what I believe 

God exists.

God created the universe. He created people in His image. Since God exists outside time and space, it will always be impossible for us--limited by both time and space--to prove this scientifically. Yet there is more than enough legal-historic evidence to convince me that God is real and that He has lovingly guided people for millennium.

Legal-historic evidence is the same kind used in a court of law. You can't scientifically prove that any historical event happened, because you have to recreate the event to do so. Instead you use historical data like eyewitness accounts and physical evidence. There's lots of this regarding the events described in the Bible. You can study the evidence to arrive at a personal decision about the existence of God, but to write off His existence without serious study is the act of a fool.

I believe God sees all things, knows all things, and can do all things. He knows our innermost thoughts and hears our prayers.

The Bible can be trusted

The Bible has been under attack, especially in recent years, as a flawed book of myths. After considerable study, I've discovered that the Bible is actually the most accurate book ever written. Nothing in it has ever been proven false, and new discoveries are always proving the Bible correct, never contradicting biblical accounts. I believe that God inspired people to write the various books and letters that make up the Bible, over a period spanning centuries. The way that these books tell one complete story of the past and the future without a single contradiction is uncanny and cannot be explained in any human way. Some people say there are contradictions but not one has ever been validated.

One of the most remarkable examples of the Bible's authenticity is the prophet Daniel's exact timing of the cutting off of the Jewish Messiah as described in Daniel 9:24-27. This prediction was written more than 500 years before Jesus arrived on the scene. Copies of Daniel were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls predating Christ, proving that this detailed prediction was written before the birth of Christ. Beginning with the exact day on which Persian King Artaxerxes gave the commandment to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (March 5, 445 BC), Daniel explains that exactly 173,880 days later the Messiah would come, and then be killed. This turns out to be April 6, AD 32, the very date Christ rode into Jerusalem on a donkey just days before his crucifixion. I challenge you to make this same calculation for yourself. There are hundreds of similar passages in the Bible that can't be explained unless they were inspired by God.

I believe God gave us His word, the Bible, as a guide to living in this world and as a way for us to know Him better. The Bible is neither a history book nor a rule book. It is a book of guiding principles showing us the heart and mind of God, and pointing to Jesus Christ. The principles contained within its pages can be applied to our lives even in this high-tech age.

Jesus Christ is the Son of God

Jesus was fully human like us, but He was also totally free of sin. He was perfect, the only person ever to be perfect. He was both God and human at once. He came here to pay our debt for sin, and through His human experience to take on the role of Mediator between God and mankind. Every other person who has ever lived sins. Sin is the process of doing things our way instead of recognizing and seeking God's authority and power. None of us are free of sin.

Jesus Christ took our sins onto Himself when He died on the cross, so He can stand up for us when we come before God's Throne in Heaven. Like a pinch-hitter in baseball, or a player taking a goalie's penalty in hockey, Jesus took our penalty because He is the only One perfect enough to survive the process.

Jesus is the only way to Heaven

This is probably the hardest concept for many people to accept, because human nature instinctively wishes there were many different paths to God. This very controversy is interesting, because it only seems to affect spiritual issues. If there were only one cure for cancer, nobody would reject it on the basis that there aren't more cures, would they?

Since God is perfect and perfectly Holy, we can't do anything in our own power that makes us "good enough" for God's perfectly Holy Heaven. He wants us there, but our own rebellion makes that impossible. Only through our faith in Jesus Christ can we be granted entry into this everlasting place of perfect joy and peace.

If God allowed any person entry into Heaven on his or her actions alone, He would be making a farce of the penalty Christ paid on the cross. Only our faith is good enough for God. Eternal life is a free gift that only needs to be accepted by us through an act of faith and gratitude. Our public acceptance of this gift enables Christ to represent us before God's throne in Heaven.

The Holy Spirit is real

I believe that God also exists in an invisible spirit form as the Holy Spirit -- both within us (in our soul) and in the world (through the church). The Spirit works in us, transforming our lives and bringing us joy, peace and knowledge. The dramatic changes people have gone through in their lives after accepting Christ is the result of the Holy Spirit changing their attitudes and thoughts. I have seen my own life change in ways that I never thought possible.

I also believe there is an invisible but very real devil, who attempts to keep us from seeking or following God. This may be hard for you to understand because the only physical evidence of this is in the evil actions and thoughts of people. But the Bible makes it clear that this spiritual battle is very real and raging all around us.

Jesus will return someday

The Bible provided hundreds of detailed prophecies describing the first coming of Jesus Christ, including the timing, where he would be born, how he would be betrayed, how he would die (predicted long before crucifixion was invented), and even what the betrayal money would be used for. All of these prophecies were fulfilled in exact detail.

The Bible spends an equal amount of time describing the second coming of the Messiah. There is no reason to believe that the first prediction was true and the second one isn't. There will be a return of Jesus Christ, first appearing in the sky to take all Christians into heaven in an event generally referred to as the "rapture," and then on the Mount of Olives at the battle of Armageddon. If you're wondering where in the Bible it actually talks about the return of Christ, you can find more details here.