Comments on: Life Today, Part 1

By: hugh mize

hugh mize — Wed, 02 May 2007 15:46:11 +0000

I saw you on “LIFE TODAY” and found you quite intresting. If you get a chance I would like to invite you to attend “ROCK BRIDGE CMMUNITY CHURCH” in DALTON GA. Services are at 9:&10:45 AM. You are welcome as you are and will be greated with love and respect. I would like for you to read in the “HOLY BIBLE” ,,,JOHN 3:17&ACTS 4:12 Sincerly, hugh mize

By: Logos

Logos — Wed, 02 May 2007 12:25:08 +0000

cindy, most of the Christians here love Hemant! You need to get with the program!

By: cindy

cindy — Wed, 02 May 2007 11:16:35 +0000

Rose, thank you for your great comment. I agree with you!!!
If the church would stay focused on God and allow Him to save people, we would all be stronger and active Christians making a difference and being truthful and real.
As for having an atheist on the program and announcing his book with angel wings and a halo on the cover of his book, I still believe he has a hidden agenda.
Sorry Jim I know your heart is right and I thank you for your comment,& I also understand your point on helping Christians evangelize the right way, but I strongly believe God is in the saving business and this is what we truley miss and teach in the Church. It should never be about the numbers.
It is what we give not what we get out of it.
Just like any relationship you have to take the time to invest in it.
Christ will always shine through if your heart is pure!!!
God Bless you all and thank you.
Cindy
http://www.raceforfaith.com

By: Jim Henderson

Jim Henderson — Wed, 02 May 2007 00:23:28 +0000

I think you are cashing in and taking advantage of the Christian faith.

Find another faith to cash in on….or use.

Cindy- don’ t take your pent up anger out on Hemant take it out on me.
Atheists dont care about the church or even our faith
I care and thats why I hired Hemant- since he had better things to do with his time – I paid him to tell us exactly what he was seeing- If anyone is cashing in it might be me – I hired Hemant to help convert Christians who have a limited and narrow view of what Christianity is about

By: Helen

Helen — Tue, 01 May 2007 23:49:12 +0000

Ron, I loved Hemant’s comment “You could be THE church where I get converted” too!

James Robison said something like that in the first show and I was impressed how Hemant picked up on it and used it at the end of the second one.

By: Jen

Jen — Tue, 01 May 2007 22:02:43 +0000

Just wanted to write a quick response to Cindy’s comment. I’m really sorry that you thought I called you ignorant or even implied it. That certainly was not my intention. I only meant to say that it is hard to talk to non-believers when people are coming from so many different sides and ideologies. But, just as I respect Hemant and his views and care about him as a person, I respect your views also, especially as a fellow Christian. I admire you for being so strong in your convictions. You should never feel like you are compromising God and I respect that you aren’t going to do anything to feel that way, including buying Hemant’s book. I am planning to go into youth ministry and I will read Hemant’s book because I think it will be helpful to me in finding ways to reach out to unchurched youth. I think God uses everyone, even non-believers to fulfill his will and plan so I can see where this book may be an asset to me. But you have every right not to read it and I completely respect that. Again, I apologize if I upset you with my last comment. I truly didn’t mean to.
Love in Christ,
Jen

By: Ron

Ron — Tue, 01 May 2007 19:24:21 +0000

First, kudos to Hemant for having the courage to go on the air with James Robison and getting his message across so effectively. Hemant’s line on this morning’s program (Life Today, 5/01/07) encouraging churches to invite him to speak, and adding, “who knows, yours could be THE church!” (and then smiling) was masterful.

Now, as to Cindy’s comment above: You’re missing the point completely. Hemant is not “cashing in” on anything, much less the Christian faith. Hemant simply realized that after becoming an atheist he had never put himself in explicitly religious settings, so he devised his church-going experiment. I would guess that anyone with a curiosity about God and faith might decide that if there were a way to find evidence of God, visiting a church would be a natural place to begin.

As far as writing a book to show people what faith looks like through the eyes of an atheist, Hemant is providing an incredible service to people of faith. I hope Christians will have the humility to learn from him. As Jim Henderson alludes to above, if Christians can’t be bothered to listen to the people they say they want to connect with, there’s something wrong.

Perhaps Hemant’s book (I Sold My Soul on eBay) will help Christians become more compassionate and less cynical. As I read the New Testament, I don’t see cynicism as something that Jesus recommended to his followers.

By: rose

rose — Tue, 01 May 2007 19:07:20 +0000

I’m not sure why I am commenting,but here goes. To me Pastors would not have to wonder ‘what works and what doesn’t’ in their churches if they just seeked God and let His Holy Spirit guide them. As far as athiests and unbelievers that have heard the “Good News” of Jesus and still remain athiest or an unbeliever that is their choice. Jesus did not beat anyone on the head and try to make someone believe He just told it and went on. He knows we all have a choice to make to believe or not believe. As christians all we can do is live the best we can for the Lord and let Jesus shine from our lives to others. We are not to try to convince someone, that is between them and God. Who can look at the wonders of this world and not know their is God. God is everywhere. I am so glad I know Him and hope that this site will actually open the eyes of all that do not know Him that they too can know Him for themselves.

By: cindy

cindy — Tue, 01 May 2007 19:04:48 +0000

Too many Christians comprimise their beliefs so they won’t offend anyone..
The name Jesus Christ will always offend someone.
The problem is if more Christians dont stand up for what they believe in, then you will see more and more of GOD being taking out of things. Like the pledge, the dollar bill, the public schools,ect. & who is doing these things to take God out, let me quess (Atheist) I am not being ignorant like your comment Jenn, has said, (two steps forward,two steps backwards to break down walls, It is not up to me to save people. God is the one to break down these walls.I love people, but I will not comprimise my GOD. and buy an atheist book.

By: Jen

Jen — Tue, 01 May 2007 18:31:51 +0000

Thanks Allison. As a Christian who has many friends who are agnostic or atheists, I’ve been blessed to have the opportunity to find out where others are coming from, what they think and to be able to love them unconditionally. I think a lot of Christians fail when we isolate ourselves or grow up in a cardboard box where we aren’t exposed to people with different beliefs. That’s why I was so glad to see Hemant on Life Today. I hope his appearance on the show will help us as Christians to realize that it’s not just about tolerating other people, it’s truly about caring for them and respecting them regardless of differences. It concerns me when I see comments that say, “Why as an atheist do you even care about Christians?” or “Why do Christians care so much about you?” As human beings, aside from any religious implications, it is part of our inherent nature to be relational and caring with others. As someone who tries to follow the example of Jesus and his teachings, I have all the more reason to care about and love others. One of the hardest parts of being a Christian is sometimes feeling like you take a step forward toward helping to break down some walls and then someone else can come along and take it three steps back. But that’s all the more reason to keep taking those steps. Thanks to Hemant, Jim, and all of the Life Today crew for a wonderful segment.