In Queensland’s Gold Coast (equiv. Miami, Florida) known for its entertainment and nightlife, an Evangelical event drew large crowds. Thousands attended the July 7th “Look Up Celebration,” led by Will Graham at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, committed to following Jesus.
“God moved mightily,” Graham wrote on Facebook. “As I shared about God’s love with a crowd of more than 4,600 people gathered at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, hundreds decided to put their hope and trust in Jesus Christ. Would you join me in praying for these new believers and for God to continue to work in the Gold Coast?”
“People have money, titles, degrees, possessions, but spiritually they’re wandering,” Graham said. “You may be searching and wandering. Tonight, God wants you to come home to Him.”
“Many people believe there are multiple ways to God, but that’s not what the Bible says,” Will Graham told the crowd. “Jesus said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” John 14:6 There’s only one way to God, and that’s through His Son, Jesus Christ, and what He did on the cross. Jesus bled and died to pay the debt so that you and I can have a relationship with God.”
The event culminated with hundreds responding to Graham’s call to begin a new faith journey, visibly moving toward the stage to publicly commit to following Jesus Christ, said the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA).
Over 380 churches and more than 1,000 volunteers contributed to the preparation of the “Look Up Celebration,” BGEA added. The preparation included a Christian Life and Witness Course, aimed at educating participants on living and sharing their faith.
A prayer counselor identified only as Trinity, said it was like a revival. “I haven’t seen anything like this since I’ve been here,” he said. “It’s life-changing. There’s no greater miracle than the saving of souls. Tonight, I know there’s not just a celebration here with us, but there’s a celebration in Heaven.”
Will has shared the Gospel with more than 1 million people across six continents since beginning his evangelistic ministry in 2006, according to BGEA.
During His earthly ministry, “Great crowds came to Jesus, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the dumb and many others, and laid them at His feet; and He healed them. The people were amazed when they saw people raised from the dead, dumb speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel” Matthew 15:30-31
Earlier in the previous century, even the New Testament skeptical scholar Rudolf Bultmann acknowledged that there could be no doubt that Jesus healed sick individuals and expelled demons. More recently, Jarl Fossum notes: “That Jesus was a miracle worker is central to the Christology of the New Testament Gospels and Acts.” Perhaps surprisingly, prominent Jesus Seminar member Marcus Borg attested quite strongly, “Despite the difficulty which miracles pose for the modern mind, on historical grounds it is virtually indisputable that Jesus was a healer and exorcist.” Further, Jesus’s healing cases cannot all be accounted for simply as “faith healings” alone, for we do not know how far Jesus’s powers actually extended. Prominent historical Jesus researcher John Meier states, “In sum, the statement that Jesus acted as and was viewed as an exorcist and healer during his public ministry has as much historical corroboration as almost any other statement we can make about the Jesus of history.”
Even Jesus’ opponents did not contest the proclamations that He did healings and exorcisms, but “they claimed that his powers came from the lord of the evil spirits,” thereby admitting the existence of the events themselves by their very criticism. In this way, Jesus’s disciples, the crowds of people who heard and saw Jesus, and even His adversaries all agreed to what happened and that at least these healings and exorcisms were due to Jesus’s skills and power.
What about you? Do you praise the Lord because of the mighty miracles Jesus performed? Or do you ignore Jesus and live life as your own god? It is easy to ignore the Lord while loving the world and loving your sin. None of us would ever turn to God apart from the power of the Holy Spirit who produces repentance and faith in a man’s heart.
So, are you resisting the Holy Spirit even as you read these words? Or are you open to the idea that you need Jesus and the forgiveness only He can give you? Do you realize why Jesus endured the agony of the cross? He did it to pay for your sins so that you do not suffer the consequences of your sins. You will face Jesus at the White Throne judgment and you will be thrown into the Lake of Fire for punishment and a second death.
“But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”Revelation 21:8 Also, Revelation 2:11, Revelation 20:6, and Revelation 20:14
Did you ignore the cross once again this Easter? When will you finally get serious about your sin and your need for the Savior?
Like everyone, a day will come when you experience tremendous storms in your life. Perhaps you are going through a terrible storm right now. Jesus has the power and authority to calm storms, just like He did when His disciples encountered a “furious squall” one day while out in a boat (see Mark 4:35-41. Jesus rebuked the wind, and it became completely calm, His disciples were “terrified and asked each other, ‘Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey Him!’”
