Snow Melts

In the record-breaking blockbuster Frozen, the supporting character, who most viewers consider the main character, is a happy go lucky snowman named Olaf. I have to admit, he made me laugh several times, and his demeanor is hard to dislike. He sings the second most popular song in the movie called, “In Summer”. For those three people who have not watched this movie, here are some of the lyrics: “Bees will buzz, kids will blow dandelion fuzz, and I’ll be doing whatever snow does in summer…my snow up against the burning sand probably getting gorgeously tanned in summer.”

Of course the humorous thing about this melody is everyone knows what will happen to this poor snowman in summer…

he melts.

The snowman has limits, and unless or until he learns to embrace those limits, he will surely do whatever it is that happens to snow in summer.

Here is the unshakable reality of life:

Truth will always dominate one’s hopes, beliefs, and aspirations.

In fact, everything created has limits. Nothing is exempt from the actuality of our physical laws that hold us together as well as the often-ignored spiritual laws that, if followed, keep us mentally together. We are both physical and spiritual. We have a physical being that is useless without the spirit that makes it alive. That is, all the DNA, RNA, and billions of cells can do nothing without life being breathed into it and we call this our soul…our spirit.

Health conscious people are cautious about what they eat, drink, and think. The interesting thing is that most of them miss the reason they are limiting themselves…

They live with self-imposed restrictions not just to look good, but so they can

“feel” good.

Feelings come from our spirit, not from nerves, electric impulses, or genetics. It is our spirit’s interpretation and assimilation of that constantly fluctuating data that makes someone ‘feel’ good. Our gray matter is our brain, but our mind/spirit cannot be located…it is this mind/spirit that allows us to feel anything.

If you live your life ignoring your physical limitations, you will feel it spiritually.

You will melt

Olaf’s friends hesitated to be honest with him and tell him exactly what happens to snow in summer. If they truly cared and loved Olaf, they would humbly inform him and suggest he daydream about summer, but seek the artic north. For Olaf, he can only prosper and remain happy-go-lucky in the cold.

For humankind, we can only prosper and remain happy-go-lucky by accepting and living the way our Creator has informed us via sixty-six books that we call the Bible.

God, because He IS love:

Warns His beloved that we will, in a sense, ‘melt in the summer sun’.

He humbly requests, does not demand, that we follow His leading because He knows how we function properly, and He desires for us to spiritually prosper.

Contrary to popular opinion, the Bible is not a book of rules…it is sixty-six books filled with unquestionable wisdom that transcends time, the whims of man, and the silliness of momentary cultures.

Read it.

Study it.

Apply it.

It is from these truths that you will thrive. God is on your side if you would trust and allow Him to lead, you will realize this amazing certainty.

Don’t be an Olaf living in a false fantasy. Live in reality and embrace your boundaries as our loving God has articulated.

Limits are not a bad thing; they keep us alive and keep us 
Frozen.

“’For I know the plans I have for you,’" says the LORD. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’” Jer. 29:11

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Disappear

I can’t seem to watch enough documentaries about people who live in Alaska, Siberia, and various other locales where no one else lives but them. I envy that solitude, that fight for survival where nothing matters but food, shelter, and making it through another day. The pettiness of most of our pursuits and desires becomes crystalline and basics become paramount. 

In order to chase after a taste of this desire, I love hiking on various mountains across this great country by myself and not seeing people for days on end. To some people that sounds like purgatory, but to me it sounds like pure joy.

I have no desire to ever be known or respected by anyone but my family. I don’t want to be on a stage or have people recognize me. The idea of “rich and famous” repulses me to my core, and everything inside me, humanly speaking, screams to stop when I sit down to write a blog, stand up to speak, or enter a room where large groups of people are “having a good time”. That's partially what I loved about midnight shift as a cop. While most people slept, I would go about my work keeping others safe and they never knew who I was or that I existed or did anything for them. 

