jt20ythtyjnyt

8/22/2019 jt20ythtyjnyt

1/28

VOLUME 20.1 I WWW.RZIM.ORG

JUSTTHINKINGTHE MAGAZINE OF RAVI ZACHARIAS INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES

Bridging theHeartandMindPAGE 2

+A TRANSFORMATIONAL

ENCOUNTER

PAGE 12

WHY TRUTHMATTERS

PAGE 16

THINGS UNSEENPAGE 20


2/28

Just Thinking is a teaching

resource of Ravi Zacharias

International Ministries and

exists to engender thoughtful

engagement with apologetics,

Scripture, and the whole life.

Danielle DuRant

Editor

Ravi Zacharias International Ministries

4725 Peachtree Corners Circle

Suite 250

Norcross, Georgia 30092

770.449.6766

WWW.RZIM.ORG

HELPING THE THINKER BELIEVE. HELPIN G THE BELIEV ER THINK .


3/28

JUST THINKING The Quarterly Magazine of RAVI ZACHARIAS INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES

TABLE ofCONTENTSVOLUME 20.1

Bridging the Heart

and Mind

As Christians we want to believewhat we cognitively affirmthatGod is sovereign and goodand yetsometimes we struggle to make senseof the emotions that we feel whenwe encounter difficult passages ofScripture. How do we begin tobridge the heart and mind whendealing with hard issues? RaviZacharias sat down with DanielleDuRant to discuss their roles in

ones faith journey.

A TransformationalEncounter

Margaret Manning asks thisquestion: Why is transformation sodifficult? And why do we seeminglysee so little of it in our lives, nomatter conviction or creed? We still

lose our tempers, we get irritated atco-workers, we covet, we lust, andwe are faithful idolaters. ForChristians, this is especiallyproblematic because transformationis so clearly written into the goodnews of the gospel.

2

12

Why Truth Matters

At first sight, Os Guinness states,the biblical view of truth is obsceneto modern minds. But on a deeperlook, the biblical view is profound,timely, and urgent for today, evenfor those who reject it.

Things Unseen

Things unseen is a motif that runsthroughout Scriptureand what is

not visible to the eye often presents asignificant challenge to those unableto discern Gods presence andpurpose when God seems silent.But as Danielle DuRant pointsout, long before the road is riddledwith love, loss, and bewilderment,God is at work on our behalf.

Think Again

Ravi Zacharias underscores thatthinking has much to do with lifeand certainty.

16

20

24


4/28

Bridging the Heart andMindRavi Zacharias with Danielle DuRant

As Christians we want to believe what we cognitively

affirmthat God is sovereign and goodand yet sometimes

we struggle to make sense of the emotions that we feel

when we encounter difficult passages of Scripture. How

do we begin to bridge the heart and mind when

dealing with hard issues? Ravi Zacharias sat down with

Danielle DuRant to discuss their roles in ones faith journey.

To hear the full interview, go to www.rzim.org.

[2] JUST THINKING RAVI ZACHARIAS INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES


5/28

JUST THINKING VOLUME 20.1 [3]

Danielle DuRant: Ive often heard you saythat what I believe in my heart must make

sense in my mind. Lately weve heard frommany people wrestling with the reverse: that is,what I believe in my mind must make sense in

my heart. Do you see a shift here and whymight that be?

Ravi Zacharias: ITS P OS SI BLY A S HI FT.I think we went through a bit of that in

the 60s and 70s. Alot was triggered byexistentialist philosophers at that time;Sartre, Camus, and others were callingfor the emotional side of life. Now afterpostmodernism, it comes in a secondwave: there is a felt need that oftentimessupersedes the intellectual coherence ofwhat it is that one believes. I would saythe bridge has to be there, but I willalways lean towards the fact that rightthinking has to precede right feeling.

Or, if the felt reality comes first, thenthe thinking has to be in keeping withwhat is being felt. So, I dont knowabout the chronological sequence of it,but the logical connection obviouslyought to be there.

s

DD: Well, I think, for instance, of the hugeemotional response to Rob Bells bookLoveWins. As Christians we want to believe whatwe cognitively affirmthat God is sovereign

and goodand yet sometimes we struggle tomake sense of the emotions that we feel whenwe encounter difficult passages of Scripture.

How do you begin to bridge the heart and mindwhen youre dealing with hard issues?

RZ: I THINK ROB BEL LS bookis aclassic example of the reverse in logic.I dont want to be hard on it because Ihave no doubt whatsoever that he meanswell, that he is thinking that this is theright way to do theology. I dont believeit is. I think its a very wrong way to dotheology. However, hes tapped into anerve and that nerve is when he makes astatement like millions of people believethis. Im not sure what thats supposed

to establish: that therefore it is right ortherefore it is worthy of our investigation.If the latter, yes, but I dont think it makesit right because millions believe it in acertain way. We dont often make ourjudgments on very critical issues be it inour jobs, our families, in disciplines, onthe basis of exactly how we feel at themoment. We have to go with what is rightand do it in the kind and in the best way.


6/28


When we talk of this thing calledlove,and specifically the love of God, Godvery clearly warned of moments of judg-ment and justice. He said, He who isoften reproved and hardens himself shall

suddenly be cut off, and that withoutremedy (see Proverbs 29:1). Thats a prettytough statement. Not too many humanparents would voice it that way, but Godalmost talks about a line that is crossed,and once it is crossed to regain the rela-tionship is very difficult. You see the samething with Esau who sought for a place ofrepentance but could not find it, after hehad sold his birthright. Some lines whenthey are crossed cause one to lose ground

and any remedy will never be total. So Ithink the touching of the nerve of emo-tions in Rob Bells book is a good wayactually to phrase it, but it is the wrongway of thinking and demonstrates againthe vulnerability that the human beinghas to move in the direction of felt reali-ties rather than reasonable realities.

s

DD: So when you personally come up against

difficult passages in Scripture such as Esau orhell and Gods judgmentperhaps you donthave a visceral response anymore, but how doyou wrestle with certain emotions or helpsomeone else who is really wrestling with thosedifficult passages?

RZ: I THINK THATS WELL PUT. Even ifI dont wrestle with it personally becauseIm not surprised at it, as an apologist Ioften encounter somebody whos gone

through an immense struggle, tragedy,heartbreak, or disappointment. Then youhave to articulate a response, and youhave to be very careful. Ill never forget,never forget, the early days of my min-istry. I was in Birmingham, Alabama, inthe 1970s, and a man came up to me afterI spoke. He said, Im a relatively newChristian and all this stuff is new to me.I dont know often what to believe about

very critical things, so brother, you betterbe right in what you say because Imlistening to you.

