Why I follow Jesus

This past Easter Sunday morning I found myself awake and restless several hours before I needed to get out of bed. I began to think about Jesus and his resurrection and the influence he has had on me. What was is so special about a man who walked this earth nearly 2000 years ago and died at the early age of thirty-three? Why do I put all of my trust and hope in him?

I decided that morning that I needed to put these things into a list. Some of the reasons I came up with were experiential while others were more logical. While any one of these reasons in itself is not that impressive, the total weight of the list gives me confidence to passionately pursue Christ, train my children to follow him, and devote my life to making him known others.

Prior to reading my list, see if you can come up with 10 reasons why you follow Jesus and his teachings and trust in him as the only path to eternal life. If you are not following Jesus, list some reasons why you can't or don't put all your confidence and trust in him.

1. I grew up in the faith.
2. My faith gives hope, purpose and meaning to life.
3. It seems natural and logical to believe that there is a God. I just can't accept the idea that we are here by chance. The universe is to vast and amazing to believe it evolved independently of a Intelligent Designer.
4. The teachings of Jesus are remarkable. They are so profound and yet so simple.
5. Jesus altered history and is unique in history by claiming to be God and validating those claims through supernatural demonstrations of power witnessed my many.
6. Jesus commissioned his message (of his coming Kingdom) to the disciples (Matthew 16:19), who in turn carried it out by building the church and writing the Scriptures. Writers of Scripture have Jesus' authority because he personally authorized its writers.
7. I have experienced joy and satisfaction through a relationship with Jesus, especially during difficult times in life.
8. The narrative of Scripture does better to explain the biggest questions of life and existence. There are other philosophies, theories and religions which attempt to answer these questions, but to me they fall well short of Scripture.
9. Believing in a God allows me to arrive at the conclusion that He would want to make a way for us to understand and know him. That is why Jesus is so important!
10. The resurrection! To me, the empty tomb cannot be explained away. Many people saw and touched Jesus after he arose from the grave!

Jesus, Interrupted

A guy named Burt Ehrman has just released a book by the title Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible. I ran across Ehrman first time a few days ago as he was highlighted in the main news feed on CNN.com.

What attracted my attention to Ehrman was what separates him from the millions of other critics and skeptics of Christianity. He began his education in very conservative evangelical schools (Moody Bible and Wheaton College). But over time he became an skeptic, writing books challenging the core beliefs of the Christian faith.

Ehrman has an unique vantage point as he communicates his views. He can speak the "insider" language of the Christian community, knowing that average Christians are unfamiliar with the arguments he presents and the "contradictions" he alleges are found in Scripture through critical comparisons of the gospel narratives. While Ehrman's suggestions and assertions are in no way original, the manner in which it is presented is unique.

Ehrman attempts to "enlighten" the masses by what he says Biblical scholars have known a long time. He asserts that pastors and ministers aren't telling their churches what the "real" story is for fear that they can't handle the truth. His target is primary directed at casting doubts on the historical reliability of Scripture and the resurrection of Jesus.

While we are unable to historically or scientifically prove if the resurrection occurred, readers of Ehrman's works need to realize that there are convincing arguments on both sides of this issues. Some would like you to think that being a Christ-follower and believing in the resurrection of Jesus is only for the intellectually blind and illogical who refuses to examine the facts. But the truth is, clever arguments and philosophical reasoning can be used to support both sides of the argument. (See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjOSNj97_gk)

Although a debate by two really smart guys does not prove a thing, it does show that people of faith have historical and logical reasons for believing Jesus is God. But ultimately, it comes down to a matter of faith because we cannot empirically prove matters of faith (or any historical event.)

I think it is helpful for believer or non-believers to look into the claims of critics. People must take ownership of their faith. We need not be scared of Ehrman or others who attempt to cast doubts on our beliefs, but instead be diligent in seeking out other voices who have researched and studied the matters and arrived at a different conclusion. This is a healthy process.

Although I put these doubts to rest over 10 years ago, I find it helpful to revisit the reasons for my faith. Most recently it was very early this past Easter Sunday morning I awoke and found myself unable to fall back to sleep. I was thinking about the reasons why I am a Christi follower, why is every aspect of my life is influenced by a man who walked this earth nearly 2000 years ago? Some of my reasons were experiential and others were more logical. While one of these ten reasons in itself is not that impressive, the total weight of these reasons gives me confidence to passionately pursue God and train my children and our church to follow Jesus Christ.

Prior to reading my list, see if you can come up with 10 reasons you follow Jesus.

1. I grew up in the faith.
2. Faith gives hope, purpose and meaning to life.
3. It seems natural and logical to believe that there is a God. I just can't accept that we are here by chance. The universe is to vast and amazing to believe it just evolved.
4. The teachings of Jesus are so profound and yet so simple.
5. Jesus altered history and is unique in history by claiming to be God and validating those claims through supernatural demonstrations of power.
6. Jesus commissioned his message (of his coming Kingdom) to the disciples (Matthew 16:19), who in turn carried it out by building the church and writing the Scriptures.
7. I have experienced joy and satisfaction through a relationship with Jesus.
8. The narrative of Scripture does better to explain the biggest questions of life and existence. There are other attempts to answer these questions, but to me they fall way short.
9. Since I believe there is a God then it only makes sense to arrive at the conclusion that He would make a way for us to understand and know him.
10. The resurrection! To me, the empty tomb cannot be explained away. Many people saw and touched Jesus after he arose from the grave!

Secrets of the Kingdom-Final Shack Post

"But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it." Jesus in Matthew 13:16-17

The parables of Jesus are fascinating! Simple yet profound. Open but secret. Plain yet puzzling. Apparent but obscure. Transparent yet hazy.

How could the religiously educated, the scholars and teachers of the day, miss it?

Humility. They lacked humility!

The weak, the poor, the simple, the outcasts, the sinners--they knew they needed what Jesus had to offer. The world's systems had no place for them. In fact, in the eyes of the pious they deserved their condition--they or their father's had sinned against God and they were reaping the windfall of their transgressions. The humble desired to participate in the message and the Kingdom Jesus had to offer. The parable served as a simple door for which they could enter.

The religious desired to debate, discuss, and denounce Jesus and His teachings. And they were unable to open the door of the Kingdom.

I finally finished The Shack. As with any human illustration, there are times when it breaks down and fails to coordinate with every aspect of truth. If you would like a critical evaluation, see http://www.normangeisler.net/theshack.html.

I was able to recognize The Shack as a wounded man's attempt to discover God's beauty. How does one gain a greater understanding of a God who is Spirit, omnipotent, all-knowing, immutable, and a perfect mixture of love and justice? We can make a theologically resume for God with all His qualities listed nice and tidy, but can we really know Him through a list?

The Shack seems to be an honest struggle to understand more God's nature and character. I did not feel manipulated. I felt no hidden agenda with this book. I laughed, I cried, became angry, and celebrated. Like a parable in Jesus' day, for those who want to have conversations about God, the story is opaque. For those who will look and listen and pray, the story becomes a means for participation in the life of faith (Eugene Peterson thoughts on parables). For me, The Shack was just that.

Young (the author) opened up his heart to us through this book and allowed us to journey with him through the redemption process of dealing with his own hurts and frustrations inflicted upon him by life. Does this book have flaws-sure. Is it humble-definitely. I don't know William P. Young, but from reading this book and hearing about his story he appears to be a serious seeker of the Truth.

I trust God enough to rise above our frail attempts to understanding Him and allow His glorious, beauty and power to draw all people to Jesus Christ!

I want eyes to see and ears to hear the mysteries of God and His Kingdom.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.