How do I know there is a God? Well, there are lots of reasons ... yes, reasons. One that we all know is "the Bible tells me so." But, of course, there are voices today among Apologists and heretics that suggest that we shouldn't be using the Bible for that purpose. We need ... something else. While I consider that a slap in God's face, I'd still like to point out that there is, indeed, "something else."
I'm thinking at this moment of a friend of mine. He and his wife just celebrated their 50th anniversary. Now, that's remarkable on its own in this day and age, but if you knew the man, you'd be even more amazed. He was a teenage delinquent. After being arrested for crimes he committed, he was sent to a "boys' ranch" to be educated while being "rehabilitated." While there he learned about Jesus, but wasn't entirely convinced. He did his time, got his GED, and met a girl. He remained a "bad boy" right up until he married her (obviously 50 years ago). Suddenly he realized he had to be a responsible adult. And he cried out to God. He had no skills for a job and he had no résumé to offer, so he went door to door looking for work. "What can you do?" "Whatever you ask me to." A power supply company hired him where he cleaned toilets. The boss saw he was curious about the product, so he showed him how to solder and assemble. He showed curiosity about the whole process, so he taught him how they worked. When I met the guy he was working as a test engineer and electronics designer for a company that built spacebourne tape recorders for the likes of NASA (like the one that they recovered from the Space Shuttle crash of 1986) with only a GED for education. By the time I left the company he was the principal engineer on several projects, an elder in the church we attended, and a responsible father of three sons and an adopted daughter. A uniquely godly man.
It is stories like this -- his, my own, and others -- where God changes lives in remarkable and unexplainable ways to bring glory to Himself and give grace to them and those around them that is one of those "something else" things I have available to answer how I know there is a God. Yes, the Bible tells me so, and I've tested and seen that it is reliable, but God is not without His witnesses on this earth, and I've been blessed to know more than a few. Just more wood on the fire.
5 comments:
God has revealed Himself in manifold ways. I'm the existence of everything, in the order and harmony of nature, in the lives of believers and unbelievers alike, and most clearly in His words. We know He exists simply by our own logical faculties. We be can only know about who He is and what He wants by Him telling us in Scripture. May we always remember when confronted by atheists and agnostics, that God's existence is clearly manifest in all of us.
Really, David? "I'm the existence of everything"? (Sorry. Just kidding. Typos happen.)
Didn't you know I am the existence of everything? You're supposed to say to your son, my Lord.
I really need to get better at checking my responses when using this smartfill. It's really not all that smart.
While I agree that stories of transformation are powerful evidence of change, and of conversion, it seems like the fact that scripture tells us to expect things like that is what makes those stories more than simple self improvement.
I agree that the best starting point is "The Bible tells me so." From there transformation makes sense. Like when Jesus to do our good works in such a way that others will see them and glorify God. Starting from God's Word and moving out.
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