Hays Hills Baptist Church

1. The Bible is the Word of God in which He reveals Himself and His ways. It is trustworthy (without error) since God inspired the authors.
2. We worship God as He is revealed in the Bible. God is infinite, all-knowing, all-powerful, ever-existing Creator and Ruler. He is perfect, just, and love. There is one God. He reveals Himself eternally as three distinct Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
3. All people are sinners by inherited nature and choice. Sin is rebellion against God, which has separated people from friendship with God. Sin is the cause of all human suffering.
4. Because God is holy, He has separated Himself from sinners. Because He is love, He made a way to restore friendship with sinners.  Only those who trust Christ can know God personally, and be saved from the final results of sin which are judgment and eternal separation.
5. God sent The Son into the human race as Jesus: the unique God-man. He was fully divine and fully human, and sinless. God sent the Son to die as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. Jesus was raised from the dead and rejoined His Father in heaven. His suffering and death made possible the forgiveness of our sins.
6. A Christian is a person who has been restored to friendship with God by trusting Jesus Christ. Salvation is a gift from God that we cannot earn. We are saved by God's grace which is his His unmerited forgiveness and love. A person needs only to believe and receive Jesus Christ, when convicted of sin and drawn into faith by the Holy Spirit.
7. A Christian is saved from spiritual death, forgiven, acquitted, and born again. A Christian has eternal life and will never be separated from God. By God's grace we grow spiritually through fellowship, Bible study, prayer, worship, service and the work of the Holy Spirit.
8. Baptism and the Lord's Supper are symbolic acts of obedience to Jesus Christ. Baptism is being immersed in the water as a sign of a Christian's forgiveness and new life in Christ. The Lord's Supper is eating the bread and drinking the cup as a reminder of Christ's death for us.
9. The Church is made up of all Christians. The church is also the local group of Christians who unite to grow in Christ and to make new disciples for Him. The Pastor is the spiritual leader and the deacons are servant-helpers. However, the members govern the church under the Lordship (rule) of Jesus Christ.
10. The Lord will return for His children. The enemy of the church, Satan, and other rebellious angels will be judged along with the entire human race, and Christ will rule as victorious King forever!

You can join one of four ways:

1. By receiving Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord, and obeying His command to be baptized. 
2. By statement of your previous conversion and baptism (by immersion). 
3. By requesting baptism if you have already received Christ, but have not yet been baptized.
4. By transfer of letter from a Baptist Church where you are a member.

The way that you initiate the joining process is by coming to the front of the worship room during the "Response Song" at the end of the service, and telling the Pastor, or one of the ministers, of your desire to join.  All those seeking to join will attend a New Members class and then be asked to sign or affirm the church covenant.  The New Members class is about 4 and ½ hours long and includes outstanding video clips, and power point based discussions led by the Pastor and staff members. We cover the beliefs, the ministries and organization and the church covenant of Hays Hills.  We think you will thoroughly enjoy each class and get to know others who are joining.  We will have a way for you to make up any missed classes. We are primarily offering this class on the first Saturday morning of each month, which takes up the entire morning.  It can also be offered for six weeks on a Wednesday evening or Sunday afternoon.  Let us know of your preference.  We are even willing to give the class one-on-one for those whose schedules prevent them from taking the class at other times.

The Church Covenant:

We believe that a church is a covenant fellowship—that is that only members of the church can say they are the church, and what it means to be a church.  A church covenant is an agreement among members made before God, about what church is and does.  No one can speak for the members.  Therefore Hays Hills has a church covenant and every current member has signed or affirmed it.  All those joining Hays Hills attend a New Members class and at the conclusion of that class, sign or simply affirm the church covenant.  After that the church officially welcomes them as new members.  This new process for joining began officially in January of 2011.  To read the church covenant, please click here.

The Bible describes a church as a group of believers who join together to serve Christ and share His word. Church membership is a covenant relationship in which we agree, upon joining, to carry our share of the responsibility for the work of the ministry: giving, serving and praying. If your intention is to grow in Christ and to serve in Christ's body--the church, and you sense God's direction to place your membership here, we strongly encourage you to come forward and make this decision public. We thank God for those whom God leads to join this church!