Here’s the funny thing, it doesn’t matter.

It doesn’t matter what I want. It doesn’t matter where I want to live. It doesn’t matter if I want to disappear and never be seen or heard from again. The only thing that matters as a follower of Christ is to listen to His leading, and if that means I am to write, speak, or interact, I will do it with all that I have.

After many, many hours of watching those documentaries (and various zombie and other apocalyptic movies that depict a similar world where only a few people remain) something interesting struck me.

That is a life wasted.

That is a life where someone would, maybe, find my sundried and bleached bones and then move on with little more than a passing thought about what kind of life he lived. Life only has meaning when we impact others for the eternal cause of Christ. Anything short of that is gone as soon as it starts.

We are, as the Bible tells us, truly a flickering flame, a morning fog, or a wildflower, here today and gone tomorrow. At best, only those in direct contact with us will be affected, and they move on, as they should, fairly quickly, and the rest of the world does not miss a beat, not a step, and traffic resumes its commute as if nothing happened.

That was one of the things that always got me as a cop.

You work a horrific fatal accident, clean it up, open up traffic, and I would watch the faces of those driving by while I wrote my report. They are clueless as to what they are driving over and the images I smelled. 

That’s our life. It does me no good to hide in Alaska, Siberia, or any other distant corner of this world, temporally, sure, but not permanently.  I must let the love of others trump my human instincts to run and hide. The Great Commission is my primary pursuit, and if that means becoming known so that some may come to the knowledge of the Truth, then that’s what I will do. 

Not begrudgingly, but with a passion that drives me past the mediocre and into the realm of all that He has gifted me. 

The naysayers, like me, will soon be gone, and it’s only eternity that really matters.

So no matter where you are, a small town in Alaska or a large city in Brazil, impact your world for Christ. Stand up, speak up, and tell others of the Good News, even if you are uncomfortable and want to hide in a dark corner like I do.

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere--in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8

Jesus is a Myth

 

For several years, billboards loudly proclaiming that Jesus is a myth have sprung up around Christmas time. Various atheists’ groups are proud to claim responsibility. One such sign, recently erected in Times Square, depicts a rendition of Jesus with the words “Jesus is a Myth”. As a Christian, I could not be happier…once again, Jesus gets free advertisement. I almost feel bad for Buddha (originally, Siddhattha Gotama), Shiva, Vishnu, Muhammad, Joseph Smith, L. Ron Hubbard, and thousands of others who apparently do not rise to the level of concern for atheists. Only Jesus of Nazareth rises to such distinction. So strong are their feelings towards Him that they will give their greatest resource—money—just to tell others about Him. Praise the Lord!

In business, there is a saying, “There is no such thing as bad publicity.” Church buildings are boring. Christians are often very boring. But posting something that goes against all logic, historical evidence, and long-standing acceptance is exciting. It grabs one’s attention and makes them question the truthfulness or falsehood of the statement.

I love this technique, and I’ve personally challenged hundreds of students throughout the years to spend a week or two of their life, using all of their intellect and research abilities, to try to disprove the resurrection of Jesus. I believe the fastest way to saving faith or unbearable realization that Jesus indeed lived, died, and rose again is to aggressively study the evidence for the resurrection. My prayer is that people will read that sign in New York, question their beliefs, and set out to understand why they believe what they believe (1 Peter 3:15; 2 Tim. 2:15; et al.). That is, if they claim Christianity, why do they believe? And if they are atheists, why do they see the facts of history differently than over 90% of the world? The simple truth is one side is right, while the other is wrong, and there is no middle ground.

