I am excited about my faith in God. I learned a long time ago that God was real and He can help in times of trouble. I believe it’s impossible for me to exist without my faith in a God who is omniscient, omnipoten and omnipresent.
During my years of traveling I met many agnostics — those who do not know what they believe about God. But I have met only a few atheists — those who say they don’t believe in God at all. I attribute their beliefs to the fact that in each human there is a soul that recognizes its connection to and dependency on something greater than the body were it resides.
Most of us quickly accept David’s assertion in Psalm 14 and declare that “the fool has said in his heart there is no God.”
I join you in singing David’s song and shaking our heads at the professing atheists, but I have to ask: Have we become practical atheists? How many of us, while professing our staunch belief in God, have neglected the plight of the “least of these?” After all, our actions indicate that church is all about meeting on Sunday, praising God and anticipating going to heaven.
Consider the words of Jesus in St. Luke, chapter six: “Why call me Lord, Lord and do not the things which I say?”
In light of what David said, I have to change my mind on the number of atheists I have known over the years. Could it be that Jesus is saying, “When we neglect to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick or have compassion for the less fortunate, we are living as if we believe there is no God?”
All too often we make excuses for not living a lifestyle worthy of Jesus Christ. I think when we do things we know are contrary to His teachings, we are really saying, “There is no God or, if there is a God, He is not going to be upset if I do my own thing.”
Perhaps we become comfortable with doing it our way and convince ourselves that God understands. My challenge today is to evaluate our relationships with God and with our peers as we ask ourselves, “Do we really believe there is a God?”
While the agnostic ponders his questions and the atheist rests on his conclusions, I join those old saints who sang, “There are some things I don’t know and there are some places I cannot go, but this I know, God is real for I can feel Him in soul ... You can’t make me doubt Him for I know too much about Him in my heart!”
Scott is the pastor of Baconton Missionary Baptist Church.
During my years of traveling I met many agnostics — those who do not know what they believe about God. But I have met only a few atheists — those who say they don’t believe in God at all. I attribute their beliefs to the fact that in each human there is a soul that recognizes its connection to and dependency on something greater than the body were it resides.
Most of us quickly accept David’s assertion in Psalm 14 and declare that “the fool has said in his heart there is no God.”
I join you in singing David’s song and shaking our heads at the professing atheists, but I have to ask: Have we become practical atheists? How many of us, while professing our staunch belief in God, have neglected the plight of the “least of these?” After all, our actions indicate that church is all about meeting on Sunday, praising God and anticipating going to heaven.
Consider the words of Jesus in St. Luke, chapter six: “Why call me Lord, Lord and do not the things which I say?”
In light of what David said, I have to change my mind on the number of atheists I have known over the years. Could it be that Jesus is saying, “When we neglect to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick or have compassion for the less fortunate, we are living as if we believe there is no God?”
All too often we make excuses for not living a lifestyle worthy of Jesus Christ. I think when we do things we know are contrary to His teachings, we are really saying, “There is no God or, if there is a God, He is not going to be upset if I do my own thing.”
Perhaps we become comfortable with doing it our way and convince ourselves that God understands. My challenge today is to evaluate our relationships with God and with our peers as we ask ourselves, “Do we really believe there is a God?”
While the agnostic ponders his questions and the atheist rests on his conclusions, I join those old saints who sang, “There are some things I don’t know and there are some places I cannot go, but this I know, God is real for I can feel Him in soul ... You can’t make me doubt Him for I know too much about Him in my heart!”
Scott is the pastor of Baconton Missionary Baptist Church.