grad student gives her life to Jesus

3 Reasons Why This Muslim Doctor Gave Her Life to Jesus

Peter Guirguis Testimony 38 Comments

I was wrong.

When I first started this blog in 2011, I set out with the goal to convince atheists that God exists.

After all, I was a former atheist, and so I thought I would be helping atheists change their minds about God.

How was I going to do that?

  • Through Apologetics
  • Through science
  • Through logic
  • Through reason

And after consistently writing articles and creating videos for the past few years, I can say that I have not achieved my goal.

I don’t know of any atheists who have become Christians because of any of the content that I have created.

However, I do have people regularly contacting me and thanking me for some of the content that they found on my blog.

That’s because these people have been struggling with doubts, and one of my articles or videos helped them with what they were struggling with.

So Why Am I Sharing This With You?

It’s because I’m beginning to feel that while apologetics, science, logic, and reason, do have their roles in defending the faith and in helping people out,  the best thing for unbelievers is to go on their own faith journey.

Meanwhile, I haven’t found any kind of cookie-cutter method to convince people that they need to give their life to Jesus.

Although the basics always will remain the same and that is that we need to share the gospel.

the gospel is the only good news that has the power to get you into heaven

I find that there is one thing in common in most of the people who have changed their minds about God.

They all went on a faith personal journey.

Each one of them set out to discover the truth, fight back against something they were struggling with, prove somebody wrong, and they ended up with believing in Jesus.

Now I might be wrong, but I’m just sharing my heart with you and my beliefs.

And quite frankly, I don’t mind being wrong.

I’m actually wrong quite a bit of the time, so what else is new 🙂 .

So check out this video about this woman who went on her own faith journey.

Here’s what you’ll discover:

  • Why people who have different views about God can’t BOTH be right
  • Why this woman converted to Christianity even though she felt that she succeeded in proving that Christianity is flawed
  • What happens to you when you pray to a god who doesn’t exist
  • The two ways to read the Bible, one that will lead to disillusionment and the other that will lead to reality
  • Why this woman wanted to stay a Muslim after she asked Jesus into her heart

 

[author title=”About the Author”]

 

Comments 38

  1. Hey Peter!

    You are certainly correct (at least in my opinion) that religious (Christian) apologetics, science, logic and reason will not convince an atheist that God exists. Frankly I’m shocked that apologetics, science, logic and reason from a Christian viewpoint or perspective even convinces Christians.

    From what I’ve gathered from your posts and readers responses, belief in God (or Allah, or any god/diety) can only be accomplished honestly via faith. The problem for those of us who have stepped outside of religion is that we now recognize that faith can be used to justify ANY belief, Therefore faith is in no way is a viable pathway to truth. For me, believing in true things is very important. This is why believers get so much push back from non believers over faith claims.

    Just my thoughts. I look forward to responses on this topic.

    R

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      Hi R,

      I think you are correct in your conclusion, that belief in God can only be accomplished via faith. What I found about apologetics, science, and logic, is that it can be a great segue to initiate conversations but ultimately it always is going to lead to faith.

      Thanks for your feedback, and it’ll be interesting to see what the rest of the community has to say about the subject.

    2. R, I have always thought it is most productive to replace the word “faith” with “trust.” People mistakenly associate faith with groundless or blind faith, and that definitely doesn’t seem like a good foundation for believing in God. However, Christians have many good reasons to trust that God exists. You can find a good list of such arguments at websites like ReasonableFaith.org. At the very least, even if a person is skeptical, I think that the Christian worldview better explains reality than any other competing belief system. Not all “faiths” are equally warranted.

      So, blind faith shouldn’t be used to justify anything. However, a trust that has been developed over time for good reasons is a different story.

      1. Michael,

        Thanks for the response! If I replace the word faith with the trust….. can’t I still use trust to justify any position I hold?

        Example – I trust that Osiris will lead me to the afterlife. Or, I trust that the Book of Mormon is the true and correct word of God.

        What constitutes trust developed for good reasons? Muslims certainly trust what they believe to the point of dying happily for it – now I’d call THAT trust!

        I’m not sure how changing the words get me any closer to actual truth??

