What’s New at the Cross Reference Library? Books 1 & 2 of the Wingfeather Saga

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness - Andrew Peterson spins a riveting tale-for-all-ages, following Janner, Tink, and Leeli Igiby, and their trusty dog, Nugget, as they escape from the vicious Fangs of Dang who seek the lost Jewels fo Anniera. Quirky characters and their world of wonders—from the edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness to the deadly Glipwood Forest and beyond—set the stage for this epic adventure. 

North! Or Be Eaten - Janner, Tink, and Leeli Igiby thought they were normal children with normal lives and a normal past. But now they know they’re really the lost Jewels of Anniera, heirs to a legendary kingdom across the sea, and suddenly everyone wants to kill them. In order to survive, the Igibys must flee to the safety of the Ice Prairies, where the lizard-like Fangs of Dang cannot follow. First, however, they have to escape the monsters of Glipwood Forest, the thieving Stranders of the East Bend, and the dreaded Fork Factory. But even more dangerous are the jealousy and bitterness that threaten to tear them apart, and Janner and his siblings must learn the hard way that the love of a family is more important than anything else.

What Is The Rapture? - Ask the Pastor

You can listen to Ask The Pastor every weekday at 9:00am MST on 97.1FM Hope Radio KCMI! You can also listen and subscribe to Ask The Pastor in your favorite podcast feed. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music and most other podcast services.

This edition of Ask the Pastor features Pastors Mike Clement and Michael Glebb.

Michael Clement
But we're gonna continue on where we were. And I got a little long-winded last time. It was a hard time stopping. And we were talking about the person in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we were talking about the fact that Jesus is coming again. And then related to that, there are two other issues that are greatly debated by just, you know, not just little weird groups in one sense or another, but churches that are Orthodox and hold to the gospel and hold to the Bible. But they look at things differently. They understand things differently. And we were talking about the rapture, first of all, and not every group holds the same position on the rapture. Jesus said he would come again, but he, in the book of 1 Corinthians, it says, "that the dead in Christ will be raised first and that we who are alive will be caught up together with him. And so shall we ever be with the Lord." That may not be 1 Corinthians, but it's living believers that are caught up. And we go to meet the Lord in the air. And if you take a literal interpretation of the Bible, and if you recognize the idea that Israel are the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And that the church is made up of Jews and Gentiles, bond and free, male and female, and had its beginning pretty much at, on the day of Pentecost, and is a very unique entity. So there's a difference between Israel and the church. If you hold to those truths, take the Bible literally, difference between Israel and the church, you're gonna come up with a pre-millennial or a pre-tribulational rapture. Now, there is what's become popular today, brother Mike, and you probably have heard this, is the pre-wrath view. And the pre-wrath view used to be called Mid-Tribulational. And there was a fellow who was the head of, I believe it was Friends of Israel. And, in fact, he's been to this area. And he wrote a book on the pre-wrath rapture changed his position, stepped down from his position in that organization, because that was a pre-tribulational view that they held. And they became very popular talking about the pre-wrath rapture, mid-tribulational. Now, the tribulation period recorded in the book of Revelation is a seven year period. And when you look at it, there are a number of references to that mid-period, three and a half years. Something pretty interesting happens at that three and a half year period. And that comes outta scripture, but it's not clear that that's when the rapture takes place. But there are many that hold to that position today. And then there's a post-tribulational rapture. And what you have in the Book of Revelation, you see at the end of the book of Revelation, there's a great resurrection, and it's called the First Resurrection in scripture. Well, and, and many have said, well, that's the rapture. You know, because obviously something takes place there. It says that people are raised, but it doesn't make reference to the translation of living believers. That living believers are now, their bodies are changed to the same body that Jesus had when he was raised from the dead. But those three views are found in Christianity with regards to the rapture. Now, there's also the whole area of, when is the second coming supposed to take place in relationship to the millennium? The millennium is a period of how long Brother Mike? A thousand years? That's what millennium means. And the Bible talks about this millennial period. It's a period when Jesus will, again, if you take it literally, that Jesus will physically rule and reign from Jerusalem over the entire Earth. All kinds of things will be changed. People will live through that whole millennial period. There will be true justice. And that's just a lot of things that'll be exceptional during that period. So there are those that have debated in Christianity. Well, when will Jesus come in relationship to the millennium? And there was a view that was very popular at the turn of the last century in the early 1900's. It was called Post-millennialism. And post-millennialism was the idea that Christians would gradually have such an impact on the world, that the world will become Christianized. That it will get better and better and better. And one of the evidences of that was, World War I. Do you remember what World War I was called? The Great War. The Great War was also called "The War to End All Wars." And in fact, at the end of World War I, our government took a lot of battleships and sunk them because that was gonna be the last war that the world ever had. Because Christianity was making all these changes, and people just held on to the idea that things were just gonna get better and better and better. And we're not gonna need all this. Right. Because, and that was a byproduct of Post Millennialism. Well, World War II, Korea and Vietnam pretty much killed that idea, at least for a while. But interestingly, it's coming back. There are people that are holding to the idea, that in fact, Christianity is gonna change the world. And that eventually, it'll be just like what the Bible calls Millennium.

Michael Gleb
There's a movement now, and you can see this with social media sort of gearing us and turning us towards Christian nationalism. And I think that a Christian culture is a good culture. I think that is obviously the right culture. But nothing changes the heart outside of a personal relationship with Christ. And you can be in a Christian culture and not know Jesus. And so that's the biggest issue that I see with that. But that's coming back. You're right about that. And I didn't make that connection, but there is now a lot of talk about Christian, sort of, nationalism. We talk about America in terms of a Christian nation, because of its foundation, and that's a good thing. But again, being born in America is not saving anybody.

Michael Clement
It gives you a better chance.

Michael Gleb
That is true.

