MUSIC:

• Someone’s Work of Art (Sixteen Cities)
• Fearfully And Wonderfully Made (Matt Redman)
• Who Am I? (Casting Crowns)
• Finding Who We Are (Kutless)
• This Is Who I Am (Shane & Shane)
• I Am Nothing (Jeremy Camp)
• We Are Loved (David Crowder*Band)
• Beautiful Things (Gungor)
• Everything Glorious (David Crowder*Band)
• Girl America (Mat Kearney)
• Known (Audrey Assad)
• Mystery of Mercy (Caedmon’s Call)
• Potter’s Wheel (Bashta)
• Sea of Faces (Kutless)
• Fingerprints of God (Steven Curtis Chapman)
• Beloved (Tenth Avenue North)
• He Knows My Name (Paul Baloche)
• Mirror (BarlowGirl)
• Identity (Lecrae)
• Wonderfully Made (Matthew West)

 BOOKS:

• Who Do You Think You Are? (Mark Driscoll)
• Altar Ego (Craig Groeschel)
• Who I Am In Christ: A Devotional (Neil T. Anderson)
• God Knows My Name (Beth Redman)
• The Search For Significance (Robert S. McGee)
• Redeeming Love (Francine Rivers)
• You! (Ed Young)
• S.H.A.P.E. (Eric Rees)
• You Matter To God (Derek Prince)
• Becoming a Contagious Christian, chapter 4 (Bill Hybels)
• Slave (John MacArthur)
• The Hunger for Significatnce (RC Sproul)
• The Secret of Loving, chapter 3 (Josh McDowell)
• Who Am I?: Identity in Christ (Jerry Bridges)
• God’s Brand New Idea (Max Lucado)
• You Are Special (Max Lucado)
• Outlive Your Life, chapter 11 (Max Lucado)
• Redefining Beautiful (Jenna Lucado)
• Lies Women Believe (Nancy Leigh DeMoss)
• Identity: Who You Are in Christ (Eric Geiger)

MOVIES:

• Soul Surfer
• Les Miserables
• Radio
• Penelope
• Shallow Hal
• Elephant Man
• Martian Child
• Schindler’s List
• Hortin Hears A Who
• Sweetpea Beauty (Veggie Tales)
• Bourne (Trilogy)
• Beastly
• Cars 2
• Unknown

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Image by: SecretGrace

Aside from a backpack full of free books, I came home with a notebook full of ideas.  Here are some of my favorite quotes from the speakers I was able to hear:

Craig Groeschel
1.  “Don’t build your ministry on what you’re against.  Build your ministry on what you’re for.”
2.  “We’re not here to make a name. We’re here to make a difference.”
3.  “Don’t worry when you face resistance.  Worry when you don’t.”
4. “If you blame yourself for the declines, you’ll take credit for the increases.”
5. “If you’re not ready to face opposition in being used by God, you’re not ready to be used by God.”

Andy Stanley
6.  “Leaders are made one response at a time.”
7.  “It’s better to make a difference than to make a point.”
8.  “The most important thing you do for the kingdom of God may not be something you do but someone you raise.”
9.  “Your response to opportunities, adversities and calling, determine the type of leader you become.”
10.  “The greatest motivator of change is a crystal-clear vision of what the future should look like.”
 
Dave Ramsey
11.  “Wealth comes from hard work but not because of hard work. Wealth comes because of God. Everything is His.”

Propaganda
12.  “You’re not the artist. You’re the canvas.”
 
Emmitt Smith
13.  “Your attitude determines your aptitude!”

Erwin McManus
14.  “If God imagined you at birth, what makes you think He’s stopped imagining you now.”

Mark Driscoll
15.  “Who you think you are is what compels you to do what you do!”

Louie Giglio
16.  “It’s not that we should declare the praises of God. It’s that we may.”
17.  “Jesus didn’t come from heaven to earth to make bad people good.  He came to make dead people live!”
18.  “If you’ve been served by God, you’ve arrived.”

Matt Redman
19. “May I never lose the wonder, oh the wonder of Your mercy.”

Chris Seay
20. “Make room for every person.  Make things right.  Make time for what matters most.  Make disciples.”

