I woke up this morning thinking about what sort of post I would write if this were my parting shot – if my life on this earth were to end today, through death or rapture.
 
And immediately this question popped into my head: why won’t you listen? Directed, of course, to those of the “don’t talk to me about Jesus” persuasion. Those who assume that, if there’s an afterlife, they’re good enough to be welcomed in the best places. Those who feel someone walking over their graves whenever a genuine Christian enters the conversation. Or the room.
 
A good question for me, since I spent 30 years of my adult life in that camp. Why did I automatically turn off and turn away from any follower of Jesus Christ?
 
Here are a baker's dozen of reasons for rejecting the Savior and His ambassadors, along with brief counterarguments from biblical Christianity. They’re presented in no particular order; they re-arranged themselves day by day depending on what evidence I was ignoring.
 
Are they perhaps among your arguments against Jesus?

1. Christians are boring. And I just want to have fun.  

This was one of my biggest surprises once I’d embraced Christianity. I had merely been seeking the truth about the afterlife, figuring I would probably be giving up my good times if the Bible turned out to be true.
 
Boy, was I wrong. I didn’t know what “fun” was until I became a child of God. In fact, since repenting and trusting in Christ in 2000, I have laughed longer and harder and more regularly than ever; Christians can be a scream!
 
But that’s just the beginning. For instance, I am daily lost in the beauty of God’s creation and His word, the Bible. I have been absolutely blown away by what I’ve learned in lectures exploring real science and what it reveals about the Creator. And I have been deeply comforted through life’s greatest sorrows, traumas and fears, with God Himself restoring me to His joy in practically no time at all.
 
In short, thanks to Jesus, I’ve lost nothing, and gained everything.

2. Science has disproved the Bible.  

This objection turned out to be laughable; just the opposite is true. In reality, the Bible reveals in passing many facts about our universe that have only been “discovered” by secular science in recent years. Just two examples: the sun having its own orbit and the ocean floors having mountains and valleys. And don’t get me started on the fact that the Bible said the earth is round about 200 years before Greek mathematician Pythagoras stumbled across the idea.
 
For details, read Heaven Without Her, or virtually any of the books recommended here. Or visit Answers in Genesis or the Institute for Creation Research. If you approach any of these resources with an open mind, you will be astounded, and you may be forever changed.

3. You can’t possibly know the future.  

You’re right, I can’t. But as the Creator of the world and of time itself, God knows perfectly well what will happen.  And He has told us everything we need to know about it via His word.
 
In fact, one-third of the Bible is predictive prophecy. Most of it has already been fulfilled with 100% accuracy. And the rest concerns our world’s last days; we’re now seeing it all unfold with stunning speed and precision.

4. Biblical prophecy is nothing more than a lucky guess.  

Consider this: There are more than 450 Old Testament prophecies of the coming Messiah. As the Dead Sea scrolls confirmed, all were written long before Jesus’ birth. Yet Jesus fulfilled every last one of these prophecies to the letter.
 
The late Peter Stoner, Professor Emeritus of Science at Westmont College, calculated the chances of one person fulfilling just 48 of these prophecies at 10 to the 157th power. This is a number beyond our comprehension; some scientists have calculated the number of electrons, protons and neutrons in the entire universe at 10 to the 79th power. 
 
No lucky guesses here, folks.

5. Biblical prophecy is matched by people like Nostradamus and Jeane Dixon.
 
Not by any stretch of the imagination. You can look it up.
 
The fuzzy wuzzy predictions of 16th century mystic Nostradamus took the form of vague and unsettling quatrains that today’s readers tear apart and reassemble in vain attempts to make them look authentically prophetic.
 
And Jeane Dixon? Turns out she got an awful lot wrong, including warning that World War III would begin in 1958. She and her fellow mid-20th-century psychics didn’t even get half of their predictions right, according to those who track such things; coin flips and Magic 8-Balls may well be more accurate.

