I did not have a chance to write about it yesterday, but on Tuesday I began another evangelistic Bible study with a young man. He is the boyfriend of one of our young adults. We had a great first study out at Starbucks. This young man has a belief in God, but has questions about suffering, Christ's divinity, and the many different religions that exist.These questions are common for people today. If there is a God, why is there such suffering? While this question has been asked before, today it is personal. If there is a God, why has such suffered happened to me? Why is my life such a mess and so painful?
The question of Jesus' divinity is alive and well today, as movies like the Da Vinci Code show. In fact, 42$ of Americans believe that Jesus sinned while on earth. http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=122
In regards to other religions, Barna also reports that 44% of Americans believe that "the Bible, the Koran and the Book of Mormon are all different expressions of the same spiritual truths."
The evangelistic Bible study that we are going through together is a study that I have written for people who are asking just these questions. It is called The Story of Redemption. You can download a free copy of this study at http://www.storyofredemption.com/page4.html.
But Bible study alone will not reach many seekers today. They must experience the Christian faith. Try it out. See if it "works." See if it brings meaning and value into their lives. And so along with study, we must invite seekers to come alongside of us and serve with us, pray with us, share fellowship with us. Of course, in order to do this, this must be a life that we are living ourselves.
We should not be afraid of learning truth by experience. If Christianity is true, it ought to be true on every level.
What are the dangers of learning truth only through experience or only through the mind?
Posts
2 comments:
Perfect. I had a block on putting together the discussion for the young professionals study on The Story of Redemption. I think you just removed the log jam.
Garth,
I'm glad that you are going through this with them.
One thing I forgot to mention on this study. I rarely try to "prove" the authority of the Bible. This is not all that productive today. I simply want to to get someone to open up the Bible and go through this story. The first part of the story rings so true (because it is God's story, it is truth, and it actually describes the world and peole's lives) that it is in itself convicting.
Post a Comment