Pamela Christian's Blog, page 21

Religious Tolerance Misapplied

I have been teaching matters of faith for many years now. I have noticed a trend that disturbs me greatly. In fact, it was my reading about Americans’ responses to religious diversity that became the catalyst for the timing of writing this book.

Religious diversity is the trend I am concerned about. “What?” you may ask. “That smacks of intolerance!” But carefully consider what I read about Rabbi David Ingber. He was raised in Orthodox Judaism and departed from the faith in his twenties. On his self-described spiritual journey, he practiced various aspects of Eastern religions. Ultimately he returned to his Jewish roots, bringing with him these Eastern concepts and practices. He has since become a rabbi and founded a congregation in New York City named Romemu. His slogan is Judaism for mind, body, and spirit. When interviewed, Ingber explained, “I do think that there’s a level of maturity involved in being so secure in your own root tradition that you can dabble, that you can borrow, and that you don’t feel that it’s in some way sacrificing your own identity. There is a way for those who love God to love God together, and I think that’s what we’re trying to do now—we’re trying to say, let’s go beyond the labels.”1 On the surface this sounds good; after all, tolerance is an essential and politically correct aspect of present-day American culture.

Tolerance, however, is only as good as the wisdom behind it. Consider the wisdom of tolerating an open flame near gasoline. There is none, unless the desired outcome is a catastrophically devastating explosion.

In my book I substantiate this conclusion. What is your opinion?

Pam is advance scheduling speaking engagements based on the soon-to-be release of her new book. To inquire and book contact us.

Faith Begins with Belief

In a recent post I referenced Nik Walenda and his death-defying wire walk over the Grand Canyon that he performed last month. It reminds me of a story I heard years ago that illustrates the difference between belief and faith.

Let's say you were there, in person, the very day that Nik performed his wire walk, without a net, without a tether and without the least amount of doubt in his ability. As he reaches the platform at the end of his walk and safely steps onto it, you are able to personally congratulate him--even hug him in the excitement and relief of the moment. The cheers of the crowd die down and he turns directly to you and asks, "Do you believe I can successfully walk the high wire over the Grand Canyon." You are almost shocked at the question and you sputter out, "Why, yes of course I do. I just saw you do it." He bends down and even more intensely asks you the same question again. You're uncertain why he's probing you this way, but the crowd is waiting for your answer so you say, "Yes, Nik I most certainly believe you can. We all just saw you successfully walk the high wire." Then he asks you this question: "If you believe I can successfully walk the high wire over the Grand Canyon, then why don't you climb on my back and I'll do it again."

Many people claim to believe something or other, but fail to act on it. True, we have not seen Nik walk a high wire with a person on his back, but isn't that where faith comes in?

In order to have faith we must first believe--we must be convinced that a matter is true. But acting on what we believe, without having first seen every bit of it played out in advance, is demonstrating faith. Faith is not blind or without any substantiation as so many think. Faith is based on firm objective convictions that are sufficient enough to allow a person to subjectively act on their belief in faith. #Faith is acting on what we believe.

Sharing the Gospel One Book at a Time

Thanks for visiting my Blog. I am posting content from my soon to be released book about faith.

 

I [image error]am greatly concerned for people when it comes to what they believe when it comes to matters of faith. This is why I've written the first in my three-book series, Examine Your Faith! Finding Truth in a World of Lies. I am making it available with special priced advance orders so that people will share the book, give the book away and simply take part in sharing the Gospel message. And to further this effort, for every ten books sold through my website, I will donate a book to evangelistic outreaches.

If you, your church or ministry want to commit to purchase in adavnce, you will receive the best possible discount from me. If you represent an evangelistic outreach, you can apply to receive donated copies based on our sales.

Please help spread the word about my effort to get this book in the hands of people around the world who are deceived and don't know it. Josh McDowell has endorsed my book, as have Dan Story and Dr. Craig Hazen, among others.

By subscribing to my Blog, you'll get a clear understanding of my heart and respect for others, wanting them to discover live-giving truth. And you'll get up to the minute special offers I'll be making leading up to the launch (publication) date of the book. I look forward to interacting with you here! The social network buttons are accessible on the left.

 

Please help share about this project sharing the Gospel, one book at a time.