Category: Christian

The Genesis Project

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I highly recommend the Genesis Project to you. They have started “in the beginning”; meaning, they have started with Genesis. These guys have broken Genesis down into an easily understood story with a narrative and graphics.

It is presented in a very simple and clear way, but do not think that the simplicity and clarity means that the presentation is simplistic. It is not. The presentation has substance and insight. Check it out!

The first part of Genesis

The second part of Genesis

If you agree that these presentations are well done and insightful, you might consider a donation to this non-profit project.

Donate here.

Belief in God is not Blind Faith; Encounters with God

Faith is not blind or irrational. It is evidence based, but it does take some risk to act in hope and confidence on the evidence.

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Ryan Sun

Paul said that he is not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes. (Romans 1:16) Belief (faith), therefore, is obviously central to spiritual life in Christ.

What is meant by faith, though? Is faith “blind”, as some describe it? Is faith is antithetical to science? Does science discount faith? Does faith require the suspension of intellect? Does faith require us to abandon obvious evidence to the contrary?

I have not found any of these things to be the case. Faith does require a “leap”, but faith is not like jumping out over a yawning chasm. The gap is much shorter, and the landing is much more sure than one might suppose.

Continue reading “Belief in God is not Blind Faith; Encounters with God” →

Read the Bible Yourself and then Decide

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In the Bible by Leland Francisco

Believers and unbelievers alike make mistakes in reading the Bible. People rely on certain passages and certain viewpoints to the exclusion of others. People miss the forest for the trees, as they say.

Within the “Church”, the number of denominations is partially a result of different emphases on different aspects of God, the Bible and other things. When this proclivity tends to the extreme, it results in things like witch hunts and cults. Many of the dark periods of church history are, in part, examples of an inflexible adherence to specific certain truths, doctrinal, political or other views of Christianity to the exclusion of others.

Any overemphasis on specific passages or positions or facts can lead to an unbalanced view of God and error. Continue reading “Read the Bible Yourself and then Decide” →

What about People Who Never heard of Jesus?

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Dramatic Aerial view of Rio De Janeiro

One of the most asked questions about Christianity goes something like this:

If Jesus is the only way to heaven, what about the people who lived before Jesus was born?

A corollary question is: What about the people who have never had an opportunity to hear about Jesus? I am no biblical scholar, but I have wondered about these things myself. Continue reading “What about People Who Never heard of Jesus?” →

Where Spiritual Growth Happens

The view from the mountaintop reveals the lush growth that takes place only in the valley.

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Photo by Chris A. Fraley at Bonticou Crag

Mountaintop experiences are great. We wish we could stay there forever, but we can’t. We have to come done where mundane, everyday life always follows, and we find ourselves trudging along in the valley.

Let’s face it: we spend most of our time in the valley, but we yearn to be on the mountaintop. If someone could bottle that mountaintop experience, it would sell!

In fact, people do try to buy it. People try drugs, alcohol, sex, thrills and other things looking for mountaintop experiences. I have done that too, but I have found that there is no substitute for experiencing God’s presence – even in the valley.

I would buy it if I could! But, God’s presence can’t be bought. Mountain top experiences are not something that we can experience all the time. That isn’t the way it works. It didn’t even work that way with Jesus and his disciples.

Continue reading “Where Spiritual Growth Happens” →