Merry Christmas!

"The Holy Night" by Carlo Maratti (c. 1650, courtesy Web Gallery of Art)

Christmas is arguably the most important event in human history (after Creation, of course), because it celebrates the moment that God the Father entered the world as a little baby, Jesus the Son, God incarnate. I know that there are many who refuse to believe this fact, and there are many more who allow other aspects of the holiday (such as decorating, giving and receiving presents, taking vacations, etc...) to cloud the real "reason for the season."

But that's okay. After all, I think that's one reason this blog exists: to help remind the world that Jesus is THE Way, the ONLY Way, in fact, to be reconciled unto God. So, toward that end, I am rededicating this blog to the One whose virgin birth we celebrate this week (and always).

So what does this mean? I am beginning a long-running series on Jesus Christ, the Son of God, mostly based on Biblical references, but augmented with other historical and contemporary sources. I have already compiled a list of more than 40 topics, which I plan to revisit periodically. Eventually, I will create a new website, independent of Blogger, where all of these posts will permanently reside.

I will continue to post occasionally to my other blogs (see side panel), while most personal updates will be relegated to Facebook.

May your Christmas be joyous, and may you live every day with the love of Jesus Christ in your heart!

Suffering Loss

 Before anyone panics (does anybody even read my blog anymore?), no this is not our house, nor have any loved ones passed on. The Lord has been very merciful to us. But I do feel like I just lost two weekends (and change) of my life, and it made me think of 1 Cor. 3:11-15, and I thought I should (finally) blog about it. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.  I've heard some use these scriptures to argue that everyone goes to Heaven, after spending some time in Purgatory, or something like that. I don't think that's it at all. Leading into this, Paul is talking about missionary work, and the wood, hay, and stubble are teachings or doctrines that missionaries add to the basics of the Gospel. I take that and extend it a little further, into other aspects of our lives. Unquestionably, The Great Commission applies to us all. After all, everything on this earth has an end, except for our own souls. What other lasting work can there be, beside leading a precious lost lamb to Jesus. He is the Good, nay, the Best Shepherd. Next to that, everything else we do is wood, hay, and stubble. But what about working to provide for our families? Is that stubble, too? Well, I would argue that being my family's sole bread winner enables us to raise and educate our son (in the nurture of the Lord) and blesses us with a financial abundance that we can pass on to others. My computer skills, though gained through a world largely made of wood, hay, and stubble, have been put to good use at our homeschooling co-op. Ultimately, as Brother Paul points out, God's fire will be the true test. And on that day, everything I've ever worked on that has not furthered His Kingdom will burn. I will surely regret seeing it go, as many have before me. But that Final Judgment seems so far away, that I'm not really concerned... until I see something I spent time, money, and energy on burn up right before my eyes. Case in point... Several years ago, my lovely wife and I made a little video, starring our son, in which he did everything backwards. We filmed him getting out of bed, eating, playing, and helping me garden, and then we used a video editing tool called Pinnacle to reverse all the footage. It was a real hit in her co-op class of 7-to-9-year-olds. No, that's not what I've watched burn. Please read on... A couple weeks ago, she asked if we could do a sequel, for another co-op class. "Sure!" I said. "It'll be even better than the original!" We planned all the scenes and then spent the better part of a weekend shooting. Then, I pulled a near-all-nighter with Adobe Premiere Elements 8, cutting footage, reversing it, slowing it down, and speeding it up. It was fun, and it gave me an excuse to get serious with this editing software, for the first time. I spent most Saturday finishing up the video portion and adding some funny songs for the soundtrack. Things played well in the editor's preview window, so, on Sunday, I decided to try rendering: no sound! "Must be the audio settings," I naively thought. I tried changing those, but to no avail. "Ah," sez I, "it says I should use AVI if I want to keep editing it in Premiere." That seemed to work, except now part of one of the songs would cut out at some random point and I would hear nothing until the start of the next song. HOW FRUSTRATING!!! No problem if the sound is natively part of the video, but playback of music brought in separately was majorly flakey. I fussed and mussed with it, until I finally produced a DVD-R. We sat down together around 7:00PM to watch it. The sound was fine, but to our horror, the bulk of the video was nauseatingly stuttery! It seemed like every frame was the result of two overlapped consecutive frames. It was nowhere near the quality of the older movie, which was filmed under similar light conditions and with the same camera! Oddly enough, the few parts in the movie that I left running forward looked just fine. There was something about the footage that was reversed and saved to AVI that Premiere could not handle. 7:00PM the night before Farrah's class, and I did not have a video I could present. Do I cut my losses and just have her show the old one, or do I resurrect our old computer that had Pinnacle on it and try doing the reversing on that? Never mind that (1) I already had to set up and tear down that computer once that day, for a different reason, and (2) I had had to re-install Pinnacle a few months ago, and the version on the disk had some major bugs that I no longer had the patches for. I decided, instead, to try a different approach using Premiere. Big mistake. Here's the burn... It was midnight by the time that I could see the fruits of my labors. Not only did I not fix the stutter, but the sound cut out about a minute into the video. AAAAAAUUUURRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!! Farrah ended up showing the kids the original video, with the only new content being a couple cool logos I made months ago, and I ended up feeling like I just wasted several days of my life. There is nothing salvageable from the new video, as nearly all my work was done on the suspect reverse footage, that did not exhibit stutter until it was saved to AVI or burned onto DVD. All I can do now is vent and hope that I've learned something valuable from the experience. Yes, yes I did: Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Matt. 6:19-21).
But seriously, I got to ask you, dear reader, do you know of a decent video editing software for Windows that won't make me rip my hair out???

