For life-long atheist Jennifer Fulwiler, the pivotal moment came when she held her first child for the first time.
“I looked down and thought ‘what is this baby’?” she recalled in a YouTube video. “From a pure atheist, materialist perspective, he is a collection of randomly evolved chemical reactions.
“I realized if that’s true, then all the love I feel for him is nothing more than chemical reactions in my brain. I looked down at him and I realized, ‘that’s not true’. It’s not the truth.”
Jennifer went on to research the world’s major faiths, but considered Christianity not worth the bother. Then her husband suggested she investigate Christianity because one of its most significant claims — that Jesus of Nazareth is God in the flesh — would be easy to disprove if it wasn’t true.
So she did. Jennifer discovered a world of deeply intellectual thinkers (like Thomas Aquinas and Augustine of Hippo) who were also serious Jesus followers.
Men like them made such a compelling, reason-based case for the life, death and resurrection of Christ that, in Jennifer’s words, “I started to think something world-changing happened in first-century Palestine.”
Jennifer realized that atheists “don’t have the lock on reason that I thought. Christians had all the knowledge of science, but they have the total picture of the human experience — love and triumph and hope. Christians could articulate that in a way that atheists couldn’t.”
The result of all this is Jennifer went from denying there is a creator, to becoming a serious follower of the man who many people believe is the Son of God.
Why do all this? Let me make it clear that following Jesus can be hard, especially when most of the world (sometimes including your family and friends) doesn’t follow Him and you can be mocked or even disowned for your beliefs.
As far as I’m concerned, the upside more than compensates. When I decided to follow Jesus, little things immediately changed (I stopped cursing and swearing) and bigger things followed (my wife and I have a firm commitment to donate regularly to charities and to our church).
In other words, like me, you’ll get a new perspective on life. The holy grails of our culture — gaining power and prestige, buying a bigger house, going on expensive cruises, having the latest iPhone — will start to look shallow and pointless.
You’ll start living for the approval of your creator, who the Bible says “loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in his Son would not be lost, but have eternal life.”
And as you start living for God and start attending a church regularly, you’ll be surrounded by others who are also in the midst of being transformed by following Jesus.
Finally, when this life is over, you’ll have real and solid hope that you won’t become nothing more than rancid worm food. You’ll become a citizen of Heaven.
Interested? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.
Frank's Cottage 
Thanks for the post. I used to be a firm believer as well, until I became disillusioned with the church and started educating myself with the history of Christianity and consider other views. I was first simply an anti-church kind of person.
But then I also started doubting the validity and truthfulness of the Christian faith. Why does God need to sacrifice “his son” in order to forgive “sin”? And why do we have to believe a certain set of doctrines in order to be “saved”? Where is the grace in all of this?
I also saw how the traditional Jewish ritual of using an animal’s blood to clean their sins was replaced by the “blood of Jesus ” to forgive all of us, based on the story of being crucified by the Romans (and framed by the Sanhedrin) for challenging the status quo, which was common during those times.
So they turned a horrific image of torment and punishment, into a symbol of divine sacrifice. Did Jesus teach this or was it Paul? Too many unanswered questions, but we are told to simply believe and trust the church before Jesus returns and punish all the non believers with fire and torment. Does not sound like divine love to me. Thanks for reading.
Thanks for your thoughts, Noel. Let me respond as best as I can.
1. It’s easy to become disillusioned with the church. After all, it’s a hospital for sick people (rather than a museum of perfection). That said, I’m not giving up on it.
I agree with Bill Hybels, who stated “the local church is the hope of the world”. Many, many churches are doing very good work as representatives of Christ in a sick and broken world.
2. Keep this in mind, Noel. God HATES sin. That’s right, HATES it. But He still wants as many people as possible to spend eternity with Him in Heaven. So how to accomplish that, when we can never account for or make up for all the wrong things we’ve done and the right things we’ve failed to do? The answer is Jesus and the gift of His sacrifice on the cross.
Read the accounts of the last supper in the four gospels and you’ll note that it’s Jesus who describes his crucifixion as a divine sacrifice. Accept the gift of that sacrifice and God no longer sees your sins, Noel. He sees His Son’s perfection.
3. It’s not about trusting the church. It’s about trusting Jesus.
Okay , but if the church is ” the hope of the world” , why do you also say it is not about trusting the church ? Did you know the church has evolved to many forms and denominations (evangelical versus charity)? Which one is correct? Which interpretation of God is the right one (righteous vs graceful )?
The church is the vehicle God uses. It’s not the end in itself. I know the church has evolved in many, many forms. I prefer churches that adhere to the Bible.
Which interpretation of God is right? Both. How do they mix together? In ways I don’t fully understand. And I’m fine with that. 🙂
I can appreciate the fact that we are limited beings and cannot fully comprehend an unlimited God. And because I don’t understand and know this supreme being, I have to acknowledge I should not pretend or assume I know all there is to know about him; and I am also fine with that.
Glad we’re on the same page, Noel. I would never pretend I know all there is to know about Him.
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I am touched by your point of view. The same think happened with me. I started following spirituality after giving birth to a baby and the life, the world seems to have changed for good.