The Man, the Boy, and the Donkey

Aesop’s Fable – The Man, the Boy, and the Donkey

A MAN and his son were once going with their Donkey to market. As they were walking along by its side a countryman passed them and said: “You fools, what is a Donkey for but to ride upon?”     

  So the Man put the Boy on the Donkey and they went on their way. But soon they passed a group of men, one of whom said: “See that lazy youngster, he lets his father walk while he rides.” 

  So the Man ordered his Boy to get off, and got on himself. But they hadn’t gone far when they passed two women, one of whom said to the other: “Shame on that lazy lout to let his poor little son trudge along.” 

  Well, the Man didn’t know what to do, but at last he took his Boy up before him on the Donkey. By this time they had come to the town, and the passers-by began to jeer and point at them. The Man stopped and asked what they were scoffing at. The men said: “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself for overloading that poor Donkey of yours—you and your hulking son?” 

  The Man and Boy got off and tried to think what to do. They thought and they thought, till at last they cut down a pole, tied the Donkey’s feet to it, and raised the pole and the Donkey to their shoulders. They went along amid the laughter of all who met them till they came to Market Bridge, when the Donkey, getting one of his feet loose, kicked out and caused the Boy to drop his end of the pole. In the struggle the Donkey fell over the bridge, and his fore-feet being tied together he was drowned. 

  “That will teach you,” said an old man who had followed them.

 ……..

This fable was recently brought to my attention and I find it so fascinating and profound in the sense that we are all influenced by other people.  I would go even further and say that our worldviews are very heavily influenced by the interpretation of the experiences we have with other people.

I wonder if I had been born alone on an island and managed to survive to the age of 33, being completely alone the entire time, what would my view of the world look like?  Would my thoughts have even evolved to the point of trying to find meaning in my life?  Or would the meaning in my life simply be to find food and survive another day, living more of a “one day at a time” motto?   Or… would I have had some sort of profound mystical experience leading me to be spiritual and worship a Higher Power (as AA so diplomatically rephrases the term “God”)?

This is of course just a hypothetical situation that I’ll never have the answer to, but I can’t help but wonder, “Do any of us actually think purely?”  I don’t believe our thoughts are nearly as controlled by ourselves as we would like to think they are.  We are all a result of our life’s experiences and we shape our worldview uncontrollably off of these experiences.  Our worldview is a result of our interpretation of life.  But who’s to say that anyone has the correct interpretation?

If I say, “I don’t know” and go to a Pentecostal Christian they’ll say, “Oh but I know, you must go this way.”  Then I could go to a Cessationist Baptist and they would say, “No, no.  That’s not the correct way.  You must go this way.”  Then I could cross paths with a Hindu and they could tell me, “There are multiple ways, but all ways lead to Brahman.” Then I could meet a Buddhist and he might tell me, “Form is emptiness and emptiness is form.  In trying to find a way, you have lost your way.”  Then finally I might cross paths with an atheist who could say, “This is all there is and you’re wasting your time looking for a way.”

And then at the end of the day I am left sitting, scratching my head, just like the boy and his father in the fable.  The problem though is that the boy and the father rather than trying to figure out for themselves what they really think, they have already been influenced by the opinion of others and are now trying to think of how they can please them all, instead of actually just going with their own intuition.  They have lost their intuition and been left in a state of confusion, which ultimately leads them to make the most foolish decision yet—to carry the donkey!

The fable ends with them losing the donkey entirely and being laughed and scoffed at by all those around them—the exact thing they were probably trying to avoid by listening to the opinion of others in the first place.  So, what was the right choice for the boy and the father to make?  Where did they first go wrong?

Our Truth

It seems that we all have our own version of truth.  I don’t think any two people have the same exact perception of life.  What is truth to me may not be truth to you, and vice versa.  My thought lately has been, “How much of what has become our truth did we choose?” Ultimately everyone does choose what they believe but they choose based on their best judgment of their life’s experiences, what they have been taught and what revelation they have had.  But then a problem arises when one’s truth does not match up with another’s truth.  Humanity is divided, arguments are started and wars are raged.   This has been going on throughout recorded history.