Who will you turn to during the personal storms ahead of you? The longer you ignore the Messiah, the harder your heart will become toward the Savior. On the other hand, the miracle-working Messiah will save your soul the moment you come to Christ in faith. The Apostle John explained it beautifully:
“Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life (eternal life) in His name.”John 20:30-31
One day “the Jews demanded of Jesus, ‘What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days’” (John 2:19). The miracle of miracles was the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The Messiah who had raised Lazarus (see John 11:38-44) and others from the dead (see Matthew 9:23-25; Luke 7:11-17) would Himself come back to life after His crucifixion.
After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to many of His followers, including “more than 500 of the brothers at the same time” (1 Corinthians 15:6). Why else would the apostles have laid down their lives for the Gospel? If they had not seen and touched the risen Christ, Christianity would never have gotten off the ground (see John 20:24-31). Christ’s enemies couldn’t track down His body because Jesus did in fact rise from the dead.
So, are you spiritually dead, or spiritually alive? Have you risen from your tomb of unbelief? You can either ignore the miracle-working Messiah or trust Him to forgive your sins and perform the miracle of the new birth within your soul (see John 3:1-8; 1 Peter 1:3-5). You will never know what you have been missing until you give your life to Christ and become one of His followers. Whatever you do, please don’t ignore this soul-saving invitation: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).
Adapted from an article in Christian Post “Why Multitudes Ignore the miracle-working Messiah” by Dan Delzell and excerpts from On the Resurrection, Volume 1: Evidences by Gary R. Habermas (B&H Academic, 2024).
This is the prayer Jesus prayed to His Heavenly Father knowing He would be tortured and crucified the following day.
I would urge you to carefully read what it says and meansconsidering the following: 1. In the context of Jesus’ life on Earth as recorded by His disciples, 2. His disciples all gave up their lives rather than deny the truth of Jesus Christ and His Word. 3. Jesus changed the world dramatically, B.C. and A.D., as many nations accepted the Judaeo Christian worldview, 4. The fact that there are over 300 prophecies by Old Testament prophets of Jesus’ first coming to Earth that were fulfilled to the letter. 5. There are more than 1,000 prophecies of Jesus’ second coming to Earth and I would suggest that they will be fulfilled exactly as the prophecies of Jesus’ first coming were fulfilled. Many have already been fulfilled, particularly one major one – the re-establishment of the nation of Israel in 1948. Biblical prophecies tell us that Jesus will return with the glorified Saints to rescue the nation of Israel at the prophesied battle of Armageddon. Prior to 1948 Israel as a nation did not exist. In the second century AD, the Romans crushed the revolt of Shimon Bar Kokhba (132 AD) during which Jerusalem and Judea were regained and the land of Judea was renamed Palaestina in an attempt to minimize Jewish identification with the land.
JESUS HIGH PRIESTLY PRAYER
“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake, I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”John 17:1-26
You have to be blinded by the evil one if you cannot see the truth of these wonderful words. The truth about the one who spoke them and the truth of our Heavenly Father to whom Jesus spoke this prayer. What a wonderful God we have. How awesome it is that He loves us to the extent that He does.
In the natural, when we read who Jesus says will be blessed in TheBeatitudes we think “crazy” but in our hearts, we know it is right because it is righteousness.
Shortly after Jesus started His ministry he gathered crowds because he healed all who came to Him.
“And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all of Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.” Matthew 4:23
The first time Jesus preached to the “multitudes” He preached the Beatitudes:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.Matthew 5:3-12
Surely, those who are open-minded can see that Jesus truly is who He said He was. Before Jesus went to die on the Cross on our behalf, the disciples were perplexed. Take to heart what Jesus said to Thomas.
“Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”John 14:5-7
I am sure we can bold;y assert that no man of all the myriads that have ever lived – let him be as wise as Solomon, the absolute best as Job could ever have invented from his own “thoughts”, the GOSPEL. It was impossible for such a plan of salvation ever to be devised by man’s thoughts.
I believe Andy McIntosh (Professor of Thermodynamics and Combustion Theory at the University of Leeds, UK) provides a good answer as to why humans continue to deny God and His son, Jesus.
“As a scientist, I see nothing to discount straightforward belief in Scripture, when considering the mechanisms in nature… man’s prejudice against design in creation can only really be answered by a radical change of heart and by personally meeting the Author of all… I believe that it is because humans do not want to be accountable to a Creator God that they persist with a theory (evolution) that has little evidence to support it.”
They cannot countenance a Creator to whom they are responsible for their actions. Where do you stand? What do you believe?
Does HISTORY really validate the New Testament Gospels to be true about Jesus: His first coming, His crucifixion, His resurrection, His coming again?
