Seeking Proof Finding Grace

In this eight-part series we will be looking at a timeline from Jesus’ death and resurrection in 33AD up to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD and how the gospels and nearly all of the New Testament came together during this time.  This week in Part 5 we look at the very first Church Council in Jerusalem around 50AD and how their decision shaped the future of how the Church operates today.  Spoi...

In this eight-part series we will be looking at a timeline from Jesus’ death and resurrection in 33AD up to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD and how the gospels and nearly all of the New Testament came together during this time.  This week in Part 4 we look at how James’ death impacted our timeline and Paul’s first missionary journey.  Along the way we also find the very first part of the New...

In this eight-part series we will be looking at a timeline from Jesus’ death and resurrection in 33AD up to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD and how the gospels and nearly all of the New Testament came together during this time.  This week in Part 3 we look at Paul’s conversion a few years after Jesus’ death in 35AD and his trip to meet with Peter 3 years later in 38AD.     Galatians 1, “15 Bu...

Part 2 The Post Resurrection Appearances: Podcast 111   In this eight-part series we will be looking at a timeline from Jesus’ death and resurrection in 33AD up to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD and how the gospels and nearly all of the New Testament came together during this time.  This week in Part 2 we look at all of Jesus’ post resurrection appearances in the 40 days after His resurrecti...

In this eight part series we will be looking at a timeline from Jesus’ death and resurrection in 33AD up to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD and how the gospels and nearly all of the New Testament came together during this time.  This week in Part 1 we start with an overview of how this 37 year timeframe changed the world!   “The fact that something is written down is persuasive to people not...

The Form Critics from over 100 years ago have had a huge impact on how we look at the Bible today.  The question is, were they right.  My contention is that they were wrong on most points.  This week we finish looking at the mistakes they made and how it impacts their theories.    “Virtually every element in this construction has been questioned and rejected by some or even most scholars.  Many of...

The Form Critics from over 100 years ago have had a huge impact on how we look at the Bible today.  The question is, were they right.  My contention is that they were wrong on most points.  This week and next week we will look at the mistakes they made and how it impacts their theories.    “Virtually every element in this construction has been questioned and rejected by some or even most scholars....

This week we introduce some of the basic ideas and methods of the form critics  who pioneered much of the skepticism we see directed at the Bible over 100 years ago.  Do their ideas still hold up today?    “The works of our Savior were always present, for they were true: those who were healed, those who rose from the dead, those who were not only seen in the act of being healed or raised, but were...

This week we look at the story of Hanna from 1st Samuel and look at how we should approach God when we have a desire on our hearts.  God loves you so much.  Your Heavenly Father is waiting for you!   1 Samuel 1:1-11,20 NKJV “Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the mountains of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph,...

This week we look at what life was like 2000 years ago and consider what impact that had when the story of the life of Jesus was committed to writing.  

This week we look at whether or not ancient cultures passing on their oral tradition really is the same thing as a bunch of junior high kids playing the phone game.  Spoiler Alert!!  It isn’t and I can’t believe people keep using this analogy. 

When we begin our journey to find God, what do we do with the information contained within the Bible.  The goal is to determine if the Bible is a reliable source and if we can do that, then we can use some of the information in the Bible to help us answer important questions.  Throwing out the Bible is not the best way to approach this journey.  Let’s talk about this…   1st Corinthians 15, “3 For...

In our digital age that is becoming increasingly skeptical of everything, how do we know what to trust?  What makes something reliable?  The answer is actually easier than we might think and will help us on our journey to find God.   “Trusting testimony is not an irrational act of faith that leaves critical rationality aside; it is on the contrary, the rationally appropriate way of responding to a...

As we celebrate Easter this week we take a look at how God made the offer to us at the perfect time, in the perfect place and in the perfect way in the person of Jesus Christ.  We look at how Jesus, in the life He lived, the death He died and His resurrection changed the world.  And most importantly we look at the prayer to start an eternal relationship with God.   “Blessed be the God and Father o...

This week we take a look at God’s great love for us and His offer to us for an eternal relationship with Him as His children.  How can God make that offer to us?

As we begin our second great journey to find out if Jesus was who He claimed to be (spoiler alert – it was God), when we look for a coherent worldview we find that the Bible presents our best choice.  God loves you!! “This subversive belief in Jesus’ Lordship, over against that of Caesar, was held in the teeth of the fact that Caesar had demonstrated his superior power in an obvious way, by having...

This week we prepare to start the journey looking to answer the question: who is our Creator?  But how much evidence is really enough?

This week we wrap up our journey looking at moral values and prepare to kick off our journey looking at the answer to the question: Is God the God of the Bible?  What do we find when we look at the journey so far from the beginning of the universe to where we are today.  The best answer of how we got here points us to a God who loves you!   “In a universe of electrons and selfish genes, blind phys...

This week we look at how to judge between two sets of competing moral values?  Is there are third thing that helps us reach the right conclusion or is a consensus enough?  Thank goodness God loves us!   Definition – “To say that there are objective moral values is to say that something is good or evil independently of whether any human being believes it to be so.”  William Lane Craig, Reasonable F...

This week we look at a few more examples or morality building by consensus and then look at some historical examples of what has happened when you remove God from the equation.  Don’t ever forget how much God loves you!    “Religion is an insult to human dignity.  With or without it, you’d have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things.” Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, 200...

This week we take a deep dive into the Golden Rule.  Can it really work without God?   Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, 2006 quoting from the website Patheos  https://www.patheos.com/blogs/daylightatheism/essays/the-new-ten-commandments/      Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you   Matt 7, “7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will b...

This week we look at attempts to build moral values from a consensus.  How do morals from a consensus compare to the teachings of Jesus Christ?    These are a few examples of a naturalistic 10 commandments that Richard Dawkins quoted from an atheist’s website Patheos on The New 10 Commandments.  https://www.patheos.com/blogs/daylightatheism/essays/the-new-ten-commandments/    in The God Delusion....

This week we see Christopher Hitchens try to answer the question of where moral values come from in a Darwinian model.  Don’t ever forget, God loves you!!    “There might be someone who says that’s so, but it would not be I think discernible by anyone here that I for example who do believe that we have evolved by random mutation combined with natural selection for success in certain genes, believe...

We continue our journey looking at moral values this week and examine whether or not evolution can help explain moral values.  Or, does natural selection and the survival of the fittest lead us to a far darker place?     “I am suggesting that the same is true of the urge to kindness – to altruism, to generosity, to empathy, to pity.  In ancestral times, we had the opportunity to be altruistic only...

This week we begin our journey looking into the question of where moral values come from.  In this episode we define our terms and look at the difference between moral values and objective moral values.  What we will find along the way is that the best answer not only points to a creator this time, but the best answer actually points to the God of the Bible who loves you more than you can imagine....