ProJesus

“Dear JESUS, I have a problem...It’s me” “Dear child, I have the answer.....It’s ME”

PROJESUS.COM  INFORMATION  LETTER   DEC.  2006 No. 6

 Contact us on the web at ProJesus.com; e-mail <answers@ProJesus.com>

===========================================================================================

Christmas or ?  “We wish you a Merry and a Blessed Christmas” or “Happy Holidays”.  What’s the difference?  More and more we are hearing the word “Christmas” used less and less by individuals and in stores for fear of offending someone.  Why is Christmas important to Christians?  Here is one very important reason.  When Jesus left this earth after His Resurrection, He told His followers to “…..preach the Gospel to everyone”.  A very important part of “The Gospel” is Jesus’ miraculous virgin birth which is celebrated on “Christmas”.  Therefore, it is important for Christians to defend their right to continue to Bless the world with this precious seasonal greeting: “Merry CHRISTmas”.

===============================================================

INTERESTING QUOTE:  “The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is.”       Winston Churchill  ==================================================================================

CREATION/EVOLUTION 

As stated in the September letter more evidence of a world-wide flood have been found in the area of Mt. St. Helens.  Please go to www.ICR.org.  Type in “Mt. St. Helens” and click on “RAPID EROSION AT MOUNT ST. HELENS”.  The Institute for Creation Research” presents fascinating information about Mt. St. Helens. 

============================================================================================

IS THE BIBLE RELIABLE?

Here is a little more archeological data:

In an unprecedented discovery, an ancient text found at Deir Alla, Jordan, in 1967 tells about the activities of a prophet named Balaam.  Could this be the Balaam of the Old Testament? The text makes it clear that it is. Three times in the first four lines he is referred to as "Balaam son of Beor," exactly as in the Bible.

This represents the first Old Testament prophet to be dug up in Bible lands.  The text also represents the first prophecy of any scope from the ancient West Semitic world to be found outside the Old Testament.                                                                                                     

The remarkable text found at Deir Alla consists of 119 fragments of plaster inscribed with black and red ink. It was among the rubble of a building destroyed in an earthquake. It seems to have been one long column with at least 50 lines, displayed on a plastered wall. According to the excavators' dating, the disaster was most likely the severe earthquake which occurred in the time of King Uzziah (Azariah) and the prophet Amos in about 760 BC (Amos 1:1; Zec 14:5).

The lower part of the text shows signs of wear, indicating that it had been on the wall for some time prior to the earthquake.  Written in Aramaic, the text begins with the title "Warnings from the Book of Balaam the son of Beor. He was a seer of the gods."( a seer is an ancient prophet)  It is in red ink, as are other portions of the text where emphasis is desired. The reference to the "Book of Balaam" indicates that the text was part of a pre‑existing document and therefore the original date of the material is much earlier than the plaster text itself. 

This gives us excellent evidence for the reliability of the Bible.

============================================================================================    

THE LIFE OF CHRIST:   This is a certificate class on the web site under Bible Institute Studies.  

We will further discuss the “Quality of the Witnesses” who was with Jesus every day.

 The testimony of these men is not vulnerable to any of these charges:

a.       There is no conflicting or inconsistent testimony.  Many thousands of manuscripts have been

found and they never contradict one another.

                      There is no evidence that the Gospel writers claimed at a previous time that the events in

                     question never happened. Instead, they began proclaiming the salient (prominent) facts from

                     the outset and that didn’t change.

  b. The issue of bias and self-interest strengthens the credibility of the witnesses’ testimony rather

      than weakens it.

                    The lives of the witnesses to Jesus Christ were continually in peril. In many cases the early

                    Christians were driven under ground into hiding, yet they clung fervently to their testimony,

                         affirming the teachings of Jesus and His resurrection from the dead. For this testimony they

                         were crucified en mass, fed to the lions, sacrificed by the Roman gladiators or beheaded.

                        One simple thing would have saved them this torment: recanting. These witnesses did

                        exactly the opposite of what self-interest would dictate.

c.        There is no evidence to impugn the witnesses’ character, indicating that they might be lying.

   Not only was it totally inconsistent with the moral standard they professed and lived by, but

   also there was no motivation to fabricate.

d.       The unique nature of the events and the nature of the testimony lend themselves to accurate

        observation and recall.

          There is no direct evidence that the witnesses’ capacity to observe was distorted. The

          accounts are clear and lucid, giving an abundance of detail. They read like the testimony of

          one intimately acquainted with the facts of the issue, someone who was personally involved

          with the process, who was proximal to the events in question, and who had repeated

          opportunities to observe those events.

                  Matthew and John personally made visual identification of the risen Christ, an individual they

                 had spent more than three years in intimate, personal contact with.

           e.   John and Matthew corroborate each other and are supported by other extraneous evidence.

                  Disproving the facts of the first witness is generally accomplished using the testimony of a

                 second witness. When we compare the testimony of the eyewitnesses, John and Matthew,

                 however, we find that their accounts mesh. Their accounts also coincide with the historical

                 summaries given by Luke, the companion of Paul, and Mark, the Apostle Peter’s companion.

                  Since each one’s experience with Jesus was not the same, there are some differences, as

                 you’d expect. There is sufficient unanimity between the witnesses to demonstrate

                 corroboration, but sufficient variation in details and viewpoints in the accounts to eliminate

                 the charge of collaboration.

===============================================================

If there is an area of your life that needs prayer.  Please e-mail us and allow us to pray for you.