Dr Ravi Zacharias Message

I had the rare opportunity to hear Dr Ravi Zacharias speak last night on the message of "Need God? What if I Don't?" Ravi Zacharias has long been one of my favorite Apologetics authors. I have read many of his books and have been astounded by his great ability to articulate the Christian Worldview and to defend the faith. As anticipated, last night's message was motivating, full of insight, and impactful. There was so much great information in the message. A few of the highlights that stood out for me were his retelling of the story of the deep meaning John 14:19 "Because I live, you shall live also." holds for him. As a youth, when he despaired of life, he tried to commit suicide, and was given hope to live when this verse was read to him in a hospital room, where his mom was present. When his mother passed away, he inscribed it on her tombstone. Then, when he was in India and wanted to visit his grandmother's gravesite, which he had never seen before, he found that same verse was inscribed on her tombstone. It solidified for him, that God is the Grand Weaver, that He weaves the threads of our lives into a beautiful tapestry, interwoven with the lives of others as part of God's overall Plan. He gave 4 examples of areas of life that cannot be answered without God:

• Moral Law - Without God, there can be no moral absolutes. Every definition of evil points to what ought to be, which implies purpose. When we ask about evil, it implies there is good, which means there is a moral law, which comes from God. Moral Absolutes are built into human life, and similar to that story where Jesus asked whose image was on the coin and to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, He can ask, whose image is on you? (Imago Dei)
• Meaning - can only be found in a right relationship with God
• Hope - reflects the values of the eternal and Christ, through His resurrection, has shown us that there is an eternal and He takes away the fear of death. What does Atheism offer as Hope?
• Recovery - there is no recovery, if after dying, you find that there truly is a God. In Pascal's wager, he says that even though the existence of God cannot be determined through reason , a person should "wager" as though God exists, because so living has everything to gain, and nothing to lose.

Then, during the Q&A time, he talked about the three tests for TRUTH:

1. Logical Reasons
2. Supported by Evidence
3. Experiential Validation

His message correlated so well with our "Search for Meaning" series in Ecclesiastes. One quote that I've heard before, but is applicable to this week's lesson is: "Let us be sure of one thing. While God has given us more than enough evidence to make believing in him a reasonable thing He has not given us enough evidence that we may base our belief in Him on reason alone." I am reminded of Hebrews 11:1: "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."