The way in which people join our church is by public commitment. This means coming forward during the "Decision Time" and telling the Pastor, or other ministers, of your desire to join. This way, the whole church body can know of your decision. This facilitates church fellowship, ministry, decision-making, the filling of leadership roles, and church accountability, because we know who has made a commitment to be a member, and who has not. Joining by public commitment increases accountability for the member, which we all need. Once you join by public commitment you will have the Pastor, other ministers, an assigned deacon and a Bible Study class to encourage you. When you join you are able to serve in various capacities and to vote in our business meetings. Joining by public commitment is the beginning--not the end--of what it means to be a member of this church. (To avoid confusion, please note that joining a Bible Study class does not constitute joining the church.)

Jesus came to meet the deepest needs in your life. He invites you to place your faith in Him.

The Bible Teaches:
• God loves us (John 3:16; I John 4:8-10).
• We are sinners (Romans3:23; Isaiah 53:6).
• Sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2).
• The ultimate result of sin is hell (Revelation 20:15).
• Our good works can't save us (Ephesians 2:8; Romans 4:5).
• God has removed the sin barrier through His Son Jesus Christ (Romans 5:8).
• The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sinfulness, draws us to faith in Jesus and gives new, spiritual birth. He makes us new! (John 16:8; 2 Corinthians 5:17)
• As God convicts and draws you, you can trust Jesus Christ:
  • admit to God that you have sinned against Him
  • repent of your sin--that is, make a u-turn away from sin in your mind, will and plans
  • ask Him to forgive your sins based on the shed blood of Jesus Christ for you
  • by faith, invite Jesus into your life as Savior and Lord, which means you will follow His leadership in your life
  • thank Him for entering your life!

"For it is by (God's) grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." Ephesians 2:8

Hays Hills Baptist Church: a history 1986-2011

Hays Hills Baptist Church was organized in the fall of 1986 under the leadership of Vic Harris who was serving as Minister of Education at Congress Avenue Baptist Church in Austin.  Vic and Linda lived in the community and perceived the need for a church here.  After some initial organizing meetings, the “mission church” began meeting at Dahlstrom Middle School in October of 1986.

Recent picture of founding pastor Vic Harris and his wife, Linda.

There were soon difficult days for the young body.  Vic had the task of trying to pull together a very diverse group of people with diverse hopes and desires for what church should be.  One group left to form another church. (which is no longer in existence.) God used Vic to reach many people despite the early struggles.  In a miraculous way God used Vic to establish the future site of the new church. Driving down FM 1626 many days, Vic came to believed that the land, which the church currently owns, should be the site for the new church.  He prayed that the owner would either sell or donate it.  In 1987, Bill Dye donated nearly 19 acres of land to the church. the site for the new church.

Vic and Linda Harris followed a call to pastor a church in Alabama in 1988.  For several months, Rev. Tommy Burress served as the interim Pastor.  The church made progress in raising funds for a building on the property.  Congress Avenue Baptist Church, and later, Crestview Baptist Church, served as sponsoring churches of the new church.  Once Tommy Burress completed his interim pastorate there were seven core families remaining and a few others who had joined.  During the summer of 1989 they stopped meeting at Dahlstrom, and met in homes.  At one point the little mission-church was challenged to give the property to the Austin Baptist Association if they were not going to be able to continue toward forming a church.   The little group decided that God had called them together for the purpose of starting a church—and so they hung on.

In the fall of 1989, upon the recommendation of Crestview Baptist Church, the new church called David Sweet as Pastor.  David was 28 years old, single, and had recently graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.   The small group found a house in Manchaca in which to meet, and the new Pastor lived in one room of the house.  The rest of the house was used for Sunday school space, including a garage room, which was converted into a Youth room.  The living room served as the worship center, with the den as overflow area.  The group began to grow as it reached out to the community.  The church met in the house for about one year while making plans to build on the donated property.

Wendi Johnson led our music for the first two years and Deborah Robertson served as our accompanist.  The pastor also served as youth minister for the first two years.

Plans for building the first building were kept alive but finding a bank to finance the project was impossible due to economic conditions and the newness of the little mission-church.  Finally with the help and backing of Roger and Mae Rich the church was able to finance the $200,000 project, which included parking and driveway, septic, well, new building and furniture. In summer of 1990, the church broke ground on our first building.

In September of 1990 the Retired Baptist Men of Texas under the leadership of Olan Miles began construction on the newly poured foundation.  These elderly volunteers completed most of the building in two weeks.  Rick White led the effort to do the finishing work on the building.  In November of 1990, the church began to meet in the mostly completed building.  The building was formally dedicated in January of 1991.

First service in new building. Roger & Mae Rich  being recognized.

The new buildings caused excitement in the community. The Lord grew our membership with other Christians and blessed us with new Christians.  In three years, between 1991 and 1993, Hays Hills baptized nearly 100 people.

