Article by: Kenneth J. Ester
Evidence of God: Personal Experiences
I have written about many different pieces of evidence of God's existence. There is however, evidence that in my humble opinion, stands above all the rest. Evidence that is so strong, that I would list it as logical proof! It is called personal experience.
Now if you do not believe in God, or even question His existence, you may be thinking that someone's testimony is not even good evidence much less logical proof. I only ask you to read this article before deciding if that is true or not.
There was a time when I was in church. In protestant churches, the service is usually split into two. The first half is a praise and worship service. The second half is the pastor's preaching. It was during the worship part when I felt God's presence embrace me. It was a feeling of love that was so powerful, I broke down weeping. I mean seriously bawling my eyes out. Usually a hard cry like that will drain a person. Exhaust them. This refreshed me. From that moment on, I knew I could never deny that God was real. Never!
Another time when I was young, I was dealing with sharp pains in my lower back. I was still in high school and it was so bad that I couldn't even sit up from a laying position. When I woke up in the mornings, I had to roll over to my stomach, slide my legs off the bed and get up from my knees. So long as I was standing on my feet or laying down, I felt no pain, but certain motions like trying to sit up from a laying position would feel like a knife being shoved into my lower back.
One day, my pastor did something different. Something I had never seen him do in the couple years I had been going to that church. He held a healing service. It was a large church, seating 2,000 and it was packed. People were walking down to the front and he was walking around laying hands on people and praying over them. I bowed my head and began to pray. I told God that I was not a big believer in the healing stuff and if He wanted me to go down there, He would have to make it very clear to me. I had just finished saying the word "Amen" when my pastor stopped and began to speak. He said "There is someone out there who is having back pain." Then he went on to even describe exactly how I had to get up out of bed in the mornings. Between the timing and description, I had no choice. I had to go down and so I did.
Likely you have seen those crazy fake services on TV where preachers laid hands on people they fell back to the floor. Being "slain in the Spirit" is what they called it. A whole lot of that stuff is fake. That is a fact! Not all of it though.
He touched my head and I fell backwards. To this day I still believe nobody caught me as I remember a motion as if I bounced a little when I hit the floor. Never felt it though. Never felt hands catch me and never felt myself hit the floor. Just felt the motion as if I fell and bounced off a cloud. Then I laid there in silence praying. After a bit, I don't know if it was a few seconds or several minutes, I stopped praying but I could not move. I couldn't even open my eyes. I just laid there perfectly still. Then suddenly I felt a release and knew God was done with me and I could move again. I sat up and got to my feet and went back to my pew. Never felt a single twinge of pain. Only once did I feel that pain, some days later, but I prayed and thanked God for healing me and it went away. Never felt it again. That was back in the early 1980's.
Here is the thing. I am not the only one with these experiences. There are millions across the world who have had similar experiences. I have lost count of all the testimonies I have heard in the past where someone was a bad person and God changed them. I mean people who were in gangs and had killed people. People who were filled with hate and anger and had no respect for human life. People who turned to Jesus and suddenly found themselves filled with love and compassion and forgiveness for others. Some of the testimonies I have heard are just amazing.
The real question is, if God is not real, how does one logically explain all of these experiences? How do millions across the globe, in every nation, have similar experiences?
Are they Lying?
Think about that for a minute. 99.99% of Christians are normal every day people like yourself. They work jobs to survive. What would they have to gain in lying? They don't run churches. They don't have books on the shelves. They don't have talk shows. They have absolutely nothing to gain by lying, except maybe to make their friends and family think they are crazy. People die for their faith all the time. People are not going to die for what they know is a lie. It just is not logical that there are millions across the earth who will claim God has touched them in some special way, and that every single one of them are lying. And remember, if even one of them is telling the truth, it means that God is real. Certainly there are a few who are lying, but there is no chance that all of them are lying.
Are they all Crazy?
You might think they are crazy, but think hard on that. Millions all over the world going crazy and having the same delusion? Really? Does that really seem logical? What about the many who have testimonies of how God changed them in such drastic ways? The last I knew, insanity did not make a habit of turning people into better human beings. To put it simply, crazy don't work that way!
