Annual Parade of Nonsense

It never fails. Every year around Easter time the cable channels blow the dust off some pathetic programming about Jesus. I mean this stuff reeks to high heaven. I was just surfing the channels the other day and saw about 30 seconds of a program before the appearance of the resurrected Lord was called an hallucination. That is a bold statement coming from people on the other side of the globe, 2,000 years removed from the events in question. I was immediately infuriated and gave them no more of my viewing time. Such lunacy does not deserve anyone's ratings. Those who watch such drivel are probably already in the same camp with its creators.

You see, it strikes me as odd that these programs will completely ignore the obvious evidence and they focus on some abstract nonsense like psychology to explain the physical appearances of the God-Man Jesus Christ after His very public death. If the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus were done in secret, to, say, 3 people, and the appearance was only once or twice during a few days following the death of our Lord you may be able to excuse this nonsensical conjecture. However, the historical record is clear: Jesus appeared to multiple people on various occasions over a period of 40 days. Some of these people were friends and relatives I suppose, but not all of them had the opportunity to compare notes and share their experiences with one another. They were people from various walks of life, in different environments under different circumstances. This was no trick of lighting, no imagined voice in the wind. Jesus made physical contact. He ate with His followers on more than one occasion in His resurrected state. Even the skeptic Thomas was overwhelmed by the evidence of a living Christ.

And let us not forget the testimony of Paul. As many scholars agree that Paul himself was merely reciting an early creed of the church when he tells that Jesus appears to more than 500 people at one time. Imagine that. Over 500 eye witnesses. If this appearance was an illusion, then something potent must have been in the drinking water of the day. There is no way to explain away the physical, bodily appearances of Christ that the apostles confirmed again and again.

One way to understand the idiotic ramblings of modern day skeptics is to understand the arrogant attitude they have toward people in the ancient world. They discount every testimony of the ancients that does not agree with their world view, believing that everyone that existing over 200 years ago must have been delusional and uneducated. After all, we know that miracles cannot take place, that there is no god and no one can be raised from the dead. With that supposition firmly in place, there is no reasoning with these people.

If they discover many more ancient manuscripts further confirming the testimony of the apostles. If someone uncovers Noah's ark. If miracles happen right in front of their eyes, they will not believe. This faith is a product of the Holy Spirit and not the reason of man. Apart from the Holy Spirit no one will believe and no one can believe. All the testimony of the ancient world will merely fall on deaf ears unless a person has an encounter with God in the person of the Holy Spirit.

God can use evidence or He can draw people to Himself without any evidence. People like Josh McDowell and Lee Strobel came to Christ and they may think that it was the evidence that persuaded them. They are dead wrong. We all are faced with the same evidence. Some pay more attention to it, some study it, some avoid it. But the bottom line is that God draws people to Himself. Everyone knows enough to be without excuse but no one knows enough from the evidence to choose Christ. Those who choose Christ are those who have had their eyes opened. Eye witness testimony can't do that. This faith is a gift from God and it comes to the scholar and the illiterate, the priest and the heathen, the one who thinks he is searching for the truth and the one who is running from the truth.

I want to be so angry at the fools who produce documentaries dismissing the Christ and His power. In the end, however, I feel pity. They have eyes to see but they cannot see. They have ears to hear but they do not hear. They will pay dearly for those they have misled through their endless documentaries that deny the obvious. But it is only obvious to those who have the Holy Spirit.

Evidence or no evidence—what makes the difference is the work of God in the heart of man.

Thoughts on Capital Punishment

Weak and wimpy societies forbid the use of capital punishment. They put forth various reasons, but it seems that they cannot distinguish between lawful execution and murder. They see no difference. So, in their eyes, the government that executes a murderer becomes just another murderer. They do not understand the simple Biblical principle that when a person commits murder they forfeit their right to live. This is a reflection of the immense value of human life that is, perhaps, unique to Christianity.

Whoever sheds man's blood,
By man his blood shall be shed,
For in the image of God
He made man.
—Genesis 9:6

For those who will protest that this is an Old Testament passage, you have not read Romans 13.

1 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.
2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.

3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same;

4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.

5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience' sake.

6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.

7 Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.

8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

9For this, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET," and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."

Notice that in Romans we see that government is an avenger sent by God to bring wrath. Whose wrath? God's. Notice also that the government is supposed to cause fear. This is not a weak and permissive government that overlooks crime.

Do criminals fear punishment in America? I believe they do not and one of the reasons is that the government is both slow and weak in punishing crime. There is a disconnect between the crime and the punishment because of an extremely slow and broken legal system. When people who are already convicted sit on death row for years awaiting their execution, hoping for another appeal, isn't there something terribly wrong here?

My solution:
For capital murder cases, the death penalty should be required for anyone who is convicted. They are allowed one appeal, with a time limit for that appeal (just long enough to schedule and prepare the case). If the time limit passes, they forfeit their right to appeal and are executed immediately. If they have their one appeal and it fails to overturn their conviction, they are to be executed within one week of the appeal.

For those who claim that the death penalty does not deter crime, I would say that we really don't know because it has never been done right (swiftly) in modern American society. But even if it did in no way deter crime, it would still be just and necessary. See the Genesis passage above. The focus of the verse is not on deterring crime, but on honoring life created in God's image. It therefore has a greater purpose. It has to do with who God is and what He has created, why He created it and how He desires to be known and understood. Therefore the debate is deeper and more precious to those who call themselves Christians. It is not a political issue, but a theological one. As Christians we have to not only support the death penalty personally, we must fight for it in the public arena and the courts. Other passages of Scripture indicate that God holds an entire society responsible when the blood of innocents is shed with no justice. Therefore America has much to fear from this Holy God.