Jesus,
I come to You in Jesus name and give Orland, Rabecca, Kiona, Jordan, Brittnay and ourselves...Adam and Ramona to You. I'm convinced that You alone know what is best for all of us. You alone know what we need. I release all claims and holds on us to You to care for and protect, and I commit myself to pray for everything concerning my family; and all that I can think of or that You put upon my heart. Open my spiritual eyes, ears and mind to what You have for me and this family.
Teach me how to pray more according to Your desires and guide me in what to pray about. Help me not to impose my own will when I'm praying for my family; but rather, enable me to pray that Your will be done in our lives.
Thank You Jesus...that I can come to You; our God that never changes. That I can partner with You in agreement for what is best for my family; and that I don't have to rely on the world's unreliable and ever-changing methods for what we need and what is best for us; but that I can have clear and straight, and right directions from Your Word and wisdom as I pray and look to You for answers.
Thank You, Jesus, for the precious life gift of my husband and children, and our Granddaughter. Your Word tells me that every good gift comes from You, I know that You have given my husband and these children to me to care for and be a living example for You. Help me do that. Forgive me Lord for all the times that I have gone off the path and they have witnessed my anger and my un-Christ behavior. Forgive me for words that were spoken that injured the heart, mind and soul....I ask that You reach in and remove all of that; so that we may have clear minds, forgiving hearts and complete release from all that; and know that all is well. Show me places where I continueto hang on to them and enable me to release them all completely to Your devine care, protection, guidance, and counsel. Help me not to live in fear of possible dangers, but in the joy and peace of knowing that You are in control. I rely on You for everything, and this day I trust my life, my husband Adam's life and our children and Granddaughter's life to You; and release us fully into Your hands.
In Jesus name
amen
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wake up call for us all
Wake up call for us all!
Good morning; and isn't it good to be loved by Our God?
Blessings to you and may He shine all glory on you this morning!
~~~~~~
Last night I watched television with my husband and I almost left the room a couple times because some stuff is almost too much to hear; but, we must stay tuned in and aware about what is happening all around us and happening very quickly.Nothing is new.....it has all been happening for probably more than a hundred years; but, we are coming to the wind up; and the spring is ready to snap!
After a dose of the news.....FOX; by the way is the only news we watch and listen to....then Hannity, then we watched and listened to The Conspiracy. It was a drop open the mouth time and some what un-real. I would lean towards someone having to many drugs and having their brain cells fried if not for footage that showed things happening and the people had their faces seen. Faces that most of us know and have seen many times. Clintons for some and obama was there too.
Plans to depopulate from the over 7 million people down to 5 million. A real Holocaust and done through the foods and meds that we take. One being that H1N1 nasal and vaccine garbage.
Not only are we to be affected and taken out this way...."THE CULLING PROCESS"; but also through poisons in the foods. They will take the lives of us that are already weakened in the immune systems; and the plan is to add ingredients that will sterilize. Crop dusting, lab made illnesses...and the list just went on...
Have you shook your head yet; or perhaps are saying..."OH MY GOD!"? I did both last night. Then I prayed and asked God to intervene once again for all that is happening.Whether we believe it in ourselves or not, the evidence is seen and also are the signs all showing.I sometimes feel like we are in a room with a really horrifying movie on and the television won't turn off.
The truth of the matter is~~~~it is happening; it is not a movie; it is not a dream.....it is reality and one that we better be ready for.The good news?
Jesus loves us and as our God He promises that He will never give us more than we can handle. I believe Him and I more than trust Him. He never promised that we would never have to go through trials and some tribulation; but, He does promise that we will not go through the GREAT TRIBULATION.
Folks, it is time for us to receive the wake up call and draw ever near to Our Savior. Without Him how will we ever make it through? This coming New Year I will be concentrating on them that want to walk close to The Lord. Them that have a real desire to make Heaven their home and Jesus their Lord, them that have a real desire to know Him. There is no more time to keep trying to convince true heathens. They do not want to serve Him and they only want to try and undo what God has done in others lives. They are cold and among the walking dead. There are so many lost that are seeking and I want to be real to them. To lead them to the Fountain of God; leave them at His feet and look for others that are thirsty and hungry.
I pray that God leads me and gives me all the courage and things needed to go out and do the work that is set before me. Will you deny your selves and follow His lead also? We are needed now and the cry of the lost and dying world is waiting.
To Him be all the glory for the things that happen according to His way. In Jesus name!
Good morning; and isn't it good to be loved by Our God?
Blessings to you and may He shine all glory on you this morning!
~~~~~~
Last night I watched television with my husband and I almost left the room a couple times because some stuff is almost too much to hear; but, we must stay tuned in and aware about what is happening all around us and happening very quickly.Nothing is new.....it has all been happening for probably more than a hundred years; but, we are coming to the wind up; and the spring is ready to snap!
After a dose of the news.....FOX; by the way is the only news we watch and listen to....then Hannity, then we watched and listened to The Conspiracy. It was a drop open the mouth time and some what un-real. I would lean towards someone having to many drugs and having their brain cells fried if not for footage that showed things happening and the people had their faces seen. Faces that most of us know and have seen many times. Clintons for some and obama was there too.
Plans to depopulate from the over 7 million people down to 5 million. A real Holocaust and done through the foods and meds that we take. One being that H1N1 nasal and vaccine garbage.
Not only are we to be affected and taken out this way...."THE CULLING PROCESS"; but also through poisons in the foods. They will take the lives of us that are already weakened in the immune systems; and the plan is to add ingredients that will sterilize. Crop dusting, lab made illnesses...and the list just went on...
Have you shook your head yet; or perhaps are saying..."OH MY GOD!"? I did both last night. Then I prayed and asked God to intervene once again for all that is happening.Whether we believe it in ourselves or not, the evidence is seen and also are the signs all showing.I sometimes feel like we are in a room with a really horrifying movie on and the television won't turn off.