I’m not really sure what point I’m trying to get at except that I think we should all be a little more open minded to the worldviews of others.  I think there is something we can learn from every person we meet, and that’s because they’ve walked a different life than us, they’ve seen different things and experienced a different path.  From listening to them we can learn of a whole other perspective and see the world through a new pair of eyes.   I am disgusted with the division among denominations.   Everyone argues over the little details and they completely miss the point—to love.

In recent revelation many of my views have changed.  I’ve tried to force myself in the past to believe certain things just to fit in with a particular Christian sect or theology.  But the revelation I’ve had is that I fit in with all groups more than any particular one.   And when I say all groups I’m not just talking Christianity, I’m talking all of humanity.  We are all connected by love—every single one of us.  We were made in the image of love.   Without love we are entirely incomplete.   But no one is without love, some just have not woken up yet to see the love that is right in front of them, or better put, in them.

Like a sound wave that travels from positive to negative as it flows through the air so are our lives full of rotation.  Like the dynamics involved in a classic symphony so do our lives sometimes drastically change from loud to soft and then back to loud again.  Some of us see this as a war, a fight or a struggle.  But I’ve come to view it more as a ride.   As the saying goes, “If you’re going through hell, keep on going.”  The ride is not always comfortable but it’s the uncomfortable times that allow us to sit in peace and enjoy the quiet blissful moments when they do come.

I’ve realized that the war goes on whether I decide to partake in the battle or not.  Sometimes the battle seems pointless and it’s time to walk off the field for a bit.  Too many times I have made my life about a battle that has already been won.  It’s not my fight and I’m learning to give up certain burdens, but they never go away completely.  Life will be life and even on my worst day I am still thankful that I exist.  I am thankful that I feel pain and have emotional experiences.    The mere act of complex thought alone is in itself miraculous and divine.

In closing I’d just like to say that you are amazing!  Know that.. Please get it.  Learn to love yourself for who you really are and then you’ll learn to love others for who they really are.

Your Testimony is Truth

For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. –Rev 19:10

With having a blog about Christianity and spirituality geared towards seekers I of course every now and then have a reader with atheistic views. I completely welcome them and I try to get a better understanding from them at where they’re coming from. I’ve often asked God how I should reply to their arguments against His existence and I often would not hear much back from God about it. I would read all the books like The Case For Christ and books that give you theological and Christian philosophy answers to the “tough questions”; but no matter how many books I read I still couldn’t give them a good answer to their points. And what I realized is that they often had the same exact arguments and tough questions that I used to affirm my agnostic/borderline atheist views for years. What I’ve realized is that theology and philosophy will not change anyone’s view. What changes your view on God is when you encounter His love.

In realizing that I recently asked the Lord, “How can I show what you’ve given me to others? How can I show them the truth that you’ve shown me?” One of the things He told me is “Your testimony is truth.” My testimony is a story of what God is doing, the stories of Jesus in the Bible are testimonies of what God has done, and prophecy is a testimony of what God is going to do. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. So I’m going to make it a point to share more of my testimony in hopes that sharing the experiences of Jesus that I have had will become prophecy to others. I hope that they will see what He has done in my life and ask Him to do that in theirs. What God has done, He will do again. It’s in His nature to constantly be doing good things—new things! So below is a recent reply I wrote to an atheist reader. I felt led to share this today since it has quite a bit of testimony in it.

Basically for me what it comes down to is experience and intuition. I’m sure you’d agree that most of us learn best from experiencing something ourselves. That’s what life is all about in my opinion. But I’m a very analytical person myself too. If someone tells me something I don’t just believe what they say, I ask “why?” And I’ll research until I come up with satisfying answers. The thing is though, with a subject like the meaning of life and spirituality, intellectually I cannot find satisfying answers on a lot of things. We can try and that gives us religion and philosophy like you mentioned. But with me I have to approach life’s meaning and my own spirituality by intuition and personal experience. I then try to intellectually tie together my intuition and experience and it becomes my world view. This doesn’t mean I understand all the ways of God, in fact the more I come to know Him the more I realize things I have been wrong about in the past. It’s a process of humility in yielding our understanding to a higher power. Many people (many Christians) are afraid to do this and they try to come up with black and white answers on things like salvation. I avoid having black and white answers on topics like that because I don’t think God works that way.