I thought,My word that responsibility is a

very serious one!The speaker had betterbe right because there are an awful lot ofpeople out there who are framing theiranswers on the basis of what they hearfrom the pulpit or what they are readingin books. So how do I deal with it? I haveto deal with it because people ask mequestions. Do I often think that I havecomfortable answers? No. But, I do thinkI have to find satisfactory answers thatpull together the nature of God and the

character of God.

Iwas in Israel recently and I was talkingto a young Palestinian man who told

me about a fascinating conversationbetween Brother Andrew and a Muslimcleric, which occurred on the heels of anexecution that the Muslim cleric hadordered. I think four Palestinians hadbeen killed in a raid and hed orderedeight Israelis to be killed. So Brother

Andrew looked at him and he asked himtwo questions. He said, Who has madeyou the executioner to execute people atyour whim and your order? The clericsaid, Im not an executioner but part ofmy responsibility in life is to make sureGods justice is implemented. SoBrother Andrew said, What thenbecomes of forgiveness? The clericresponded, Thats only to those whodeserve it.

What a fascinating theory on the natureof God! That is the way Islam will seeitself, as the executor of Gods justice inthis world. Whereas a Christian sees thecall to surrender to the state and thepowers of government as described inRomans 13, and second, that forgivenessis never merited; you cannot earn it. So,comfort is not always the goal of your


7/28


answers, rather coherence and truthtempered with mercy, understanding, andcompassion.

s

DD: John Calvin begins hisInstitutes ofthe Christian Religion with this observation:Without knowledge of self there is no knowl-edge of God. Nearly all the wisdom we possess,that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consistsof two parts: the knowledge of God and of our-

selves. Would you agree with his observation?

RZ: I M ET A G EN TL EM AN some yearsago, a sculptor who was on his journey tofaith. He said his favorite piece of work

was the man lying on the side of the roadwith a bottle in his hand, disheveled anddrunk, and the most important words inthe Bible were of the prodigal sons storywhen he came to himself. Those fivewords to himthen he came to him-selfwere the most important words.I believe there is a lot of truth in that.When you come to yourself, you realizethe poverty of your life and your spirit.Thats why I believe Jesus spoke of this

as the first beatitude. You start off withspiritual poverty, not just in my physicalfinitude or in my knowledge finitude, butin the fact that there is only one infinitebeing and thats God. I think only whenyou get a glimpse of God do you truly geta glimpse of yourself. Isaiah the prophet

said, Woe unto me! Im a man of uncleanlips living in the midst of unclean peopleafter he had cried, Holy, holy, holy is theLORD Almighty. So that true under-standing of self will come only with a

glimpse of God. An understanding of ourshortcomings can come even in the humanrealm but with no real answers until youcan put it in the context of who God is.

s

DD: Youve often cited Daniel Golemans bookEmotional Intelligence. Goleman broughtto the mainstream the critical importance ofemotional intelligence, which he defines as a

set of skills such as self-awareness, empathy for

others, and self-control. Do you see a connectionbetween ones emotional intelligence and

growth and ones spiritual growth?

RZ: GOLEMANS B OO K WA S fascinatingand ground-breaking. I seem to recallthe only problem that I had with thatbook is how he put it altogether withina naturalistic framework, and that to mewas his struggle. But yes, emotions arean indicator of reality. If I may get on to

a bit of a tangent, people often think ofmen as being more intellectual andwomen being more emotional. It is suchan unfortunate caricature. I like to put itthis way. Maybe the womens intellect isintimidating to men because the womanimmediately connects it with emotion,

When we talk of this thing calledlove, and specifically the love of

God, God very clearly warned of moments of judgment andjustice. He said, He who is often reproved and hardens himself shallsuddenly be cut off, and that without remedy (see Proverbs 29:1). Thatsa pretty tough statement. Not too many human parents would voice itthat way, but God almost talks about a line that is crossed, and once it iscrossed to regain the relationship is very difficult.


8/28


and therefore there is a greater degree ofcoherence in her intellect with the feltneed. Men like to amputate what shouldbe the feeling on the basis of what theyare thinking, especially if theyre in

trouble or if theyve gone the wrong way.This is true. Ive seen it again and again.If a man has messed up in some way helikes to break that connection betweenwhat is true and what ought to be reflectedin feeling. A woman doesnt do that. Youknow, thats what makes a mother amother. Shell sit down across a tableand with the tears in her eyes tell youwhat is really wrong with what has goneon. The father may try to philosophize

his way through and the son or thedaughter is not quite sure and wonders,

Is this as bad as my mom is making it out tobe or is this very platonic, the way my fatheris making it out to be?So, I would sayemotional intelligence is key to comple-menting intellectual coherence, and Ibelieve this is probably the thorn in thenaturalists side.

What do I mean by that? Why do we feel

guilty? Why do we feel wrong is wrongeven when somebody else is trying tojustify it? Why do we invoke absoluteseven if we are relativistic in our thinkingand applying it in our own lives? Why dowe blame people who break contracts orexploit others? That feeling tells yousomething is not right, which is reflectiveof the moral framework in which God hascreated us. Emotional intelligence hasbeen a neglected kind of intelligence, but

it is often times an indicator, just as thebody is. You put your hand on a flame, andit will burn to tell the brain whats goingon, and the brain tells you to pull yourhand away. So it is, I think, with the soul.

s

DD: When I think of emotional intelligence,at least of the categories Goleman usesself-awareness, empathy for others,

self-controlI believe Peter Scazzero picksup on some of these components in his bookThe Emotionally Healthy Church. Youcould certainly see empathy for others and

self-control being the fruit of the Spirit.

So, there seems to be a connection betweenemotional and spiritual growth.

RZ: DEFINITELY, A ND A GA IN to invokeCalvin, he talks of the third use of thelaw. When you put laws into society, it isto tame the will for some people whowant to take justice into their own hands.Or in the law courts, a judge may havecompassion upon somebody and thenbring that as a component into the

decision making. So you have that evenwithin the naturalistic framework. Butonce you bring in the empowerment ofthe Holy Spirit, He gives you self-control,helping you resist temptation, helpingyou ground your belief as to why you aresayingNo to certain things and at thesame time, as C.S. Lewis said, beingimpatient with your own foibles andfailures but very patient with the otherpersons. These, I think, are spiritual

components to these categories of self-awareness, compassion, and self-restraint. s

DD: Our colleague Stuart McAllister speaksof the hidden inhibitors that keep Christians

from experiencing deep transformation andyouve also written of being troubled by whychange is sometimes not more obvious after onecomes to Christ. Of course, the apostle Paulwrote in his letter to the Romans, I do notunderstand what I do. For what I want to

do I do not do, but what I hate I do(Romans 7:15). How do you make sense ofthis disconnection and how does one begin toexperience deep transformation?