Michael Clement
A better chance of hearing the gospel here in America than anywhere else in the world. I just came back from a trip to my son and his family down in Brazil. And that is a whole different culture. I think every American should spend at least a week in a third world country. And they would get off the plane and get on their knees and kiss the ground and thank God for the country that they have the privilege of living in. Anyway, post Millennialism has the idea that there'll be this, in bringing in of the millennial kingdom by the church, by missions. And then eventually the world will be Christianized, and at the end of that, Christ will come, and then he'll judge the nations, and eternity will begin. Then there's a millennialism, and sometimes that's been called realize millennialism. And there's a number of ideas, and I really don't want to misrepresent it, but one of the ideas is that, what happened in 70 AD with the fall of Jerusalem, that was the tribulation. That all the things that are said in the book of Revelation, about the judgements and all that, that took place in 70 AD and now, since 70 AD we've been living in the Millennium. The millennium is a time when Christ reigns, but it teaches, well, Christ is reigning in the hearts of men. He's reigning through the church, he's making his influence known through the church. And that there will come a time in the future sometime when Christ will physically return again. But this is the millennium now, which means Satan is bound now. And there's a lot of people, including me, that have a hard time wrapping their heads around that idea. So anyway, there's all these different views of the individual details, timing. One of the things that scripture encourages us, is that we need to be ready. You know, we always need to be ready. When I was first saved, there was a lot of talk about the second coming of the Lord. I mean, oh, there was just, you know, the signs and Israel became a nation and, oh, there was just all this talk about the second coming of the Lord. There were prophecy conferences and a group of churches in northern New Jersey had a round robin prophecy conference. And they got guys like John Walford and some other guys who, they would be at one church one night and another church another night, and they just rotated these guys around. And boy, everybody was talking about it, and everybody was excited. Well, I came home, we lived in this trailer court, and I came home from a youth group activity, and I'm walking through the trailer court and I happened to look up in the sky, and the moon had a ring around it. I had never seen the moon with a ring around it. And I didn't know a whole lot about the Bible, but I remembered something about there being signs in heaven before the second coming of the Lord. And I thought, "my goodness, Jesus is gonna come! What do I need to do?" And right nearby was the trailer of a friend of mine, and as far as I know, they didn't know the Lord. And I ran over to their door, and I pounded on the door. And this friend's mother came to the door, she said, "mike, what's wrong?" And I pointed up in the sky and said, "Look, look, look!" And she looked up and she said, "oh yeah, ring around the moon. Haven't you ever seen one of those before?" "No, I haven't."

Michael Gleb
Jesus is coming back!

Michael Clement
That's what I'm saying. I was expecting any moment to hear the trumpet. I heard a pastor one time say that, you know, "scripture says that in the twinkling an eye, at the last trump, that Christ would come." And he said, "scientists have actually tried to figure out how quick the twinkling of an eye is. And it's, like, nanoseconds." You know, just instantaneous. He said, "but the sound of a trump will take a few seconds," he said, "so I got a two second message." He said, I hear a trump and I'm gonna say, you better all get saved right now, I'm going to heaven." And boom, off he goes.

Michael Gleb
And it's interesting when you think about, when we talk about this, I've always been kind of same with you as we had a lot of talk about prophecy. And some people wanted to camp on prophecy. And there was maybe this over-emphasis on it. And some people, I think, really just wanted to scare people. I really, truly, think that was what they desire to do. And the return of Christ should not scare any Christian. It shouldn't be a frightening thing. It should, matter of fact, I think it's Paul that writes and he says, you know, "comfort one another with these words." And this is a comforting thing, but you know, what are we to do? Well, it's simple. You know, I've told our church before, I said, "there's the wake up walk with the Lord." Commune with Him. Love the people that God has placed in your life; abstain from sin. That's a pretty good day in the life of a Christian. And so that's what we do. And if you can tell somebody about Jesus, I mean, that would be another important thing to do, because every single day, it's a day closer to that day.

Michael Clement
And John Walford once made the comment, and it was back in the early 60's when all these conferences were going on. He said, "isn't it sad?" He said, "if we have a prophecy conference, tons of people will come out. If we have a conference on holiness, on prayer, on evangelism," he said, "you don't get the response." And yet that's the reason for prophecy. You know, that these things should motivate us in our Christian life.

What’s New at the Cross Reference Library? A New Joel Rosenberg Book

The Libyan Diversion - The world’s most wanted terrorist is dead. Marcus Ryker recommended the drone strike himself. The intelligence was rock-solid. But what if it was wrong? Abu Nakba―the man responsible for lethal attacks in Washington, D.C., London, and Jerusalem―is finally dead. Marcus Ryker has been tasked with hunting down and destroying what’s left of the terror group Kairos. But before Ryker can mobilize his team of CIA operatives with their new assignment, a disturbing report from Libya suggests all may not be as it seems. The U.S. bombing that should have taken out Nakba’s headquarters now appears to have been a disastrous mistake―and Ryker himself may be responsible. With Kairos gearing up for a major retaliatory strike against the U.S., time is short, and terror cells may already be inside American borders. But Ryker won’t be able to stop this threat until he clears his own name, and his closest ally inside the White House can no longer help him. The Libyan diversion threatens to leave Ryker on the sidelines just when his country needs him most.

What Did Synagogue Worship And Teaching Look Like?

You can listen to Ask The Pastor every weekday at 9:00am MST on 97.1FM Hope Radio KCMI! You can also listen and subscribe to Ask The Pastor in your favorite podcast feed. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music and most other podcast services.

This edition of Ask the Pastor features Pastors Ben Cline Johnathan Hernandez and Gary Schick.

Gary Schick
So here's the question that came our way: "We are doing an overview of the New Testament in a Bible study. The subject of synagogue worship came up and someone asked what that involved, assuming there was teaching that took place. Who did the teaching? Was it a scribe, a Pharisee, or a member of some other Jewish religious sect?" Jonathan, what were you able to come up with on this question?

Jonathan Hernandez
Yeah, so I guess we kind of see in the New Testament that they record 10 occasions on which the ministry of Jesus took place in synagogues. The gospel records, you know, as we read through those. And it's a good, you know, good place to kind of start and think about looking back at all those occasions and what took place, what happened. But as we get into the question, you know, what is the synagogue? You know, how's it differ from the temple? You know? The temple itself, you know, only the Levites and the priests could enter into the temple. But here in the synagogue, it was more of a community center, so to speak. And so all members of the Jewish community could participate in community life within the synagogue. And so that, you know, was one of the big differences for me to look at. Some of the traditions hold that this was a place of assembly for a study of the Torah. You know, during their services, we would see the service take place on the Sabbath. And then also, I believe it was on Mondays and Wednesdays, I think it was, where the city markets were to take place. And so when all the people from outside of the town would come in to the markets, then they would spend time in the synagogue also. And there'd be times of, the same thing of teaching out of the Torah and then out of the prophets. And then also, they would have the prayers of benediction, I think that's how you say it. They would have those moments. And so as we look through this, you know, the adult males of the Jewish community could be part of the synagogue, but only males from the age of 13 and up could be elders within the synagogue. And so they would have the opportunity to be able to read out of the Torah and then read out of the prophets and also say the prayers. If we were to see that take place, I guess they would have a seat, which they would've called the seat of Moses. And I think we hear, you know, as we look back at some of these passages in scripture, we'd see where Jesus sat down after he read the, you know, read out of the Torah. And that he would take that seat, and then he would teach. And usually the teaching would take place, but it was never really, like for us, you know, we have a sermon in our Sunday services. And a sermon could take, you know, I don't know how long you guys preach, but there's some that I've seen that are 15 minutes and some that are an hour and a half, you know? And so, from my understanding is most of the time, the teachings were quick, you know, a few minutes long. And so they would read through whatever they were reading through, and then just have a few words afterwards. So that's kind of what you would see take place during these times. And so one of the things I really liked about, you know, as I kind of just dug through this, is how they really, everything in the synagogue was about relationship. It was about community, you know? The school would, you know, the school was usually within the synagogue. The community events were there. Obviously, the services were there for reading the Torah, you know, reading the law. You know, all of that stuff was there, the government things were there. And so everything was wrapped around this ideal of community. You know, and I still love that thought process, and hopefully that would, you know, for us as believers now, how do we? But the big thing that I got out of this was, how do we maintain, or how do we keep that atmosphere of community within our churches? You know, within our community here? How do we, you know, even here with us, you know, we have two kind of separate camps that we come out of in a sense, you know, in some areas. But we can continue to have community. And so, how do we have community as other churches coming together too? So, yeah.