But let me ask you this… If you encountered God, and had a similar experience to what the Apostle Paul had in the book of Acts where God basically knocked him on his butt, blinded him with a bright light and spoke to him in an audible voice, would your misunderstandings of God matter to you at all to believe in His existence? Of course not! You would have experienced God first hand and you would know He existed though you would only have your testimony and story to tell others. Many would probably think you were crazy – as they did to the apostle Paul. Well something happened to Paul on that day that caused him to have a drastic conversion from killing Christians to being one of the most influential people of history in spreading Christianity. This is just one story of thousands – probably millions of testimonies of people who have encountered God. And not just stories of encountering God but also of encountering the demonic and spirit realm in general. For example all the ghost stories and near death experiences we hear of again and again.

I was talking to a man yesterday whose son died three years ago after being a drug addict and overdosing in a hotel. The man told me his son came to him in a dream and told his father that he was ok and he was with Jesus now. The father instantly converted to being a believer in Jesus Christ. Did his son repent and accept Jesus by saying a “sinner’s prayer” before overdosing? Probably not. He wasn’t a regular church goer and who knows if he read the bible. But regardless he came to his dad in a dream and said he was with Jesus now. That’s just one story and this stuff happens every single day. I go to a charismatic church where we believe and pray for miracles. We’ve seen some crazy stuff. My friend’s wife was almost completely blind and was a Christian for about ten years when in a healing service one day her eye sight after prayer was completely restored! I used to watch her walk around with a cane and could see the cloudiness in her eyes. To this day she can see! Just one more story of many that happen every day.

For over ten years I was an agnostic/borderline atheist. I had the same conclusions that you did. Christianity did not make sense and therefore God must not exist – or at least not the God that Christians believe in. Well one day I was at an old Inn and I encountered the demonic. I was woken up in the middle of the night by a strange cranking noise. The entire room was cloudy and the wall behind me started glowing. An evil presence (How do I know it was evil? This is just one of those intuition things) came on top of me. I could not move and I thought this thing was there to kill me. I could barely breathe but I cried out to God and the demon went away.

From that day on it’s been a long journey of finding humility in yielding my limited finite understanding to what is eternal and beyond my full comprehension. Since that day I have had many encounters with God. I have trembled in the power of His presence, spoken in tongues, been delivered from alcoholism and porn addiction, I have heard his audible voice a couple times, I have had many spiritual dreams and I feel His presence with me every single day. He is more real to me than anything else. And if you want to believe that I am deceived then I am completely fine with that. I have found a better way to live than the way I used to live. He makes me come alive! He makes me experience life like I never could before. I have never felt so free before in my entire life! I love Him and will praise Him for the rest of my days. Whether my life is blessed abundantly or burdened with hardships and loss, nothing will ever change my belief in God because I have personally experienced His love and salvation.

One of the first things Jesus is recorded saying is, “the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel.” He said it’s at hand. Not you’ll get to heaven when you die. Approaching Christianity as only a get out of hell when you die concept is not the Kingdom of God that Jesus was talking about. He said the truth will set you free. He was talking about finding peace and truth in this life and being set free now from the bondage sin has on us. I have experienced this personally which makes my testimony the only truth I need to believe whole heartedly in God.