RZ: I T HINK T HE F OL L OWING chapterin Romans 8 really gives the help: it isthrough the Spirit-filled life and theempowerment of God. But let me back


9/28


up a moment and ask the question, Whyis this so often the case? It is there, nodoubt about it. I find it probably themost distressing aspect of the Christianwalk. The fact that more believers do not

show what the fruit ought to be of thelife that is walking closely with God.But you watch the characters in the Bibleand you notice that there is a path alongwhich they move. It was not an instanttransformation. It was an instant convic-tion. But it was a process transformation.

You look at Peter after having walkedwith Christ all that while and thentowards the end betraying Him. You

watch the apostle Paul who had beenset aside for three years to be disciplinedin what God wanted him to do, yet goinginto that conflict with John Mark. Youlook at Moses for forty years in the desert,another forty years in the wilderness, andthen hes not going to make it to thePromised Land because of his impatienceand struggle with faith and with Godspurpose and plan.

So I think theres a two-edged swordhere. On the one hand, you see this in

personalities in the Bible. You see someof the best of them struggling, stumbling.Who would have ever thought that Peter,after seeing all that he had seen, all themiracles that he had witnessed, wouldend up in the last days of Christ beforethe crucifixion denying Him? Just recentlyI was at Mount Carmel in the MiddleEast. I was thinking of Elijah: as powerful

as he was in challenging the prophets ofBaal, we then see him running fromJezebel and sitting under a tree saying,Thats it! Im not going to make it! Youlook at Paul after all the preparation hedbeen given and then having that conflictwith Mark, and in the end saying, Bringhim to me; hes going to be helpful tome. And Moses, in eighty years of hislifeforty years in preparation, forty years

in the wildernessand yet he nevermakes it to the Promised Land becausehe faltered in the very critical moments.So, on the one hand you see that.

On the other hand, you have to realizethat while life may have its up and downmoments, it has to be moving upwardsat an angle rather than on a flat terrain.Look at it as a 45 angle going up so thatthe downs are not as low as the previousdown and the highs are higher than theprevious high. Thats the way I think theapostle Paul meant it in Romans 7. Thenin Romans 8 he talks about how theSpirit enables, empowers, and gives

strength. That I believe is accomplishedin two ways. First, in your own personaldevotion to the Lord each day. So yourmind is framed fresh in the morningrather than looking at God through thechallenges youre going to face; its youlooking at your challenges through theeyes of God whom youve already metwith in the morning. The second thing isto have some good mentors so that yourealize that you are not unaccountable;

you are not just responsible to yourself.Especially those in ministry, you have tofind a way of viewing challenges whereothers may falter but you yourself shouldreally have graduated from and movedforward. Youll never be perfect, but Ithink you can have that sense of godlinessin your walk that will touch peoples lives,and they will see you not as a perfectperson but as a great example to followwhen you have those imperfect moments.

s

DD: So perspectiveseeing things throughGods eyesand fellowship, relationships are

key. As we seek deep transformation, we needboth the Word of God and input from othersthat we can trust.

RZ: I T HI NK S O. The interesting thingabout Middle Eastern culture is commu-

Romans 8: 1-2

Therefore, there isnow no condemna-tion for those who

are in Christ Jesus,because throughChrist Jesus the lawof the Spirit who

gives life has set youfree from the law ofsin and death.


10/28


nity is a very big thing. Very big thing. Thatswhy you see it in the Bible. You know,whether you are talking of Cornelius andall of his house has come to the Lordfollowing his example or whether its

Joshua saying, As for me and my house,community is very important. We in theWest stress so much on individuality thatwe have forgotten our responsibility tothe community, both the immediate fam-ily and extended believing family. If youhave that connection you have a built-incontext of accountability.

s

DD: Shifting gears a little, some Christians

speak of the abundant life, which Jesus alludesto in John 10, as one of Gods great promises.

How would you define this abundant life andhas your understanding of this concept changedover the course of your faith journey?

RZ: THE MOST IMPORTANT thing to knowis what it is not. It is not the prosperitygospel. I was waiting to be picked upfor the airport recently in Stuttgart,Germany. It was a Sunday morning and a

preacher on television was going to townon all that you can haveand he is thebest example of it, I guess. I think it isvery sad, especially when you are comingfrom a context of so much deprivation.So first, the abundant life does notnecessarily mean the wealthy life. Theabundant life is what I would distinguish

aszoe from bios, the spiritual life versusthe biological life.

Abundant life, to go back to your earlierquestions on contentment and emotional

complementariness to the intellect, iswhere youve learned whatsoever stateyou are in therewith to be content.When eleven out of the twelve disciplesdie a martyrs death and when Peter istold that while he was young he wentwhere he wanted, but when he was oldsomebody else was going to lead him,signifying the manner of death that hewas going to diethat was hardly aprojection of the abundant life. It was a

projection of some abundant sacrifice thathe was going to have to make. I like theway the apostle Paul talks about it becausePaul came sequentially in a different waythan the rest of the disciples. The rest ofthem came through Christs birth, life,death, and resurrection. Paul came from theresurrection to the crucifixion, and thatswhy he says, That I may know him, andthe power of his resurrection, and thefellowship of his sufferings, being made

conformable unto his death (Philippians3:10). He came triumphantly, getting aglimpse of the risen Christ, but he knewhe had to move back towards the crossand be conformed to what it might entail.

So the abundant life to me is a full lifeof understanding what life is all about,

A

bundant life, to go back to your earlier questions on contentment and

emotional complementariness to the intellect, is where youve learnedwhatsoever state you are in therewith to be content. When eleven out ofthe twelve disciples die a martyrs death and when Peter is told that whilehe was young he went where he wanted, but when he was old somebodyelse was going to lead him, signifying the manner of death that he wasgoing to diethat was hardly a projection of the abundant life.


11/28


DD: The German theologian Jrgen Moltmannwrites about the essential nature of hope, and

he observes that without hope, faith falls topieces hope nourishes and sustains faith.Youve had the privilege of traveling the globe

and experiencing some amazing opportunities,and yet youve also encountered enormousheartache and suffering along the way. Im justwondering how youve held on to hope over the

years and how do you personally find renewalwhen you struggle in this area?

