Sunday.....Christianity.....Concepts

I had been involved in Christian forums in the past and it can be very discouraging. If we speak to unbelievers in the way we sometimes speak to ourselves, which is what I believe that we often do, then it becomes obvious why they do not seek conversations and often flee from them. Let me give you an example from outside of Christianity. Jehovah Witnesses often prepare throughout the week, memorizing scripture verses that are connected in a way as to seemingly support their doctrine. I spent a few years studying this religious organization and speaking to them. There is a mental process involved, a bias in place and no amount of reasoning and common sense can get through. The scripture verses are given in rapid succession. It is the argument that must be won and the gullible mind captured. It's not the bias that I'm pointing to here in this blog, for Christians, in the essentials anyway, have a legitimate bias, for that bias is truth itself. It is rather, that Scripture may be given to show one's proficiency. We seem to either solely rely on our experiences, the subjective, or in the other direction, our Scriptural knowledge. I have to say here, so as not to be misunderstood, that using Scripture is indeed what we must do. Scripture proclaims these truths and it is our wonderful priveledge to tell others. Unfortunately, we can, as the letter to the Ephesians in the Book of Revelation states, leave our first love and proclaim truth but do so without the power of that love. So, it's my opinion here, that there is a time for quoting Scripture...no, that's an understatement, for that is the essence of how we tell others of Christ, but there is a time for concepts also and that is what I try to do with this blog! Scripture relays these truths to us, it supports us with its veracity. It is the objective source of our beliefs, the sustenance in our travels throughout this life and the means with which we convey what Christ has done for us. It motivates us as we develop these concepts that have their own time and place, and so, I want to give you one here as an example: To the person reading this that professes to be a Christian...when you open the Bible, is their an aroma of peace that envelops you? When you talk to another Christian, is there a bond there that is closer than a sibling? When you consider the implications of a life lived without Christ's atoning blood are you saddened and when you apply that to your present state against your previous state, are you overwhelmed with joy. If not, logic alone would seem to say that this Christianity may indeed be of a value but certainly not one to go to extremes over. There is a problem here. The astounding and miraculous claims that are made in the Christian Faith leave no room in a thinking mind for ambivalence to be accommodated. Even in our weaknesses...no, especially in our weaknesses, if the Christian Faith is nothing less than everything, than it is less than nothing. From a purely intellectual standpoint, if your faith is not overwhelming then the object of that faith, Christ, must of necessity, not be overwhelming also. This condition must at least be faced, for obscuring it is neither honest, wise nor safe.