        R

        1. Well R, I am not surprised by your view.
          I can fully understand it. But the Bible does say to us that without faith we cannot please God.
          So to me there is no problem. Just a thing that confirms the Word!
          This is my first time answering to someone on this. Please don’t be harsh on me for i have been bashed many times elsewhere! Agression is a real problem with atheists lately.
          God bless!

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            Don’t worry Luca, your comments are always welcome here. I also have a strict comments policy here on Not Ashamed of the Gospel and the entire community always follows it https://notashamedofthegospel.com/comments-policy/ . Anybody who doesn’t gets his comment deleted. And if they continue to be disrespectful, then they get banned from the site.

            I can see from your comments that you are a nice person and respectful so we welcome your dialogue on this website. R, has become a good friend of mine, and he is a nice person. So you can expect a kind and high-quality reply from R if he is available and has time to reply back.

          2. Hi Luca and welcome to the party!

            First, sorry that you’ve been bashed by atheists or others online. Pretty awful that people can’t have a civil discussion even if they disagree. I think the online, anonymous forum creates some real bullies huh?!?!

            Second, thanks for the thoughtful response. Peter will attest that I’m truly interested in what people think/believe and why. The process you described as have faith and things will make sense seems backwards to me. My process is to believe something once I’ve been given good reason to be confident it is true and not before. So far, I haven’t come across anything that would give me good reason to believe anything supernatural or religious warrants my confidence in its truth. And I’ve looked…. HARD!

            One other quick thought – the word faith shows up a LOT in replies to Peter’s posts. My question has always been – what position cannot be held by faith? If faith can be used to justify ANY belief then it doesn’t help me reach actual truth.

            Nice talking to you. Hope we get to have more exchanges!

            R

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              Hi Luca, yes, I can attest that R truly is a person who is interested in what people think/believe and why. I personally consider him my friend, and I’m honored that I got to know him through this blog 😊.

              1. Faith has a broad term lately. So i’m hesitant to give a definition. I would go by the term the Bible uses!
                Thanks for the kind comments!
                God bless.

              2. @R I couldn’t reply so i had to post here i hope you can see it.
                Hebrews 11:1
                Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

                God bless!

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              4. Hey Luca!

                Sorry for taking so long with a reply – been on vacation, etc. lately.

                So on the topic of faith…… using your definition (the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen), is there any proposition I can’t accept as true by simply having enough faith?

                R

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  2. Faith is nothing more than accepting some presuppositions. We all have them. We cannot function without them. Very little can be proven beyond ANY doubt. We must accept some things on the probability that they are true. We can factor in what we want to believe for God has given His children a predisposition to trust Him. “No one can come to Me unless the Father draw him”

    1. John,

      I’d agree that we accept things based on probability, or you might say confidence. I’m confident that things I accept as reality are consistent day in and day out. These things are repeatable and testable. I don’t see the warrant for confidence in a deity or the supernatural since neither has ever been detected, much less interacted with reality in a way that can be proven.

      Thanks for the thoughts,

      R

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        1. Peter,

          I definitely believe in love! And here’s why – my wife, family, friends demonstrate it every day! Especially the wife 😉 since she keeps me around! I have a very reliable, repeatable process to see love (or the emotion we label love) in real live people, in real time and in real space. Kinda cool huh?!?

          Oh, and for the record, I believe in wind as well!

          Peace,

          R

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            Aww, what a great answer, R! I LOVED your response 😊. I’d be honored to meet you and your wife one day. I’d love for you to meet mine, she’s a spectacular person, especially because she puts up with me 😊.

            So the reason why I asked you about if you believe in love, is because it’s kind of a hard thing to measure. For example, there is no scientific tool in which you can measure love. But yet it exists.

            In my opinion, it’s the same thing with God. There is no scientific tool to measure God, yet He exists. You can see His handiwork in creation but I guess some people can still explain that away through some other means. Just like people who explain love as oxytocin that is released in the brain.

            You know what I mean, R?