Jesus said, “Seek and you will find.” I have found this to be absolute truth. The more I seek the more I find. But you should know that it’s not easy. The deep encounters of God that I have had have been when I am so desperate almost to the point of wanting to die if I could not encounter Him. Why He works that way?? I don’t know.. It’s a process and He designed life to be that way. It’s a journey and the ups and downs make us appreciate the ups. It’s life and the process of seeking truth. I’m not in the rightful position to question Him and tell Him the way I think life should be – although I tried that for a period of time and became very angry with God. Things are what they are and me being mad at God is not going to change that. Anyways I’ve rambled for quite some time and am not sure if I even answered or gave you a good opposing argument to any of your points. I guess what I’m trying to get at is that God is not found intellectually. He is found intuitively when we humbly yield ourselves to that which is beyond us -the power that gives us life. I pray that you find Him. And once you do you’ll realize that He’s been there right in front of you the whole time. Happy seeking my friend.

Loving Your Enemies

Sadly many in our nation are falling to the path of godless men.  Most likely you all know at least one person who has publicly spoken hatred towards God.  They will tell you Christianity corrupts society and be quick to point out every mistake that has ever been made by Christians.  They will say that Christians are ignorant bigots who deny equal rights and that we do away with all reason and logic.  They will say that we are deceived fools.

They will discredit the miracles and healings done in the church.  They will discredit the marriages restored and the addictions broken.  Some will even discredit the fact that Jesus ever existed.  They will feed you one conspiracy theory after the next.  They will discredit any greater purpose or meaning of life other than to reproduce.  They will say life is all an accident with no cause behind it and we are simply evolved animals.

They will in fact try to steal your hope.

Their exact reasons and motives tend to vary but I think one thing is clear—we as Christians have been misunderstood too many times because we have failed to show love.  We ourselves have often pushed Christ aside and acted in hatred showing judgmental condemning attitudes to others who do not agree with us.  It is time to stand for the true love of Christ.

I have seen one argument after the next online and it really saddens me.  I would encourage you the next time a God hating person comments on your social network page instead of hastily getting into an argument, first stop and pray hard.  Ask God to overcome you with His love for this person.  Ask Him to overcome them with His love.  Then simply reply back and tell them you love them.  Tell them that nothing they have ever said about Jesus changes His amazing unconditional love for them, and say you are praying for them.  Leave it at that!  They may probe you and say hateful things about the God you love.  They may persecute you and call you hurtful names.  They will try to fuel your anger.  They will want you to reply with the same hopeless attitude that they show.  But do not.  Stand for the love of Christ by showing love not hatred.

Did they do any less to our Lord Jesus?

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. –Matthew 5:10

But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. –Matthew 5:44

Related articles

• Love your Enemies (media4lifeministries.com)
• Enemies Can Be Friends (freedomborn.wordpress.com)
• Loving The Enemy (mychristiancoffeeshop.wordpress.com)
• LOVE Your Enemies: (motivationofthemind.wordpress.com)
• Loving Enemies (curacy.org)
• In the line up (catchjohnfischer.wordpress.com)

The Double-Minded Man

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. –James 1:5-8

I have been on a search lately striving for a stronger faith, but the problem is faith cannot be forced.  We cannot wake up one day and say, “today I have strong faith.”  It’s not so much a choice I’ve found but a gift from God that usually comes as the outcome of my experiences.  Of course there are those that say to be weary of basing your faith all on experiences, but if we can’t experience God then what is the Bible about?  It is an entire book of experiences.  We believers long for these experiences—these little tastes of heaven.  Just a brush of God’s fingers across my back can rejuvenate me and fill me up to be ready to face to the world.

The problem is when I go through these spiritual dry spells, lacking experiences, the doubting and “big questions” start to take me over.  My brain flips on it’s God given, instinctual philosophical thinking.  I begin to analyze everything and postmodernism begins to eat at my faith.   “One’s perception of truth is all subjective” they say…   Well, by definition there can only be one truth to our existence and every person by nature has to have a worldview on the way they perceive life.  I suppose postmodernism is just being honest with ourselves, admitting that we can never be absolutely sure that our worldview is correct.    Whatever our worldview is—whether theism or atheism, creationism or evolution, Buddhist or nihilist—we all place a certain amount of faith into our perception of truth.

