An Open Minded Christian (and my atheist friend)

Disclaimer:
I want to share a story...a minor experience of mine that leads to a major philosophy of me. I define myself through Christ and therefore I consider myself a Christian. There is another person in this story who has chosen to define himself through atheism, so I will refer to him as the Atheist. I am not revealing his name to respect his privacy. I know not all Christians see things the way I see them, and I know not all atheists see things as my atheistic friend; so please don’t assume that I am making generalizations of all Christians and Atheists based upon us two individuals. Oh, I am the white guy in the picture, but the kid from Guatemala is NOT the atheist. Disclaimer Concluded.

Atheist: Explain to me how Jonah could have lived for three days inside a whale.
Christian: Well, it wasn’t a whale, it was a big fish...and technically a whale is a mammal, not a fish.
Atheist: Ok, how did Jonah live three days inside a fish?
Christian: It was a big fish.
Atheist: And?
Christian: It’s a crazy story isn’t it?
Atheist: Yes, hard to believe.
Christian: Lots of crazy stuff has happened on this earth.
Atheist: Ya, but a man living in a fish?
Christian: Would you believe that a man fell off a six foot ladder and it killed him, the same year a woman jumped out of an airplane and her parachute didn’t open yet she survived the fall?
Atheist: Sure, I could believe that.
Christian: Did you see it happened?
Atheist: No
Christian: But you could believe it?
Atheist: Sure.
Christian: And I believe that a man lived inside a fish for three days. Part of my Christian Faith is believing in things I cannot see.

It wasn’t an argument. It was an exchange of thoughts and beliefs. They weren’t words of hate, but a conversation between two friends. But here is what gets me. I get accused of being closed minded because I am a Christian and I don’t believe that all religions lead to the same God, or I think the universe was created, or I believe in things that I can’t see with my eyes or measure with my hands. And so this “open minded” atheist questions my faith in God and my belief in the Bible because it holds account of a man who gets swallowed by a fish and survives being in the belly for three days? I have two points I want to offer for consideration:
1. The point of my faith isn’t to believe that a man was swallowed by a big fish and survived it. The reason I put my trust in God isn’t so I believe that an entire nation walked through a path down the middle of the Red Sea. I don’t claim to be a Christian so everyone thinks I believe that a donkey spoke in human language. Here is the reality of my faith: I believe that at the core of who I am, there is something fundamentally messed up about me. I believe that messed up”ness” to be sin. I believe that everyone have sinned. I believe it is sin that separates me from God. I believe that God loves me and does not want to be separated from me. I believe that I must be saved from sin to be connected to God. I believe that the only way a sinner can be saved is through someone without sin. I believe that Jesus Christ is without sin. I believe that Jesus Christ traded His sinlessness for the my sinfulness through death on a cross (the fancy word is sacrifice) and resurrection from death, therefore defeating sin. I believe that Jesus did this not only for me but for everyone in the world. I believe that to be saved from sin one must believe that Jesus Christ died as an innocent man for the guilty and rose from the grave (3 days later-ironic isn’t it?). I believe that when someone believes this they are a new creation, the old is gone and the new has come. What it all comes down to for me is that the Bible is not just a book full of some ancient history, incredible stories, and foreign poetry. The Bible is a message of forgiveness and redemption. The Bible is a story of a God who loves His creation and is willing to do anything to have a relationship with us. The Bible is a story of a God who is willing to see me trapped in sin with no way of escaping it on my own, so He steps in and provides a way out for me (and the Way happens to be fairly simple). That is the point of the Bible...God providing me with a new life, a new way of living.
2. The second point I want to make is about being a closed minded Christian. Every person who has directly called me closed minded (not just this atheist friend) insists on believing in and only in the tangible (history, science, five senses, etc.). But doesn’t that make me a little more open minded? Isn’t Christianity a little more creative than traditional atheism? Sure, both take faith: it takes faith to believe that this perfect earth is a product of random chance of molecules and elements that resulted in a bang stimulating some sort of evolutionary process, in fact, to believe that takes great faith. But it takes faith to believe that this universe was created by a Being who is above human kind. I’m not arguing for the sake of proving someone or some group wrong. I am making a point that my faith is not closed minded. Most of all, I want to make a point that God actually cares for His people and He is doing everything possible to bring us into a loving relationship with Him.

I believe God loves you whether you believe in Him or not. And I believe that as God is transforming my heart and mind, He wants me to show His love. So if you want to know more about my heart, leave a comment or email me.

It's Legal

Now I'm allowed to kiss my Katie since we are married. This is a pic from our reception.

Married

I got married on April 14th, 2007. Here is a picture of Katie and me at our rehearsal. Sorry I haven't posted anything earlier...I've been busy doing other things ;)

Lock In

Here is a pic of me and Katie at the Middle School Lock In...it wore me out. I don't know how I used to do those all nighters, but I feel old now. We had over 140 middle school students for a 12 hour period...loads of fun!

Jack

This is what happens when you drop a 100 lbs tree trunk on on your toe.

Fully Engaged

This is a picture of my fiance and me. I asked Katie if she would marry me this past Wednesday and she said "yes". The wedding will be on April 14th. Everyone is invited, it is an open invitation to all. It will be held at New Life Church in La Plata, MD. I hope you can make it.

Turkey Day in OK

This is a picture of my crazy family when we were in Oklahoma for Thanksgiving. I had a great time and it was good to get out to the mid-west. There's something different about those Bible-belt, republican, landlocked states...I love it! There are many other pictures, but this might be the best one. Katie made it out to OK as you can see and she had a blast too (I think my family likes her more than me!).

Back to my roots

I can't answer all the questions you have abou these pictures, so you will have to use your imagination...

the Fam.

Here is the Thanksgiving picture with the family. I was in Oklahoma for the holiday and I had a great time!

:)

Here is a picture of Katie and Aaron. Katie is the better lookin one in the pic. Aaron is the luckier one in the pic.

I have arrived

Finally, I have a DW kit. The same week of giving up drums in general God provided me with this kit at a Godly price...I think it was a sign. So I got this kit with the hardware and the 9000 series DW Double Bass Pedal. It also came with a brass pork pie snare. So if anyone needs a contract drummer (snare or stage)...let me know.

time for dw

Here is a close up of my tom...isn't this badge a beautiful sight?