VOLUME 20.1 I · Danielle DuRant to discuss their roles in one’s faith journey. ... between...

VOLUME 20.1 I WWW.RZIM.ORG

JUSTTHINKINGTHE MAGAZINE OF RAVI ZACHARIAS INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES

Bridging theHeart and Mind

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+A TRANSFORMATIONAL

ENCOUNTERPAGE 12

WHY TRUTH MATTERS

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THINGS UNSEENPAGE 20

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. HELP ING THE BEL IEVER TH I NK .

JUST THINKING • The Quarterly Magazine of RAVI ZACHARIAS INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES

TABLE of CONTENTSVOLUME 20.1

Bridging the Heart and Mind

As Christians we want to believewhat we cognitively affirm—thatGod is sovereign and good—and 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 one’s faith journey.

A TransformationalEncounter

Margaret Manning asks this question: Why is transformation sodifficult? And why do we seeminglysee so little of it in our lives, no matter conviction or creed? We stilllose our tempers, we get irritated atco-workers, we covet, we lust, andwe are faithful idolaters. ForChristians, this is especially problematic because transformationis so clearly written into the goodnews of the gospel.

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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 Scripture—and what is not visible to the eye often presents asignificant challenge to those unableto discern God’s presence and purpose when God seems silent. But as Danielle DuRant points out, 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.

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Bridging the Heart and MindRavi Zacharias with Danielle DuRant

As Christians we want to believe what we cognitivelyaffirm—that God is sovereign and good—and yet sometimeswe struggle to make sense of the emotions that we feelwhen 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 withDanielle DuRant to discuss their roles in one’s faith journey.To hear the full interview, go to www.rzim.org.

[2] JUST THINKING • RAVI ZACHARIAS INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES

JUST THINKING • VOLUME 20.1 [3]

Danielle DuRant: I’ve often heard you saythat what I believe in my heart must makesense in my mind. Lately we’ve heard frommany people wrestling with the reverse: that is,what I believe in my mind must make sense inmy heart. Do you see a shift here and whymight that be?

Ravi Zacharias: IT’S POSSIBLY A SHIFT.I think we went through a bit of that inthe 60s and 70s. A lot was triggered byexistentialist philosophers at that time;Sartre, Camus, and others were calling for 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 don’t knowabout the chronological sequence of it,but the logical connection obviouslyought to be there.

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DD: Well, I think, for instance, of the hugeemotional response to Rob Bell’s book LoveWins. As Christians we want to believe whatwe cognitively affirm—that God is sovereignand good—and 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 you’re dealing with hard issues?

RZ: I THINK ROB BELL’S book is a classic example of the reverse in logic. I don’t 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 don’t believe it is. I think it’s a very wrong way to dotheology. However, he’s tapped into anerve and that nerve is when he makes astatement like “millions of people believethis.” I’m not sure what that’s supposedto establish: that therefore it is right ortherefore it is worthy of our investigation.If the latter, yes, but I don’t think it makesit right because millions believe it in a certain way. We don’t 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.


When we talk of this thing called love,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 shallsuddenly be cut off, and that withoutremedy” (see Proverbs 29:1). That’s 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 groundand any remedy will never be total. So Ithink the touching of the nerve of emo-tions in Rob Bell’s 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.

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DD: So when you personally come up againstdifficult passages in Scripture such as Esau orhell and God’s judgment—perhaps you don’thave a visceral response anymore, but how doyou wrestle with certain emotions or helpsomeone else who is really wrestling with thosedifficult passages?

RZ: I THINK THAT’S WELL PUT. Even ifI don’t wrestle with it personally becauseI’m not surprised at it, as an apologist Ioften encounter somebody who’s gonethrough an immense struggle, tragedy,heartbreak, or disappointment. Then youhave to articulate a response, and youhave to be very careful. I’ll 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, “I’m a relatively newChristian and all this stuff is new to me.I don’t know often what to believe about

very critical things, so brother, you betterbe right in what you say because I’m listening to you.”

I thought, My word that responsibility is avery serious one! The speaker had better be 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 thecharacter 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 he’d orderedeight Israelis to be killed. So BrotherAndrew 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, “I’m not an executioner but part ofmy responsibility in life is to make sureGod’s justice is implemented.” SoBrother Andrew said, “What thenbecomes of forgiveness?” The clericresponded, “That’s only to those whodeserve it.”