6. I’m a good person; I’ll be welcomed in any heaven.  

Are you really? How well have you kept the Ten Commandments? Have you ever lied? Stolen? Lusted or been unjustly angry with another human being (Jesus’ definitions of committing adultery and murder in the heart)? Have you ever coveted something belonging to someone else?
 
Or, if you reject the Ten Commandments, then consider this: How much time have you spent in the last month justifying your behavior towards another human being? Saying, for instance, that he deserved your wrath because of the awful things he did, or that she needed to hear the rumors even if they were painful to her? Hint: If your God-given conscience is clear, you don’t ever need to justify yourself. If it’s not, then you are not a good person; you are just like the rest of us.  

7. There is no life after death.  

How do you know that? “I feel it in my gut” is not proof. Neither is “someone I admire told me” or “I read it in a book” or “Richard Dawkins says so and he’s really smart.”
 
You’re taking a big risk if you’re counting on sources like these.

8. Christianity is way too judgmental.  

What you mean is that Christianity teaches against the guilty pleasures that you and your friends enjoy, right? Or, as I put it in my atheist days, “the God of the Bible just wants to ruin our good times.”
 
Huge subject, well worth exploring in great depth. For the moment, let me just say this: It turns out that every biblical command was issued for your own good, and obeying them is the only way to achieve peace, contentment and joy in this life.
 
I know, it surprised me, too.

9. The Bible was written by men – ancient, ignorant men.  

This is true, at least the “men” and “ancient” part of it. There were around 40 of them writing over about 1500 years, and they were each inspired by the Holy Spirit.
 
How can we be sure of that? Because they each revealed things that they could not possibly have known – the aforementioned scientific and prophetic facts, for example. They could only have known these things if they were inspired by someone outside of time. By God Himself.

10. I prefer _____________ (the New Age, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, whatever).
 
So what? Are you interested in truth or fashion? (And, I should add, just try to find proof of any system of belief other than Christianity. It doesn't exist.)

11. Christianity oppresses women.  

Another laughable charge.  The Bible is set among ancient cultures that were practically misogynistic by today’s standards. Examine how women are treated in its pages. And observe Jesus’ behavior towards women. There's nothing oppressive about it. 
 
Yes, God established sex-based roles and rules for the family and the church. And He instructed women to be submissive to their husbands. But at the same time, He commanded men to honor their wives. Seems like a good deal to me. 
 
Besides, it’s His creation. He had a right to set things up however He wanted to.

12. With all the suffering and evil in the world, this God of yours is either powerless or evil Himself. More likely, He doesn't exist at all. 

The Bible gives us many reasons that the Lord allows great tribulation in our lives. He can use it to guide or discipline us. He can use it to accomplish His purposes or display His power. He can use it to impact our loved ones. And He can use it to get our attention, especially if we are unbelievers.  
 
If you are suffering today – physically, emotionally, financially, or spiritually – perhaps God is trying to get your attention. Rest assured that He knows about it, controls it, and is at work in your life. Please understand that this may be the only way He’ll ever be able to get your attention, and therefore to save you for all eternity – putting you irrevocably on the path to heaven, as promised in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Will it work? That’s up to you. I pray it will!

13. My loving god would not send anyone to hell.  

You’re right, he or she would not. That’s because he or she does not exist. Am I wrong? Where’s your proof?
 
The God of the Bible is love. He doesn’t send people to hell. Instead, He made a way for every human being to spend eternity with Him in heaven – a way that requires us to simply repent of what He says is sin, and trust in Jesus Christ to have paid our entire sin debt on the cross. Do that sincerely, and you’ll be clothed in the perfect righteousness of Christ for all eternity.
 
Is that too much to ask of you? Then you’ll have to stand in front of Him in judgment one day, and explain why you’re perfect enough to be allowed into His perfect heaven. You won’t be able to. And then there will be only one possible destination for you for all eternity.
 
That’s not even the
tip of the iceberg
 
Entire books can be and have been written on each of these subjects. Why, I could probably write entire books on them myself, off the top of my head, so obvious is truth once you start seeking it.
 
