Hey guys. Been a while since my last post, I know, and I apologize (again). I actually just got back from AWOL so another post should be coming soon about that, as soon as some pictures get on Facebook that I can put here too.
Recently, I got a comment on my Tongues post that I want to respond to. It went like this:
I don't understand how to ask you to write about something anonymously on this blog so I'm just going to comment and hope you see this. Bradley, will you give advice on how to keep your faith strong? My sibling is agnostic and is continually telling me my faith is wrong. My sibling is very convincing and I fear I will lose my faith. I know the usual "read your Bible", "have Christian friends", "pray", "do devos", and "attend church". I feel like that isn't working and I am just drifting farther away from Christ. So, can you make a post about how to keep your faith in an enviornment that isn't 100% on fire for God? I would forever be thankful and I know that is a hard question.
Anonymous,
Although I know that some people will pounce on me for saying this, I am going to tell you. I know how you feel.
Yeah, I know what it is like to doubt God. I know what it is like to doubt his existence, his love, and the fact that he somehow has a plan through all the bad things that happen. I know what it is like to feel that every single Christian has a more fervent faith than myself. But don't give up, ok?
My personal belief is that if you don't have the fire for God, none of the things you listed will help. Even when you do have God inside you, sometimes it seems like He is far away. Almost my entire Dad's side of my family is not Christian. Many of my friends from school are non Christian and in fact ridicule me for my faith. Others call themselves Christian and do not believe or follow basic teachings of Christianity.
And, even more than I fear for myself, I fear so desperately for them.
I have had several times when my faith seemed weak. I have experienced the deaths of loved ones, the seeming pragmatic logic of evolution in the classroom, the ridicule of family and friends. And, I have no doubt that both you and I will experience even greater trials in the future.
But as I sit here and listen to the rain, I don't feel afraid right now. I feel confident. I know that there is a God because I have seen what He does. I have seen inevitable rainclouds part around from the picnic ground at community gatherings when we prayed together. I have seen people turn from their lives of drugs and sex in the belief of him. I have seen or heard of him healing those desperately ill. I hear of those in other countries that die in his name every day. And I see him in everyday life, too - The kids that I just spent a week with at AWOL, for example. The middle schoolers I led that matured under His teachings. I see it at school when Satan tries to convince me that we, beautiful and loving human beings, came from the same place that the bacteria on my desk came from. That we, intelligent and thinking, are somehow related to the animals of the earth (none of which think, like we do).
I guess, anonymous, that when all is said and done, I cannot convince you. That is something that you have to do for yourself. I have a gift - I trust. I trust God. I have the ability to say that "Even if evolution is true, even if God lets this happen, even if that is the way that it ends - then it is for God's plan." I can believe that. I know that many of my friends, including my best friend, cannot do that.
My faith really took off in the last couple years. Something I would recommend? Go on a Mission trip. It helps sometimes to see how God is using people to help other people. Try talking to God and believing that he hears you. It's like talking to yourself - even if nobody audibly replies, you know that somebody hears.
I hope that I helped. I also hope that you don't let your sibling drag you down with him/her.
What would any of my posts be without a Bible verse? This verse is one that a few friends told me as a joke - ironically, it was already one of my favorite verses. I'll bold my favorite parts.
Psalm 23 (A psalm of David) -
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,[a]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
Awesome job Bradley. I do disagree with a few things. Prayer always helps Prayer is in my opinion the most important thing in a relationship with God. Anonymous- I would really really encourage you to pray, and be prayed for. I will pray for you. I've been in the same place that you have- lacking faith and confused about it too. I've given up before. But through it all I still "prayed to the Lord, and He answered me. He freed me from all my fears." I prayed to God and told Him I was angry and frustrated. I told Him I struggled to believe. I told Him everything that I was feeling- I was honest. Psalm 34 was really encouraging to me when I was at that really low point. One of my favorite parts says, "I prayed to the Lord, and He answered me. He freed me from all my fears. Those who look to Him for help will be radiant with joy; No shadow of shame will darken their faces. In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened; he saved me from all my troubles. For the angel of the Lord is a guard; He surrounds and defends all who fear Him." The Lord will never abandon you. He is your shepherd and He will keep you. He knows what you need and how to give it to you. Don't be worried.
ReplyDeleteBradley,
ReplyDeleteYour faith in God is something that I wish I had. I went on a mission trip last year and felt closer than I ever had to God. But throughout the school year my own faith has dwindled. It's more because I have a ton of questions that can't be answered unless I have faith in what lies beyond, then being stubborn.
My knowledge on Christianity is limited and my experience even more so, I feel that I can't judge a Christian based on my experience. I am sorry if I have ridiculed your faith in any way or will ridicule you. It's not fair of me to do so.