I have felt quite unstable lately.  I have become “the double-minded man.”  Christianity teaches honesty but when I am honest with myself about my doubts I have trouble conforming all my beliefs to Western Christianity.  I have prayed to God to help me through it.  I have cried out to hear back from Him but I have not been getting anything in reply.  I wish I could turn off my mind and just enjoy the simple things of life but I have become obsessed with the unseen.  Socrates said “the unexamined life is not worth living” but I’m not so sure I agree with him.  I think I would side more with whoever first said, “Ignorance is bliss.” When I was a child I didn’t think so philosophically and I just enjoyed things for what they were.   Perhaps that ‘s what Jesus meant when he said “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”  By striving to find meaning in life do we completely miss it?

Digging Trenches (Finding Hope In Depression)

“The Lord will give strength to His people; The Lord will bless His people with peace.”
-Psalm 29:11

Two weeks ago I started a new part time seasonal job with a termite and pest control company.  The bug season hit early this year and they needed extra help because of the amount of business that was coming in.  After the first day on the job I realized I was basically hired to be a trench digger.  To treat a house for termites a trench is dug around the perimeter, we fill the trench with a chemical and then fill the trench back up with dirt.   Now this is some hard work and the weather we’ve been having in GA does not make it any easier.  Before I get off track, my point of writing this is not to complain to you about how physically exhausting my job is, my point is to relate what the Lord taught me through the process.

First day on the job about 2 hours in the first scripture comes to mind:

 “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground.”
-Genesis 3:19

The Holy Spirit couldn’t help but rub this one in as I sat there drenched in sweat…  I got a chuckle out of this and it gave me some joy to keep diggin.  Soon after the next scripture popped in my head:

“In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
-1 Thessalonians 5:18

“Ok, I can be thankful here” I said.  I really was thankful that the Lord had provided a new employment opportunity for me.  This job works perfect with my schedule and brings in some much needed extra money with just recently moving to GA a few months ago.   So I kept digging with a thankful attitude praising God for the work He had provided.

Day two on the job comes and we are on our second termite job of the day.  This is by far the hottest it’s been yet and the hardest house to trench.  I’m underneath a crawl space surrounded by cob webs and dust trying to trench around the foundation pillars.  On top of that the ground at this house is not soft at all.  The third scripture pops in my head:

“Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.”
-Colossians 3:23

“Really Lord?  I’m digging trenches.  I’m supposed to have the attitude that I’m doing this for You?”  “Yes” He replies and so, I keep digging.

Now I thought about writing this post over a week ago and just leaving it at that, but I sensed—though these verses do give a good message together—that the Lord had not finished speaking.  So I waited…

I waited a week and in that next week rather than hearing the Lord I stopped hearing Him.  Rather than feeling His presence I started feeling alone.  Rather than hearing His voice I started hearing a different voice—the voice of one who says, “You are all alone.”  “You do not know what you’re doing.”  “You are lost and there is no hope because God does not exist.”  Oh my heart sank.  What was happening to me?  I was past this I thought.  How did I ever get so uncontrollably tossed back in to the pit?  The voice told me “You have dug your own trench and now you will lie in it in misery alone.”

I was around other believers but never asked for help.  That’s the scary thing about depression is that the loneliness makes you think that there is no help.  It makes you think that it’s your fault you are depressed and that no one can help.

Lies, lies, LIES!

I mustered up the last ounce of spiritual strength I had and cried out:

“AWAY FROM ME SATAN!  Come Lord and rescue me from the pit!  Help me Father please!”

I got enough strength to pull out my phone and pulled up my Bible app.  I was led to Psalm 29 which I read and the last passage was so simple but really stood out to me:

“The Lord will give strength to His people; The Lord will bless His people with peace.”

Reading this scripture I cried out, “Lord I am not feeling your peace right now.  Please hear me and bless me with this peace your word promises!”

