By Timothy D. Holder

            I was talking with a young woman a few months ago, and she said, “I don’t believe in organized religion.”

           I replied, “Do you believe in disorganized religion?”  We kept talking about it for a few minutes, but I’m not sure if my comment really did much good.

          More recently, a guy told me he was an atheist.  I asked him why he felt that way, and he said that stories of a man walking on water and a guy who got swallowed by a whale just didn’t make sense to him.

          I said maybe he was looking at the question from the wrong end.  Maybe he should ask himself if it makes sense that there is some kind of God, given the order and complexity of the universe.  If it makes sense that God exists then it makes sense that He could perform miracles if He wanted.

             I’ve thought about both conversations recently, and I think I might really be on to something with my second comment.  I mean, you could show me certain algebraic equations and trigonometry problems and they would look like nonsense to me.  But if you start me with the basics, and walk me through every step of the process logically then I will be able to understand the more complicated truths.  I could see how it all makes sense.

           Your brain chemistry, the complexity of a living cell, hopes, dreams, love—are these all the byproducts of random chance?  If not, Who put it all together?  If the answer is “God” then why not believe that He would want us to know about Him?  Why would He give us the insight to figure out that He was there unless He wanted us to understand what He wants from us?

             If God is real, and He has given us the means to know what He wants (through the Bible) then the ball is in our court.

By Timothy D. Holder

Have you heard of Ravi Zacharias?  Years ago I worked for a guy who suggested I listen to a bunch of tapes of Zacharias, a noted Christian speaker.  Honestly?  I didn’t want to do it.  The thought of sitting by myself in my apartment listening to six tapes of some guy I had never heard of droning on and on about stuff was demoralizing.  But since the man who made the suggestion was my boss, and I was on a one-year contract, well, I guess you can figure out where this is going.

 Imagine my surprise, though, when I found this Zacharias guy to be fascinating.  He talked about God, and why belief in God made sense.  He said that in the past, countries that had an understanding of God understood science and the universe better than people in countries that did not believe in the Jewish-Christian God.  It was riveting.  Seriously.

 Some Christians have a lot of hostility towards secular academia, and not totally without reason.  But Zacharias, the author of numerous books on apologetics and on other religions, has gone to college campuses to make his case for the reality of God.  Instead of avoiding academia, he has embraced it.

 I highly respect the ministry of Ravi Zacharias.  He is one influential Christian.  Look him up online and check out what he is doing.

By Timothy D. Holder

                President Barack Obama was recently awarded a Nobel Peace Prize, and it is interesting to me how people are characterizing this accomplishment.  Some people are saying that this is a fitting recognition for a great President or some other such variety of praise.  Critics are asking what, exactly, it was that the President did to earn the award.  One former President who won, Teddy Roosevelt, helped negotiate the end of a major Asian conflict (The Russo-Japanese War).  Ronald Reagan was never a winner, despite orchestrating the demise of the Soviet Union, and thus liberating the people of Eastern Europe.

                It is interesting to me that people can look at the same event (in this case, President Obama winning the Nobel), and have drastically different conclusions about it.  Our finite, human perspectives on things lead us to see the world differently from each other.

                Wouldn’t it be nice if there was something tangible in this world of ours that offered us truth without bias; clarity without propaganda?  Oh wait, there is: the Bible.

                Now of course people have varying interpretations of some of the things in the Bible.  Some people raise questions because they want to undermine the Scripture.  If they can cast doubt on the authority or accuracy of the Bible then they don’t have to change their behavior to conform to what the Bible says.  Sometimes, though, there are passages in Scripture that well-meaning Christians legitimately disagree on.  But a good bit of the Bible is quite straight forward.  Isn’t it nice that for those who are interested in the Truth, God has given us His Word?  I think so.

I heard a couple of interesting things about prayer recently.  One related to form; the other related to expectations.

During a worship service, I heard a wise man speak about prayer.  After a followup dialogue on the subject, he left me with this acronym—FACTS.  Faith, Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication.  It provides a nice format for praying.  One difficulty people have with prayer is in knowing what to say.  How can you talk with Someone who knows everything?  This acronym gives you a good format for doing that.  You start by putting your faith in God’s Word.  It’s not just about us talking to God, but also listening to what He has to say to us.  This is followed by praising God for His greatness, then confessing where you have fallen short, next you praise God for all of the good things in your life, and finally you make requests regarding others and yourself.  Nice.

After the service I went to Sunday school (or my “connect group” as we are calling it now) and heard something else that I thought was good.  In order for God to intervene in our lives in response to our prayers, (1.) God must be able to intervene.  (2.) God must be willing to intervene.  (3.) We must have faith that God answers the prayers not just of other people, but prayers of ours, too. 

I would also add a fourth thing—our request must not be contrary to God’s will. 

It’s easy to say we believe that God is all powerful and all loving, but do we truly believe that He answers the prayers of people like us?  For some, that is the biggest challenge.  Maybe it helps to remember that prayer is never about our worthiness—it’s about His love and mercy.

Pray.  A lot.

Timothy D. Holder

 Schools are back in session across the country, and with this rite of August/September many people are reminded of issues relating to the role of Christianity in our public schools.  Some people point out that in colonial America, Bible reading and prayer were a routine part of the school day.  Others argue that freedom of religion includes freedom from religion, and they point to a line that Thomas Jefferson wrote in a letter that included the phrase “a wall of separation” in reference to the relationship between Church and State.

 Pro faith people note that Jefferson was telling a group of Baptists that the government would not persecute them for being Baptists (which had happened in colonial America).  Secularists point out that today we are a multicultural society and, they say, this fact needs to be dealt with when discussing matters of religion in the public sector.

 Wouldn’t it be nice if what the politicians and judges argued about was irrelevant?  Wouldn’t it be nice if there were so many people who were followers of Christ and they were so loving and hardworking that it didn’t matter what the rules about Church and State were because everyone would be impacted anyway?  Wouldn’t it be great if the people in our society who need Jesus would see such a contrast in the lives of believers that people would be getting saved in droves? 

 Of course, this puts the responsibility for the spreading of the gospel on the backs of Christians (as led by the Holy Spirit).  But isn’t that what Jesus intended?  It is easier for me to complain about the government interfering with my expression of my faith than it is for me to do my job as a Christian.  I guess it’s too bad that we’re not supposed to settle for the easy way, huh?