Basic Christianity

If you were to chose one word that would describe what Christianity is about, what would that word be? There are many good answers to that question, for example: salvation, faith, Jesus, love, redemption, etc. However, there is one word that encompasses all other words. That word is "relationship." Christianity is not merely a religion––it's a relationship with God. The Bible tells us God desires that we know Him. It also tells us that He is unknowable. How does one come to know a God who is unknowable? The Bible says He is sovereign, and that He gives us choices. How can God's sovereignty be compatible with man's freedom to chose? Many other confusing, but knowable, issues are addressed in this book. Over the years, my own personal relationship with God has given me a better understanding of how Christianity works, i.e., who God is, what my relationship with Him requires, how He develops that relationship, and how incredibly important that process is to my walk of faith. I am a retired electrical engineer. Engineers want to know the answer to questions like: How does a system or device work? and What makes it go? That is part of the reason I've written this book. I wanted an answer to the questions: How does Christianity work? and What makes Christianity go? In Basic Christianity, Viewed Through the Lens of Relationship I have used engineering methods and diagrams, gained from years of experience, to answer those questions in a way that will provide a "plain language" explanation of "Christian relationship" from a Biblical perspective. The God of the Bible is infinite. Therefore, there are an infinite number of things to know about Him. Basic Christianity, Viewed Through the Lens of Relationship begins that journey of discovery.

Jim was born in May of 1946, one of the first of the Baby Boomer generation. As a young child he possessed an inexplainable desire to attend church, but when he went to Sunday school he encountered hostility from the other kids, both physically and emotionally. That confused him. He thought that church was supposed to be a good place, a peaceful place, a place of joy and acceptance. For him, it was the opposite. It led him to conclude that God and church were not something he wanted to be a part of. After he completed his military service in 1971, Jim attended the University of New Mexico and graduated with a bachelors degree in electrical engineering. He spent his career in electronic equipment manufacture and design. It was after his marriage in 1974 that the issues of God and faith were revived. Jim's struggle was intensified after their son was born in 1976, exactly two weeks before Christmas. On Christmas Eve day they were informed that he had hypothyroidism, a disorder that causes physical and mental retardation. It was a crisis that raised serious questions about the goodness of God. That evening Jim attended a church service where he had a personal encounter with God as he, for the first time in his life, earnestly prayed to God asking why this happened and for his son to be healed. God answered that prayer in a way that Jim had never experienced. It led to his confession of faith in Christ in 1981. He became actively involved in church, serving as a deacon and later as an ordained elder. As Jim's grown in his faith through the years, he's struggled to know how a personal relationship with God actually develops. In his quest to find the answer, he attended classes taught by theologians, pastors, and lay leaders. They used primarily academic, theological language that created more confusion than understanding. His effort to resolve this confusion has led him to write Basic Christianity, Viewed Through the Lens of Relationship.