Gary Schick
Really, really good stuff. Yeah, the words, "church," "synagogue," we think of them as places. But actually, synagogue means, "gathering," and church actually comes from the Greek word εκκλησίασμα, which means, "congregation." So it's really about people. And I think one of the questions that you kind of delved a little bit back into is, you know, the difference between synagogue and temple. Of course, throughout the Old Testament, the temple is the heart of the nation. But the synagogue, which we read about in Jesus' time, actually has its roots to the time when the nation was in exile in Babylon. And so during that time, they couldn't have temple worship. There was no sacrifice going on. In fact, there was a real risk that the Jewish faith, which was so centered in the temple worship, could be lost. And so how was this to be preserved? And it was preserved on the Sabbaths, particularly. But as you mentioned, at other times as well, in the gathering of the Jewish community for essentially the reading of the word, prayers, fellowship. Those three things: prayer, scripture and fellowship. And of course, praise of the Lord, singing would've been all involved. And as you pointed out, not only Jesus, but also Paul utilized the synagogue worship. Because the temple, once again, it's in one place, it's in Jerusalem, even once the people are back from exile. This idea that had caught on of taking the Lord's day to gather together in the synagogue, if you weren't going to the temple, became important because this is the place where little ones are trained up on how to read the word and so forth. And where the men of the community would take turns in reading and expounding upon the word, and where the educational process continued to take place. Luke 4 I think, is a great passage illustrating Jesus and his ministry in the synagogue. It says, "and he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up, and as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 'The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has appointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind. To set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.' And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, 'today, the scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." So as you pointed out, really the reverse of today. The preacher stands up to preach while the people sit and listen. In those days, the people stood to listen while the preacher sat down to teach. And he was sitting symbolically in the seat of Moses, which is the place from which the word of the Lord had come. And so here we have Jesus, one greater than Moses, sitting down to teach. And we see that again in the Sermon on the Mount. "And he sat down and began to teach." He wasn't just, oh, sitting down casually with the guys, "and by the way, here's some thoughts," then ended up being the Sermon on the Mount. No, no, no. This is a very specific symbolic act of, "Okay, pay attention. Jesus is getting ready to teach," when he sat down. We have from the Mishnah, five actions that were performed in synagogue and probably go back to the time of Jesus. And before, apparently you needed 10 male adults to have enough of a quorum to have synagogue, worship. Women and children would've also been present, but in a different section. The men worshiped up close, and the women and the children were kind of back behind a screen. The recitation of the Shama hero is, "the Lord our God, the Lord is one." There's recitation of the fefela, which was prayer, which was done standing again. We do it so differently. We are praying, sitting down, heads bowed, hands folded. The early Christians followed the tradition. They not only stood standing, but heads uplifted and hands raised in anticipation of the Lord's return. The priestly blessing, "the Lord bless you and keep you," from Leviticus. The reading of the Torah, the law, and the reading of the prophets. Well, and then as you pointed out, basically anybody who had been to the Jewish version of confirmation, you know, had been through bar mitzvah. Had been trained in the law, was now accepted as a man in the community, even at the age of 13. Could hopefully rightly handle this, as Paul would say, the word of truth. And there are so many parables in the Christian community, because of course, the Christians just naturally followed the pattern that had begun in Judaism. And how appropriate, because we are outside, we are in exile from the heavenly temple from the place where we will meet with the Lord in all eternity. And so we have the Christian Church, it's kind of a Christian version of synagogue. A place of instruction, a place of prayer and praise, a place of fellowship. Where we continue the reading of the, you know, they read the law and the prophets, you know, we would add the gospels and the letters. And some churches are more formal about that. They actually have specific readings from every part of it. Some churches are a lot looser. I tend to read the passage I'm going to preach on and make that the focus of the day. But you know, there's no wrong answers here. There's no commandment, "and this is how you do synagogue worship." That wasn't in the Old Testament. There's not a commandment, "this is how you do Christian worship," in the New Testament. But these are the natural ways that we gather for really these three purposes: prayer and praise, hearing and expounding of the word, fellowship and mutual encouragement, and building up of one another in the Lord in Christ. So, great to spend a little time being built up with you as we've dug into the word today.

What’s New at the Cross Reference Library? The Treasures of Nome by Tracie Peterson

Forever Hidden - For Havyn Powell, growing up on her grandfather Chuck Bondrant's dairy outside the 1904 gold-rush boomtown of Nome, Alaska, offered all she needed. She had the love of her mother, two sisters, and grandfather. But now, at 23, Havyn realizes the stability of her life may soon vanish. Havyn is determined to find a way to keep the family together, but her grandfather's health is declining and everyone seems to be holding secrets from each other, including the handsome, dark-haired stranger who recently arrived. John Roselli arrives in Nome looking for a steady, consistent job. He has grown tired of the promises of getting rich quick and just wants an honest job with honest pay. His grandfather once knew a Chuck Bondrant, and so when John arrives at the dairy, he's quickly offered a job - and a path to more if he wants it. Havyn's plan for helping out the family means using her beautiful singing voice and her sisters' musical talent at a local roadhouse. They're an immediate hit, and it looks like her plan will be a success. But the spotlight brings with it dangerous eyes that covet Havyn and are jealous as she and John grow ever closer. But will they realize the peril before it's too late?