Do these points cover your key arguments against Christianity? Or do you have some that are uniquely your own? If so, I guarantee that committed Christians everywhere would love to hear them. Please feel free to insert them in the comments section below.
 
In the meantime, just consider this: There is not an argument against Christianity that cannot be easily addressed and overcome. I undoubtedly suspected this as an atheist, which is probably why I worked so hard to avoid anything even remotely related to Jesus.  
 
I have many regrets in this life, but the biggest is that I didn’t seek truth when I was young.
 
The good news is that, as long as you’re still breathing, it’s not too late. But don’t miss that final deadline. As Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). Don't wait another day. 

"The summer before my ninth birthday – the summer of Nikita Khrushchev and the Berlin Wall and all the circumstances that would turn [doomsday neighbor] Mrs. G. into a terrifying false prophet – my parents traveled to Europe for the summer with my sister Andy, then 17. Since I was too young to appreciate such a trip, they took me to Madison, about 150 miles southwest of Green Bay, to spend the weeks with their dear friends Arlene and George.
​
"In most ways, it was a heavenly place to await their return. Arlene and George were among my favorite people in the whole world, kind and loving and happy just like my own parents, and they never failed to lavish some of their love on any children in their vicinity. They lived in a tree-lined neighborhood very much like our own, full of charming older homes and kids and family dogs, in a neat white two-story house.

"They had one daughter who was still at home – a girl who was probably an exotic 13 or 14 at the time, and who was much nicer to me than I would have been to a summer-long intruder. And Arlene, no doubt anticipating how homesick I would be, gave me a gift every Friday to help me celebrate making it one week closer to Mom and Dad’s return. I’ve forgotten what almost all of those gifts were, except for an Etch-a-Sketch – a drawing toy so new that I’d never even seen one before, so enchanting that I spent the rainy days of summer learning how to draw with it.

"Arlene even found a playmate for me. Her name was Maureen. She was my age and lived up the hill from Arlene’s house. Her house was exotic, too: it had no upstairs, and her backyard was all wooded, and there were these beautiful flowers in front, in a bed framed by split-rail fencing; I remember in particular stunning orange blossoms with freckles, which my new friend called tiger lilies.

"Maureen and I spent lots of long summer days together, exploring the neighborhood and the woods beyond, playing games like Sorry and Old Maid, piecing together jigsaw puzzles, packing lunches and taking off on our bikes – the daughter let me use hers! – to destinations unknown. You could do that in those days; adults didn’t worry if the children in their charge disappeared for six or eight hours, as long as they were home in time for supper.

"Thanks to this wonderful, warm cast of characters, it was one of the best summers of my childhood. Except that I wasn’t at home with my parents, and I ached for them. And so it was also the only unhappy summer of my childhood. Good and bad, rolled into one.
​
"In the end, though, the good outweighed the bad, because I knew the bad would come to an end. I had no doubt that my parents would come get me eventually and take me home, and in fact when I thought about that, when I pictured them pulling up in front of Arlene’s house, I could barely contain my joy.

"It’s kind of the way I feel now that I’m a heaven-bound Christian whose parents and Granny have gone on ahead.

"Others, even some other Christians, seem to think I’m crazy and quite possibly suicidal. But I am neither. They simply don’t understand, maybe because they never had a summer-of-1961 experience like mine.

"Which is too bad, because it’s a totally thrilling way to live.

"On the one hand, I am surrounded by people I love – a fine husband and extended family, an array of good friends, a church family whose loving-kindness is astounding. I live in a nice house with a big garden and all the pets anyone could ever want. I enjoy my work most of the time – especially since my commute is about 10 steps from the kitchen and it can be traversed in warm slippers or bare feet, depending on the season. And I spend much of my free time studying mind-blowing books about all things related to the Lord, most importantly the Bible.

"What more could I want?

"I honestly can’t think of a thing – not even my friends’ lake-side cottages or fat retirement accounts or exotic vacations could add anything to my joy. Not even another Super Bowl season for the Packers.

"Life is good.

"And yet.