The church officially incorporated as a church on December 4, 1991. Kevin Covington was called to be the Youth Minister in the fall of 1991.  The Lord used Kevin to bring many of our young people to Himself. Kevin faithfully served the Lord here at Hays Hills until the spring of 1996.

In 1991 Jeanne Green founded our Mothers Morning Out ministry, which is now called Christian Learning Center. Becky Mazurek has served as director since 1992. After years of using volunteer song leaders, Joe Taylor was called as Minister of Music in June of 1992. The pastor married Melissa Eacret in 1992.  Bill Kramer was called as Associate Pastor in February of 1993. A youth building was constructed in early 1992. The picture shows the dedication of the new youth building which was later moved to behind the steeple building and expanded. It is now “Bldg. B”.

Due to our growth, in 1994 we added a trailer for Sunday school classes. In late 1994 we made plans for the next building, with Mark Bryant leading the effort to put the required water population abatement system into place and Joe Chesney chairing the building committee. In March 1995 the Texas Baptist men began construction on our new education building. It was dedicated in the summer of 1995.

Sean Sivils accepted the call to serve as Youth Minister in the summer of 1996.

In 1996 we added our second and third trailer for Sunday school classes.  In 1997 growth was strong.  The Sunday school and averaged 278 for both Sunday schools.  Sixty-three people joined Hays Hills in 1997.  God blessed us with many families.  Discipleship became more of our emphasis along with evangelism as our focus.  In September 1997 a third worship service and a second Sunday school hour were added to our Sunday schedule.  A fourth trailer was brought in to accommodate additional Sunday school classes.

After six years faithfully serving as Minister of Music, Joe and Mary Taylor resigned June 1998 to move to Sherman Texas.  Mary had been our accompanist.  In August 1999, Dusty Radabaugh was called as our Minister of Music and Education.  In 2001, Dusty’s title changed to Minister of Worship and Singles.  He  resigned in April 2002 to accept a position in New Mexico.  D’Lane Moore was called as our Associate Minister of Youth/Young Singles in 2000, and later changed to Minister of Young  Singles.  She served until 2011.

There was a growing conviction that before we could do any more building we needed to eliminate our debt. On May 15, 1997 the congregation accepted the challenge to destroy our indebtedness of $230,579.51.  By  September 5, 1999, twenty-eight months later, with the help of our God and the enthusiasm of our people, our total debt was eliminated.  We burned the note (outdoors) in September 1999.

In March 2001, the church called Greg Morris to serve as our Minister of Education/Administration.  The challenge of finding more space for a growing congregation was not over.  We sensed the time was right to build for additional worship and education space.  In November 1999, we accepted a greater challenge.  We began to pray and plan toward what we would need in our Family Life Center.  Three million dollars was committed and/or given during the new building campaign.  Based on commitments and gifts, we borrowed 2.5 million dollars for construction, which also included much site work, septic system, furnishings.

 The ground breaking was held on Sept. 17, 2000

Kenny Parker led a team to oversee construction.  In January 2002 the church moved into the new building with great excitement and much more elbow room!

Financial crisis

Our original plans of paying all the debt in three years did not succeed due to some economic changes.  A couple of annual attempts made a little progress.  Finally in July of 2004 we faced a balloon in the note.  The bank was not willing to refinance or extend, and so with leadership from our Budget & Finance Committee we took out a 15 year note for $1,767,315.  We began to pay extra on the principal by using budget funds and extra gifts from members to attack the principal from two directions.

Bob Gardner coming on staff in 2005 also gave leadership to making debt-reduction a priority.  By October of 2008 we completely paid off the loan, saving $482,839 in interest.  Despite the loan taking up about a fourth of our budget, we did not have to cut any ministries or staff, but rather added staff.

We experienced the words of Job “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, may the name of the Lord be praised!”  During these years our faith and our  focus were tested and refined.  The Lord is most interested in our character and our love.

Royce Burrows served as our Interim Minister of Music from 2002-2004.  Chris Thomasson served as Interim Minister of Music in 2004.  Having led the effort to build our Sunday School organization and to move us into the new building, Greg Morris was called away to serve in a church in Odessa in June of 2004.

Also in 2004 we began a Long Range Vision effort, led by a team which committed to much prayer and study of God’s will for Hays Hills.  That vision plan was adopted in 2005 and still guides our plans today.  In March 2005, the church called Bob Gardner as Minister of Christian Education and Administration.  In September 2004 the church called Tim Snowden as our new Minister of Worship and New Member Care.

