This was one of the longest driest summers I can remember. It was not necessarily good, nor was it necessarily bad; it was just long. We all have learned how to deal with these types of long periods in our lives when we are not the ones in control. These long dry spells in our live require us to take not only one day at a time but take one moment at a time.

This long dry spells in our lives reminded me of being marooned on a desert island without the “niceties’” and necessities of life we are so accustomed to. We can find ourselves in this position often. Oh it isn’t a sandy desert in the middle of Africa but it might as well be. You have little food, uncomfortable beds, attacks from God only know where, and you are tired and weakened. Gee this description sounds like part of my summer. I was with my oldest daughter in the hospital in a big city. She had shattered her ankle and need surgery. Our family was safe and sound at home.

Hospital food is not what I consider good food, it is never hot. You can’t eat when you want to eat and when you do eat it is out of necessity not out of pleasure. I want to share with you one of the experiences I felt in the hospital dining room. I found a corner table where there was no people and looked at the plate of food I had just paid money for. I have to say I was really feeling sorry for myself as I looked at the plate of slop in front of me. They called it beef stew, I called it slop. I was thinking about what I would be eating if I was home with my family. My family oh how I missed my beautiful family; my daughter needed one of us with her and I was the likely candidate and our family is known for doing what is righteous in emergencies. I do have to say this was the Wrong move on my part we are all really good cooks and would never serve something like this. So the tears started rolling down my cheek. I am not one to show emotions in public so I quickly wiped them away and tried to choke down this slop that refused to be swallowed. I grabbed the bread on my plate and ate it. Then I remembered: John 6: 35 “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”

There I sat alone in the farthest corner of the hospital remembering the words of my precious Jesus and all of a sudden I wasn’t as hungry. I was being filled and I felt my tears drying and my spirits lifting. I wasn’t alone and the peace of the Lord filled my tired body. Everything was going to be okay. I left my plate of slop got a bag of potatoes chips and a cupcake and went back up to the surgical waiting room where I enjoyed my feast and the Word of God. I am so blessed to have such a Savior.

“Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. 32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. (John 6:31-33)

The Bible is the Word of God. It is written by the inspiration of the Almighty Lord God. The fingers of men were used and guided to write down the accounts. It is not the word of men written down; it is the Words of God that are written down. There is a difference between the words of men and the Words of God. The words of men can be true or not. The Word of God is always true and right no doubt not it is pure and just.

Every old document that has come down from antiquity must be tested to see if they pass the test of time that also includes the Bible. There are more New Testament original copies that come from different geographical areas and different languages, written on both papyrus and parchment. The Bible has survived in a more pure form of a manuscript than any other book from antiquity. Most scholars agree that the Bible is 99.5 percent pure. These scholars are not only Bible supporters but also those skeptics and those who get great joy from criticizing the Word of God. There have been many different authors of the New Testament all of which are consistent in their teaching. The writers of the New Testament were eye witnesses themselves or had hands on to eye witnesses. Matthew and John were apostles and walked with Jesus; Paul saw Jesus and talked with Jesus. The New Testament has passed the test of time there is more original manuscripts of the New Testament than there is in any other ancient world manuscripts. So why would anyone hold to any document that comes down from antiquity to hold more truth than the Word of God?
People can interpret what they read in the Bible to suit their needs and suit how they are going to perceive life. That is where man comes into the equation. It is easy to fault the Bible, the inspired Word of God, as being defective when the real reason is the human heart, the church, the particular pastor who has failed. The Word of God, the Bible is honest and hasn’t changed and still remains in a pure form. When people know they do not have a right relationship with Jesus is when the doubts come into play. When you hear a new report about some national happening don’t you check out the news source? You have your favorite news source for basting the reliability of the news being reported. We all do that. When it comes to believing anything said about Jesus Christ or the Lord God the most reliability source comes for the Word of God, the Bible.

