Jesus Fact or Fiction

I was looking through different blog forums the other day and ran across a forum on religion. I opened the forum and to my amazement the third blog down was a blog on American Atheists. I was surprised mainly because I never thought of Atheism as a religion but more of a lack of belief in a higher power. Atheism comes from the Greek word atheos, which means "without god". Atheism does not have a spiritual leader and no central beliefs. The commonality of a 'true atheist' is a lack of belief in gods and supernatural beings. So I ask why is an atheism blog in a Religion forum....

While reading this blog, I have to admit I was curious on how seemingly smart and intelligent people could not believe in God, I saw something that peaked my curiosity. The Atheist National Convention on April 9 - 12 in Atlanta, Georgia. I'm curious what happens at an atheist convention.. Do they come up with more ways to tear the religious walls in our country? Do they sit there and tell jokes about the priest and the rabbi? Do they try to find more ways they can convince themselves that they are the "free thinkers" they claim themselves to be? Just wondering... Is their "religion" to get together with other like minds and worship themselves for being their own "god" or "their own higher power"? Do they pat themselves on the back for not being sucked into the religious trap and believe that Christians are just plain nuts?

You would think that atheists would be happy not believing in God and let Christians have their beliefs. I am sure most could care less but it's the highly vocal minority that feel obligated to fight the masses and take God out of everything. They believe He does not exist and they see Christians as a threat to their freedom...they believe that they are being ignored and they want to be heard. In addition, to trying to take God out of school, government, CHRISTmas, and whatever else they can find. Many use falsehoods about God or the Bible to further their agenda. Half truths and out of context Bible quotes to make Christians look bad. Like I said before NOT all atheists do this but the vocal minority do.
Many atheists would argue that most if not all religions are a bunch of bigots and hate mongers who are set on controlling and manipulating people in the name of religion. I will be the first to agree there are many people out there today that give religion a bad name. Many of these TV evangelists have given religion a bad name.. Jim Baker and his abuse of monies his ministry received and the sex scandal and following on his immoral footsteps here comes Jimmy Swaggart. There are also everyday people that give religion a bad name. Like everything there are good people and bad people. Do I believe all atheists are bad people? Absolutely not. I would even go as far as to say most atheists are not bad people. I will say that I believe they are misinformed and blind to the facts that Jesus Christ existed and that He is God.

Atheists contend that there is no proof God exists. The only problem with that is a person cannot logically make that claim unless they had all the evidence to support that claim. I also believe that if there was fool proof documentation to prove God does exist, many would choose to ignore it. The Bible talks about people knowing of God's existence but still have their hearts harden against him.

I will make an attempt to prove to atheists and non-believers that God DOES exist. I am not naive enough to believe that I will cause a major conversion nor do I believe that I'm knowledgeable or smart enough to have all the "right" answers . But I do know that I want everyone to understand that God is not about hate of bigotry or judgment. He is about Love. When I talk about God's love, I am not talking about the kind of love that gives you warm fuzzies and makes you do crazy things when you fall for that special person. That kind of love lasts only a short time in the scheme of things. What I am talking about is Agape love. Agape love is more like the sacrificial love a parent has for their child regardless if that love is reciprocated. It's the kind of love that drives one to save the helpless and give to the needy. Agape love focuses on how you can meet the other person's needs. Agape love is caring in action.
Jesus' teaches that our relationship with our fellow men, women and children is inseparable from our relationship with God. Love of God and love of our neighbors are two aspects of the same calling: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." Jesus takes it even further and says not only do we love our neighbor (that means everyone, not just the people who live next door) he says to love our enemies... What a concept... To love agape style not just God but All. This is something, I believe some Atheists don't get. The atheists I am referring to are the ones that blast religion by saying that "worshipping God" is consistent with crime, cruelty, envy, hatred, and malice. So for arguments sake let's go along with what the Bible teaches us what is right not what humans do as right. We are not perfect and yes everyone messes up even true followers of Christ.
The first point of my attempt to prove God exists is God is Love Agape style. The next is the all important questions atheists, Christians, and everyone else asks, "Why am I here? Where did I come from?" I truly believe the reason we are here is because God wants a relationship with us. We were created for his pleasure. The answer to where did we come from... Well we were created by God.. I can go into the whole theory of evolution or Darwinism but let's be honest..neither make sense. The missing link??? Think of an eyeball... How amazing is our eyeballs.. A lizard's eyeball, a cat's eyeball. Now think of evolution. If we were all created from one single cell and we transformed why are there so many different forms. Then you can go as far as saying why did some cells stay in the ocean and some decided to get legs..... I bet when you break in down to the ridiculous you have to agree that evolution and Darwinism is someone reaching for answers when it is completely obvious that a higher being had to have created this... Just think of the eyeball.. make sense? I am sure it does......(okay, I know I sound a little cocky with this one...but in my defense I just cannot see how people can buy into that theory)
The next point is history. Factual data that Jesus existed. Yes, my friends there is actual data from that time.... During the Roman times there writers, philosophers, and historians .
Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman historian and has been described as the greatest historian of Rome, noted for his integrity and moral uprightness. His most famous works are the Annals and the Histories. The Annals relate the historical narrative from Augustus' death in A.D. 14 to Nero's death in A.D. 68. In the part describing Nero's decision to blame the fire of Rome on the Christians, Tacitus affirms that the founder of Christianity, a man he call Chrestus (a common misspelling of Christ, which was Jesus' surname), was executed by Pilate. Tacitus was hostile to Christianity because in the same paragraph he describes Christus' or Christ's death, he describes Christianity as a superstition... So a guy who did not believe in Christianity confirms Jesus existed and was executed by Pilate... wait there's more....
Lucian of Samosata was a Greek satirist who was also hostile to Christianity and openly mocked it. He also spoke disgustedly about Christians worshipping a man. He does not mention Jesus by name, but the reference to the man Christians worship is a reference to Jesus.... You wanna hear one biggie????
Thallus and Phlegon were both ancient historians and both confirmed the fact that the land went dark when Jesus was crucified. This confirms what the Bible said happened when Jesus died.
Josephus was a Jewish historian who was born in either 37 or 38 AD. He wrote in Jewish Antiquites and in one famous passage described Jesus as a wise man, a doer of wonderful works and calls himself Christ. He also affirmed that Jesus was executed by Pilate and actually ROSE FROM THE DEAD! Yes, He confirmed JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD....
The Four Gospels (the first 4 books in the New Testament) are a historical account of Jesus' works and life. Many historians will agree that historical facts support the Bible's facts...
Now I will explain to you how I know beyond a shadow of a doubt in my mind and in my faith that the Bible is Fact and is inspired by God.. Yes written by man but dictated by God.. The Bible took over fifteen hundred years to write (yep 1,500 years). Abraham lived around 2100 BC and Moses who wrote the first five books of the Old Testament and lived around 1400 BC. These were real people not someone's imagination. There is enough physical evidence to support they existed. Archeologists have unearthed clay texts out of the ground from neighboring countries that validate the stories of the Bible. There are other things that validate the truthiness. Swords, tablets and literally tons of stuff that point right to the Old Testament. Think about Noah and the Great Flood.. Why do we find fish fossils on mountain tops? Kind of strange, don't you think?