The truth of the matter is~~~~it is happening; it is not a movie; it is not a dream.....it is reality and one that we better be ready for.The good news?
Jesus loves us and as our God He promises that He will never give us more than we can handle. I believe Him and I more than trust Him. He never promised that we would never have to go through trials and some tribulation; but, He does promise that we will not go through the GREAT TRIBULATION.
Folks, it is time for us to receive the wake up call and draw ever near to Our Savior. Without Him how will we ever make it through? This coming New Year I will be concentrating on them that want to walk close to The Lord. Them that have a real desire to make Heaven their home and Jesus their Lord, them that have a real desire to know Him. There is no more time to keep trying to convince true heathens. They do not want to serve Him and they only want to try and undo what God has done in others lives. They are cold and among the walking dead. There are so many lost that are seeking and I want to be real to them. To lead them to the Fountain of God; leave them at His feet and look for others that are thirsty and hungry.
I pray that God leads me and gives me all the courage and things needed to go out and do the work that is set before me. Will you deny your selves and follow His lead also? We are needed now and the cry of the lost and dying world is waiting.
To Him be all the glory for the things that happen according to His way. In Jesus name!
Friday, December 25, 2009
Family problems?
Message:
Does Jesus have anything to say about dealing with difficult relatives? Is there an example of Jesus bringing peace to a painful family? Yes, there is. His own.
It may surprise you to know that Jesus had a difficult family. If your family doesn't appreciate you, take heart, neither did Jesus'.
"His family ... went to get him because they thought he was out of his mind" (Mark 3:21).
Jesus' siblings thought their brother was a lunatic. They weren't proud—they were embarrassed!
It's worth noting that he didn't try to control his family's behavior, nor did he let their behavior control his. He didn't demand that they agree with him. He didn't sulk when they insulted him. He didn't make it his mission to try to please them.
Each of us has a fantasy that our family will be like the Waltons, an expectation that our dearest friends will be our next of kin. Jesus didn't have that expectation. Look how he defined his family: "My true brother and sister and mother are those who do what God wants" (Mark 3:35).
When Jesus' brothers didn't share his convictions, he didn't try to force them. He recognized that his spiritual family could provide what his physical family didn't. If Jesus himself couldn't force his family to share his convictions, what makes you think you can force yours?
Having your family's approval is desirable but not necessary for happiness and not always possible. Jesus did not let the difficult dynamic of his family overshadow his call from God. And because he didn't, this chapter has a happy ending.
What happened to Jesus' family?
Mine with me a golden nugget hidden in a vein of the Book of Acts. "Then [the disciples] went back to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives.... They all continued praying together with some women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus' brothers" (Acts 1:12, 14, emphasis added).
What a change! The ones who mocked him now worship him. The ones who pitied him now pray for him. What if Jesus had disowned them? Or worse still, what if he'd suffocated his family with his demand for change?
He didn't. He instead gave them space, time, and grace. And because he did, they changed. How much did they change? One brother became an apostle (Gal. 1:19) and others became missionaries (1 Cor. 9:5).
So don't lose heart. God still changes families.
Does Jesus have anything to say about dealing with difficult relatives? Is there an example of Jesus bringing peace to a painful family? Yes, there is. His own.
It may surprise you to know that Jesus had a difficult family. If your family doesn't appreciate you, take heart, neither did Jesus'.
"His family ... went to get him because they thought he was out of his mind" (Mark 3:21).
Jesus' siblings thought their brother was a lunatic. They weren't proud—they were embarrassed!
It's worth noting that he didn't try to control his family's behavior, nor did he let their behavior control his. He didn't demand that they agree with him. He didn't sulk when they insulted him. He didn't make it his mission to try to please them.
Each of us has a fantasy that our family will be like the Waltons, an expectation that our dearest friends will be our next of kin. Jesus didn't have that expectation. Look how he defined his family: "My true brother and sister and mother are those who do what God wants" (Mark 3:35).
When Jesus' brothers didn't share his convictions, he didn't try to force them. He recognized that his spiritual family could provide what his physical family didn't. If Jesus himself couldn't force his family to share his convictions, what makes you think you can force yours?
Having your family's approval is desirable but not necessary for happiness and not always possible. Jesus did not let the difficult dynamic of his family overshadow his call from God. And because he didn't, this chapter has a happy ending.
What happened to Jesus' family?
Mine with me a golden nugget hidden in a vein of the Book of Acts. "Then [the disciples] went back to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives.... They all continued praying together with some women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus' brothers" (Acts 1:12, 14, emphasis added).
What a change! The ones who mocked him now worship him. The ones who pitied him now pray for him. What if Jesus had disowned them? Or worse still, what if he'd suffocated his family with his demand for change?
He didn't. He instead gave them space, time, and grace. And because he did, they changed. How much did they change? One brother became an apostle (Gal. 1:19) and others became missionaries (1 Cor. 9:5).
So don't lose heart. God still changes families.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
JESUS IS THE LORD OF HISTORY & AND NOW
Defense of the Faith: Who Was Jesus?By: Jimmy Williams
WHO WAS JESUS?
Jesus Was a Man of History
Having established above the overwhelming historical reliability of the extra-biblical and biblical source documents concerning His life, only dishonest scholarship would lead one to the conclusion that Jesus never lived. From the evidence, there is a high probability that He did, and we can therefore discard the notion that He is only a mythological figure, like Zeus or Santa Claus.
Jesus Is the Unique Man of History
But there seems to be a problem for many with the portrayal of Jesus in the source documents. He does things which defy our rationality. He is born of a virgin. He makes strange statements about Himself and His mission. After years of obscurity, He appears for a brief time in a flurry of public ministry in a small and insignificant province of the Roman Empire. He loves and heals and serves. He is a master teacher, but all of His teaching points to Himself, to His identity. The following claims which He makes concerning Himself are extraordinary.