Endless Mercy - Madysen Powell has always been a forgiving person, but when her supposedly dead father shows up in Nome, Alaska, her gift for forgiveness is tested. With the recent loss of her mother, she searches for answers, leaning on Granny Beaufort, a neighbor in town, who listens with a kind heart. Still, Madysen is restless and dreams of performing her music around the world. The arrival of a traveling show could prove just the chance she needs, and the manager promises more than she ever dreamed. Daniel Beaufort arrives in Nome, searching for his own answers after the gold rush leaves him with only empty pockets. Still angry about the death of his loved ones, he longs to start fresh but doesn't have high hopes until he ends up helping at the Powell dairy making cheese. Drawn to the beautiful redhead with big dreams, will deceptions from the past tear apart any hope for the future?

Ever Constant - On the surface, Whitney Powell is happy working with her sled dogs and welcoming the new additions to her family through her sisters' marriages and an upcoming birth. But her life is full of complications, including an estranged father, that have her on the edge of losing control. Growing up, she was the strong sister, and she can't give that up now. When some villagers in outlying areas come down with a horrible sickness, Dr. Peter Cameron turns to Whitney and her dogs for help navigating the deep snow, and they become close, traveling to minister to the sick together. Peter quickly recognizes her finer qualities but also notices her troubling way of coping with her struggles. He does what he can to help but questions if she is more of a risk than his heart can take. As sickness spreads throughout Nome and another man courts Whitney, she and Peter will discover that sometimes it is only in weakness that you can find strength.

How Should We Battle Spiritual Attacks?

You can listen to Ask The Pastor every weekday at 9:00am MST on 97.1FM Hope Radio KCMI! You can also listen and subscribe to Ask The Pastor in your favorite podcast feed. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music and most other podcast services.

This edition of Ask the Pastor features Pastors Gary Hashley, Tim Hebbert and Brad Kilthau.

Gary Hashley
If you were to ask, I believe the average believer today, who at least is really striving to walk with Jesus and serve Him well, they would probably say it seems like the attacks of the enemy have grown. Whether Satan himself, whether it's society that Satan has a vast influence in and he will use against us. Whether it is our own sinful flesh that he stirs up and attacks us through ourselves. Maybe it's other believers that he can use at times to attack us. The question that we're going to talk about over these next few minutes, in knowing that we as Christians are experiencing many spiritual attacks, "how would you counsel believers in the ability to battle the spiritual attacks?" Well, my mind immediately goes to Ephesians 6 where Paul says that we're to, "be strong in the Lord and the strength of his might." We're to, "put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation and the sort of the spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication to the end, that you keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints." That's the English standard version, if you're wondering, "what is he reading from." It's the one I prefer, and the one I preach from. But I think one thing we get, and I'm gonna start with this and then turn it over to Brad and then to Tim. One of the things in answering the question is, yes, there are great attacks. So yes, we need to be prepared. And Paul talks about the armor of God. You know, you think of a soldier, and I never was one in the sense of being in the military. But they enlist, they train, and they fight. You know, I enlisted when I put my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal savior. I became a part of God's team, or as we would sing, one of his Christian soldiers. You know, I've been trained in the word in church, Sunday School, Bible college, studying on my own. And then of course, fighting is involved. And, you know, soldiers train their bodies and their minds. They go through basic training, they do the calisthenics. They work their bodies hard, running and carrying and all those things to build up their strength. They build up their minds, they learn their jobs that they'll be doing as soldiers, and then they gear up for battle. They put on the equipment and they get ready with the equipment to fight the battle. And here in the armor of God, we find how to gear up. And I, at the cost of sounding simplistic, basically the gear that Paul talks about is truth (the belt of truth), righteousness (the breastplate of righteousness). Something to do with our solid footing, because he talks about footwear of the gospel of peace. He talks about the shield of faith. He talks about the helmet of salvation on our heads. He talks about, you know, the sword of the spirit (the word of God or scripture). And then he talks about prayer. So really, if we're gonna gear up as those who are soldiers in the army of Christ, so to speak, we need to commit ourselves to truth, God's truth. Not man's truth, God's truth. Living out our faith in a way that is in accordance with the standards we learn, that God has given us in His word. We need the solid footing of being on the solid rock, and having our feet shod in such a way that we are standing solid and not being tripped up by everything the world is throwing at us. We need to be committed to people of faith, to be people of faith, no matter what is happening in and around and the attacks that are coming. We need that helmet of salvation, cause I don't know about you, but Satan plays games in my brain, and I need to have that mental commitment to the assurance I find in the truth of the word of God. Of course, we need scripture, which that kind of fits with truth to start with, and then we need prayer. And I guess if we are going to be ready to battle the attacks of the enemy, we need to train and we need to gear up. And as someone has said, we need to decide ahead of time where we're gonna stand. We need to decide ahead of time how we're gonna stand and what we're gonna stand for. And so, yeah, if we're going to be ready for battle against the enemy, like a good soldier, we need to gear up with truth, righteousness, the right footing, faith, assurance, scripture and prayer. We need to be prepared because the enemy's out there, and Brad, talk to us about another aspect of this.

Brad Kilthau
Well, if you're gonna be a soldier that's prepared, which is very good and obviously clearly stated in the word of God, as you alluded to already, Gary. We also have to be alert, very alert. You know, we can be equipped, we can have a knowledge of the word, we can have, those parts of our life that were involved in the church and committed to the church. But if we're not alert to the attacks of Satan, he's gonna sneak up on us and he's gonna cause a lot of harm. And you know, I think about sometimes the thought as Christians. We can come along and think, "well, you know, God's got this. He's our sovereign God. It's all in control." We've read the end. We know he's gonna finish and be victorious over Satan, and the enemy and all of that. And I think sometimes as Christians, we can get into that gear of confidence, which is okay in a sense, but then use that as an ability to say, "well, I don't need to really, really worry about my daily time in the word. I don't really need to worry about walking this way and that way because God's got it handled and it's all gonna work out." But that's what Satan wants us to do. He wants us, as Christians, to not be alert to his schemes. He wants us to get kind of wrapped up in what we're doing on planet earth and not worry about the spiritual aspect of things. And I think as Christians, sometimes it's easy for us to do. We can get involved in being at everything that our kids are doing. We can be involved in politics, we can really get involved in raising our status and our job or making money. And then as we're focusing on that, we don't realize, that our peripheral vision is not working very well. And that's what Satan wants. He wants to sneak up alongside of us and to hit us with something that we're not prepared for, because we have been just nonchalant walking along as a Christian. We've gotta be, not preoccupied with the things of this world, but we've constantly got to be in prayer and in the word. And, you know, some of those illustrations that you were giving, Gary, we always teach those to the kids, don't we? We always talk about teaching them the armor. And we love to do that because it's easy to put on the outfits, and that really kind of gets the kid's attention and that's good. But we also always have a verse that we kind of throw in front of the kids. And that's Psalm 119:105 that says, "your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." And we've gotta have the word. I'm thinking, described here as a light that you get, you need to have the word to tell you what your next step is gonna be. Because if you're not looking down, if you're not alert, you'll step in something that Satan has got; that snare that's out there waiting for you. And then I think another thought, before I turn it over here to Tim, is I was thinking about 2 Corinthians 10, and also Paul talks about spiritual battle. But in verses 3-5 he says, "For though we walk in the flesh and we do not war according to the flesh," he said, "for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds and casting down arguments in every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." Just something that I want to throw in here is, Paul is primarily telling us that the battle that, usually we are fighting, this spiritual battle is in our mind, it's in our heart. It's not a hand-to-hand combat with Satan. It's not a hand-to-hand combat with demons. And so what do we need to do?

