the other believers help their faith? I love how the scripture says in verse 28 that Jesus “acted as if were going farther.” Did he want to see if they would ask him to stay? They did ask and it was at the meal that their eyes were opened. AND THEN, he vanishes from their sight! This is amazing. They were so moved that at that same hour they left for Jerusalem, found the eleven and others and spoke that famous Easter greeting, “The Lord has risen indeed!” Their witness to one another about seeing Jesus and his witness to them all works to build faith in what has happened. This is no ordinary earthly event!
Wednesday: Your Turn
5. What are some of the intellectual reasons you believe Christianity is true? Give at least four, using Scripture as it is appropriate.
I’m with Laura here in that I have never felt like I needed the intellectual reasons to believe, though there are many that I find fascinating.
1. The many prophecies fulfilled in scripture: Isaiah 7:14 “the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son…”-Matthew 1:18-23 “…the birth of Jesus…”
2. The genealogies traced through the Bible that trace God’s people as far back as the beginning. It is a demonstration of God’s faithfulness. I especially love the genealogy of Christ in Matthew chapter 1, and I love Poor Bishop Hooper’s song about it.
3. I love how Christ can be found throughout scripture. I love John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Also, Isaiah 50, which I am studying in depth for the first time with our small group. Verse 7 “Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.” Such a great verse showing God’s faithfulness.
4. Archeological evidence of the accuracy of the Bible: there are many discoveries which have provided valuable support for the historical context and reliability of the Bible. One of the most famous being the Dead Sea Scrolls which date back to the second century BC and contain fragments of various biblical texts and a complete Isaiah scroll.
6. How has your fellowship with other believers helped you to believe Christianity is true? This is probably most important to me. I first came to believe at a VBS when I was probably only five years old. This was child like faith. Growing up in a home that did not go to church, pray or sing to the Lord, my faith was stilted until I became a teenager and began going to Young Life. After getting a New Testament at a Young Life camp where I prayed the “sinner’s prayer”, my faith truly began. I shared my faith with my siblings immediately after camp and began praying before meals and reading my bible. After meeting my husband in high school and we began dating regularly, he invited me to church. My faith definitely grew more being in relationship with other believers. I see all of this as evidence of growing belief in the validity of my faith. The true tests of my faith have come in facing tests like health challenges, identity crises, death of babies, and more. These times always push me to the Word and to other believers and I admit to questioning is this all really true? The thought might have been fleeting or at times more deep, but the need to affirm the validity of my faith has come up and I must say that other Christian’s have been a huge factor in affirming my faith through prayer, kindness and faithful friendship always pointing me back to Christ.
I love PBH’s song about Christ’s genealogy too! They make it so interesting with their music.
7. What emotional reasons have led you to believe Christianity is true? Be specific. Hmm. I have needed to think about this. I’m not exactly sure. I feel like this is one area where I feel doubt in my faith. In past studies, where there has been mention of changes in a person due to faith, like joy or security in the future, that sort of thing, I have wondered, is my faith doing that for me? Is my faith real? Especially, in seasons of difficulty where depression or deep grief set in. I have a very clear picture of a time shortly after my experience at camp when I remember my thinking had changed from before I believed. I had a new sense of who I was in Christ and who I was before and felt very good about that. Over the years, I believe the enemy has tried to deter that clarity by speaking doubts into my life. I think this is why I like the verse in Nahum 1:7 so much. I struggle to believe that the Lord really loves ME. That his work on the cross really covers MY sin. What Keller has taught us about has really helped when he says regarding the why of suffering we face on earth and how it is NOT that he doesn’t love us, because look what he suffered on the cross, for us. This is the biggest emotional reason I believe Christianity to be true. The other is rather sad, but beautiful at the same time. At the graveside of both of our grandchildren we lost, we sang as a family at the end of the service before burial. For Lucy, when her life support was turned off we sang “All Creatures of our God and King” and then at graveside, another song I sadly can’t remember the title of now, and for Malachi, we sang the doxology. I cannot explain the beauty of everyone lifting their voices to the Lord in that deep moment of grief. I am sure, if we could see them, angels were there joining us in praising God. Moments like this are so poignant, like the disciples describe their hearts burning. It can be nothing but the Lord working. There can be no other explanation for praising God in such a trial.
