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| Encouragement for Church Atheists |
As an
I really meant this prayer:
"IF YOU EXIST GOD,
I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO KNOW YOU"
After that prayer I waited for an answer...
There was none! I walked away and said to myself
"THAT PROVES IT, THERE IS NO GOD!"
However, I kept reading the Bible as an atheist for literary purposes and started to come across verses that really stood out to me, especially from the Sermon on the Mount in the New Testament. Distinctly I remember reading those verses about doing your
GOOD WORKS IN SECRET and GIVING IN SECRET
Mat. 6:1-15
Those verses were the first verses I let come into my heart. As I look back approximately 50 years ago I realized it was the start of marveling over the truth of
God's Word never returning void and how it exams the thoughts and intents of the heart.
...so totally different than my study of Psychology
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WHY DID THE BIBLE REPLACE ALL THE BOOKS OF PSYCHOLOGY I READ FOR 5 YEARS IN COLLEGE?
...IT WAS THE ONLY BOOK THAT
DEEPLY
EXAMINED
AND UNDERSTOOD THE THOUGHTS
AND INTENTS OF MY HEART
...for the past 50+ years JESUS CHRIST and the study,
application and enjoyment of the Word has been
a great adventure of listening to God speak to me
personally through the Book of books...
for the first
time
in my life
I KNEW I WAS A SINNER
and I needed a Savior...
Jesus Christ
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HERE'S PROFOUND INSIGHTS FROM THE BIBLE...
Proverbs 1:7
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction."
"What is vile...is honored among men..."
(Vile defined...extremely unpleasant,
morally bad; wicked.)
1 Cor. 3:18-20
BECOME FOOLS TO BE WISE:
"Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age,
you should become 'fools' so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: 'He catches the wise in their craftiness'; and again,'The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.'"
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Aristotle and Confucius put it this way:
The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle summed it up ...
"The more you know, the more you know you don't know."
A couple of centuries earlier, the Chinese philosopher
Confucius had observed,
"Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance."
AGAIN...
God's Word says it best about man's pride...
"Nothing will shake me; I'll always be happy
and never have trouble."
Psalm 10:3-6
"He boasts about the cravings of his heart;
he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.
In his pride the wicked man does not seek him;
in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
His ways are always prosperous;
your laws are rejected by him;
he sneers at all his enemies.
He says to himself,
'Nothing will shake me; I'll
always be happy and never have trouble.'"
YESTERDAY AND TODAY...
as stated "VILE IS HONORED AMONG MEN"
PSALM 12:1-6
"Help, LORD, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men. Everyone lies to his neighbor; their flattering lips speak with deception. May the LORD cut off all flattering lips and every boastful tongue that says, 'We will triumph with our tongues; we own our lips-who is our master?' 'Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,' says the LORD.'I will protect them from those who malign them.' And the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times. O LORD, you will keep us safe and protect us from such people forever. The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men."
PSALM 14:1-3
THIS SECTION DEFINES ME PERFECTLY AS AN ATHEIST...
THE FOOL HAS SAID IN HIS HEART...THERE IS NO GOD!
"The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt,
their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.
The LORD looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there
are any who understand, any who seek God.
All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no
one who does good, not even one."
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SOME OF MY RECENT INTERACTIONS
WITH ATHEISTS:
-Tom, an internationally travelled
scientist
who attended a well known religious university in the northeast...he told me he no longer had faith...after I told him of my going from an atheist to a believer in Jesus Christ...after I asked him, "Who is Jesus to you?" he said, "A good man"...I said, "He was either a liar, lunatic or Lord of all...he was outspoken until I said that statement...he had nothing to say afterwards"
professor
came up to me after I publicly testified of my faith in Christ starting as an atheist. She said, "It's nice to meet a fellow atheist." I immediately told her..."Not any more!"