Brad Kilthau
Well, we need to be trained in a way as, even we learn in the word to defend our faith. In this day and time, we have to have a biblical worldview too, because, you know, they were accusing him of using human tactics to draw people into Christianity. And he's saying, "no, I don't use those. I use the power of the Holy Spirit." But that's what they were using. And most times when we come into conflict or issues and spiritual attacks, there is a human element, a human argument that we need to address. We can't ignore that. And we need to be knowing how to defend that this Bible is true. We need to know how to share that Satan's true hell is real. Those kinds of things. We have to be equipped, in that sense, to defend our faith. And especially in the world we have today. Because so many people can just Google, you know, and they've got all their arguments from Google. Well okay, good for them. But why don't we have our argument ready to defend our faith from the word of God? And so we have to be constantly, like you were saying, training and equipping ourselves as those soldiers. So that's my 2 cents on that. I hope our listeners can take in their ability to fight against those spiritual battles. What do you wanna say to us, Tim?

Tim Hebbert
I wanna go back to that very first verse in that passage, guys, "be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power," Ephesians 6:10. I think in the world we're living in today, and I think you guys would agree with me in that, I don't think in the day and age we're living in, spiritual attacks aren't going to do anything but increase. So, what's our answer to that? Are we going to, pull the covers over our heads, so to speak, and either wait to pass away or wait for the rapture? Or are we gonna be strong in the Lord and in not our power, but His mighty power? I got to thinking as we were preparing for this, when I was a young grade schooler, I think I was afraid, other than being at church, I was afraid of everything. But when I was with my dad, and you guys knew my dad, my dad was a big imposing figure. I had no fear when I was with my dad. And that's the relationship that our Father God wants to have with us. "I'm not sending you out there by yourself," I love that passage. First chapter, one of my dad's favorite chapters in all the scripture was that first chapter of the book of Joshua. "Be strong and courageous." And if you really analyze that, He doesn't say it to him once. He doesn't say it to him twice. He says it to him three times. But each time, He increases what he's saying. "Be strong and courageous." This is why, "be strong and very courageous, because here's what I'm gonna do." But then at the end He says, "This is my command. This isn't a suggestion. 'Be strong and courageous,' for I'll go with you wherever you go." And He gives us assurances in the Old Testament. Isaiah 52:12 says, "you won't ever be alone, for the Lord will go ahead of you. Yes, the Lord God of Israel protect you from behind." He not only goes before us---God was the very first one ever to say, "I got your back." He also promises that no matter what the devil throws at us, in terms of a weapon, it will not prosper in our lives. Isaiah 54:17, "but in that coming day, no weapon turned against you will succeed. You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you. These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the Lord. Their vindication will come from me. I the Lord has spoken." That's a powerful passage. But I want to end on this, Gary, this whole passage is one of my favorites. And it reminds me of why, one of the several dozen reasons I love the Apostle Paul's writings, but he's the master of metaphor. He takes something that you understand, and he teaches you through it. And the thing that everybody in that world would've known at the time was the Roman army. So he uses the Roman army, the soldier, the foot soldier and what he's wearing, to prepare himself for battle. He uses those as his indicators. And I want to close with this passage, it's from Romans 8:37. In the time, they would've known what a conquering army looked like, because they saw the best one the world had ever seen before. And he tells us in Romans 8:37, "knowing all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." He's basically saying, "you see that army over there? When you have the power of God in you, be strong. Be courageous. Don't be afraid, because God is greater than anything that this world can throw at you." And I guess, before we close today, if you're listening today, I just ask you to ask yourself this question, "are you living today as a victim or are you living in victory?" God didn't call his people to be victims. He called them to be courageous, to be aware, to put on the armor and to do things through Him, for Him and because of Him.

What’s New at the Cross Reference Library? Some New Karen Kingsbury Novels

Someone Like You - Maddie Baxter West is shaken to the core when she finds out everything she believed about her life was a lie. Her parents had always planned to tell her the truth about her past: that she was adopted as an embryo. But somehow the right moment never happened. Then a total stranger confronts Maddie with the truth and tells her something else that rocks her world—Maddie had a sister she never knew about. Betrayed, angry, and confused, Maddie leaves her new job and fiancé, rejects her family’s requests for forgiveness, and moves to Portland to find out who she really is. Dawson Gage’s life was destroyed when London Quinn, his best friend and the only girl he ever loved, is killed. In the hospital waiting room, London’s mother reveals that London might have had a sibling. The frozen embryo she and her husband donated decades ago. When Dawson finds Maddie and brings her to Portland, the Quinns—her biological parents—welcome her into their lives and hearts. Maddie is comforted by the Quinns’ love and intrigued by their memories of London, who was so much like her. Is this the family and the life she was really meant to have? Now it will take the love of Dawson Gage to help Maddie know who she is...and to help her find her way home.

Forgiving Paris - In Indiana, Ashley Baxter Blake and her husband are about to take an anniversary trip to Paris, but she is hesitant. More than two decades ago, she made her most grievous mistake in that same city. She has never forgiven herself for what happened there, and she still harbors secrets that she’s afraid will come to light. Just before the trip, Ashley gets a call from her niece. Jessie explains that her French boyfriend’s mother remembers working at a bakery with an American named Ashley. “Could that be you?” When Alice and Ashley meet, a flood of memories comes for both women, taking Ashley back to a reckless affair and an unexpected pregnancy and Alice to the night she nearly ended it all. Can this reunion bring healing and closure? Maybe it is finally time for Ashley to forgive herself...and Paris.