Oh the beauty of your closing stories, Chris.
I’m blessed by your answers Chris 💕
Chris,
I am so looking forward to reading comments for today’s questions. I am so blessed by what you have shared here.
Chris, tears. I will never understand why my dad had to die when I was 12, and then other sad points in my life that just don’t make any sense. I have always had the feeling that everyone has their “thing,” and those were mine. I remember Job mainly, that he never knew why, but he always kept his faith. I have never understood the song phrase from Blessed be the Lord “…He gives and takes away…” I agree that Keller made it clearer for me when he described how Jesus suffered too. I also remember how Adam and Eve sinned and made it impossible for us to live with God.
With my dad dying, God spoke to me and said, “Don’t worry, I will always be your Father.” I heard it in my mind as I stood at my dad’s hospital bed. It was a man’s voice inside my head. It wasn’t my voice (thinking)! I didn’t know what/who it was, and it took a very long time for it to sink in, but I knew it was God. Something made me know. I have clung to that my entire life. He is real, He loves me, and He will always be there to take care of me.
Your post is beautiful. Thank you for that.
Oh wow. I love that you heard the Lord in your head as a young girl experiencing such a huge loss. That you have been able to hold onto that all your life, knowing it was Him. This makes me feel that burning in my heart that the Lord is good. He is so good to us. May he continue to reveal himself to you. You might like to read the poem my son wrote. I will try to put it in our Facebook page.
Wednesday: Your Turn
5. What are some of the intellectual reasons you believe Christianity is true? Give at least four, using Scripture as it is appropriate.
—For me it is tied to God’s Word, the Scriptures. I was taught the Bible as a child and as an adult continued to attend church and hear it taught by preachers from the pulpit and by teachers in Sunday School Classes as well as consistently being in Bible studies. My thinking has consistently been challenged to consider if Christianity is true based on the Bible.
Another reason would be the influence reading books have had on my life.
Books that challenged and encouraged me in my Christian walk. Great biographies of Christians who have come to Christ and lived their lives for Jesus impacted my thinking. A particular example of someone I read about in my early twenties was “The Hiding Place” of Corrie Ten Boom’s story. It left an indelible impression on my thinking about Christianity.
In the more recent years I have enjoyed discussions and research on theological issues which have challenged my thinking as to whether what I thought I believed about Christianity was biblically sound or not. As a result I solidified much of my thinking about God and his Word.
Today we have many resources readily available to explore and examine regarding Christianity. But You are right in asking for Scripture because it all has to be anchored there.
I think of these verses. “You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”
2 Timothy 3:15-17 NLT
6. How has your fellowship with other believers helped you to believe Christianity is true?
—Being part of a church, the corporate body of believers for most of my life has been an important element of seeing Christianity practiced in life and in the world. It has been the source of some of the deepest joys and also the deepest heartaches I have had in life but when it has all shaken out I find that the church has been a major source of sweet fellowship that has encouraged me in my walk in living the Christian life. Seeing many other faithful saints live their lives for Jesus through hard trials and still give voice to their salvation and their faith in God has inspired and given me cause to remain true to my faith as well. Seeing lives genuinely changed that have stood the test of time gives a very strong voice to the claims of Christianity.
7. What emotional reasons have led you to believe Christianity is true? Be specific.
—I have experienced very real deep joys in my Christian walk. Seeing family members and friends come to accept Jesus and watch their lives change deepens the hope we share in what Jesus did on the Cross for us. The other thing would be the peace I have experienced in times of heart ache and trouble that can only be explained by the presence of the Lord. You can’t observe the deep works of God and experience His presence and not have the core of your being touched emotionally. At some point in life all the godly men I know have revealed their tears and their emotions in some way. I don’t include women in that statement because we are just naturally more emotional. True Christianity doesn’t harden people. It does the opposite and softens them. I believe that is the work of repentance.