Carlos Whittaker
21. “The purpose of creativity is to bring people closer to the face of Jesus Christ.”

Charles Lee
22. “Think BIG.  Start Small.  Keep Moving.”

Rachel Cruze
23. “I need to be confident and comfortable where God has me right now.”
24. “Once you realize all you have is a gift from God, it’s easier to be humble.”

Jon Acuff
25. “Promoting your gift makes people think you’re an expert. Practicing your gift makes you an expert.”
26. “Don’t try to fast-forward conversions with a Jesus drive-by.”
27. “To have the thumbprint of God means you’re not average.”
28. “Celebrity is the worst drug in Christianity today.”
29. “Today is the only day we have. Today is fact, tomorrow is fiction.”

Bob Goff
30. “We need to wash the feet of our enemies.”
31. “Surround yourself with prompts that remind you who Jesus is.”
32. “When you love people like Jesus, you get messy. But messy looks good on you!”

Visit www.CatalystConference.com to learn more about the next conference near you.  Also, check out their podcast and their store with helpful resources.  You can also follow Catalyst on Facebook and Twitter.

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Strobel’s endorsement is no exaggeration regarding the new book, Confident Faith: Building a Firm Foundation for Your Beliefs, by Mark Mittelberg.  Originally released in 2008 under the title, Choosing Your Faith (the title of which I actually like better), this edition is a major revision and definitely worth reading.

Confident Faith is an excellent resource that offers insight to people who are Christians and people who are not.  I love Mittelberg’s methodology.  He starts by establishing what faith really is and how each one of us actually exercises faith in something every day.

The book then offers a brilliant “Faith Path Questionnaire” with 42 questions to help readers discover which of the six most common “Faith Paths” currently characterize their approach to faith.

The next six chapters are dedicated to addressing each of the Six Faith Paths:

1. The Relativistic Faith Path: “Truth is Whatever Works for You”
2. The Traditional Faith Path: “Truth is What You’ve Always Been Taught”
3. The Authoritarian Faith Path: “Truth Is What You’ve Been Told You Must Believe”
4. The Intuitive Faith Path: “Truth is What You Feel in Your Heart”
5. The Mystical Faith Path: “Truth is What You Think God Told You”
6. The Evidential Faith Path: “Truth is What Logic and Evidence Point To”

The next section of the book helps readers assess the pros and cons of each Faith Path, and then focuses in on the Evidential Faith Path.  It does this by examining the “Twenty Arrows of Truth” which show reasons from science, logic, history, archaeology, and experience that can strengthen our trust in the claims of Christianity.

Finally, in the last section of the book, Mittelberg lays outs the “Ten Barriers to Belief.”  These are the most common obstacles that tend to hold people back in their quest for a confident faith:

1. Barrier 1: Lack of Information
2. Barrier 2: Lack of Openness
3. Barrier 3: Intellectual Doubt or Disagreement
4. Barrier 4: Lack of Experience
5. Barrier 5: Lifestyle Issues
6. Barrier 6: Personal Hurts
7. Barrier 7: Control Issues
8. Barrier 8: Apathy
9. Barrier 9: Fear
10. 10. Barrier 10: Oversimplicity

My Top 10 Favorite Quotes From the Book

1. “We all live by some form of faith. Which leads us to the central question: Is ours a well-founded faith? A wise faith? A faith that makes sense and is supported by the facts? One that works in real life and is worth hanging on to?”
2. “We must find out what truly is real and then align our lives and actions to that reality.”
3. “We have to be willing to recognize what is true, even if it flies in the face of what we’ve thought in the past.”
4. “We must beware of turning our traditions – or our family background, heritage, or ethnicity – into an excuse to blindly perpetuate something that may or may not be healthy, helpful, or even true.”
5. “Real knowledge comes when the logical, organizing power of the mind is applied to the real-world experience and data gained through the senses. These two elements are examples of fundamental, undeniable realities. To even try to argue against them, you must first employ them.  And, apart from them, nothing could be known.”
6. “My life has been guided by the principle of Plato’s Socrates: Follow the evidence, wherever it leads” ~Antony Flew
7. “Truth is so obscure in these times and falsehood so established that unless one loves the truth, he cannot know it.” ~Blaise Pascal
8. “Reasonable faith moves in the same direction indicated by the facts, though it’s a commitment or step that takes you further than the evidence alone can carry you.”
9. “Don’t forget that you’re not in a neutral position. Right now, you are staking your life on whatever spiritual perspective you’re currently trusting in.”
10. “Down through the ages, countless religious systems have been devised – some quite elaborate – to try to provide ways for us to earn our way back to God. Though he is unimaginably holy, we attempt to appease him and to earn our way into his good favor. What’s really confusing is that some of these payback schemes are constructed under the banner of Christianity. But they confound and confuse the uncomplicated message of grace and redemption that is freely available by choosing faith in Jesus Christ.”