What a fascinating theory on the natureof God! That is the way Islam will seeitself, as the executor of God’s 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 [

]JUST THINKING • VOLUME 20.1 [5]

answers, rather coherence and truth tempered with mercy, understanding, andcompassion.

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DD: John Calvin begins his Institutes 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 MET A GENTLEMAN some yearsago, a sculptor who was on his journey tofaith. He said his favorite piece of workwas 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 son’s storywhen he came to himself. Those fivewords to him—“then he came to him-self”—were 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.That’s 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 that’s God. I think only whenyou get a glimpse of God do you truly geta glimpse of yourself. Isaiah the prophet

said, “Woe unto me! I’m a man of uncleanlips living in the midst of unclean people”after he had cried, “Holy, holy, holy is theLORD Almighty.” So that true under-standing of self will come only with aglimpse 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.

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DD: You’ve often cited Daniel Goleman’s bookEmotional Intelligence. Goleman broughtto the mainstream the critical importance of“emotional intelligence,” which he defines as aset of skills such as self-awareness, empathy forothers, and self-control. Do you see a connectionbetween one’s emotional intelligence andgrowth and one’s spiritual growth?

RZ: GOLEMAN’S BOOK WAS fascinatingand ground-breaking. I seem to recall the only problem that I had with thatbook is how he put it altogether within a naturalistic framework, and that to mewas his struggle. But yes, emotions are an 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 women’s intellect isintimidating to men because the womanimmediately connects it with emotion,

When we talk of this thing called love, and specifically the love ofGod, God very clearly warned of moments of judgment and

justice. He said, “He who is often reproved and hardens himself shall suddenly be cut off, and that without remedy” (see Proverbs 29:1). That’sa 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. [


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 they’re in trouble or if they’ve gone the wrong way.This is true. I’ve 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 doesn’t do that. Youknow, that’s what makes a mother amother. She’ll sit down across a table and with the tears in her eyes tell youwhat is really wrong with what has goneon. The father may try to philosophizehis way through and the son or thedaughter is not quite sure and wonders, Is this as bad as my mom is making it out to be or is this very platonic, the way my father is making it out to be? So, I would say emotional intelligence is key to comple-menting intellectual coherence, and Ibelieve this is probably the thorn in thenaturalist’s side.

What do I mean by that? Why do we feelguilty? Why do we feel wrong is wrongeven when somebody else is trying to justify 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, butit is often times an indicator, just as thebody is. You put your hand on a flame, andit will burn to tell the brain what’s goingon, and the brain tells you to pull yourhand away. So it is, I think, with the soul.

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

self-control—I believe Peter Scazzero picks up on some of these components in his bookThe Emotionally Healthy Church. You could 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, AND AGAIN 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 aresaying No to certain things and at thesame time, as C.S. Lewis said, beingimpatient with your own foibles and failures but very patient with the otherperson’s. These, I think, are spiritualcomponents to these categories of self-awareness, compassion, and self-restraint.

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DD: Our colleague Stuart McAllister speaksof the hidden inhibitors that keep Christiansfrom experiencing deep transformation andyou’ve 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 of this disconnection and how does one begin toexperience deep transformation?

RZ: I THINK THE FOLLOWING chapterin Romans 8 really gives the help: it isthrough the Spirit-filled life and theempowerment of God. But let me back


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 notshow 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. Youwatch the apostle Paul who had been set 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 he’s not going to make it to thePromised Land because of his impatienceand struggle with faith and with God’spurpose and plan.

So I think there’s 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 powerfulas he was in challenging the prophets ofBaal, we then see him running fromJezebel and sitting under a tree saying,“That’s it! I’m not going to make it!” Youlook at Paul after all the preparation he’dbeen given and then having that conflictwith Mark, and in the end saying, “Bringhim to me; he’s going to be helpful tome.” And Moses, in eighty years of hislife—forty years in preparation, forty years

in the wilderness—and 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 upwards at 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. That’s the way I think theapostle Paul meant it in Romans 7. Thenin Romans 8 he talks about how theSpirit enables, empowers, and givesstrength. 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 you’re going to face; it’s youlooking at your challenges through theeyes of God whom you’ve 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. You’ll never be perfect, but Ithink you can have that sense of godlinessin your walk that will touch people’s lives,and they will see you not as a perfect person but as a great example to followwhen you have those imperfect moments.