Stories were written down and eventually were put together and became what we know today as the Old Testament. The New Testament came into being around the same time as the Old Testament. The New Testament is the true story of Jesus Christ. It consist of actual accounts and letter from the Disciples. The Big question is the Bible True and Accurate.. The answer is Yes and Yes. There have been many translations over 2000 years and words here and there may have changed from "thee" to "you". The Bible is God's love story to us... I believe that. There is just too many things to support God and Jesus being real...

Now if you can agree with me and historians about the Old Testament, you need to know that the Old Testament has Over 400 prophecies describing Jesus. I will not go into all 400 plus prophecies and if you are really interested in knowing them go to any Christian book store or I'm sure you can find them on the internet. Here are a couple that I find really cool.... Isaiah 7:14 Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call him Immanuel. Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary and Jesus is also known as Immanuel. Isaiah 53 talks about Him being sacrificed to pay for the sins of all. Psalms 34:20 describes that none of his bones were broken.. Which is a miracle in itself.. after hours of being whipped, kicked, rocks thrown at, and carrying his own cross, you would think something would break.... Psalm 22:18 talks about the soldiers gambling for his clothes. Amos 8:9 states that darkness will follow the death of the Messiah. Most of these prophecies are supported by historical facts... I'm not making this stuff up...

So the next thing, I will share with you that gets many people worked up is Jesus is God in human form. Yes he is God. Jesus called himself God on many occasions. Not a god but the God. The God of Abraham and God of Moses. The God that created the Heavens and Earth....That God. Jesus' teachings throughout his ministries focused on the one fact that he is God. It is very hard to understand this concept and it's hard for me to believe but this is something that you believe in faith. That will only come to you when you believe in God and accept Him as your personal Lord and Savior. The Trinity has lots of people scratching their heads... God is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. One God in three forms not three gods in one form... So the fact shows that Jesus existed and he was a crucified and He rose from the Dead....again Facts that have been confirmed.. So now is Jesus a liar and a con man or lunatic? The possibility one of those three descriptions may sound attractive to an atheist or a non believer. If you read the Gospel accounts of Jesus' life you will see his practical wisdom and his unbelievable ability to love agape style. Now think of the Huge impact He has made.... He lived on earth in human form TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO and we still worship Him. He is as strong in his impact as he was back then!!!! That has to say something to you.

I will finish this with one last thought.... Let's say Jesus doesn't exist and if you believe in Jesus Christ and you believe he died on the cross for your sins and you accept him into heart as your Savior and ask him for forgiveness... You have nothing to lose if you believe In Jesus.....and he doesn't exist. Now if you don't believe.....and you refuse to give any credence to what I've been on my soapbox talking about....and you refuse to believe in Jesus and Jesus does exist you have EVERYTHING TO LOSE.... I think I would rather be on the team with a higher chance of winning...wouldn't you???

So the Bible has been taken out of public schools and the atheists want all of the "God" stuff removed from everywhere...(again I refer to the vocal minority group of atheists)...So what has happened.. I think it started with Madeleine Murray O'Hare when she complained she didn't want prayer in the schools and the quiet majority said okay.. Dr. Spock said don't spank you kids you'll mess them up so people said okay...(by the way Dr. Spock's son killed himself) Now today we have kids that have no conscience. It doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves....If we think about it long and hard, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with "we reap what we sow" these comments were taken from Anne Grahams insight into the Twin Towers terrorism and if this statement is a Urban Legend, that's okay too. The point has been made...

Please think about this.. If you are a non-believer or an atheist who is reading this please know I do not hate you and I do not judge you.... I just want you to have what I have. Peace in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ......and I am not a lunatic....my kids and husband may disagree... God be with you.
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