It isn’t reasonable to assume you can know the Lord God and Jesus Christ if you don’t get that information from the Bible. Maybe you haven’t read the Bible but the person who had shared the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and God with you got their information and sharing from the Bible. The most reliable source of knowledge is through His Word. It is through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen things that are known about Jesus Christ just did not come through the imagination of man but through faith which comes by hearing, and experiencing the Word of God. From the beginning Jesus was the Word of life, His life was manifested, and seen and bore witness of and showed that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us. Jesus Christ was declared by the disciples that we may have fellowship with them, and fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. We trust in Christ Jesus, after hearing the Word of truth, the gospel of our salvation, in whom also after we believed, were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. This is our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory. Believers who receive the Word of GOD, receive it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the Word of GOD, which effectually works in the believers. (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

Many of you know I am taking Philosophy this semester. Many have really been upset to think a Christian would take such a course. It is one of my favorite classes. You see I get to defend my precious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Not just from emotion but from logic and reason. You see today there are many skeptics and critics in the world who are spreading lies and uncertainties and confusions to Christians. I am thankful for the opportunity to state my proof and my opinions and most of all answer these claims from skeptics and critics. I would like to share you one of my assignments and my response to that assignment to help you better understand why I love this class.

1. You are speaking with a new friend in the neighborhood. The conversation takes a turn towards religion, and you begin to share your faith and background with your friend. This friend shows a smirk across his face, and then states that he doubts that Jesus ever lived. How would you respond to him?

I have a friend, his name isn’t important at this time, what is important is the great works he did, and the fact that he did all these great things out of love. I can sit here and talk about my friend all day long giving example after example why personally this friend is so great and what this friend did for me. Would you doubt his existence? What would it take for you to believe this friend really did exist? His genealogy proof of birth, names of other people who know my friend, written accounts in books and documents or would you have to meet him face to face?

My friends name is Jesus you can find his genealogy in the Bible, Matthew 1:1-17 which gives his lineage through Joseph, Luke 3:23-38 gives the family tree of Mary. I can give you many names who know Jesus but if you don’t believe the fact that I know Jesus you won’t believe them either. I wouldn’t want to exist without my Savior Jesus Christ but that is my personal choice. I certainly would be willing to share my views and my reasons why Jesus is the center of my life, but you would have to believe me by who I am and what you observe about me. Lets continue by looking at the written accounts of Jesus; the Bible, archaeological sources which can give credibility to Bible, historians who wrote of Jesus Christ both in their secular and in their spiritual writings. They all mentioned Jesus Christ as being real and really lived.

Christianity is the following of Jesus Christ. Christ is in the word Christian. Without Jesus Christ there is no hope, there is no faith, no salvation and there is no eternal life. All that would be left with is vanity and emptiness. If a person denies the existence of Jesus Christ they would logically have to doubt the existence of the Lord God. If there is no Jesus Christ and no Lord God then there is no life worth living. Without the forgiveness of sins, without the examples of morality, without the hope of life everlasting and most of all without the love of Jesus there would be no confidence this life could possible mean anything. There would only be a void at the end of life. If Jesus didn’t exist why would anyone want to face a faceless future?

2. You are speaking with a friend who is a believer, but struggles periodically with her faith. Lately, she was confronted by a relative who mentioned that apart from the Bible itself, we really don’t have any information regarding Jesus. To secure all of our faith concerning Jesus from one source seems short sighted and prone to circular reasoning. Are there any other sources that might support the historicity of the Jesus of the Bible? How would you answer your friend?

There are many archaeological sources which can give credibility to Bible sources. The Shroud of Turin, Italy, is a linen cloth that has historically proclaimed to be the actual burial garment of Jesus. The linen contains a double, head-to head image of a man that had been crucified that reveals the obverse and reverse of the body. This Ian Wilson believes that the cloth left Palestine about AD 30 proceeded to the Edessa, to Constantinople, to France, to Switzerland, and finally to Italy. The Shroud of Turin gives historical data as well as scientific reason to indicate that the Shroud could be dated very early. The three most important issues that need to be answered about the Shroud of Turin is the nature of the bloodstains, that the image was not caused by foreign substances, the three dimensional image that is non directional in nature is a mystery (Habermas).