One thing is certain; atheists have already proven a man named Jesus lived, died, his body disappeared within three days of His burial and is still missing, and He was so impactful on society that the known world changed due to Him and Him alone. How do we know this? Atheists, agnostics, and many brilliant lovers of knowledge have spent 2,000 years trying to prove where His body went after His burial. Implicit in their study is the foregone conclusion that a man named Jesus lived, died, was buried, His body is gone, and He changed some of the world’s most ardent religious followers as well as pagans, thus why they spend their time, money, and talent on one point: where did His body go? Intriguing to me is that without even opening the bible, only listening to the naysayers, I can already firmly know that Jesus lived, died, and His body is missing. So again, the only remaining question is, “Where did He go?”

Please, my atheistic friends, I sincerely beg you to continue to put billboards up, go on news channels and argue your point, and enter the halls of learning. God wants His people to get ready for the coming years of trouble with an unshakable faith, and the only way to remain strong is to know that you know that you know. Christians need a good dare to motivate their lazy minds, and apparently, the best way to strengthen the gospel is via a good challenge/persecution.

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good.” Genesis 50:20

 

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105 Minutes with an Atheist

 

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine introduced me to a man who happened to be an atheist. After an hour-long conversation about life, he blurts out, “You keep talking about science. You’re a pastor. Do you believe in science?” He went on to say how he doesn’t believe in God because there is too much “stuff” out there such as “millions of galaxies containing trillions of stars…it’s just too vast to come from a God.” I could not wipe the smile off my face as I said, “Exactly! Too much stuff! Where did all that stuff come from?”

The Law of Cause and Effect is one of the scientific laws that allows the field of science to even exist; without its guiding principle, theories become impossible. That is, scientists observe effects such as life, planets, spinning spiral galaxies, and etc. They spend their life attempting to determine the cause of such effects. There are two options (three if you count aliens, but then where did the aliens come from…back to two options) to the cause of existence, everything from nothing or everything from something. The first option is naturalism (no God) and the second is theism (a God). Again, a third option (minus panspermia/aliens) does not exist. If you are not a theist you are a naturalist (atheist) and vice versa. Either God created or nothing created.

“I think I believe in science more than the naturalist” is what I told him. He narrowed his eyes, threw his head back, and asked, “How so?” I believe the scientific laws that exist today have always existed, and when God decided to create everything, He simply used the laws that are within Him. As a theist, I do not suspend the laws of science; I embrace them. In particular, the law of cause and effect. In order to believe everything came from nothing, I must suspend reality, logic, and rational thought, basically, all laws of science. Everything cannot pop into existence from nothing because there is nothing to make something, and a cause to the first something leading to everything cannot exist in nothing. Simplified, it takes at least one thing to make the next thing. If there was Something (what we call God), then all things are possible because that Thing caused all things to begin. A first cause must exist in order to make the first effect; therefore, there is no choice but to accept the required existence of a first Cause, and that Cause we call God. We are not required to exist; conversely, He is required, and we know this simply because we are here. The universe overflows with unnecessary stuff, therefore, there must be a “stuff” Maker, or there would be no stuff. God is not a maybe, He’s a must.   

So my answer to him was a resounding and excited, “Yes, I believe in—and embrace—science and the very laws by which the field is substantiated! Further, I find it intriguing that atheists mock my strong belief in all scientific laws and consider my unbending commitment to same as ridiculous if not naïve when it comes to the start of it all.” My thought: everyone innately knows that everything requires a something to make anything and that what one gets from nothing is nothing. So my question is, “Who is remaining logical, rational, and intellectually honest? The one who suspends all knowledge of the laws that surround and uphold us, or the one who accepts the fact that those same laws require a law Giver?”

 

Christmas Eve Service: Uplifting?

Recently I was in the hospital with a close family member. We were there for five days as four doctors worked the case attempting to figure out what was wrong. The first three doctors signed off on the one I love and signed the release paperwork. Finally, one more doctor entered the room and clearly stated, “You are not going home; there is something wrong, and we will find it”.