I didn’t feel better.  The voice came in again saying “these are lies, there is no peace” but I held on to the scripture and kept going back to it.  That evening I did find some strength.  It was not total healing strength but it was strength to talk.  I told my wife how I had been feeling.  Now my wife is no scholar with a doctorate of theology, she is a woman of simple faith which I admire so much.  I’m always caught up in my intellectual thoughts as if I’m actually going to come up with any answers to life’s big questions in my own finite brain.  She doesn’t over analyze things.  She believes because Jesus has touched her heart and that is it.  She told me the simple words, “We live by faith.”   Simple words, but powerful words! 

 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
-Romans 1:17

I was not completely out of the pit yet but I was feeling much better.  Just being open and honest with my feelings took a huge burden off my chest.  I wasn’t alone anymore.  And so I went to bed still confused but starting to look on the bright side of things.

The next morning (yesterday) I felt so much better—almost normal.  I then had strength to reach out for prayer and help from another woman of faith in my life—my mother.  Now my mom is what you might call a “prayer warrior.”  She would never boast in herself but I will boast about my mom.  She is a woman of God!  If there is anyone I know that is close to God’s heart it is my mother.  I am very grateful for her and she prayed for me on the phone with the Spirit of God providing the exact words I needed to hear.  I was encouraged again! Faith was rising and the peace that surpasses understanding was settling back in to my heart.  I wept and prayed and felt Psalm 29:11 coming to life. 

To top it off I go in to church this morning and our Pastor informs us we are going to do things a little different.  He tells us the Lord has put it on his heart to do a different service and that the family of our church needed to be strengthened in the Lord.  “Yes!” I thought, “God is so faithful!” The service was amazing.  Instead of two services we did one long continuous service intermixing prayer, scripture, people sharing testimony, teaching, and worship.  The presence of God was among us!  He strengthened His people today!  He blessed His people with peace!  Amen and thank you Lord Jesus for you are so good to us!  I love you Lord, I love you Veronica, I love you Mom, I love you Pastor Josh and Calvary Chapel Northwest.

The moral of the story: ask for help!  When you’re feeling down go to God’s word and ask for help from other believers.  Through the power of God light will always prevail over darkness!  To whomever the Lord is speaking to now know that Christ is with you and He loves you.  The Lord will give strength to His people.  The Lord will bless His people with peace!  Hallelujah!

Moving Forward

Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ. –Philippians 3:8

The past is gone forever and does not matter anymore. What matters is the future of your life! Your future holds purpose, hope and meaning.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. – Jeremiah 29:11

Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future. The blood of Jesus covers all your sins. Yes, ALL your sins! Everything you feel guilty for… you are no longer guilty. Embrace the complexity of your mind with a renewed spirit. Submit yourself to allow a transformation to take place. Turn your eyes to Jesus!

It is the Spirit of God you sense…

Embrace it! Live it! Love it! Emanuel—God is with us!

(Psalm 139:14, Romans 12:2, Matthew 1:23)

-I Want To Believe In God [dot com]

The Mystery of God

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness”; and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” -1 Corinthians 3:19-20

Belief in God does not mean I think I know it all.  Belief in God is admitting I don’t know it all and accepting that there is more than what we can physically see.  Life is temporary.  Our reality is temporary.  We will all wither away and pass from this reality in the blink of an eye.  So is our existence all pure luck and chance?  Simply because there are seemingly endless galaxies, we happened to end up here on this planet that has all the perfect details worked out for life to exist?  Wow, we are pretty lucky—if there’s any such thing as luck.  But scientists don’t believe in luck, they believe in cause and effect.  So what is our cause? 

Is death the end?  Death is all we have to look forward to?  As we all had a beginning we have an end too? If that’s the case then what would be the point of any of it?  There wouldn’t be a point. If we simply exist with no cause then why is there so much beauty?  Why is there love?  Why is there connection?  Why are there morals?  Why are there contrasts like good and evil, night and day, light and darkness?  Why do we exist if we simply die and become nothing again?  If we end as nothing wouldn’t that counter act our existence at all, making our own reality questionable?  This brings up the questions like “are we even here?”  Well the answer is yes, we are here.  

