I’ve Been Sick

I have been sick for about three weeks. I am better now but during that time and because it drug on so long, I lost all motivation, even to write or surf the internet for that matter.

Sickness like that makes one feel so vulnerable. I was able to see how fleeting life can be.

I am back on my feet and feeling much better. I’ve even got some motivation now.

All this made me rethink thoughts I had when I had a more chronic condition. I wondered at times, if I would ever be past the problem. I even put my faith in the docs and medicine and they were not working. I learned from that experience that you just cannot put your faith in anyone or anything in this world. I want to share that experience with you abit later.

Have a wonderful evening!!

Creation and the Big Bang

The following is an excerpt from an article by Frank Turek regarding Big Bang evidence and how it ties into Creation.

Why couldn’t natural forces have produced the universe? Because there was no nature and there were no natural forces ontologically prior to the Big Bang—nature itself was created at the Big Bang. That means the cause of the universe must be something beyond nature—something we would call supernatural.  It also means that the supernatural cause of the universe must at least be:

·         spaceless because it created space

·        timeless because it created time

·         immaterial because it created matter

·         powerful because it created out of nothing

·         intelligent because the creation event and the universe was precisely designed

·         personal because it made a choice to convert a state of nothing into something (impersonal forces don’t make choices).

Those are the same attributes of the God of the Bible (which is one reason I believe in a the God of the Bible and not a god of mythology like Zeus).

I mentioned in the debate that other scientists who made Big-Bang-related discoveries also conclude that the evidence is consistent with the Biblical account. Robert Wilson—co-discoverer of the Radiation Afterglow, which won him a Noble Prize in Physics— observed, “Certainly there was something that set it off. Certainly, if you’re religious, I can’t think of a better theory of the origin of the universe to match with Genesis.”  George Smoot—co-discoverer of the Great Galaxy Seeds which won him a Nobel Prize as well—echoed Wilson’s assessment by saying, “There is no doubt that a parallel exists between the Big Bang as an event and the Christian notion of creation from nothing.”

How did Hitchens respond to this evidence?  Predictably, he said that I was “speculating”—that no one can get behind the Big Bang event.  I say “predictably” because that’s exactly the response Dr. Jastrow said is common for atheists who have their own religion—the religion of science…read more…

Turek vs. Hitchens Debate: Does God Exist? from Andrew Ketchum on Vimeo.

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Is Jesus God? Did He perform Miracles?

If God became a man, He would perform miracles

1. The Scriptural Witness

Jesus said,  “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: the blink see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them.” Luke 7:22.

Jesus miracles demonstrated a great variety of power:

Power over nature
Power over disease,
Power over demons,
Powers of creation
Power over death

His demonstration of power also fulfilled prophecy and pointed to Him as the Messiah predicted in Hebrew Scriptures.

Miracles of Physical Healing

Leperosy   Matthew 8:2-4; Mark 1:40-45; Luke 5:12-15;
Paralytic   Matthew 9:2-8; Mark 2:3-12; Luke 5:18-26;
Peter’s mother-in-law   Matthew 8:14-17; Mark 1:29-31;
A nobleman’s son   John 4:46-53; John 5:1-9;
A withered hand   Matthew 12:9-13; Mark 3:1-6; Luke 6:6-11;
Deafness and dumbness   Mark 7:31-37;
Blindness   Mark 8:22-25; John 9; Mark 10:46-52;
Ten lepers   Luke 17:11-19;
Malchus’s severed ear   Luke 22: 47-51
Hemorrhage   Matthew 9:20-22
Dropsy   Luke 14:24

Miracles of the Natural Realm

Water converted to wine at Cana John 2:1-11
Stilling a storm Matthew 8:23-27
Supernatural catch of fish Luke 5:1-11
Multiplying food
5000 fed Matthew 14:15-21
4000 fed Matthew 15:32-39
Walking on water matthew 14:22,23
Money from a fish Matthew 17:24-27
Fig tree dried up Matthew 21:18-22

Miracles of Raising the Dead

Jairus’s daughter Matthew 9:18-26
Widow’s son Luke 7:11-15
Lazarus of Bethany John 11:1-4

Comments on His Maracles

All His miracles are but natural manifestations of His person, and hence they were performed with the same ease with which we perform our ordinary daily works. PC, 76-77 “His miracles were, without exception, prompted by the purest motives and aimed at the glory of God and the benefit of men; they are miracles of love and mercy, full of instruction and significance and in harmony with His character and mission.  Philip Schaff, The Person of Christ, 91

Bernard Ramm:   If miracles are capable of sensory perception, they can be made matters of testimony. If they are adequately testified to, then the recorded testimony has the same validity for evidence as the experiences of beholding the events. !!!!

Here is what Bernard Ramm observes on Lazarus’s resurrection:

If the raising of Lazarus was actually witnessed by John and recorded faithfully by him when still in soundness of faculties and memory, for purposes of evidence it is the same as if we (who read John’s account) were there and saw it.  Bernard Ramm, PhD, Protestant Christian Evidences, 140-141

As with any topic here we are open to your comments below or put it out there for other readers.