The Claims of Christ
1. Able to forgive sins (Mark 2:5-10).
2. A Healer of disease (Mark 5:21).
3. Allows others to worship Him (Matt. 14:33, 28:9; cf. also Acts 10:25,26;14:12-15).
4. Claims to be "other worldly" in origin and destiny (John 6:38).
5. Performs miracles over nature (Luke 9:16,17).
6. Claims He has absolute, moral purity (John 8:46, 2 Cor. 5:21).
7. Claimed to be God, Messiah, and the way to God (Mark 14:61,62; John 10:30; 14:6-9).
8. Claimed to be the fulfillment of all Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament (John 5:46-7; Luke 24:44).
9. Allowed others to call Him God and Messiah (John 20:29; Matt. 16:15-17).
Responding to the Claims
The wide divergence of opinion about who Jesus really was is not based, as we have seen, on a lack of good and adequate historical evidence; it rather comes from grappling with His unique and audacious claims listed above. There is no intellectually honest way to carve up the documents according to our own liking and philosophical preferences. Many have done this, including a great American patriot and president, Thomas Jefferson. He admired Jesus as a moral man, but would have nothing to do with the supernatural elements found in the documents. Using scissors and paste, the Sage of Monticello left on the cutting floor anything, he felt, which contravened the laws of nature. Jefferson entitled his creation, The Life and Morals of Jesus. Only 82 columns, or little more than one tenth of the 700 columns in the King James Bible remained. The other nine tenths of the gospel record were discarded. His book ended with the words, "There laid they Jesus (John 19:42) . . . and rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre and departed (Matt. 28:60)." One way to deal with the claims is to remove the historical material which is offensive to us, such as Jefferson did. The other option is to honestly accept the historical accuracy of the documents and come up with a plausible explanation.
Our choices are reduced to one of four: He was either a Liar, a Lunatic, a Legend, or our Lord.
Considering the Options
Liar. Everything that we know about Jesus discourages us from selecting this option. It is incomprehensible that the One who spoke of truth and righteousness was the greatest deceiver of history. He cannot be a great moral teacher and a liar at the same time.
Lunatic. Paranoid schizophrenics do not behave as Jesus did. Their behavior is often bizarre, out of control. They generally do not like other people and are mostly self-absorbed. Nor do they handle pressure well. Jesus exhibits none of these characteristics. He is kind and others-centered, and He faces pressure situations, including the events leading to and including His death, with composure and control.
Legend. The greatest difficulty with this option is the issue of time. Legends take time to develop. Yet most of the New Testament, including Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts, and all of Paul's Epistles were written by 68 A.D. An equivalent amount of time today would be the interval between President Kennedy's assassination in 1963 to the present. For people to start saying Kennedy claimed to be God, forgave people's sins, and was raised from the dead would be a difficult task to make credible. There are still too many people around who knew Jack Kennedy . . . and know better.
Lord. In his book, Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis said,
A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunaticon a level with the man who says he is a poached eggor else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse."
Other than the fact that the Liar, Lunatic, and Legend choices are not persuasive as explanations for who Jesus was, we are still faced with the question of why we should accept Him as Lord. During the latter days of His ministry, Jesus was confronted by a hostile crowd which posed this question to Him: "Teacher, we want to see a sign from you." Jesus answered, "An adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign shall be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matt. 12:38-40). Here we are led to understand that Jesus pointed to His bodily resurrection as THE authenticating sign by which He would confirm His own unique claims. Later on, the Apostle Paul, in speaking of the importance of this event to the faith of a Christian would say, "If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith is also vain. . . . If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins (1 Cor. 15:13-17)." We now turn to explore the possibility of such an event occurring.
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a Historical Fact
There are really two points that we must prove in order to demonstrate the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. First, the tomb of Jesus Christ was found empty on the third day after His death. Second, the tomb was empty because Jesus was alive.
The tomb of Jesus Christ was found empty on the third day.
Many people have denied that Jesus' tomb was found empty on the third day after His death, but their reasons have generally been theological or philosophical. It's extremely difficult to argue against the empty tomb on the basis of historical evidence. Here are some historical facts that support the idea that Jesus' body was no longer in the grave.
Christians have argued that the tomb was empty on the third day since the beginning.
It usually takes at least two generations for false legends to develop, for the simple reason that it takes about that long for those witnesses who might contradict the tale to die off. By all accounts, however, the followers of Jesus began proclaiming right away that he had been raised from the dead. The books of the New Testament were written early enough that eyewitnesses could have still contradicted them, and those books at times reveal oral traditions (in the form of early creeds, songs, or sayings) that show the church's belief in the resurrection to be even older. There does not appear to have been sufficient time for a legendary account to have developed the resurrection was talked about immediately after the death of Christ.
Even the opponents of Christianity believed that the tomb was empty. If Jesus' body had still been in the tomb, it would have been pretty easy for the opponents of Christianity to discredit the resurrection. They could have simply produced the corpse, paraded it around town, and put an end to any further speculation.
Why didn't they do it? Because the body wasn't there. The Gospel of Matthew records one of the arguments that the religious leaders of the day used to explain the fact of the empty tomb. Apparently the story was widely spread among the Jews that the disciples had stolen the body from the tomb while the guards were sleeping (Matt, 28:13 15). They did not deny that the tomb was empty. They simply offered another explanation for the disappearance of the body! Some may suggest that the body of Jesus was never buried in a recognizable tomb, and that the opponents of Christianity simply were unable to locate the corpse when Jesus' disciples began talking about the resurrection. However, the earliest historical accounts maintain that He was placed in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy member of the Sanhedrin. There is no reason to question the credibility of this testimony, which is very ancient and contains a number of specific details.