All in all, I give this book a five-star rating.  It’s so good I just want to give a copy to everyone I meet!  In fact, when I lent my copy to an agnostic college student, she decided to become a follower of Christ after reading the book twice in one week!

Buy the Book
Confident Faith

Buy the Curriculum
Faith Path DVD
Faith Path Workbook

Follow the Author
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I look back on it as a positive experience.  If I hadn’t gone [to church] with them when I was younger, there’s probably almost zero chance I’d be going now.
Also, [growing up Catholic] is a better environment.  I went to a Catholic school.  I’m not saying public schools are bad. It’s just a different environment.  I kind of liked it.
But the reason I go to church now is a lot different than when I used to go.  I go more for myself.  I have three older brothers; I don’t know how often they go anymore.  They don’t go every week, but they still go.

2.  What comes to mind when you think about God?
That’s a tough question.  Definitely Jesus.  Miracles.  I don’t know why, I always kind of picture the sky and the clouds, because that’s where heaven is supposed to be, I guess.  I think of an Almighty person who is, like, kind of always just looking down and watching what’s going on.  You can’t really escape him.  He always knows what’s going on in your head.
I think God is involved in my life.   He answers my prayers.  If I didn’t think so, I wouldn’t pray.
Over the summer, I went online – which is a big mistake if you want to look for anything about your religion; especially being Catholic.  Do you know about “mortal sins” and “venial sins” when it comes to being Catholic?  A mortal sin is a very grave, serious offense, where you consciously decide to turn away from God.  So that would damn you to hell.  A venial sin is a less serious offense.
I forgot what I was looking up online exactly, but I was curious to see if it was a sin or not.  And then I found a list of sins, and I was like, “Oh shucks, I do all these all the time.”  While they were listed as mortal sins, I wasn’t putting them in the right context.  It scared me, and over the summer I was in a depressed state.  My mind was just consumed by it, and I just couldn’t understand.  I almost felt like I was set up for failure.  But as the year has gone on, I have a priest friend who tries to explain stuff to me.  He said something along the lines of, “You should have a healthy fear of the Lord.  It’s like the ocean.  You should fear it, but that doesn’t mean you should be scared of swimming in it.”  He said, “As you fear the Lord, his love for you will drive the fear away.”  Sometimes I get a little afraid, but not because of God, but because of my own self and my own shortcomings.  It’s not that I think God wants me to fall.  I think God loves me completely, and I think I have a shot at heaven.
 
3.  What comes to mind when you think about Satan?
Definitely a fiery pit.  The word evil.   Now more than ever, I feel like Satan works in subtle ways that people just don’t [consider].  I do think he’s real.  I think he poses a threat in our lives all the time.  I have this idea that, if you’re really turned off to God, Satan doesn’t have to do any work because he almost has you.  However, it’s harder for Satan to get someone who practices [their faith] and really tries hard every day.  But the people in the middle are very vulnerable.  I feel like it’s tougher for people in the middle to really make those jumps.  I feel like discipline is a big part of religion, and you have to actually try every day.  Sometimes it gets tough.  There will be days when you just don’t understand something and you get upset over it.
 