All of this is so wonderful and I love the verse from Timothy!
Bev, it is always a pleasure to read your comments. It is like knowing you even if we have not met in person!
So true about watching the lives of others change deepening our own faith
Wednesday: Your Turn
5. What are some of the intellectual reasons you believe Christianity is true? Give at least four, using Scripture as it is appropriate.
This is the hardest of the questions for me to answer. I go back to the song when I was a child, “God said it, and I believe it,” Yet I also realize the implications of I Peter 3:15: ‘ But in your hearts set Christ apart [as holy—acknowledging Him, giving Him first place in your lives] as Lord. Always be ready to give a [logical] defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope and confident assurance [elicited by faith] that is within you, yet [do it] with gentleness and respect.” Amplified Version Bible I also believe that I should benefit from the satisfaction of mind (intellectual), body (social), and spirit (emotional/personal) in what I believe about Christianity. I realize there are many verses that speak to this, but I thought about the book of Romans.
A, The unity of the books of the Bible and its infallibility Romans 1:3-6 …the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him, we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
B. Creation Romans 1:20 …for since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
C. Historical pieces of evidence like the Dead Sea Scrolls… I have listened to the Our Daily Bread ministries in the past, exploring the 7 churches in Revelation, and did the study of Revelation by Bible Study Fellowship since September of last year. I also remember studying it here. The Book of Revelation has helped me intellectually.
D. My awareness of my sin and its penalty, and God’s rescue through Jesus Christ
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God; Romans 6:23 for the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ Romans 5:8 …But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
May I add the following: (and would this be under personal reason?)
As a classroom instructor, all that I have learned and passed on to my students about Human Anatomy and Physiology points to a Great Designer.
I love how the Lord speaks to each of us uniquely through the word. I love how you denote the 3 reasons as mind, body and spirit, as we are 3 dimensional creatures, even as God is a trinity, which is so interesting. What a depth there is to the way the Lord uses the scriptures in our lives. Such a rich book, Romans is, and you found all you needed right there. And isn’t it true that believers can have a sense of knowing someone with their common connection of faith, when that person might be very little known to them. There is a comfort in that sense of common faith and being able to worship anywhere around the world and find that common thread.
Wednesday: Your Turn
5. What are some of the intellectual reasons you believe Christianity is true? Give at least four, using Scripture as it is appropriate.
1. It starts in Genesis for me. Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” I look at all the creation around me and I know that it just didn’t happen. It’s proof to me that there is a Creator and according to the Bible, He’s God! This also continues in Roman 1:20, “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature.”
2. The Old Testament prophecies of the birth of Christ…Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7:14; 9:6; Micah 5:2; Hosea 11:1 and many more, over 300!
3. The Old Testament prophecies of His death and resurrection…Psalm 22.
4. The lives I have seen changed after becoming a Christian. 2 Corinthians 5:17.
6. How has your fellowship with other believers helped you to believe Christianity is true?
It has helped me by being challenged, digging in for the answers myself and sharing what I learn. I will admit that right now the only fellowship that I’m immersed in with other believers is this blog and a Bible study over zoom.
7. What emotional reasons have led you to believe Christianity is true? Be specific.
Feeling His presence and loving arms wrapped around me after the loss of our son. His promise is true…”Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; He will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Deuteronomy 31:8
Sharon, I also would have included the lives that I have seen changed (including mine!) that have been changed by the gospel!
Bing, I smiled when I read this as I thought about adding (“including mine”) to that statement! Amazing grace!
Absolutely, changed lives! I love your reasons as well Sharon. His comfort in loss is so rich and important. How would do some survive it without? Not well, I’m afraid. Praise God for his plan of salvation.