"My mom and dad and Granny aren’t here. They’ve already departed for our new Home, leaving me behind, unable to get to them under my own power.  And so I am at times consumed with a new kind of homesickness – a longing to be with them in the Lord’s kingdom, a land where there are no tears, no aches and pains, no disease or death, hunger or thirst, just Jesus and joy that we can’t even imagine in our earth-bound 3D hides.

"And so I ache once again. And once again it’s mostly a good ache, one that’s accompanied by butterflies and by capital-H biblical Hope – not merely a wish but a confident expectation about what is to come.

"Life is indeed good. But it’s going to get a whole lot better one day. And it’s all going to happen in the twinkling of an eye."

​From Heaven Without Her, pages 249-25

Take it from world-renowned evolutionary atheist Richard Dawkins: “One thing all real scientists agree upon is the fact of evolution itself,” he wrote in the November 2005 issue of Natural History. “It is a fact that we are cousins of gorillas, kangaroos, starfish, and bacteria. Evolution is as much a fact as the heat of the sun.”

Well, then, it’s settled. All real scientists agree, after all. It must be so.

Just one problem, Professor Dawkins: It turns out there are literally thousands of real scientists who have publicly proclaimed their doubts about Darwinian evolution. And no doubt there are many thousands more who keep their doubts under their hats – for good reason, it turns out.

That reason is revealed in horrifying detail in Dr. Jerry Bergman’s eye-opening book, Slaughter of the Dissidents: The Shocking Truth about Killing the Careers of Darwin Doubters. In it, Dr. Bergman describes the discrimination experienced by more than a dozen Darwin-doubting scientists, primarily in academia. And we’re not talking insults at the water cooler. These men and women have been denied tenure and awards, forced out, fired, blackballed, even subjected to death threats – not because of what they did or said, but because of what they believe.

Dr. Bergman experienced this sort of Orwellian discrimination himself in the late 1970s; he had become disillusioned with Darwinism, and lost his job at Bowling Green State University for saying so. Professor Dawkins would no doubt try to slap the “not a real scientist” label on him. But it wouldn’t stick, because Dr. Bergman:

• Has nine college degrees – two of them Ph.D.s – from the Medical College of Ohio, Wayne State University, The University of Toledo, and Bowling Green State University.
• Has taught college-level biology, genetics, chemistry, biochemistry, anthropology, geology, and microbiology for more than three decades.
• Has more than 1000 publications appearing in 12 languages, including over 50 books and monographs, and has contributed to dozens of textbooks.
• Has presented scores of scientific papers in the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

In fact, the “not a real scientist” label doesn’t fit any of the Darwin doubters whose cases are presented in Slaughter of the Dissidents.

Some of these scientists have already gained recognition through the amazing documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. Dr. Bergman picks up where Ben Stein left off, delving more deeply into the cases of Caroline Crocker and Guillermo Gonzalez. He also introduces his readers to many other highly qualified scientists who saw their careers derailed when their doubts about Darwinism came to the attention of their superiors.

So aside from their personal sacrifices, what’s the harm?

Dr. Bergman points out that so far, the majority of Americans side with the Darwin doubters. Surveys indicate that at least 44% believe God created the earth and all the basic kinds of life, another 38% fall somewhere along the continuum between creationism and theistic evolution, and only 9% are pure evolutionists.

But as the product of public education myself – including a journalism curriculum teaching, as far back as the ‘70s, that what we can’t see is a figment of our imaginations – I worry about my own exhaustively educated generation, and those of the future. Now that atheistic Darwinism is the only subject that can be safely taught in our schools and universities … now that even a whiff of sympathy for Intelligent Design is punishable by immediate dismissal … and now that the God of the Bible has been booted clear out of public life … what will become of our biblically ignorant citizenry not only in this life, but far more importantly, in the life to come?

Dr. Bergman provides suggestions for supporting the fight to restore academic freedom in this country, but it seems like an uphill battle. The politically correct evolutionary worldview is championed by groups like the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State; such groups are always standing by, ready to snuff out any suggestion of a Designer with lawsuits that few schools can afford to fight.