In February 2010 the church called Jon Lower as Minister of Discipleship.  Also in 2010 the church adopted bylaw changes and a new church covenant recommended by the Vision Team.  These were intended to make church membership more meaningful and to return to the Baptist historical emphasis on the church covenant as the Scriptural basis for membership.

In December 2010 Bob Gardner retired and served several more months in a consultant role.  Kylie Phelps served as our Minister of Young Singles for several months until she and her husband moved to Georgia.  The Search Team for our Minister of Children recommended and the church elected, Aaron Kahler to serve as our first ever Minister of Children.  In 2011 the church added interim adult education to Jon Lower’s job role, and Mark Dickerson became interim Outreach Coordinator.

Hays Hills has constructed four homes for needy families and has had a 20-year ministry to Windmill Way community, now expanded to other communities.  We bring in many children from disadvantaged homes on Wednesday nights, and minister to them and their families in many other ways.  Over the years we have hosted several exciting missions conferences and have been sending our families and individuals on mission trips and short-term missions assignments (one for two and half years) overseas, mostly in Muslim countries. Over the past fifteen years Hays Hills has baptized an average of 40 each year. 

Hays Hills has had a hand in sponsoring over a dozen new churches in its history, including Countryside Baptist Church.  From orphan ministry to international mission trips and nursing home ministry—new ministries continue to spring up.

Hays Hills has operated with the philosophy that Christ knows best how to ’build His church’ so a high level of freedom is given for members to do ministry as they are led by the Spirit.  Truly, more than ever, to join Hays Hills Baptist Church is to enter into the ministry.  “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  (Ephesians 2:10)

Building a new home for a needy family:

Click Here to read about our Ministries

Hays Hills Baptist Church is organized by a "Congregational" form of Government, which means that the members of the church are responsible for governing the church, under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In other words, we operate with democratic procedures, and do not look to any other person or group -- from without or within -- to govern this church.

Church Business Meetings

The church has business meeting once a quarter on a Sunday night announced by the Church Council. Specially called business meetings are also held on matters of special concern and timing.

The permanent committees of the church include:

• Administration
• Budget & Finance
• Building & Grounds
• Evangelism
• Fellowship
• Missions

Hays Hills has commissioned these committtees— and other teams we may form as needed—to do the work assigned to them.  Each team operates with a great deal of trust from the church (i.e. no micro-managing.)  We trust the people in leadership and need their gifts and insights, so we give the committees wide-latitude to initiate and oversee the work they are assigned to do, within bylaw and budget constraints.  A church must operate largely on trust of its leaders.  But it also must have a high degree of accountability and transparency.   At our business meetings the committees report on their progress and future plans.  They bring recommendations to the church on major changes for church approval.  These committees are open to adding new members at any time, based on the interests and gifting of members.  If you are a member please let us know of your interest!

The Pastor and Staff

The Pastor is a servant-leader. The Bible calls him a "Shepherd" as well as an "elder." At Hays Hills the Pastor leads the people in spiritual growth, and helps the church to understand God's will for the church. The church staff works with the Pastor in leading the church.

The Vision Team

In addition to working closely with the staff, the Pastor also works with the Vision Team to evaluate the direction of the church, the strengths and weaknesses, and pray to renew the focus God desires for us.  The team is made up of prayerful leaders of the church who serve to advise the pastor and to make recommendations, as needed, to the church concerning major issues.

Deacons

According to the Bible, deacons are also servant leaders, whose main responsibility is to assist the Pastor in ministering to people. The deacons are spiritual leaders, but have no inherent authority of their own. They are lead by example and in service to others, instead of by governing. The word "deacon" means "servant" or Minister.

"CLEAR-THINKING”

my journey of re-confirming my faith in college.

 Having received Christ at the age of 7, there came a time in college when I wanted to re-examine my faith.  I wanted to compare and contrast it with other world philosophies and religions.  I wanted to confirm objectively what I had experienced subjectively.

 After a time of comparative study and reflection, I came to the conclusion that:

God exists.

Alternative: atheism                                                                                        

Atheists argue from silence that there is no evidence of God.  They argue that science has answered more and more questions so that   God is no longer necessary.  Their main line of attack is that religion is only humanly-inspired. They have a faith in there being no God,

although they have no explanation for the existence of anything. They avoid discussion along these lines.