We did not rush to the ER to get an uplifting message from a kind doctor; we went because something was wrong and we needed the truth regardless of the way it made us feel. Jesus said, "Healthy people don't need a doctor--sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners." (Mark 2:17). According to the eyewitnesses of Jesus, He is not interested in raising the ego of individuals nor is He concerned with giving an uplifting message so we feel good. No…Jesus is the kind doctor who tells you the truth regardless of the initial sting so that He can help you fix the problem. The world signs your release paperwork; Christ asks you to stay.  

"No one is righteous--not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one." (Rom. 3: 10-12)

While the ultimate end to Jesus’ message is uplifting to those who accept it; simultaneously, it brings about a sense of seriousness and sorrow as well. That is, the Bible is the PET scan exposing the bleakness inside, and we know what it means for many we love who ignore the truth. A few years ago, a family member ignored a lump in her belly for months without telling anyone. That small bump took her life within a few weeks of discovery. She needed a doctor, she needed honesty, and she needed to get well, but feared the news of the doctor and the result was sealed.

The gospel is good news, but it is not exactly uplifting when one considers the totality of its ramifications on all of humankind. “But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.” (Mth. 7:14).

My prayer is that people come to church this Christmas season not to be uplifted, but to hear and receive the difficult and stinging truth of the good Physician, Jesus Christ. We are not well, and the prognosis is not good unless we accept the gift of eternal life via the shed blood of Jesus Christ, which paid the literal sickness that each of us contain. No one wants to hear they have terminal cancer, but what if you got a second opinion and that doctor said, “No problem, I can remove it and you will live.”  Would you say “No”? Would you allow his perceived arrogance to get in the way of life? Would you walk away simply because it is impossible to grasp the technique?

“For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There's no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.” (2 Cor. 7:10)

 

The Lottery

 

I read a great story the other day about a grandma who was having difficulty paying her electric, cable, and phone bill. I would have to imagine that her financial situation was in complete disarray with no hope of tomorrow making it better. Several months earlier, she’d purchased a lottery ticket and put it in her glove box. As you may know, winners only have so long to claim their prize. As time neared the end, grandma cleaned out her glove box and found her ticket; it was worth $28 million.

Stories like this are heartwarming and a little enticing to go buy a lottery ticket. The fact is grandma’s destructive financial problems need not have been. Her answer rested beside her day after day, for months. Her reprieve from agony as she went to sleep in fear of what tomorrow would bring was only a memory away. Her rescue from financial ruin was often inches from her grasp; all she had to do was recognize its existence, take ahold of it, and accept the gift that awaited her.

While I could expound on the futility of wealth and how this does not solve her eternal issues, that is not the point. Christ has given us a gift. We didn’t even have to spend a dollar; it’s free because He has accomplished the task. Many live their entire life a breath, a thought, or a doubt away from receiving the greatest gift humankind has ever received. They slip in to the other side never opening their proverbial glove box and miss out on what could have been.

When I hear the incredible voice of Adele sing, “We Could Have Had It All”, I can’t help but imagine Jesus saying the chorus of that song to those who never accepted their gift of eternal life. We could have had it all, running in the deep, you had My heart inside your hand and you played it to the beat. Throw your soul through every open door. Count your blessings to find what you look for. Turn My sorrow into treasured gold. You pay Me back in kind and reap just what you sow.

The gift of grace, mercy, and salvation are waiting for you to open your heart, see Jesus for what and Who He is, and accept His completed work. He did it for you. He did it for me. Sadly, many will never cash in their untold wealth; instead, they settle for the dirt we stand on, the dust we breathe in, and the mud from which He made us. You could have it all.

 

Connecting the Dots



Maggie-Me's Photostream

Salvador Dali was a surrealist painter in the twentieth century. I observed his works firsthand at the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. As I gazed at one of his paintings, The Hallucinogenic Toreador (can't show due to copyright laws, 13'X9' Full Pic. Dalmation), an artist friend of mine began to point out and explain various stories hidden within the large 13’X9’ painting. Dali purposely placed within his paintings components that only the curious observer would find, stories within a story.

