Lee Strobel - The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity

Resources by Lee Strobel

The Case for Christ audio

Gods Outrageous Claims

Inside the Mind of Unchurched Harry and Mary

What Jesus Would Say

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Christian theism must be rejected by any person with even a shred of respect for reason.

George H. Smith, atheist

Christian faith is not an irrational leap. Examined objectively, the claims of the Bible are rational propositions well supported by reason and evidence.

Charles Colson, Christian

W illiam Franklin Graham steadied himself by gripping both sides of the podium. He was eighty years old, fighting Parkinsons disease, but he stared intently at the throngs inside the RCA Dome in Indianapolis and spoke in a steady, forceful voice. There was no hint of hesitation, no uncertainty or ambiguity. His sermon was essentially the same simple and direct message he had been preaching for fifty years.

He referenced the chaos and violence around the world, and he zeroed in on the anguish, pain, and confusion in the hearts of individuals. He talked about sin, about forgiveness, about redemption, and about the loneliness, despair, and depression that weigh so many people down.

All of us want to be loved, he said in his familiar North Carolina cadence as he approached the conclusion of his talk. All of us want somebody to love us. Well, I want to tell you that God loves you. He loves you so much that he gave us his Son to die on the cross for our sins. And he loves you so much that he will come into your life and change the direction of your life and make you a new person, whoever you are.

Are you sure that you know Christ? There comes a moment in which the Spirit of God convicts you, calls you, speaks to you about opening your heart and making certain of your relationship to God. And hundreds of you here tonight are not sure. Youd like to be sure. Youd like to leave here tonight knowing that if you died on the way home, you would be ready to meet God.

So he urged them to come. And they didat first, there was a trickle of people, and then the floodgates opened, with individuals, couples, and entire families pouring into the empty space in front of the platform. Soon they were shoulder-to-shoulder, the crowd wrapping around the sides of the stage, nearly three thousand in all. Some were weeping, gripped by somber conviction; others stared downward, still stewing in shame over their past; many were smiling from ear to earliberated, joyous... home, finally.

One married woman was typical. My mom died of cancer when I was young, and at the time I thought I was being punished by God, she told a counselor. Tonight I realized that God loves meit is something Ive known but couldnt really grasp. Tonight a peacefulness came into my heart.

What is faith? There would have been no need to define it for these people on that sultry June night. Faith was almost palpable to them. They reached out to God almost as if they were expecting to physically embrace him. Faith drained them of the guilt that had oppressed them. Faith replaced despondency with hope. Faith infused them with new direction and purpose. Faith unlocked heaven. Faith was like cool water soaking their parched soul.

But faith isnt always that easy, even for people who desperately want it. Some people hunger for spiritual certainty, yet something hinders them from experiencing it. They wish they could taste that kind of freedom, but obstacles block their paths. Objections pester them. Doubts mock them. Their hearts want to soar to God; their intellects keep them securely tied down.

They see the television coverage of the crowds who have come forward to pray with Billy Graham and they shake their heads. If it were only that simple, they sigh to themselves. If only there werent so many questions.

For Charles Templetonironically, once Billy Grahams pulpit partner and close friendquestions about God have hardened into bitter opposition toward Christianity. Like Graham, Templeton once spoke powerfully to crowds in vast arenas and called for people to commit themselves to Jesus Christ. Some even predicted Templeton would eventually eclipse Graham as an evangelist.