Sharon I love that you started with the fact of your intellectual basis for belief being Genesis 1:1. “ In the beginning God……” That is the bedrock of the Christian faith.
6. How has your fellowship with other believers helped you to believe Christianity is true?
There is no human explanation of the “drastic” changes that I see in people when they commit themselves to God. When we were in the Philippines, we saw young people change from shyness to boldness for Christ, one older man from being an alcoholic and womanizer to a godly husband and father, a whole family coming to Christ-all a result of love shown to them by Christians. All of these happened right before our very eyes as we share in fellowship, whether at church or other outside settings. Christians reached out to me when I was in need without strings attached and loving me through the sorrows and pains of life in general.
7. What emotional reasons have led you to believe Christianity is true? Be specific.
That God knew me personally and had chosen me, and had a purpose for my life when I was floundering regarding my future. Jeremiah 29:11
Many answered prayers that are beyond my asking or imagination, Ephesians 3:20
An ongoing awareness through the years that He has not left me nor forsaken me. Hebrews 13:5-6 and Deuteronomy 31:8
I love your stories, Bing. I believe it is so important to record these sightings of God in our lives and those we love, as we are so apt to forget the great work he has done. In only one generation, my family fell away from the Lord for a time, and I fear this is so common. We must continue to recount the miracles we see here on earth to reaffirm our faith and pass that on to our children. The word needs to be first and foremost read daily and encouraged in our homes, and speaking about our faith as we go about our day. I love that these memories of genuine faith in others stand out to you, including the “ongoing awareness” you have of his presence.
8. Watch the above and share what elements went into strengthening Keller’s faith.
Faith and peace helped to strengthen his faith more.
9. What particularly stood out to you from the above and why?
He read a book about the reason for the resurrection that helped him know it was true. it was 800 pages! How could this author (NT Wright) have so much to say about this topic? Side note, I have appreciated NT Wright on the YouVersion Bible app. He has done the daily devotional at times.
Here he is!
https://www.bible.com/en/videos/27384?orientation=PORTRAIT&utm_source=YVAPP&utm_medium=SHARE&utm_content=TEACHING_CLIP
Thank you for this link. I may need to try this devotional. Looks great.
Prayer request from Dee: I’m working with my website people on zoom at 11 for I’ve had troubles with this platform and it has been both frustrating and expensive. Laura alerted me a few weeks ago early Sunday morning because the lettering had gone completely wonky.
Please join me in praying:
May Josh be able to clearly explain the problem to me, and may we find a lasting solution. Please help me to be a wise steward of the money and time you have given me, and for us to be able to continue here if this is Your will. I do thank for both this way of communicating, and the dear fellowship we have here.
In Jesus Name I pray
Praying now for this need, Dee. May the Lord work it out and may you see his answer clearly.
Ditto to Chris’ prayer for your request, Dee. Technology can be frustrating at times, but God will give clarity.
Dear Jesus, thank You for bringing us together here to learn and know You better with Dee’s guidance Please help Dee and her team figure out the problem with the website. I personally have struggled so much over the years and these ladies and this platform have helped me more than anything. Dees ministry stretches far and wide with this blog and, Lord, who knows who else is like me out there? Please help us now! Thank You Lord. Amen.
Thank you all for your prayers. I did get help — we don’t understand it entirely, but I have some new ways to overcome problems — so I do appreciate your prayers and will soldier on!
Thursday:
8. Watch the above and share what elements went into strengthening Keller’s faith. The intellectual, personal, and emotional. When he went through thyroid cancer and read this book about the resurrection, this really impacted his faith and removed doubts he didn’t know he had.
