God's Not Dead: Evidence for God in an Age of Uncertainty by Rice Broocks Read Free Book Online

is critical in that God has given man the right to choose freely, therefore this choice must be sincere and uncoerced. God doesn’t want you to do something against your will. You, therefore, must desire to know Him and have a relationship with Him. “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19 NIV ).
    3. Trust : belief that both parties will do what they say they’ll do This trust is not blind. It is based on knowledge and evidence that demonstrate the person making the promise is trustworthy.
    How important is this to God? It is the ultimate sign of real faith in Him. Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me” (John 14:1 NIV ). The Scripture is filled with praises to God for His faithfulness and trustworthiness. “Those who know your namewill trust in you, / for you, L ORD , have never forsaken those who seek you” (Psalm 9:10). Trust is possibly the most important ingredient in building a relationship. This is true not only between people but in a relationship with God as well.
    U NBELIEF I S THE P RODUCT OF N OT T HINKING
    The Scripture explains the tendency of the human heart to gravitate toward unbelief by suppressing the evidence for God. Like a lawyer who doesn’t want any evidence to come forth in a trial that could discredit his client, the skeptic is threatened by the believer who makes a case for God based on reason. Paul wrote, “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them” (Romans 1:18–19).
    This is why there is such frustration and anger on the part of atheists when God is mentioned. All their hard work of suppressing the truth gets sabotaged. The tendency of the human mind is to suppress or ignore intentionally something it doesn’t want to hear. Fear operates in a similar way. It is when we stop thinking and reasoning soundly that fear comes barging into our lives. For instance, I know that flying is much safer than driving and have flown several million miles in my travels over the last thirty years of ministry. Even though I know flying is safe, there are times when turbulence can cause me to needlessly worry about crashing. By using reason, I can calm my fears and restore my confidence that the turbulence isn’t goingto cause the plane to crash any more than a bumpy dirt road would cause my car to crash. Sound reasoning can restore my faith in flying.
    Unbelief can result from failing to remember. Jesus performed many miracles , such as feeding thousands of people from a handful of bread loaves and a few fish. Time and time again, although His disciples had experienced miracle after miracle, they would forget Jesus’ power as soon as they faced another challenge. The unbelief of the disciples was the result of not thinking clearly and not remembering. Sound reasoning can restore your faith in God.
    I S S CIENCE THE A NSWER TO E VERYTHING?
    While reason is obviously vital for our existence, it must not be applied in an unreasonable fashion. This tendency is seen when reason is used in a reductionist fashion and attempts to limit truth to only that which is scientifically and empirically verifiable, even eliminating logical and philosophical means of attaining knowledge . Atheists tend to do this when they portray science as the savior of humanity. This philosophy is called scientism and is the belief that science is the only source of knowledge; not even philosophy or theology may weigh in on the ultimate questions that face our world. “Indeed, it is the ideology of a great part of the scientific world. Its adherents see science as having a mission that goes beyond the mere investigation of nature or the discovery of physical