How the Authors Discovered New Life in Jesus Christ

 Bart

 "My own questioning about the significance of Christianity – more than just the Sunday school routine – began as a kid watching Billy Graham on television. Until then I'd written most Christians off as either hypocrites or eccentrics, neither of which seemed particularly appealing. As I listened to Dr.  Graham preach, I felt as if my heart was going to explode. Though subjective, I felt God's presence in the room with me. 

One thought Dr. Graham conveyed was that God was absolutely pure and blameless and that we were sinful (i.e., we've all actively and passively rebelled against God and missed His mark of perfection). It was like the guy who said, "But judge, look at all the people I didn't kill! ' ' The point was that we all stand guilty before a holy and righteous God, and would only pollute and corrupt heaven if we went there without having a basic change in nature. 

As much as I wanted to deny it, I felt the guilt. I hadn't lived up to my own standards, let alone God's. Dr. Graham said that going to church wasn't enough. It didn't make you a Christian (any more than going to a garage makes you a car), and that becoming a Christian involved an active, not a passive believing. 

It's like the man who tightrope-walked Niagara Falls with a 200-pound sack of sand on his back.  After crossing, he asked a spectator, "Do you believe I could do it again? The person said, Sure! So the guy tossed down the sack and said, "Climb on my back.'' 

Real believing is more than just giving mental assent to the claims of Christianity. It is being willing to ' 'climb on' ' and lay our lives on the line. Anything short of that is not ' 'believing' ' in the biblical sense of the word. 

I once heard a story about a judge whose own daughter was brought into his court on speeding charges. To everyone's surprise, he gave her the stiffest fine possible. Then he stepped down off his bench, pulled out his wallet, and paid the fine for her.  Thus, both the law's demands for justice and the love of a father's heart were fully satisfied. Dr.  Graham spoke of how God had done this in the person of Jesus – God stepping down to become a man and die for humankind because he loved us. 

Dr. Graham went on to say that we had to be willing to admit our sin and receive God's forgiveness through faith in Christ's death and resurrection for us.  We could never earn it or pay for it. It was a gift we could either accept or reject. 

Well, I put off becoming a Christian for several years, partly because it took me awhile before I met some Christians I respected and partially because t was still confused as to what I had to do to become a Christian. But finally the day came. A speaker told me how to become a Christian in a non-threatening environment. (I had turned down other opportunities where I ran the risk of being embarrassed. I was afraid that it wouldn't work and that I'd just make a fool of myself.) 

So, as I sat in my seat at a high school rally in Topeka, Kansas, I quietly prayed and asked Christ to come into my life. To my great surprise He did!  I found a peace I had never known before. Old feelings of guilt were gone, and I had a new joy and a reason for living. I was happily surprised to see God actually answer prayer. He cared! 

Even as a Christian I sometimes used to feel like an abandoned baby that was put in a basket and dropped on God's doorstep, and that God, being the loving God He is, had no choice but to take me in.  Now I know that is not so, for out of His great love He chose me (Ephesians 1:4, 5). To all who will come, He says, "Come!'' 

As someone who cares and has come to know His love, I can only encourage you, the reader, not to remain neutral. He loves you and proved it by becoming a man and dying for you. This is what the incarnation and deity of Christ is all about, and why Josh and I have written this book. 

 Josh' 

 I set out intellectually to refute the Bible as a reliable historical document and the resurrection as a factual historical event and Christianity as a relevant alternative. After gathering the evidence, some of which has been shared in my books, I was compelled to conclude that my arguments wouldn't stand up, that Jesus Christ was exactly who He claimed to be –  the Son of God. 

The above conclusion about the historical reliability of the Bible and the person of Christ brought with it an intense struggle. My mind was telling me that all this was true, but my will was pulling me in another direction. I discovered that to become a Christian can be an earth shaking experience. 