4.  What comes to mind when you think about Heaven?
The word paradise comes to mind.  When I was younger and read the story of Jesus dying on the cross when he tells the thief, “Today you’ll be in paradise with me,” I always thought of palm trees.  {laugh}
Sometimes I wonder if heaven will be that great.  I hope it is.  Sometimes people describe it as choirs of angels singing praise all the time.  Maybe you see your loved ones.  I don’t know what it’s like.  No one does, I guess.
I like to think that I will see people I knew in this life.  But maybe that won’t be as important once you’re there.  Maybe God is all that’s important.
 
5.  What comes to mind when you think about Hell?
Suffering.  No good.  Always being in constant fear, anger, confusion; all the worst negative emotions you can imagine.
I believe it’s eternal.  You’ve decided in this life that you don’t want God to be part of your life.  It’s kind of your own choice whether you go to heaven or hell.
In Catholicism, in order to go straight to heaven, you should be in a state of grace.  But if you have certain sins on you where you’ve messed up in your lifetime, purgatory is kind of a place of repentance after you die.  So if you don’t totally have a clean spirit, purgatory is a place of suffering a little bit.  It’s a time to pray and ask for forgiveness and to really turn yourself over to God.  From my understanding, if you go to purgatory, you will eventually make it to heaven.  I don’t think there’s a chance you’ll go to hell.
Truly evil people miss out on purgatory.  I really don’t know all the answers.  I’m trying hard not to judge others.
 
6.  What comes to mind when you think about the Bible?
When I was taught how to read the Bible, a lot of times in the Old Testament and the New Testament, you can find parallels between Jesus and other figures, and it kind of helps confirm the truthfulness of it.
Also, there’s always lessons.  Like, you can read Proverbs.

7.  What comes to mind when you think about Jesus?
I guess I have the stereotypical view of Jesus.  I think of him with long hair and a beard.  Not light skin but, you know, a little tan.  Definitely not the New York accent.  {laugh}
I imagine him to be the most incredible man you could have ever met.  Someone who would be very influencing.  He’d probably be someone that – if I lived in that time period – I would always look to do the right thing.  It’d try to emulate him.  I sometimes ask the whole WWJD thing.  You know, “What would Jesus do?”  Sometimes that’s not always clear.  In life, there are always those moments when you wonder, “Should I have done this or that?”  I think about what Jesus would have done, and a lot of times I don’t know the answer.  I’m like, “How would he deal with this?  Would he have gotten angry at this?”  He was human and had all the same emotions we do.  I don’t know.

8.  What comes to mind when you think about the purpose of life?
This is something I definitely think about a lot.  I don’t know, but what I’ve come up with so far is that the purpose of life is to do.  That means, you should be trying to become the best person that you can be.
Happiness comes along with discipline, I think.  People don’t always associate those two, but I do.  You have to work hard at it.  You have to really try to do it.
Miracles, I think, happen through actions.  If you do stuff, God will help you and the miracles will happen.  But if you just sit there, “Can I have a million bucks?” but you don’t do anything to earn it, I’m not sure if it will come or not.
And we should love one another.
 
9.  On a scale of 0 to 10 (0 being no confidence, and 10 being complete confidence), how would you rate the level of confidence you have that your beliefs about God & Satan, Heaven & Hell, and the purpose of life are accurate?
This is hard for me to answer.  I’d say it’s anywhere between eight through ten.  I really and truly believe that, right now, I’d be willing to die for what I believe in.  At the same time, a lot of times I think and question certain things and try to make sense out of it.  So I don’t know if that counts as doubt or not.  But even with that doubt, I still feel like I would die for it.
I used to really fear death, but as of now – as long as I didn’t mess up too badly recently {laugh} – I like to think Jesus would be pleased with me that I’d be willing to die for what he was and who he is.
 
10.  What would you say have been the biggest obstacles in your search for truth?
Probably just temptation all around me.  The fault always lies within me.  Sometimes I don’t accept God’s forgiveness.  I’ll bring myself down and struggle.  It’s not always a happy experience.
A lot of times I wonder why certain things happen.  Other people will question me, like, you know, “Why do you think God does this, that and that?”  I don’t always have an answer for them because I don’t know.  I read the book of Job and that kind of helped me out a little bit.
There are so many temptations around and it’s so easy – especially in college – to be tempted with getting drunk and being with so many girls.  You lose yourself a lot of times.  In the moment, everything is euphoric and great.  You know, with guys, if you get with a girl or you get really drunk, you’re the man for it.  People think you’re so cool.  So it’s very easy to fall into a trap like that.  You have to be on your toes.
 