Maggie-Me's Photostream

Near the bottom of The Hallucinogenic Toreador is an area that, at first glance, looks like nothing more than black and white dots. In time, and with the assistance of my friend, I began to see there was much more than what first greets the eye. The white and black dots are actually a Dalmatian dog with its nose to the ground, tail in the air, walking towards a large maple tree during autumn. Once my mind connected the dots, I realized there was a story inside of what originally appeared to be nothing more than dots. Now that I have seen the dots for what they are, I will always vividly see a dog, leaves, and a tree.

Maggie-Me's Photostream

The dog, leaves, and tree were always there; it just took effort and some help to see the truth that already was. Noticing the design created by the designer did not make me smarter or a better person and I certainly cannot brag just because I recognized truth. I did not change the picture nor did I alter its design; I merely acknowledged its existence.

Life, in one sense, is a series of dots; some are dark and scary while others are light and inviting. For many years I only saw black and white dots. The more I study and know God, the more He connects the dots and a large picture is beginning to emerge. I am beginning to see the stories within His story, the story that is Christ’s love for an underserving soul that is me. I cannot see the whole picture yet. But because I have accepted the gift of salvation, I know the Father is creating a work admired for all eternity.

Photo by Robert Hruzek

 

God Doesn’t Make Straight Lines



A few years ago, I went over the handlebars of a bicycle and ripped open my right forearm. The gash was large and deep. Friends rushed me to the emergency room where the doctors stitched me up. Two days later, I had a fever of 103° and uncontrollable shakes. My doctor advised me to get to the ER as fast as possible. As soon as the check in nurse saw my arm, I was rushed ahead of the entire waiting room, and within minutes they had removed my sutures, allowing the poison in my arm to literally flow out, causing the nurse to step back and gasp.

They pushed an IV in my other arm and started me on antibiotics. The head nurse came in and said, “You will be here several days; this is not good.” Over the next three days, I watched the red infection consume my entire arm and progress to my shoulder. They were readying me for an amputation, as they had me on the strongest antibiotics we possess, and it did nothing. As a last resort, hospital staff wheeled me into a dark room where they called in an expert in sonogram reading. White-coated doctors and students filled the room as they used my body as a test case. Five minutes in, this specialist broke the eerie silence and said, “Nurse, take a picture of this. Does everyone see that? God does not make straight lines.” My head spun to catch the man’s eyes. I had never felt such relief. This doctor knew that I had something foreign in my body because God creates beautiful curves. The original doctor had left a one-inch sliver of wood in my arm, and it was killing me. The staff hurried me into surgery and removed this deadly straight line.

As I contemplate my life, I see curve after curve, bend after bend, and what appears to be, detour after detour. I have often considered these diversions as a nuisance keeping me from His purpose. The truth is God does not make straight lines. When one reviews the great men and women of the Bible, you will see that no one had a straight line. Instead, their life is marked with upsets, setbacks, and deviations. God then uses your personal experiences to propel His gospel in a way that no other man, woman, or child could possibly accomplish. You are unique, not so you can make money, become popular, or gain power. No, your life’s path contains curves and bends to spread the gospel to a dead world who desperately cries out for help. Embrace your apparent detour. Study it. Learn from it. And get ready, because God wants to use you, and you alone, to change eternity for a select few. God doesn’t make straight lines, so stop trying and simply rest in His leading, His wisdom, and His purpose. Life becomes more peaceful when we truly rest, knowing His love supersedes our own desires.

Nothing is FREE...Right?

FREE...the word itself conjures up several feelings. At first blush, it excites the mind and entices our eyes to look. After all, free is free. Walk through a grocery store on a Saturday and free food from various vendors greets our senses. We hastily grab the products from their tray and gobble them up, pretending that we may purchase their product so we don't feel bad as we walk away looking for the next nibble. Free is what we think of when we consider cheap, unwanted, and unnecessary items such as free tickets to a concert for a band no one has heard of or cares to know more about. Free is not American, it does not make one rich, and it certainly does not end with the free product, as the purpose is to get you to pay for a little more of the free stuff.

