1.    INTRODUCTION

Yes, we CAN ‘prove to ourselves’ that God is real. A qualified auditor explains those findings here. Guidance on locating evidence is offered.

(This website is actually the end result of a serious long-term “appraisal of practical Christianity”. During my career, I had been a qualified, experienced, senior auditor. So yes, I definitely know how to investigate, analyse and evaluate. The website’s support team are, on the other hand, largely qualified Christian ministers. For the ‘who’, ‘how’ and ‘why’ of this website please click here. )

As a result of that ‘appraisal’ mentioned above, I now confidently write that WHEN we know how, we CAN find evidence that will enable us to accept both ‘belief in God‘ and ‘Christian faith‘ for ourselves! Plus … there are genuine rewards for us, such as contentment and a sense of purpose in life, that do flow from that evidence. Indeed, yes!

Mind you, I do acknowledge that the BIG UNKNOWN facing so many ‘thinkers’, these days, is indeed “How to believe in God.” And, I admit that I was once a very serious unbeliever myself! So, I definitely ‘do get it’!

Please see the article, “Framework for evidence” for a definition of what “evidence” means in this website. And if doubts are standing in your way of accepting that sound evidence can be found, then please read the article, “Is God just too good to be true?“.

2.   OTHER AVAILABLE INFO

This article therefore offers guidance on HOW each of us can prove to ourselves that ‘God is real’ and ‘accept Christian faith’!

The other articles in this “Journey of Faith” section of the website are:

Just click those links above to access the articles. Mind you, it is probably best to read the rest of this intro article first.

To access info from OTHER SECTIONS of the website, you can also use the website’s Menu Bar/ Navigation Bar on computer screens, OR the small 3 Horizontal Bar (Hamburger) Icon on cell/ mobile phones. If you use the Hamburger, ‘click’ its 3 bar icon and the drop down menu will appear. Then choose a website section of interest and just ‘click’ the ‘cross’ on that section’s title … and all the articles relevant to that section will then drop down for your choice. All that is needed then is to click on the name of the article you would like to read and it will open.

3.    CONNECT WITH GOD: BELIEVE IN HIM

So, what DID I come to find, as the experienced auditor that I was, firstly from my own detailed analysis and then the evaluation of overall findings?

Well, I can confidently write that anyone at all CAN come to believe in God by personally ‘connecting with him‘: by entering into that all important relationship God WANTS to share with each of us. Yes, if we want real evidence-based belief in God, this is where we start. And trust me, it works!

Please read on …

4.   GOD, THE BIBLE AND CHURCH

To begin our search for that evidence, we DO need to join a church: that is a fellowship of faith.

And, please stick with me here … because I absolutely tried at first to skip that step within my investigation. And I found that it just didn’t work well enough.

Our church community IS indeed vital to us during that process of engaging, or connecting with God: building that growing ‘relationship’ God wants to hold with each and every one of us. AND I must add, we CAN also find evidence of God’s presence; existence there in the Church!

So, within our church, we get together to learn from the Bible, have fellowship with both other followers and God. Plus … we CAN ALSO, as mentioned above, GATHER EVIDENCE of God’s actual presence there within the church for ourselves. If you like, have a quick read of info under some later subheadings in this article:

  • Subheading 4.3 relates to subtle ‘evidence’ available in church.
  • Subheadings 4.4 and 4.5 discuss solid ‘evidence’ on offer there.

Let me say though, that ‘going in search’ of that solid evidence is by no means mandatory on our journey. (But yes, it really did help speed things up for me personally.)

However please come back, if you do choose to read those subsections ahead, and read all of this article.

4.1    Is the Bible important though?

Hmmm … I also admit that when I began my investigation of faith many decades ago, I did at least have some trouble with the question in the ‘subheading’ above. But, I DID figure out that I had to know a bit about God, BEFORE trying to believe in him. (I guess, just as we do when making ‘friends’ with other humans.) Yes, I knew that I had to give the Bible a serious ‘look-see’.

And what did I come to find, after eventually putting the Bible to use through that deep and long term evaluation of mine? Well … it is, in fact, an ESSENTIAL guide for us. Once we know how to understand its messages of course. I came to realise there is just so much wisdom and guidance there in that ‘big book’!