11.  Hypothetically, if you were to stand before God today, how would you feel about meeting Him?
I have mixed feelings about this.  If I saw God, I’d probably get down on my knees really fast.  {laugh}  I don’t know if I’ve served my purpose here in life.  I don’t know exactly what my own purpose is yet.  I don’t think I’ve done anything extraordinarily great to help others yet.  So, if I could help others do better, that’d be great.
My priest friend said, “A good friend is someone who helps you get to heaven.”  So I kind of want to be there for others if I can.  But that’s up to God if it’s my time to be in heaven or not.  I put it in his hands.  {laugh}
 
12.  On what basis do you believe God will or will not accept you into Heaven?
I think it only takes one moment in your life to accept God.  Even if you’re a terrible person your whole life, and then, as you’re dying you truly believe and accept Jesus, I think you can be saved.  Anything is possible through God.
At the same time, I feel like when I mess up, I’m hard on myself.  Sometimes I just feel unworthy.  I don’t’ think any of us are truly worthy considering how much we mess up.
I don’t think there’s a point system, but also, I’m not sure.  It could help if you do good things in your life.  But maybe if you don’t help others and you lead other people to sin, maybe that will detract you from heaven.
I’d say my life has been more characterized by thinking I have to earn God’s acceptance by being a good person.  If you don’t do anything… I mean, then again, I’m not sure that going to church and praying is a one-way ticket to heaven.  I’m not sure.  I think all that stuff can help, but people can get caught in the routine of doing it.  We all get caught in the routine.  Sometimes I find myself saying the same exact prayers every night, and I have to step back and ask if this is meaningful any more.  I would say that I feel some type of pressure to go to church.  I always say, “Jesus went to temple, so I should probably go to church.” {laugh}
We have to accept God as the superior being and try to do what he wants.  I think part of the reason Jesus came was to set an example for us to follow.  Understanding the reason why Jesus came is something I want to keep attempting to understand.  That’s why I’m reading the Bible.

13.  If you could ask God one question, what would it be?
I’d ask him, “What is the purpose of life?”
 
14.  Would you like to meet up again to do an Investigative Faith Study at your own pace?
Absolutely.  I love talking about stuff like this.  At the end of the day, this is probably the most important stuff.

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1.  “An eternal perspective is a lens through which we look at life’s many situations.  This bigger picture helps us determine how to respond to each situation by considering the destination of each path we have to choose from.”

2.  “An eternal perspective is living in a way that puts things of eternal worth first.”

3.  “An eternal perspective understands that everything on the temporal side of the grave is preparation for the eternal side of the grave.”

4.  “An eternal perspective makes sense of the rewards God offers in the new heavens and the new earth.”

5.  “An eternal perspective influences everything: our words, actions, decisions, goals, time, money, relationships, entertainment, and so forth.”

6.  “Without an eternal perspective, we are prone to miscalculate the value of things.  We can despair when we should hope.  We can give up when we should endure.  We can waste our gifts when we should use them for good.  And we can be lazy when we should take advantage of opportunities.”

7.  “An eternal perspective changes our priorities and helps us to not be selfish people.”

8.  “An eternal perspective reminds us that we will someday stand before God and give an account for what we did with the blessings and resources he entrusted to us.”

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Image by: TylerCreatesWorlds

People used to call me a “church poster boy.”  Ask me, “Why will God accept you?” and I’d have said, “I’m striving to be like Jesus, my role model.”

Then a friend challenged my thinking, helping me understand, because of sin, no amount of striving could get me back on good terms with God. 

That’s when Jesus made sense to me for the first time.  He didn’t come to be a role model, but a perfect sacrifice to satisfy God’s requirements to make forgiveness possible. 

Now my motivation for being like Jesus isn’t “to be” accepted but “because” I’m accepted.

