Basic Christianity: Viewed Through the Lens of Relationship

By Jim Allen

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 Allen

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Oct 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9781667872506

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ISBN: 978-1-66-787250-6

Forward

Our son, our only child, was killed in an accident at Christmas time of 2001. He was just twenty-five years old. My wife and I knew, beyond doubt, that God did that. My wife even wrote down exactly how He did it.

We are told in the Bible that we must love the Lord our God with all of our mind, heart, and soul (Matt. 22:37-38). How could I love a God who killed my kid? This event created a monumental crisis of belief in my life. It demolished my little house of faith, that I had built over the years, all the way down to its foundation.

Over the last twenty years, God has rebuilt that house to be stronger. Through that process He has given me a better understanding of who He is, what my relationship with Him needs to be, how He develops that relationship, and how incredibly important all of that is. It turns out that this event also taught me about God’s grace and love for me and my son, and just how far He is willing to go to accomplish His purpose for both of us. This is a good thing.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

The Bible tells us that we are to know God. It also tells us that God is unknowable. So, how does one come to know a God who is unknowable? The answer is found in Psalms 23:4, Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me…. Death is just one of the tools in God’s tool belt. A person can only know that God is with him by walking through those kinds of valleys. In that way, we come to know the Lord relationally through our experiences.

This book chronicles all that I have learned about God, choices, and relationships. My relationship with the Lord would not be as deep as it is today, nor would this book have been written, had my son lived.

So, who am I? I’m an average human being with quirks, foibles, hopes, fears, and desires that all humans have. I am, more importantly, a child of God. I am also a Christian who refuses to be labeled by any of the ists and isms, (e.g. Calvinist(ism)), which attempt to define how an unexplainable, indescribable God operates. I have come to understand that we can know God relationally, experientially. However, as finite humans, we can never gain enough empirical knowledge of the infinite, unexplainable God that would enable us to fully explain how and why He does what He does.

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8–9)

The secret things belong to the Lord our God…. ()

In short, I am just a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ, not affiliated with any specific denomination, although I have served as both a deacon and an ordained elder in the churches I’ve attended.

I am also a retired electrical engineer. I have spent my career working in a variety of fields. I have held various engineering positions in multiple organizations, including managing engineering production and design groups with Honeywell, GTE, and Siemens.

Ever since I became a Christian, I’ve wondered what a person does to have a relationship with God. Over the years, I have been taught by several theologians, pastors, and lay leaders. All have used a considerable amount of academic, theological language to explain this issue of relationship with God. This often led to more confusion than understanding.

The person who did the best job of explaining this topic to me was my good friend and Christian brother, Dr. Dick Elkins. Dick had his PhD. in linguistics. He, along with his wife, Betty, spent forty years of his life in the jungles of Mindanao, translating the New Testament into the Manobo languages. Dick was one of the smartest people I know. Whenever Dick took the pulpit, his sermons