Belief or unbelief, Believer or Unbeliever, believing or unbelieving. . . .There are many ways to say it, but it can be reduced to a state of belief.

Yet, again, I read through another blog written by a former minister of the gospel who is now a professing and sharp-tongued critic of the faith. His world view is that of a rather new atheist who has found his peace in non-belief. I read his words and, actually, appreciate his honesty and transparency. His views along with others I have been reading who left the faith and have embraced atheism, shares a bitterness toward what they once believed and proclaimed but now whole-heartedly reject.

Even though I find it disheartening and sad beyond measure, I do somewhat understand their angst and desire to be removed, disconnected, and distant from what they once proclaimed. Christianity takes heart-belief not religious conformity. I can see anyone dissing that from their life. It offers emptiness. The falseness was overwhelming to them.

In my life, it worked just the opposite. I was floundering in my faith, feeling empty and lacking in joy, when I gave up. I couldn’t sustain the effort and hated the “going through the motions” that scripted religiosity serves to a person. But I loved God. I knew there had to be a better way. I asked God to show Himself to me and to change me.

Everything changed as a result of that prayer of sincerity. God came up close and personal. My spiritual life went through a radical renewing, I came to lose interest in Christianity that is performance driven. Instead I came to Jesus in heart, soul, and being. Then He gave me His love, and I accepted it. God’s love is earth-shattering real. I wish all would partake of it.

What drove some Christians into godless atheism, effectively drove me into God-inspired realism for lack of a better term. I didn’t want to continue living as I was, with a faith that is lacking in life and substance. The atheist and I have that in common. However, I went “to” because I still believed in God and His goodness, but they went “away” because they no longer believed in the truth and realness of God as a good God or as an entity who offers hope and life.

Resurrection is what I embraced in my inner self, my spiritual life. On this Easter weekend, I can truthfully say, you and I can go through our own crucifixion experience, where we die to self and become alive to God. It is so alive that it causes “joy unspeakable and full of glory.”

“The love of God is greater far, than tongue or pen can ever tell.”

Why do they no longer believe in God? It’s hard to explain, but if the thing is no longer “real” to someone, then it is useless and lacks in value. Add to that the “harsh” side of rigid views, people that only “love” those who are like them. And you have something that is easy to loathe because it lacks a genuine spirit of love.

Love is what brought God to man and man to God.

It is Easter weekend. I went to a three hour Passion Play last night in Elk Grove. The day before, I read the complete offering of the atheist I mentioned in the first paragraph. The contrast is great. As I watched the play, I kept thinking of former Christian believers who no longer share the faith. I was trying to see it through their eyes, and, quite frankly, it wasn’t that hard to see. One can’t help but wonder about it since there are so many who have “turned away” as Christians like to term it (but I prefer not to). I take their views as valid, and ask myself many questions. Christ needs to be real and life-giving or it is a mockery.

The Christ Story is a hard one. It isn’t neat and tidy or even happy. The love of God, when it is seen as brutal or belittling, cannot reach the soul. Is God’s love, real love? Is it pure? Are we at liberty to embrace His love? I cannot answer that question for you. It is a personal question one must grapple with.

I  do know this, though, God cannot be embraced through another person’s beliefs. It is through your own. I find God to be life-giving life-changing real. He completes my life. I would be much less a person without Him. I don’t believe I am making my emotions become who I am. It is not false or a facade. We live in a cursed world, one that is angry and struggling. The cross of Jesus Christ provides a way of escape for in Him new life is given.

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