In This Corner:  King David, author of Psalm 14, written centuries before the birth of Christ, wrote these fighting words:  “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”  According to the King, rejecting the existence of God is the epitome of foolishness, because it means ultimately living with a false view of reality.

And In This Corner:  Sam Harris, author of Letter to a Christian Nation, which I have been reading this week.  If Harris were to write a Psalm 14 of his own, it would likely read “The fool says in his heart, “There is a God, and I know what He/She/It is like.”  According to Harris’ book, those who believe in God are blinded by their narrow view of the world, have missed the obvious signs that there is no God, and are ultimately living with a false (and dangerous) view of reality.
Read more »

As I sit here typing, I find myself listening closely for the mailman, because he should be delivering a just-released book that I have been eagerly awaiting since I first heard of it a few months ago.  The book is by a pastor who has shaped my preaching style more than anyone else and has deepened my understanding of how central the gospel of Jesus is to everything in the Bible and in life.  His name is Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, and the book is The Reason for God:  Belief in an Age of Skepticism.

Read more »

Why do you believe?  If you consider yourself a follower of Jesus, why are you following Him today?  What is it about Jesus, or what has happened in your life, that has brought you to this point?  And if you have had reasons to reject faith in Jesus because of difficult life experiences, intellectual doubts, or the hurts you’ve experienced at the hands of other believers, why have you pushed those reasons aside and continued to believe? 

Why don’t you believe?  If you do not consider yourself a follower of Jesus, why do you not believe?  What is it that holds you back from believing all that Jesus said about God and what it means to know Him?  What doubts do you have, what experiences have damaged your faith, or what else has led you to declare that you do not believe? 
Read more »

In the beginning of the book of Acts in the Bible, there is a fascinating story that takes place on the day of Pentecost, also known as Shavuot, or the Feast of Weeks.  The disciples of Jesus, having recently witnessed the resurrected Jesus ascending to heaven, are waiting in Jerusalem as instructed by Jesus.  As they are together in a certain house, the Holy Spirit descends, each of them is filled with the Spirit of God, and they begin to speak in other languages to the crowd of people who have gathered from all of the surrounding nations to celebrate the holy day.  And after Peter shares with the crowd the message of salvation that is found in Jesus, the writer of Acts records that about 3000 became followers of Jesus that day.  Pretty genius move by God, of course (not that He needs the compliments), to convert 3000 pilgrims who are now able to go back to the countries they came from to spread the gospel. 

What I find amazing is that this story Read more »