9. What particularly stood out to you from the above and why? The idea that faith, reason and doubt are intermingled is great and so true in my life. Also, the idea of having doubts that you didn’t know were there. And then having those doubts removed as TK did by reading this book and going through thyroid cancer. For me personally, losing my sexuality created a real identity crisis. It caused me to look at everything in a different light. It made me realize how important relationships are to me and who I am in those relationships versus who God is and how important he is. It’s really something to have that experience. I can’t possibly explain it in a way to help you understand as there is nothing like it and until you have lost a part of your identity, you cannot know. I can only say this, I had been going through life thinking I was comfortable in my faith and prepared for anything, until this loss. And then I realized how much pain this loss really caused and how important this really had been in my life. A similar experience when my daughter was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder and her very life was threatened and I just cried out, “Lord, please, not my Madeline!”, realizing in that moment, I cared more for my relationship with my daughter than the Lord’s great plan for her. As Christian’s sometimes we very gallantly say our children are only loaned to us and are a gift from the Lord, when really we believe they are truly ours and we shall have the final say. There are many other instances the Lord has brought me through very recently, where he has shown me, He is Lord, in every aspect of my life. I am sure there is more to be revealed, as I hang on quite tight to my self-centeredness. I do praise him this week for a liver scan showing my daughter, Madeline has no abnormalities, when only 2 years ago, the doctor was discussing a future liver transplant due to her disease. What a miracle he has worked in her health and I do not pass over this lightly, saying the doctors and treatments have worked, as many suffer with this disease their whole lives. I praise Him and pray this continues for her.
Chris, your testimony speaks to your growing faith and of God’s faithfulness to you. We do well to recognize as you said “He is Lord, in every aspect of my life.“.
Chris — thanks for sharing here. I understand “Lord, please, not my Madeline!” I’ve uttered that with my Sally, and my Johnny. I don’t understand what losing your sexuality means, and I don’t have to understand, but I do pray God will meet you so you can find your identity in Him, as we all so desperately need to do.
Thursday: How He Strengthens our Faith
8. Watch the above and share what elements went into strengthening Keller’s faith.
—For him reading an extensively theological 800 page book written by NT Wright culminated in his being convinced again of what he already believed to be true about Christianity. That the Resurrection of Jesus really did happen and that it really was true. He was even more convinced of the truth of it even though he had already believed it.
9. What particularly stood out to you from the above and why?
—These comments he made at the very end of the clip stood out to me. “Faith, reason and doubt are mixed up.
Faith takes more reason to believe. Having more reason to believe causes more faith.”
He said there are still doubts in his life but he has more peace too.
That all speaks to me that just like a Tim Keller who sat and read an 800 page tome written by a world class biblical scholar was still growing in his faith.
We can and should never stop plumbing the depths of the knowledge of God and growing in our faith.
Sorry. The question box wasn’t working but now it is. I must have done something wrong.
Friday: Your Turn
10. Often, our inability to control life leads to a deepening of our faith, as it did for Keller. Share a time when you truly realized you did not control (as if we ever do) but how it led you to cry out to Him, press into Him, and how it strengthened your faith. Oops. I answered this in question 9.
11. Cry out to Him now concerning an area in which you are struggling. If you don’t want to write it here, write it somewhere.
Lord, you know my health struggles with my thyroid make my days challenging. Not knowing how much energy I will have and feeling so limited in what I am able to accomplish. I praise you in knowing that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I thank you for providing all that I need. Show me Lord what you would have me do today. Forgive me for feeling discouraged, as you call me to be of good courage. Give me your strength for the tasks in my day and help me to praise you in everything and see your way that is higher.
Such a good prayer.
I think my most frequent habitual sin is worry — and I pray we will both lay our burdens down!
Friday: Your Turn
10. Often, our inability to control life leads to a deepening of our faith, as it did for Keller. Share a time when you truly realized you did not control (as if we ever do) but how it led you to cry out to Him, press into Him, and how it strengthened your faith.