In my search for truth I surrendered my life to a creator, a higher being that we call God.  Through this process and seeking to know this being I have had many deep spiritual experiences.  Experiences that let me know I am not alone.  These experiences are my proof, they are all I need for peace.  I know I am watched over and even more importantly I know I am loved.  It was not the unanswered questions that led me to God but the power of His Spirit that drew me in.  It wasn’t that through a debate I came to the conclusion that there must be a God, but it was through the supernatural power of things I’ve experienced and seen that I’ve come to have faith.  

“Your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” -1 Corinthians 2:5 

The connection I have encountered with God cannot be explained.  It’s something you have to experience yourself.  The signs of God are all around us.  Look up at the beauty in the sky or look at the miracle of a new born life.  Know that He is right there just waiting for you to turn to Him.  He is right in front of all of us knocking at the door to our hearts.  

Jesus said “behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in to him.” –Rev 3:20 

With all the beauty and love in the world I have mentioned there is obviously a dark side to it.  Very clearly in our world there is evil, hate, greed, lust, malice, deceit, envy and all kinds of darkness.  Many humans are clearly corrupt.  There is good and evil—this does not need to be argued—and we all have both in us.  The Bible calls this dark side in us sin.  Our sinful nature draws us to be selfish though we know it is wrong.  Our sinful nature builds our pride and tells us that we are the most important thing in the universe, though again we know this to be wrong.  Our sinful nature tells us we should go after the lusts of the flesh and pursue our own greed and desire for money.  Our sinful nature tells us to do a lot of things, but the point is there’s something else in us that tells us this behavior is wrong.  This is our God given gift of a conscience that I believe is meant to guide us to God.  Through our conscience we sense that there is darkness in us.  Only light can bring out this darkness.  This is why we need a savior.  We need help to change from our sinful ways and turn to light.  This help can be found through Christ.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  -John 3:16 

Christ bore the sin of the world on the cross so that we might be saved.  He took on the darkness of the world and overcame it!  On the cross He said “it is finished.”  This was God’s plan all along and through His love He wants to know you, help you and walk with you through life, bringing you a peace that is beyond understanding. 

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” –2 Corinthians 5:21 

If you feel lost in life, there is hope.  If you feel like you are in bondage, there is freedom.  If you feel you are unloved, you are wrong.  Give God a chance for He loves you more than you could ever understand.  

For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.

-Psalm 139:13-14 

I pray that you would have an encounter with our Creator and His love for you.  I pray that you would soften your heart to hear the Lord’s call and turn your life to the light of the world—Jesus Christ! 

We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 

But as it is written:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 
-1 Corinthians 2:7-9

Becoming Aware of His Presence

I don’t know how to put into words the presence of God. I don’t know how to explain it to someone. It’s something that one must find on their own, or in other words become aware of. I know other people who I assume have sensed what I have sensed. We find ourselves meeting and talking about the presence but neither can really explain it well. The best description I could give is an overwhelming sense of what is ultimately good and right to our entire existence. This presence is what my inner being longs for. When I am connected and in His presence I feel at home.

And a side note: We say “He” denoting masculinity but God is above any male. Think about it… God created male and female so He is not either. In Biblical times it would have been demeaning to call God a “she” because of the role woman played in society at the time. So we refer to God as “He” and often capitalize it to give utmost respect, but understand that God is above both sexes.

You see even with trying to explain that God is neither male nor female I am obviously trying to explain Him in human terms and ways that we can understand. The fact is that we cannot understand God. He is on a level of thinking and understanding that our brains cannot even fathom (see Isaiah 55:8-9). This is why I can’t explain His presence. I can’t give you a good explanation of God. I don’t understand God. I don’t understand life, but knowing God brings a lot more comfort and light to the mystery of our existence than walking without Him did. He brings light and peace that surpasses understanding (see Phil 4:6-7).

I have always sensed a presence even when I was young. In fact thinking back I can remember times of really feeling the presence of God but I was not aware of what I was sensing. I think we as humans have to grow and mature to become aware of His presence. We have to open our hearts, or the more correct way would be to ask God to open our hearts for us. I do not know why God has setup His whole “system” like this, but the way it has worked for me and others I know is that after we have asked God and taken a step of faith—even when we’re not sure if He is there—this is when we get new revelations of Him. By walking in faith God is rewarding by giving us new revelations of His love.

