Tyler sent me a book to read, "I sold my soul on eBay". It is written by an atheist of all things who thought he would prove some kind of point by attending church(s) designated by the person who won an eBay auction for his soul.
So I took Pastor Noel's advice and have actually been turning the TV off (at least turning the sound off if the Indians are playing) and reading.
The book ended up being a review of several church services and how they could be changed to attract people like him. As I read the book, it became clear quickly that this guy was never going to find what he was looking for, proof that God exists. He was looking for the wrong thing! When people come to Christ it is because they are looking to develop a personal relationship with Him through faith, not worldly proof.
Tyler and I agreed this is typical today of too many people who attend church for the wrong reasons. They want to know about God, instead of really knowing Him on a personal level and having faith that He knows how to run your life better than you do.
I continue to be amazed at people who view themselves compared to others instead of against what is right and wrong. They think "well I am better than this person because they did this", or they ask "why are you getting on me about my lifestyle when (insert family member or Church attenders name here) has also done things wrong".
WAKE UP! We are all accountable for what we do. I will have to stand in judgement one day and answer to God about what I did or did not do with my life. Guess what, I cannot use someone elses shortcomings to justify mine. I can only answer for myself and what I have done, not compare myself to others. Our comparision is to Christ and we all come up way short.
1 comment:
Hi! This is the author of that book :) It's true I was wondering if the churches would show me any reason to believe in God that I hadn't considered.
But I agree that it would be difficult to "find God" without wanting to find one in the first place. However a lot of these churches have a specific goal to reach out to the "unchurched" people. That's what I tried to focus on. And I found that virtually no churches did this in a way that appealed to my intellect or curiosity.
You can debate over whether this should be a goal of the church, but if churches can't help me (an atheist) "find God," what will?
Thanks again for the commentary!
-- Hemant
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