            1. I have a funny analogy.
              God is like wind.
              Wind is invisible to the eye but can be measured.
              Wind becomes visible when a tornado gathers dust and objects.
              God is invisible to the eye.
              But God is Love.
              Love is measured in our heart.
              Love is made seen through us to others when we show compassion.
              Might be a little off but i tried.
              God bless!

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            2. Heck ya Peter – if you guys are ever in the Dallas, TX let us know and we’ll grab dinner!

              I’m with you on not being able to measure love. Other than day in, day out observation of those around us and how we interact. IMO this is strong evidence for what we call love.

              I don’t have that experience from a supernatural source to reference or compare. I guess my opinion is adding a supernatural element or explanation is unnecessary.

              R

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                Hi R, that would be awesome! I’m definitely going to be planning a trip to Texas sometime in the future. I’m not sure how soon it will be. But if I am in Dallas, I’d love to look you up and connect with you.

                Can you please do me a favor? Can you please click on the contact button and send me your email address? I don’t want for you to share it publicly to protect your identity. Unless you want me to use the same email address that you use when commenting?

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      That’s an interesting point that you bring up John. And I do agree with you. What would you recommend to the atheist that is looking for evidence for the existence of God? How would you recommend that he or she approach the subject?

  3. I regularly listen to Ravi Zacharias who is the supreme apologist in my humble opinion. He travels the world speaking at multiple universities in addition to other places and gets asked the hardest questions, and his answers are always impeccable.
    So I feel there is nothing wrong in your goal, maybe a few pointers in seeing how Ravi operates could assist you in your particular angle in these matters, could be of assistance.
    Blessings to you and yours
    Doug

  4. Peter,

    I really appreciate your posts and especially your candidness in this one. My experience has led me to the same conclusion: that God uses a journey to bring people to Him. Don’t stop what you’re doing because my guess is your efforts contribute to many people’s journeys to receiving Christ’s gift of salvation.

    I know your words encourage me in my walk!

    Ultimately it’s the simple Gospel message of Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins and the conviction of the Holy Spirit that urges people to choose to receive Him just like the woman in that wonderful video!

    ~ Mark

    1. Amen to that, Mark. And thank you very much for your kind words, they really go a long way.

      I will not be giving up my blogging here Not Ashamed of the Gospel. It’s just that I feel that God is leading me in a slightly different direction and I’m going to be sharing it with the community in a couple of weeks time.

  5. Hi Peter, I like all of the things that you do and I always read your emails. I always think that the things you say are very worthwhile. My pastor said that apologetics on important, but the only better person so far. I am finding that to be the case. That said, I wouldn’t be able to cross that bridge of faith without a good evidence or proof. there’s always going to be some degree oven certainty. But I am trying to eliminate those certain areas for myself leading to a better bigger faith. I honestly don’t like the word “faith “. I think Michael said that “trust” was easier, and I do find that to be the case. My pastor said the actual Greek word for faith, belief, and trust are all the same thing (pisteuó). In Strong’s concordance, it says pisteuó “to believe, have faith in, trust in”. Check it out—http://biblehub.com/greek/4100.htm

    Kate

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      Thanks so much Kate for your kind words. It’s wonderful to have you be a part of the Not Ashamed of the Gospel Community.

      I also like the word trust. I think it is a much more tangible word and that’s probably why it appeals to you more.

      I didn’t know about the Greek word for faith, believe, and trust being all the same. So thank you for teaching me that 😊.

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  7. Love that video. She came ultimately to the same conclusion I did after reading Hawkings and numerous other online thinkers and philosophers. If you take the Bible at face value, and contrast everything else, at some point, (I believe this is an absolute [see Revelation 3:20]), that every honest seeker will come to a point where they realize it takes more faith to believe the lies of the enemy [read Satan], than to believe the words of Jesus. Remember that when Satan tried to tempt Jesus, even he quoted scripture. He quoted scripture to God on High with deceptive intent. You can’t get more arrogant or evil, and yet, there is so much danger in human teaching. When we stop following the voices in christian (or non-christian) media and follow the voice of the Lord, we will be satisfied. I promise, because that’s God’s promise, and his promises hold (and don’t get me going on when he doesn’t answer my prayers the way I want him to).

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