Why Are We Here? (Part II)

And now, without further ado, here is the conclusion to my recent Sunday message.

1 Tim. 3:1-5 (qualifications for a bishop’s office)

A church leader must first be a good family man, successful head of his own home. That doesn’t mean bossing everybody else around, but being the spiritual leader of the family. It’s important for all of us to raise our children well, because they are the next generation. As parents, God has put us in charge of raising our kids to follow Him. There is no greater responsibility, and no greater failure, in our society today.

Gen. 3:17-19 (God’s curse on Adam)

I think of this verse whenever I’m out doing some hard task in our back yard, with the hot sun beating down on me. But the fact is that the man’s primary task is to provide for his family. We need to put food on the table, but the nature of how we work is very different today than it was in the days when Christ was on Earth. Instead of working our own field or applying our trade in our own little shop, most jobs today involve working alongside dozens or hundreds of others. Now, more than ever, we have a daily opportunity to live out our faith at our workplace and witness to our co-workers. Unfortunately, the flip-side is that many employers have strict rules that ban proselytizing, in the name of political correctness, of course. Likewise, the wife’s traditional duty is to be keeper of the home and be the children’s primary instructor. Our society today, led by the feminists of the latter half of the 20 century, has pressurred women to leave the home and enter the workforce, leaving the most important duty on the planet to daycare and television. Combined with the ever-increasing costs of living and the recent recession, today’s man has to work all that much harder, if he wants to be the sole breadwinner in his home.

Matt. 28:18-20 (The Great Commission)

Some say that the Great Commission has already beel fulfilled, because you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who hasn’t heard about Jesus. But did Jesus say, “Make sure everyone heard of Me”? No, He said “teach” and “baptize”. The teaching requires perseverence and commitment. Baptism implies conversion, not by threats and intimidation, but a genuine conversion that comes through patience, love, and a faithful presentation of the Gospel. I think it’s harder to do this here, in a country where an overwhelming majority already claim to be Christians, but have a skewed vision of Jesus and God’s plan of Salvation. It is harder to undo the brainwashing of our own society than it is to present the Gospel to a pagan people, whose minds have not been already corrupted with wrong ideas.

Luke 22:24-27 (Serve!)

This might seem simple, but when you boil it all down, each one of us is here to serve others. What better way to follow Jesus Christ’s own example? We lead our families by serving. We instruct our children by serving. We put bread on the table by serving (literally and figuratively!). We submit to our spouses by serving. We witness to the unsaved by serving. But if we sin, we only serve ourselves. If we willfully neglect our duty as a servant, it is to serve ourselves, which benefits no one.

“So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do” (Luke 17:10).

Faith Like Potatoes?

OK, so maybe this post has nothing to do with the recent movie... but it has EVERYTHING to do with those oddly shaped tubers that taste so good mashed, baked, or cut into strips and fried.

