In every field, Christians must learn critical thinking skills. Otherwise, we may simply absorb idol-based philosophies from the intellectual atmosphere.

Long before pragmatism was developed into a full-blown American philosophy (see chapter 8), it had already been formulated and practiced by evangelical leaders.

So when Paul says he is "not ashamed of the gospel," he is saying that a Christian worldview will not let you down. It will not disappoint. 69 Christianity fulfills the human hunger for a unified, integrated worldview to live by. It has the intellectual resources to provide a holistic, internally consistent guide to life.

Christianity is saving truth and it's sanctifying truth, but we believe that it's Total Truth. It is the truth about every aspect of life from economics to masculinity to marriage. God has the right view on all of these things.

For the early scientists, the image of God was not a dry doctrine to which they gave merely cognitive assent. Nor was it a purely private "faith." They treated it as a public truth, the epistemological foundation for the entire scientific enterprise. Their goal, they said, was to think God's thoughts after him. 27 At the time of the scientific revolution, biblical epistemology was the guarantee that the human mind is equipped to gain genuine knowledge of the world.

Having a Christian worldview means being utterly convinced that biblical principles are not only true but also work better in the grit and grime of the real world.

A biblically based worldview is capable of affirming the best insights of secular philosophies without ever falling into reductionism.

A Christian approach to any field needs to be both critical and constructive. We cannot simply borrow from the results of secular scholarship as though that were spiritually neutral territory discovered by people whose minds are completely open and objective- that is, *as though the fall had never happened*.

Being filled and led by the Spirit may take you places you never planned; but the will of God will never lead you where the grace of God cannot keep you.

It takes time to establish trust in something or someone because it requires consistent and continuous behavior demonstrated over time. That is why our relationships are so fragile. It may take months or years to establish a high level of trust, but one act of unfaithfulness can destroy it. We can choose to forgive those who betray us, but it would take a long time to regain the trust that was lost.

the will of God will never lead you where the grace of God cannot keep you. I

if you want God's blessing, He must be the architect of the vision.