It appears to me that Jesus messed up (hold your gasp, Christian, and humor me for a second). That is, if He would have told us, "In order to be saved, you must cut off your right arm" or "God so loved the world that He needs your left foot to be placed on a fire built from gopher wood near the base of Mt. Everest on November 21st. If you do this, you shall be saved". Ah, our intellect and sense of fairness perks. Payment for something of value enters our mind, and we drive forward.

Now there is no question who is "saved"; just look for the missing left foot replaced with a prosthetic limb, brandishing a tattoo of John 3:16.

Man has always understood salvation comes with a price. Culture after culture has killed in the name of sacrifice to their god(s). Today, we sacrifice babies to the god of money and convenience and call it "choice". Oh, we humans get it; there must be a sacrifice for our individual god(s). We just don't get a God who says, "You can't do it, I had to, and it's free". Pardon this apparent contradiction, but while His gift is free, it will cost you, it will cost you giving up your personal pursuits to follow His instead (Lk. 9:24). But the gift is still free in the sense your “sin bill” is paid in full. This seems to rival our idea of fairness. "Let me walk on my knees for miles until I bleed and reach a statue of You" or "Make me count beads while I mumble a specific magical prayer" or "Tell me I must sell everything and live in abstract poverty or You will not love me"...then, and only then, will I believe You love me. "I have to earn everyone’s love, why should You be different?"

Dear friend, I get it. I am as human as you. Free just doesn't seem to work for us. But thanks be to God He offers salvation via the finished work of His Son Jesus Christ. Our salvation was not free; it cost Jesus His life. He paid the price in full, because we cannot afford it. Accept the unmerited favor of God and know peace, fulfillment, and glorify Him with whatever life you have remaining.

Heaven's Secrets

A friend recently asked me what I thought Heaven was like. The Bible is scarce with revelation about the coming glory of God’s presence, but one thing is certain, it is beyond the greatest of all imaginations. Our human limitations brought on by sin, and the curse of God, do not allow our minds to fully wrap around the splendor to come.



I believe, however, God exposes variant aspects of Heaven to His children that captivate and entice them as it suits their personalities—the individual nuances He so adores. It is all we can corporately conjure and beyond. It surpasses all amazing thoughts, feelings, and dreams combined. The science fiction world stretches towards paradise, but remains desperately wanting. It is the very presence of the Almighty of Whom we only view in a mirror dimly.

Oh my, dream all you want, and it has not begun to scratch the proverbial surface of the majesty to come, and words cannot begin to enlighten our limited intellect.

While Heaven’s true shape is unknown, one thing is for certain, the clouds of the rapture are forming, the chess pieces are maneuvering for position, and the stage for the final battles are almost full. Israel has become the center of the universe as the Bible warned.  

We are near, and the time is at hand. But even if He delays 2,000 more years, our life is a flicker and eternity surrounds our mortal being. Does the blood of Christ protect you from His wrath? Don’t miss out on the party that ends all parties, when Christ enters the room and billions of voices rise in perfection to glorify the risen King who paid our admission. Your mind will be intact, your glorified body will be perfect, and eternal joy with our true family begins and never ends. “Encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Hebrews 10:25b

Dead People Stay Dead!!

Christians have become dangerously complacent with their knowledge of the truth. They have followed the pattern of the world and too often consider God common. They haphazardly toss out to an unbelieving world that a man named Jesus was brutally beaten, hung on a cross, stabbed through the chest, buried in an extraordinarily secure tomb, and somehow he walked out alive. Not only did he break every known physics, medical, historical, and logical law known to humankind, he also claimed to be God.

I hear some Christians make such irrational claims of truth with nothing more than the words, “And you should believe this to be saved.” When the person questions them, or does not believe, they are shocked, saddened, or shake their heads in disbelief.  

