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The church is not for perfect people
What should you be prepared to do to help new Christians escape the temptations of their old lifestyles? How should you respond to the problems of divorce, drug addiction, homosexuality, and child abuse? How can you equip yourself to keep new believers from slipping through the cracks back into the world?
175 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 29, 2023
ANOTHER BOOK BY MADALYN O’HAIR’S SON
William J. Murray III is a Christian author and activist.
He wrote in the first chapter of this 1997 book, “Mine wasn’t a quiet change that occurred in the privacy of my home. The entire nation heard about it. I was the son of America’s most famous atheist, Madalyn Murray O'Hair. I was the reason why prayer was removed from public schools in 1963… What happened to me in 1980 was news. I apologized to the American people for the role my mother and I played in removing prayer and Bible reading from our schools… The impossible had happened: I had become a Christian.” (Pg. 9-10)
He recounts, “While I was growing up, my mother often told me that she didn’t care if I became a drug addict or bank robber or if I brought home a boyfriend instead of a girlfriend. There was only one thing she didn’t want me to do in life---become a Christian. Anything else was fine with her.” (Pg. 10)
He explains, “I call people like us ‘Transition Christians.’ We’re adults, and we’re new to the church. The one thing we have going for us is that we’ve finally seen the light… But we’re in a process of transition, because for years we lived life as though God didn’t exist.” (Pg. 14)
Later, he adds, “For the lifelong Christian---the person who has grown up in a Christian home, accepted Christ at an early age, and gone to church all his life---that battle is often more discreet. If he has a problem with gambling or alcohol or some other vice, he does it in secret. But the Transition Christian has openly practiced this lifestyle for years. He’s built up strong habit patterns that are difficult to change. And sometimes the church has a hard time understanding that conflict. It expects that the instant a person receives Christ, he is totally transformed. It’s true that he is a new person. But the old sin nature, and that sin nature doesn’t surrender control easily.” (Pg. 21)
He asserts, “Prayer was abolished in public schools not because of my mother’s political beliefs, but because of a moral dilemma.” (Pg. 34) Both he and his younger brother were illegitimate. “Today in our more permissive culture, society is not so condemning of such a situation. But that wasn’t true in the mid-fifties… THAT is why my mother attacked prayer in the school. She was ASHAMED of that birth certificate, so she refused to produce it at Northwood Elementary School… It is my opinion that my mother’s maniacal campaign to remove all reference to God in public schools and government… stem back to this issue…” (Pg. 34-36)
While younger, he worked for his mother’s atheist organization: “there was another problem with my work, for I was not acting like a true atheist. I had an idealistic view of life was not acting like a true atheist…. I suggested .. ‘if ,during the next major earthquake, officials of the ravaged country receive a box of canned goods marked, ‘Donated by American Atheists. We do not believe in God.’ … But Maralyn Murray O’Hair wouldn’t hear of it. No, that money had to go to far more ‘important’ uses, such as lawsuits… The goal of atheism was to destroy religion… I wrote to about 400 members… I asked for their support of positive rather than negative atheism… the overwhelming majority of those who answered pelted me with such abuse that I was stunned.” (Pg. 39-40)
After his conversion, “I was approached by Thomas Nelson Publishers and asked to write a book. I can say now that I shouldn’t have written ‘My Life Without God’ at that point. It was too early. It proved to be one of the most difficult experiences of my life. I started with a ghostwriter, but ended up writing the book myself in hotel room and on airplanes while flying … to give my testimony.” (Pg. 132-133)
This book will be “must reading” for anyone concerned with conversions to Christianity.
William J. Murray III is a Christian author and activist.
He wrote in the first chapter of this 1997 book, “Mine wasn’t a quiet change that occurred in the privacy of my home. The entire nation heard about it. I was the son of America’s most famous atheist, Madalyn Murray O'Hair. I was the reason why prayer was removed from public schools in 1963… What happened to me in 1980 was news. I apologized to the American people for the role my mother and I played in removing prayer and Bible reading from our schools… The impossible had happened: I had become a Christian.” (Pg. 9-10)
He recounts, “While I was growing up, my mother often told me that she didn’t care if I became a drug addict or bank robber or if I brought home a boyfriend instead of a girlfriend. There was only one thing she didn’t want me to do in life---become a Christian. Anything else was fine with her.” (Pg. 10)
He explains, “I call people like us ‘Transition Christians.’ We’re adults, and we’re new to the church. The one thing we have going for us is that we’ve finally seen the light… But we’re in a process of transition, because for years we lived life as though God didn’t exist.” (Pg. 14)
Later, he adds, “For the lifelong Christian---the person who has grown up in a Christian home, accepted Christ at an early age, and gone to church all his life---that battle is often more discreet. If he has a problem with gambling or alcohol or some other vice, he does it in secret. But the Transition Christian has openly practiced this lifestyle for years. He’s built up strong habit patterns that are difficult to change. And sometimes the church has a hard time understanding that conflict. It expects that the instant a person receives Christ, he is totally transformed. It’s true that he is a new person. But the old sin nature, and that sin nature doesn’t surrender control easily.” (Pg. 21)
He asserts, “Prayer was abolished in public schools not because of my mother’s political beliefs, but because of a moral dilemma.” (Pg. 34) Both he and his younger brother were illegitimate. “Today in our more permissive culture, society is not so condemning of such a situation. But that wasn’t true in the mid-fifties… THAT is why my mother attacked prayer in the school. She was ASHAMED of that birth certificate, so she refused to produce it at Northwood Elementary School… It is my opinion that my mother’s maniacal campaign to remove all reference to God in public schools and government… stem back to this issue…” (Pg. 34-36)
While younger, he worked for his mother’s atheist organization: “there was another problem with my work, for I was not acting like a true atheist. I had an idealistic view of life was not acting like a true atheist…. I suggested .. ‘if ,during the next major earthquake, officials of the ravaged country receive a box of canned goods marked, ‘Donated by American Atheists. We do not believe in God.’ … But Maralyn Murray O’Hair wouldn’t hear of it. No, that money had to go to far more ‘important’ uses, such as lawsuits… The goal of atheism was to destroy religion… I wrote to about 400 members… I asked for their support of positive rather than negative atheism… the overwhelming majority of those who answered pelted me with such abuse that I was stunned.” (Pg. 39-40)
After his conversion, “I was approached by Thomas Nelson Publishers and asked to write a book. I can say now that I shouldn’t have written ‘My Life Without God’ at that point. It was too early. It proved to be one of the most difficult experiences of my life. I started with a ghostwriter, but ended up writing the book myself in hotel room and on airplanes while flying … to give my testimony.” (Pg. 132-133)
This book will be “must reading” for anyone concerned with conversions to Christianity.
October 27, 2016
A good book for anyone dealing with people recently coming to the church or with alcohol addiction
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews