Finding Faith in a Skeptical World with Author Chet Galaska

Our special guest today is author Chet Galaska. Chet was an atheist who became a believer slowly over time as he approached faith with an open mind. As he wandered along the road to faith, he looked for an easy-to-read guide to help him understand Christianity. He didn't find what he was looking for; so he decided to write, Finding Faith in a Skeptical World for skeptics and seekers to help them grasp Christian issues.

One of the most challenging aspects of Christianity is accepting that bad things happen to everyone--even those who believe in God and follow His laws. I asked Chet to address this issue today.

Chet's turn:


If God exists, why does he let bad things happen?

This is really a question of who God is. If you think God’s purpose is to make sure nothing bad ever happens to anybody, you’ve got a point – that God doesn’t exist. But many think that if this cosmic Santa Claus they’ve dreamed up doesn’t exist, then no God exists at all or, if he does, he can’t be good or merciful.

This couldn’t be more untrue. God is an honest realist who told us through the Bible that natural disasters will occur and warned us of man’s destructive traits. He’s also explained that he has a longer view of things than mankind: his perspective is eternal. And he’s shown man the way to obtain the best gift ever conceived: eternal life.

This gift is available to those who love God. God desires heartfelt love and the only way man can freely give it is if he isn’t enticed or pushed into it. This is where our imperfect world comes into play. God won’t manipulate the world to extricate love because the love he desires is genuine, not fake.

Fake love is given all the time. Tyrants have a fetish for crowd adulation, and they get it by holding massive rallies where thousands of people shout their love and support. But many of these people attend only because the consequences of not going are beatings or jail time. This love is coerced.

There’s another way to get sham love: bribery. Anna Nicole Smith was an exotic dancer who married an 89-year-old billionaire who showered her with millions of dollars in cash and gifts. He died months after the marriage, and she contested his estate in court by claiming that her husband always said she could have half. It sure looked like she loved the money, not him.

Because God doesn’t seek fake love, he won’t coerce man to express it. He also won’t bribe him for it by fixing every problem and answering every prayer. He’s given us free will, which means we’re able to make up our own minds. We can ignore God and muddle through life or we can genuinely love him and embrace his peace.

The bad things that happen – hurricanes, diseases, corruption, murder and thousands of others – are part of an imperfect world that’s a stage on which man can choose to love God and receive eternal life, strength, forgiveness and a peace that transcends worldly problems. These gifts from God let man put his short, finite life on earth in perspective and understand that this world is just a prelude to eternal life. Those who’ve accepted God know the reality of this peace and, because of it, they know the reality of God himself.

God is real, he’s good and he’s merciful. But he operates in ways that man, engulfed by worldly concerns, often refuses to see.


To find out more about Chet Galaska and Finding Faith in a Skeptical World, visit http://findingfaith.us/.

You can read our review of Finding Faith here.

New Book by Chet Galaksa Shows You How to Find Faith in a Skeptical World

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Join author Chet Galaska as he travels the blogosphere in April 2009 with Pump Up Your Book Promotion Public Relations on his first virtual book tour to discuss the issues in his new Christian nonfiction book, Finding Faith in a Skeptical World.

Chet Galaska was an atheist who became a Christian in his early fifties. It took several years of learning about the faith for him to shed his skepticism and become a believer.

Finding Faith in a Skeptical World covers subjects that once stood between him and faith. As he searched, he found that his skepticism was based on shallow perceptions he’d accepted at face value. One by one, troublesome issues were explained and they became reasons for belief instead of doubt. Eventually, the evidence for faith far outweighed the arguments for disbelief, and the case for faith became overwhelming.

Some chapters deal with matters of faith such as prayer, redemption, salvation and sin. Others address issues like Christian hypocrisy, why bad things happen, miracles, Satan and the Christian view of war. Some are about the seemingly contradictory relationship between science and religion that are discussed in chapters on scientific perception, creation and evolution. Other subjects like the sometimes violent and cruel history of Christianity, “Born Agains” and the Christian view of the Jewish people don’t fit neatly into any category. The common denominator is that each addresses an issue that can be misunderstood and create a distorted, negative view of the faith.