As Craig writes,
Even the most skeptical scholars acknowledge that Joseph was probably the genuine, historical individual who buried Jesus, since it is unlikely that early Christian believers would invent an individual, give him a name and nearby town of origin, and place that fictional character on the historical council of the Sanhedrin, whose members were well known.
Jesus was buried in a known tomb, but the tomb was empty the third day. This is a fact that even the opponents of Christianity recognized, and it's one that Christians can appeal to in their arguments for the gospel (Acts 26:26).
If the tomb had not been empty, it probably would have been treated as a shrine. It was common in first-century Judaism to regard the graves of holy men as shrines, but there is absolutely no suggestion that the grave of Jesus was ever treated in that way. His followers did not come back again and again to the place to worship, nor did they treat it with any special esteem. There was no reason to, because there was nothing inside.
If the tomb was occupied, what would make the disciples of Jesus risk their lives by saying that it was empty? Jesus' followers clearly believed His tomb was empty, for they were persecuted from the very beginning for their testimony to that effect. That doesn't prove that what they said was true, but it does strongly suggest that they believed what they said. People have died for lies, but only because they believed them. What would make the followers of Jesus believe that His tomb was empty? Their own writings state that they believed it because they went to see the tomb and found that His body was no longer there. They did what you and I would do.
They checked it out, and it was empty.
The tomb of Jesus was empty because He had been resurrected from the dead.
There is very little question that the tomb of Jesus was found empty on the third day after His death. This is a fact that was widely proclaimed at a time when it would have been easily discredited had it not been true. Even the opponents of Christianity agreed that the tomb was empty, and therein lies the crux of our next problem.
Given that the tomb was empty, what happened to the body of Jesus? There have been several suggestions, only one of which can be true.
Did the disciples steal the body? As noted above, this was one of the earliest skeptical explanations for the empty tomb. It may be early, but it isn't very credible. For the disciples to steal the body, they would have had to overcome guards who were stationed there specifically to prevent its theft. At the same time, they would have had to manifest a tremendous amount of courage, which is some thing they apparently did not have when they fled the night Jesus was arrested. If the disciples had stolen the body, they obviously would have known that the resurrection had not really taken place. The fact that these men suffered in life and were then killed for their faith in the resurrection strongly suggests that they believed it really happened. They did not give their lives for what they knew was a lie. The disciples did not steal the body of Jesus.
Were the disciples deceived? Some have suggested that the disciples really did believe in the resurrection, but that they were deceived by hallucinations or religious hysteria. This would be possible if only one or two persons were involved, but He was seen alive after His death by groups of people who touched Him, ate with Him, and conversed with Him. Even more to the point, the tomb really was empty! If the disciples didn't steal it, even if they did only imagine that they had seen it, what happened to the body of Jesus?
Did the Jewish leaders take it? If the Jewish leaders had taken the body of Jesus, they would have certainly produced it in order to refute the idea that He had been raised from the dead. They never did that, because they didn't have the body.
Did Jesus really die? When left with no other credible option, some have suggested that Jesus did not really die, that He only appeared to be dead, was revived, and then appeared to the disciples. This makes a mockery out of the sufferings of the cross, suggesting that a beaten and crucified man could force his way out of a guarded tomb. At the same time, it portrays Jesus as the sort of person who would willingly deceive his disciples, carrying off the greatest hoax of all time. That the disciples would believe Him to be resurrected in triumph over death would be even more surprising if He was in fact on the edge of death after a severe beating. Jesus was truly killed, He was actually buried, and yet His grave was empty.
Why? It is extremely unlikely that anybody took the body, but Jesus' disciples offered another explanation.
Jesus was raised from the dead. Since the other explanations do not adequately explain the fact of the empty tomb, we have reason to consider more seriously the testimony of those who claimed to be eyewitnesses. The followers of Jesus said that the tomb was empty because Jesus had been raised from the dead, and many people claimed to have seen Him after the resurrection. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul identifies a number of individuals who witnessed the resurrected Christ, noting also that Christ had appeared to over five hundred persons at one time (v. 6). He tells his readers that most of those people were still alive, essentially challenging them to check out the story with those who claimed to be eyewitnesses. The presence of such eyewitnesses prevented Paul and others from turning history into legend.
Alternative explanations are inadequate, and eyewitnesses were put to death because they continued to maintain that Jesus had been raised from the dead. Christianity exists because these people truly believed in the resurrection, and their testimony continues to be the most reasonable explanation for the empty tomb of Jesus Christ.
The Resurrection Demonstrates the Truth of Christianity
It is no exaggeration to say that the Christian faith rests on the fact of Jesus' resurrection. Paul, who wrote much of the New Testament, said that his entire ministry would be worthless if the resurrection had not taken place. "If Christ has not been raised," he wrote, "then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. . . . If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins" (1 Cor. 15:14, 17). On the other hand, if Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead, then Paul's message is true, faith has meaning, and we can be freed from our sins.
That's essentially what we have been arguing. It makes good sense to believe in the teachings of Christianity, because those teachings are based on a simple historical fact the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. If Jesus was raised from the dead, then what He said about himself must have been true. When the religious leaders of His day asked for some proof of His authority, Jesus told them that the only proof they would be given would be His resurrection from the dead (John 2:18 19; Matt. 12:38 40). When He was raised from the dead, that proof was provided.
What was proven through Jesus' resurrection?
Here are some of the things that Jesus said about Himself, all of which were affirmed by His resurrection from the dead:
"I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst" (John 6:35).
"I am the light of the world; he who follows me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12).
"Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM" [a claim to be God himself] (John 8:58).
"I am the door; if anyone enters through me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture" (John 10:9).
"I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" (John 10:11).
"I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me shall live even if he dies" (John 11:25).