—— s ——

DD: So perspective—seeing things throughGod’s eyes—and fellowship, relationships arekey. As we seek deep transformation, we needboth the Word of God and input from othersthat we can trust.

RZ: I THINK SO. The interesting thingabout Middle Eastern culture is commu-

Romans 8: 1-2

Therefore, there isnow no condemna-tion for those whoare in Christ Jesus,because throughChrist Jesus the lawof the Spirit whogives life has set youfree from the law ofsin and death.


nity is a very big thing. Very big thing. That’swhy you see it in the Bible. You know,whether you are talking of Cornelius andall of his house has come to the Lord following his example or whether it’sJoshua 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 Christiansspeak of the abundant life, which Jesus alludesto in John 10, as one of God’s 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 up for the airport recently in Stuttgart,Germany. It was a Sunday morning and apreacher on television was going to townon all that you can have—and 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 not necessarily mean the wealthy life. Theabundant life is what I would distinguish

as zoe from bios, the spiritual life versusthe biological life.

Abundant life, to go back to your earlierquestions on contentment and emotionalcomplementariness to the intellect, iswhere you’ve learned whatsoever stateyou are in therewith to be content.When eleven out of the twelve disciples die a martyr’s death and when Peter istold that while he was young he wentwhere he wanted, but when he was old somebody else was going to lead him, signifying the manner of death that hewas going to die—that was hardly a projection of the abundant life. It was aprojection 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 Christ’s birth, life,death, and resurrection. Paul came from theresurrection to the crucifixion, and that’swhy he says, “That I may know him, andthe power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being madeconformable 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 life of understanding what life is all about,

][Abundant life, to go back to your earlier questions on contentment andemotional complementariness to the intellect, is where you’ve learned

whatsoever state you are in therewith to be content. When eleven out ofthe twelve disciples die a martyr’s 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 die—that was hardly a projection of the abundant life.


DD: The German theologian Jürgen Moltmannwrites about the essential nature of hope, andhe observes that “without hope, faith falls topieces… hope nourishes and sustains faith.”You’ve had the privilege of traveling the globeand experiencing some amazing opportunities,and yet you’ve also encountered enormousheartache and suffering along the way. I’m justwondering how you’ve held on to hope over theyears 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). It’s 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 I’ve seen people deprived of so much or having to endure so much, I think of “Breathe on Me, Breath ofGod.” That song talks about “to do” and“to endure.” We’re always either doing orenduring. We are doing the will of God tohonor Him or enduring what’s come ourway, which we are not comfortable withor not happy with. When I see the greatsaints of life who have walked through a lot, I don’t 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 lessons in life he ever learned were through suffering and not through moments ofgreat pleasure alone.

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

when you’re speaking to the grieving,you’ll 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. I’m notsaying it’s one hundred percent of thetime, but as Thornton Wilder wrote,

Romans 10:11

As Scripture says,“Anyone who believesin him will never beput 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 success and failure.

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DD: As I listen to you, I’m 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 rethinksome of things that we assume that we know—like the idea of the abundant life, that we wantX, Y, and Z. And not just material things, ofcourse; we have existential longings. But thereis a real discipline of the mind that you havespoken of today that is important as well.

RZ: I THINK SO, 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 God’s thoughts after Him. I don’twant to be critical here but so much ofour theology today is based more on thesongs we sing than on the biblical text orthe books we read. And that’s why somuch of it reflects a kind of a jive or adance or the happiness of it all. That’s notto be denied, but I think it conveys theimpression that that’s all the Christianlife is. Music is powerful and ought toreflect good thinking. But I’m afraidmusic helps shape our thinking ratherthan our thinking shaping the lyrics ofour music. So I would say if we are goingto 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.

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“In Love’s 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 gonethrough much yourself. To know that you can go into the desert and come outtriumphant to full service—that is thepromise of God.

—— s ——

DD: I think it’s interesting that you definehope as a needed posture of the mind. When Ithink of hope, perhaps not in the biblical context, but my immediate response is it’s anemotion, an emotional response. But againyou’re going back to what we said earlier: the importance of perspective and the mindinforming our emotions.

