I was trained to put my intellect before almost everything else. That happened in Christian schools from preschool to twelfth grade, and then after that in the premier research school in my state.
That entire time, I went to church each Sunday and was very involved.
And then I was a missionary for three years, still very involved.
And somehow, in the midst of that, I lost faith in God. My intellect took over. Reason took over. What I could not prove was not true. And in my upbringing, there was little that religion had taught me about knowing God.
Tossed about for years, often diligent about going to church and diligent about getting a good message while in church, diligent about knowing the Bible contained wisdom even if it was not from a divine source, even diligent about praying each night before bed, some part of me held out for a God, even though my mind could not fathom how to prove His existence sufficiently.
And then one day, the sermon I could have used 20 years earlier was given to me. It was one sentence in a one-hour sermon. I don’t remember the rest of the sermon. I remember the part I really needed.
If you have faith issues — read the Bible more. That was basically what the preacher said.
And that I did.
Cuz boy did I have faith issues.
I was so hungry for God.
After those years of tumult. I thought that was just life. Life is tumultuous. But the kind of tumult I knew was a life lived with some denial of God.
That brings a special kind of tumult.
On top of that, I was so hungry for God after being locked out of the sorry excuse for the church I had. A magnificent edifice it was. A cathedral of great splendor. But gun control was preached from that pulpit far more than the name Jesus was mentioned. Yoga was practiced in that grand building’s sanctuary much more than prayer.
It was exactly the kind of place that loved to see the lockdowns come.
Which sent me far afield in search of brave churches, churches which I did not find, at least not for some time.
Very, very hungry for God, that sermon that told me to read the Bible more, fell on such fertile soil.
I set out that very day to read the Bible over the next 365 days, from cover to cover.
And it was not long before something started to happen in me.
Something started to change.
I came to believe what I was reading.
That change wasn’t in the place in my body where I felt my intellect. It was in a different place, a new place.
As I read, I began to understand faith, not as the opposite of intellect, as some would have liked me to believe. I began to understand faith as a compliment to intellect, or maybe intellect as a compliment to faith.
Whichever it is, I know this much now — they are not in conflict.
And after reading the Bible some, something even more different started to happen.
I started to pray differently. Not just at night. But each morning too. I began to start my day that way, every day.
And before I knew it, even more wonderful things began to happen. Monumental things happened as I finally started to feel like I was learning to know God. That he was knowable. And then I began to understand what was being said when those strange and formerly easy-to-laugh-at people would say that God spoke to them.
I understood what they meant.
And it began by simply reading the Bible.
A man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with a theory. I had learned lots of theories about God in my life. What I was experiencing in the reading of the Bible was what was really changing me.
I don’t want to convert you.
I don’t want to convince you.
I don’t want to pitch you on some view of religion or some interpretation of the Bible.
I just want to invite you to read the Bible with me this next year. And I want you to sign up sooner rather than later.
Until Tuesday, it’s going to be a really inexpensive price.
But there is also a free option.
I want to create a structure for you that allows you to read that book front to back in 2023. Starting with Genesis on January 1 and ending with Revelations on December 31.
It’s going to be a wonderful time. And it is going to be so much more.
Any Pureblood who signs up by Tuesday will have three additional memberships he can give. Any member of this email newsletter will have an additional free membership to give by singing up before Tuesday.
That includes everyone who signed up already. Just send me the email address of who you would like added before December 31 comes along.
My goal is not to make money on this effort. My goal is to merely have the funds to support the kind of project I want to turn this into, and to involve enough interested people to create a group dedicated to reading the Bible in the year ahead, a group that encourages others to do the same. I want to make this into a project that you can be part of, with no obstacles standing in your way, and which you can invite many around you to be part of as well, with no obstacles standing in the way.
To join me in reading the Bible, tap here.
Allan Stevo
I have arrived at a decision to remain a Christian atheist.