"I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through me" (John 14:6).
If these statements are true, then anything that contradicts them cannot also be true. In other words, if it is true that Jesus is God, then anyone who says Jesus is not God must be wrong. If it is true that Jesus gives eternal life to those who believe in Him and that He is the only way to the Father, then anyone who says that there are other ways to salvation must be wrong.
How do we know that what Jesus said about Himself is true? We know by His resurrection, which He offered as definitive proof for all that He did and said. What this means is that the statements quoted above demonstrate the uniqueness of Jesus, but they also demonstrate the uniqueness of Christianity. If what Jesus said about Himself is true, then Christianity is true, and any contradictory religious belief must be false. That's not a very popular message in today's pluralistic culture, but the fact is that there are genuine differences between worldviews. Only one can really be correct. If Jesus Christ was actually raised from the dead, there's little need for further debate. He alone is the way, the truth, and the life.
Jesus is the Lord of History
The material in this outline forms the foundation for a Christian worldview. It is on these critical truths Christians have stood over the centuries. When someone asks us the REASONS for the hope that is within us that is, why we hold to the Christian faith, these are the reasons. We prefer to believe that the universe and man were created, rather than being the products of blind chance in a closed, material world. We believe that God not only created, but that He communicated, revealed Himself to humankind, through His prophets, apostles, and finally through His Son (Heb. 1:1). We believe that Jesus lived, and that His life and mission, outlined most extensively in the biblical documents but corroborated by extra-biblical documents, are what they have purported to be over the millennia: the seeking and saving of the lost through His sacrificial death. We believe that Christianity cannot be acceptably explained, historically, by leaving a dead Jew hanging on a cross. Only His resurrection from the dead adequately explains the boldness and commitment unto death of His disciples, the forsaking of worship on the Sabbath in preference to Sunday, and the exponential growth of the church which began immediately, and has continued to this day. Every mighty river on this planetthe Mississippi, the Nile, the Volgahas its source. Each one begins somewhere. Every Christian church or community in the world also has an historical source. It flows from Palestine, from Jerusalem, from a hill called Golgotha . . . and a nearby empty tomb. We said in the beginning that everyone has faith, but also pointed out that faith must have an object. Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the most worthy of all objects to which we could entrust our lives, our purpose, and our destiny.
WHO WAS JESUS?
Jesus Was a Man of History
Having established above the overwhelming historical reliability of the extra-biblical and biblical source documents concerning His life, only dishonest scholarship would lead one to the conclusion that Jesus never lived. From the evidence, there is a high probability that He did, and we can therefore discard the notion that He is only a mythological figure, like Zeus or Santa Claus.
Jesus Is the Unique Man of History
But there seems to be a problem for many with the portrayal of Jesus in the source documents. He does things which defy our rationality. He is born of a virgin. He makes strange statements about Himself and His mission. After years of obscurity, He appears for a brief time in a flurry of public ministry in a small and insignificant province of the Roman Empire. He loves and heals and serves. He is a master teacher, but all of His teaching points to Himself, to His identity. The following claims which He makes concerning Himself are extraordinary.
The Claims of Christ
1. Able to forgive sins (Mark 2:5-10).
2. A Healer of disease (Mark 5:21).
3. Allows others to worship Him (Matt. 14:33, 28:9; cf. also Acts 10:25,26;14:12-15).
4. Claims to be "other worldly" in origin and destiny (John 6:38).
5. Performs miracles over nature (Luke 9:16,17).
6. Claims He has absolute, moral purity (John 8:46, 2 Cor. 5:21).
7. Claimed to be God, Messiah, and the way to God (Mark 14:61,62; John 10:30; 14:6-9).
8. Claimed to be the fulfillment of all Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament (John 5:46-7; Luke 24:44).
9. Allowed others to call Him God and Messiah (John 20:29; Matt. 16:15-17).
Responding to the Claims
The wide divergence of opinion about who Jesus really was is not based, as we have seen, on a lack of good and adequate historical evidence; it rather comes from grappling with His unique and audacious claims listed above. There is no intellectually honest way to carve up the documents according to our own liking and philosophical preferences. Many have done this, including a great American patriot and president, Thomas Jefferson. He admired Jesus as a moral man, but would have nothing to do with the supernatural elements found in the documents. Using scissors and paste, the Sage of Monticello left on the cutting floor anything, he felt, which contravened the laws of nature. Jefferson entitled his creation, The Life and Morals of Jesus. Only 82 columns, or little more than one tenth of the 700 columns in the King James Bible remained. The other nine tenths of the gospel record were discarded. His book ended with the words, "There laid they Jesus (John 19:42) . . . and rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre and departed (Matt. 28:60)." One way to deal with the claims is to remove the historical material which is offensive to us, such as Jefferson did. The other option is to honestly accept the historical accuracy of the documents and come up with a plausible explanation.
Our choices are reduced to one of four: He was either a Liar, a Lunatic, a Legend, or our Lord.
Considering the Options
Liar. Everything that we know about Jesus discourages us from selecting this option. It is incomprehensible that the One who spoke of truth and righteousness was the greatest deceiver of history. He cannot be a great moral teacher and a liar at the same time.
Lunatic. Paranoid schizophrenics do not behave as Jesus did. Their behavior is often bizarre, out of control. They generally do not like other people and are mostly self-absorbed. Nor do they handle pressure well. Jesus exhibits none of these characteristics. He is kind and others-centered, and He faces pressure situations, including the events leading to and including His death, with composure and control.
Legend. The greatest difficulty with this option is the issue of time. Legends take time to develop. Yet most of the New Testament, including Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts, and all of Paul's Epistles were written by 68 A.D. An equivalent amount of time today would be the interval between President Kennedy's assassination in 1963 to the present. For people to start saying Kennedy claimed to be God, forgave people's sins, and was raised from the dead would be a difficult task to make credible. There are still too many people around who knew Jack Kennedy . . . and know better.
