Our self-exaltation does not change reality

 

Reality-escape Artists

I was reading and then I had to go back and re-read the following line, this morning, from a book by Os Guinness. It is, for me, a convicting thought:

“Modern society itself is one grand diversion—the Republic of Entertainment. With our shops, shows, sports, games, tourism, recreation, cosmetics, plastic surgery, virtual reality, and the endless glorification of health and youth, our culture is a vast conspiracy to make us forget about our transience and mortality. We turn away. We tune out. Alibis for reality-escape artists are on every hand.”

A thought regarding freedom from Os Guinness

Quote from Christian thinker, writer and philosopher, Os Guinness:

“I am a long-time admirer of the American experiment and of the place of freedom in America. Unquestionably freedom is, and will always be, America’s animating principle and chief glory, her most important idea and her greatest strength.”

An Intellectual Journey

In my early adult life I began to wonder about God and Christianity.  And I began to ask myself questions along these lines:

Is this Christian faith—that I say I believe—something I really do believe?  Or, is it something I’ve just accepted because it is what my parents have handed to me?

Can the Christian faith hold up to hard questions and intellectual scrutiny?  Or, is it simply a blind leap in the dark?

This began a process that has prompted much thinking, questioning, searching, self-reflection and study.  I am not a brilliant person.  But I have enough intellectual capability to think and reason and investigate.  And this has led me to discover and read authors such as:  Paul Little, Ravi Zacharias, G.K. Chesterton, Josh McDowell, Philip Johnson, William Lane Craig, C.S. Lewis, James Sire, Norman Geisler, Frances Schaeffer, Os Guinness, J.P. Moreland, Charles Colson, Paul Copan, N.T. Wright, Lee Strobel and many others.

I have discovered that the Christian faith has an incredibly deep and rich intellectual heritage.  It turns out the hard questions have actually been asked and wrestled with for a long time.  In fact, I found that questions I would have never even thought to ask have been grappled with for many centuries.

Have all my questions been answered?  No!

But I realize, now, that no worldview, philosophy, or scientific approach can answer all the questions.  There are simply things we do not know.

It’s almost like “life” says to all of us, “There are things you don’t get to know.  Get used to it!”

Do I still have faith in Christ at this point in the process?  Yes.  I still believe.  My heart still tells me that He is the way, the truth and life.  I cannot walk away from that conviction.  This may sound strange to those who do not share my convictions, but the truth of Jesus seems as true to me as the fact that I breathe.  But now my intellect is satisfied that it is a reasonable faith based on truth that is supported by credible evidence.

Dan Marler

Oak Lawn, IL

When Citizens Humbly Turn To God

Even the citizens of a great and powerful country like the United States must be willing to humble themselves and turn to God, which also involves returning to the first principles that led to the country’s greatness.  A refusal to do this reflects the kind of dangerous hubris that led to the fall of Rome and the other great powers of the past.

“Powerful free people die only by their own hand, and free people have no one to blame but themselves.  What the world seems fascinated to watch but powerless to stop is the spectacle of a free people’s suicide.”  From the book “A Free People’s Suicide,” by Os Guinness.

“…If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

Podcast for 6/12/12

How I got my nickname at the RZIM Summer Institute.
Brief audio podcast, under 4 minutes.

              Click here for audio!

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The Unique Approach of Jesus

Quote from Os Guinness:  Every religious founder of every other major religion says, “I’m a prophet who has come to show you the way to find God.” But of all of the major religions of the world, only Christianity has a founder who has the audacity to say “I AM God, and I have come to find YOU.” Do you realize how different that is?

No Other God Has Wounds

Christian writer Os Guinness expresses an interesting thought regarding Jesus.  He says, “No other God has wounds.”  This is truly extraordinary and unique.  It is something profound to think about:  God—the God of the universe—has wounds!  And He has those wounds because He loves you and me.  That’s amazing!