Many of the places that are mentioned in the Bible still exist today. The pools of Bethesda and Siloam have been identified with certainty because of the archaeological discoveries. The archaeological discovery of coins to honor the rule of Pontius Pilate is dated AD 30-31. This proves Pontius Pilate did exist and gives a logical assumption and a historical connection between Pilate and the crucifixion of Jesus and the ancient historians like Josephus and Tacitus (Habermas).

The earliest known New Testament document is the John Rylands Papyrus. The fragment was found in 1920 in Egypt and is identified as part of the Gospel of John written about CE 125 (Harbin).

A Greek manuscript that was found in the mid 1800 by Count Constantin Tischendorff is dated back to the early fourth century and contains much of the Old and New Testament Bible. There were other surviving portions of the Greek Old Testament also called the Septuagint, the Epistle of Barnabas, The Shepherd of Hermas (Harbin).

The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in 1947, by a young Bedouin shepherd in the Judean Desert. The scrolls and the Qumran ruins dated from the third century B.C.E. Coming from the late Second Temple Period the time when Jesus of Nazareth lived. The Dead Sea Scrolls are the oldest surviving manuscripts of the Hebrew Scriptures (Library). One of the most significant of the Dead Sea Scrolls was the Great Scroll of Isaiah. It establishes the Masoretic text as being reliable (Harbin).

There are many historians who wrote of Jesus Christ both in their secular and in their spiritual writings. These historical writing gives proof that it’s a historical fact that Jesus Christ is who he said he is, did what he said he die and walked upon this earth as a human while being the Son of God. These writers are:

1. Tacitus (A.D. 112), the Roman historian, stated that Christ “…was put to death by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea in the reign of Tiberius” (Geisler. Annals XV.44).

2. Lucian, the second-century satirist, spoke about Christ as “…the man who was crucified in Palestine,” and who “persuaded [His followers] that they were all brothers,” and that they should deny the Greek gods and worship Him (Geisler. On the Death of Peregrine).

3. Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, wrote of Jesus “the so-called Christ” whose disciples “reported that He had appeared to them three days after His crucifixion and that He was alive” (Geisler. Antiquities XVIII.33; XX.9.1)

4. Suetonius (A.D. 120) alluded to the Jews who were expelled from Rome because they were “…making constant disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus [another spelling for Christ]” (Geisler. Life of Claudius 25.4).

5. Pliny the Younger (A.D. 112) recorded that early Christians met to sing “…a hymn to Christ as to a god, and bound themselves to a solemn oath, not to do any wicked deeds…” (Geisler. Epistles X.96)

6. Thallus, the Samaritan-born historian (A.D. 52), wrote in the third book of his histories, “It was at the season of the Paschal full moon that Christ died” (Geisler. as recorded by Julius Africanus, A.D. 221).

7. The Jewish Talmud says, “On the eve of Passover they hanged Yeshu (of Nazareth)…in that he hath practiced sorcery and beguiled and led astray Israel” (Geisler. Babylonia, Sanhedrin 43a)

3. You pick up a magazine article referring to the Jesus Seminar as representing the pinnacle of New Testament scholarship. This magazine article, when referencing the opinions of biblical scholarship, repeatedly references only the conclusions of the Jesus Seminar. You decide to write a letter to the editor of the magazine. What will you say?

The Jesus Seminar was organized under the sponsorship of the Westar Institute, a non-profit foundation that was founded in 1985 considered a "research and educational institute dedicated to the advancement of religious literacy” (Westar institute 2008). The establishment of the Jesus Seminar began with 30 scholars and eventually there were more than 200 professionally trained specialists to debate the authenticity of the words and deeds of Jesus. They are best known for the colored beads they would drop in a box. They used the bead system to vote on about 500 statements and events in the life of Jesus to see if these acts, words and deeds were authentic or not. The colored beads are as follows:

• Red beads – indicated the voter believed Jesus did say the passage quoted, or something very much like the passage. (3 Points)
• Pink beads – indicated the voter believed Jesus probably said something like the passage. (2 Points)
• Grey beads – indicated the voter believed Jesus did not say the passage, but it contains Jesus' ideas. (1 Point)
• Black beads – indicated the voter believed Jesus did not say the passage—it comes from later admirers or a different tradition. (0 Points) (Westar Institute 1993).