Lord. In his book, Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis said,
A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunaticon a level with the man who says he is a poached eggor else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse."
Other than the fact that the Liar, Lunatic, and Legend choices are not persuasive as explanations for who Jesus was, we are still faced with the question of why we should accept Him as Lord. During the latter days of His ministry, Jesus was confronted by a hostile crowd which posed this question to Him: "Teacher, we want to see a sign from you." Jesus answered, "An adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign shall be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matt. 12:38-40). Here we are led to understand that Jesus pointed to His bodily resurrection as THE authenticating sign by which He would confirm His own unique claims. Later on, the Apostle Paul, in speaking of the importance of this event to the faith of a Christian would say, "If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith is also vain. . . . If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins (1 Cor. 15:13-17)." We now turn to explore the possibility of such an event occurring.
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a Historical Fact
There are really two points that we must prove in order to demonstrate the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. First, the tomb of Jesus Christ was found empty on the third day after His death. Second, the tomb was empty because Jesus was alive.
The tomb of Jesus Christ was found empty on the third day.
Many people have denied that Jesus' tomb was found empty on the third day after His death, but their reasons have generally been theological or philosophical. It's extremely difficult to argue against the empty tomb on the basis of historical evidence. Here are some historical facts that support the idea that Jesus' body was no longer in the grave.
Christians have argued that the tomb was empty on the third day since the beginning.
It usually takes at least two generations for false legends to develop, for the simple reason that it takes about that long for those witnesses who might contradict the tale to die off. By all accounts, however, the followers of Jesus began proclaiming right away that he had been raised from the dead. The books of the New Testament were written early enough that eyewitnesses could have still contradicted them, and those books at times reveal oral traditions (in the form of early creeds, songs, or sayings) that show the church's belief in the resurrection to be even older. There does not appear to have been sufficient time for a legendary account to have developed the resurrection was talked about immediately after the death of Christ.
Even the opponents of Christianity believed that the tomb was empty. If Jesus' body had still been in the tomb, it would have been pretty easy for the opponents of Christianity to discredit the resurrection. They could have simply produced the corpse, paraded it around town, and put an end to any further speculation.
Why didn't they do it? Because the body wasn't there. The Gospel of Matthew records one of the arguments that the religious leaders of the day used to explain the fact of the empty tomb. Apparently the story was widely spread among the Jews that the disciples had stolen the body from the tomb while the guards were sleeping (Matt, 28:13 15). They did not deny that the tomb was empty. They simply offered another explanation for the disappearance of the body! Some may suggest that the body of Jesus was never buried in a recognizable tomb, and that the opponents of Christianity simply were unable to locate the corpse when Jesus' disciples began talking about the resurrection. However, the earliest historical accounts maintain that He was placed in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy member of the Sanhedrin. There is no reason to question the credibility of this testimony, which is very ancient and contains a number of specific details.
As Craig writes,
Even the most skeptical scholars acknowledge that Joseph was probably the genuine, historical individual who buried Jesus, since it is unlikely that early Christian believers would invent an individual, give him a name and nearby town of origin, and place that fictional character on the historical council of the Sanhedrin, whose members were well known.
Jesus was buried in a known tomb, but the tomb was empty the third day. This is a fact that even the opponents of Christianity recognized, and it's one that Christians can appeal to in their arguments for the gospel (Acts 26:26).
If the tomb had not been empty, it probably would have been treated as a shrine. It was common in first-century Judaism to regard the graves of holy men as shrines, but there is absolutely no suggestion that the grave of Jesus was ever treated in that way. His followers did not come back again and again to the place to worship, nor did they treat it with any special esteem. There was no reason to, because there was nothing inside.
If the tomb was occupied, what would make the disciples of Jesus risk their lives by saying that it was empty? Jesus' followers clearly believed His tomb was empty, for they were persecuted from the very beginning for their testimony to that effect. That doesn't prove that what they said was true, but it does strongly suggest that they believed what they said. People have died for lies, but only because they believed them. What would make the followers of Jesus believe that His tomb was empty? Their own writings state that they believed it because they went to see the tomb and found that His body was no longer there. They did what you and I would do.
They checked it out, and it was empty.
The tomb of Jesus was empty because He had been resurrected from the dead.
There is very little question that the tomb of Jesus was found empty on the third day after His death. This is a fact that was widely proclaimed at a time when it would have been easily discredited had it not been true. Even the opponents of Christianity agreed that the tomb was empty, and therein lies the crux of our next problem.
Given that the tomb was empty, what happened to the body of Jesus? There have been several suggestions, only one of which can be true.
Did the disciples steal the body? As noted above, this was one of the earliest skeptical explanations for the empty tomb. It may be early, but it isn't very credible. For the disciples to steal the body, they would have had to overcome guards who were stationed there specifically to prevent its theft. At the same time, they would have had to manifest a tremendous amount of courage, which is some thing they apparently did not have when they fled the night Jesus was arrested. If the disciples had stolen the body, they obviously would have known that the resurrection had not really taken place. The fact that these men suffered in life and were then killed for their faith in the resurrection strongly suggests that they believed it really happened. They did not give their lives for what they knew was a lie. The disciples did not steal the body of Jesus.
Were the disciples deceived? Some have suggested that the disciples really did believe in the resurrection, but that they were deceived by hallucinations or religious hysteria. This would be possible if only one or two persons were involved, but He was seen alive after His death by groups of people who touched Him, ate with Him, and conversed with Him. Even more to the point, the tomb really was empty! If the disciples didn't steal it, even if they did only imagine that they had seen it, what happened to the body of Jesus?
