Evidence For Christianity

One of the objections to Christianity that we have encountered on the internet goes something like this:

"Well, the early Christians believed that Jesus would return during their lifetimes, and since He didn't, then Christianity must not be true".

Now, those of us who know the Bible well know this is a totally false statement.

In fact, the New Testament Scriptures are VERY clear that Jesus would not return right away.

Below is an article that contains a very good study of this topic. I would encourage all of you to visit the website posted below and to read the full article:

-----

(excerpt from the original article at http://www.aboundingjoy.com/Bible%20studies/imminency.htm )

The Early Church Knew that the Lord’s Return was NOT Imminent

There is significant Biblical evidence that the early church had good reasons not to expect His imminent return. Of course, they had the same words of Jesus that we have! So anything He said that we might think refer to His imminent return could not have meant His imminent return to them! Since we know that Jesus meant what He said to them as well as to us, perhaps we should come to the same conclusion that they did!

Here are some examples.

Peter Knew that He Would Die before Jesus Returned

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. (John 21:18-19)

Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me. (2 Peter 1:14)

Imagine that we had the opportunity to talk with the Apostle Peter after Jesus had died, arisen from the dead, and ascended into heaven. Remember, Peter had been very close to Jesus. He was obviously very familiar with what Jesus said in chapters 24 and 25 of the Gospel of Matthew. But, in spite of those words of Jesus, if you had asked Peter, “Peter, do you think Jesus might return today?” Peter would have replied, “No. Not today. Because He showed me by what kind of death I should glorify him, when I am old. He will not return in my lifetime.” (Then, I suspect, Peter would have given us the explanation of the passages that may seem to teach imminency that you will read in this paper!)

Paul Knew that He Would Go to Rome before Jesus Returned

And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles. (Acts 22:21)

And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome. (Acts 23:11)

If we had asked Paul before he went to Rome if he thought Jesus would return today, Paul would have said, “No. Not today. He has showed me that I must first go to Rome to bear witness of Him.”

The Early Church Knew that They Must Take the Gospel to the World before Jesus Returned

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8)

If you had asked a Christian shortly after Jesus ascended into heaven if he or she was familiar with what Jesus had said that is recorded for us in Matthew chapters 24 and 25, they would almost certainly have said, “Of course!” If you had followed that up by saying, “Then you believe that Jesus could return today, right?” They would have said, “No. Not today. He told us that we must take the gospel to the uttermost part of the earth first!”

Jesus Taught His Disciples Not to Expect His Imminent Return

And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. (Luke 19:11-15)

While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept... After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. (Matthew 25:5, 19)

These disciples believed (and hoped) that Jesus was soon going to set up His kingdom on the earth. In Luke 19, Jesus corrects them. He compares Himself to a nobleman that went into a “far country” and gave instructions to “occupy” until he returned. He proceeds to remind them that they will have responsibilities to fulfill in terms of stewardship before He returns. In fact, inspired by the Holy Spirit, Luke tells us that the very reason Jesus taught this parable was because some people “thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.”

And even in Matthew 25 Jesus compares His coming to that of a bridegroom who “tarries” and who returns “after a long time.” He did not intend for them (or us) to expect an imminent return, but instead to plan on an extended time of serving Him on earth before His return.

Christians in Thessalonica Erred in Assuming the Return of Christ was Imminent

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? (2 Thessalonians 2:1-5)

Some of the Thessalonian Christians had evidently become focused on the possibility that they were already far into the tribulation and that Jesus could return soon. It is reasonable for a suffering church to think that perhaps they are going through the last great tribulation. And certainly the Thessalonians were a suffering church (1 Thessalonians 2:14; 3:4; 2 Thessalonians 1:4-6). But Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, knew that they were being premature. He wanted them to learn to “stand fast” (2 Thessalonians 2:15) and to be “established in good words and works” (2 Thessalonians 2:17). He knew that they had work to do before the Lord returned. So he reminded them that there were some things that would occur before the Lord returned (viz., the revelation of the Antichrist and the great apostasy).

If the return of Christ were considered to be imminent, Paul would surely have reminded them that they and he would be raptured before the events described in these verses occurred.

Do you want to know how to become a Christian?

Would you like to have all of your sins forgiven by God and live for eternity?

You can!

The God of the Scriptures is very real, and He wants you to have eternal life and to live with him forever.

The purpose of this article is to share with you all of the basic things that you need to know to become a Christian:

1) God LOVES you and offers a wonderful PLAN for your life.

God's Love
"God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

God's Plan
[Christ speaking] "I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly" [that it might be full and meaningful] (John 10:10).

Why is it that most people are not experiencing the abundant life?

Because...

2) Man is SINFUL and SEPARATED from God. Therefore, he cannot know and experience God's love and plan for his life.

Man Is Sinful
"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

Man was created to have fellowship with God; but, because of his stubborn self-will, he chose to go his own independent way, and fellowship with God was broken. This self-will, characterized by an attitude of active rebellion or passive indifference, is evidence of what the Bible calls sin.

Man Is Separated
"The wages of sin is death" [spiritual separation from God] (Romans 6:23).

How can we bridge this separation?

3) Jesus Christ is God's ONLY provision for man's sin. Through Him you can know and experience God's love and plan for your life.