Non-Christian ancient sources confirm details of Christ’s death and some of His resurrection. Dr. Gary Habermas catalogued over 3,400 sources, many of whom are sceptical, or even critical of Christians, adding to their veracity. Here are seven of the three thousand four hundred:1. Josephus 37-100 AD, 2. Suetonius 70-160 AD, 3. Pliny the Younger 61-113 AD, 4. Tacitus 56-120 AD, 5. Mara Bar-Serapion 72 AD, 6. Lucian 125-180 AD, 7. Babylonian Talmud. They all confirm key points of the gospel:
1. Jesus died by crucifixion; 2. He was buried; 3. His death caused the disciples to despair and lose hope; 4. The tomb was empty three days later. 5. Hundreds of people saw the resurrected Jesus.
After Jesus’ resurrection, all of His disciples saw Him and had many experiences with Him,“for over 40 days” (Acts 1:3) – eating with Jesus in different places, and lastly watching Jesus ascend off the earth – “as they were looking on, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight”(Acts 1:9).
Rome’s most prominent Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus (37-100 AD) wrote about the resurrection of Jesus. He also recorded Jesus’12 apostles and many of Jesus’ disciples (1 Cor. 15:1-9) all went to their deaths, most as martyrs for continually claiming Jesus’ resurrection (1 John 1:1-4). Some people have died for what was a lie – but no one, much less hundreds, will die for what they ALL KNOW is a lie! The apostles and Jesus’ disciples all preached Jesus’ resurrection up to the time of their deaths.
Today –anyone can find out if Jesus is alive! Jesus made it possible for our Heavenly Father to send the Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, to indwell the spirit of everyone who repents of their sins against God and accepts Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. The Holy Spirit is their counsellor, teacher, and comforter.
“The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts.” Proverbs 20:27
The spirit of a person was always meant to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The lamp of the Lord cannot function without the oil of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will convict us of sin. It is His job to make us like Jesus to enable us to be Jesus’ ambassadors on the earth.
“However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Romans 8:9-11
Thousands of Christians have been martyred for not denying their loyalty to Jesus Christ and many more will do so before His return. Jesus has warned us beforehand that prior to His return there will be a time of great tribulation for Christians.
There need be no question, historically or personally, about the resurrection of Jesus. If someone is willingto receive Him as their own personal Lord and Saviour they will receive the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit who will testify to the reality of Jesus and God the Father.
The detail on the historical sources of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection was sourced from material provided by Jim McCotter – jimsbookstore.com
The Apostle Paul brought his intellect to bear against the best-of-the-best philosophers and religious practitioners of his day on Mars Hill in Act 17. At that time, Athens was the religious center of Greece and was marinating in every faith and philosophy that existed.
When he was delivering his address to that diverse audience on Mars Hill, Paul highlighted a few things all those in attendance had in common — their shared humanity and inherent religious nature — but then he took a hard right turn into the particulars of the Christian faith that makes it distinct from all others.
One important thing that the assertion “all religions are the same” ignores is the key distinction between universals and particulars. Universals are typically said to be abstract whereas particulars are concrete; i.e., a universal is something particulars have in common, but that commonality in no way means all particulars are the same thing.
No one does a better job of humorously pointing this out where religion is concerned than the English writer and poet Steve Turner in his short work called “Creed”:
We believe that all religions are basically the same. At least the one that we read was. They all believe in love and goodness. They only differ on matters of Creation, Sin, Heaven, Hell, God, and Salvation.
And, of course, the central difference in all religions that Paul highlighted to the Athenians was Christ Himself, which is exactly how you and I should deal with the “all religions are the same” argument as well.
If there was ever a time for a Christian leader to declare in a speech that we all believe the same thing and that every road leads to God, it was then. But that’s not what Paul did.
Why and how Christianity is distinct
Think about every religion you know without Christianity. The vast majority, if not all, take an approach to our human predicament that is either epistemic, pragmatic, or existential, with some blending two or all three.
The epistemic path is one that says, “If I just learn something, then I’ll be better.” For example, Buddhism has its four noble truths, its 8-fold path to enlightenment, etc. To the epistemic, knowledge leads to salvation.
The pragmatic approach says, “If I just do something, then I’ll be OK.” Nearly every religion other than Christianity follows this works-based plan, with a good example being Islam and its concept of the deeds scale. The pragmatist earns their salvation by the sweat of their brow.
The existentialist thinks, “If I just experience something, then I’ll be fine.” Those involved in spiritist and/or new-age faiths always look for a vision, a breakthrough, or some spiritual event that moves them from their current life to one that’s better.
But Christianity is different. It is not epistemic, pragmatic, or existential, but instead is something else.
The Christian faith is ontological.