Did the Jewish leaders take it? If the Jewish leaders had taken the body of Jesus, they would have certainly produced it in order to refute the idea that He had been raised from the dead. They never did that, because they didn't have the body.
Did Jesus really die? When left with no other credible option, some have suggested that Jesus did not really die, that He only appeared to be dead, was revived, and then appeared to the disciples. This makes a mockery out of the sufferings of the cross, suggesting that a beaten and crucified man could force his way out of a guarded tomb. At the same time, it portrays Jesus as the sort of person who would willingly deceive his disciples, carrying off the greatest hoax of all time. That the disciples would believe Him to be resurrected in triumph over death would be even more surprising if He was in fact on the edge of death after a severe beating. Jesus was truly killed, He was actually buried, and yet His grave was empty.
Why? It is extremely unlikely that anybody took the body, but Jesus' disciples offered another explanation.
Jesus was raised from the dead. Since the other explanations do not adequately explain the fact of the empty tomb, we have reason to consider more seriously the testimony of those who claimed to be eyewitnesses. The followers of Jesus said that the tomb was empty because Jesus had been raised from the dead, and many people claimed to have seen Him after the resurrection. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul identifies a number of individuals who witnessed the resurrected Christ, noting also that Christ had appeared to over five hundred persons at one time (v. 6). He tells his readers that most of those people were still alive, essentially challenging them to check out the story with those who claimed to be eyewitnesses. The presence of such eyewitnesses prevented Paul and others from turning history into legend.
Alternative explanations are inadequate, and eyewitnesses were put to death because they continued to maintain that Jesus had been raised from the dead. Christianity exists because these people truly believed in the resurrection, and their testimony continues to be the most reasonable explanation for the empty tomb of Jesus Christ.
The Resurrection Demonstrates the Truth of Christianity
It is no exaggeration to say that the Christian faith rests on the fact of Jesus' resurrection. Paul, who wrote much of the New Testament, said that his entire ministry would be worthless if the resurrection had not taken place. "If Christ has not been raised," he wrote, "then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. . . . If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins" (1 Cor. 15:14, 17). On the other hand, if Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead, then Paul's message is true, faith has meaning, and we can be freed from our sins.
That's essentially what we have been arguing. It makes good sense to believe in the teachings of Christianity, because those teachings are based on a simple historical fact the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. If Jesus was raised from the dead, then what He said about himself must have been true. When the religious leaders of His day asked for some proof of His authority, Jesus told them that the only proof they would be given would be His resurrection from the dead (John 2:18 19; Matt. 12:38 40). When He was raised from the dead, that proof was provided.
What was proven through Jesus' resurrection?
Here are some of the things that Jesus said about Himself, all of which were affirmed by His resurrection from the dead:
"I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst" (John 6:35).
"I am the light of the world; he who follows me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12).
"Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM" [a claim to be God himself] (John 8:58).
"I am the door; if anyone enters through me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture" (John 10:9).
"I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" (John 10:11).
"I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me shall live even if he dies" (John 11:25).
"I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through me" (John 14:6).
If these statements are true, then anything that contradicts them cannot also be true. In other words, if it is true that Jesus is God, then anyone who says Jesus is not God must be wrong. If it is true that Jesus gives eternal life to those who believe in Him and that He is the only way to the Father, then anyone who says that there are other ways to salvation must be wrong.
How do we know that what Jesus said about Himself is true? We know by His resurrection, which He offered as definitive proof for all that He did and said. What this means is that the statements quoted above demonstrate the uniqueness of Jesus, but they also demonstrate the uniqueness of Christianity. If what Jesus said about Himself is true, then Christianity is true, and any contradictory religious belief must be false. That's not a very popular message in today's pluralistic culture, but the fact is that there are genuine differences between worldviews. Only one can really be correct. If Jesus Christ was actually raised from the dead, there's little need for further debate. He alone is the way, the truth, and the life.
Jesus is the Lord of History
The material in this outline forms the foundation for a Christian worldview. It is on these critical truths Christians have stood over the centuries. When someone asks us the REASONS for the hope that is within us that is, why we hold to the Christian faith, these are the reasons. We prefer to believe that the universe and man were created, rather than being the products of blind chance in a closed, material world. We believe that God not only created, but that He communicated, revealed Himself to humankind, through His prophets, apostles, and finally through His Son (Heb. 1:1). We believe that Jesus lived, and that His life and mission, outlined most extensively in the biblical documents but corroborated by extra-biblical documents, are what they have purported to be over the millennia: the seeking and saving of the lost through His sacrificial death. We believe that Christianity cannot be acceptably explained, historically, by leaving a dead Jew hanging on a cross. Only His resurrection from the dead adequately explains the boldness and commitment unto death of His disciples, the forsaking of worship on the Sabbath in preference to Sunday, and the exponential growth of the church which began immediately, and has continued to this day. Every mighty river on this planetthe Mississippi, the Nile, the Volgahas its source. Each one begins somewhere. Every Christian church or community in the world also has an historical source. It flows from Palestine, from Jerusalem, from a hill called Golgotha . . . and a nearby empty tomb. We said in the beginning that everyone has faith, but also pointed out that faith must have an object. Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the most worthy of all objects to which we could entrust our lives, our purpose, and our destiny.
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Truth
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Jesus~~ come quickly Lord Jesus
Jesus,
Right now Lord that is all that I can say!
As my husband hears the news and I am listening to worship and praises to Your name; I am subjected to hear that Washington D.C. city council has voted 11 to 2 for homosexuals to marry. God, have mercy on us that are in this perverted and wicked world; find something good in us that love You and hurry to our rescue. I am sick in my heart, in my stomach over the condition of this country. Jesus, reach down and turn us the right side up once again. Come quickly~~~come quickly!!
Protect our children from a perverse and evil generation that will proudly stand up and shout a victory cry for being a sodomite; an abomination. O God!
