Questions: Is God Real? The Series
There has been a lot of negative news lately on our television sets. We have Covid 19 still leading the charge followed closely by the horrific death of George Floyd as well as the violent tension that has followed after. It can be easy in these times to ask where is God. Why is He not making Himself prominent? Is He even real? We live in a society full of these questions – and to be honest, many people in church are asking the same. This brings me to another news story that was revealed this week: Jonathan Steingard (the lead singer of the Christian rock band Hawk Nelson) renounced his belief in God. It was this news story that hit me the hardest to be honest. And I don’t mean that because race is less important or that the deaths and loss of jobs from Corona are minimal. I think the Steingard story hits me so hard because I see his struggle and equate it with so many problems in our world – the belief that God does not exist and therefore does not love us. Because if we get to the root of the issue – that is what the core problem in our world is. We have abandoned God and therefore feel like He has abandoned us. And when God is out of the equation – we see a world bound by hatred and separated by differences in color, politics, socioeconomic level, and culture.
I want to start this by saying I have great respect for Jonathan Steingard. I respect not living a lie and admitting you have questions and doubts. In fact, his story is similar to mine and I am hoping that his outcome may come out the same. I don’t mean that I have all the answers – because quite honestly I don’t. I’m still just a young man that loves Jesus but went through my own time of horrific doubt. I too questioned if I still believed God to be real – and I know that many of you have felt the same. I remember reading my Bible asking many of the same questions Mr. Steingard tweeted that he has suffered with. I remember studying science and trying to understand where faith fit in. I remember feeling terrible that I led Bible Studies while at the same time I doubted that the Bible was true. And I remember very clearly God revealing Himself to me after months of praying.
I want to start this note (and series that will soon follow after) by saying I still have some questions. I still don’t understand everything. But as I research my faith, dive into the Word deeper, and seek God in my life – I feel that more and more of those questions start to minimalize. Yet, far too many Christians remain trapped in their doubt. They are too afraid to dive deeper – afraid they will end up losing their faith and find it to be false. I had those same fears my friends. A professor in college handed me a twelve page packet with multiple reasons the Bible is false and contradicts itself – I didn’t want to read it at first because I was afraid as I dove deeper my Jesus would turn out to be a lie.
Let me give you some good news: you don’t have to have those same fears. You can dive deeper and come out stronger instead of with more doubts. One revelation God has given me is that if He truly is All-Knowing, I shouldn’t be afraid of asking Him my questions. And so I write this series for those of you like me – those that have doubt and different questions you want answered. This is a series that has been deep in my heart – especially as Facebook constantly reminds me of different friends that have left their faith behind and started to follow something entirely different. I don’t know how this series will be responded to and a part of me fears some of you may feel my answers to different questions are inadequate. Yet, I write this not only for you but also for me – and the Jonathan Steingard we all know in our lives.
So, I pray you will first of all join me in praying for this distressed world. Pray for Jonathan Steingard and his search for truth. Pray for me as I try to mentor and answer those that have questions. And most of all, pray for Jesus to come and reveal Himself to a lost world that is devoid of any hope. And join me as I write a weekly blog to look at different questions that the doubter in us may have asked – diving deep into Scripture and history to understand that our faith has facts behind it. Pray that people who are in need of answers would read this and see Christ – thus leading to a racial, political, spiritual revolution that only the love of Christ can bring about.
Friends, I truly am honored to be able to write on this platform and pray that God would use me to help settle your doubts and bring you to closer knowledge of Him.
Yours in Christ,
Craig G.