Truly, Madly, Deeply - When 18-year-old Tommy Baxter declares to his family that he wants to be a police officer after graduation, his mother, Reagan, won’t hear of it. After all, she’s still mourning the death of her own father on September 11, and she’s determined to keep her son safe from danger. But Tommy’s father, Luke, is proud of Tommy’s decision. He would make a kind and compassionate cop. Meanwhile, Tommy is in love for the first time. His sweet relationship with Annalee Miller is almost too good to be true. Tommy begins seriously thinking about the far-off day when he can ask her to marry him, but she hasn’t been feeling well. Tests reveal the unthinkable. While his girlfriend begins the fight of her life, Tommy is driven to learn more about the circumstances surrounding his birth and the grandfather he never knew. Secrets come to light that rock Tommy’s world, and he becomes determined to spend his future fighting crime and bringing peace to the streets. Or is this just his way to fight a battle he cannot win - the one facing Annalee? Blending romance and family drama, Truly, Madly, Deeply shows us that, in the shadow of great loss, the only way to live with passion is truly, madly, deeply.

The Metaphysical Search

When nothing in this world can satisfy…

Who am I?

Why am I here?

What is life all about?

“Life and the universe refuse to remain silent, and they trigger a thousand questions in us. For those with ears to hear, and for those who dare to pay attention, the universe is alive with sounds and signals to suggest that there is a wider world than we see—a world of warmth, color, and brilliance, lit by the reality of the sun and the author of it all.

Do you already “know what you see and hear,” in the sense that you have already made up your mind about what there is to be seen and heard, so that you can see and hear nothing else? Or do you “see and hear in order to know,” in the sense that you are open to the surprise of new insight and fresh perception?...This is the way of a mind and a heart that are open to a breakthrough.

Whoever has ears to hear let him hear.”

- Os Guinness “Signals of Transcendence: Listening to the Promptings of Life”

“Throughout the ages mankind has sensed that there is something deeper than physical reality. Things like the spiritual, the mental, and the emotional. These are realities that cannot be seen or sensed with the five senses, yet they are realities nonetheless.

The study of what is really real is called metaphysics. Metaphysics deals with the reality behind the reality that we see. The metaphysical explains (accounts for) the physical. As an analogy, think about your smartphone. What you see on the screen is not the whole story. There is advanced circuitry and a whole network behind that screen. That is like the metaphysical behind the physical.”

- The Think Institute

A Metaphysician’s goal is to find the reality behind the reality that we see.

Metaphysics is not the end game; its existence is not the answer. It is merely a path taken—the name of the search—to discover the ultimate reality.

“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”
— C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Inventions and their Inventors

When the first hairdryer was invented by Alexandre-Ferdinand Godefroy, people didn’t walk up to the large heater and metal pipe and ask it what it was or what its purpose was. Instead, they went to its creator—Godefroy—and asked him to explain the purpose of his creation’s existence.

“Who am I?”

“Why am I here?”

“What is life all about?”

When it comes to these questions, we are the hairdryer in the equation. We did not choose to bring ourselves into existence or decide on why we should be brought into existence. So, if we want the answers to these questions, we have to ask the right being. We have to ask our creator.

“What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself. ”
— Pascal “Pensees (10.148):1"

God draws us to seek Him. We are all born with an emptiness inside, which no other human can fill. Neither spouses nor parents nor friends can be 100% what we need 100% of the time. But God can be. Only God’s love can fill that emptiness inside.

An all-powerful, timeless being like God could have created anything he wanted to create. He could have made us like robots that would do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted, but he didn’t. Instead, he chose to give us free will (the ability to act according to one’s own discretion).

God wants to have a real relationship with us, to interact with us, to love us, and to, hopefully, have us love him back and also love each other. 

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.  But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. - 1 John 4:7-11 (NLT)

In order for us to be able to have a genuine relationship with God, we had to have been created with the ability to love. In order to make it possible for us to love; God had to give us the ability and option not to love—because love means nothing if it is not freely given.

When people choose not to love God and not to love each other, they often choose to be selfish and do things God doesn’t want them to do. Or things which go against his design, which we call sin. Sin hurts people and causes bad things to happen.

The good news is, even when we do bad things, God still loves us and he refuses to give up on us. God knew when he created Adam and Eve that they would mess up and choose not to show him love. Yet, he also knew that he could fix the problem if he was willing to die on the cross to pay for our sins. So, despite knowing he would have to suffer and die for us, he still chose to create us. Jesus came down to earth and died on the cross to pay for our sins and fix our relationship with God. This means, even though we mess up we can still have a relationship with God.



Now you have a choice.

-    You can choose to pay God for your sins yourself. This will mean you cannot make it into Heaven.

-    Or you can choose to admit that you cannot be good enough to get into Heaven on your own, and don’t want to pay the consequences of your sins, yourself. Then, you just need to accept the payment Jesus already made on your behalf for sin, and enjoy the free gift of a relationship with God and entry into Heaven.

Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us...overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8:34, 37-39 (NLT)

You can download a free printout of this information by going to our “Free Material” Page and clicking on “The Metaphysical Search”. For more information related to this topic you can also download “Metaphysics and God” tract and go to the blog post titled “Metaphysics and God”.

This series of blog posts titled, “Holding on to Reason”, is named after Amanda’s favorite C.S. Lewis quote: “Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods.”

Click here for more stuff written my Amanda Hovseth.

Why Do We Believe That Jesus Is God And The Only Way To Salvation?

You can listen to Ask The Pastor every weekday at 9:00am MST on 97.1FM Hope Radio KCMI! You can also listen and subscribe to Ask The Pastor in your favorite podcast feed. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music and most other podcast services.

This edition of Ask the Pastor features Pastors Ben Cline Johnathan Hernandez and Gary Schick.

Gary Schick
So great to be with you guys. Great to have you back, Ben, we were just joking before the show that we're gonna make Ben do all the heavy lifting and answer the question by himself. Hey so, last week we looked at evidence for why we believe that God exists today. We kind of wanted to follow that up with the question, "So why do we believe that Jesus is God and the only way to eternal life?" So there's our question, and I think it's a legit one. I think we kind of talked about last week how most people, even atheists, actually believe in God because they spend all their time denying him, and mad at him for not existing. "Why is the world the way it is? Must be God's fault whether He exists or not," right? So, we saw that there's actually a whole lot of evidence, including our gut reaction, that not all is right. That tells us that there's a reason to believe in God. But why Jesus? Why not many roads to God? And what makes him the unique representative of who God is? Jonathan, could you get us started on that question?

