In Defense of the Christian Faith

For today's Inspiring Story on this Friday apologetics finds weekend, I am posting Lee Strobel's testimony. There have been some skeptics who claim that Lee is in it for the money, but when you consider his lifestyle prior to his conversion to Christianity and his background as a journalist, it is pretty easy to tell that this guy is genuine. I highly recommend his "Case" books (and in my opinion, he certainly makes a good "case" for Christianity). Lee has also recently come out with a new book titled "The Ambition: A Novel." You can visit his website here .

Welcome to this weeks Inspiring Story, where every other week, the DCF blog shares a story to inspire you in your walk with God. Today, I wanted to present a fascinating story of a man who was raised from the dead. In today's world, many atheists claim that because no one has every risen from the dead, the Resurrection of Jesus did not really happen. Of course, they claim that if evidence of people being raised from the dead were documented and presented to them, they would believe it (and we do have that in the four Gospel accounts, by the way).  Since we are approaching Easter --the day when we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus -- that objection may be raised by someone you know. Therefore, I wanted to share the story of Daniel -- a documentary on one man who was miraculously raised from the dead. This is actually a six part documentary on his story, so I strongly advise that you go here to watch the whole thing . Please do not let the time allotment stop you from ...

Welcome to another addition of Inspiring Story, where the goal is to provide you with a testimony that will encourage you, build up your faith, and demonstrate the power of God. He does exist, and He makes it perfectly clear, many times in our day-to-day lives. Today, I would like to share a few testimonies that I came across randomly (actually, that's not true -- I believe that the Lord led me to them as I was searching for a story this week), but they blessed me so much that I just had to share with my readers. This is the testimony of what God is doing through Heidi Baker and her ministry, Iris Ministries, in Mosambique, Africa. The first, is an interview that CBN did with Heidi. I was deeply encouraged by this one... And here is an amazing testimony of blind eyes seeing: "...One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.... Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and [yet] he hath opened mine eyes. Now we know that God heare...

It's about time this blog saw another Inspiring Story . (Last time, I missed it due to a day trip I took to PA; so I decided to wait until the next time it rolled around to post...) Here is a story that I saw a while back on CBN, and  I've been wanting to share it for a while. This is the amazing testimony of Clint and Penny Bragg and the one thing that nearly tore their marriage apart -- for 11 years. I hope you all enjoy! Join me March 19-21 for the next installment of Inspiring Story, sharing testimonies of God's faithfulness through which He reveals Himself to us on a daily basis.

I read this story yesterday at the Baptist Press and I just had to share it for today's Inspiring Story. The names have been changed (by the authors) for privacy and protection. Enjoy! --------  No one notices the young Chinese woman silently crying in the back pew. It's the only place she finds solace from her deep depression and fear of death. She's not even sure why she sits in this church every afternoon; her communist education and Buddhist religion teach against a belief in God. Yet something keeps drawing Lily Wang here. She pulls a Bible from the pew. It's not in her native Mandarin, but she flips it open anyway. She learned to read a little Thai after moving to Thailand a few years ago to teach school, but she hasn't learned enough to really understand this. So many questions cloud her mind that she finally musters enough courage to speak to a man carrying the same book. He brushes past the petite woman and goes about his business. The rejection ...

Today marks the 38th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade case which legalized abortion in America. I have never really talked about abortion on this blog before, but today, I make an exception. I believe that abortion is wrong; the Bible says that life is precious -- it is sacred. Too many women have been lied to when they walk into an abortion clinic. They are told that it is just a harmless procedure, and that "it's just a fetus." Excuse me, but "fetus" is Latin for "baby"; yet abortion clinics like Planned Parenthood are making millions of American tax dollars off of this lie! But often, the women who enter such clinics are scared, and they think that having an abortion will alleviate all of their problems. However, the psychological effects of such an action are enormous, as any woman who has experienced an abortion will tell you. That being said, I also believe that if any woman reading this has had an abortion (or is contemplating having one), there...

It's time for another Inspiring Story. This week, I'd like to share Saad's story. "Saad" is a fifteen-year-old Pakistani who now resides in Florida. For the first few years of his life, he resided in Pakistan -- a predominately Muslim country -- with his Muslim family, until their move to the United States in 1997. The next decade brought with it many changes such as adjusting to American society, making new friends, and watching his mother battle breast cancer. All of these things prompted various emotions and questions that Saad had no answers for. April 16, 2010 is a day that Saad will never forget. He describes it as follows: The world was marked between AD and BC, and now it would mark on April 16th, the most important day of my life. I wonder if I hadn't done anything on that day, would my life be as crazy as it is now? Who knows? Anyways, it was a chat on Facebook, and I just thought I'd talk to Robert for a second. I wish I could have copy and ...