Darwinism has long been part of the mainstream news media’s dogma, too, as consumers of mainstream media can attest – and as Dr. Bergman demonstrates again and again.

Take, for instance, the case of Rod LeVake, a Minnesota biology teacher who was removed from his high school biology class because he dared to criticize Darwinism. Incredibly, at least one national news magazine felt compelled to weigh in on his case. “Time portrayed creation-believing scientists as an almost non-existent minority,” Dr. Bergman reports, “claiming ‘reputable scientists who agree with LeVake can be counted on one hand’ … Time went so far as to portray Mr. LeVake (in a full-page article) as a hillbilly.”

No wonder we creationists and Intelligent Design advocates are so often mocked by the highly educated, who greet any suggestion of an alternative to Darwinism with some version of: “Real scientists believe in evolution!”

Now, thanks to Dr. Bergman’s efforts, we can at last explain why that may seem to be the case: Darwinism appears to be the prevailing worldview because it is the only one that is allowed in our classrooms, on our campuses, on the pages of our mainstream newspapers and the lips of mainstream broadcast reporters.

I finished Slaughter of the Dissidents more convinced than ever that it’s time for those of us who care about academic freedom – and about proclaiming the truth of the Bible – to fight this unconscionable censorship. Read this outstanding book, and you’ll no doubt agree.

Just saw another one of those videos featuring photos from the ‘50s and a nostalgic song, and realized anew that there were two things that made my early childhood magical:

• Being loved unconditionally, and
• Being utterly and happily dependent upon my parents for everything

 
Of course, as we begin to grow up and strive for independence, that all changes. We start looking elsewhere for people to depend on, and for people to love us. Some of us turn our backs completely on the wonders of our childhoods, inexplicably rejecting even the idea of unconditional love and the joy of being able to depend on others.
 
But over the last two decades, I’ve learned that we can restore both states, as well as the lovely feelings that accompany them. In fact, they can be better than ever if we make a point of seeking the infallible and eternal.
 
How? Through a relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son of God and God the Son – a relationship achieved by repenting of what He has said is sin, by trusting in Him to have paid our sin debt in full on the cross, and thereby being born again to become His child forevermore.
 
When we do this, we can rely completely on Him in this life, through good times and bad. After all, He is omniscient, omnipotent, and all merciful, and is in sovereign control of what happens to us every moment in our lives. Our circumstances may not always seem desirable to us at the moment, but Romans 8:28 tells us that He makes all things work together to the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. So we can count on Him to make everything turn out perfectly.
 
What’s more, the Bible tells us that God is love. He loves us not because of anything lovable in us, but because it is His very nature. His love is, in Greek, agape. It is sacrificial, permanent, unconditional. This, then, is love we’ve never before known; as wonderful as it may have been, our parents’ love for us was only a hint of what is available from Love Himself.  
 
Unconditional love and complete dependence upon our Creator: that’s what God’s children can look forward to experiencing endlessly in heaven. In the meantime, we can enjoy this wonderful state even now, in this fallen world amidst endless distractions. All it takes is remembering a magical childhood, and resting in the knowledge that it was only a shadow of the real thing – that the best is, indeed, yet to come. 

"His coffin was packed."

My first thought, when I saw this subject line on an email, was of ancient pagans who wanted their coffins, and their crypts, packed full of things to take along into the afterlife. 

But then I read this wonderful quote from All In: You are one decision away from a totally different life, by Mark Batterson. And I realized that this had nothing to do with occult visions of an imaginary afterlife; the author simply meant that the man who was his subject was ready at any time to leave for the Christian's ultimate destination. 

"A. W. Milne . . . set sail  for the New Hebrides in the South Pacific, knowing full well that the headhunters who lived there had martyred every missionary before him.  Milne did not fear for his life, because he had already died to himself.  His coffin was  packed. For thirty-five years, he lived among that tribe and loved them. When he died, tribe members buried him in the middle of their village and inscribed this epitaph on his tombstone: 
 
When he came there was no light.
 
When he left there was no darkness." 

May that be the legacy of every born-again Christian!