Where Is God To Be Found?

Where is God to be found? Is he in Christianity? It is the largest of the world's religions. Is God in Islam? It is the second largest. Or Hinduism, the third largest? And what about Judaism? Is God to be found in the world's largest and most vocal religions?

Elijah, an Old Testament prophet was to have an audience with God. I imagine he expected something great, loud and powerful. The account tells us God said to the prophet, "Go and stand upon the mountain, and God passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains, and broke the rocks in pieces, but God was not in the wind. After the wind an earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake a fire, but God was not in the fire. And after the fire a still small voice." God was in the still small voice.

Religions, sadly all of them, have made loud noises, all claiming to be the true voice of God, but they have come up short. For all their noise people still ask, "Help me find God."

My friend, I will help you with what I know, for it is all I have. I know I have found a peace that passes all understanding. And it is not in the loud earth shattering religions. It is in the still small voice.

I have been raised with the Bible, a very difficult book and a very simple book. I cannot speak for other books, but I can say there are parts of the Bible that puzzle me. After more then 50 years of participating in some of the strictest fundamental churches and religious organizations in Christianity I have not found one doctor of theology, minister, priest, rabbi, cleric, or clergyman who can answer the hard questions I have about some of the Bible's teaching.

But there is much that is simple and that makes perfect sense and I see the wonderful fruit that it produces. The Bible is what I have been given. It is all I know. So I had to determine. Was I "lucky" enough to happen to be born into the "right stuff," or should I look elsewhere?

I wanted a litmus test; a way to know which religion was right. Jesus said, "By their fruit you shall know them."

That is simple. That makes sense. So I looked first at Christianity, and then the rest of the world's other largest religions and I saw their fruit.

Now I have the utmost respect for Christ and for many wonderful Christians, but when religion becomes political and bureaucratic it seems always to go south.

I was distressed at Christianity's history of violence against its own and against others. I was dismayed at what professed Christians did during the inquisition. I was grieved at what conquistadors did to the Indians in the name of Christianity. I am appalled at my own shortcomings as a Christian. I am distraught at the way people who call themselves Christians treat others today. I knew there had to be a better way. Christianity is a loud voice, but so often in its whirlwind God is not to be seen.

I looked at Islam. Never have I seen such violence. Never have I seen such hate. Never have I seen such disregard for the sanctity of life. Women treated like animals. Children treated like less. I was sickened by what I saw. Especially the suffering of the people of Asia and Africa at the hands of their own.

I looked at Hinduism. But I could not find the love of God there. Again the treatment of women from infancy to adulthood was appalling.

I looked at the fifty-five largest countries in the world and read what the UN, Amnesty USA, Watchblog, Wordpress, and Solidarity Peace Trust had to say about each country. The worst places to live with the most heinous human rights conditions were listed: Algeria, Bangladesh, Chad, Ethiopia, Gambia, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kosovo, Niger, Sudan, Uganda, to name a few. All of them Muslim. I read of the UN sanctions of Hindu India for human rights violations against women and children.

Then I read the list of the freest and kindest nations, known for helping the other nations of the world: Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Ireland, England, Italy, Norway, the United states, again to name a few. All of them Christian nations. Oh, they had their short comings, but I was struck by the stark difference between the relative kindness of so called Christian nations and the relative cruelty of the others.

So I again took stock of my roots and examined my country and its Christian principals. The stark contrast between the way Christian nations treated others and the way others were treated by non-Christian nations reaffirmed to me that if I had to pick a religion it would still be Christianity. Christ makes an unparalleled difference. But as a religion...

I felt I was not hearing God in the whirlwind, the earthquake or the fire of any of the major religions. Modern Christianity seemed to have moved far away from its roots.

Jesus taught love, humility, servitude. Jesus said, he that would be great among you let him be your servant. Jesus said, don't seek the uppermost seats. Don't seek to be called master, or father, or lord, wearing garments that elicit the honor of men. Jesus said prayer was to be in private not flaunted in public. Jesus said don't gossip, rather build up one another. Be merciful. Love is the greatest commandment. Jesus words made sense.

In religion I saw such hailing of power and authority, such a desire for the praise of men, such divisiveness, gossiping, and selfishness. In religions I saw the religions condemning one another because of disagreements over interpretations, traditions and customs. Where was the love of which Jesus taught?

The worlds religions did not make sense. They claimed to lead to God, but they did not emulate God; a creator, a father, one who loves his offspring. I saw people going to church. They gave their money. They said their prayers. They staunchly kept their traditions and adhered to their do's and don'ts. They went through all the motions. But love: the greatest commandment... I remember a minister asking, "If we were arrested for being Christians would there be enough evidence to convict us?"

How could God blame the world for rejecting him when the religions that claim to represent him have the record held by Hindus, Muslims and sometimes even Christians?

How can anyone find God? Oh yes, the "still small voice." Remember, in the Old Testament God said, "You shall seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart."

If God made us; if he calls himself our father, will he not let us find him if we search for him?

Jesus said "Seek and you shall find."

The Apostles of the New Testament wrote that "God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him."

Time and again the Bible promises that you will find God if you want to. That makes sense.

I had been skeptical of religions that seem compelled to force their opinions and customs upon people. Even Christianity, in spite of all of the worldwide kindness it has shown in my lifetime, and all the wonderful Christians I have met, as a religion Christianity seemed to feel compelled to manipulate, strong arm, and smooth talk its followers to conform to sets of traditions and interpretations.