Here are the DCF blog's top 10 posts of all time (from May 2010 - January 2011) in order of most popular to least popular. Beside each, I have provided a description of the contents. I am aware that a few of these were mentioned in my last post, but those were my favorites; these are YOUR favorites... Enjoy! ----------- 1) Inspiring Story: Dr. Kent Hovind - This is an essay on the Godly character of young-earth-creationist Dr.Kent Hovind. I'm not surprised at all that this made it to the top, since this post generated a lot of comments and traffic (845 searches for "Kent Hovind update," and 44 searches for "Kent Hovind Update 2010"; 914 total pageviews)! I'm grateful to each person who took the time to write a comment in support of Dr. Hovind. 2) Did Pontius Pilate actually exist? - In this post, learn about a remarkable archeaological find that proves that Pontius Pilate exists, lending support to even the small details in the Bible. 3)  Kent H...

Happy New Year, everyone! As 2010 comes to a close, I wanted to share some of my favorite posts with you all. I could list many more besides these, so I suggest you browse through the archives for more interesting posts that will build your faith and challenge you spiritually. (I do have plans to make this easier for my readers in the future.) So here they are in no particular order...   1) Discussion With An Atheist On God's Existence  2) Inspiring Story: Finding God 3) Sound Doctrine 4) Once Save Always Saved? 5) Inspiring Story: Move Your Train 6)  God's Pearls 7) Heaven or Hell? Part 2 8) Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People? 9) Theistic Evolution and Its Problems 10) An Atheists Denial of the Resurrection vs. A Christian's Rebuttal BONUS: Celebrating TWO Years of Blogging! - In August, I celebrated two years of blogging. I am including this post here, because it includes many of my favorite posts, some of which were not included in the above...

Merry Christmas, everyone! Today, I have a very Inspiring Story to share with y'all... John 1:1,14 states, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.... And the Word was made 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." In this video, the Word of God comes to a tribe for the first time! How precious it is to them! Do we take the Word of God for granted? The true meaning of Christmas is that He came so that we might have life and have it more abundantly -- so that we might have eternal life! These people get that, and it is so touching and inspiring to see how they respond with love toward the Word of God! Enjoy! Hat tip: The Stand to Reason blog Do you have a favorite inspiring Christmas story that you'd like to share? You can link it up by Clicking here . Don't forget to join me tomorrow for a special Christmas post, as well! From my fa...

It's time for another Inspiring Story everyone! Feel free to share your stories using the linky tool below. I found today's story when I was looking for the story behind a beautiful, yet powerful hymn. Here is what I found: -------------------- "Take My Life": Frances Ridley Havergal   by Amos R. Wells Frances Ridley Havergal wrote so many helpful books, and lived a life so earnest and devoted, that she has had a very deep influence over the hearts of Christians. Of all her poems, the one before us meant the most to her, and has meant the most to the world. Miss Havergal was born in Astley, England, December 14, 1836. Her father was an Episcopal clergyman, a skilful composer of music, and himself a hymn-writer. She was baptized by another hymn writer, Rev. John Cawood, who wrote "Hark! what mean those holy voices?" She became also a brilliant singer and piano-player, and a glittering career in society was open before her. But she considered all he...

Okay, so I know that I'm a bit late in putting this up, but I promised you all that I was going to have a special Inspiring Story for Thanksgiving. I went through many videos, trying to find just the perfect one, and while it isn't specifically "thanksgiving-ish," I wanted to post it for you all because it is very inspiring. It's a testimony by a Latin Soul Artist named Martin Cantu. The quality isn't the greatest, but the story is awesome! Enjoy! The thought that comes to mind when I hear testimonies like these is just how thankful I am to God for all that He is doing around the world. Sometimes, we get stuck in "our own little worlds," and we fail to see that other people have real needs, too. God is filling that need in amazing ways... let's be the tool -- like Joyce was in this case --through which He does it! Happy Thanksgiving! Do you have a story that you'd like to share? Leave me a comment or link up here: Powered by Linky Too...

Welcome to another session of Inspiring Story! If you would like to share a story, you can link up at the bottom of this post. Today, I'd like to share one of my favorite stories with y'all. For a long time, I've been a great admirer of Travel the Road ministries. This is a missionary-based ministry; Tim Scott and Will Decker put their missionary trips into documentaries so the rest of us can see what God is doing around the world! On one of their trips, they trekked through the snow-covered mountains of Siberia. As night approached, they were looking for a place to escape the bitter cold when they came upon a tent. The owners were not around, so they decided to go inside the tent to warm themselves. Sometime later, a father and his son returned to their tent and found some unexpected guests whom they warmly (no pun intended) welcomed! The father later told Tim and Will that he and his son were having a discussion in which he told his son, "If Jesus is real, He will ...

I almost forgot... It's time for another Inspiring Story * . This one comes from Mini Missions Magazine . Enjoy! ----------- During the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya in 1960, missionaries Matt and Lora Higgens were returning one night to Nairobi through the heart of Mau Mau territory, where Kenyans and missionaries alike had been killed and dismembered. Seventeen miles outside of Nairobi their Land Rover stopped. Higgens tried to repair the car in the dark, but could not restart it. They spent the night in the car, but claimed Psalm 4:8: "I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." In the morning they were able to repair the car. A few weeks later the Higgenses returned to America on furlough. They reported that the night before they left Nairobi, a local pastor had visited them. He told how a member of the Mau Mau had confessed that he and three others had crept up to the car to kill the Higgenses, but when they saw the sixteen m...