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20 Unusual Churches

You have to admit somethings, God has given His people an unusual amount of creativity.  Here is just one was it is expressed.  Take a peek here  click, and you might want to visit part 2 at the bottom of the page for 20 more.  The second set is more unique I believe than the first, but that is a matter of opinion of course.

As with any topic here we are open to your comments below or would you pass it on through a reading service?

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That’s My King!

That’s My King!     By S.M. Lockridge  (Long gone but not forgetten)

(S. M. Lockridge may go down in history as the greatest black preacher ever to preach in the USA.)

Here is his tribute to our King–King Jesus!!

The Bible says my King is a seven-way King:   He’s the King of the Jews – that’s a racial King. He’s the King of Israel – that’s a National King. He’s the King of righteousness. He’s the King of the ages. He’s the King of Heaven. He’s the King of glory. He’s the King of kings and He is the Lord of lords. That’s my King!

Well,  I wonder… do you know Him?
David said  “the Heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth His handiwork.”  My King is a sovereign King; no means of measure can define His limitless love.  No far seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of the shore of His supplies. No barriers can hinder Him from pouring out His blessing. He’s enduringly strong. He’s entirely sincere.  He’s eternally steadfast. He’s immortally graceful.  He’s imperially powerful.  He’s impartially merciful.

Do you know Him?

He’s God’s Son. He’s the sinner’s saviour. He’s the centrepiece of civilization. He stands alone in the solitude of Himself. He’s august and He’s unique. He’s unparalleled. He’s unprecedented. He’s the loftiest idea in literature. He’s the highest personality in philosophy. He’s the supreme problem in higher criticism. He’s the fundamental doctrine of true theology. He is the core, the cardinal necessity for a spiritual religion. He is the miracle of the age, and He is the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him. He’s the only one qualified to be an all-sufficient Savior.

I wonder if you know Him today.

He’s the only one able to supply all our needs simultaneously. He supplies strength for the weak. He’s available for the tempted and the tried. He sympathizes and He saves. He guards and he guides. He heals the sick. He cleanses the lepers. He forgives sinners. He discharges debtors. He delivers the captives. He defends the feeble. He blesses the young. He serves the unfortunate. He regards the aged. He rewards the diligent and He purifies the meek. That’s my King.

Do you know Him?  Well, my King is the key to knowledge. He’s the wellspring of wisdom. He’s the doorway of deliverance.  He’s the pathway of peace.  He’s the roadway of righteousness.  He’s the highway of holiness.  He’s the gateway of glory.  That’s my King.

His office is manifold.  His promise is sure. His light is matchless. His goodness is limitless.  His mercy is everlasting. His love never changes. His Word is enough.  His grace is sufficient.  His reign is righteous. His yoke is easy and His burden is light.  I wish I could describe Him to you . . .but He’s indescribable. He’s God.

He’s incomprehensible.  He’s invincible.  He’s irresistible.  You can’t get Him out of your mind. You can’t get Him off of your hands. You can’t outlive Him and you can’t live without Him. The Pharisees couldn’t stand Him, but they found out they couldn’t stop Him.  Pilate couldn’t find any fault in Him.  The witnesses couldn’t get their testimonies to agree about Him.  Herod couldn’t kill Him.  Death couldn’t handle Him and the grave couldn’t hold Him.  That’s my King.  That’s my King!

Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever and ever and ever.  How long is that?  And ever and ever!  And when you get through with all of the forever’s, then…  Amen!  Amen!  and Amen!

There are so many good renditions out there of this great sermon. Here is just one. I am sure you can find more!!

As with any topic here we are open to your comments below or would you pass it on through a reading service?

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Is Jesus God? Was He without sin?

If God became a man, we would expect Him to be without Sin

1. Jesus’s View of Himself

To a hostile crowd:

“Which of you convicts Me of sin?” John 8:46

He got no answer.   Though He invited scrutiny, no one could accuse him of anything.   He was innocent.   He could encourage this public examination because He was without sin.

John 8:29: “I always do those things that please Him.”

He was in unbroken communion with His Father in heaven.

Another quality which has often been remarked was the absence of any sense of having committed sin or of a basic corruption of Himself.  It is highly significant that in one as sensitive morally as was Jesus and who taught His followers to ask for the forgiveness of their sins there is no hint of any need for forgiveness for Himself, no asking of pardon, either from those about Him or of God.
Kenneth Scott Latourette, Historian, A History or Christianity, 47

The best reason to consider Him sinless: “is the fact that He allowed His dearest friends to think that He was (sinless). There is in all His talk no trace of regret or hint of compunction or suggestion of sorrow for shortcoming, or slightest vestige of remorse. He taught other men to think of themselves as sinners, He asserted plainly that the human heart is evil, He told His disciples that every time they prayed they were to pray to be forgiven, but He never speaks or acts as though He himself has the faintest consciousness of having ever done anything other than what was pleasing to God. Jefferson, CJ, 225

