Something for the non-believers to think about

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1784 04/11/04

Easter Answers Life's Ultimate Questions! by: Robert H. Schuller

Happy Easter to you all. In the ancient church it was a custom for Christian believers to greet each other with the triumphant words, "Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed!" Believers have passed down this greeting through the centuries. In that same spirit, I greet you with this glorious affirmation.

"Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed!"

That is the bedrock of our faith. Yes, Easter is the celebration of the birth of life again. The Resurrection was not just for Jesus, but for you and me also. Easter is the time to take a new fresh look at God and say, "There is a God and He wants to connect with me. He does love me. He will do anything to give life to me."

"I have come that you might have life and have it abundantly." The words of Jesus (John 10:10) Yes, you can believe in a big dream for your future. Make your plans big enough for God to fit in. Think in such a dimension that you are destined completely to fail unless you have God with you. That leads to Life Abundant and Eternal and you and I can have that because it is Easter! Our God is alive! Jesus Christ is alive and He inspires us! So I hope and pray that you catch the Easter message in your life because Easter answers life's ultimate questions.

Life's Ultimate Questions

Is there really a God? Is it a reality religion? Or is it a fantasy faith? Is there really a God? Does God really care about me? Does God want to connect with me? Is it true what the Bible says? Does God have a plan for my life? Is life eternal with rewards and blessings for those who follow Him? Yes, Easter answers life’s ultimate questions. It is the only place where you can get solid answers. You can’t get these questions answered in any university, in any other institution, or in any post-graduate course. Only through the Easter story are life’s most important answers given because Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of the life of Jesus Christ from the tomb. Wow!

Athalie Clark was a member of the Executive Board of this church until her death. I called her the First Lady of Orange County. She was married to James Irvine, II, and they owned what was then called the Irvine Ranch which dominated the landscape of Orange County. Athalie used to tell me about the time when Albert Einstein came to their Irvine Ranch here in Orange County. He wanted to test a new theory that he called "relativity." He tried to explain it to Athalie and she didn’t know if she completely understood, but she watched as he built a mile long pipe. There could not be any curve or bend in it. And as she told me about that, Athalie said that Einstein struck her as being a very spiritual person. That’s interesting as he was such a brilliant physicist. Since then I have met other physicists and discovered that many, if not the majority, of physicists today in the world are spiritual and they have a spiritual world view. They have come to believe that there is something more than just a material universe. Later, Athalie shared with me these words that Einstein told her:

"There are only two ways to live! Live as though nothing is a miracle and there are no miracles ... Or live as if everything is a miracle." (Einstein) Wow! In living everything is a miracle, that’s what Easter does for me and that’s what Easter can do for you, because Easter is a reality! And if you embrace Easter in your life, you will be a miracle. You’ll expect miracles. You’ll prepare your soul for miracles. And today, after living a Christian life for over 70 years, I can tell you I’ve come to see everything as a miracle ... a flower that blooms ... a person who is alive.

Every single person is a miracle

Every person living here, listening to the sound of my voice is a miracle. You and I have no idea how many times we came a hair’s breath from being killed or picking up a germ that would have taken our life. Every single one of us is a miracle. That’s the kind of faith Easter gives me and that’s the kind of faith I want you to have this morning. Yes, Albert Einstein is right ... "Everything is a miracle." But, how about some of you who are agnostics? Or atheists? Do you really know about God? Or do you think it is all a superstition and you’re listening to this Easter service today to please someone? Do you have the idea that Easter is all a myth?

C. S. Lewis was one of the most remarkable Christians thinkers in the past 100 years. He was a brilliant professor at Oxford and in his 30’s he was an absolute, solid core atheist, as were his special friends and colleagues, some of the other Oxford professors.

