A Mere Christian

Author: Ron Smith, MD
Located in: Senoia, Georgai
Submitted: June 06, 2014

    Tell us a little about yourself.  I'm a practicing Pediatrician, now in my 31st year. I have a passion for Christ, and a desire to see Christians strong in their love for the Lord.

    What was your motivation behind this project?  I began teaching C. S. Lewis' Mere Christianity to our adult Sunday school class about a year prior to my book. I've been studying and reading Lewis for almost 40 years, but very intently the last 3 or 4 years. Stacy and I, now married 36 years, lost our youngest daughter Laura at the age of 24 from a severe congenital disability. The Lord demonstrated in a remarkable way how he had been with us through all those had years as Stacy cared for her during the day, I and I at night. Laura's passing prompted me to carefully examine why I believed everything I had for all those years. A Mere Christian is one of those results.

    What do you hope folks will gain from this project?  I sincerely want Christians not to be sifted and defeated. Christians need to know some basic things about their Christianity in order to be ready for Satan's assaults. To be sure, the storms will come, but it is only in the storms that we get to see Christ walking on the water!

    How were you personally impacted by working on this project?  It has clearly made my Christian foundation thicker. I'm clear in my own mind why I believe what I believe. In day to day life we tend to begin to accept things that we hear without clearly weighing them in the spiritual balance. After writing A Mere Christian, I have profoundly changed the way I think as I see God outside of time and space. How do I know God is a loving God? How can I prove that? Was Jesus just a great teacher, or God made man and what does that difference mean? Those issues are once and for all settled in my mind. I thought I was a mature Christian before, but now He is so much more exalted, desired, and praised than I ever imagined!

    Who are your influences, sources of inspiration or favorite authors / artists?  C. S. Lewis and Knox Chamblin were the biggest author/speaker influences in writing A Mere Christian. Laura Michelle, my daughter (here story is in Forever And A Day For Laura Michelle), and my wife Stacy are the two personal relationships that launched A Mere Christian.

    Anything else you'd like readers / listeners to know:  The web site for the book has extensive excerpts where you can learn more about me, and even take a test to see how much you really know or don't know about your Christianity. Just do a search for "a mere christian" and you'll find the site. Laura's story is Forever And A Day for Laura Michelle and available for free on iTunes and Goodreads.

• Books, eBooks & Audio >> Academic >> Missions Evangelism & Apologetics >> Apologetics >> Info & Answers
• Books, eBooks & Audio >> Christian Living >> Spirituality >> Spiritual Growth