—I have shared here about my daughter in-law’s accident a little over a year ago and that was a powerful experience of crying out to God and his working in a miraculous way which truly deepened my faith in my God. But another very significant time in my life was about 10 years ago when my only sister had a major health crises. My sister is my most trusted confidant and friend. She is an amazingly godly woman and the sweetest of persons loved by many. She had suffered with a serious condition that had caused diverticulitis over a number of years and as a result her colon was very damaged and she was having episodes of severe bleeding. My mother and I had gone to the hospital to visit her and while there she had gotten up to use the bathroom when she collapsed onto the floor and was bleeding out. Within minutes her room was filled with about a dozen medical staff who went into emergency life saving procedures to actually hand pump blood back into her and then got her prepared and on a helicopter from Kearney to Omaha within a very short amount of time. I knew my sister was dying and I was crying out in prayer. In those moments I told God if He was going to take her home I was willing to trust Him but actually saying I would give her up was painfully hard to do. At that same time she had an experience with God’s presence that has left her with a complete peace and trust in God that she can’t refrain from sharing whenever God gives her opportunity. While the medical staff was working with her she told God if it was her time to die she was ready go with Him and was submitted to his will. In those moments she experienced a peace that truly transcended anything like she had ever known. It flooded through her body and she was completely at rest actually delighted at going to be with Him. From that encounter she to this day exudes a joy about life and her relationship with her Savior that glows from her personality. She can’t share her story without the emotion of tears but you can’t hear it without knowing how real it was. Actually I don’t even do it justice trying to relate it here to you. But God in his providence kept her here and continues to use her life as a strong testimony for Jesus to her children, grandchildren, our family and in her small community. And in that time I cried out, I pressed in and my faith was definitely deepened in my wonderful Father.
11. Cry out to Him now concerning an area in which you are struggling. If you don’t want to write it here, write it somewhere.
I had this thought this morning in regard to crying out to God.
I so often want God to do things for me rather than at times needing to acknowledge He is just with me in the midst of of trials, troubles, pain and suffering. My faith is challenged in that I say with my lips that God is enough but do I really believe in my heart that his presence alone is enough even when I don’t see him working?
I have been crying out to Him over the past months for my dearest friend Lynda. She continues to have serious struggles with a condition called pseudo gout and UTIs. Her levels of pain have been excruciating and I so long for God to bring healing and relief.
This week I have taken her to our local hospital daily for an antibiotic infusion. It has given us opportunity to sit and talk together which blesses us both. There is so much to her life’s story but she and I both cling to God here at the end of life with a bit of a sense of where else can we go but to Him trusting that His presence is enough. We cry out, press into Him and our faith is deepened.
Bev, such beautiful stories of faith and friendship. If I could choose a lifelong friend, it would be you. Praise God for your sister’s lovely testimony and how it is being used. What a beautiful friend and support you have been to dear Lynda. Prayers for you both to sense a real presence of the Lord and of course healing for her. May the Lord bless you and keep you in this challenging time.
Thank you Chris, I do appreciate and do not take for granted the prayers of my sweet friends here. 💕
I love this entire post! Thank you for sharing with us.
such suffering — yet such beautiful fruit, Bev.
10. Often, our inability to control life leads to a deepening of our faith, as it did for Keller. Share a time when you truly realized you did not control (as if we ever do) but how it led you to cry out to Him, press into Him, and how it strengthened your faith.
Wow…has this happened to me a few times? Absolutely! The best example is when our teenage son went off the rails for a few years. I have mentioned it before here. Totally God, not me, that has turned him around. He even said, recently, that he is becoming more “spiritual.” I hope that means God and not some idol or other “religion.” Prayers for sure!
And then, of course, our daughter and her life. We are in the midst of it every moment. Definitely a different season than we could imagine. It’s difficult, often. I know I am totally out of control and just hanging on knowing He is in charge.
Laura, We continue in prayer for you and your ongoing and very hard times with your daughter. 🙏🏻
Yes, continued prayers for the Lord to draw your children to him.
Thursday: How He Strengthens our Faith
8. Watch the above and share what elements went into strengthening Keller’s faith.
“Did I believe in the resurrection, the Trinity? Sure.” Reading through the 800-page book by N.T. Wright, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, while he was recovering from thyroid cancer. The birth of Christian history is through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Certainty that there was a resurrection sank “three more floors”, which brought him to read the Bible. Tim not realizing he was conflicted until he was conflicted—the coming together of the head and heart.
