Greetings

I wanted to share an experience from my workplace. As many of you know, I work for the Federal Government (as a scientist in the FDA) and this is not always an environment that is conducive to having religious (especially Christian conversations).

One of my work colleagues, and a friend, challenged me with a question the other day. As background, she knows that I am a Christian; she has a background in both the Lutheran and Catholic Church, and is enduring a number of spiritual struggles (which I will allude to later). So she stopped by one day and let me know that she is watching the A.D., The Bible Continues TV series, which she is really enjoying, and she asked me “Do you truly believe in the resurrection?” Without giving me time to answer she went into some work related conversations. Before she left, I took our conversation back to her first question. I let her know that yes, I truly believe that Jesus rose from the dead. And she asked “As a scientist, don’t you struggle with this?” And I told her that as a scientist, I struggle with many of the topics in the Bible, but I confirmed to her that I do believe. Was this the best answer I could give? Looking back, probably not, but it lays the ground work for additional conversation.

As I mentioned, my friend has been struggling with many spiritual issues over the last few years. In no particular order, she has been struggling with her faith, having fallen away from routine church attendance. She has two young daughters that have not been baptized. Her husband is a vocal atheist. And a little over a year ago, she almost lost her mother to an unexpected illness.

She finds herself pulled in many directions, as many of us do. Her mother is “pressuring her” to go back to church, as she sees the serious medical event and her recovery as a miracle and a sign from God. Her husband is resisting, and unhappy, with her decision to start instruction to have their two daughters baptized. And overall, she is truly struggling with believing the Gospel message, but is open to re-building her faith. With God’s help, I will try my best to be ready to share what and why I believe, when given the opportunity.

I am sure that many of you have friends or family members that are going through similar experiences. We have opportunities every day to exhibit our hope in God’s promise revealed to us in Jesus’ death and resurrection (and unlike our Christian brothers and sisters throughout the world, we likely won’t be martyred for espousing our faith). I pray that we can all be ready when called upon and that we allow the Holy Spirit to work through us.

Your Brother in Christ.

Bob Iser

Council President

“…but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,…” 1 Peter 3:15 (ESV)