Examine the Evidence - What do you have to lose?

"Daw-gone-it, who took my cell phone charger?!! I always put it by the phone in the kitchen."

"I don't know honey. I haven't seen it", my wife says with a slight roll of her eyes.

"Well, I wish people wouldn't touch things that don't belong to them!"

I then spend an hour interrogating my wife and children as to the whereabouts of my cell phone charger because I believed with all of my heart that I left it in its usual spot. Frustrated, I gave up prideful and angry. A couple days later I was in the basement and my eye caught site of a black cord leading up to the top of the bistro table. Oh yeah (blushing) I plugged it in there when Ivor and I met last week. My bad. Pride, the mother of all sins!

I know that many of you who are reading today are believers but I also know that many are not. I'm going to ask those of you who are skeptical regarding the existence of God, the inspiration of the Bible, the resurrection of Jesus, and many other Christian beliefs to set aside your pride for a moment and open yourselves to the slim possibility that you might be wrong, that maybe you didn't actually leave the cell phone charger in the kitchen like you thought you did. What do you have to lose? Jesus said, "Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it." Luke 17:33 Could it be possible that giving up isn't really giving up at all? Hmmmm?

I'm a scientist. I have a Bachelors of Science degree in biology with a chemistry minor, I have two doctoral degrees and a partridge in a pear tree. Sorry, that last part just came out so easily I didn't have the heart to delete it. So how in the world could a guy like me believe in an eternal God, in the Genesis creation story, in Jonah being swallowed by a big fish, in the virgin birth of Jesus, and in the resurrection? The honest answer is that I came in the back door. God humbled me, allowed me to be broken, and then when I had nowhere else to go he opened my eyes and I experienced him. OK, that doesn't settle well with many of you but the next part might. When I came to believe I then had to reconcile what I knew to be true in my heart with what I thought to be true in my head. I had to examine the evidence!

I'm going to ask you to do the same. If you don't believe, are you doing so because of a lack of evidence or because you have never really examined the evidence? Have you really looked critically at the possibility of "life" coming from non-living chemicals, the spontaneous, random formation of the genetic code and it's ability to reproduce itself (had to from the beginning or it never would have gone past day one). Have you looked at the complexity of the human eye (not just the one but the two in perfect position and function to allow for depth perception). Have you seen the birth of a baby, a butterfly emerge from a cocoon, a queen bee guarded by drones, or the structure of lamanin (the stuff that holds us together)? Have you examined the sixty-six books of the Bible written by more than forty men over the period of nearly 1600 years or just written it off as rubbish? Have you looked at the life of Jesus and the lives of his followers both before Jesus' death and after? Here is a little appetizer: All of the Apostles except John were martyred for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and his resurrection. After Jesus' crucifixion they were hiding from the authorities but the day after they saw him ascend to heaven they hit the streets without fear. Would they have willingly given their lives (Peter crucified upside down) if they knew that what they were sharing was a lie? Doubtful.

Are you ready for the challenge? It's risky because if, in the end, you come to believe then you suddenly become accountable to the God who made you. If, in the end, you are right in your doubts then your life is random, you have no more value than a flea or an lump of coal, and death is the final word.

Here is the challenge:

1) Even if you aren't sure God exists, ask him in the quiet of your own mind to reveal himself to you and to open your spiritual eyes. You have to want to know truth or it will just be words. I know it might seem futile but give it a whirl.

2) Follow me over then next two weeks as I look at the Bible and it's accuracy, fulfilled prophecy, and power to change lives. I will also shed some light on the religion of Evolution which requires more faith than the religion of God.

3) Take a real hard look at life (yours and all of the life around you) and reevaluate your world view. Let the chips fall where they may. Science is following the evidence to its logical end.

I can tell you that my pride, my desire to be my own god, my desire not to be held accountable for my sins, and my desire to pursue pleasure was the stone wall that stood between me and my eventual faith in God. It wasn't really my science but my heart.

Over the next couple weeks I will introduce you to neurosurgeons, astrophysicists, and other learned people who realized that the more they came to see the remarkable complexity of life and of the universe the more they believed in the One who created it.

For those of you who are already believers I hope that this will further strengthen your faith as well as help you in your commission to make disciples. The Bible says in 1 Peter 3:15 "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect."

You've also probably noticed that this site has undergone some recent changes. We hope you like the new look. If you get this blog via email subscription take a second and visit the blog page. We also have two audio podcasts on our main site "i61project.org". Come and visit. The podcasts as well as some of Ivor's music is available in the "media" section.

Peace,

David