It is perfectly logical and sane for someone not to believe such radical and anti-intellectual claims.

Good news!

Christian faith is not blind faith. Christian faith is not a leap into the dark or falling blindly off a cliff.

 

Christian faith is the evidence of things hoped for, the assurance of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). Did you hear that? Our faith is not like that of the cults or other false religions that ask you to believe them simply because they say so. Or to follow them and after a while they will enlighten you with “new” knowledge no other human has known before now. No! Christian faith is logical, rational, and based upon solid historical data and medical evidence.

This is what we know and is uncontested by serious scholars:

1. Detractors of God have spent 2,000 years trying to tell the world where the body of Jesus went. Many of these mockers are brilliant scientists, anthropologists, historians, and various other experts, so this is not an ad hominem attack.
2. They have devised many theories, but only five make the history books, because they at least hold (held) some merit:
1. Swoon
2. Hallucination
3. Wrong Tomb
4. Theft
5. Passover Plot
3. From the incredible and respectable diligence of the skeptics of God alone (no Bible involved in this deduction), we can decisively and unequivocally know the following facts:
1. A man named Jesus lived in Jerusalem
2. A man named Jesus was beaten by Roman soldiers and crucified on a cross
3. A man named Jesus was buried
4. A man named Jesus body is no longer in the tomb in which he was buried
5. A man named Jesus led a life so profound that he altered the known world and haters have spent 2,000 years trying to disprove that which His followers wholeheartedly believed, many of whom died for this belief, and many more believe today. 

Each of the five theories—keep in mind this is the best-of-the-best over 2,000 years could come up with—have been thoroughly defeated.

1. I will ignore the previous fact and gladly acquiesce to the ardent scoffer’s demand that at least one of them has not been defeated.
2. I will follow the disdainer’s stipulation and submit that somehow he survived a beating that ripped flesh from all parts of his body causing hypovolemic shock. He was hung on a cross with three seven-inch nails by professional executioners. He was stabbed through the lung and heart. He was buried in a cold, damp, and likely mold infested tomb. He moved the 1,500-2,000 pound boulder uphill, breaking the Roman seal without a squadron of trained soldiers ever noticing what occurred, and he walked seven miles to the disciples’ house. Okay, given, somehow that happened.
3. Picture the scene as Jesus knocked on the door and said to his followers, “I am your Savior.” No one in their right mind would accept the claims of a man who looked in the shape Jesus would have looked, let alone hundreds and then thousands of believers. A friend—the disciples were the best of friends—would take such a man by the arm and get him both medical and psychological assistance.
4. We are forced—as many reluctant atheists have stated in the past after a strong review of the evidence—to admit that the preponderance of the evidence weighs heavily toward the events as recorded in and out of the Bible as more likely true than not.

Many atheists/agnostics claim Christians believe in Jesus because they want to. Let me assure you, I do not believe in Jesus because I want to. Think about that: who wants to believe that God will judge them for their thoughts and actions, their family will face a real hell, and that they need to turn from their human instinct ways? That is not something about which I dream. I believe in Jesus, because I can no more deny my very existence than deny the reality of the events as recorded in the Bible and at least twelve extra-biblical sources.

Jesus is real, His words are real, His judgment is real, His wrath is real, and He loves you so much He died for you so you can avoid a real Hell intended for the Devil and his cohorts. “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

Salvation is not a prayer nor is it simply words; it is action. Belief is a verb. Faith is something that inherently alters your actions or it is not faith at all (book of James).

I challenge you to disprove the resurrection as so many have tried to do in the past. Not just cursory searches as though you were looking for a recipe for cookies, but a true and diligent study of the known information. Take a few weeks to know for certain you are correct. What else are you doing? Many have set out to disprove His resurrection and have the intellectual integrity to admit their mistake. Sadly, many more have not.

Are You Sure?