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These three small books are specifically geared toward those in, or about to go into, college.  What’s unique about them is that they are written in a dialogue format as a story.  While each book can be read as a stand-alone, they follow a set of characters made up of college students and professors.

This indirect format, along with the brevity of the books, makes them especially easy (and fun) to read.

The books address some of the most common experiences, questions and objections students encounter while in college.  The books are entitled:

1. Is the Bible True…Really?
2. Who is Jesus…Really?
3. Did the Resurrection Happen…Really?

Some of the issues the characters face include blind faith and doubt, sex and dating, school shootings and tragedy.  Through class lectures, debates, and coffee shop conversations, they confront questions that touch on the reliability of the Bible, Messianic prophecy and miracles, Jesus as a historical figure, the deity and resurrection of Jesus, and the hope of heaven.  There is even some humor mixed in here and there.

The authors do well to present some excellent research and citations that point to very important implications.  I recommend reading and gifting these books to people, not just in college, but anyone wrestling with these same questions.

HERE ARE TEN OF MY FAVORITE LINES FROM THE SERIES

1. “Before even considering if God inspired a group of books and letters, a skeptic should ask if he is even open to the possibility of believing that God exists, assuming evidence is provided.”
2. “If the first miracle of Genesis 1:1 took place, then other miracles are possible.”
3. “Paul wasn’t calling [people] to a blind faith, but to a faith based on a historical event – the resurrection of Christ.”
4. “Based on what Jesus claimed about Himself, if His claims were not true, you couldn’t call Him either a good moral man or a great prophet.”
5. “If the scientific method were the only method we had for proving facts, you couldn’t prove that you had lunch today.”
6. “Only something clean can cleanse something dirty.”
7. “God can’t do everything.  He can’t do things that are contrary to His nature.”
8. “There are more non-Christian sources that reference Jesus than Caesar.”
9. “People may die for a lie they think is true, but they won’t die for a lie they know to be false.”
10. “The resurrection of Jesus is not just a single detached article of faith.  It is woven into the very structure of Christian life and thought.”

PURCHASE THE BOOKS
While the books are available to buy individually, here’s the link to buy the set on Amazon.

FOLLOW THE AUTHORS
Josh McDowell

• Website
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Dave Sterrett

• Website
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God never came up in my house.  I never really knew what religion even was until about twelve or thirteen years old.  I can’t even remember my parents mentioning it one time.  I knew other people at school who went to things like CCD [“Confraternity of Christian Doctrine” in the Catholic Church].  They’d mention things like church.  It was just something other people did.  I had no idea what it was.  {laugh}
Both sets of my grandparents are atheists too.  I mean, my mom does genealogy too and I don’t know if there’s a religious person anywhere in the family tree.  {laugh}  It’s just something I’ve never ever been a part of.

2.  Do you currently practice a religious faith?
No, I don’t.  Part of it is just what I know.  I didn’t grow up believing in a God, so that carries over.  Obviously, as I’ve grown older and have had more experiences with people, I’ve seen a lot of things.  I’ve talked to a lot of folks and I’ve seen things for myself.  My opinion has changed.  I used to be real hardcore atheist.  I almost have mellowed out to agnostic.  I know a lot of people don’t differentiate between the two.  I don’t know.  It’s difficult to explain what I feel.  I don’t want to cop out and say, “Oh, I’m spiritual but not religious.”  If I had to give myself a label, I would say I’m an agnostic.

3.  What comes to mind when you think about God?
This is a big question.  {laugh}  I think of the world.  I think of how everything is connected.  Being a Geology major, I’ve just seen so much, there’s something that ties everything together.  Not just different people.  The whole world, there’s something that ties people to it.  I mean, when I go walking in nature, I feel something.  I don’t know what it is.  I can’t explain it to you.  I don’t know if it’s God or what.  But there’s some sort of thing I feel out there.
Love, also.  When I think of God I think of love.  I’m in a Sociology of Religion class right now and one of the things we had to do was go to a religious service that isn’t ours.  I went to a Baptist one.  Not just because it was the closet [to campus], but because I’ve never been to a Christian service before.  When I went there it was very powerful.  I’ll be very honest.  It was very powerful.  There was a lot of singing; a lot of passion.  I could just feel the love in the room.  Everyone was smiling to each other.  It was good.  I liked it.  I could feel there was a lot of heart involved.
A lot of people just see religion as making excuses for not taking control over your own life.  Like, “God controls everything so you don’t have to.”  But I feel like there’s really a lot more to religions than people give it credit for.  That’s just what I feel from what I see.
 