Jonathan Hernandez
Yeah. So I guess, as we dig in and look at, you know, do we believe this? You know, I look at it and I see some of these same attributes that are in Jesus that are in God. And so that's, you know, kind of my evidence, I guess, in that we're seeing this Jesus is eternal. John 1 affirms that, "in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God." And so we start seeing these, you know, Jesus wasn't just there when he was born, but he was there always right? He's self existent as a creator of all things. And we see this in Colossians 1:17, it tells us that Christ is before all things, and in Him, all things consist. He's everywhere present. "Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there in their midst," Matthew 18:20. He's all knowing, you know? So we can, like, walk through these attributes of God and see that these same attributes are there within Jesus. Also, He's all powerful, He's sovereign. Like, you know, we can walk through these! Jesus is sinless. And so, like, walking through and lining these same attributes that we would describe God with, I'm seeing those same attributes in Jesus Christ. And so it's like, for me, these evidences line up and say, "okay, well, if these are the attributes of God," and, you know, God was the only one that could be everywhere all the time, right? And I know some people will say, "well, the devil's all over the place." No, no. Like, it was only God that is everywhere at all times, right? And so we're seeing that same attribute within Jesus. And so for me, that was enough evidence to start saying, "you know what? Jesus is truly God!" And, you know, I mean, there's those multiple other things that we could go through, also throughout scripture and look at those things. But those were some of the things that really helped me say, "okay, well I'm seeing these things in one part of the Trinity, and now I'm seeing them in these other parts." And so yeah, that's kind of where, you know, I hang my hat, I guess.

Ben Cline
Yeah, that's great. And, you know, there's, so much information, I think, about this topic that's out there. It's hard to kind of boil it down into just a small section, and in the amount of time that we have this morning. But one of the questions that I ran across is, you know, as far as that question, "Is Jesus, God? The question that's out there is, "did Jesus even claim to be God?" When you look through the pages of scripture, I think as Americans, maybe we tend to be this way. That we want things to be so cut and dry. We want him to be, you know, clear. And the words, you know, "I am God," are not in there. When you look through the pages of scripture, however, he did make the claim that he is God. Just because he didn't use those words that we would've expected him to use, doesn't mean that he didn't make that claim to be God. So there is that claim from Jesus. John 10:30 is one of those places it says, "I and the Father are one." And if you look at the context of that passage of scripture, he's speaking in, at least in an arena where the Jews are overhearing, the religious leaders are overhearing this take place. And just by their reaction to him, you know, that he is actually making that claim that he is God. A few verses later, you look at what the Jews said back to him. They're basically saying, "you are blaspheming, because you're claiming to be God." And in verse 33 it says, "you, a mere man, claim to be God." And so Jesus is making that claim that he is God. And then in John 8:58, is another example, "Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I am." And again, he's not saying, "I am God," in the way that us Americans might want him to say, "I am God," but he is saying, "I am God," by just using those two words, I am. And really, what he is referencing is all the way back to the Book of Exodus, is chapter 3:14, where God revealed Himself as the I am. And really, what that means is that He is the self existent one. So there can't be, you know, two self existent ones who don't need to have reliance on anything else. So, you know, Jesus is definitely making that claim that he is God, and then his disciples also make that claim. Jonathan, you mentioned this: as the Apostle John wrote his book, he started off chapter one in that way. You know, even down into verse 14, he says that God came and dwelled among us. You know, these are evidences from the scriptures and from Jesus' followers, that he did make that claim to be God, that He is God. Thomas is another one. We give him the name, Doubting Thomas, because of the way that he, you know, acted in the end toward Christ. But as Jesus came back and revealed himself, you know, as the risen savior to Thomas in John 20:28, Thomas saw that evidence, right? The evidence with the nail prints in his hand and the hole in his side. And he bowed down and worshiped him, and he said, "my Lord and my God." And the interesting thing about that is that Jesus didn't correct him. Jesus didn't tell him, "no, you don't need to call me that." Jesus accepted that worship as God. And so, there's just so much evidence, and this is all biblical evidence, of course, but this is all, you know, evidence that Jesus is God. And then, you know, we talk about the second part of that question. Is he the only way to eternal a life? Well, the provision of salvation itself is evidence that Jesus is God. You know, I might let you get into this, Gary, if that's the direction that you're heading on answering that second question. But, you know, the salvation that we need because we're sinners, the Bible talks about the fact that we are sinners because we miss the target. We miss the mark when it comes to living according to God's law, according to His righteousness. And so we are sinners, and that sin means that we cannot be in God's presence. There's that separation that has been made because, you know, we're not righteous in and of ourselves. We can't be in God's presence. And now we look to what Jesus Christ provided, you know, with his sacrifice on the cross. And you have to understand that it is only God who could make that provision of salvation for this situation that we're in, you know? To fix that relationship that's broken. And so there's some evidences for, you know, why I believe that Jesus is God.

