In Defense of the Christian Faith

Welcome to part seven of the Resurrection series, based on the book, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus . Today, we will be talking about science as a means to explain away the supernatural. Please see all preceding parts before continuing. Since the “supernatural” of the alien theory does not work, another favorite approach of many skeptics is to use naturalism to explain the Resurrection. Appealing to science is a common tactic: “Only what science proves is true,” they say, in an effort to remain true to naturalism. But science has its limits; it relates to what is observable and testable. It cannot measure love, for instance, but this does not mean that love does not exist. Regardless, this is not an excuse to deny the Resurrection. It is important to also consider that when a scientist is placed in a room with all the latest technology, he cannot prove that “only what science proves is true.” Thus this tactic fails its own test; it is self-refuting. Additionall...

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 ...

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...

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." - Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) Recently, I encountered an atheist (whom I shall call "A") who stated the following in response to the question, "Why do you think God does/doesn't exist?" :  "() <--- See? Nothing... just like God." Recognizing this as a "straw-man" analogy (setting up a straw man in order to tear it down), I responded, "You use the parenthesis to say that there is no God, but you deliberately CHOSE to not include Him inside the parenthesis. (GOD). See? God exists, you just have to look for Him." This started a discussion on God's existence. We didn't get very far before the atheist chose to no longer respond (I'm afraid I may have tired him out!); but I think the conversation is worth mentioning here, since there are some great things to be learned. ...

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...

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 ...

Beth Guckenberger, a missionary to Mexico, describes how she and her husband reach out to Mexican orphans with the love of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and how this has inspired her book Reckless Faith ... And this is a particular story that Beth shared which I found very inspiring; it gives new meaning to the phrase "childlike faith," and it is so neat to see how God orchestrates things... For More Inspiring Story Paricipants, check out the following blogs: As In A Mirror Jay's Music Blog

The wait is over, folks! ;) I'm FINALLY getting around to posting this weeks Inspiring Story... thanks for your patience. Today, I'd like to focus on Angus Buchan, a Scottish-African who resides in South Africa. A man of extraordinary character and faith, his is a very interesting story, and I could go on and on about how much I admire him. Therefore, I will say this much: he is best known for his book and movie " Faith Like Potatoes " (which was the best video I have ever seen). His website tells a brief version of the story, for those interested. (If you click on the movie title above, you can also see a trailer.) Some of my readers have already seen the movie (and if you haven't, I highly recommend it), so today, I'm going to focus on a recent newsarticle pertaining to Angus Buchan... According to the local news, News24 , on April 6, 2009: The popular South African evangelist, Angus Buchan, collapsed on Saturday, shortly after his morning service at ...

Today’s Inspiring Story is an essay I wrote recently about Between Two Tigers, a book published by the Voice of the Martyrs. I am aware that to a skeptic this might not be enough “proof” that there is a God. However, it goes along so well with what I was talking about on Wednesday (and plan to continue next WFW): that only when our hearts are pure will we see the Lord. Some people think they’re sincere when they say, “If God exists, prove it to me!” And then when you show them, they shoot down everything you say with their own arguments. This, to me, says that they have the wrong heart attitude. I also believe that the things that God does for us in our daily lives, proves God's existence. Hence, this is what inspired today’s story… Enjoy! ------------------ In this world today, it is often said, “If God truly existed, He would reveal Himself to me.” They say, “God doesn’t exist! You can’t prove He does; I would have experienced some kind of miracle if He did!” It’s really a mat...