This short 3-minute video is well worth your time, as J. Warner Wallace helps us understand how a sound, theistic apologetic actually points to the Jesus in which Christians believe.
Theism Or Christianity?
July 26, 2016 — Craig T. Owens3 Possibilities For An Empty Tomb
March 28, 2016 — Craig T. Owens
Last week we explored the validity of the evidence for the accuracy of the biblical accounts for the life of Jesus (you can check that out here). You might be one who says, “Okay, I think Jesus was a good Man, but I think it’s a bit of a stretch to believe that anyone could be raised from the dead after three days.” I think that’s a reasonable thing to explore…
If the tomb where Jesus was placed is really empty, then there are only three possibilities for us to consider.
(1) Jesus didn’t really die.
- It’s hard to imagine anyone could go through the intense torture Jesus did prior to His crucifixion unscathed.
- The crucifixion process itself is one of the most gruesome forms of execution man has ever invented.
- As a result, forensic science shows that Jesus most likely died of a heart attack. The mention in John 19:34 of the blood and water that flowed from Christ’s body is an indication of the cardiac distress His body experienced.
- Men who were followers of Jesus handled His dead body, and undoubtedly would have checked for any signs life (John 19:38-40).
- A Roman centurion reported to the Roman governor Pilate that Jesus had in fact died (Mark 15:43-45).
- Extra-biblical historians, many of whom were unfriendly to Jews and Christians, reported Christ’s death as an historical fact.
(2) Jesus didn’t really rise.
- Some have claimed that Christ’s followers “saw” Jesus only in a grief-induced hallucination. The problem is, Jesus appeared to individuals, small groups, and large groups multiple times and in multiple settings over the course of 40 days (1 Corinthians 15:3-8).
- At least one of Christ’s closest followers said he wouldn’t be convinced by verbal testimony alone, but needed to touch Christ’s body for Himself (John 20:24-28).
- The disciples were afraid and lacked any military training that would have allowed them to get past the trained soldiers guarding the tomb (Matthew 27:62-66; 28:11-15).
(3) Jesus really did die on a Cross and was raised back to life.
Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes rightly said, “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
Real-life cold-case detective J. Warner Wallace explains how detectives use abductive reasoning to examine all of the evidence and infer to the most reasonable explanation from that. As a result, Detective Wallace says about this third explanation:
“The last explanation (although it is a miraculous, supernatural explanation) suffers from the least number of liabilities and deficiencies. If we simply enter into the investigation without a pre-existing bias against anything supernatural, the final explanation accounts for all of the evidence without any difficulty. The final explanation accounts for the evidence most simply and most exhaustively, and it is logically consistent…. The final explanation is also superior to all other accounts (given that it does not suffer from all the problems we see with the other explanations).” —J. Warner Wallace, Alive
The truth is Jesus loved you so much that He had to die for you. He had to pay the penalty for your sins. And God loved His Son so much, that He raised Him back to life. Jesus can live in you now, and you can live with Him forever, if you will simply believe what He did for you on Calvary.
Jesus left an empty tomb behind to show how powerful His love and life is!
Alive (book review)
March 22, 2016 — Craig T. Owens
I love the detective-like approach that cold-case detective J. Warner Wallace brings to Christian apologetics! Wallace presents reasonable evidence to lead to a reasonable faith in the biblical claims about Jesus. A quick read to prepare you for Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday is Alive.
The material in this short 48-page booklet is taken from Wallace’s book Cold-Case Christianity, and is a just-the-facts look at the resurrection account of Jesus Christ. This booklet will prepare you to give a good answer to anyone who asks you about your faith.
These booklets are sold in a 10-pack, so buy a pack and pass them out to your friends who want to learn how to defend their Christian faith, or give one to a friend or coworker who is still skeptical about the accounts in the Bible surrounding Christ’s death and resurrection. All who read Alive will learn something they didn’t know before.
A great read!
4 Ways To Evaluate Biblical Evidence
March 21, 2016 — Craig T. Owens
To be honest, if someone hasn’t heard the biblical account of the life of Jesus Christ before, it can sound quite fantastic! Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, performed miracles no one had seen before, died a horrific martyr’s death, was raised back to life three days later, and then ascended back into heaven until He returns to Earth again.
But as fantastic as this sounds, there is still enough evidence to reasonably believe it’s all true. An unreasonable faith believes in something in spite of the evidence; a blind faith believes in something without any evidence; and reasonable faith believes in something because of the evidence.
