Easy to Brush Off
Posted by: forthrightmag <forthrightmag@...>
http://www.forthright.net
Going straight to the Cross
Are you really sure? Have you checked the original
documents or have you based your conclusions on
hear-say?
Easy to Brush Off
by J. Randal Matheny
You're sophisticated. Financially and socially
advanced. Studied philosophy, sociology, or
science in the university. Are respected by your
friends and colleagues for your wit, intellect, or
business acumen.
The furtherest thing from your mind is religion,
because you consider it irrelevant at best, or
downright harmful. Easiest thing in the world to
brush off. The name Jesus causes you to curl your
upper lip. The thought of opening the Bible leaves
you cold.
You're in control of your life. You set your own
standards. You choose your causes and determine
your own rules. You may even contribute time and
money to an issue important to you.
Your life is centered on the here-and-now. Not
much thought about life down the road. Certainly
no consideration, other than perhaps an occasional
twinge in the back of your mind, to what happens
after death. You probably tell yourself that at
death it's all over.
But do you know for sure?
And what if -- and this is a big if -- what if
someone came back from the dead to say there's
more. Much more. So much more that it makes this
life pale in comparison. But to find it, you have
to prepare for it.
The "if" isn't actually so big. It's a proven
fact, and people have set out time and again to
debunk it, only to convince themselves of its
truth.
Why not check it out for yourself? You know the
crowd just might be wrong about a thing or two.
Pick up a Bible, against your natural
inclinations, and read any of four accounts,
Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. And be ready for a
shock.
You've heard the religionists say their piece.
Lots of them are just parroting their superiors,
who are handing down what they got from their
human authorities. Lots of them have got it wrong,
and you can tell that without knowing hardly
anything of what's popularly called Christianity.
Why not get it from the horse's mouth?
After all, you're sophisticated and intelligent.