Faith, reason, and doubt are mixed up. The more reasons to believe, the more faith I have. Were there doubts, yes; there were.
9. What particularly stood out to you from the above and why?
We can have doubts and still experience God’s peace. The humility of Tim Keller to acknowledge that after having a “bigger” faith now, he still has “a way to go”!. That is very helpful to me. Keep believing even when doubts arise.
Friday: Your Turn
10. Often, our inability to control life leads to a deepening of our faith, as it did for Keller. Share a time when you truly realized you did not control (as if we ever do), but how it led you to cry out to Him, press into Him, and how it strengthened your faith.
My pastor/husband and I have been praying for a younger pastor to take his place this year for health and practical reasons. Although we had a particular person in mind, we kept our hands and hearts open to His leading. In March, this person declined the offer. What now, Lord? We were disappointed to some degree. My mind conjured several negative situations that could arise. I had a few sleepless nights, but God kept reminding me to trust Him. My designated (hah) date for a resolution is coming up, or maybe has come up already (?). Despite the angst that I feel, my mind continues to see His hand at work, providing for our church in ways that I was not expecting. He has given me peace. Our studies here on hard questions have helped strengthen my faith. These are bigger questions on suffering, hell, sexuality, and Christianity, the answers to which are related to His rule and sovereignty. I tell myself the things that concern me are as valuable to Him, and He rules over them as well.
11. Cry out to Him now concerning an area in which you are struggling. If you don’t want to write it here, write it somewhere.
Lord, help me to wait on you, and not to get ahead of your plans. Help me to go with your flow and enjoy the moments of holding on to your capable hands, and that nothing can thwart your plans, including my maneuverings! May the words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14 You know what is best for Richard and me, and for our church. Place your covering upon us, and may the boundary lines fall in pleasant places, and may your name be honored.
Such a sweet prayer of submission.
I love your prayer Bing.
Amen!
12. What’s your take-a-way from this week and why? I love how we looked at the first believers and see their need for belief in their mind, body and spirit. I like how Tim Keller shares his own struggles with belief, sharing that he believed early on, but continued to deepen his faith through trials/suffering/studying as he moved through life. Sanctification is a process and believing is a process. The Lord leads us gradually and it is beautiful and painful at the same time. He uses our testimony to lead others. I wonder what the rest of my journey will look like.
I love this, Chris. “Sanctification is a process and believing is a process. The Lord leads us gradually and it is beautiful and painful at the same time.”
12. What’s your take-a-way from this week and why?
I suppose as usual, I have learned something this week ha ha ha! Believing is one thing, yes I believe, but companionship, fellowship and boosting each other is also important to persist in that belief. When we get down, we need someone to remind us how much He loves us.
In our Christians in Action group (CIA!) at the high school, we have two seniors graduating. We had a little get together yesterday after school to celebrate their graduation and I had the students write a piece of advice for each of them on a little card, that we could make into a bag of cards they could pick from when they needed a boost. Being away from your family in a new place for an 18-year-old is stressful. We wanted to remind them, just who they were and that God was always with them. Many of the students put Bible verses and it was really sweet. I am blessed by having these kids around me who believe as I do in our God. Our creator. Thank you Lord for surrounding me with like-minded believers in my job.
What a blessing, Laura, to be involved with CIA (not the Central Intelligence Agency, lol). That is a sweet thing to have the kids put together cards for the 2 seniors! I’m glad you’re almost done with school. Yes, indeed, fellowship such as ours here is important to encourage each other in our faith.
Saturday:
12. What’s your take-a-way from this week and why?
Thank you, Dee, for adding this one. It is refreshing to recount why I believe Christianity is true. It gives me joy for the journey and hope for the future.
Thanks, Bing!