RZ:HOPE THAT THE BIBLE talks aboutis that which needeth not be ashamed(see Romans 10:11). Its a marvelous wayof describing hope. But I would say prob-

ably meeting the people that I have methas brought such strength in my ownwalk. When Ive seen people deprivedof so much or having to endure so much,I think of Breathe on Me, Breath ofGod. That song talks about to do andto endure. Were always either doing orenduring. We are doing the will of God tohonor Him or enduring whats come ourway, which we are not comfortable withor not happy with. When I see the great

saints of life who have walked througha lot, I dont ever wish the same thingsupon myself because I would rather learnit without having to go through whatthey have gone through. But what I havelearned is what Malcolm Muggeridgesaid: that some of the greatest lessonsin life he ever learned were throughsuffering and not through moments ofgreat pleasure alone.

So there is a great paradigm in this aswell. Dr. John Henry Jowett said that

when youre speaking to the grieving,youll never lack for an audience. A.W.Tozer said, Whom God will use greatlyHe will hurt deeply. So sometimes thosegreat hurts almost seem a pattern forgreat instrumental usage of God. Im notsaying its one hundred percent of thetime, but as Thornton Wilder wrote,

Romans 10:11

As Scripture says,Anyone who believesin him will never be

put to shame.

whether to know how to abound and toknow how to be abased. That is the one,I think, who is leading the abundant life:the one who can handle both successand failure.

s

DD:As I listen to you, Im just amazed howfar we are from the biblical text in Westernculture. We really need, as Christians, a para-

digm shift. We need to immerse ourselves inScripture and understand it in order to rethink

some of things that we assume that we knowlike the idea of the abundant life, that we wantX, Y, and Z. And not just material things, ofcourse; we have existential longings. But there

is a real discipline of the mind that you havespoken of today that is important as well.

RZ: I T HI NK S O, Danielle, and I think sovery deeply. What we are doing and theway we are thinking is symptomatic ofwhat we are reading. If you read the rightkinds of authors, they will shape you tothink Gods thoughts after Him. I dontwant to be critical here but so much ofour theology today is based more on the

songs we sing than on the biblical text orthe books we read. And thats why somuch of it reflects a kind of a jive or adance or the happiness of it all. Thats notto be denied, but I think it conveys theimpression that thats all the Christianlife is. Music is powerful and ought toreflect good thinking. But Im afraidmusic helps shape our thinking ratherthan our thinking shaping the lyrics ofour music. So I would say if we are going

to win this battle in the West, we hadbetter learn to read some of the greatwriters and great authors of history whowill not rob us of the joy but will also giveus the tremendous breadth of theChristian faith. This faith has a broadstroke brush but it all comes together inthe person of Christ, who best representsfor us what the abundant life is all about.

s


12/28


In Loves service only wounded soldierscan serve.

I think it brings back what you are talkingabout: the compassion, the empathy, theunderstanding, and the example. All ofthat is pulled together. I would say hopeis that needed posture of mind at alltimes, and it seems to only come bywatching other lives and having gone

through much yourself. To know thatyou can go into the desert and come outtriumphant to full servicethat is thepromise of God.

s

DD:I think its interesting that you definehopeas a needed posture of the mind. When Ithink of hope, perhaps not in the biblicalcontext, but my immediate response is its anemotion, an emotional response. But again

youre going back to what we said earlier:the importance of perspective and the mindinforming our emotions.

RZ: ITS THE SAME WI TH the Sermonon the Mount. When you talk aboutloving those who hate you and persecuteyou, you never feel like that. But its theposture of the mind that says, If this iswhat I need to do in order for truth to

triumph over evil, I will do it. These arethings that some of the New Age gurusdont understand. Deepak Chopras treat-ment of the Sermon on the Mount isbizarre; he doesnt understand it. TheBible talks about dealing with contraryindicators and the emotions and how totriumph over them. Jesus is telling us tooperate not with the feeling here but thatwhich is the truth and that which needs

to be the triumphant note.

I was talking to a man working in a sec-tion of Jerusalem; he made a fascinatingcomment to me. He said, I have learneduntil I love a person I will never win them,but they are my enemy in politics. Yet, Ihad to actually first learn to love my ownpeople whom Id seen as the victim.This was an interesting way for him tobegin. He always thought it was that you

start by looking at the other guy, but hesaid, Im not even sure if I love my ownpeople. So I have learned to love my ownpeople and then love those who may evenpersecute my people, and every one ofmy congregation today loves the oneswho are our enemies politically.

What a remarkable thing. And as he said,Its our only hope.

s

Ialways go back to the day when for the first time I heard the word,

Because I live so you also shall live, in John 14:19. That is the versethat Jesus gave to Thomas, of not just living beyond the grave but livingnow with the truth that life goes beyond the grave. It is a presentdown payment of a future total inheritance, the arrabon in the Greek(see e.g., Ephesians 1:13-14), the inheritance that we have coming to us andthe down payment of it right now.


13/28


DD:It seems hes been able to bridge the heartand mind as weve been speaking about today.Love is a decision of the will but it is anemotion as well, and hopefully we exhibit the

fruit of the Spirit and we reach out in theSpirits way.

RZ: A L IT T LE P ERS ON AL N OT E here, heis one of our Oxford Centre for ChristianApologetics graduates. He said to methat was the best year of his life. What helearned there in apologetics has had to beput into practice through an emotionalreality of loving people, so he said thatthe combination of argument and feeling

was significant. s

DD:I have one more question for you. In theGospel of John, Jesus says, Because I live, youwill also live. This could be read as a simple

statement of fact, but you had a deep emotionalconnection with these words immediatelyupon hearing them as a troubled young adult.You were recently in India celebrating RZIMstwenty-fifth anniversary there. Are you

amazed that the simple message that capturedyour heart so many years ago still captivatesyour heart and mind and countless othersaround the world?

RZ: IT I S A C AP TI VAT IN G M ES SAG E; itwas a captivating message; it will alwaysbe a captivating message. And beingthere for the twenty-fifth anniversary, themost thrilling thing to me as always is tosee two kinds of people at those gather-

ings: highly successful professionalpeopledoctors, business people, headsof conglomerate empires and so onandthen the young people. There were anumber of young peopleengineers,computer experts, students at high-techschoolscoming for the meetings and upto the front to have a photograph taken.Its quite moving. Whether we like it ornot, they are establishing their heroes in

life. Its a very touching thing to knowthat their hearts are so right in theirambitions. They want the right kind ofthinking to shape their lives. So actuallyit makes me take my responsibility a lotmore seriously.

I always go back to the day when for thefirst time I heard the word, Because Ilive so you also shall live, in John 14:19.That is the verse that Jesus gave toThomas, of not just living beyond thegrave but living now with the truth thatlife goes beyond the grave. It is a presentdown payment of a future total inheri-

tance, thearrabon in the Greek (see e.g.,Ephesians 1:13-14), the inheritance thatwe have coming to us and the downpayment of it right now.

s

DD: Of course, when you heard those wordsyou were in a very critical period in your life,werent you?

