One of my favorite authors down through the years has been E. Stanley Jones. He was a Christian thinker far ahead of his time. These past few days I have been reading some of his writing and remarks on “conversion.”
He makes the point that life on our planet is based on conversion. Photo-synthesis is the process by which the energy of sunlight is used in transforming water and air into plant food. Without that basic conversion life would perish. He follows this line of reasoning to the conclusion of , “where there is life there is conversion. The whole process of living is the conversion of lower forms into higher forms. The mineral is taken up into the vegetable, the vegetable into the animal, the animal into man and woman, and the man and woman into the kingdom of God.”
He makes the point that no two conversions are alike but all involve change. He also writes that “everyone at forty needs reconversion on general principles. Because at forty we settle down, begin to lose that sense of spiritual expectancy….we begin to play for safety.”
If someone asked you about conversion and what you thought of it, would you have an answer for them?
It might help to remember what E. Stanley Jones calls the “D’s” of conversion, steps if you will of conversion. They are: Doubt. Darkness. Despair. Decision. Dawn. Deliverance. Delight. Development.
Over forty? You might want to consider a reconversion!
One of my favorite authors down through the years has been E. Stanley Jones. He was a Christian thinker far ahead of his time. These past few days I have been reading some of his writing and remarks on “conversion.”
He makes the point that life on our planet is based on conversion. Photo-synthesis is the process by which the energy of sunlight is used in transforming water and air into plant food. Without that basic conversion life would perish. He follows this line of reasoning to the conclusion of , “where there is life there is conversion. The whole process of living is the conversion of lower forms into higher forms. The mineral is taken up into the vegetable, the vegetable into the animal, the animal into man and woman, and the man and woman into the kingdom of God.”
He makes the point that no two conversions are alike but all involve change. He also writes that “everyone at forty needs reconversion on general principles. Because at forty we settle down, begin to lose that sense of spiritual expectancy….we begin to play for safety.”
If someone asked you about conversion and what you thought of it, would you have an answer for them?
It might help to remember what E. Stanley Jones calls the “D’s” of conversion, steps if you will of conversion. They are: Doubt. Darkness. Despair. Decision. Dawn. Deliverance. Delight. Development.
Over forty? You might want to consider a reconversion!