4.  What comes to mind when you think about Satan?
I don’t think he exists, personally.  I can see why people can think he does.  But I think that one is on people.  {laugh}  I don’t really have a whole lot to say on that one.  I have more feelings about God than I do about Satan.
I’d say some people believe in Satan because they don’t want to be bad.  People do bad things.  People have always done bad things.  People are always going to do bad things.  I don’t want to say people don’t want to take credit for [doing bad things], but I think people need something that says, “It’s something inside us – whether it’s inherit evil or Satan – that causes us to do bad things.”  People don’t want to believe that it’s just them.  People don’t want to commit evil things so there must be some evil force that is doing it.
 
5.  What comes to mind when you think about afterlife?
Again, I don’t really believe it exists.  I believe when you die, that’s that.   It’s kind of depressing in a way, but kind of liberating [too].  I think many people – religious and irreligious – believe there is an afterlife.  I’m not one of those people.  People like living and they want to keep doing it.  {laugh}  They like to believe that there’s something after this.  I don’t blame them for it.  It’d be great if there was.  But I personally don’t think there is anything.
 
6.  What comes to mind when you think about Hell?
Pretty much the same thing.  People think of hell as a place for people other than themselves.  {laugh}  No one thinks they’re going to hell.

7.  What comes to mind when you think about the purpose of life?
I’ve thought about this one long and hard.  I think the purpose of life – now this is going to sound like Hedonism – is to be happy.  I think it is to make the most of what you want to do with your life.  If you think you would be great at doing things for other people – a lot of volunteer work, making the world a better place – I say go for it.  That’s you’re purpose in this life.  If you think you need to make major breakthroughs in science and medicine and cure all this stuff, I say go for it.  And if you just want to get married, have kids, just be an average Joe; that’s you’re purpose in life.  Just do that.  Whatever makes you content and happy and that you feel like you’re being a good person.  I say that’s the purpose of life.  Nothing objective.  It’s completely subjective in my opinion.  I feel there is no universal purpose.  Everyone has to make their own.

8.  On a scale of 0 to 10 (0 being no confidence, and 10 being complete confidence), how would you rate the level of confidence you have that your beliefs (regarding questions 3-7) are accurate?
Right now I’d say an eight.  Tomorrow it could change.  I mean, everyday I’m open to new experiences that change what I do believe.  I feel that if you are so set in your beliefs that you’re not willing to open yourself up to other experiences that may or may not change it, I don’t think that’s a good thing.  I feel like you always have to be able to wrap your brain around new ideas.  So if something happens tomorrow, I could drop down to a four in confidence of my beliefs.  Right now I’m an eight.  I’m fairly confident.  It could change a year from now; ten years from now.  I have no idea.  It all depends.
 
9.  What would you say have been the biggest obstacles in your search for truth?
Early on, there was a sort of fear to be religious.  Not because of the stigmas attached to things – like conservatives, social values, and that sort of thing – but just fear that if I did become this religious person I wouldn’t be in control anymore.  I would have to submit myself to some higher authority.  I’ve always been a very independent person.  So early on, that was a big fear of mine.  Just this giving of yourself to another power.  I got past that part obviously.
As far as other obstacles go, nothing really.  I can’t think of any huge things that would have kept me in one mindset over looking for another.

10.  Hypothetically, if all your questions had answers that pointed to God as the Creator and Jesus as God’s Son, what would you do about it?
Well, I’d probably believe.  I’d be a fool not to.  {laugh}  I mean, to deny what’s in front of you is closed minded and ignorant.  If it all pointed to that, I’d say let’s go for it.  {laugh}
I feel that’s a problem a lot of people have with atheists and agnostics.  Just this complete unwillingness to believe anything else.  And it makes me sad that that’s the sort of stigmatism I get.  When I tell people I don’t believe in anything, that’s how they treat me sometimes.  I don’t like that, because we’re not all militant.
 