Later on, C.S. Lewis described his remarkable conversion. The first step was to a belief in God, then to a belief in Jesus Christ, and then he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. He went the whole way from nowhere. That’s amazing! C.S. said that there was a time in his life when he was about eight years old, when he began to feel that, "There’s something missing in my life, but I’m so young, I’ll get it." As he grew a little older, there was still something missing in his life and he still didn’t know what it was. C.S. Lewis tried to define it and he said, "It is like a desire, but it’s not really a desire, but I can feel it inside of me, something is missing." Later as he began to think that ‘something’ missing was calling out to him saying, "Find me, find me. Learn to know who I am." It became a voice ... it became a god. God? And when C.S. Lewis asked the question, "Is God in that feeling that there is something missing? Is God in me saying, ‘Take Me ... embrace Me ... connect with Me? When I realized that it was really God, I made the decision to believe and I moved from atheism to solid theism."

What a change. C. S. Lewis said, "My conversion happened largely because of Tolkein." (You know Tolkein as the author of "Lord of the Rings") Tolkein was a very strong believer and as they talked one evening, they began to discuss the subjects of myths. C.S. Lewis said to Tolkein, "But this story of Jesus coming down to be God on earth in human flesh, and then dying and rising from the tomb again. I can tell you that same story out of pagan mythology. This is nothing but another myth. Then Tolkein began to challenge him and said, "Just read the story of Jesus and you'll find out it is not a myth, not at all. It's totally different from mythology."

Being an authority on mythology, C.S. Lewis started to read the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and said, "This is not a myth. The story was told to the disciples. All eleven disciples saw the resurrected Jesus and they talked to others who also saw the resurrected Jesus. Myths don’t do that. A myth is a creation of a fantasy novel in one human brain and then that fantasy is taught by one teacher to be a reality. Myths never originate in a group where others can check up on it and correct the misstatements." So C.S. Lewis embraced Jesus Christ and became one of the greatest leaders for Jesus Christ impacting the world even today!

Is there something missing in your life?

Now I ask you, "Do you have that feeling that something is missing in your life, and you think maybe you haven’t lived long enough to learn it? Or you haven’t taken the right courses of study to discover it? Is there something missing in your life?" If you are a follower of Jesus Christ and if He is in your life, you won’t have that feeling!

I shall never forget the time I walked the brilliant daughter of Mikhail Gorbachev out of this church through the gardens here at the Crystal Cathedral. As we walked, the large Cathedral doors opened and she looked up and said, "You know, Dr. Schuller, I believe! - I never had good thoughts about church but I sure do now."

Is something missing in your life? Get active in the church, embrace Jesus Christ. The Bible is reliable. It is not a bunch of myths. It has been affirmed and affirmed and affirmed and it is an amazing thing to me that archeology has never ever discovered anything that proves the Bible is a book of lies. Every time a discovery is made, frequently by non-believers, it affirms and substantiates a miracle told in the Bible.

Jesus is alive ... that's a reality.

Because Jesus is resurrected you can talk to Him. There is no substitute for getting in touch with Him. Then He will become your best friend. You will be born again. You will begin to believe that even though your impossible dream may seem impossible, you can make it possible! Believe in Jesus Christ. He will motivate you. He will give inspiration. Pray to Him daily. Worship Him regularly. Get in close contact with this living Jesus Christ. His salvation will take away your guilt. His joy will take away your depression. You won’t live in fear. You’ll live with hope when you embrace Him as your Savior.

When Carol, our 13 year old daughter, lost her leg in an accident, she almost died. Fortunately the doctors saved her life but she would be in Children’s Hospital of Orange County for several months before she would get home to see her dog and her horse. That’s a long time. From the beginning, every night my wife would stay with her at her hospital bedside. Well there came the time when she needed to stop doing that, even though Carol was still in a great deal of pain. So the night came when Mrs. Schuller said to her, "Carol, I’m going home tonight to sleep. You’ll have to learn to sleep alone, but you won’t really be alone, Jesus will be with you." So they said good-bye and Carol was alone. The nurses came later to change her bandages and give her the necessary medications and then the lights were put off. For the first time in many months Carol was alone. It scared her. But the Chaplain, a Catholic priest at the hospital, had hung a picture of Christ on the cross on the traction above her. And Carol looking at Jesus, and thinking about Jesus, began to talk to Him, "Jesus, I’m scared. I’m scared of being all alone. It is so dark. Come, come, come to me. Can you sleep with me?" Then she sensed the Presence of Jesus in her hospital room. It seemed like He was lying down next to her, comforting her, whispering to her. To her, Jesus was very real and she fell asleep. It was the beginning of her coming out of her tomb of fear and pain. It was an Easter for her.