Well, it's time for another Inspiring Story! If you would like to participate in this meme, check the rules and details , and be sure to link up! This week, I'd like to share another testimony from The Jesus Film Project... God is certainly using that ministry in amazing ways. This one comes from the August newsletter. God Reveals Himself to an Arab man Tameem, as I will call him, sensed that something was deeply wrong. He lived in a closed nation, wasn't satisfied spiritually, and could not find peace. Thus began his search for God. First, he went to his local religous leader, asking: "Who is the true God? How can I find peace?" The leader replied, "I cannot help you. To know the secrets of our religion you must first become a 'monk' like me." Tameem went to his community's house of prayer where he bowed on the floor and prayed earnestly. He felt and experienced nothing. His subsequent attempts to find peace all failed. That's w...

Welcome to the Inspiring Story link party! If this is your first time participating, be sure to check out the rules and detail for this meme here . To kick off the now bi-weekly meme, I would like to share an amazing story that I found via Mini Missions Magazine . This is a testimony from P.G. Vargis, of Indian Evangelical Team . I found it to be truly inspiring, and it also poses quite a challenge to us as Christians. Be sure to let me know what you think! ------------ THE TRAIN CAME BACK In the early 70’s when we were pioneer missionaries in Katra, in the Himalayan Mountains of Kashmir it was a hard and difficult life, often filled with hunger and poverty. One day I was returning to Katra with an orphan boy. Our train arrived in Delhi railway station at about 3:00 PM and I was to catch the train (Jhelum Express) to Jammu from Delhi at 9:00 PM, and then go by bus from Jammu to Katra, our mission station. After the train arrived in Delhi , I took things easy since there ...

Tomorrow, I will be kicking off my bi-weekly Inspiring Story link party! In the past, I have posted various Christian stories that I found to be inspiring. I posted these on a weekly basis, and many of them came from portions of books or magazines that I've read. My point in doing this meme is to encourage and build up one another. God does so many good things for us on a daily basis, but sometimes we miss them. However, when we look at the lives of others, or even into our own pasts, it helps us to gain perspective and be encouraged. To make it easier on my readers -- and in particular those of you who wish to participate -- the meme will now be done bi-weekly , starting tomorrow (Friday) and ending Sunday night. All entries must be of the Christian nature. If any submitted story is of the general nature (i.e. does not specifically mention God or Christianity), it must have a godly moral and contain no offensive material. Topics are limitless; among these are: 1) personal testimon...

I will never forget this day 9 years ago. My mother had gone to the local gas station that morning. I was still in my pajamas when she came home anxiously telling us to flip on the television. "That's the trade towers," she said. At the time, I had no idea what that was or what was happening, but my mother explained that a man at the gas station had told her that a plane had just crashed into one of the World Trade Center buildings! As I watched the live news, I saw the second plane hit the second tower! At first, I thought it was a replay; then I realized that this plane had just struck the second tower! My mouth fell open! Although we live in Upstate NY, my father has had frequent business associations with companies down in NYC; as an international banker, he had also known contacts in the World Trade Center and had even made several trips down to NYC. Needless to say, I was stunned. This was too close to home. How could this be happening? The News told us that some Mu...

Over the last two weeks, I've missed my meme Inspiring Story due to a vacation. But before I share this week's IS, I want to recap the rules and reason for this meme: The purpose of this meme is to encourage you; I believe that each and every thing that the Lord does for us on a daily basis is the biggest evidence for His existence. Therefore, I think we should encourage each other with stories and messages that will keep us uplifted in the Lord, and inspire us to be all that we can for Him. I invite you all to participate in this meme; just keep the content clean and Christian. What has God been doing in your life? I'd love to hear it; if you want to share it on your blog as an inspiriaton to others, just link back here. If you do not have a blog and would still like to share, by all means, comment! I love hearing from you all. So, without further ado, here is the next installment of Inspiring Story on the DCF blog. Enjoy! ---------- Recently, I have had a growing inte...

The following is an excerpt from Rhema's The Word of Faith magazine. Mike Keyes is a 1980 graduate of Rhema and he has a ministry based in the Philippines. His testimony is amazing; I found how he got started in his ministry to be fascinating -- you can read it here . His ministry's Scripture is Mark 16:15-18: "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel..." Today, I'd like to share this portion of his story for Inspiring Story. ------------- For two-and-a-half years Mike worked for [another] ministry teaching in the Bible school, holding crusades, and traveling throughout the islands ministering to as many churches as possible. Preaching in churches, getting people saved and healed, and casting out demons was the easy part. The hard part, many times, was getting to the churches."We would wade rivers, hike up mountains, and sleep on the ground using the Bible as a pillow," he said. "Many times it would be pouring rivers of mud, and we'd be on ...