This post is part of a series on my childhood experiences. As I reminisce (is 34 considered old enough to reminisce???) about growing up, I start to see so many Biblical lessons, that we could all stand to learn.

Take my friend Wes, who learned not only that it's a stupid idea to impulsively throw a rock at a classic car, but also that God's forgiveness (and sometimes that of grumpy neighbors) knows no bounds. Well, his story reminded me of the time I threw potatoes at a little old lady....

Betcha' didn't think me capable of such mischief. Intrigued? Well, read on, then! Don't just sit there gawking!

I spent my first decade (if you count from conception) in a 4th-floor apartment, in Bucharest, Romania. Yes, we occasionally got out, but that's where we lived. The rear of the apartment had a balcony with a tall, cement guard-rail. You can see a little bit of it in the picture above, which features my dad and me, several years before the incident in question. The balcony did not overlook a street, but rather a park-like area, bordered by other nondescript block-apartment buildings like ours.

When I was about 8, an older friend came over and proceeded to get bored. We went out to the balcony, and he noticed a sack of potatoes in the corner. I don't know if my friend did this often, but he showed me how much fun it was to throw a potato at a passerby and promptly duck behind the guard-rail. Now, I really knew better, but it seemed fun AND safe (at least for ME!), so I did it, too. For some reason, it did not occur to me what might've happened if a potato, hurtling through the air from 4 stories up, were to clonk a person in the head, face, or other sensitive areas. It also did not occur to me what would happen to MY sensitive areas, if my strict mom were to interrogate me on why some potatoes were missing! We had our laughs and giggles, he eventually went home, and no one was any the wiser, except, of course, for the handful of poor passersby, who got pelted by our starch bombs.

Some time later, when I was at home, with nothing better to do, it got into my head to play "potato". Betcha' didn't know I was the original Mr. Potato Head! Well, along came this little old lady, carrying some grocery bags from the store. I took aim and let one fly. It hit her bag and took her entirely by surprise. I was ducking behind my wall, but I could hear her yelling, up toward the building. She said something to the effect of, "Shame on you! Your parents should have raised you better!"

Growing up, I was a very obedient kid, who could not stand being scolded. But this was worse. This lady, whom I didn't even know, was passing judgment on my own parents, whom I loved and respected very much. They DID raise me (mostly) right; it was my own decision, and mine alone, that brought them dishonor.

That same connection binds our own words and actions to our Savior's perceived image. As children of God, we are commissioned not only to live according to the faith that we have in Him, but also to make the Way attractive, so that those we come in contact with may desire the same salvation that He bought for everyone. But if through our words and actions, we misrepresent Jesus Christ, we push people away from Him. How can we claim to love our neighbor, if we push him away from the One who loves him the most?

Needless to say, her words cut me to the core, and I put down the potato forever (at least, as a WMD). And my bottom was very thankful that my mom never found out about this incident (and even if she did read blogs, I think the statute of limitation expired long ago). But remember that Jesus is watching your every move, as are those around you, who are inwardly yearning to be reconciled unto God.

Is the Bible Worth Studying?

A visitor reading my comment on a blog, replied back with a very derogatory remark about the fruitlessness of studying the Bible. I couldn't help myself and wrote a pretty long reply. I think it was rather inspired, so here it is:

I appreciate you putting this discussion in context. It did not occur to me, when I wrote my previous comment, that you would be of the opinion that the Bible has NEGATIVE (or detrimental) value. We tend to judge a group or an idea by observing the behavior of a small sampling of those who belong to it. I can develop a very negative view of gays, simply from their reaction to the passing of Prop. 8, in California. Likewise, I can use similar techniques to pass judgement on blacks, Muslims, truck drivers, etc….

I freely admit that there are very many obnoxious, rude, and overzealous people, who call themselves Christian, who very sorely misrepresent the teachings of the Bible, especially the New Testament. You said that Christianity today is nothing like the one that your grandparents professed. Could it be that the parents who you say drove your friend to suicide did not follow the Bible as well as your grandparents? Is a speed limit sign bad, if there are people who don’t obey it?

If I call myself a boxer and put on the whole gear (so that I also look like one), does that MAKE me a boxer? If you didn’t know anything at all about boxing, you might actually believe me to be one. But as soon as you see the REAL thing, especially one that proceeds to pummel me to the consistency of oatmeal, you would know who’s the real boxer and who’s the impostor. So you need a reference, by which to judge.