RZ: YES. I WAS HA NG IN G between life

and death. I attempted to take my ownlife. And to me, lighting up the meaningof life with that verse at a time when Iwas in total darkness is nothing but thegrace of God and a reminder to me thatHe is the ultimate merciful invader whocomes to you at moments that you leastexpect and when you are most vulnerableto let you know Hes on your side. Lyingin the hospital bed, mulling over thosewords in my mind without full explanation

but to know that He meant somethingI could never have given life meaning in away that He does. He rescued me and notonly rescued me from myself, but rescuedme in order to be a propagator of thattruth to people around the globe.

DD:And thanks be to God for that.

RZ: And Im grateful too!

Ephesians 1:13-14

And you also wereincluded in Christwhen you heard the

message of truth,the gospel of your

salvation. When youbelieved, you were

marked in him witha seal, the promisedHoly Spirit, who is adeposit guaranteeingour inheritance untilthe redemption ofthose who are Gods

possessionto thepraise of his glory.

Ravi Zacharias is Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.


14/28


[ t h e o l d i s g o n e ,t h e n e w i s h e r e ]


15/28


Over coffee at the ubiquitousStarbucks, my friend shared thestory of his departure from his

Christian faith. He did not leave hisfaith over a whim or because of someintellectual crisis he couldnt resolvewith his dearly held beliefs. He left

because his work as a journalist led himinto Christian circles where he met someof the most influential Christian leadersand teachers. He left his Christian faithbecause as he traversed these circles,he saw very little evidence of what he hadbelieved was true, Christian transforma-tion. What he experienced was a groupof men and women who resembled theworld more than they did Jesus, and

whose lives showed little resemblance ofhis character. The dissonance betweenwhat was espoused in word and what wasclearly missing in deed caused him todoubt the transformative power of thegospel. If Christianity made little differ-ence in the lives of these Christian lead-

ersto whom so many look for guidanceand examplewhat difference could itmake in his life?

All of us, at one time or another,have wrestled with a similar conflict. Wemay not walk away from belief or religionas my friend did, but we have been stungby disillusionment when our favoriteleader, mentor, or friend turns out tohave feet made of clay. Moreover, when

Why is transformation so difficult? And why do we seemingly

see so little of it in our lives, no matter conviction or creed?

ATransformationalEncounterby Margaret Manning


16/28


we hold a mirror up to our own lives,we often see very spotty reflections oftransformation. If we arent alreadydiscouraged at the lack of transformationin others, we certainly will be discour-

aged when we take a good, hard look atour own lives.

Why is transformation so difficult?And why do we seemingly see so little ofit in our lives, no matter conviction orcreed? We still lose our tempers, we getirritated at co-workers, we covet, welust, and we are faithful idolaters. ForChristians, this is especially problematicbecause transformation is so clearly writ-ten into the good news of the gospel:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is anew creation; the old has gone, the newhas come (2 Corinthians 5:17). Yet, as myfriend experienced, an honest comparisonof Christians and non-Christians some-times leads us to wonder about the possi-bility of real and lasting transformation.

Perhaps the elusive nature of trans-formation is illustrated in a conversationJesus had with his own followers. Jesusasked his disciples: And why do you look

at the speck that is in your brothers eye,but do not notice the log that is in yourown eye? (Luke 6:41) Jesus suggests thata relentless focus on the foibles of othershinders the one who fails to see her needfor transformation. So often, our criticalgaze is relentlessly on others. We identifythe failures of others before we honestlyexamine our own hearts; we vociferouslypull the speck out of the eye of another,while we maintain a Redwood-sized log

of our own. Jesus is clear on this point:You hypocrite, first take the log outof your own eye, and then you will seeclearly to take out the speck that is inyour brothers eye(verse 42). Even inthis stern warning, the hope of transfor-mation grows substantially when weremain diligently self-critical, ratherthan persisting in an out there focus.

AN ARTISTS CRAFTDiligence may seem like drudgery andantithetical to hope. After all, consider anartist: one might imagine that creativityis an unbounded force, flowing freely andcontinually. An artists canvas is neverblank, the page never empty, the claynever unformed. The artist never experi-ences boredom or tedium with regards toher craft, but instead experiences theeffortless flow of creative energy eachand every day. There is little need fordiscipline, repetition, or structure in theartists worldor so we assume.

And yet, even an artist will tell youthat creativity is something that must be

practicedexercised, as it were, just likeany muscle. In fact, creativity achieves itsgreatest potential when bounded by disci-pline, and a tireless commitment to prac-tice, routine, and structure. Rather thanbeing opposed to creativity, discipline pro-vides the conduit through which creativeengagement grows and develops freely.

Such misguided assumptions aboutan artists process often parallel assump-tions about growth and creativity in

the spiritual life. Perhaps we expectunbounded growth or instant results.Perhaps we expect the constant flow ofgood feelings surging through us. If wedo not experience these things, or if wedont perpetually experience somethingnovel from the rhythm of worship,prayer, or study, then we believe thatsomething isnt right. As a result, weoften chase after the wind of emotionalexperience or spiritual high, constantly

seeking the next thing that will move usor make us feel good. Ritual, discipline,commitment, and structure seemimpediments to growth, rather than thesoil in which spiritual growth is nourishedand fed. We mistakenly believe thatspiritual transformation is like osmosis, aprocess over which we have little controlor responsibility.

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyoneis in Christ, the newcreation has come:The old has gone,the new is here!


17/28


Yet just as artists expect that prac-tice, routine, and repetition are necessarydisciplines of the creative life, so tooshould those who seek to grow in faith.For spiritual practice sharpens insight

and enhances spiritual creativity. Routineand discipline are the nutrients necessaryfor the spiritual life to flourish and grow.

A GIFT OF GRACEThe Christian can also nurture the hopeof transformation in the stories of theless than stellar characters that cooperatein Gods great work of redemption in theBible. Transformation in biblical terms entailsGods faithfulness, not human perfection.

Noah got drunk; Abraham lied twiceabout Sarah being his sister, rather thanhis wife; Gideon became an idolater;Samson failed to honor his vows; Davidcommitted adultery; Paul and Barnabasargued over John Mark and went theirseparate ways; the disciples of Jesus allleft him in the Garden of Gethsemaneand fled. The psalmist alerts us to the factthat God is not ignorant about humanityshumble condition: For God knows what

we are made of; God is mindful that weare but dust (Psalm 103:14). Yet in spiteof this dusty substance, God is at work inand through flawed individuals. ThroughNoahs obedience, humanity was preserved.Gideon defeated the Midianites who wereterrorizing Israel, and all the families ofthe earth would be blessed because ofAbraham. As these biblical stories illustrate,God can and does use us despite our fitsand starts in following.