RZ: IT’S THE SAME WITH the Sermonon the Mount. When you talk about loving those who hate you and persecuteyou, you never feel like that. But it’s 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 gurusdon’t understand. Deepak Chopra’s treat-ment of the Sermon on the Mount isbizarre; he doesn’t 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 needsto 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 I’d seen as the victim.” This was an interesting way for him tobegin. He always thought it was that youstart by looking at the other guy, but hesaid, “I’m 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,“It’s 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 verse

that 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 present down 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.

]


DD: It seems he’s been able to bridge the heartand mind as we’ve been speaking about today.Love is a decision of the will but it is an emotion as well, and hopefully we exhibit thefruit of the Spirit and we reach out in theSpirit’s way.

RZ: A LITTLE PERSONAL NOTE 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 feelingwas 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 simplestatement of fact, but you had a deep emotionalconnection with these words immediately upon hearing them as a troubled young adult.You were recently in India celebrating RZIM’stwenty-fifth anniversary there. Are youamazed that the simple message that capturedyour heart so many years ago still captivatesyour heart and mind and countless othersaround the world?

RZ: IT IS A CAPTIVATING MESSAGE; 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 professional people—doctors, business people, headsof conglomerate empires and so on—andthen the young people. There were anumber of young people—engineers,computer experts, students at high-techschools—coming for the meetings and upto the front to have a photograph taken.It’s quite moving. Whether we like it ornot, they are establishing their heroes in

life. It’s 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, the arrabon in the Greek (see e.g.,Ephesians 1:13-14), the inheritance thatwe have coming to us and the down payment of it right now.

—— s ——

DD: Of course, when you heard those wordsyou were in a very critical period in your life,weren’t you?

RZ: YES. I WAS HANGING between lifeand 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 He’s on your side. Lyingin the hospital bed, mulling over thosewords in my mind without full explanationbut to know that He meant something—I 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 I’m grateful too! •

Ephesians 1:13-14

And you also wereincluded in Christwhen you heard themessage of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When youbelieved, you weremarked in him witha seal, the promisedHoly Spirit, who is adeposit guaranteeingour inheritance untilthe redemption ofthose who are God’spossession—to thepraise of his glory.

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


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


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

Christian faith. He did not leave his faith over a whim or because of someintellectual crisis he couldn’t resolve with his dearly held beliefs. He leftbecause his work as a journalist led himinto Christian circles where he met someof the most influential Christian leaders and 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 group of 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-ers—to whom so many look for guidanceand example—what 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 seeminglysee so little of it in our lives, no matter conviction or creed?

A Transformational Encounterby Margaret Manning


we hold a mirror up to our own lives, we often see very spotty reflections of transformation. If we aren’t already discouraged 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, we lust, 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 lookat the speck that is in your brother’s 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 logof our own. Jesus is clear on this point:“You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will seeclearly to take out the speck that is inyour brother’s eye”(verse 42). Even in this stern warning, the hope of transfor-mation grows substantially when weremain diligently self-critical, rather than persisting in an “out there” focus.

AN ARTIST’S CRAFTDiligence may seem like drudgery andantithetical to hope. After all, consider anartist: one might imagine that creativityis an unbounded force, flowing freely andcontinually. An artist’s 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 for discipline, repetition, or structure in theartist’s world—or so we assume.

And yet, even an artist will tell youthat creativity is something that must bepracticed—exercised, 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 artist’s 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 we do not experience these things, or if wedon’t perpetually experience somethingnovel from the rhythm of worship,prayer, or study, then we believe thatsomething isn’t right. As a result, weoften chase after the wind of emotionalexperience or spiritual high, constantlyseeking the “next thing” that will move usor make us feel good. Ritual, discipline,commitment, and structure seem impediments to growth, rather than thesoil in which spiritual growth is nourishedand fed. We mistakenly believe that spiritual 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!


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 insightand 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 God’s great work of redemption in theBible. Transformation in biblical terms entailsGod’s 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 humanity’shumble condition: “For God knows whatwe 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. ThroughNoah’s 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 hisbrother’s birthright and his father’s bless-ing. He treated his wife Leah with greatcontempt and ended up taking a great dealof his family’s 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 newname, “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 and identity—and in his permanent limp.