The Bible gives us eyewitness testimony about the life of Jesus which we can matter-of-factly evaluate.
In a modern-day court of law, eyewitness testimony is evaluated on…
- …the determination that the witnesses were actually present.
- …the ability to corroborate their testimony.
- …the consistency of their testimony over time.
- …any biases they have that would cause them to exaggerate or misrepresent their testimony.
Let’s consider the testimony of the four Gospel writers: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
(1) Were The Eyewitnesses Present?
- Luke is considered a credible historian, even by modern standards. He wrote the book of Acts following the ascension of Jesus into Heaven. Because he did not mention three major events in Jewish history (the Jewish uprising, the Roman siege of Jerusalem in response to that uprising, and the Roman destruction of the temple), we can determine that Acts was written before 61 AD.
- Luke wrote the Gospel that bears his name before he wrote Acts. The Apostle Paul referenced portions of Luke’s Gospel in letters we can date by Paul’s Roman imprisonment, which means Luke was written prior to 53-57 AD.
- Luke uses the Gospel of Mark as one of his references, which means Mark was probably written in 45-50 AD, just 10-15 years after the events of Christ’s life.
- Mark was closely associated with the Apostle Peter, who was most assuredly Mark’s “source” in writing his Gospel, and Peter was one of the original twelve apostles called by Jesus.
- Matthew and John were both apostles of Jesus, living and working closely with Jesus for over three years.
(2) Is Their Testimony Corroborated?
- Archeological finds continually demonstrate the accuracy of the people, titles, places and details the Gospel writers mention.
- Outside—or extra-biblical—sources like Josephus (a Jewish historian who wanted to preserve the purity of Judaism), Tacitus (a Roman historian), and Mara Bar-Serapion (a Syrian historian)—all who wrote between 40-70 AD—affirm things like where Jesus lived, the miracles He performed, the manner of His death, His resurrection, and the changed lives of people who believed in Jesus Christ.
- In addition, Paul wrote of the “five hundred of the brothers” who were also eyewitnesses to the resurrected Christ (1 Corinthians 15:3-8).
(3) Has Their Testimony Remain Unchanged Over Time?
- The history and accuracy of the scribes had already been demonstrated in the preservation and transmission of the Old Testament over a period of 1400 years.
- These same scribal techniques were not only used in the transmission of the New Testament, but in subsequent years the Masoretic scribes became even more meticulous in the techniques they used.
- The “chain of custody” of evidence can be absolutely traced from the Gospel authors, to their students, and to the writings of the Church Fathers.
- In fact into the third-century AD, the writings of the Church Fathers contain so many direct quotations from the New Testament, that we can almost completely reconstruct the New Testament from their writings.
(4) Is Their Testimony Unbiased?
- These eyewitnesses didn’t gain anything financially by their testimony. In fact, many of them lost or gave up all their possessions to tell others about Jesus.
- They didn’t gain political power or influence that could save their own lives. All of the original apostles (except John) died a gruesome martyrs’ death.
- In short, they had nothing to gain by making up and reporting a false story about Jesus.
All of these points make it reasonable to believe the evidence presented in the Bible about Jesus Christ is true. Check out this video where I elaborate a little more on each of these points—
If you live in the Cedar Springs area and don’t have a home church, I would love for you to visit with us Easter Sunday morning at 10:30am. We’ll be examining the evidence for Christ’s resurrection from the dead. Click here to get more details.
Links & Quotes
December 26, 2015 — Craig T. Owens
“Ah, what a thing is prayer! The simplest form of speech—such as even a child could utter—yet the highest and divinest of all utterances; such as the Holy Spirit alone can enable us to give fourth.” —Horatius Bonar
“When God feels distant, remember the Christmas story. When you feel alone, unloved, or unlovable, remember that God loves you. And He travelled a great distance to be close to you. Why? Because He loves to be with the ones He loves!” —Max Lucado
“Do you ever take a moment to pray but feel like you stumble out of the gate? Do you have trouble finding the words when it comes time to bow your head? Remember, the One who hears your prayers is your Daddy. You don’t need to wow him with eloquence. Jesus downplayed the importance of words in prayers. We tend to do the opposite. The more words the better. The better words the better. … Just as a happy child cannot mis-hug, the sincere heart cannot mis-pray.” —Max Lucado
J.Warner Wallace answers a good question: Why doesn’t the birth record of Jesus appear in every Gospel?
Dan Reiland has some good words for those in leadership positions in ministry.