Summary
One person's testimony means nothing in the book of evidence. My personal experiences simply are not real evidence. But the more people who have the same experiences, the stronger that evidence becomes. With millions all over the world having similar experiences, that evidence is basically logical proof.
The truth is, they are not all lying. That simply isn't logical! They are not all crazy either. Can you come up with one single logical explanation? If not then you must consider the only logical explanation. That God is real! It is the only answer that fits.
Important addition to this article...
With the power of personal testimony supporting the existence of God, I would also like to add something else that is just as important as believing in God.
I gave you a couple of my own personal testimonies. I have experienced the love of God embracing me before, and I have experienced real healing. I told you how there are so many testimonies where really bad men have turned to Jesus and He changed them. Ask yourself why the vast majority of life changing testimonies with the Lord are inside of Christianity.
When was the last time you heard a Muslin say that they were angry and hateful but when they turned to Allah, they suddenly became filled with love and compassion and forgiveness for others? When was the last time you heard a Buddhist say that they suddenly felt God embrace them with a love so powerful that they just broke down weeping so hard they couldn't control it? Is it possible to find some in other religions make these claims? Certainly, but it is pretty rare. In Christianity, it is not rare. I see testimonies that are absolutely amazing all the time.
When God seems to actually take part in the lives of one religion and basically ignores the other religions, doesn't that tell you something? Is that not powerful evidence that the one religion He takes part in is the one true religion He supports?
The truth is, there is only one true religion of the one true God. That is Christianity. That religion clearly says that Jesus Christ is the "ONLY" way to heaven.
Some believe that all religions are wrong and God gave them all to us just to keep the world from falling into pure chaos. That just is not logically sound. That is basically what laws are for. Its not religion that keeps the world in order. In fact it is the false religions that are behind many wars. Even false Christianity at times has caused wars. The truth is, God didn't give us all the religions. God gave to us one religion that pushes love and forgiveness. The devil is the one who created the other religions because Christianity says Jesus is the only way. So to lure mankind away from God, he creates religions that gives them more appealing ways to heaven without Jesus. The greatest flaw with every one of those religions is simple. The devil doesn't get you to heaven. Jesus does. Following the devil, even through the guise of religion, will only take one to hell.
Logically, God is real. Logically there is only one true religion and it is the one that God takes part in.
Now if you do not believe in God, or even question His existence, you may be thinking that someone's testimony is not even good evidence much less logical proof. I only ask you to read this article before deciding if that is true or not.
There was a time when I was in church. In protestant churches, the service is usually split into two. The first half is a praise and worship service. The second half is the pastor's preaching. It was during the worship part when I felt God's presence embrace me. It was a feeling of love that was so powerful, I broke down weeping. I mean seriously bawling my eyes out. Usually a hard cry like that will drain a person. Exhaust them. This refreshed me. From that moment on, I knew I could never deny that God was real. Never!
Another time when I was young, I was dealing with sharp pains in my lower back. I was still in high school and it was so bad that I couldn't even sit up from a laying position. When I woke up in the mornings, I had to roll over to my stomach, slide my legs off the bed and get up from my knees. So long as I was standing on my feet or laying down, I felt no pain, but certain motions like trying to sit up from a laying position would feel like a knife being shoved into my lower back.
One day, my pastor did something different. Something I had never seen him do in the couple years I had been going to that church. He held a healing service. It was a large church, seating 2,000 and it was packed. People were walking down to the front and he was walking around laying hands on people and praying over them. I bowed my head and began to pray. I told God that I was not a big believer in the healing stuff and if He wanted me to go down there, He would have to make it very clear to me. I had just finished saying the word "Amen" when my pastor stopped and began to speak. He said "There is someone out there who is having back pain." Then he went on to even describe exactly how I had to get up out of bed in the mornings. Between the timing and description, I had no choice. I had to go down and so I did.
Likely you have seen those crazy fake services on TV where preachers laid hands on people they fell back to the floor. Being "slain in the Spirit" is what they called it. A whole lot of that stuff is fake. That is a fact! Not all of it though.
