A Cynic's Tale
I’m not a scholar. I’ve never pretended to be one. Although I have often thought I was the smartest guy in the room. And I guess I give off that vibe sometimes because I’m not very shy about offering up my opinion…on many subjects. Perhaps I –at times- come off as a know-it-all. I think it’s because I ‘process’ situations quickly and disseminate data (as well as life situations), or problems, better than most. It’s either a ‘gift’ or a ‘curse’ depending on the person’s perspective. Coming up with a unique solutions to problems has been how I made a living as an entrepreneur and business analyst for over 40 years now. Suffice it to say adapting to what life presents is my thing.
So it was one of those critical ‘situations’ that I found myself in the middle of, back in 1976, when I was just 24. Being separated from my wife and child for the last 9 months –after 6 years of marriage- I was moving into a new apartment and my friend Mark was helping me move in furniture.
Now Mark, who was my former barhopping buddy, had ‘found Jesus’ and had a personal transformative experience; and he was sharing with me about what all was happening in his life. And he said to me; “I don’t know why I’m helping you move in, when I’m just gonna have to help you move back in with Debbie” (my estranged wife).
I told him; “You’re crazy, because I just signed a year’s lease and Debbie and I are most assuredly getting a divorce very soon”… as we were continuously fighting. He told me that he, his wife, and others were praying for a reconciliation miracle. He left me that day with a challenge. He said, “Whenever you feel like it, say this prayer out loud: “Jesus , IF you ARE REAL, be real to ME”.
And over the next two weeks I found myself saying that challenge, out loud, while I was driving. I don’t know whether or not I was an atheist by this time or simply an agnostic with my beliefs about God, thinking HE might exist, but certainly didn’t get involved in people’s lives. Why would he? I had the universe all figured out & evolution and science seemed to contradict the Bible totally.
Science was way more practical than believing in some invisible God of a mysterious supernatural life-force. Or that Jesus sort of dictated His notes to his followers through some sort of spiritualistic ‘channeling’. All of that seemed too unbelievable for me.
To believe in another world beyond this one? I believed in what I can see and reason out. It was just too much for me to fathom. No I didn’t expect Jesus to show up to a ‘Show & Tell’. But He did! In a big way. And then He challenged ME –to do something about it. And when God shows up at your door…it’s best if you answer it.
I still remember the moment Jesus became a REAL live person, or individual, beyond the historical storybook figure. And my first revelation past that reality, was that He loved me unconditionally exactly as I was…even though in truth I was pretty much a self-centered ass. He offered me HOPE – beyond what I could imagine or ‘reasonably’ expect. I was in an impossible fix from my illegal side activities and misdeeds and was facing about 10 years in the big house. And I am not talking about heaven. But through several miracles, all that went away and I re-united with my wife and son as well. We went probably 2 years from that day before we had any disagreements or raised our voices in anger. Miracle #2 of about 100.
He was true to His Word when He said He’d repair my life (Romans 8:28) if I surrender and give Him my life in return. I did; and He did too. Now I’m leaving out all the dastardly deeds and details of said dark-side living for the sake of time as well as not giving the Devil to much praise for a job well done. I will just say that it did take me years to extricate myself from my associations and entanglements with various OC type characters. Eventually God put ‘Humpty Dumpty’ back together again…only a better version.
Now as a ‘scientist’ –albeit a computer scientist– I had a very pragmatic, rational mindset. Because I was such an eager student of Biology, Mathematics and Physics; I had a big dilemma when it came to taking the Bible as the inerrant Word of God to mankind… as a Guidebook, if you will, for one’s successful journey through life. After all Jesus himself said that He was The Way, The Truth and The Life. Now before I address THAT, let me talk to the first issue. In the first few weeks of my NEW life I really wrestled with all that stuff I knew. And so we discussed it. Yes, I prayed (talked) and He talked back (to my spirit). What He said was I should just shelve all that head knowledge for a little bit and just allow Him time to explain how the Bible doesn’t conflict with science but really compliments and affirms how things went down as far as creation and world events, despite what some people with other agendas might hypothesize. And guess what? Over the last 40+ years I have done a 180 on all of those issues. I have come to prove out the validity of the Bible the more I sought to understand it and let God reveal Himself and His notes to man. Over and over I discovered elements about the Bible’s structure and wording, hidden codes and mathematical patterns, symbology and logic constructs that only a Master Designer of supernatural power could have designed. Bottom-line, those points, and personal experiences, convinced me –a natural born skeptic—that what is written down in the Bible is the truth, to the way, for a blessed life.
Let’s break it down so it’s SIMPLE: (I like bullet points)
· God is Real – believe it or not, doesn’t change that fact. Gravity is real. Electricity is real. Neither can be seen, only the effects realized or felt.
· Jesus is Real – Historically and from personal testimony –from many sources—and throughout the ages, inside or outside of religious circles -- even though 3 major religions ascribe to that fact.
· Jesus died & rose from the grave – there are several great investigative books on this subject that anyone seeking the truth can read if they are truly open-minded. One is “The Case for Christ” by Lee Strobel - a fellow skeptic and investigative journalist.
· God’s main thing Is Love – It’s His M.O. You could say He is love. Man on the other hand is by nature, self-centered;, self interest oriented….so where did love come from?
· God is Good – despite what you see in the ‘world’, or think, or reason out, you’d would be misinformed to think otherwise…or too lazy to SEEK, or search out, the real truth on this subject.
· God is Just – Therein lies the Mystery. Jesus – His Son – paid the price of OUR sins, on the cross…because it took a ‘divine’ sacrifice of Love…for mankind, for all sin, for all time. That was His Gift of Love to us. BUT like any gift, it must be acknowledged and accepted…through Faith, by Grace. Simple, but maybe the most profoundly complex act of supernatural Love of all time. We genetically inherited this SIN virus from Adam & Eve; and Jesus gave his Life to buy the cure…a pardon. His Followers choose life over death.
· God made a Covenant with His people – A Covenant is a binding contract. Those that believe in Jesus, their Advocate, and follow His Ways; to them He calls Sons and Daughters, adopted children, FAMILY. And then all the promises and commitments come into play by Grace.
· The Bible is His Instruction Manual – His Guide to the Way, to Truth, for Life. Read more about it. It’s an all-time bestseller. Yes, there are various versions, with lots of wording variances; but the essential points are all the same. Even though over a period of approximately 1,500 years the current bible was put together from the writings of some 40 authors; they were inspired words & the continuity of this ‘guidebook’ is impossibly constructed without true contradiction or disunity. It’s truly a work of ART… of Words.
Now it’s up to you to prove me wrong by taking that same CHALLENGE.
But you will die trying to prove me a liar….OR
You will find out I’m telling you the Truth.
OR… You’ll be too lazy or apathetic to go forward; asking God to be REAL to YOU!! To test it out and truly SEEK out His interest and love in You.
Either way you’ll get out of life what you MOST desire.
But choose wisely, because eternity is a long time to live with a bad choice.