I came to a crossroads, when I was in college, and decided to go to the source for the answer: the Bible. I did not know whether there was ANY truth to be found in it, but realized that the only way was to read it for myself. I didn’t read ALL of it, at the time; not by a longshot. I started in the Book of John (4th book of the New Testament), but by the time I was half-way through, I was convinced and surrendered to Jesus. It hasn’t been all peaches and cream, but I do have that peace that you were talking about.

I don’t know the exact situation with your friend (and even you may not know all the reasons that drove him to take his own life), but I’ll tell you this: nagging and harrassment are the provinces of men, not Jesus. My dad is NOT a Christian, and yet he nags me about everything under the sun (including my beliefs). I know he didn’t get that from the Bible. The Bible actually teaches that if you see your brother sin, you are to approach him about it, in a humble way, up to three times. If after the third time, he does not want to change, drop it. Nowhere is it even implied that you are to harrass, nag, or hurt him. Dropping it doesn’t mean that you’re now OK with his problem, but the wisdom here is that you can only make things worse with your nagging.

We (especially as parents) tend to take it upon ourselves to “fix” the people around us. This is not restricted to Christians. EVERYBODY does this. And everybody has a belief system that they want to impose on others. You said that Christian groups want to influence public opinion and won’t let people enjoy their lives in peace. This is true of ALL activist groups (it’s in their definition). I invite you to name ONE activist group that does NOT try to impose its views on the population. Groups like the ACLU, ACORN, and GLADD want to change laws that restrict my freedom, while promoting views that I strongly disagree with. We’re in the middle of a war of worldviews.

I should add here that there is a fairly large subset of Christians who believe that we should totally stay out of politics and public policy.

Your assertion that every human life is sacred is so very true and can lead us down all sorts of fascinating paths, but that’s beside the point.

I was trying to answer the fundamental question: Is there intrinsic value in the Bible? If we can say that there is even ONE work of fiction that is worth studying (and there are plenty that are analyzed to death in literature classes), then the world’s all-time number one bestseller should be counted, EVEN AS A PURE WORK OF FICTION. But archaeology has independently validated many of the historical and cultural references found in the Bible, so I conclude that those aspects also add to its value and merit.

As a source of moral guidance, its value rests on a slippery slope, unless we accept that its author is our creator: God. As a spiritual guide, it falls flat on its face, without God’s authority behind it.
So I conclude that while the Bible HAS value that make it worthy of in-depth study and analysis, its value in the context talked about here (spiritual and moral) is entire reliant on one assertion, which I would phrase as follows: The Bible is an accurate representation of God’s will for us. You can debunk this assertion in two major ways: (1) prove there is no God, or (2) prove that God’s will for us is significantly different from what the Bible portrays.

It's often hard to talk to unbelievers who are so against Christianity. This particular person was very angry at his friend's parents, who professed to be Christians, and whom he claimed drove his gay friend to suicide. He never responded, but I hope the Lord opens his heart.

My Testimony: Ending Is Beginning

We broke up. Someone stopped the car, before we plunged off the cliff.

I thought long and hard about the situation. Here was a young woman who chose her faith over me. Though I knew she was as head-over-heels for me as I was for her, this Jesus guy trumped all else. She dumped me, for a dead guy in an old book.

But what if there really was something to Jesus? Then I would not only lose her, but also a chance to find the answer to what I may have been missing all along. By the next morning, my mind was made up: I had to find out. I had to know if this Jesus, that she chose over me, was for real. I sent her an e-mail and told her that I wanted to know more about Jesus. I told her I could make no promises about us, until I made up my mind about Him. Later that day, she called me, and I spoke to her dad, a pastor. He was very nice, and he recommended I buy a King James Bible and study the Gospel of John.

I had tried reading the Bible before, for classes and Young Life, but it never made much sense to me, and it was very boring reading. Still, I needed to find out more about Jesus, and that seemed as good a place to start as any.

I went to the local bookstore, a dinky place in an old building, and scoured the Bible racks for a KJV. Didn't find one until I looked up. High, on the topmost shelf, someone had put a paperback KJV, all by its lonesome. It was meant for me. I bought it and began to read.

For some reason, the words made sense to me, now. The account of Jesus' travels and teachings became real to me. It was as if Jesus was speaking directly to me..., and I believed.

