Salt Fresno Magazine March 2010 Page 38

"In England, they drive on the __________ side of

the road."

"Boy, you can sure tell _________ is at work in the

secular world nowadays; all you have to do is look

around!"

ow did you fill in the blanks above, with your

gut-instinct, intuitive response? Don't second-guess
your first answer; and don't "cheat" by reading any
further until you have
written your responses.

I have asked these two questions in various venues:
churches, conferences and classes. I am endlessly
intrigued by the answers.

Often someone wants to fill in the first blank with
"wrong." Which of course is the "wrong" answer.
They don't drive on the wrong side of the road in
England; they drive on the left side, which is the
"right" (as in "correct") side for them. Just because
it's opposite from the side we drive on in the U.S.
doesn't make it wrong; only different.

Inevitably, somebody fills in the second sentence
with "Satan" or "sin." And of course such is true. But I
maintain that until our first and foremost answer is
"God," we are in danger of missing the point. Who is
bigger: God or the devil? Scripture insists that even
though in some sense Satan is "god of this world,"
nothing less than "the whole earth" is full of God's
glory. Until I see the Spirit as profoundly at work in
the "secular" world, I am destined to see the devil
present or prevailing even in places he is not. Who I
see at work first in the world is all the difference in
the world.

This little exercise was not to shame you, but to
suggest that we all especially we who are
teachers, Christian leaders and parents surrounded
by evidence of the corruptness of our culture
could use new perspective and good news.

That news? That everyone, everywhere, deep inside,
is God-haunted; looking for the God who is
relentlessly in love with everyone and is
repentlessly present everywhere.

Especially in times as turbulent and trying, as
post-Christian and postmodern as these, we must
hear afresh the sovereign, subversive good news of
God's gospel.

But I sure did not sign up for times like these.

In The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf wisely speaks to
Frodo. . .

"We cannot choose the time we live in, we can only

choose what we do with the time we are given."

The Bible challenges us to be "in the line of the

men of Issachar, who understand the times they

live in, and what God wants His people to do in

those times." (1 Chron 12:32, my paraphrase.)

These are times and seasons we've been given, and
given the task of seizing with humble and bold
confidence, huge and holy creativity, and
Issacharian optimism.

In this column in the next few issues, we'll explore
together some ways and means we can do so.

Now have all your friends answer the two questions,
and we'll see you next time.

s we enter into the Easter season, perhaps it

would be good to reflect on the central claim of
Christianity. Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, and
He claimed to be God (John 8:58, 20:26-29,

Mark 2:1-12). Due to this claim He was crucified
an event filled with hope of redemptionthe
forgiveness of sins. If He stayed in the tomb, His
death would be the death of a confused man, and it
would certainly have no atoning power. However, if
He rose from the dead, He is the single most
important person to ever walk the face of the earth,
and our lives ought to be centered on Him. So, the
question is simple: Is a person historically justified in
believing in the resurrection?

Gary Habermas (Liberty University) argues that
belief in the resurrection is credible due to what he
calls the minimal facts approach. This approach
considers only data that is strongly evidenced, and
granted by virtually all scholars on the subject
(even the skeptical ones). He finds 12 facts that
meet those criteria; here are the top five.

1. Jesus died by crucifixion. This fact, while
appearing in all four gospels, is also supported by
non-Christian contemporary sources including
Josephus, Tacitus, Lucian of Samosata, and the
Jewish Talmud.

2. The disciples believed that Jesus rose and
appeared to them. We see in the writings of Paul,
the gospels, and in the writings of the early church
fathers, the early Christians claimed Jesus rose from
the dead and appeared to them: a claim that they
professed in spite of intense persecution and
martyrdom.

3. The church persecutor, Paul, was suddenly
changed. Paul, an enemy of the church, was
dramatically converted after an experience with the
risen Lord Jesus. His conversion is reported by
numerous credible witnesses.

4. The Skeptic James, brother of Jesus, was suddenly
changed. James, though skeptical of Jesus's ministry

(Mark 3:21, 31, 6:3-4, John 7:5), became a convert
to Christianity because he believed the risen Jesus
appeared to him (1 Corinthians 15:3-7). This
fervent belief eventually lead to his martyrdom,
which is attested to by both Christian and
non-Christian sources.

5. The tomb was empty. Jesus was executed and
buried just outside Jerusalem. It would have been
impossible for Christianity to start in Jerusalem if
the body had still been in the tomb. Further, women
are listed as the primary witnesses of the empty
tomb. It would be highly unlikely that the Gospel
authors would hang a central piece of the story on
the testimony of women since both Jewish and
Roman cultures viewed a woman's testimony as less
than credible.

No other explanation of His death and resurrection
(the imposter theory, the swoon theory, the
hallucination theory, the conspiracy theory), can
account for all the facts above that virtually all
scholars, Christian or not, agree on. If Jesus rose,
then He deserves our allegiance, our faith, our trust,
and our worship.

www.saltfresnomagazine.org

by Dave Wainscott

By Loren Pankratz

Dave Wainscott

is pastor

and "chief dreamer" of Third

Day Fresno (3dff.com); and

teaches Bible for Latin

American Bible Institute, and

for Fresno Pacific University's

Degree Completion program.

He has been married to Sonya

for 24 years, and they have two

children, Tim and Sara.

Contact: davewainscott.blogspot.com, facebook.com/davewainscott