A Dark Yet Magnificent Contrast

In one of Peter’s early sermons in Jerusalem, he spoke of the man they released from prison – Barabbas. (Acts 3:13-15). “You disowned the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Prince of life.” Have you ever thought about the contrast between these two men?

Barabbas was a murderer; he had no regard for human life. He is the one the Jewish people liberated and welcomed back into society, but turned their backs on Jesus. Continue reading

Last Stop Before Jerusalem

It is said that Jesus made his fatal journey to Jerusalem in the spring, 33 a.d. Due to historical errors in ancient date keeping, the exact time is unknown, although the world has settled on complicated formulas to settle an arbitrary date for what has come to be known as Easter. The actual Biblical accounts mention “winter” (John 10:23), and that people were warming themselves over fires at the Jewish trial of Jesus (John 18:18). A quick Internet search showed 20 C. weather in the city today (68 F); hardly a time for bonfires. Therefore we don’t really know the actual dates for the events surrounding the trials, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Continue reading

A Father’s Sacrifice

One morning in September 2008 Thomas Vander Woude, a retired airline pilot who now kept a farm in Northern Virginia, was working his 26 acres with his 20 year old handicapped son Joseph by his side. When they had separated to do other chores, Joseph walked on a damaged septic tank cover and broke through, falling into the almost full 8 foot deep tank. Seeing the accident from a distance, Vander Woude rushed over to assist his youngest son. Unable to pull him from the tank, he lowered himself into the sewage and treaded beside him to help keep Josephs’ head above the waste, but he was still sinking. Vander Woude then made the decision to dive under the sewage and raise his Down syndrome afflicted son up on his shoulders to free him from drowning. When rescuers finally arrived they pulled Joseph out, injured but alive. His father Thomas though was dead, suffocated under the waste. Continue reading

A Reason to Believe

I am always interested in reasons to believe in God, and one such reason is science’s law of biogenesis.  But before talking about biogenesis, we should define what makes a scientific law a law in the first place.  A scientific law is a discovery achieved through extensive investigation which consistently points to one conclusion.  The laws of science explain how things work in nature all the time, without exception.  The most common scientific law that I can think of is the law of gravity; when we let go of something, we know where to look for it – it’s down there.  The difference between a “law” and a “theory” is that a scientific law points to one conclusion; all the time.  A theory points to a possibility among many possibilities. Continue reading

The Flight That Disappeared

Two weeks ago we were shocked to hear about the Malaysian Airlines #370 jet that seemed to disappear somewhere over the ocean of of southeast Asia.  Our hearts go out to the families of the passengers who beg for answers about the fate of their loved ones.  It’s amazing that a modern airplane equipped with the latest computerized systems could be lost without a trace, especially when it was being tracked from the ground by air traffic controllers.  Theories will continue to swirl until the facts are finally known. Continue reading