[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Farticles\u002Fthe-audacity-to-believe":3,"\u002Farticles\u002Fthe-audacity-to-believe-surround":87},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"bibleBooks":8,"body":14,"columnName":70,"date":71,"description":20,"extension":72,"image":73,"meta":74,"minRead":75,"navigation":76,"path":77,"postType":78,"publication":79,"publicationUrl":73,"seo":80,"stem":81,"topics":82,"__hash__":86},"blog\u002Farticles\u002Fthe-audacity-to-believe.md","The Audacity to Believe",{"name":7},"Dave Faust",[9,10,11,12,13],"Jonah","Matthew","Acts","1 Corinthians","Revelation",{"type":15,"value":16,"toc":66},"minimark",[17,21,24,27,30,33,36,39,42,45,48,51,54,57,60,63],[18,19,20],"p",{},"The other day I was a guest on a talk radio program explaining some of the reasons I believe the Bible. The program's host, and most of the callers, were courteous and respectful. One caller, though, wanted to know, \"How can any reasonable person believe that a man could survive three days in the belly of a whale?\"",[18,22,23],{},"In response, I noted that according to the Bible, \"the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah\" (Jonah 1:17, emphasis mine), so even if you can't identify another case of a man swallowed by a whale, God could certainly make it happen if he wanted to. \"Besides,\" I pointed out, \"Jesus believed the story of Jonah really happened, and used it as a symbol of his own resurrection\" (Matthew 12:39, 40).",[18,25,26],{},"I don't know if my answer satisfied the caller, but her question made me think. We Christians do believe some pretty amazing things—not unreasonable or mindless things, but amazing nonetheless. Audacious things, in fact. Sometimes audacity is bad, the dictionary indicates—when one is \"recklessly bold\" or showing \"arrogant disregard of normal restraints.\" But audacious can also mean \"daring, adventurous, marked by originality and verve,\" which captures the mind-stretching, adventurous tone of biblical faith. Think of the astonishing truths Christians have the audacity to affirm.",[18,28,29],{},"I believe God created the entire universe of time and space—yet he's not too big to care about you and me.",[18,31,32],{},"I believe God covered the earth with floodwaters but saved Noah's family on the ark, demonstrating both his displeasure with sin and his determination to save the faithful.",[18,34,35],{},"I believe God enabled a 90-year-old woman to bear a son. The thought still makes me laugh. Sarah got a chuckle out of it, too.",[18,37,38],{},"I believe God used his flawed but heroic servant Moses to work great wonders like parting the Red Sea and providing manna from Heaven.",[18,40,41],{},"I believe God enabled prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel to foretell accurate details about the actions of nations and individuals centuries before the events took place.",[18,43,44],{},"I believe a young Jewish virgin conceived the infant Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit.",[18,46,47],{},"I believe Jesus worked authentic, convincing miracles. For example, it doesn't surprise me that the One who designed the iris, lens, pupil, and optic nerve could make a blind man see.",[18,49,50],{},"I believe that God, utterly holy and just, could not let sin go unpunished; but because of love, Christ endured the punishment we deserve. I believe he bore our sins in his body when he died, but three days later his tortured body came back to life again. Then for nearly a month and a half he showed his disciples—hundreds of them—\"many convincing proofs\" that he was the living, breathing, eating, walking, talking, resurrected Lord (Acts 1:3; 1 Corinthians 15:1-7).",[18,52,53],{},"I believe he gave his little band of followers an enormous mission unachievable by human strength alone—to make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching them—and then he gave them Holy Spirit power to carry on his work.",[18,55,56],{},"I believe Jesus still lives today, someday he's coming back to earth, \"and every eye will see him\" (Revelation 1:7).",[18,58,59],{},"Meanwhile, I believe he is a life-changing, prayer-hearing, mansion-preparing Lord who offers us living water even on those bleak days when the wellspring of hope has dropped to its lowest ebb.",[18,61,62],{},"These things I believe.",[18,64,65],{},"Pretty audacious, huh?",{"title":67,"searchDepth":68,"depth":68,"links":69},"",2,[],"From the Editor's Desk","1999-04-04","md",null,{},3,true,"\u002Farticles\u002Fthe-audacity-to-believe","column","The Lookout",{"title":5,"description":20},"articles\u002Fthe-audacity-to-believe",[83,84,85],"Biblical Theology","Holy Week and Resurrection","Spiritual Formation","g8XXjWlTnvLhtx8v49Sli577HymMW7BSJvmXuGlU2mw",[88,93],{"title":89,"path":90,"stem":91,"description":92,"children":-1},"The Apollos Factor","\u002Farticles\u002Fthe-apollos-factor","articles\u002Fthe-apollos-factor","Do you know someone like Apollos? Though not a major character in the New Testament, Apollos was an impressive fellow. From his story we can learn how to respond to others who have the potential to be fruitful followers of Christ.",{"title":94,"path":95,"stem":96,"description":97,"children":-1},"The Awesome and the Ordinary","\u002Farticles\u002Fthe-awesome-and-the-ordinary","articles\u002Fthe-awesome-and-the-ordinary","As a long-time baseball fan, I’m happy when spring training takes place each year. Truth is, fans enjoy spring training more than players do. For us it means the beginning of a new season and the hope that our team will make the playoffs next fall. For the players it means sore muscles, team meetings, and playing games where won-lost records mean nothing. Yet the players understand that if they are going to perform well when the games count, they need to practice well before the bright lights come on. World Series champions reap in the autumn what they sow in the spring."]