Perhaps there is something furtherto be gleaned about the nature of trans-formation from the biblical story ofJacob. Favored by his mother, he schemedand connived his way into receiving hisbrothers birthright and his fathers bless-ing. He treated his wife Leah with greatcontempt and ended up taking a great dealof his familys dysfunction into his ownfamily; he, too, favored the children of

his wife Rachel. But Jacob had a profoundencounter with God one night in the lonelyford of Jabbok.1 It was this wrestling matchwith the living God that proved trulytransformational. Jacob received a new

name, Israel, as well as a dislocated hip.He named this place of transformationPeniel, which means, I have seen God faceto face, yet my life has been preserved.His life had been preserved, but he wouldforever bear the mark of that transforma-tional encounter in a new name andidentityand in his permanent limp.

Could it be that our own journeysof transformation reflect a similar experi-ence? For those who follow the God of

reconciliation, the hope of the livinggospel, God indeed changes our namesand gives us new identities in the hopeof becoming all that God intends for us.But God undertakes this work in a waythat doesnt erase our humanity. Afterall, God is mindful that we are but dust.Yet, God takes this dusty substance andshapes it into something beautiful.

Though we often bear the limp of ourhumanity, transformation remains a gift of

grace. Philosopher and theologian DallasWillard explains that the renovation ofthe human heart is at once new and veryold, both very promising and full of dan-ger, illuminative of our lacks and failuresand bursting with grace, an expression ofthe eternal quest of God for man and ofmans ineradicable need for God.2 Indeed,Willard continues, Christlikeness of theinner being is not a human attainment.It is finally, a gift of grace.3

The God who created us will notabandon us to ourselves but promises towalk alongside us. God gives continualgrace for transformation all for the hopeof Gods glory. 1See Genesis 32:22-32.

2Dallas Willard,Renovation of the Heart: Putting onthe Character of Christ (NavPress: Colorado Springs,CO., 2002), 22.

3Ibid., 23.

Genesis 32:29-30

Jacob said, Pleasetell me your name.

But he replied,Why do you ask

my name? Then heblessed him there. So

Jacob called the place

Peniel, saying, It isbecause I saw Godface to face, and yetmy life was spared.

Margaret Manningis a member of the speaking and writing team at Ravi ZachariasInternational Ministries in Seattle, Washington.


18/28


[ a h i g h

v i e w o f T r u t h ]


19/28


WhyTruthMattersby Os Guinness

At first sight, the biblical view of truth is obscene to modern

minds. But on a deeper look, the biblical view is profound,

timely, and urgent for today, even for those who reject it.

The following is a plenary session delivered by Os Guinnessat Lausanne 2010 in Cape Town, South Africa(www.lausanne.org). Used by permission of the author.

In this extraordinary moment in human history,why is it that truth matters? There are timeswhen history and the gospel of Jesus converge

and create a great thrust forward in human history.So it was with the gifts of the gospel, such as therise of philanthropy, of the reform movements, or thecreation of the universities, or modern science. Thereare other times when history and the gospel collideand the titanic struggle shapes history in a differentbut equally decisive way. So it was when the Lordshipof Christ triumphed over the might of imperial Rome.But there are still other times when history and thegospel appear to collide but, in fact, the gospel speaksto the deepest dilemmas and the highest aspirations ofthe age, even to those which oppose it. So it is todaywith the concept of truth.

At first sight, the biblical view of truth is obsceneto modern minds. Its arrogant, its exclusive, its intol-erant, its divisive, its judgmental, and its reactionary.But on a deeper look, the biblical view is profound,timely, and urgent for today, even for those who rejectit. But obviously regardless of what the world thinks,we follow the one who is the way, the truth, and the life.We therefore worship and serve the God of truth,whose Word is truth, and who Himself is true and maybe trusted because of his covenant faithfulness.


20/28


Let me, therefore, sum up six reasonswhy truth matters to us supremely.

And why those Christians who are carelessabout truth are as wrong, and as foolish,and as dangerous as the worst scoffers

and skeptics of our time.

FIRST, O NLY A H IG H V IE W O F T RU TH

HONORS T HE GO D O F T RUT H. Toooften truth is left as a philosophical issue.Philosophical issues are important to usbut truth is first and foremost a matterof theology. Not only is our Lord the Godwho is actually, objectively, really, andtruly thereso that what we believecorresponds to what actually is the case

but our Lord is also the true one in thesense that He is the one whose covenantloyalty may be trusted and the entireweight of our existence staked on Him.Those who weaken their hold on truth,weaken their hold on God.

SECOND, O NLY A H IGH VI EW OF

T RUT H R EF LE CTS H OW W E C OME T O

K NOW A ND L OV E GOD.Jesus is the onlyway to God although there are as many

ways to Jesus as there are people thatcome. But the record of Scripture andthe experience of the centuries show usthat there are three main reasons why webelieve, often overlapping. We come tofaith in Christ because we are driven byour human needs. We come to faith inHim because He seeks for us and finds us.And we come to faith in Christ becausewe believe his claims and the claims of thegospel are true. It is because of truth that

our faith in God is not irrational. It is notan emotional crutch. It is not a psycho-logical projection. It is not a matter ofwish fulfillment. It is not an opiate for themasses. Our faith goes beyond reasonbecause we as humans are much morethan reason. But our faith is a warrantedfaith because we have a firm, clear convic-tion it is true. We are those who think inbelieving and we believe in thinking.

THIRD, O NLY A H IGH V IE W O F T RU TH

E MP OW ER S O UR B ES T H UM AN E NT ER -

PRISES. Skeptics and relativists whoundermine the notion of truth are likethe fool who is cutting off the branch on

which he is sitting. Without truth, scienceand all human knowledge collapse intoconjecture. Without truth, the vital pro-fession of journalism and how we followthe events of our day and understand thesigns of our times dissolve into rumor.Without truth, the worlds of politics andbusiness melt down into rules and powergames. Without truth, the precious giftof human reason and freedom becomeslicense and all human relationships lose

the bonding element of trust that isbinding at their heart. We then asfollowers of Christ are unashamed tostand before the world as servants andguardians of a high view of truth, bothfor our Lords sake but also for thehighest endeavors of humanity.