Also I recommended she get by herself
(alone and quiet) and
ask God to reveal himself to her... to read some verses from Psalms and the Sermon on the Mount...like I did, all by myself- away from people
-A
doctor
who had for a long time had an active family church background told me he was now an atheist...He was blunt and to the point...I gave him a wristband and shared my testimony...We continue to talk on occasion ...He still wears the wrist band
-Thanks to Tudi's coordination-
2 couples
that are new to our area and ourselves got together for dinner a few days ago ...We had quite an evening getting to know one another...including where have lived, worked, family, health issues....Frankly it was both amazing and very interesting.... Totally enjoyable! As a part of the sharing I gave my testimony and they all listened and some commented. One of the wives stating she was an atheist; the husband of the other couple said he was an atheist also. After listening to their reasons stemming from being let down by church leadership and structure failings...I said one of my blessings of having an atheistic background...by God's grace I have not put my faith in denominations or people...rather it's in Jesus Christ.
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INTERESTING DISCOVERIES FROM THESE MEETINGS:
*All very nice people
*All very communicative
*Tudi's and my comments seemed to hit home...our testimonies-- 'Liar, Lunatic or Lord of All' comments... plus my prayer,
"If you do exist, I'd like to know you"
*They all seemed to agree that faith in church and/or a man was not good compared to an initial and ongoing
growing faith in Jesus Christ...
2 Peter 3:18
SO....
*I believe more than ever there is a large percentage of church goers who have had faith in the church, structure and or/ a man...and not in Jesus Christ
SAD to say....there are definitely
a great number of
CHURCH ATHEISTS...
Last example..recently I was talking to a businessman who was a hardworking successful
SALESMAN
...He
is very active in his local well known mega church...He proudly told me of his activities and responsibilities in the church for more than 30 minutes...I was impressed but wanted to know when he came to know Jesus as his Savior...for the next 30 minutes I asked him 3 different times about his salvation experience...He said he would tell me...but he never did!?
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THROUGH SAD ACTUAL EXPERIENCES...
I HAVE FOUND PEOPLE WHO ATTEND CHURCH
WITHOUT PERSONAL FAITH IN CHRIST ARE TOTALLY
DEFEATED WHEN SOMETHING GOES WRONG IN THE CHURCH
...OFTEN THEY WILL WRITE OFF GOD IN THE PROCESS (see actual encounters above)...WHEN IN FACT THEY NEVER
ESTABLISHED FAITH IN
JESUS CHRIST AS THEIR FOUNDATION ...and then to GROW in their faith through prayer, fellowship and study of God's Word
SCRIPTURE WE FOLLOWED IN EACH ATHEIST ENCOUNTER:
"And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.
Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders;
make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always
full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know
how to answer everyone."
Colossians 4:2-6
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ENCOURAGEMENT for CHURCH ATHEISTS...
Although I had no church background as an atheist... as a believer in Jesus Christ I am greatly encouraged in my faith
through the assembly of the Body of Christ...to pray, sing praises, be in the Word and interact over its truths
Then tell others I encounter THE UNPARALLELED GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ...that's the abundant life!
(Sadly very few Christians are experiencing this privilege in their daily walk)
SO...
Here's how to get started CHURCH ATHEIST
It's so simple but ESSENTIAL..
repent of having your faith be in leaders
and/or people in the church or the church organization...
(although church leadership and structure are very important and essential)...
INSTEAD:
PUT YOUR personal FAITH
"FIRST and ONGOING"
IN JESUS CHRIST AS YOUR SAVIOR AND LORD...for the forgiveness of all your sins of commission, omission, thoughts, words or deeds
THEN...
"GROW IN GRACE AND IN THE
KNOWLEDGE OF OUR LORD and SAVIOR
JESUS CHRIST"
2 Peter 3:18
THEN...
Often...Tell someone simply, clearly and humbly...in love,
about your faith in JESUS CHRIST!
Ted
John 3:16, 14:6...
use those 2 verses as a guide in sharing your faith...then rest in the perfect work of the Holy Spirit
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P.S.
PLEASE check out our website and our latest book...
both dedicated to help repentant CHURCH ATHEISTS
and others live the abundant life
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www.witnessbreakthrough.org
to order the book:
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