Could it be that our own journeysof transformation reflect a similar experi-ence? For those who follow the God ofreconciliation, the hope of the livinggospel, God indeed changes our namesand gives us new identities in the hope of becoming all that God intends for us.But God undertakes this work in a waythat doesn’t erase our humanity. After all, 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 ofgrace. 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 ofman’s 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 not abandon us to ourselves but promises towalk alongside us. God gives continualgrace for transformation all for the hopeof God’s glory. •1See Genesis 32:22-32. 2 Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart: Putting on

the Character of Christ (NavPress: Colorado Springs,CO., 2002), 22.

3 Ibid., 23.

Genesis 32:29-30

Jacob said, “Pleasetell me your name.”But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then heblessed him there. SoJacob called the placePeniel, saying, “It isbecause I saw Godface to face, and yetmy life was spared.”

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


[ a h i g h

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


Why Truth Mattersby Os Guinness

At first sight, the biblical view of truth is obscene to modernminds. 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 the rise of philanthropy, of the reform movements, or the creation 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. It’s arrogant, it’s exclusive, it’s intol-erant, it’s divisive, it’s judgmental, and it’s 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.


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 scoffersand skeptics of our time.

FIRST, ONLY A HIGH VIEW OF TRUTH

HONORS THE GOD OF TRUTH. Toooften truth is left as a philosophical issue.Philosophical issues are important to usbut truth is first and foremost a matter of theology. Not only is our Lord the Godwho is actually, objectively, really, andtruly there—so that what we believe corresponds 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, ONLY A HIGH VIEW OF

TRUTH REFLECTS HOW WE COME TO

KNOW AND LOVE GOD. Jesus is the onlyway to God although there are as manyways 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 thatour 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, ONLY A HIGH VIEW OF TRUTH

EMPOWERS OUR BEST HUMAN ENTER-PRISES. Skeptics and relativists whoundermine the notion of truth are likethe fool who is cutting off the branch onwhich 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 losethe bonding element of trust that is binding at their heart. We then as followers of Christ are unashamed tostand before the world as servants andguardians of a high view of truth, bothfor our Lord’s sake but also for the highest endeavors of humanity.

FOURTH, ONLY A HIGH VIEW OF TRUTH

CAN UNDERGIRD OUR PROCLAMATION

AND DEFENSE OF THE FAITH. If ourLord is the God of truth, we gladly affirmthat all truth is God’s truth and we there-fore welcome all ideas and arguments and beliefs that pass the muster of God’sstandard 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 truth for entertainment, or truth for seeker-sensitivity, and above all those who put a


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 ofour 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, ONLY A HIGH VIEW OF TRUTH IS

SUFFICIENT FOR COMBATING EVIL AND

HYPOCRISY. Postmodern thinking makesus all aware of hypocrisy but gives us nostandard of truth to expose and correctit. And now with the global expansion ofmarkets throughcapitalism, theglobal expansion offreedom throughtechnology andtravel, and theglobal expansion of human dysfunc-tions through thebreakdown of thefamily, we are facing 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 whohate 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 the way,the truth, and the life.

Let us say with the great Germanreformer, as he said of truth in regard to

the evil one, “One little word will fellhim.” Let us demon-strate with our broth-er the great Russiannovelist and dissident,“One word of truth outweighs the entireworld.” If faith is nottrue, it would be falseeven 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 the God of truth. 2] Only a high view of truth reflects how we come to know and love God.3] Only a high view of truth empowers our 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.


[ Th

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Things Unseenby Danielle DuRant

“Things unseen” is a motif that runsthroughout Scripture—and what isnot visible to the eye often presentsa significant challenge to thoseunable to discern God’s presenceand purpose when God seems silent.

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

higher than usual, but I hadn’t 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 thethings 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 Scripture—and what is not visible to the eye oftenpresents a significant challenge to thoseunable to discern God’s 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 attempts to take matters into their own hands tofulfill God’s promise only to experiencemore heartache (see Genesis 16).