FOURTH, O NLY A H IG H V IE W O F T RUT H

CAN UNDERGIRD OUR PROCLAMATION

A ND D EF EN SE O F T HE FA IT H. If our

Lord is the God of truth, we gladly affirmthat all truth is Gods truth and we there-fore welcome all ideas and argumentsand beliefs that pass the muster of Godsstandard of truth. But we also know thatall humans, including we ourselves, arenot only truth seekers but truth twisters.And that because all unbelief, as St. Paulsays, holds the truth in unrighteousness,we have the grounds as well as the duty toconfront false ideas and false beliefs withthe assurance that they are neither true inthe end nor are they in the best interestsof those who believe them. And we mustnever forget today that our stand for truthmust start in the church itself. We mustresist the powerful seductions of thosewho downplay truth for methodology, ortruth in the name of activism, or truthfor entertainment, or truth for seeker-sensitivity, and above all those who put a


21/28


modern and revisionist view of truth in theplace of the biblical view. Whatever themotive of these people, all such seductionslead to a weak and a compromised faithand they end in sorrow and a betrayal of

our Lord. To abandon truth is to abandonfaithfulness, and to commit theologicaladultery, and to end in spiritual suicide.Let the sorry fate of Protestant liberalismbe a stern warning to us all.

FIFTH, ON LY A H IGH VI EW O F TRUTH I S

SUFFICIENT FOR COMBATING EVIL AND

HYPOCRISY. Postmodern thinking makesus all aware of hypocrisy but gives us nostandard of truth to expose and correct

it. And now with the global expansion ofmarkets throughcapitalism, theglobal expansion offreedom throughtechnology andtravel, and theglobal expansionof human dysfunc-tions through thebreakdown of the

family, we arefacing the greatesthuman rights crisisof all time and aperfect storm ofevil. Both hypocrisyand evil depend on lies. Hypocrisy is a liein deeds rather than in words. And evilalways uses lies to cover its oppressions.Only with truth can we stand up todeception and manipulation. For all who

hate hypocrisy, care for justice and humandignity, and are prepared to fight evil, truthis the absolute requirement.

SIXTH AND LASTLY, ONLY A HIGH VIEW

OF TRUTH WILL HELP OUR GROWTH

AND OUR TRANSFORMATION IN CHRIST.

Just as Abraham was called to walk beforethe Lord, so are we called to follow theway of Jesus. Not just to believe the truth

or to know and defend the truth, but toso live in truth that truth may be part ofour innermost beings, that in some imper-fect way we become people of truth.

So let there be no uncertainty from thiscongress, as followers of Christ and as

evangelicals. If we do not stand for truth,this congress might as well stop here. Shameon those western Christians who casuallyneglect or scornfully deny what our Lorddeclared, what the Scriptures defend, andwhat many brothers and sisters wouldrather die than deny: that Jesus is theway,the truth, and the life.

Let us say with the great German

reformer, as he said of truth in regard tothe evil one, Onelittle word will fellhim. Let us demon-strate with our broth-er the great Russiannovelist and dissident,One word of truthoutweighs the entireworld.If faith is nottrue, it would be false

even if the wholeworld believed it.If our faith is true, itwould be true even ifthe whole world wereagainst it. So let the

conviction ring out from this conference.We worship and serve the God of truthand humbly and resolutely, we seek to liveas people of truth. Here we still stand, sohelp us God.

As evangelicals we are people of thegood news, but may we also always bepeople of truth, worthy of the God oftruth. God is true. God can be trusted inall situations. Have faith in God. Have nofear. Hold fast to truth. And may God bewith us all.

Os Guinness is senior fellow of the OxfordCentre for Christian Apologetics.

SIX REASONS WHY TRUTH MATTERS

1] Only a high view of truth honors theGod of truth.

2] Only a high view of truth reflects howwe come to know and love God.

3] Only a high view of truth empowersour best human enterprises.

4] Only a high view of truth can undergirdour proclamation and defense of the faith.

5] Only a high view of truth is sufficient forcombating evil and hypocrisy.

6] Only a high view of truth will help ourgrowth and our transformation in Christ.


22/28


[Th

ehand

of

God]


23/28


Things Unseenby Danielle DuRant

Things unseen is a motif that runs

throughout Scriptureand what is

not visible to the eye often presents

a significant challenge to those

unable to discern Gods presence

and purpose when God seems silent.


24/28

AS I WR IT E, I AM home awaiting aplumber. My water bills over thepast few months have been slightly

higher than usual, but I hadnt noticed aleak until my neighbor informed me thatshe saw a small amount of water poolingnear my meter. I have mowed over thespot on several occasions and neversensed anything out of the ordinary, yetthe invisible leak is finally visible and nowtrickling into the street.

The apostle Paul speaks of thingsunseen when he writes, For this slightmomentary affliction is preparing us foran eternal weight of glory beyond allcomparison, because we look not to the

things that are seen but to the things thatare unseen; for the things that are seenare transient, but the things that areunseen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).You could say that things unseen is amotif that runs throughout Scriptureand what is not visible to the eye oftenpresents a significant challenge to thoseunable to discern Gods presence andpurpose when God seems silent.Consider barren Sarah and her husband,

Abraham, who is told by God, I willmake your offspring like the dust of theearth (Genesis 13:16). And yet twenty-five years pass before Sarah bears Isaac.In the meantime, the couple attemptsto take matters into their own hands tofulfill Gods promise only to experiencemore heartache (see Genesis 16).

Then there are Jacob and Moses, whoflee their homes without seeing Gods


Luke 1:5-7

In the time of Herodking of Judea therewas a priest namedZechariah, whobelonged to thepriestly division ofAbijah; his wife

Elizabeth was also adescendant of Aaron.Both of them wererighteous in the sightof God, observing allthe Lords commandsand decrees blamelessly.But they were childlessbecause Elizabeth wasnot able to conceive,and they were bothvery old.

Each of these characters journeysthrough things unseen allows theirfaith, once small as a mustard seed,to become visible, and their trust inGod to grow deep roots. ]

purpose or promise for years, and Joseph,betrayed by his own brothers and draggedto a foreign land where he is falselyaccused and imprisoned. Did they notwonder if God really had a better story

for their lives in the face of thingsunseen? Or how about Elizabeth andZechariah who pray for decades for achild but seemingly see no evidence ofGod at work? Even though they arerighteous in the sight of God, observingall the Lords commands and decreesblamelessly,1 barrenness in their culturesymbolized shame, scorn, and Gods sup-posed disapproval. They live with theheartache of being both childless and

greatly misunderstood. Not surprisingly,when an angel finally tells aging Zechariahthat Elizabeth would bear a son whowould be the forerunner to the Messiah,he doesnt believe him and asks to seewith certainty that this would be so.

