“Chip, I don’t get it. How can someone as well-educated and intellectually astute as you appear to be really believe in a literal Jesus and all of this ‘born again’ stuff?”
It was the spring of 1976, and I was about to graduate from college. I was talking with a professor who I really respected. That day he asked me a question that I think he’d been waiting to ask for quite a while.
Now this guy was brilliant, well respected and had been instrumental in my growth over the last four years. Yet he saw Christians as people that need a crutch – narrow-minded and uneducated. He didn’t understand how I could subscribe to that thinking when I clearly didn’t ‘fit the mold.’ His question got under my skin because I respected him … it also made me really think about what I believed.
I was a Christ follower and my life had been changed; but I also had intellectual integrity. Surely God didn’t expect us to throw our brains in the trash to be followers of Jesus! I knew that there were good answers for the hard questions about God, Jesus and the claims of Christianity.
That conversation began a journey of thirty-plus years focused on this question: Is there intellectually feasible evidence to support a faith in the Jesus of the Bible and his claims of deity, eternal life and absolute truth?
There are answers, and those who seek can know the truth. Over the next few weeks I’m going to share what my journey has uncovered and challenge you to take a deeper look at the fundamentals of your faith.
But first, let me ask you this: How long has it been since you examined the really difficult questions about what it means to be a Christian? Are you clear about what you believe and why you believe it? What is it based on? Is there evidence, or did someone tell you what to believe?
Knowing that you believe is a critical turning point in your life. Knowing WHY you believe represents a level of true understanding that God calls each and every one of us to. These questions are at the core of our existence; they speak to eternal life, absolute truth, creation and the very existence of a living savior who dwells within us.
This week we begin the series “Why I Believe.” In it, we’ll address some of the most controversial claims of Christianity. I pray that this series and our new small group study will equip you to respond in peace and confidence to those who genuinely seek answers about the Christian faith.
Keep Pressin’ Ahead,
Chip Ingram
Teaching Pastor, Living on the Edge
Written By
Chip Ingram
Founder & Teaching Pastor, Living on the Edge
Chip Ingram is the CEO and teaching pastor of Living on the Edge, an international teaching and discipleship ministry. A pastor for over thirty years, Chip has a unique ability to communicate truth and challenge people to live out their faith. He is the author of many books, including The Real God, Culture Shock and The Real Heaven. Chip and his wife, Theresa, have four grown children and twelve grandchildren and live in California.
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