 Guilt was evident in my life. Jesus Christ made a direct challenge to my will to trust Him as Savior, as the one who died on the cross for my sins. Let me paraphrase His invitation: "Look! I have been standing at the door and I am constantly knocking. If anyone hears Me calling him and opens the door,  I will come in'' (Revelation 3:20). 

"But as many as received Him to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name °  (John 1:12). I didn't care if He did walk on water, or turn water into wine. I didn't want a party pooper invading my life. I couldn't think of a faster way to ruin a good time,  or to destroy intellectual pursuit and impede scholarly acceptability with my peers. 

So there I was: My mind told me on the one hand that Christianity was true and my will said, "Don t admit it." Every time I was around those enthusiastic Christians, the conflict would intensify. If you've ever been around happy people when you re miserable,  you understand how they can bug you. They would be so happy and I would feel so miserable I would literally get up and run right out of the room. 

It came to the point where I'd go to bed at ten at night and I wouldn't fall asleep until four in the morning. I knew I had to get Jesus off my mind or go out of my mind! 

 New Life Begins

 Being open-minded and intellectually convinced,  on December 19, 1959 at 8:30 p m during my second year at the university, I became a Christian. 

Someone asked me, "How do you know?' '  I said, "Look, I was there. "

That night I prayed. I prayed four things in order to establish a relationship with God – a personal relationship with His Son, the resurrected, living Christ.  Over a period of time that relationship has transformed my life. 

First, I prayed, "  Lord Jesus, thank You for dying on the cross for me.'' Second I said, "I confess those things in my life that aren't pleasing to You and ask You to forgive me and cleanse me.' ' (The Bible says, "Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow ") Third, I said, "Bight now, in the best way I know how I open the door of my heart and life and trust You as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my life. Change me from the inside out.  Make me the type of person You created me to be." 

The last thing I prayed was, "Thank You for coming into my life by faith." It was a faith produced by the Holy Spirit, based on evidence and on the facts of history and on God's Word. 

I'm sure you've heard religious people talk about their "bolt of lightning.' ' Well, after I prayed, nothing happened. I mean nothing. In fact, after I made that decision, I felt worse. I felt I was going to vomit. t felt sick deep down. 

"Oh no, McDowell, what'd you get sucked into now?" I wondered. I really felt I 'd gone off the deep end – and some of my friends agreed. 

 Changes

 But I can tell you one thing: In six months to a year and a half, I found t hadn't gone off the deep end.  My life was changed. 

I was in a debate with the head of the history department at a midwestern university, and I said "My life has been changed.'' He interrupted me rather sarcastically. "McDowell, are you trying to tell us that God really changed your life in the 20th century? What areas?" 

After 45 minutes of my describing changes, he said, ''Okay, that's enough.'' 

Mental Peace. One area I told him about was my restlessness. I was a person who always had to be occupied I had to be over at my girl's place or somewhere in a rap session. I'd walk across campus, and my mind would be a whirlwind of conflicts.  I'd sit down and try to study or think, and I couldn't. 

But a few months after I made that decision to trust Christ, a kind of mental peace began to develop.  Don't misunderstand. I'm not talking about the absence of conflict. What I found in this relationship with Jesus wasn't so much the absence of conflict as it was the ability to cope with it. I wouldn't trade this for anything in the world. 

Control of Temper. Another area that started to change was my bad temper. I used to "blow my stack' ' if somebody just looked at me cross-eyed.  I still have the scars from almost killing a man my first year in the university. My temper was such an integral part of me that I didn't consciously seek to change it. 

One day after my decision to put my faith in Christ,  I arrived at a crisis, only to find that my temper was gone! And only once in the past twenty-four years have I lost it. 

 A Man I Hated

 There's another area I'm not proud of. I mention it because a lot of people need to have the same change in their lives through a relationship with the resurrected, living Christ. This is the area of hatred (one might say bitterness). 

I had a lot of hatred in my life. It wasn't something outwardly manifested, but there was a kind of inward grinding. I was ticked off with people, things,  issues. Like so many other people, I was insecure.  Every time I met someone different from me, he became a threat. 