My conclusion: God must exist.  Some eternal being is absolutely necessary for all other things including: time, space, energy and matter. Atheism not only doesn’t, but can’t offer any explanation for the existence of the universe. The Big Bang Theory has continued to  reign in scientific thought since the 1930’s, even though many        alternative theories have been attempted. These various alternatives  (like steady state and multiverses) were offered to mitigate the reality of an origin of the universe, a concept that makes atheists uncomfortable.

God is a unity, infinite, immortal, invisible and all-powerful.

Alternative:  Hinduism and other polytheistic religions in which the gods transport in space and have certain limited powers.

My conclusion: Rational thinking will reject polytheism which depicts many competing gods, and gods with limited powers.  The scope and power of the cosmos reveals a God of unimaginable power, who is spirit and who is one.  God clearly is not trapped inside of his own creation, or smaller than it.

God has purpose.

Alternative:  Deism which holds that there is a creator but that he ‘left the scene’ after creation and has no purpose for creation and no purpose for mankind.

My conclusion: A universe of this magnitude and scope is a statement in itself!  It says something!  Also, we are creatures of purpose, so it seems unreasonable to believe that whoever made us lacks purpose.

God is personal.

Alternative:    Eastern religions which promote an understanding of God as an impersonal force: without thought, purpose or self-identity.

My conclusion: It is not reasonable to believe that the one who created us is somehow less personal and less capable of thoughts and beliefs, than the creatures he created.

God is holy.

Various alternatives: Skeptics claim that since there is evil and tragedy in the world, God cannot be just or holy, if he is also all-powerful.  But if God is infinite and all-knowing, it seems reasonable to expect that there might be some plans and ways of God that are beyond human understanding.  Many theists posit that evil and tragedy are part of the permissive will of God which is strongly related to human free will or sin.  Also, it is clear that humans have an innate (if broken) sense of right and wrong.  It seems clear that there are moral absolutes in the universe.  (Here I largely refer to the work of C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity .)

My conclusion: Since there are moral absolutes in the universe and a sense of moral absolutes built in the human mind, then the one who made us must be moral.  Since, by definition, God is infinite in all his attributes, he must be infinitely and absolutely moral, or holy.

God communicates.

Alternative:    Skepticism, atheism and agnosticism.

Skeptics see only humanity in religion.  Indeed humanity does seem to largely drive religion. But it is a mistake to allow religion, with all its weaknesses, to distract one from clear thinking.  In other words, it’s a mistake to judge the nature of God by solely looking at people who claim to represent him.

My conclusion: If I am a communicating person, it is not reasonable to believe that the one who made me is less communicative than me.  The cosmos with its scope, beauty and grandeur is a statement in itself!  I have already concluded that God must have a purpose.  It is therefore my conclusion and my informed bias that God must be communicating in other ways to the highest creature—humanity.  He must be saying something in history as is in the cosmos.  I can’t allow the turbulence and sinfulness of history to distract me from trying to see how God may have communicated in history.

In summary, just through clear thinking, without one word of written revelation, one can understand that:

-God exists

-God is a unity, infinite, invisible, immortal and all-powerful

-God is purposeful      -God is personal

-God is holy               -God likely communicates

In college, at the conclusion of my study and comparison of beliefs, I concluded that it was most reasonable to assume that God is a communicating God, based on the universe and on human personality.  I thought it reasonable to expect that God has spoken, or revealed himself, in history.  The next step was to examine history to see what signs there were that God had revealed himself.

I wanted to find the ‘religion’ or belief system that had the highest possible likelihood of being true, compared to all other religions and belief systems. We should not be afraid of this kind of honest quest for truth.  Nothing in all of life is more important than truth and our pursuit of it.  Truth is that which is true, real and permanent or eternal.  It is a waste of our lives to not try to know and align our lives with truth.

I had already eliminated as unreasonable: atheistic philosophies, eastern religions, Hinduism and other polytheistic (and mythological) religions and Deism.  Next I looked at the three major monotheistic and revelatory religions:  Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Christianity is largely founded on Judaism and its sacred writings.  So I examined them together and compared them to Islam, which emerged 600 years AFTER Christ.

In examining Islam and its claims and comparing them to the man, Jesus Christ and his teachings, there is a clear qualitative difference.  The honesty and historical veracity of the Scriptures overshadow Islam.  The ring of truth and the ring of eternity is in Scripture.  Islam is a religion which reveals a relatively impersonal god.  There is no promise of a personal knowledge of him, nor is there an inherent love in him.  The god of Islam—rather than revealing mystery and truth—reveals more the attributes of men in their uninspired view of God.