On April 8, 1998, while sitting at my desk, doing homework, I prayed the first earnest prayer of my young life. I asked Jesus to forgive my sins and to guide me in every decision I would ever make, including whether this girl that I still loved was the one for me.

She was.

And still is.

The following December, we were married, and Farrah and I will be celebrating our 11th anniversary this year.

So, this was actually the story of a love triangle. A Savior who loved His children beyond imagining used one to lead the other to Him. For that, I will always be thankful to Jesus, and to a woman who had the faith to love Him more than me.

So, did I adopt new beliefs for the love of a woman? Some may say that I have, but that's an awfully shallow way of looking at it. No one ever comes to Jesus, without Him first drawing them to Himself. He uses different means, depending on the person. For some, it's hardship. For others, it's the example of a faithful servant. For me, it was the love of a woman... for her Savior.

My Testimony: Being Led and Leading On

Now, you might remember from my last post that I had decided to never let any girl alter my beliefs. Keep that in mind, because it's pertinent to what happened next.

There was a girl (isn't that how it always happens???) in college, whom I had a crush on. She was in the same major as me, only a year younger, but I was always a grader for her professors, so I didn't want to mix business with pleasure. OK, I was shy and totally scared out of my shorts to even say anything to her, save for teaching her how to do matrices on a calculator and talking about Star Wars. True story! Can you say G-E-E-K???

When I went to graduate school (1800 miles away), we started corresponding via e-mail. I quicky discovered that she was a devout, ultra-conservative Christian, very different from any other religious person I had ever met. She seemed to live what she preached, not just on Sundays, but every day. We both greatly enjoyed our discussions, and as often happens in such cases, we fell in love. OK, not just in love, but head-over-heels, walking-on-Cloud-Nine, miss-your-floor-on-the-way-up-the-stairs (also a true story!) type of love. The kind that makes people around the two of you want to hurl. ;)

But there was a barrier. She loved Jesus, and I didn't. I wanted nothing to do with religion (little did I know that religion and Jesus have nothing to do with each other!). She shared the Gospel with me and told me that she could not maintain a relationship with (much less marry) a guy that did not believe the same as her (turns out she had already gone down that road, and it inevitably led to heartache). Unwilling to even consider "converting", but already head-over-heels for her (note that our relationship was strictly over e-mail, with only a couple phone calls in-between), I kept postponing the issue.

I'm ashamed of this now, but whenever she brought it up, I told her our love was like a car barrelling toward a cliff, without any brakes. I said that we won't know what will happen, but that the ride would be exciting. Inside, I was hoping that we could work it out, that we would stay together, without me having to pretend that I'm a religious person. After all, I wasn't ever going to let a girl change my beliefs.

One afternoon, it came to a head. She said that she had to make a stand for what she believed: in spite of her deep love for me, she could not marry a guy who did not love Jesus as much as she did. I answered that I never would. We broke up.

She cried herself to sleep that night, but she knew, though it hurt, that she made the right decision.

Representing Jesus

In case you're wondering why the sides of our car look banged up, they're not. I took the picture with the car in our relatively dark garage, resulting in a high-dynamic-range situation. The ripples on the edges are the result of my lack of patience to do a good job, trying to fix it up, and now I'm too sick of working on it, to try to do better. LOL!

I had started this post a couple months ago, right around the time that the Lord also inspired my friend Jim to write a post about literally wearing your faith on your sleeve. We joked about him stealing my thunder, and then I got too busy to finish the post.

Anyway, I really got into wearing Jesus shirts in 2004, when we got some printed with "JesusIsWonderful.com" (this blog's previous incarnation was a bonafide website). Since then, we have amassed quite a variety (as showcased above), including license place frames, bumper stickers, and window clings.

So why do we do it? Just to show off? I'm a firm believer that you need to live the Christian life 24/7 (not because that's what you have to do, but because that's what you are), but what percentage of the people we encounter ever spend enough time around us to observe us living our faith? You can spot the gothic, head-banger teens, from the other end of Walmart, because of their appearance, so why not let yourself be more easily spotted as a "Jesus freak"?

But there is a flip-side, and it has nothing to do with being harassed for it (at least not in the United States... not yet, anyway). It draws extra attention to you, causing any of your un-Christian behavior to reflect poorly upon Jesus, the Bible, and your fellow Christians.

