On a Faith Search?

Faith is not dead*. Jason Elam, the field goal kicker for the Denver Broncos is taking a comparative religions course in his spare time. When he attended Hawaii for college he wasn't exactly sure if what he believed was true. He chose to set his preconcieved ideas out of the way and started from scratch, so to speak, to figure out what was true.

The study has only made is faith stronger. You can read the brief article here. He is getting ready to lead a group of athletes to Israel and he knows what he believes and is not afraid to share the reason for the hope that he has.

Elam brings up a strong point. Many times we as Christians have a fear of defending our faith. We are afraid of looking stupid, we are afraid of looking foolish, we fear being challenged. Yet, God is not afraid of such advances. He is not afraid of being called in the carpet, He is the truth.

If you are having a difficult time with your faith, do not be afraid to test it. Here are some important things to consider when testing your faith**:

1. Be sure you are truly using an open mind. This can be hard, truthfully an open mind is very hard to come by. Don't go into your faith test with the purpose of proving something wrong. Take a look at all of the different angles. Consult others on both sides of the fence.


2. Don't bog yourself down. Sometimes we try to look at EVERYTHING related to our study. Follow the most important keys to the religions in question. Truthfully, no matter which religion you are studying, answers on specific things vary person to person. Understand the foundational beliefs. Ask the right questions. Who is God? Who is saved? How do you get there?


3. Set a time to make your conclusion. We can all argue ourselves to death. Literally, argue until we die. Set a time, be specific, on such and such a date make a decision. Give yourself enough to study, to focus and to answer your questions.

The God I serve is not concerned about being tested. He challenges you to seek. To find. We are not to be waffling in our faith for our whole lives. He wants us to understand, believe and live for him.

*Many people believe that it is a waste of time to have faith. It takes a lot of faith to believe that doesn't it? Faith is defined as taking what you believe and putting into action. If you believe there is no God, you must act like it. I pray more and more believers in Christ will put there faith in action and truly live what they believe. Wouldn't the world be a truly different place?

**I am sure there are more things to consider, but it is very important to set parameters on how you are going to make your decision. Don't argue to argue, argue to learn.