I believe everyone has sensed God. I believe we are born with the ability to but I think many are blind to it or are just not aware of what they have felt. If you don’t think you have ever felt His presence I would like to ask you to go outside on a clear night and stare up into the stars—that inner humbling sense you get of how small we are and how amazing and infinite the universe is, but knowing that we are alive and ok—this is one way of seeing God’s glory. God speaks to us through the heavens and what He has made (see Romans 1:20). The beauty of our majestic planet is all the proof we need of God. We are not an accident. Something as beautiful as life itself doesn’t just happen.

I have had a few deep spiritual experiences with God’s presence and the touch of His love. When this happens it is an overwhelming emotional experience for me. I do not understand what’s going on but I know that He is there. I can’t help but cry and I really mean cry. This is what His Spirit does with us—it opens up parts of our inner soul that we cannot reach ourselves. God is love and God is truth. I pray that you would become aware of His presence and seek Him for the rest of your days. We don’t have to understand God and we never will, but to reject Him because of our finite human reasoning is a sad and poor excuse (see 1 Corinthians 1:20-21). Give yourself to the Lord for He loves you beyond measure and has already given Himself to you.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world…” –Psalm 19:1-4

-I Want To Believe In God [dot com]

Are all Christians narrow minded?

There is a common argument or jab that the agnostics and atheists like to throw out towards Christians and that is the statement that Christians are narrow minded.  Before I talk about my view on this let me give you a couple definitions:

Narrow minded: Lacking tolerance, breadth of view, or sympathy; petty.

Open minded: Receptive to new and different ideas or the opinions of others.

So are Christians narrow minded?  My answer would be that yes some of them are, but there are many open minded believers as well.  Just like with non-Christians—some are open minded and some are not.  The same could be said for the argument that Christians are unintelligent.  I would say that yeah some are but some are very intelligent.  Again, just like non-Christians. 

Lacking tolerance, breadth of view or sympathy—sadly that does describe some Christians but it describes many atheists and agnostics as well.  When I go on to a youtube video about anything to do with the existence of God the comments are slammed with people that are not tolerant at all to the theist view.  It’s their way or the highway.  This is not open mindedness, but they are the ones constantly saying that Christians are so narrow minded. 

With me I have viewed myself as being an open minded and optimistic person.  I believe that it was my open mindedness that led me to go on a spiritual search.  Being open minded and optimistic gave me the idea that there could be more than what this world has to offer.  God forbid I go on the spiritual search and actually find something.  Then once I have found something I get thrown into the narrow minded category?  It doesn’t make sense to me.   

A truly open minded person in my opinion is a person who is honest enough with themselves to investigate each conflict of interest from both sides.  An open minded person tries to really get a feel for both sides of an argument before siding.  But… they still side eventually so does this make them narrow minded once they’ve sided?  Of course not!  Before becoming a believer of God I read science books and studied evolution.  I still like watching documentaries on the Big Bang theory and of different theories of our existence.  I have weighed out the evidence from both sides and in my honest opinion the evidence for the existence of God far outweighs the evidence against Him.  There are unanswered questions on both sides—the theist and atheist. But I do believe there are more unanswered questions on the disbelief in God side… and if we believe in God His word constantly reminds us that He sees the full picture and thinks on a level that we cannot even start to understand.  (Prov 3:5) (Isaiah 55:8-9) (Job 38) (1 Corinthians 3:18-19)

I guess what I’m trying to get at is that the whole narrow minded argument of an atheist or agnostic toward a Christian doesn’t work because by definition with their rejection of the Christian faith they are being just as narrow minded as the Christian would be in rejecting their views.  What it comes down to is we all have to share this world.  So lets try to be respectful of both views no matter what side you’re on.  I think one thing both sides can agree on is what Jesus said was the most important commandment of all—to love one another.

-I Want To Believe In God [dot com]