The book was written with the intent of providing brief shortcuts for curious unbelievers, those seeking faith, those new to it, and for Christians who may not be familiar with some of the ideas covered.

Praise for “Finding Faith in a Skeptical World”…

Finding Faith in a Skeptical World is one of the most practical, refreshing reads I’ve come across in a long time…down-to-earth but not condescending…I, for one, plan to give copies to my non-Christian friends… — Kathi Macias, Award-winning author of more than 20 books, including the best-selling devotional A Moment a Day

Every honest skeptic owes it to himself or herself to read Chet Galaska's Finding Faith in a Skeptical World, a critical component in charting an honest journey toward truth. - Daryl E. Witmer, Christian apologist and executive director of the AIIA Institute, Monson, Maine

Chet Galaska graduated from the University of Hartford, West Hartford, CT with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. He co-founded a company that grew into a multi-million dollar enterprise and was its President for 24 years. He also served as Chairman of the New England Chapter of the American Foundry Society. In 2003 he sold his interest in the company and now invests in real estate. He and his wife, Lisa, live in Massachusetts. They have two grown sons, Jon and Drew.

You can find Chet online at http://findingfaith.us/.

“Having read Chet’s book, I am proud to represent it,” says Cheryl Malandrinos, Tour Coordinator for Pump Up Your Book Promotion Public Relations. “I’m honored to have the chance to help him spread the word about it.”

If you would like to follow Chet Galaska on his virtual book tour, visit the official Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tour site at http://virtualbooktours.wordpress.com/.

Chet Galaska’s virtual book tour is brought to you by Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tours, a virtual book tour agency for authors who want quality service for an affordable price. More information can be found on their website at http://www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.com/.

Giving Up--Cheryl Malandrinos Style

In case you're wondering what happened to this month's National Blog Posting Month--life happened. I am in the midst of revising my first children's picture book manuscript that is under consideration; I am writing the Vacation Bible School program for church; an article is due to my editor at Writer2Writer next week, and I am working on three books with my daughter's preschool for their upcoming art show on April 9th. Oh, did I mention that I have five virtual book tours that start on April 1st?

All my blogs have suffered this last week. I apologize if you wandered out here and didn't find a daily post; but April is coming soon and hopefully after the first week of the month I'll be able to get back into the swing of things.

Speaking of the first week of April, we have great stuff planned. T.E. Scott, author of The Losing Game: Why You Can't Beat Wall Street is our guest blogger on April 1st, followed by our participation in the Dan Fogelberg Retrospective CD virtual tour on April 2nd.

If you haven't checked out my review of Finding Faith in a Skeptical World by Chet Galaska, you'll find it here. Chet and many other authors will be touring with Pump Up Your Book Promotion in April to discuss their books. Check out http://www.virtualbooktoursforauthors.blogspot.com/ to see the entire list of April Authors on Tour.

Thanks for stopping by. I won't be posting over the weekend, so see you Monday!

Finding Faith in a Skeptical World by Chet Galaska--Book Review

Some books about faith overwhelm you with complex theology and language. Some are so condescending that they turn you off. But that definitely isn't the case with Finding Faith in a Skeptical World by Chet Galaska.

Finding Faith is a guide to what faith in God truly means. For the believer, it provides answers to questions they often feel inadequate to discuss. And for others, Finding Faith can help explain some of the most difficult concepts surrounding putting your faith in an all-knowing, all-powerful, loving God.

* Why doesn't prayer always work?
* What is sin and why is it important?
* Why do bad things happen?
* How is the Bible relevant to me?
* Why are there so many different Christian churches?
* How are Christians expected to conduct themselves?
* Why doesn't science prove there's a God?

These and many more topics are discussed by a former atheist who became a Christian after several years of investigating the faith with an open mind. Christian churches should keep multiple copies on-hand and every Christian home will want to own a copy of a book that offers so much information in such an encouraging way.

An engaging and powerful book awaits you in Finding Faith in a Skeptical World by Chet Galaska.


Title: Finding Faith in a Skeptical World
Author: Chet Galaska
Publisher: Triad Press
ISBN: 978-0-9816767-0-8
SRP: $14.99