I believe in HIM and am filled with inexpressible and glorious joy!!

I think it is really important to know what we believe and to be able to explain our reasons for our faith in Christ.  At the same time, in my discussions with friends and family who don't yet believe in Jesus, I always come to a point in the discussion where I am compelled to describe my personal experience with God.  Because aside from all of the reasonable and rational  reasons I claim faith in God, like the ones found in Mere Christianity, More than a Carpenter, and Evidence that Demands a Verdict, my own spiritual transformation is also a very real testimony to the existence of God.  And I just have to say, that way deep down I just know what I know to be true!  I read this yesterday in 1 Peter 1: 8-9:

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

That pretty much captures how I feel about Jesus!

But since I do in fact believe it is important to be able to defend my faith logically, I continue to read and study.  So I am currently reading The Reason For God by Timothy Keller.  What a great book!  In the first half of the book he answers the seven reasons for rejecting the Christian faith that he hears most frequently.  The following quote is taken from the chapter dealing with "How could a Good God Allow Suffering?"

If you have a God great and transcendent enough to be mad at because he hasn't stopped evil and suffering in the world, then you have (at the same moment) a God great and transcendent enough to have good reasons for allowing it to continue that you can't know.  Indeed, you can't have it both ways.

I thought about this quote as I watched the end of the Dark Knight.  It made me appreciate the movie's ending even more.