Did Jesus Really Die? Posted: Jan 26, 2010 by Sean McDowell "How do you know Jesus really died on the cross? Maybe He only appeared dead and then was revived to life in the tomb." This is a common question I receive whenever speaking about the historical Jesus. This idea, that Jesus "swooned" on the cross rather than dying, has been the subject of many best-selling books, the theme of recent blockbuster movies, and has spread like wildfire on the Internet. It's impossible to underestimate the importance of this question. If Jesus survived crucifixion then He was just a false prophet, we are still in our sins, and there is no ultimate hope for the world. If Jesus didn't die and then resurrect we may as well "feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!" (1 Cor. 15). So, how do we know Jesus really died by crucifixion? Let's consider three lines of evidence.  Read the full article…

Buzzards on the Brain Posted: Dec 17, 2009 by Tim Sweetman The fear for ages has been that a monstrous army of robots would one day infiltrate our society, overrun us, and in the end would force us into slavery or perhaps completely destroy us. The images of a red sunset casting dark shadows on a robot-infested city in ruins has come across our television sets time and time again. However, others, such as Aldous Huxley (author of Brave New World) feared that we would instead "become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy." He remarked in Brave New World Revisited that the "civil libertarians and rationalists" who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny "failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions." In the book 1984, written by George Orwell, we find men who are controlled by inflicting pain. In Huxley's book, Brave New World, people are controlled by inflicting pleasure. Author Neil Postman explains that George Orwell, looking into the future, feared that what we hate would ruin us. But Aldous Huxley feared that what we love would ruin us.  Read the full article…

How to Know God's Will (Part 2) Posted: Nov 11, 2009 by Jacob Riggs Some have said that finding God's will is difficult to do. I don't think it has to be that way. This is the second part of things to keep in mind when looking for God's will. (I'm thinking there will probably be four parts to this.) The first part was that God's will does not contradict the Bible. The second important thing to remember is to listen to the Spirit of God. After the following introductory thoughts, I tried to make the rest of it flow like a conversation where I anticipate a question that might come to your mind. Feel free to ask more questions in the comments section and I'll do my best to find an answer for you. I didn't hear much about the Holy Spirit growing up. I think some Christians have been scared to talk about Him in fear of being labeled something they didn't want to be. So as a result, He gets neglected. Or at least our understanding of His role in our life does. But if we want to understand the Bible and the nature of God, we have to understand the significance the Holy Spirit plays in the story of God. And if you want to know God's will (essentially, hear Him), then it would greatly benefit you to know and at least partly understand one of the main methods in which God speaks.  Read the full article…