Take this thing that is twisted and wrong and make it straight and right. Deliver them that call this wickedness...."love."
Keep this politically correct attitude away from all the children that are hearing it and seeing it. Place scales upon their eyes and keep them from the foulness of it all.
May every homosexual pamplet, book, magazine, television station, radio broadcasting station, church building, buisness, fall to the ground in ashes at the feet of your children. May we give You glory for destroying the works of satan and his imps. May every man, woman and transgendered person be striken mute when they begin to speak about the perverted life style. Confuse and stir the minds with total confusion when they go to their demonstrations and rallies for the work of the devil. May it all be called right and justice for Your Name sake!
Tear it apart Jesus, turn over every table that holds the filth for openly displaying homosexuality.
Deliver every body that is believing this lie! Take them and turn them around.
Close down every single building, every single home where homosexuality dwells. Take their jobs from them that they will become so lost and broke that they will fall to their knees and cry out to You and become saved.
Yes Jesus! Yes Jesus! Now is the time to tear it all apart so that this wretched generation will repent and run to You to be saved. No longer will the vile evilness be acceptable in the eyes of the people.
Give me a heart to pray for their souls and keep my heart on You and never ever focused on what satan is up too.
I ask it all according to Your will and Your way....
in Jesus name
amen!
Right now Lord that is all that I can say!
As my husband hears the news and I am listening to worship and praises to Your name; I am subjected to hear that Washington D.C. city council has voted 11 to 2 for homosexuals to marry. God, have mercy on us that are in this perverted and wicked world; find something good in us that love You and hurry to our rescue. I am sick in my heart, in my stomach over the condition of this country. Jesus, reach down and turn us the right side up once again. Come quickly~~~come quickly!!
Protect our children from a perverse and evil generation that will proudly stand up and shout a victory cry for being a sodomite; an abomination. O God!
Take this thing that is twisted and wrong and make it straight and right. Deliver them that call this wickedness...."love."
Keep this politically correct attitude away from all the children that are hearing it and seeing it. Place scales upon their eyes and keep them from the foulness of it all.
May every homosexual pamplet, book, magazine, television station, radio broadcasting station, church building, buisness, fall to the ground in ashes at the feet of your children. May we give You glory for destroying the works of satan and his imps. May every man, woman and transgendered person be striken mute when they begin to speak about the perverted life style. Confuse and stir the minds with total confusion when they go to their demonstrations and rallies for the work of the devil. May it all be called right and justice for Your Name sake!
Tear it apart Jesus, turn over every table that holds the filth for openly displaying homosexuality.
Deliver every body that is believing this lie! Take them and turn them around.
Close down every single building, every single home where homosexuality dwells. Take their jobs from them that they will become so lost and broke that they will fall to their knees and cry out to You and become saved.
Yes Jesus! Yes Jesus! Now is the time to tear it all apart so that this wretched generation will repent and run to You to be saved. No longer will the vile evilness be acceptable in the eyes of the people.
Give me a heart to pray for their souls and keep my heart on You and never ever focused on what satan is up too.
I ask it all according to Your will and Your way....
in Jesus name
amen!
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prayers against homosexuality
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
PRAYING FOR MY CHILDREN
And made by God
Thank You Jesus for my children. Thank You that both times You gave me exactally what my heart's desire was.
When the doctors told me that I wold never have a child; I trusted and believed that You would give me one.
I prayed for a beautiful dark skinned, brown eyed little girl that I could call my own, one that I would hear call me mamma and some day grow into a wonderful young woman. You answered that prayer for me Lord and I am thankful. Now, Lord ~~ I pray that she and her family draw more close to You than ever before. That she find peace and happiness from all the things that she has allowed to come into and hurt her spirit and soul and Jesus; I ask You to forgive me and her Dad for any role we played in hurting her, misleading her and troubling her. Take it from her and let her start anew with a love that is so real and so fresh that You will literally make her shine with Your glory.
Thank You for sending her a good and hard working man to marry and to raise their daughter. What a blessing he has been. He cares for our girls and he treats us with love and respect. He is forever helpful. Thank You Jesus.
Thank You for Kiona. She is a love and so much joy to have when we become Grandparents. Now, she will be 11 this December 24th and I ask for Your complete control over the friends that she will choose, that she will remain pure and untouched before her wedding night, save her from the vampires of this world that will come in and suck all of her goodness away from her. O God, just keep her stepping on the right path and keep her safe.
I thank You for delivering to us a little baby boy ~~ born of my heart and another's womb. I now pray for Jordan and Brittnay. I ask that they find real truth in Your forgiveness and take the pain from the abortion that they went through away from their young minds, and hearts. Help me Lord to totally forgive her mother for the part that she played in the murdering of our Grandchild. Seal up the wounded hearts that satan is continuously harrassing. Turn Jordan back to You Lord and never give him up. We dedicated our children to You and we trust and believe that all that they have heard, seen and have known of You will always remain within them. Help me to be a good mother-in-law to Brittnay and that she will come to know You as her Savior.
In Jesus name
amen
Get us a President that loves YOU LORD JESUS
Jesus,
Praying that we get a president that loves You Lord. Asking that You have mercy on us as a Nation once again and get this man out of the White house. I am sorry Lord; I am trying real hard to keep my peace on this; but I am running amuk!
Would it ever be Your intention for us to follow a blind, egotistical, self loving heathen? I believe I speak correctly when I say~~"NO!"
With a new year coming, all I want for this country is a repentive attitude, realizing that some have errored big time when they cast a vote for this person. I can see it no other way that a bad call of judgement for the overseer for this country.
So, my prayer is........please deliver us from the mad man and his voodoo hoodoo wife and relatives. Give unto us a MAN that has You in his life and walks the walk and not just the talk. Help us before it is too late. In Jesus name ~~ amen
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