Yes, this long road is riddled with love,loss, and bewilderment, and perse-

verance tests the faithful to the corewhen we labor under the misimpression

that we see what we see, that seeing isbelieving, that either I see it or I dont.2

Yet it is in such places, Scripture tellsus, that God longs to be gracious andpromises that all who hope in him willnot be disappointed.3 Indeed, by faitheven Sarah, who was past childbearing age,was enabled to bear children because sheconsidered him faithful who had made thepromise and by faith [Moses] left Egypt,not fearing the kings anger; he persevered

because he saw him who is invisible.

4

Each of these characters journeys throughthings unseen allows their faith, once smallas a mustard seed, to become visible, andtheir trust in God to grow deep roots.Such faith, the writer of Hebrews says,Is the assurance of things hoped for, theconviction of things not seen (11:1).

Moreover, Scripture reveals thatlong before we may see Gods hand, He


25/28


is at work on our behalf. For instance,theprophet Daniel mourns and fasts for threeweeks earnestly seeking Gods wisdom.Twenty-four days later, he is visited by aheavenly being who announces, Since

the first day that you set your mind togain understanding and to humble your-self before God, your words were heardand I have come in response to them(Daniel 10:12). As A.W. Tozer notes,Wherever faith is present, we touchand handle things unseen.5

I have had the privilege of workingalongside Ravi Zacharias for nineteenyears now and have heard him speakabout the founding of RZIM on numerous

occasions and been asked about it myselfas I was just the other day. And it neverfails: every time the story is recounted,I get goose bumps. As Ravi writes in hisautobiographyWalking from East to West,he was on a flight back from Amsterdamwhere he had addressed a large gatheringof those inside the faith when hebecame more burdened for those onthe margins and for the happy paganwho expressed little interest in (so it

appeared) spiritual concerns. Who wasaddressing their heartfelt and challengingquestions, he wondered. So Ravi and hiswife, Margie, began to pray about theirnext steps yet chose not to disclose thisburden but rather wait on Gods leading.

The more they prayed, they sensedthat if Ravi were to leave his comfortableseminary teaching post, they would needa certain amount of money in order tomove forward with a ministry that would

respond to the needs of inviting bodiessuch as universities with little to offerbeyond the great privilege of answeringstudents genuine questions. One day,after Ravis last lecture at a conferencewhere he was speaking, he decided toask those present to pray for him and hiswife as they wrestled with a decision butsaid nothing more. Ravi was in the hotellobby preparing to leave when a gentleman

whom Ravi didnt know asked to speakwith him a moment.

The man said, I went to my roomand got on my knees, and I asked theLord to reveal to me the wisdom you

need. I asked him if there was anythingI could do to help in the decision youremaking. Now, I dont know what thatdecision is, but the Lord did impress methat I could help.6 He then handed Ravia check for the exact amount that heand Margie had prayed about for severalmonths! (As Ravi notes in his autobiogra-phy, he did not accept the gift until aftergetting to know Mr. D.D. Davis andsharing more about his vision; Mr. Davis,

in time, would become a father figure andmentor in Ravis life.)

For a season, a couple journeyedthrough things unseenand in a suddenmoment, God revealed his answer tothem through a complete stranger. Likethe slow leak in my yard, just because wecannot see God at work doesnt meanthat He is not. As scholar Timothy PaulJones observes, When [God] doesntseem to respond to our prayers, it may

not be because Hes chosen not to speak;it may be that His answer is already onthe way.7

Danielle DuRantis director of researchand writing at RZIM.

1Luke 1:6.

2Esther Lightcap Meek,Longing to Know: The

Philosophy of Knowledge for Ordinary People

(Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2003), 99.3

See Isaiah 30:18 and 49:23.4

Hebrews 11:11, 27.5A. W. Tozer,Living as a Christian: Teachings from

First Peter(Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 2009), 25.6

Quoted in Walking from East to West: God in the

Shadows by Ravi Zacharias (Grand Rapids, MI:

Zondervan, 2006), 197.7

Timothy Paul Jones, The Awkward Silence of God:

Why Pray When You Seem to be Talking to Yourself?

Discipleship Journal(November/December 2006),

online at http://www.navpress.com/magazines/archives

/article.aspx?id=21643.

Isaiah 30:18

Yet the LORD longsto be gracious to you;therefore he will

rise up to show youcompassion. For the

LORD is a God ofjustice. Blessed are all

who wait for him!


26/28


The Bible places supreme value in the thought life.

ThinkAgain

TH E S E VE N TE EN T H- C E N T U RY French philosopher Rene

Descartes is best known for his dictum, I think, therefore,

I am. A cynic may well quip that Descartes actually put des cart

before des horse because all he could have legitimately deduced

was, I think, therefore, thinking exists. I do not intend to

defend or counter Cartesian philosophy; I only wish to underscore

that thinking has much to do with life and certainty.

One of the tragic casualties of our age has been that of the contemplativelifea life that thinks, thinks things through, and more particularly, thinks Gods

thoughts after Him. One might surmise that thinking is a dying art.

However, the Bible places supreme value in the thought life. As a man thinketh

in his heart, so is he, Solomon wrote. Jesus asserted that sins gravity lay in the idea

itself, not just the act. Paul admonished the church at Philippi to have the mind of

Christ, and to the same people he wrote, Whatever is true ... pure if there be any

virtue think on these things. Thus, the follower of Christ must demonstrate to

the world what it is not just to think, but to think justly.

The sentences above are words I penned twenty years agoin our very first

issue ofJust Thinking. This magazine exists to engender thoughtful engagementwith apologetics, Scripture, and the whole of life. Though the world seems to changes

before our eyes, there are some themes that are ever timely, and it is our hope that

the articles inJust Thinkingwill consistently challenge your mind and stir your heart.

We hope you enjoy the magazines new format and more regular availability;

beginning with this issue,Just Thinkingwill be released four times a year. In the

meantime, keep thinking.

Warm Regards,

Ravi


27/28

For more information or to make acontribution, please contact:

Ravi Zacharias International Ministries

4725 Peachtree Corners CircleSuite 250Norcross, Georgia 30092770.449.6766

RZIM is a member of the Evangelical Council for

Financial Accountability and the Canadian Council

of Christian Charities.

WWW.RZIM.ORG

HELPING THE THINKER BELIEVE. HELPING THE BELIEV ER THINK .


28/28

JUST THINKING The Quarterly Magazine ofRAVI ZACHARIAS INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES

4725 Peachtree Corners Circle

Suite 250

Norcross, Georgia 30092

For this slight momentary affliction is preparing usfor an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,because we look not to the things that are seen but to thethings that are unseen; for the things that are seen are

transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.2 Corinthians 4:17-18

jt20ythtyjnyt

Documents