He touched my head and I fell backwards. To this day I still believe nobody caught me as I remember a motion as if I bounced a little when I hit the floor. Never felt it though. Never felt hands catch me and never felt myself hit the floor. Just felt the motion as if I fell and bounced off a cloud. Then I laid there in silence praying. After a bit, I don't know if it was a few seconds or several minutes, I stopped praying but I could not move. I couldn't even open my eyes. I just laid there perfectly still. Then suddenly I felt a release and knew God was done with me and I could move again. I sat up and got to my feet and went back to my pew. Never felt a single twinge of pain. Only once did I feel that pain, some days later, but I prayed and thanked God for healing me and it went away. Never felt it again. That was back in the early 1980's.
Here is the thing. I am not the only one with these experiences. There are millions across the world who have had similar experiences. I have lost count of all the testimonies I have heard in the past where someone was a bad person and God changed them. I mean people who were in gangs and had killed people. People who were filled with hate and anger and had no respect for human life. People who turned to Jesus and suddenly found themselves filled with love and compassion and forgiveness for others. Some of the testimonies I have heard are just amazing.
The real question is, if God is not real, how does one logically explain all of these experiences? How do millions across the globe, in every nation, have similar experiences?
Are they Lying?
Think about that for a minute. 99.99% of Christians are normal every day people like yourself. They work jobs to survive. What would they have to gain in lying? They don't run churches. They don't have books on the shelves. They don't have talk shows. They have absolutely nothing to gain by lying, except maybe to make their friends and family think they are crazy. People die for their faith all the time. People are not going to die for what they know is a lie. It just is not logical that there are millions across the earth who will claim God has touched them in some special way, and that every single one of them are lying. And remember, if even one of them is telling the truth, it means that God is real. Certainly there are a few who are lying, but there is no chance that all of them are lying.
Are they all Crazy?
You might think they are crazy, but think hard on that. Millions all over the world going crazy and having the same delusion? Really? Does that really seem logical? What about the many who have testimonies of how God changed them in such drastic ways? The last I knew, insanity did not make a habit of turning people into better human beings. To put it simply, crazy don't work that way!
Summary
One person's testimony means nothing in the book of evidence. My personal experiences simply are not real evidence. But the more people who have the same experiences, the stronger that evidence becomes. With millions all over the world having similar experiences, that evidence is basically logical proof.
The truth is, they are not all lying. That simply isn't logical! They are not all crazy either. Can you come up with one single logical explanation? If not then you must consider the only logical explanation. That God is real! It is the only answer that fits.
Important addition to this article...
With the power of personal testimony supporting the existence of God, I would also like to add something else that is just as important as believing in God.
I gave you a couple of my own personal testimonies. I have experienced the love of God embracing me before, and I have experienced real healing. I told you how there are so many testimonies where really bad men have turned to Jesus and He changed them. Ask yourself why the vast majority of life changing testimonies with the Lord are inside of Christianity.
When was the last time you heard a Muslin say that they were angry and hateful but when they turned to Allah, they suddenly became filled with love and compassion and forgiveness for others? When was the last time you heard a Buddhist say that they suddenly felt God embrace them with a love so powerful that they just broke down weeping so hard they couldn't control it? Is it possible to find some in other religions make these claims? Certainly, but it is pretty rare. In Christianity, it is not rare. I see testimonies that are absolutely amazing all the time.
When God seems to actually take part in the lives of one religion and basically ignores the other religions, doesn't that tell you something? Is that not powerful evidence that the one religion He takes part in is the one true religion He supports?
The truth is, there is only one true religion of the one true God. That is Christianity. That religion clearly says that Jesus Christ is the "ONLY" way to heaven.
Some believe that all religions are wrong and God gave them all to us just to keep the world from falling into pure chaos. That just is not logically sound. That is basically what laws are for. Its not religion that keeps the world in order. In fact it is the false religions that are behind many wars. Even false Christianity at times has caused wars. The truth is, God didn't give us all the religions. God gave to us one religion that pushes love and forgiveness. The devil is the one who created the other religions because Christianity says Jesus is the only way. So to lure mankind away from God, he creates religions that gives them more appealing ways to heaven without Jesus. The greatest flaw with every one of those religions is simple. The devil doesn't get you to heaven. Jesus does. Following the devil, even through the guise of religion, will only take one to hell.
Logically, God is real. Logically there is only one true religion and it is the one that God takes part in.