Far too many school administrators and teachers think they are limited by the so-called “separation of church and state.” Here’s a post from Eric Buehrer you should share with any of your friends who work in the public school system.
John Stonestreet says, “Remember when people laughed about ‘death panels’?” Check out Who decides to end a life?
Frank Turek asks, “How do we fix a world filled with murder, rape, betrayal, adultery, fraud, theft, sexual exploitation, pornography, bullying, abortion, terrorism, cheating, lying, child abuse, racism, assault, drugs, robbery, and countless other evils?” He says we may not like the answer.
Links & Quotes
December 9, 2015 — Craig T. Owens
“To fulfill God’s destiny for your life, you likely don’t have to do more; you have to do less. … Enjoy the Christmas season. Wrap the presents. Prepare your home in a festive way. Make memories with your family. But don’t let this Christmas pass without spending some time at Jesus’ feet. Long after everything else fades from this Christmas, worshiping Jesus is all that will truly last.” —Rick Warren
“Holidays in America have come to be regarded as entitlements. They’re all about us, seasons of diversion, distraction, self-indulgence, and time off work. Even the great religious celebrations of the national calendar—Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter—are regarded by most Americans as opportunities to get some good bargains and enjoy a little time for relaxation, not for spiritual reflection and renewal, but just for doing whatever we want. Sort of like the way most Christians observe the Lord’s Day.” —T.M. Moore
As we are celebrating the First Advent, J. Warner Wallace asks a great question: Why didn’t the Apostle Paul mention the virgin conception?
“I am convinced many Christians today are troubled for the same reason Asa was [2 Chronicles 16:1-9]. They have war in their souls because they have traded faith for self-reliance. But the fact is, there is no way a follower of Jesus can have faith in any other source and not be troubled.” —David Wilkerson
“People who are exercised and preoccupied with such things as how the star worked and how the Red Sea split and how the manna fell and how Jonah survived the fish and how the moon turns to blood are generally people who have what I call a mentality for the marginal. You do not see in them a deep cherishing of the great central things of the gospel—the holiness of God, the ugliness of sin, the helplessness of man, the death of Christ, justification by faith alone, the sanctifying work of the Spirit, the glory of Christ’s return and the final judgment. They always seem to be taking you down a sidetrack with a new article or book. There is little centered rejoicing.” —John Piper
“Whether one makes the observation light-heartedly or in all seriousness, one must observe that, when the male body unites for procreation with the female, the pleasure that goes along with it is understood to be in accordance with nature, but that when male joins with male, or female with female, it is outside the bounds of nature. This outrage was first done by people whose desire for pleasure was without self-control.” —Plato. This agrees with what the Bible says in Romans 1:26-27.
Lenny Esposito has some good advice for students to defend their Christian faith in the classroom.
Seth Godin has some insight on whining—“Before starting, a question: Will it help? Like holding a grudge, or like panicking, whining rarely helps. If anything, any of the three make it far less likely that you’ll make progress solving the problem that has presented itself. And, like knuckle cracking, it’s best enjoyed alone.”
[VIDEO] Bobby Conway asks Lenny Esposito how to handle the claim “The Bible has contradictions in it”—
Links & Quotes
December 1, 2015 — Craig T. Owens
“Shall we spend our time in those things which are offensive to Him [Jesus Christ]? Shall we not rather do all we can to promote His glory, and act according to His command? O my dear brethren, be found in the ways of God; let us not disturb our dear Redeemer by any irregular proceedings; and let me beseech you to strive to love, fear, honor and obey Him, more than ever you have done yet; let not the devil engross your time, and that dear Savior who came into the world on your accounts, have so little. O be not so ungrateful to Him who has been so kind to you! What could the Lord Jesus Christ have done for you more than He has? Then do not abuse His mercy, but let your time be spent in thinking and talking of the love of Jesus, who was Incarnate for us, who was born of a woman, and made under the law, to redeem us from the wrath to come.” —George Whitefield, from a sermon “The True Way Of Keeping Christmas”
Josh McDowell shares the moral law argument for God’s existence. And J. Warner Wallace explains why it is so essential for us to highlight the virgin conception of Jesus.
For my fellow Grammar Police Officers, you might enjoy this: the 51 most commonly missed words and phrases.
Parents, Josh McDowell has some resources to help you help your kids avoid the ravages of pornography.
Are we connected on Twitter? How about on YouVersion (I am user craig_owens)? If you use either of these great social media resources, let’s connect there too.
