http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/thisweekinchristianhistory/
November 29, 1898: Christian writer and scholar C.S. Lewis, one of modern Christianity's best-loved writers, is born in Belfast, Ireland (see issue 7: C.S. Lewis).
Lewis is an example of those intellectuals who are intent on proving through rationalism that there is no room for a god or more specifically, God. Although he was born into a Christian setting and carried out church duties as a youth, atheism attracted him as he grew older.
However, through much thought and discussion with others (i.e. - the matter of universal morality), he came to accept that there is some form of higher power (theism, 1929). He eventually committed to the Christian faith (1931), partly due to the influence of his friend and colleague, J.R.R. Tolkien, another prolific writer (The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, LOTR...).
Lewis, in his book "Surprised by Joy", describes his conversion in these words -
"You must picture me alone in that room in Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England." (pp 228,229)
Lewis recognized that there is a profound difference between acknowledging that "God [is] God", and accepting Christianity.
What is the difference?
Tolkien was later disappointed by Lewis' decision to rejoin the Church of England rather than becoming a Roman Catholic. Are we clear enough in our personal beliefs that we can allow other Christians the freedom to worship in the manner that they deem best for themselves? It appears that Tolkien was.
Who, what is to be the drawing card of our worship? What does it take to smash down the barriers that separate Christians from unitedly worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ? Obviously more than an Ecumenical Movement!
Ephsians 4:13 - "This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ." (NLT)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBxOkruKpqI&ob=av3e
Well that's quite a ramble on one small peek into our Christian history (yup, C.S. Lewis is one of my favorites), but hopefully one that will stimulate us to seek the center of our faith and worship Him freely. It's the best legacy we can leave for those who will look back upon our lives!