If nothing else, my shirt helps to remind me that, wherever I go, I am an ambassador for Jesus Christ and His perfect plan of salvation. Peter urges us to, "sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear" (1 Peter 3:15).

But I often forget that I'm wearing a Jesus shirt (which I think is an excellent demonstration of my unbelievable, unparalleled, and unequaled humility). I would be in a store, and a total stranger would walk by and say, "Me too!" I'd look a little puzzled, until I would look down and see that I was wearing my "I love Jesus" shirt!

Any way that we can witness is great. And the more of us that do it the better, because it will help keep God visible in the public square, where our society and government are systematically eradicating Him. How ironic that while laws are being passed, that condone and even encourage immoral actions, the freedom of religious public expression is being lost.

8-Year-Old May Sing About Jesus at School

If that cat is real, it's the biggest one I've ever seen!!!
I just heard about this on Air1 and thought I'd let you all know. Apparently, Bailey won the opportunity to sing any song she wanted, at her school, as long as it was approved by the administration. She picked Darrell Evans' "Trading My Sorrows," but it was rejected at first, because it contained the word "Lord". Her parents contacted the ACLJ (a charitable organization that fights for religious freedoms; think of it as the Anti-ACLU), and then informed the school that it was within Bailey's Constitutional rights to sing that song. I don't imagine there would be any infringement of "separation of church and state," since the school did not pick the song.

The school reversed their decision and even thanked her parents for clearing up the issue.

The singer called her, to thank her and give her encouragement. Way to go, Bailey!

Click here to read the whole story.

This story reinforces my belief that the vast majority of people in this country are tolerant and even friendly toward religious expression, particularly Christianity. But people in authority too often bend to the will of a tiny but vocal minority (that sue-happy atheist, anyone?), that threatens to sue, if they so much as sneeze the wrong way. It's a form of extortion, my friends, and we need to stand up to it.

Frequently Asked Friday

Does God Exist?

What a weird question to ask, and on a Christian blog, no less! But it's one that I asked myself many times, before Jesus revealed Himself to me, through His Living Word. I also do not expect to adequately answer it in this, or even a million, posts. Philosophers, theologians, and lay-people smarter than myself have already debated this question, without reaching a unanimous conclusion. Besides, I've already answered it for myself, so the question is fairly rhetorical, from my perspective. But, for those of you who are either asking yourselves the same question or who seek to help lead others to its inevitable conclusion, please allow me to address this issue with an analogy.

Where Do Babies Come From?

Growing up, you probably had a mom and dad who claimed to be your parents. And you probably believed them, on faith. You didn't ask for your birth certificate, their Social Security cards, DNA evidence, or the testimony of witnesses under oath. It was enough that you resembled them, that they were part of your life for as long as you could remember, and that others also called them your parents.

But what made them your "parents?" You probably didn't think of it that way, but you probably asked instead, "Where did I come from?" or "Where do babies come from?" If your parents didn't think you were old enough to hear the exact truth, they probably gave you a watered-down version, the stork story, or avoided the question altogether.

At some point, you learned about "the birds and the bees," and you believed it, even though you had no real proof. In fact, if you think about it, the miracle of life is such a wonderful mystery, that even pictures and scientific evidence don't do it justice. You can't fully appreciate it until you get married and experience it for yourself. You feel the tiny kicks inside your wife's belly (or feel them yourself, if you happen to actually be the wife!). You witness the beautiful, precious, little life be brought forth into the world (and maybe get tired of being told to "breathe" and "push"). And then you understand. You've begun to experience parenthood yourself, and your blind faith, from so long ago, has reached its realization.

Back to God

Likewise, all the evidence in the world may not be enough (or necessary) to convince you that God is real. The evidence is certainly there, from the unlikely conditions that support life on this planet, to the complex structures and processes that make up a living thing, to the spiritual experiences that so many testify of.

Ultimately, that question is answered by faith and personal experience. And just as the new parent wants to show everyone their baby (or baby pictures), you will want to tell the world of your own rebirth in Christ.

Just as many doubted God, many will doubt you. But there will be some who will believe, and then experience the salvation of Jesus Christ and the rebirth, for themselves. And then they will want to tell the world!