Christianity rests completely on a Person — Jesus Christ. The prophets of other religions admit their faith does not depend on them to be true, i.e., you can take them out of the equation and the religion remains intact.
But if you take Christ out of Christianity, it completely collapses. Moreover, Christianity subsumes the approaches found in other religions and pours them all into the person of Christ.
As an example, the epistemic gains knowledge through words. And what do we read at the beginning of John’s Gospel?
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1, 14). Jesus is the knowledge of God personified.
With respect to pragmatism and a works-based approach, Jesus was once asked: “What shall we do, so that we may work the works [plural] of God?” Jesus’ answer to them was, “This is the work [singular] of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent” (John 6:28-29).
Lastly, existentialism concerns itself with experience and life. To that end, Jesus said, “I have come that they might have life and have it abundantly … I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 10:10; 14:6).
Christianity diverges from all other religions because it is built upon the person of Christ, who, in His Person, embodies all approaches to spiritual truth.
Paul acknowledged this unique and ontological nature of Christianity when he spoke on Mars Hill and also when he wrote, “for I know whom [not what] I have believed … For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Tim. 1:12; 2 Cor. 4:6).
In other words, Christianity is Jesus. Period.
This post was taken from a great article by Robin Schumacher CP VOICES | MONDAY, APRIL 03, 2023 “All religions are the same and other lies”
The Bible tells us: “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”2 Timothy 1:7,
John the Beloved, said“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”1 John 4:18,
Jesus was perfect. He was tempted in all ways as us yet without sin. Jesus embodied perfect love.
Nowhere in the Bible does it say Jesus feared. Yes, he experienced great anguish. Yes, he desired the cup to pass from Him. Yes, he felt the limitations that came with being human but He who knew no sin didn’t sin.
Often Jesus would rebuke the disciples for their worry and their fear and unbelief. He would ask them why they didn’t believe and rebuke them for not believing. He stood against their unbelief, fear, and worry.
This is why the Virgin Birth is so important. Jesus was not born with a sin naturedue to how He was conceived. Without the Virgin Birth, Christ could not have been God. His conception determines the validity of His Deity. Just as His sinless life determines His qualification to be the sinless sacrifice for our sins.
As we look at the life of Jesus there is much that we can relate to. His sufferings were very clear. He sympathizes with our weaknesses and is seated at the right hand of the Father making intercession on our behalf. These things are very relatable and authentic and do not tamper with his Deity.
But to say that Jesus “feared” is to say, “Jesus had a spirit in Him that was controlling Him that was not from God.”
This is not inaccurate, it is heresy. It is heretical. It is unbiblical and very damaging because of the implications it creates and the conclusions it requires regarding His Deity.
When we represent Christ to others, the Bible must be our sole authority to determine our view, values, and vernacular that we choose to help people relate to Jesus and experience a real relationship with Him.
Extract from article in patheos.com: Did Jesus Have Fear Like Us? April 14th, 2022 by Pastor Kelly M Williams
“For this reason God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow — of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth — and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9-11
JESUS MILLENNIAL KINGDOM IS COMING (This Kingdom by Geoff Bullock)
VERSE 1: Jesus, God’s righteousness revealed, The Son of Man, The Son of God, His Kingdom comes, Jesus, Redemption’s sacrifice, Now glorified, Now justified, His Kingdom comes.
CHORUS: And this Kingdom will know no end, And it’s glory shall know no bounds, For the majesty and power of this Kingdom’s King has come, And this Kingdom’s reign, And this Kingdom’s rule, And this Kingdom’s power and authority, Jesus, God’s righteousness revealed.
VERSE 2: Jesus, The expression of God’s love, The Grace of God, The Word of God Revealed to us, Jesus, God’s Holiness displayed, Now glorified, Now justified, His Kingdom comes
CHORUS: And this Kingdom will know no end, And it’s glory shall know no bounds, For the majesty and power of this Kingdom’s King has come, And this Kingdom’s reign, And this Kingdom’s rule, And this Kingdom’s power and authority, Jesus, God’s righteousness revealed.
Seven years ago Robert and his wife Evelyn decided to take a leap of faith to leave their jobs and careers behind, trusting God to provide for them and lead them further. In this video Robert shares what happened since then and the things they learned. Living eternal now being directed by the Holy Spirit believing God’s Word.
“Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.” Luke 18:28-30
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? … But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:25-34
MORE FROM THE LAST REFORMATION MOVEMENT:
I want to say that this is not only a life Robert and his family are called to live. I believe this is a life many more people are called to live! Not that everyone should do exactly as they did, but everyone CAN do so much more than we are often doing! Start where you are! Use the free resources we have – The Kickstart Package, the online Pioneer School, etc… all the resources which are available for you to use to bear fruit!
