Preface

Living a Christian Life

A book of self-help for the Christian who wants to live his life in harmony with Scripture. It is written largely from personal experience and observations, with reflections on the timeless challenges of living a Christian life in the secular world we all inhabit. This book has short chapters, is about 200 pages in length, and will suggest how a modern Christian can live in conformity with Scripture.

The author is a layman. He has written it for lay people, and offers it on the premise that Christians need to build on their faith every day. We need not only to read scripture, but also to apply it. We grow in our faith and convictions by putting scriptural principles to work in our lives. Baptism, the conversion experience, being born again, these are all important, life-saving transitions. But once the decision is made, we have to nurture and develop our faith. As Paul told us in his first letter to the Corinthians, “run in such a way as to get the prize.” [1 Corinthians 9:24][1] Once we have accepted Christ into our lives, we have entered the race. It is an exhilarating, demanding, euphoric race, one we train for all our lives.

I have included many questions that Christians face every day. How does one deal with surly teenagers? Why do bad things happen to good people? Sex and the Christian life. Who is this Holy Ghost? Is honesty the best policy? Can rich people be saved? Are we  predestined to our fate or do we have free will?

I have attempted to answer these questions by applying Scripture and scriptural principles. I don’t pretend to answer them all with any degree of finality. Some questions are simply unanswerable. When our reason fails us, we have to accept the way things are on faith.

This is not a scholarly book, although the author has taught and written history all his life at the university level. I have deliberately left out the normal trappings of academic paraphernalia, although I have occasionally lapsed and inserted a footnote to clarify further a point or to reveal sources that the reader might wish to pursue further study with.

Who are the intended readers of this book? That, of course, is the key question all editors ask of all writers. My target audience is described in the first sentence to this introduction: Christians at all levels of development, from mere infants to the mature, who wish to live in closer harmony to the truth revealed in scripture. It may be read profitably, however, by everyone across the spectrum from “professional” skeptics and cynics to theologians, evangelists, and pastors of all stripes and persuasions. This is not a denominational book, one that subscribes to one form or another of Christian practice and worship. I have worked to bring my life into conformity with Scripture–not always successfully, but thankful for the endless forgiveness of God. I hope my journey with my Lord may help others along the same path.

[1] All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version (North American Edition), copyright   1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.