The resurrection ... Easter ... life ... Jesus Christ can connect with me ... I can connect with Him. Many of you need an Easter this morning. You need it desperately.

People will never forget the Iraqi War, the many brave people who died there. One of those was David Bloom. He became famous as he reported daily on the latest news there. He was so handsome, only 39 years old when he died a natural death there. In recent years David Bloom had become a Christian, a Roman Catholic, a very committed follower of Jesus Christ. He joined a Bible study group and his relationship with Jesus Christ was more important than all the important assignments he had, White House correspondent to war correspondent on the road to Baghdad. The night before David Bloom died he called home to talk to his wife, Melanie, and their three young daughters. He also sent an e-mail to his wife that seemed to foreshadow his imminent death. His latest e-mail said, "I hope and pray all my guys get out of the war in one piece, but I’ll tell you, I am at peace." "Here I am," his e-mail read, "supposedly at the peak of professional success but I can frankly care less. It is nothing compared to my relationship with you, the girls and Jesus."

What turns you on? To David Bloom it was his wife, three daughters and Jesus. Some of you think that something is missing in your life, but you don’t know what it is? You have a desire for that something but you don’t even know what to call it? It is God calling out to you saying, "Embrace My Son, Jesus Christ." It is a decision. Make that decision now and live life abundantly and eternally. Happy Easter.

I invite you to pray this Easter prayer today:

Lord, this is going to become the most important Easter of my life. Something has been missing in my life. I need a person I can talk to when I am alone, anytime, day or night. So I’m opening my heart, I’m choosing to be a believer in You, Jesus Christ. I’m walking away from a life filled with questions and more questions, and doubts and skepticism. I’m going to become like a child, trusting You God, the Bible and Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. Amen

© Copyright Hour of Power 2004. This message was delivered by Robert H. Schuller from the pulpit of the Crystal Cathedral and aired on the Hour of Power April 11, 2004.

-- MaryLu (mlc327@juno.com), April 12, 2004

Answers

I feel very sorry for CS Lewis now, dut then again, if he really was that stupid to believe in a very badly written and retold myth that wasn't original or miraculous, then I really don't feel tha sorry for him, I just think he is a dumb ass now!!!

"Christianity: Today's religion, tommorow's mythology!"

[Moderators Note: This post is from the Phelps imposter]

-- Full Time (work@full_time.play), April 12, 2004.


and I feel sorry for you full-time...Jesus is not a myth, He is real and I am sad for you and others like you who don't know Him.

-- MaryLu (mlc327@juno.com), April 12, 2004.

"Full Time" best be careful how he speaks about Christ. "Full Time" may become a myth here on earth, but eternity awaits us all. Hell is no myth and I would not wish to spend my full time there.

..........

-- rod (elreyrod@yahoo.com), April 12, 2004.


Also, full-time, C.S.Lewis was not stupid, as you called him. He was a famous and popular Christian writer. His writings are insightful, deep, and thought-provoking - far from a stupid man.

He saw the light and was tranformed and used his gift of writing to bring glory to God.

Perhaps you should try reading one of his books, he might enlighten you. Read what he has to say and then come back to the forum and tell us if you think C.S.Lewis a stupid man.

Calling other people stupid says a lot about you, full-time. Think about that.

-- MaryLu (mlc327@juno.com), April 14, 2004.


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