But I also want to challenge many of you out there – I think many more people ARE called to do like Robbert and his family! We have just done a new page on TheLastReformation.com called FAMILY ON A MISSION. You can see the link here: youtu.be/lXvMqdLzGyo
On this page, you will find other stories of other people who started to see amazing fruit! What you can see is that every story is different, but every person is the same in the sense that the Holy Spirit is leading, God is providing, and there is amazing fruit!
So I want to challenge you even more, especially in the times we are living in now – don’t get old and look back at your life regretting that you did not take some big steps for Jesus! Don’t stand in front of Jesus one day when He comes back very soon, not having anything to show! Do what He has called you to do! And let us know how we can help you!
In 2013 Time Magazine did a story about the ‘Most Significant Person in History’ and concluded after a very comprehensive and detailed research program that Jesus was that person. If one googles ‘the most significant person in History’ and searches through the numerous websites claiming this title you will find that Jesus appears more than any other claimant. His life story on film has had more than eight billion views and counting. The Jesus film has been translated into 1,800 languages. His life story is written in the most read and most published book in history. There have been some five plus billion copies of the Bible distributed in over 340 languages. And at least one book of the Bible is available in over 2,000 languages. His life story has been translated and recorded and can be heard in some six thousand, five hundred different languages on the 5 fish app.
What do we know about Jesus from texts apart from the Bible? Jesus is mentioned in the writings of both the Jewish historian Josephus “Antiquities of the Jews” (Bk.XVIII.III.3 written about 93 AD) and the theologian Origen, in his book “Contra Celsum” written about 248 AD.
More recently J. Warner Wallace, Author of Cold Case Christianity was a former homicide detective and former atheist. He used his ‘cold case’ skills to verify the reality of the existence of Jesus.
Sir Lionel Luckhoo (1914-1997) is considered one of the greatest lawyers in British history. He’s recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as the “World’s Most Successful Advocate,” with 245 consecutive murder acquittals. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II — twice.
Luckhoo declared: “I humbly add I have spent more than 42 years as a defence trial lawyer appearing in many parts of the world and am still in active practice. I have been fortunate to secure a number of successes in jury trials and I say unequivocally the evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is so overwhelming that it compels acceptance by proof which leaves absolutely no room for doubt. It is recorded in the Bible that at least 513 people saw Jesus after his resurrection. These recorded eye-witness accounts happened on at least 8 separate occasions.”
Two computer scientists, Professor Steven Skiena of Stony Brook University in New York and Charles Ward used quantitative analysis to decide who the most significant people were in world history. They studied thousands of historical figures to determine which person’s opinions had the most impact on world affairs. Using an algorithm similar to Google’s ranking system and “other data sources,” they ranked the various historical figures by importance as referenced in the English version of Wikipedia — an online encyclopedia. Their analysis concluded conclusively that Jesus Christ was the world’s most influential person.
The largest volume and most authenticated writings about the teachings of Jesus were recorded by those ‘eyewitnesses’ who actually lived with and were taught by Jesus himself. The accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as recorded in the Bible have stood the test of time and the sceptics. Millions of followers of Jesus around the world can attest to the value and transformational nature of his teachings.Consider some other celebrations and events that would demonstrate the impact and the significance of this person Jesus.
Throughout most of the world the usual way to refer to the calendar year was by using the abbreviations BC and AD. BC was shorthand for ‘before Christ’ and AD was shorthand for ‘anno domini – in the year of our Lord (Latin). Despite being unable to establish the exact date of Jesus’ birth, it was and is still used as the fulcrum for the Western way of marking time.
In many countries around the world, the events of Christmas and Easter are celebrated. They came to be celebrated because of the significance of Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection.
There are many phrases attributable to him, however the best known is the famous ‘Golden Rule’ sometimes articulated as ‘Treat others as you want them to treat you.’ Jesus said it like this ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’
In a time and culture that was almost exclusively patriarchal, Jesus did not shy away from expounding the value of the women and children. Would he be the most potent advocate for women and children in history?
Is it any wonder, then, that Christians are the largest religious group in the world?
Jesus is the only hope for this lost world. He is the way the truth and the life. No one comes to our Heavenly Father and inherits eternal life except through Him. Why would you not want to come to Him? He is the only way you will discover true meaning and purpose to your life.
Most of this Information was provided by my long time friend : Graham McDonald Email : graham@diduno.info
LIVING ETERNAL NOW 