Please read the article, “Our amazing Bible” written by Rev Dr Bill, also a member of the website’s advisory team, for a brief overview of its content and how to understand it. I also offer a link to an ‘online app’, under Heading 6 below, that can help anyone to begin to understand the content and messages offered to us in the Bible.

4.2    Building our faith through church

Anyway, as beginner ‘seekers’, the messages of the Bible begin to ‘sink in’, guided largely by our church of choice. And, you know, I’m not saying we need to be experts at first! However, the sooner we begin to grasp God’s wisdom and guidance … AND above all, what God has done for us through Jesus … the more we can understand God’s loving nature. Simply speaking, this knowledge does encourage us to enter into that relationship he wants to have with us. The article, “Christianity explained simply” offers the basics of our very special religion to readers.

Mind you, in my very early days of faith, I did play down the importance of Jesus. In my ignorance, I just plain guessed the ‘Jesus is God’ stuff really was again all ‘too good to be true’!

Yes, I had been misguided by my ‘closed thinking’. And look, there is an article, “Jesus as God” on the website that explains how this kind of stuff DOES literally fit together. You can also have a read of the article, “The Big Picture” in the “The human Jesus?” subsection of the ‘Deal with doubts’ website section.

And yes again, as faithful Christians, we do eventually come to see that God is worthy of ‘our worship’. That is due to what God has done for us in the past, and is ready to do for us in both the present and future! Especially after we HAVE proven to ourselves, beyond reasonable doubt, that God is indeed the ‘real deal’.

Importantly too (as I keep writing in this website), the Church itself has a LOT to offer as far as believing in God’s existence is concerned. With guidance, I assure you that we CAN come to recognise his actual presence there in church services, as he mindfully and spiritually engages with us. Yes, this evidence may be ‘subtle’ at times, but it can also be quite ‘solid’ if you are in the right church at the right time.

God definitely presents evidence of his presence, in different ways, in just about every church!

Let’s look then…

4.3    Subtle evidence of God in church

In basic, traditional churches we can come, as a minimum, to recognise God’s ‘subtle connection’ with each of us individuals and the entire fellowship at times. That includes for example the way he ‘organises’ or orchestrates messages to individuals, or even the fellowship as a whole, throughout events in the service. With experience, they can become little standouts for us. One of my advisory ministry team, refers to this stuff as “Christian light bulb moments”.

You should find that other gentle ‘belief-building’ stuff really does happen there as well. As I personally found out at the beginning of my own journey of Christian faith, there is just this sense of ‘inner peace’ that awaits each of us who do attend church. Yes, it is recognisable through the service.

These little wonders never fail to impress good old analytical me. Please access the article, “The subtle stuff of God in any church” to read more on the subject.

4.4    Solid evidence of God in church

HOWEVER, if we choose to attend fellowships in the Pentecostal/ Charismatic ‘movement’ then we should witness, and even come to experience, relatively OBVIOUS evidence of his presence there. “Whoa!”, you might well say? But, please read on!

As I understand it, a quarter of all Christians throughout the world now belong to the movement. So, there is no denying it is seriously attracting followers. Clearly, as far as I am concerned, God in the ‘person of the Holy Spirit‘ offers this stuff to us so as to grow our personal relationships with him ‘big time’!

I generally attend protestant churches myself, but I do know that the late Pope Francis was a great supporter of a Charismatic Renewal within the world-wide Catholic Church. And, although unknown to the average unbeliever, many Christian denominations out there through the world offer these amazing evidence-filled practises and events to us.

And at times … YES … the evidence related to the movement CAN even be what I call ‘palpable’. In simpler words, you CAN feel it! For example, if you as a baptised Christian are ready to accept the Spirit’s offer, when the time is right, then he WILL spiritually ‘touch you’. And boy you know about that one, when it happens, I can assure you. To read about my first experience of ‘being touched’, read on from Heading 3 in the article, “Is this Holy Spirit stuff real?”

