A + B = C 

It’s basic and common algebra… it’s cut and dry whether the equation “adds up” or not.  There are not a lot of variations or grey areas that exist… A + B either equals C or it doesn’t.  The equation is either true or it’s not.  No faith is needed… no one can really argue with you… it doesn’t take long to reach a decision… problem solved…end of story.

I’m about as simple as a person can be.  Show me the proof… let me see the facts… and I’ll rationally…and critically look at the “equation” and reach a decision.  I don’t really want to hear someone’s opinions or theories… I want to see, touch, smell, and hear what’s happening myself…I want concrete facts… and then the logical answer will follow.

I wish all areas of my life were this way… some things are not so easily boxed in… the answer isn’t always crystal clear… sometimes blurry at best.

Questions…questions…questions… I often ask myself… and I am now often asked as a pastor…

Was Jesus just a man or was He also God?  Did He ever exist? Is the Bible true? Did the miracles in the Bible actually take place? How do my college physics and biology classes work with religion?  Is there a god? 

If you’re anything like me… you’re searching for the A + B = C… until then… it all seems quite irrational…  It’s a pretty big leap to go from sitting in a A + B = C world… to reading an old book… a Bible… and believing a GOD (think about the word…or concept of a “god” for a few minutes)… that has created all that we see, hear, and breath… and there’s this one book… that supposedly holds the truth… it tells of a man…that’s also God… named Jesus…

How can it be true?  Show me the proof I simply ask.

I’m truly the last person who ever thought they’d be a Christian…let alone a pastor.  I grew up in a wonderful Christian home but hated every single aspect of church, God, and religion… it didn’t make any sense and it didn’t seem to make a bit of difference in the lives of those who claimed its truth either.

I didn’t go on a search for truth.  I wasn’t trying to feel anything.  I wasn’t trying to impress anyone.  There was nothing to gain.  I didn’t go searching for god…actually the opposite would have been true.  I didn’t…

In the gospel of John…chapter 9… there’s this crazy story.  Jesus comes across this man who was blind since birth… his neighbors…his parents…and the man himself… knew it to be true… he was in fact blind and he always had been.  Then Jesus does the strangest thing… he spits on the ground, makes some mud, places it on the man’s eyes, and tell him to go wash… immediately this man was able to see.

Then some people and the Pharisees came and interrogate the once blinded man… “What happened?” “Where did the guy go who did this to you?”… The man’s not able to tell them much except the bare facts… “Yup, I was blind.”  “This Jesus guy put mud on my face and when I washed I could see.”  “I don’t know much else.”

Not liking his answers, the people interrogate the man’s parents.  They give the facts again… “He’s our son.”  “He was blind.” 

Still unsatisfied…the people go to the once blinded man a 2^nd time…  They ask more questions and he responds… once again with the simple facts… the simple truth… (John 9:25)"I don't know….. One thing I do know. I was blind….but now I see!"

“There's no A + B = C? You don’t know anything more about this guy?  How did this happen? How can you see?"

I sit here today… 25 years old… I’ve been a Christian since 1999… and I’m completely unable to say any more than this… the bare facts…all I know to be true… I wanted nothing to do with church, god, or religion… and now I'm a follower of Christ... and a pastor… as a result…I’m doing all that I can for my entire life to completely revolve around this truth that I am unable to explain…“I was blind but now I see.”  That’s my proof… that’s my equation… that’s my logical answer… Irrational at best huh?  Foolish?  I know…It’s the end of story for me.  I don't have it all figured out... I don't know all the details... I just know what happened to me.

Lord. At times I wish I had more proof… for others… for myself.  There are so many questions that I have that are still unanswered...  What about this... What about that... Often times, I'm so confused...  Other times, I don't sense your presence at all...  Are you real... Is all of this true?  Lord, help me to look in the mirror... remind me of the kid I once was... remind me of my old self and how I have changed... Lord, I know without a doubt that I didn't change myself...