The Jesus Seminar wanted to prove the Jesus in the Bible is the real Jesus. They were not happy with the Jesus in the Bible because that Jesus didn’t answer questions pledging issues of today. The Jesus Seminar made a lot of assumptions. They believed some of the Bible and some of it they disregarded as being not true.

The Jesus Seminar represents a small number of scholars who doesn’t represent the mainstream scholarship of Christianity. There was 82% of what the gospels quoted Jesus as saying was untrue. 18% was considered somewhat doubtful and there was only 2% that they claim with confidence to be authentic (Strobel).

My personal problem with the Jesus Seminar is that you either believe that the Word of God is all wrong or all right. To pick and choose what you will believe or what you will not believe is playing God. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with GOD, and the Word was GOD.” (Holy Bible: John 1:1 KJV). Jesus Christ our Lord is the Word, as is the LORD GOD the Word. Therefore the Word cannot contain mistakes for He is and comes from the LORD GOD. “All scripture is given by inspiration of GOD, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” (Holy Bible: 2 Timothy 3:16).

Why do these “scholars” think they have the right to dispute eyewitness accounts? It is not the responsibility of man to do the job that the Holy Spirit was sent to do. “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:” (Holy Bible: John 15:26).

4. You are in conversations with an old high school friend about your conversion to Christianity. In the ebb and flow of conversation, your friend claims that the New Testament is not really reliable because the writers were obviously had a theological bias in their recording and reporting of history. How would you respond to your friend?

There are some today who would suggest the New Testament is not really reliable because the writers obviously had a theological bias in their recording and reporting of history. Knowing the historicity of Jesus can answer this doubting of the New Testament bias. The strength for the New Testament comes from the early Christian traditions that came before the writing of the New Testament. There were eye witness accounts written before the New Testament. Taking into account the fact that the disciples were willing to die for the spreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ would debunk this accusation about bias. There is no doubt that the disciples loved Jesus. Their writings and accounts would reflect this love; however, the New Testament writers would also want to show their love for Jesus by giving honest accounts of the life of Jesus. The writers of the New Testament wrote about even the hard to explain things in the life and Words of Jesus.

What books have you ever read that has not showed only the best light of the hero and the followers of the hero? What auto biography would ever tell anything shocking about the author that would put the author in a bad light? None, heroes and their followers are always described as being above reproach. There is never any mention that they would ever doubt, break a law or ever make very strange claims of notoriety.

If the New Testament was bias the authors would have left out the difficult parts. An example of this is that not all the disciples were shown in their best light. Peter lost faith in Jesus at his trial and denied him three times, Peter James and John fell asleep while Jesus was praying at Gethsemane, and Thomas who doubted seeing Jesus unless he could put his fingers in his wounds. If the writers of the New Testament were bias it is reasonable to say these examples would be left out.

Now you try to answer these question using proof and reason. It is a fun exercise. It is so very important these days to know what you believe and why you believe it. Give Jesus an hour of your time today and defend Him in your own mind. Have a blessed week.

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. 16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings”. (Isaiah 7:14-16)

Mother’s day is coming up Sunday. There will be many different tributes to mothers all over the United States. I would like to add my tribute to mothers everywhere by defining the essential role mothers play in the lives of their children.

The role and the responsibility of a mother is that of loving, nurturing, teaching and disciplining her children. Mothers are responsible for the whole training, the whole education, of her children. The role of the mother goes beyond being a friend it is so much more elevated. A good mother is not self serving and is not concerned whether her desires are being fulfilled when her children are babies and young children. There should be no concern with how much attention they are getting from her children.