OR you can witness there, perhaps even experience yourself, other things happening that are so obviously Spirit-driven they ‘rock your socks’! Proof that really is definite to you. And I say “absolutely”! I offer a bigger ‘taste’ of what is available there in the article, “Experiencing the Holy Spirit“. I assure you, that I have NOT exaggerated details in that article (and others that are also related to to it). No … these Charismatic events really can be profound!

Please have a look at the article mentioned above (click the link). See info under Heading 4 in that article. It offers my thoughts on God’s motivation for beginning the ‘movement’. That is: WHY God decided to present evidence in different ways from what was ‘the norm’ then, and which is still offered by God in traditional churches today.

4.5    ‘Final word’ on God’s presence in church

Yes, I DO know how crazy that info written above could look to people with no exposure to the movement. I sincerely had my own doubts about it all, BUT, I simply ‘went out of my way’ and just plain TESTED it as the practising auditor that I was! ‘In all honesty’, I admit that I was also a bit of a ‘nervous Nellie’ there at times during my early days, and that slowed my progress. But, I can now truly write, “I’ve been there, done that, and I KNOW amazing stuff does happen there!” I also know it is still happening! Yes again, I’ve been there lately, checking it out.

But even then, as I explained under Heading 4 above in this article, these strong experiences available from the Holy Spirit, are by no means necessary to believe in God! No, they are ‘not mandatory’ … BUT … as in my case, they CAN speed up the search for ‘confident‘ belief in God. That in turn really does encourage us to deepen our ongoing personal relationship with God.

And again PLEASE also have a look at the article, “Is this ‘Holy Spirit’ stuff real?” As the name explains, it describes exactly how I seriously evaluated all the results from my relevant investigations.

You may have already guessed that your ‘church of choice’ will influence both your spiritual experiences, in that place, and your personal journey of faith. See the article, “Choosing a church” for more info on that one.

Many articles that offer guidance for building Christian faith and belief in God, through church attendances, are presented in a complete website section titled, “God in church”. Just ‘click’ that link to begin.

5.   GOD IN LIFE

Secondly, we apply our growing Christian faith to our daily lives. And that actually opens us to God’s loving and positive involvement there! Meaning more evidence for us, as I shall explain later.

So, once armed with knowledge of what Christian faith offered me ‘in theory’, I seriously opened myself to God during day-to-day life. I mean that I ‘connected with God‘; engaged with God through the relationship that I found WAS awaiting me.

Remember the article, “Building a relationship with God” follows the article you are now reading. On my part, I’m writing about thirty plus years of broad experience.

5.1    As our relationship begins

Initially, once you know how, it should even be possible to locate some subtle evidence of God’s presence just by looking ‘back through your life’. I am meaning maybe even while you were still an unbeliever. Some advice on how you can do this is provided in the article, “God’s guidance in life” for example. It is the first article in the subsection, of the same name – again, under the Menu Bar heading “God in life.”

During those earlier circumstances prior to us really trialling Christianity, God would have been simply trying to give us a glimpse of his ‘reality’, AND his love for us, there within our lives. Remember too, God knows exactly which direction each of us should be travelling in life. Yes, as a result, God has a life-plan for each of us.

We can as practising Christians, use “God’s guidance” any time we are faced with difficult choices in life! We can also turn to him in prayer asking for his help with regard to our actual needs in life. And when we face … ‘life’s tough or hard times‘ … our loving God is always willing to give us SOUND guidance, help, or at the minimum his up-lifting support.

So, by deliberately opening your life to God through faith, that evidence of God’s presence will become much more obvious and positive. Of course, once again, I don’t expect that you will be convinced by just one little incident. But … once you start putting your growing faith to the test in life, you will begin to notice unlikely ‘high odds’ events with positive outcomes happening there. (And I offer a bit more about this stuff below.)

As you may well guess, there are some responsibilities for us (yes, we do need to try to be faithful to our loving, caring God) within our relationship. The article, “Building sound faith” in this website section briefly discusses them there under Heading 3.

5.2   As our relationship deepens

Even stronger evidence of the God’s presence in your life should become obvious as you DO begin to shape-up an ongoing, reasonably ‘faithful’ and ‘trusting’ relationship with the Lord. I mean as you begin to accept the Bible’s guidance and apply it to your life though faith, you can then TRUST that God will lovingly apply his care towards you all the more.