As I reexamined the Bible I became convinced that there was a difference between following God and the teachings of Christ and the "religion" called Christianity. I had to separate the two.

There was much good in Christianity that I was throwing out because of "Christians." As I examined the Christians I was examining myself. How often had I discouraged others from following Christ because of my short comings? How often had people judged Jesus ineffective because I, his follower, was not following him? I realized how important it was to point people not to people, not the booming voices of religion, but to God.

But if I am to help you find God, how do I point you to God? Where do I point? Up?

The conventional wisdom I have been raised with is, I should point you to the Bible. But not just the Bible. Point you to certain carefully selected verses in the Bible. Verses that come from chapters scattered throughout the text and not even in the order in which they appear. While all of these scripture passages may be wonderful, it did not make a lot of sense to me that God would not put his most important message in the right order. It made no sense that God would make finding him as difficult as possible and then sit back and send you to hell if you were not brilliant enough to decipher his riddle, or lucky enough to be born when and where it was revealed.

So I set aside conventional wisdom and began to listen to the still small voice.

Jesus said if we humans give good things to our children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? That makes sense.

As I mentioned in the prior section, I have three children. I love my children. It is not that they can do no wrong. It is rather that no wrong they do can ever dim my love. I will believe in, and fight for them regardless. When it comes to my children all principles of justice go out the window. I want only mercy and kindness for them. They are my offspring; my creation so to speak. Through them God gives me a window into his mind. If I being human know how to give good gifts to my children, how much more shall my heavenly father? Is my love for my children greater then God's love for you and me? Not a chance.

God made you. God loves you. God wants you. Finding him is not rocket science. God says just seek me. Just want me.

That is too easy for most religions. They want you to jump through their hoops and squeeze into their mold and then you can have God. Who is man to make God's rules?

Why would religion feel compelled to force its followers into molds? Could it be that religion is not of God but of man, and that man uses religion to exert control? I concluded that in general religion does not believe God. Religion has no faith. If religion had faith it would not feel it has to make sure God's ways are enforced upon us. It would trust God to make us what he wants us to be. But religion does not trust God. Religion is more concerned about the outward veneer then a real inward change.

Friend, if you seek after God, God will work. He will find you. He has never lost you. He will make you want he wants you to be. But he says be honest. Seek for him with all your heart.

My wish is to encourage you to seek for God. Not to stuff you into my mold.

I trust God will find you and give you the peace and love he has given me. If I do not believe God can do that for you, I don't believe in God. If I think I have to play God, I have to direct your path, lay down the rules for your life, dictate your standards, then I don't believe in God.

Now the question often asked is, when God finds me what will he want me to do? Go to church? Read the Bible? Become a Christian? If so, which church? Which religion?

My answer, I don't know. Hey! Of course I have an answer I can give you, but I don't know God's will for YOUR life. I could give you MY opinion. I can attempt to make you a disciple of me, or of my concept of what God wants. After all if I do not believe I am right would I be what I am or believe what I believe? So why should I not seek to make you like me?. But friend, what good would that do? Well, actually, it would do a lot of good if I have a corner on the truth. But what if I'm not perfect? What if God has better things for you? What if God knows more then I do? Could he possibly? Am I taking too big a chance to trust God?

Now all this talk about trusting God to lead you does not mean you and I should not listen to what other believers have to offer. The Bible clearly says we should seek out other believers. It calls such gatherings, church. Do we have churches today? They may be harder to find then the buildings on every corner by that name. Bottom line, however, it will serve you well to find other believers with whom you can seek after God.

Do I actually believe if I encourage you to find other believers in your area without telling you which "church" to go to, that God will direct your path correctly? Well, actually, I do! What if you go to the wrong church? Shouldn't I monitor you and make sure you do what I want? Are you getting the picture? God is the standard, not me. Do I trust God to work in your life? Actually, I do. He will if you want him to, and if you don't I can't do better then he can. My job is simply to encourage you to seek him.

The Bible says we need each other and the strength we provide for each other. That is what a church really is. That make sense! The church is not a big windy, earthquaky, fiery, loud organization of pious, pompous, self-important magistrates, controlling your every move to insure you "act" like their concept of a Christian. A church is "where two or three are gathered together." Oh, says the magistrate, that's not a church, that's a few fringe fanatics. I beg to differ. Jesus defined the church as a gathering of even two, and Jesus makes sense. Of course the "religion" of his day did call him a fringe fanatic.

Well, if a church can be as few as two or three, does that mean if a church has hundreds or thousands of members it is not a good church? Don't even ask. You know better. Just don't get the impression that bigger is necessarily better and you will be on the right track.

You are seeking for God. You are a believer. You are seeking the counsel of other believers. You are definitely on the right course.

Remember God said, if you seek him, as you now are, you will find Him.

I encourage you to look for other believers in your neighborhood. Visit churches. Read Jesus words. This web site is a great way to share your faith and learn from others.

So if you want to talk to me more, I'm here.

If you want me to respond to your personal questions visit our section labeled "Church." Our posts to each other can help not only ourselves, but others also. You can talk to me any time you want. I usually respond within 24 hours or less. In "church" we will often chat real time.

I will be glad to help you all I can. That is why God put me here.