The Bible is the primary authority for Christianity.  I examined the evidence that the Bible was unique and that it demonstrated signs that it was a way in which God had revealed himself. I concluded that the Bible demonstrates its uniqueness and trustworthiness in at least these ways:

1. Unlike other religious writings the Bible was not written by one man, but by 40 different authors from all walks of life, over thousands of years, yet with a consistent view of the character of God, and a common thread of salvation history.

2. The Bible has credibility in that those who wrote it demonstrate painful honesty, even at the cost of their reputations and that of their nation and other ‘pillars of the faith.’

3. The Bible is verifiable in history and in archeology.  Over 120 years one strip of land (Palestine) as well as other Biblical locations, are the most archeologically active areas on earth, consistently demonstrating the truthfulness of Scripture.*

4. The man Jesus, is central to the Bible.  He fulfilled hundreds of Old Testament prophecies.  Eyewitnesses to his ministry, death, burial and resurrection professed changes in their outlook and lives based on these events and the subsequent Pentecost.  Jesus changed history in two and a half years of public ministry, without political, monetary or military resources, by the sheer power of his personality, character, teachings and miracles.

5. The evidence of the recording, distribution and preservation of the Biblical texts—and their faithfulness to the originals—is unique among all ancient literature.  (by a magnitude of 1,000 to 1 in many cases)

6. The Bible reveals a view that comports well with reality.  (the state of nature, man’s condition, the nature of sin, culture’s condition apart from God, the need for complete spiritual change, etc.)

*The latest example: after many decades in which skeptical scholars said there was no evidence of the kingdoms of David and Solomon, or of those men being anything but legends ‘invented’ by writers of the Old Testament many years later—archeologists now widely agreed that recent evidence demonstrates that this was a false skepticism.  Scholars now accept that these were real men, were indeed rulers of Israel, that Israel during their reigns was actually quite advanced and that the Bible’s narrative faithfully reflects events in history.  (See “The Birth and Death of Biblical Minimalism” Biblical Archeology Review, May/June 2011.)

Not only did my Christian faith affect me subjectively (emotionally, spiritually) but it also checked out as the most reasonable proposition on earth.  It had the ring of truth.

The most important intellectual atheist of the 20^th century was Anthony Flew, who died in 2010.  His influence spread from his home in Britain to thinkers around the world.  In comparison, Madelyn Murray O’Hair was merely a celebrity atheist and professional agitator.  She was not a major contributor to the intellectual movement of atheism, as was Flew, who influenced a few generations of philosophers.

In 2007 he wrote a book about his conversion from atheism to theism based on the evidence:  There is a God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind. As far as we know he did not convert to Christianity, though he was having lengthy and respectful conversations with prominent Christian philosophers.  In his book he relates how scientific advancements in cosmology and biology, plus new movements in philosophy caused him to re-think his skepticism.  Over several years he struggled with severe doubts about his doubts.  He says that his philosophical study and the evidence from science lead him to believe in a God who in many respects is like the God of the Bible: invisible, immortal, spirit, all-powerful and eternal.

Two kinds of revelation are possible:  General and Special

General revelation includes creation

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”   Romans 1:20

…and conscience

“Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.”  Romans 2:14-15

Special revelation includes aspects of history in which God intervened, as well as the ministry of prophets, written Scripture, and the historical man Jesus Christ.

“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.”   Hebrews 1:1-3

“All Scripture id God-breathed…” 2 Timothy 3:16

It is my challenge to Christians and non-Christians alike to practice clear thinking.  Be fearless.  Truth can withstand a close and critical examination.  Examine the evidence and be sure that you draw valid conclusions. Think critically. If you can honestly find a faith more trustworthy than Christianity—follow that!

The Christian gospel must be accepted by faith. But the Bible shows us that this faith is directly tied to demonstrated facts. Over and over in the Bible, people are called to examine evidence. Jesus’ resurrection is based on eyewitness accounts, including the record of cataclysmic changes in the lives of his followers. The Christian faith is not a blind faith. It is a reasonable faith.  That is one that is based on strong evidence and valid conclusions. In fact, it is the most reasonable faith on earth, in my opinion, because of the trustworthiness of its claims.

However, clear thinking and following the evidence will not make anyone a Christian. Becoming a Christian is a spiritual event that God superintends by His Holy Spirit. God moves us to faith. But God never asks us to separate our faith from clear thinking or from evidence.

If you have questions or would like to learn more, please contact the Pastor: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it