Again, I refer to your ‘real needs’ here. There are also a couple of articles on that subject of “trust” in the “God in life” section. The article, “Trusting God with your life” is the final one.

It all becomes ‘quite obvious‘ as your Christian faith grows AND your relationship with God deepens further. And the evidence does pile up. We literally end up just recognising God’s wonderful ‘loving care’ as an expected and very important part of our lives. Bear in mind, that I write all this as that experienced auditor I was before my retirement.

Yes again, it all becomes a matter of ‘more of the same’, ‘more of the same’! In other words, it eventually just seems … natural … to us. That is, the positive effect of God’s ‘loving care’ in our lives. And I must add to the lives of others who, as a result, we get the chance to help.

(Of course, again this does not refer to stuff like ‘wishlists’ or ‘fame and fortune’. No, I’m talking about events that lead to a truly contented and purposeful life.)

5.3   ‘Final word’ on God’s presence in our lives

Without a doubt, I can write that God’s presence certainly becomes VERY obvious within life as our faith becomes ‘sound’. Again, see the article, “Building sound Faith” later in this section of the website for an explanation.

Remember too there are many related articles, presented in a complete website section titled, “God in life”, explaining how to apply our growing faith within life. Just ‘click’ that link to begin reading.

6.    OTHER OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE

There are certainly other directions you can take, as beginner ‘seekers’, to gain knowledge of faith and belief in my opinion. In particular, I recommend attending an Alpha course. These are available in 100 countries across the globe. Over 28,000,000 people have attended Alpha, so it’s got to be doing something right! Yes, I have been involved with running these courses myself.

Churches offer them through the cities, suburbs and out to far-flung towns. Just look out for the advertising banners at local churches. The courses basically allow participants to explore ‘life, faith and meaning‘ in a relaxed and respectful manner. No pressure.

All Alpha courses provide an understanding of Christian basics: what Christian faith is about. They also explain simply how to connect/ engage with God, in our lives, through the use of that faith. And they offer the chance, not guaranteed of course, of actually experiencing God’s presence in a way you may never forget. Looks impressive? I hope so. Of course, I am referring to the Holy Spirit’s possible involvement (as in the ‘movement’) explained under subheading 4.4 above.

Not surprisingly, the late Pop Francis was also supportive of Alpha Courses being available through the world-wide Catholic Church. Indeed so many different Church denominations, throughout the world, utilise that programme.

Note that you can also access an online application, “The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel” That ‘app’ offers ongoing daily lessons about the Bible’s content and advice on how to apply faith to our lives (you can either read or listen to the lessons).

7.    CONCLUSION

In summary then, as far as ‘believing in God’ is concerned, it largely happens through recognising God’s presence and the way God works for our genuine benefit in life. But when I write “benefit”, of course, I yet again mean our ‘needs’ rather than our ‘wants’ (and not those wishlists previously mentioned either).

It all happens during our journey of growing faith, as the Bible actually explains – both in our chosen church and our day to day lives through our use of that faith. That is, within our ever growing relationship with God!

The closer we ‘walk with God’ in life and engage with him through sound Christian faith, as indeed God wants us to, the more real he becomes to us. AND as a result ‘the rewards‘, such as a real sense of ‘purpose and contentment’, unfold in our lives. YES indeed … faith can be empowering! The final article in this ‘Journey of faith’ section of the website explains all about that.

Also, for a better description of what ‘evidence of God’s reality’ actually means within this website, again please have a look at the article, “Framework for Evidence“. Subheading 6.2 in that article explains just how real the evidence can become for each of us … well, as far as I am concerned.

A basic understanding of Christianity is available in the website’s final section. If you feel the need for ‘belief’ and ‘faith’ in your life, then please read on through this website. Just like me, I am sure you will find that it is a good idea to ‘care whether God exists!’

So, is God real? Can we believe in God? Is the Bible’s info acceptable in this day and age? If so, can God help us in this life, and the next? Oh yes! To each question.

Please give it a go!

Continue on to the next article relative to your journey of faith, “Building a relationship with God“.