Good mothers cultivate the mind and the moral values of her children.
The responsibilities of being a mother are great because mothers are is dealing with fragile human children who need love to grow by. Children thrive on love and wither in hate. Mothers are that first contact of love a child experience. It is the tender loving care of a mother that is the first example of the love of Jesus that children experience. Mothers care for the development of the minds, bodies, and their very soul of the children under their care. This is a responsibility which can not be taken lightly. Being a mother takes sacrifices, an unending faith, and a patient heart, and lots and lots of prayers.

Nurturing begins with the very first touch exchanged between mother and child at birth.
I have personally witnessed frail newborn babies flourish at the touch of a loving mother. On the same hand, I have personally witnessed healthy new born babies die because of a lack of a mothers loving touch. The inbreed instinct of a small flicker of life knows and responds to that out reach of love. They are bonded as if by magnetism. The gentleness of guiding the children through the educational part of their existence helps to establish how the children will be able to cope with and communication with other human children. It is through nurturing and encouraging by the mother that the example is set for children to follow as they grow into adults. An example of nurturing can be illustrated in my own mothering example. Moral conviction for me as a mother was to instruct my children to follow the teachings of Jesus, to walk in His ways and to read the Bible every day. Being a wise mother I new my children did not read their Bible every day, nor did I really expect it. I did however, know that when life threw my children a curve the first thing they would do was pick up the Bible to gain the strength, tranquility and hope that would enable them to conquer the trials and tribulation the world would dump on them.

Teaching and understanding goes hand in hand. Teaching is more than the ABC’s it is in understanding and gentleness that a child will learn the ways of the Lord. Children that are taught about the love of Jesus are children who will grow toward the LORD. This is done not by pounding, but through a life of faithful serving on the part of the mother. Teaching children how to walk, talk, feed themselves, how to dress themselves, even potty training are difficult beginning teachings that is well known by most mothers. Teaching goes beyond the fundamental training of children. It is building trust in other people, recognizing and discerning people to whom to put trust in. Teaching when it is proper to make an impression and when it is time to pull away. Teaching children how to get along with others in the different setting life will throw at them in their adulthood. It all starts with the mother. Children emulate their mother’s; they can become carbon copies of what they see and what they hear. Mothers give their children insight into their future by training them in their strong points and correcting their weak points. Children are molded and shaped into their reality of life.

Discipline is an important tool that a good mother uses to instruct and correct their children’s behavior. I truly believe that children need and want to be disciplined. Show me an undisciplined child and I will show you a child without growth. It is easier to allow children to go through their lives without any type of disciple it might even make a mother feel like she did a wonderful thing not having to disciple her children. They will find in the long run those undisciplined children will not have an understanding nor will they have the coping tools to survive in an adult world. Sometime discipline takes the form of an iron fist; sometimes it takes a little stroke. Sometime the toughest turmoilic situation can be by a hug and a smile. The most powerful tool a mother can use is “I love you”. Those three words can and will sustain the children all through their lives.

Being a mother takes dedication and a strong dose of faith, praying often for the strength and endurance needed to finish the task of raising her children to adulthood. First time, even twelfth time mothers do not come with a “know how manual”. It’s all done with by trial and error. No two children are the same and need to be handled on an individual basis. There is no right or wrong method of mothering. The only wrong there is would be not to mother at all, or to throw the responsibility off on either the children to raise themselves or on another person not willing to accept that responsibility. Good mothers who are loving, nurturing, teaching and discipline is always aware there will come a time when she will have to loosen the reigns and stand back. She endeavors to allow her children to make their own decisions regarding the path they choose to follow. Praying the children will make their decisions wisely and becoming all they can be. The children have to experience life with all its up’s and down’s their way. The mother now has given guidance, confidence and faith to her children so they will have the tools to tackle the unknown challenges life has in store for them. Remember a perfect mother is not a person who does not make mistakes in raising her children, but the mistakes she does make are made out of love. My personal prayer as a mother is that all my children make it to the arms of Jesus when the final roll call is sounded. God Bless all mothers everywhere. Have a blessed day.