11.  Is there anything you’re afraid you would have to change or give up if you were to become a Christian?
I don’t think so.  Because if I did change my beliefs then I would be afraid of that anymore.
 
12.  Hypothetically, on what basis do you believe God will or will not accept you into Heaven?
I like to think that it would be based on your actions rather than your beliefs.  Whether you lived a just life.  I mean, if you were cruel to other people, I feel like you’d be judged more harshly.  But if you were kind, if you were giving, if you were good; I feel like that is more of a thing to be judged on than whether or not you simply believed in him or not.  I don’t like to think of a God who would say, “You’re not getting into heaven just people you didn’t believe in me, regardless of what you did in your life.”  I can’t imagine a God like that.

13.  If you could ask God one question, what would it be?
Your standard answers are going to be like, “Why is there suffering?”  That’s not what I would ask.  I’d probably ask, “Are humans your chosen creatures?  Is it us you care about or is it the bears or is it the walruses?  Or is there something else out there that you like a little bit more than us?  I’d really just like to know are we what everyone says we are in your eyes?”

14.  If you could ask 1,000 Christians one question, what would it be?
Your standard answers are going to be, “Why do you believe what you believe?”  Not me.  I’m going to say, “Does your belief in God truly make you a better person and help you live your life?”  I’m more interested in what their belief does for them than why they have it.
 
15.  Would you be interested in participating in an Investigative Faith Study at your convenience?
I think I would like to do that.
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Songs

• Because He Lives (David Crowder Band)
• I Will Rise (Chris Tomlin)
• Awake My Soul (Chris Tomlin)
• Once And For All (Chris Tomlin)
• Resurrection (Paul Wright)
• He Is Alive (Paul Colman)
• Christ Is Risen (The Brilliance)
• Come Awake (David Crowder Band)
• Beautiful Things (Gungor)
• Dry Bones (Gungor)
• When Death Dies (Gungor)
• Christ Is Risen (Jeremy Riddle)
• King Jesus (Jeremy Camp)
• When You Come (Lisa Gungor)
• Resurrect Me (Jon Foreman)
• Twenty-Four (Switchfoot)
• In Christ Alone (Newsboys)
• Surely God Is With Us (Rich Mullins)
• God Is Able (Seventh Day Slumber)
• Creed (Third Day)
• Christ Is Risen (Matt Maher)
• Risen Today (Aaron Shust)
• Christ The Lord Is Risen Today (Aaron Keyes)
• Death of Death (Charlie Hall)

Books

• Who Moved the Stone (Frank Morison)
• The Case for the Resurrection (Lee Strobel)
• The Case for Christ (Lee Strobel)
• The Case for Christ: for Kids (Lee Strobel)
• Resurrection Morning (Max Lucado)
• Evidence for the Resurrection (Josh McDowell & Sean McDowell)
• Did The Resurrection Happen…Really? (Josh McDowell & Dave Sterrett)
• The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus (Gary Habermas & Michael Licona)
• Surprised By Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (N.T. Wright)
• Resurrection: The Capstone in the Arch of Christianity (Hank Hanegraaff)
• Heaven (Randy Alcorn)
• Raised With Christ: How The Resurrection Changes Everything (Adrian Warnock)
• Practice Resurrection: A Conversation on Growing Up in Christ (Eugene H. Peterson)
• Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus (D.A. Carson)
• Experiencing the Resurrection: The Everyday Encounter That Changes Your Life (Henry Blackaby and Mel Blackaby)
• Jesus’ Resurrection: Fact or Figment? A Debate Between William Lane Craig and Ger Ludemann (Paul Copan & Ronald K. Tacelli)
• The Son Rises (William Lane Craig)

Videos

• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
• Resurrection (Max Lucado)
• The Case for Christ (Lee Strobel)
• Death and Resurrection of the Messiah Discovery Guide with DVD
• Resurrection (featuring N.T. Wright)
• Power of the Resurrection