He Died in Our Place
"God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

He Rose From the Dead
"Christ died for our sins...He was buried...He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures...He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred..." (1 Corinthians 15:3-6).

He Is the Only Way to God
"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me'" (John 14:6).

It is not enough to just know these things...

4) We must individually RECEIVE Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives.

We Must Receive Christ
"As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name" (John 1:12).

We Receive Christ Through Faith
"By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast" (Ephesians 2:8,9).

We Receive Christ by Personal Invitation
[Christ speaking] "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him" (Revelation 3:20).

Receiving Christ involves turning to God from self (repentance) and trusting Christ to come into our lives to forgive our sins and to make us what He wants us to be. Just to agree intellectually that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for your sins is not enough. Nor is it enough to have an emotional experience. You receive Jesus Christ by faith, as an act of the will.

You can receive Christ right now by faith through prayer.

God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. The following is a suggested prayer:

"Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be."

Does this prayer express the desire of your heart? If it does, we invite you to pray this prayer right now and Christ will come into your life, as He promised.

If you prayed that prayer and received Jesus Christ into your life today, or if you have any questions about how you can become a Christian, please drop us a note in the comments section below.

Our prayers will be with you.

Have you ever stopped to wonder if Noah's Ark could have really held all the animals that the Bible said that it did?

Have you ever heard someone make fun of Christianity by saying that the story of Noah's Ark simply was not possible?

Well, we recently ran across a very good article that will enable you to have the answers you need to defend the story of Noah's Ark.

The article linked to below answers the following questions:

-How big was Noah's Ark?

-Was the ark big enough to hold the number of animals required?

-How many animals needed to be brought aboard Noah's Ark according to the Bible?

-How were the animals gathered to the Ark?

-How could Noah's family possibly have taken care of all those animals?

If you have questions about the story of Noah's Ark, then this article will be a great resource for you:

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-c013.html

The truth is that it is the Christians, and not the skeptics, who have the real answers.

Which explains the existence of the human eye better - the theory of evolution or the theory of intelligent design?

We recently came across an article by David N. Menton, Ph.D. that we wanted to share with you. The article is about how there is no possible way that the eye could have evolved by itself.

Did you realize that the human brain consists of approximately 12 billion cells?

Did you realize that those 12 billion cells form 120 trillion interconnections?

Did you also know that the light sensitive retina of the eye has over 10 million photoreceptor cells?

There were a lot of things that we didn't know about the brain and the eye until we read this article:

http://www.gennet.org/facts/metro10.html

Does heaven really exist?

Does hell really exist?

Are there people on this earth today that have seen both of those places?

The answer to all three of those questions is "Yes!"

There is actually a large number of people who have eyewitness testimonies regarding their experiences with heaven, hell, angels, Jesus and other supernatural matters.

A wonderful compilation of these eyewitness testimonies can be found at spiritlessons.com. I encourage you to check it out:

http://spiritlessons.com/

Most Christians do not know that giants once walked the earth.

A lot of Christians do not even know that the Bible talks about giants.

But it does.

"There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown."
-Genesis 6:4



So who were these giants and where did they come from?

The following is a great article which discusses this issue.....

http://thereturnofthenephilim.blogspot.com/2008/07/return-of-nephilim-aliens-ufos-annunaki.html

The reality is that bones that have been discovered around the world prove that these giants once lived.

25 pages of pictures and evidence that show giants really did walk among us:

http://s8int.com/giants1.html

A treasure of information about giants (take special care to click "giant pics" on the sidebar):

http://www.stevequayle.com/Giants/index2.html

More stunning pictures and evidence:

http://www.bibleprobe.com/nephilim.htm

Pictures of very unusual giant skulls:

http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/Races.html

If you know of any other excellent links for information on giants please leave us a message in the comments section.

It is absolutely stunning the number of people that you will find on the internet that believe that Christians and Muslims worship the same god.

Now, for those of you who know the Bible, you know that this is obviously not true.

But unfortunately, the vast majority of people in our society do NOT know the Scriptures these days, and people are getting increasingly confused about spiritual matters with each passing year.

For those who want to really study the important differences between the God of the Bible and the "god" of Islam, the following website has an amazing chart of these differences covering such topics as: who God is, the deity of Jesus Christ, salvation, eternal judgment, creation, the Word of God, murder, violence, war and oppression, morality, and the treatment of women:

http://www.dianedew.com/islam.htm

Did you realize that the Great Pyramid of Giza is a huge prophecy in stone about the Lord Jesus Christ?

It sounds incredible, but it is true.

The Great Pyramid of Giza is one of the most extraordinary structures every constructed. It has been studied for centuries, and countless numbers of people have attempted to unlock the mysteries it holds.

What most people do not realize is that the Great Pyramid contains a prophecy.....a prophecy for exactly when Jesus would die on the cross for our sins.

Check out the information for yourself:

http://www.europa.com/~edge/giza.html

For more information on the Great Pyramid, and the extraordinary information it contains and the amazing mathematical knowledge reflected in the design of the structure, check out these sites:

http://www.gracethrufaith.com/ikvot/the-great-pyramid-of-giza

http://www.europa.com/~edge/pyramid.html

Also, take the time to watch this stunning video which explores the mysteries and prophecies of the Great Pyramid in great detail:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6532545676282764266&q=Great+Pyramid+prophecy&total=16&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0