Gary Schick
And I think it's really interesting, you know, we're kind of looking at this as believers looking at the scripture and saying, you know, as Jonathan pointed out, here's Jesus doing the things that God does, and showing those attributes. And, you know, I think it's really interesting in terms of the claim...let's think about where Jesus was. He was in Israel, he was among the people who were monotheists. They believed in one God. They didn't believe in, you know, all the gods of the pantheon, that the gods had come down to earth like the Greeks did. And so Jesus, in order to get that across, would have to reveal it in a certain way. Not only so that it would click, but that it would be believable. And I think for any of our listeners who maybe aren't Christians or are believers but you kind of, you know, "we have questions, we have doubts." I think this is a helpful question to ask. And so as I was kind of looking at it, you know, is Jesus, God? Well, what would we expect if he was God? And number one, I think we've all kind of addressed it, he would in some way claim to be. We do see evidence of this in, really all four gospels. For example, Matthew 11:27, Jesus says, "all things have been handed over to me by my father, and no one knows the son except the Father. And no one knows the Father except the son, and anyone to whom the son chooses to reveal him." So he is identifying with the Father in a very unique relationship that says, "you know what? You can't know the Father. I mean, only I know the Father and whoever I reveal Him." That's quite a God claim there. Or Mark 2:5-7 and in Luke 5:17,26 both tell the same story of how some men brought to him a paralyzed man carried by four of them. They dug a hole through the roof, pretty dramatic, to get through the crowd. Lowered him down through the roof, and before Jesus heals this man it says, "when he saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, 'son, your sins are forgiven.' Now, the scribes who were there immediately saw what that meant. They said in their hearts, 'why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins, but God alone?" Jesus, first of all, reads their minds. He knows what they're thinking. Well, you might say anybody might know what they're thinking at that point, but he asked this interesting question, "well, which is easier? To forgive sins, or to say, 'rise and walk?" He has just said, "I forgive your sins," a God claim. And then he says, "now, rise and walk," which shows there's something behind that claim. And then, as Ben, as you pointed out, there's so many statements in John's gospel. Again, going back to what you mentioned there, where Jesus said, "I solemnly declare it before Abraham came to be, I am." So two things there: as you pointed out, he's identifying himself with the God of Exodus 3:14, where God replied, "I am who I am." But also he's saying, "and before Abraham was, I am." Well, the Jews are looking at him and saying, "Hey, you're what, 30 years old? How is it that you were alive and well before Abraham?" So they were catching it. Again, you pointed out John 10:30, "I and the Father are one." John 14:9, "whoever has seen me, has seen the Father." And then there's these many clear statements about himself that are basically God's statements. Jesus said, "I am the bread of life," John 6:35. "I am the light of the world," John 8:12. "I am the gate," John 10:9. "I am the good shepherd," John 10:11,14. "I am the resurrection and the life," John 11:25. "I am the way, the truth and the life," John 14:6. And, "I am the vine; the life giving one," John 15:1,5. So, does that prove Jesus was God? Just because, in so many words he said, "I am God," no. But if he's God, we would expect him to be making those claims. And then you kind of ask the questions that C.S. Lewis asked, "well, is he saying this because he's off balance in some way?" Everybody around him saw that Jesus was very sane. And as we read the scriptures, he comes across as very balanced, very sane. Was he some kind of a significant liar, you know? Just kind of a pathological liar? Well, there again, that's not how Jesus comes across. So he is either Lord, lunatic, or a liar. Is he telling the truth or not? But again, we don't have to stay with what he says. There's also the evidence of the miracles. And it's interesting. Even his most arch-enemies, none of them doubt that he does miracles. And so Jesus himself said in John 10:37, 38, "if I am not doing the works of my father, then don't believe me. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me because of the works, so that you may no and understand that the father is in me and I am in the Father." John 14:11, "believe me, that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or else believe on account of the works that I do." So Jesus said, "look, if you don't believe my words, look at what I've done." And of course, we can look back now, 2000 years later, and we can compare the two sides of the Bible. You have the Old Testament, where there's many prophecies of the Messiah, and the New Testament where Jesus fulfills them. In fact, as I kind of did a little research into this, conservatively speaking, Jesus fulfilled at least 300 Old Testament prophecies of who the Messiah would be and what he would do. Now, I did a little more research. And what do you expect the odds would be that Jesus would not fulfill 300, but maybe say eight prophecies? He probably said, "well, that probably wouldn't be too hard." Actually, the chances that Jesus would fulfill just 8 Old Testament prophecies is 1 in 10 to the 17th power. So, you wanna know how big a number that is? That is one out of, and then you put a one with 17 zeros after it. I don't even know how you say a number like that! You know, what is that? A gazillion? Or a Google? It's huge! One into something with 17 zeros after it, are the chances of just fulfilling eight. And Jesus fulfilled conservatively, something over 300. And then of course, there is the final detail, the thing that brought Thomas to his knees, saying, "my Lord and my God." The resurrection. You know, the 11 remaining disciples, we know Judas committed suicide after he betrayed Jesus. But the other 11, they all went to their deaths, rather than deny that Jesus---they saw him alive, risen from the dead. In fact, the Apostle Paul tells us that on one occasion, more than 500 people saw him alive. And when Paul was writing that, most of them were still alive, and they could be verified with, they could be talked to. So is Jesus God? He makes the claim. He did the works that showed he was God. He triumphed over death. You know, there have been other great leaders, thinkers, religious people. These people, they were honest enough not to make such a claim. Buddha never claimed to be God. Mohammed never claimed to be God. Buddhists talked about enlightenment. Muhammad talked about being a prophet. Jesus is the only one who says, "and by the way, I am He." And so, you know, we come back to it. Was He the Lord? Was he out of his mind? The least trustworthy of all the religious leaders that have ever existed? Or was He exactly who He was saying He was? He only makes that claim, and he's the only one also who promises us heaven. The others basically said, "well, here's what I think. Here's what I have found. Here's what I'm trying to do." But none of them had been to the other side. Jesus alone says, "I've come from the other side and I've come to bring you to where I am." So some powerful statements and some very powerful evidence that not only can he make such a claim, but that he's done what is necessary to bring us home, friends. After looking at it, I have to be honest. Presented with the facts about Jesus, for me, it takes more faith not to believe that Jesus is the Christ than to believe that he is. And that's pretty powerful stuff. What an awesome savior!

What’s New at the Cross Reference Library? A New Lauraine Snelling Series

The Seeds of Change - Larkspur Nielsen is ready for a change. Her parents have passed on, and her older brother is successfully running the family business. She bristles at the small-mindedness that permeates life in her small Ohio community, and she sees little chance of a satisfying future there. She has a little money saved, and after turning the tables on a crooked gambler who had fleeced several locals, including her younger brother, she can stake a new start for herself and her three sisters. As the gambler's threats of revenge echo in her ears, she and her sisters head to Independence, Missouri, to join a wagon train bound for Oregon. Knowing that four women traveling together will draw unwanted attention, Larkspur dons a disguise, passing herself off as "Clark" Nielsen, accompanying his three sisters. But maintaining the ruse is more difficult than Larkspur imagined, as is protecting her headstrong, starry-eyed sisters from difficult circumstances and eligible young men. Will reaching their goal prove too much for them? 

A Time to Bloom - Delphinium Nielsen and her sisters have accomplished much in the past year, traveling west and settling in Nebraska. They are on their way to building a garden in dedication to their mother and working against the forces of nature to make their farm thrive. However, none of that can mask their concern that they are quickly running out of money. Del's work teaching in their booming town offers hope, not only to support her sisters financially, but also to better her students' lives. Not all of the town sees it that way, though, with the rebuilding of the schoolhouse continually neglected and her brightest student's father demanding he work the farm instead of attend class.When their brother Anders arrives with his war-wounded and heartbroken friend RJ, Anders sees the strength of the sisters' idea to start a boardinghouse and decides to invest in it. Del finds RJ barely polite and wants nothing to do with him. But despite Del and her sisters' best-laid plans, the future--and RJ--might surprise them all.

Fields of Bounty -Lilac Nielsen's dream has come true: handsome young Reverend Ethan Pritchard has finally noticed her. Yet she must balance this new courtship with the pursuit of another dream--the publication of her artwork in a New York paper. She has secretly been submitting a series of drawings under a pen name, and if anyone traces the drawings back to her and finds out where Lilac and her sisters settled, the entire Nielsen family could be in danger. As their family farm expands and Lilac's relationship with the reverend grows, it's a time of new beginnings. But when a family crisis back in Ohio shakes the Nielsen sisters, can they continue to build the new life they've begun in Nebraska? And will Lilac be prepared for what God has in store for her future?