Another quality which has often been remarked was the absence of any sense of having committed sin or of a basic corruption of Himself…It is highly significant that in one as sensitive morally as was Jesus and who taught His followers to ask for the forgiveness of their sins there is no hint of any need for forgiveness for Himself, no asking of pardon, either from those about Him or of God.
Kenneth Scott Latourette, Historian, A History or Christianity, 47

2. The Witness of His Friends

Jesus’ closest associates, Peter and John, attest to His being without sin:

1 Peter 1:19: “but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

1 Peter 2:33: “Who committed no sin, nor was guile found in His mouth.”

1 John 3:5: “And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.”

While saying this, John also declared that anyone who declares himself to be without sin, he is a liar and he is calling God a liar also!!!

Even Judas—the one responsible for Jesus’ death—recognized Jesus’ innocence. “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood” Mt 27:3,4

Hebrews 4:15: “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin”

3. The Witness of His Enemies

One thief rebuked the other: This Man has done nothing wrong.” Luke 23:41

Pilate also found Jesus innocent of wrong-doing “You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people. And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him” Luke 23:14

The Roman centurion at the cross of Jesus: “Certainly this man was innocent” Luke 23:47

Is Jeus God? His unique entrance into Human History

Mohammed, Confucius, Buddha, and all other human beings were conceived by natural means: a male human sperm fertilizing a female human egg. Not so with Jesus Christ. His mother conceived Him while she was yet a virgin. He had no paternal father. The virgin conception and birth of Christ is utterly unique in human history.

Biblical Testimony for the Virgin Birth

The prophets of the Old Testament predicted the Messiah’s unusual conception hundreds of years before Matthew and Luke ever wrote their Gospels.

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.  Genesis 3:15

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.   Isaiah 7:14

This may not be straightforward to the uninitiated.  At the end of the Fall of Adam and Eve in Genesis, God says that there will be hostilities between Satan, represented here by the Serpent, and the offspring of Eve.  The offspring, he, will bruise Satan’s head.

Isaiah notes a specific sign of the coming of this Immanuel, or ‘God with us’,  he will be born of a virgin.   How many times has that happened?  We know of one time and in the blood lines outlined in the Old Testament and document in Matthew and Luke.

What is this?  It is a memorial,  That star-like bronze detail on the floor represents were Jesus was born is Palestine.   It is lit 24/7 as a memorial to the birthplace of Jesus.  I don’t like gaudy or tacky but this site symbolizes that the God we worship, the G0d-Man we worship had an absolutely unique entrance to earth and as predicted in the Hebrew scriptures.

As with any topic here we are open to your comments below. Comment away!!

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Is Jesus God? Why would God become a man?

Why would God become a man? One reason would be to communicate with us more effectively.

Throughout human history, God has used numerous means of communication to reach humankind with His message.

He lastly sent God, the Son into the world. The opening verses of the book of Hebrews state,

“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers. By the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son”  Hebrews 1:1, 2.

John, Jesus’ Disciple:

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” John 1: 14, 18

The prophets gave us God’s words.  But Jesus is THE Word of God in human form revealing God to us in person, not just in verbal statements.  He is God Himself in a form we could touch, hear, and see.  Jesus brought God to our level and lifted us up with Him in the process.

Not only did God want to communicate with us, He wanted to demonstrate to us just how much He loves us.

For God so loved the world, Jesus said, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved John 3:16, 17

Revelation 19:13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.

The Word of God came as THE God-man.  But, did He prove that He was God?

Is Jesus God?

This can be a deep subject but it is so important that I want to approach the topic in the next few weeks.

I want to look at some of the uniquenesses of the human side of Jesus and His role on earth.  If God became a man what would He be like?

EGYPT: CITIZEN WINS RARE LEGAL VICTORY TO REVERT TO CHRISTIANITY

Copt who became Muslim, then returned to Christ, gets ‘new’ faith officially recognized.

ISTANBUL, January 8 (Compass Direct News) – An Egyptian convert to Christianity who spent 31 years officially identified as a Muslim has won a rare legal victory to be officially registered in his “new” faith.

An Alexandrian administrative court awarded Fathi Labib Yousef the right to register as a Christian at a Dec. 20 hearing in the Mediterranean coastal city.

Yousef, in his early 60s, was raised Coptic but converted to Islam in 1974 in order to divorce his Christian wife. Becoming Muslim typically allows for an easy nullification of marriage to a non-Muslim within sharia (Islamic law), and conversion is often employed for this reason by both men and women in Islamic countries.

He reverted to Christianity in 2005 after an Orthodox clerical council gave its official permission, according to the advocacy group US Copts Association.

Yousef applied to the civil registry to acknowledge his change of religion the same year. But the government refused to acknowledge his re-conversion, so he filed a lawsuit against the Egyptian prime minister, interior minister and Civil Status Organization chairman. .. read more …

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