#25: Why Ideas Are So Powerful

Why Ideas Are So Powerful

Ideas have always been and continue to be our Enemy’s favorite method of undermining the work of God.

Dallas Willard comments on what happened in the garden of Eden:

“Ideas and images are … the primary focus of Satan’s efforts to defeat God’s purposes with and for humankind. When we are subject to his chosen ideas and images, he can take a nap or a holiday. Thus when he undertook to draw Eve away from God, he did not hit her with a stick, but with an idea. It was with the idea that God could not be trusted and that she must act on her own to secure her own well-being.”

Two observations. First, both Adam and Eve fell for the bad idea that God really can’t be trusted. Second, once ideas take root, they have a mind of their own and pick up speed like a snowball rolling down a hill!

That is why God’s Word reminds us:

“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”–2 Cor 10:3-5

Notice that part of our (more…)

#24: Does the Bible Teach That Jesus is the Only Way to God?

Does the Bible really teach that Jesus is the only way to God?

That’s a good question. Our culture is definitely headed in the direction of pluralism and relativism.

For example, 6 out of 10 teenagers today agree with the statement “many religions can lead to eternal life; there is no one true religion.” Prominent religious leaders like the Dalai Lama agree when he says, “the essential message of all religions is very much the same.”

There are different parts of this question worth looking at and responding to, but I want to focus on what the Bible says. Because if the Bible teaches that Jesus is the only way to God, then it doesn’t matter what our increasingly secular thinks.

It turns out (more…)

#22: Is Science Our Only Source of Knowledge?

Is Science our only Source of knowledge?

With the rise and success of modern science (and these advances have been beneficial in many ways), some people have unfortunately come to believe that science, and science alone offers true knowledge of reality.

Famous atheist Bertrand Russell put it this way:

“Whatever knowledge is attainable, must be attained by scientific methods; and what science cannot discover, mankind cannot know.”

Initially, this sounds sophisticated and intelligent. The only problem is that if it’s true, we couldn’t know it to be true. Why?

Scientism is Self-Refuting

Because the statement (more…)

#20: Learning to Think in a Culture Ruled by Feelings

 

Learning to think in a culture ruled by feelings.

The words we use to talk about our faith shapes how the people around us approach Christianity.

Have you ever noticed how often people start talking about Jesus, the Bible, or God With “feeling” language?

“I just feel that Jesus would…”
“It doesn’t feel like God would…”
“I just feel that’s not what the Bible says…”

Feelings are great but they’re not the foundation of our faith

Now don’t get me wrong, feelings are great. But they’re not the foundation of our faith. And they certainly don’t determine what’s true.

Feelings come and go. They change.

Feelings are not wrong or right. They just are.

They’re a barometer of the soul. A snapshot of our internal life at a particular moment in time.

Thinking connects (more…)

#19: Why Listening Matters When Sharing Your Faith

Why listening matters when sharing your faith.

If you want to have more effective spiritual conversations, then learn to listen.

Francis Schaefer once said:

“‘If I have only an hour with someone, I will spend the first fifty-five minutes asking questions and finding out what is troubling their heart and mind, and then in the last five minutes I will share something of the truth.”

Our temptation is to unload all the facts we’ve ever learned in one conversation.

However, the (more…)