Thank you for this post and your insight.
http://news.yahoo.com/christian-terrorist-norway-case-strikes-debate-181559379.html
ReplyDeleteyour views? Just curious.
One thing I exhortation I would give to a person who struggles with their belief is: "Pursue answers." Don't reduce faith a personal experience. Just because we're not on the mountain tops continually doesn't mean our faith is weak. A much better test for our faith is the strength of our convictions.
ReplyDeleteI firmly believe and I have great evidence to suggest that breathing in most circumstances is vital to living. My actions affirm my belief. I am continue the exercise of breathing day and night.
Worldviews are not like breathing. I do not have to continue to examine my conviction that breathing in most circumstances is vital to life. My belief in a worldview (Christianity) and the corresponding action (how I live) span all situations (philosophy, science, theology, etc.). One's belief in the Bible could be challenged on a continual basis. Our task is not ignore those challenges. If Christianity is true, then we should be able to find great evidence supporting it. Our task is to pursue answers. Most of the time we will find answers that are satisfactory. Some of the time we may not.
I do not try to individualize my faith or reduce it to experience. Faith has an individual aspect, but my confidence is based on public truth. Christianity has much explanatory power for the basic questions of life: who are we, what is our purpose, what is good and evil, etc. If you pursue answers to those questions, you find that believing Christianity, while not quite like breathing, will bring you a richer and more fulfilling life.
Bradley,
ReplyDeleteGood Job! I would would strongly disagree with going on a mission trip, just to get closer to GOD. Most of the time, you would just get on a spiritual high, just like from camp. With spiritual highs, they inevitably come down....so getting that high won't save your faith, yes it will feel good and help for a little bit. But what needs to happen is the consistency. The consistency comes with obedience and discipline even when you just don't feel like it. It is like the saying "just keep trucking". GOD puts seasons in our lives to build our faith, Anonymous, maybe GOD is putting that season in your life to draw you closer to him through conversation (prayer). I have been in that season of life, my family isn't christian and my brother convinced me that GOD was a joke...and I started to believe him. But then I was told to look at the simple things and look for GOD. So I did, I looked at the way our bodies work...and how amazing that is. How impossible that is, without a GOD. The little things keep your faith holding on, but you also gotta keep Truckin, even if you don't want to...but in the end, you are closer to GOD and it's worth it. Worth it beyond words. But yes, if GOD is calling you to go on a mission trip, DO IT! But if your just gonna to do it to become closer to him, do it but remember that every high has a low. The meaning of a relationship is holding on through the highs and the lows. The lows are the ones that make the relationship stronger and they build trust. Mission trips are for serving others and serving GOD. They aren't about you. They are about changing your perspective from you to GOD and by doing that you become OTHERScentered.
@Follower of JESUS:
ReplyDeleteHow our bodies work? I would like to initiate a respectful debate on this one....
If you ask yourself, you really think God designed us such that our stomachs were at different pH levels than the rest of our body, and that enzymes all worked at different pHs and temperatures? or the various systems? ALL of that?
It's not possible that these all occurred as small steps through evolution?
Actually this leads me to another clarification I had about Christianity: Do you guys believe that God first created an initial 2 humans, and then from there we were all able to evolve further, or that he created Adam and Eve, and that they are of the exact same anatomy/structure/characteristics as us?
Finally, 100% unrelated, but it somehow came to me as I was thinking of this: Is heaven in a different DIMENSION? I mean, like, otherwise if you go up enough, you like have to find it, right? and if everyone in the world points "up", they're all pointing in different directions still....really random, but just a thought...
Please don't block this! It's all meant respectfully and for the purpose of better understanding :|
"Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with[a] humans forever, for they are mortal[b]; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”"
ReplyDeleteThis sentence confuses me. We're obviously more than 120 years old?
So then Heaven has to be somewhere in a different dimension or something... It cannot be spherically surrounding us...
and i was just saying about the blocking messages thing because I think one of my messages was blocked before.
I'll take a look at the evolution thing, but I would like to ask: what do YOU believe is the biggest discrepancy between the theory of evolution and your observations?
Sup all. I just saw this right now, thought it might be cool. I hope I'm available to watch it, and I hope you guys can too. Not sure what the viewpoint is, but it seems interesting
ReplyDeletehttp://curiosity.discovery.com/topic/space-exploration/did-god-create-universe-episode.htm
"I see it at school when Satan tries to convince me that we, beautiful and loving human beings, came from the same place that the bacteria on my desk came from. That we, intelligent and thinking, are somehow related to the animals of the earth (none of which think, like we do)."
ReplyDeleteWhy is it hard to believe given millions and millions of years? And, bacteria is in a different kingdom of life classification..
And, if you look at Chimpanzees and Jane Goodall's studies, don't you see similarities? And Neanderthal transition stages?