Links & Quotes
November 21, 2015 — Craig T. Owens
“If then, Christian, you believe the gospel to be ‘glad tidings’ (Luke 1:19; 8:1), show that you believe it, by lighting up your face with a smile.” —Charles Bridges
“God’s yardstick for measuring faithfulness is how faithful you are with your own gifts. You are not responsible for the nature of your gift. But you are responsible for how you use it!” —Max Lucado
J. Warner Wallace shares some of his favorite sources for Christians to make their case.
How to keep your gratitude going after Thanksgiving Day.
From Live Action: “Extremists have made the 2016 election about attacking reproductive rights,” Cecile Richards says in the video. “Enough is enough.” Yes, Ms. Richards—enough IS enough:
- when it comes to the slaughter of preborn babies in the womb. (327,653 reported in their 2013-2014 annual report)
- when it comes to harvesting their body parts for profit.
- when it comes to $528 million tax dollars annually to the abortion chain while Planned Parenthood directors receive six digit salaries.
- when it comes to Planned Parenthood pushing sexual deviancy on teens.
- when Planned Parenthood covers up the sexual abuse of young girls.
- when Planned Parenthood names its highest award after its founder, Margaret Sanger, a known Klan speaker and supporter of racist eugenics.
- of ambulances summoned to Planned Parenthood due to abortion complications.
- of the silence when Planned Parenthood leaves a Black woman on the table to bleed to death after an abortion.
- of Planned Parenthood’s lies.
- nearly one-quarter of all Planned Parenthood’s revenue comes from abortions.
[VIDEO] I like what Barnabas Piper says about how the church should handle questions—
Links & Quotes
November 11, 2015 — Craig T. Owens
[VIDEO] John Maxwell has a special message for veterans as he talks about heroism—
“God never says ‘no’ to us unless ‘no’ will make us ultimately happier.” —Jon Bloom
“You may remember the Old Testament story of the Israelite spies sent to scout out the Promised Land. They came back saying, ‘Yes, it’s a land flowing with milk and honey. But it’s also full of giants and walled-up cities. We’re not able to go up against these people. Compared to them, we’re mere grasshoppers’ (see Numbers 13). Now, these men didn’t accuse God. They never said, ‘God isn’t able. He isn’t strong enough.’ They dared not voice such unbelief. Instead, they focused on themselves, saying, ‘We’re not able. We’re like little bugs in our enemies’ sight.’ Yet that is not humility. And it isn’t innocent, harmless talk. Rather, it’s an affront to the One who is the Light of the world, who commands us to believe, ‘I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me’ (Philippians 4:13).” —David Wilkerson
“The voice of God indeed daily calls to us; calls to the world to abandon sins and seek the Kingdom of God wholeheartedly.” —C.S. Lewis
J. Warner Wallace uses his skill as a cold-case detective to examine the testimony of the New Testament Gospel writers. Here is his case for why the Gospels were written fairly soon after Christ’s ascension.
Unfortunately, this is true: The First Amendment Is Dying.
[VIDEO] Was Jesus a myth?—
Links & Quotes
October 24, 2015 — Craig T. Owens
“Any fixing of the mind on old evils beyond what is absolutely necessary for repenting our own sins and forgiving those of others is certainly useless and usually bad for us.” —C.S. Lewis
“If I pay my debts in gold, no man can blame me because I do not pay them in silver; and if God gives you spiritual mercies in abundance, instead of temporal ones, He has heard your prayer.” —Charles Spurgeon
“We cannot manipulate God. He makes Himself and His glory known when He will, to whom He will, and in the measure He chooses according to His own pleasure and timing. He is not capricious, and He is not cruel. He waits to make His glory known to those who hope for it when the ‘dosage’ He applies will be precisely appropriate to the need in which we know it. So we must endure at the work of waiting on the Lord, because He knows better than we when and to what extent to bring us into His glory and love.” —T.M. Moore
J. Warner Wallace answers an important question: Would a loving God allow anything bad to happen?
4 reasons women cannot trust Planned Parenthood: (1) They lie to and manipulate women; (2) their business is death (abortion) not health care; (3) they cover-up rape, incest, and sex trafficking; and (4) they want to sell your aborted baby for profit.
GREAT NEWS—the Ohio Senate votes to defund Planned Parenthood!
Dave Barringer shares 6 actions that can turn your marriage around.
If you are battling an addiction, here are 2 underused strategies.
[VIDEO] John Maxwell has good counsel on overcoming barriers—
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