The one person I hated more than anyone else in the world was my father. I despised him. He was the town alcoholic. If you're from a small town and one of your parents is an alcoholic, you know what I'm talking about. 

Everybody knew My friends would come to high school and make jokes about my father being downtown. They didn't think it bothered me. I was laughing on the outside, but let me tell you I was crying on the inside. I'd go out in the barn and see my mother lying in the manure behind the cows. She'd been knocked down by my father and couldn't get Up.  

When we had friends over, I would take my father,  tie him up in the barn, and park the car up around the silo. We would tell our friends he had to go somewhere so we wouldn't be embarrassed. I don't think any person could hate another person more than I hated my father. 

 Hatred Becomes Love

 Maybe five months after I made that decision for Christ, love for my father – a love from God through Jesus Christ – inundated my life. That love took my hatred and turned it upside down. That love was so strong, I was able to look my father squarely in the eyes and say, ''Dad, I love you.' ' I really meant it.  After some of the things I'd done, that shook him up. 

Shortly after I transferred to a private university, I was in a serious car accident. With my neck in traction, I was taken home. I'll never forget my father coming into my room and asking, ' 'Son, how can you love a father like me?" I said, "Dad, six months ago I despised you.' ' Then I shared with him my conclusions about Jesus Christ. 

"Dad, I let Christ come into my life, I said. I can t explain it completely. But as a result of this relationship, I've found the capacity to love and accept not only you, but other people just the way they are."

Forty-five minutes later one of the greatest thrills of my life occurred. Somebody in my own family,  someone who knew me so well I couldn't pull the wool over his eyes – my own father – said to me,  ''Son, if God can do in my life what I've seen Him do in yours, then I want to give Him the opportunity.' ' Right there my father prayed with me and trusted Christ. 

Usually changes take place over several days,  weeks, or months... even years. The life of my father was changed right before my eyes. It was as though somebody reached in and turned on a light bulb. I've never seen such a rapid change before or since. My father touched alcohol only once after that.  He got it as far as his lips and that was it. He didn't need it any more. 

 lt Works

 I've come to one conclusion. A relationship with Jesus Christ changes lives. You can ignorantly laugh at Christianity; you can mock and ridicule it. But it works. It changes lives. If you trust Christ, start watching your attitudes and actions – because Jesus Christ is in the business of changing lives, forgiving sin and removing guilt. 

 It's Your Choice

 Christianity is not something that can be forced on someone or shoved down someone's throat. You have your life to live, and I have mine. All I can do is tell you what I've learned. Beyond that, it s your decision. My wife puts it this way: ''Because Christ was raised from the dead, He lives. And because He lives, He has that infinite capacity to enter a man or woman's life, forgive them and change them from the inside out.'' 

The key element is the resurrection factor. Christ is risen. 

 It's Personal

 I've shared how I personally responded to the claims of Christ. You also need to ask the logical question: "What difference does all this evidence make to me? What difference does it make whether or not I believe Christ rose again and died on the cross for my sins?'' The answer is put best by something Jesus said to a man who doubted,  Thomas. He told him "I am the way, and the truth,  and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me'' (John 14-6). 

On the basis of all the evidence for Christ's resurrection, and considering the fact that Jesus offers forgiveness of sin and an eternal relationship with God, who would be so foolhardy as to reject Him?  Christ is alive. He is living today. 

You can trust God right now by faith through prayer. Prayer is talking with God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. If you have never trusted Christ, you can do so right now

The prayer I prayed is: ' 'Lord Jesus, I need You.  Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and trust You as my Savior.  Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be. Thank You that I can trust You. 

An Offer to You

 If you have trusted Christ, or believe you are going to do so in the near future, write me. You will have a lot of questions, as I had after my decision. A professor once shared with me some principles that made sense to me about how my life could be changed through this new relationship with God through Christ. I have put these principles into letter form and would like to send them to you. 

 Josh McDowell
P O. Box 5585
Richardson, TX 75080