Then there are Jacob and Moses, whoflee their homes without seeing God’s


Luke 1:5-7

In the time of Herodking of Judea therewas a priest namedZechariah, whobelonged to the priestly division ofAbijah; his wifeElizabeth was also adescendant of Aaron.Both of them wererighteous in the sightof God, observing allthe Lord’s 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 storyfor 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 are“righteous in the sight of God, observingall the Lord’s commands and decreesblamelessly,”1 barrenness in their culturesymbolized shame, scorn, and God’s sup-posed disapproval. They live with theheartache of being both childless andgreatly misunderstood. Not surprisingly,when an angel finally tells aging Zechariahthat Elizabeth would bear a son whowould be the forerunner to the Messiah,he doesn’t 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 misimpressionthat we see what we see, that seeing isbelieving, that either I see it or I don’t.”2

Yet it is in such places, Scripture tells us, that God “longs to be gracious” andpromises that all “who hope in him will not 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 king’s anger; he perseveredbecause 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 God’s hand, He


is at work on our behalf. For instance,theprophet Daniel mourns and fasts for threeweeks earnestly seeking God’s wisdom.Twenty-four days later, he is visited by aheavenly being who announces, “Sincethe 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 touch and 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 numerousoccasions and been asked about it myself—as I was just the other day. And it neverfails: every time the story is recounted, I get goose bumps. As Ravi writes in hisautobiography Walking 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 on the margins and for the “happy pagan”who expressed little interest in (so itappeared) 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 God’s 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 wouldrespond to the needs of inviting bodiessuch as universities with little to offerbeyond the great privilege of answeringstudent’s genuine questions. One day,after Ravi’s last lecture at a conferencewhere he was speaking, he decided to ask 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 didn’t 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 youneed. I asked him if there was anything I could do to help in the decision you’remaking. Now, I don’t 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 and sharing more about his vision; Mr. Davis,in time, would become a father figure andmentor in Ravi’s life.)

For a season, a couple journeyedthrough things unseen—and 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 doesn’t meanthat He is not. As scholar Timothy PaulJones observes, “When [God] doesn’tseem to respond to our prayers, it maynot be because He’s chosen not to speak;it may be that His answer is already onthe way.”7•Danielle DuRant is director of researchand writing at RZIM.

1 Luke 1:6.2 Esther 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, 27.5 A. 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 you compassion. For theLORD is a God ofjustice. Blessed are allwho wait for him!


The Bible places supreme value in the thought life.

Think Again

TH E S E V E N T E E N T H- C E N T U RY French philosopher ReneDescartes is best known for his dictum, “I think, therefore, I am.” A cynic may well quip that Descartes actually put des cartbefore des horse because all he could have legitimately deducedwas, “I think, therefore, thinking exists.” I do not intend todefend 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 contemplative

life—a life that thinks, thinks things through, and more particularly, thinks God’sthoughts after Him. One might surmise that thinking is a dying art.

However, the Bible places supreme value in the thought life. “As a man thinkethin his heart, so is he,” Solomon wrote. Jesus asserted that sin’s gravity lay in the ideaitself, not just the act. Paul admonished the church at Philippi to have the mind ofChrist, and to the same people he wrote, “Whatever is true ... pure … if there be anyvirtue … think on these things.” Thus, the follower of Christ must demonstrate tothe world what it is not just to think, but to think justly.

The sentences above are words I penned twenty years ago—in our very firstissue of Just Thinking. This magazine exists to engender thoughtful engagement with apologetics, Scripture, and the whole of life. Though the world seems to changesbefore our eyes, there are some themes that are ever timely, and it is our hope thatthe articles in Just Thinking will consistently challenge your mind and stir your heart.

We hope you enjoy the magazine’s new format and more regular availability;beginning with this issue, Just Thinking will be released four times a year. In themeantime, keep thinking.

Warm Regards,

Ravi

For more information or to make a contribution, please contact:

Ravi Zacharias International Ministries4725 Peachtree Corners CircleSuite 250Norcross, Georgia 30092770.449.6766

RZIM is a member of the Evangelical Council forFinancial Accountability and the Canadian Council of Christian Charities.

WWW.RZIM.ORG

HELPING THE THINKER BELIEVE. HELP I NG THE B EL I EVER TH I NK .

JUST THINKING • The Quarterly Magazine ofRAVI ZACHARIAS INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES

© 2011 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

4725 Peachtree Corners CircleSuite 250Norcross, 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 aretransient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”—2 Corinthians 4:17-18

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