Monday Miscellaneous

I am speaking in Kansas, but I believe I will be able to do the DL at its regular time on Tuesday via Skype. So ignore what I said on the last program!

I had to set my clock back last night. That is just so wrong. But, I get two hours back when I go home anyway…but it’s all fiction! Why doesn’t everyone see that?

I saw an article about Ergun Caner’s opposition to the Camel Method (and, of course, I would agree 100% with him). Sadly, his opposition was noted along with the questions that will continue to swirl around him until he stands up and answers the real questions that so far he has refused to even acknowledge.

I have often commented on how joyous many Muslims are to read apostate Christians attacking the Christian faith. It is so sad to see them grabbing anything at all as a weapon without realizing that they are promoting a worldview that is just as acidic to their own beliefs as they are to Christianity. I saw another example just yesterday on the muslimmatters.org blog, in an article written by Youssef Chouhoud. Note his words:

Finally, this past Friday’s NPR broadcast of “Fresh Air” featured an interview with Bart Ehrman, a professor at UNC and author of the bestselling book, Misquoting Jesus. Though his research is in depth, the most striking points are the ones readily accessible to all readers of the Bible. For instance, the four gospels contain contradictions not only on “small” matters, but on the grandest as well. There is no consensus, for example, on the crucifixion nor is there, outside of the gospel of John, any mention of Jesus’ divinity (you’d think that’d be pretty important, huh?). The interview is a great listen and for those interested in furthering their knowledge, I recommend Dr. Ehrman’s course at The Teaching Company, History of the Bible: The Making of the New Testament Canon.

No consensus on the crucifixion? No evidence of the deity of Christ outside of John? Amazing, for anyone who has read the New Testament for themselves, anyway. But it seems that many Muslims are just as willing to listen to an apostate Christian as Christians, sadly, are willing to believe almost anything they are told about Muslims as well. As servants of Christ, we should be very concerned about the truthfulness of what we believe, even when it is about others not “familiar” to our beliefs or experiences.

   Looks like the blog flood has subsided a bit! Wore TQuid and cds and DV out, I do believe! By the way, I wanted to especially thank cds for that tremendous series on Qadar. If you missed it, head for the March archive and make sure you catch up! Speaking of that, I have been playing catch-up on “real life” stuff that I had to put on hold while the book was being written (you know, like, cars and family and stuff—son getting married, daughter headed off to college, little things like that), and I even rode El Tour de Phoenix on Saturday (I hadn’t had time to really train or anything, so it was a survival ride–but a most enjoyable one that now has me hoping to be disciplined enough to ride El Tour de Tucson again and then try to really improve my time in El Tour de Phoenix in ’08).
   This week brings us the LDS Easter Pageant in Mesa, and though we are running into this week without nearly the preparation we have enjoyed in years past, Mormonism is still Mormonism, and the gospel is still what Mormons need to hear. I’ve written a new tract for this year’s pageant, and I hope the KJV Only radicals have finally found some other mission in life other than mocking the Mormons, mocking the church, mocking…everything. I have a feeling things will be a little more active this year if only because the emotions will already be a bit inflamed due to the distribution of the new film on Mormonism. One of the local talk show hosts was talking about how the Mormons are all upset that thousands of videos have been sent to the homes of local Mormons. “Upset? You invented door to door!” In any case, pray for us as we seek to witness to all who attend the Pageant in Mesa, Arizona.
   Next, From Toronto to Emmaus arrives tomorrow! If you have pre-ordered it, Rich has been diligently working, and your package is already labeled and ready to go. As soon as the books get here, we will be shipping them out. Of course, if they get here late in the afternoon, right as we are leaving to go to Mesa, then they will go out Wednesday (which is the probable scenario). But we will turn them around as quickly as possible.
   We also got some more nice commendations that we will include in future printings of the book. Phil Johnson, grand-mufti of the Pyromaniacs (I bet he hasn’t even been notified of that promotion/exaltation, and centuri0n will be miffed), commented,

   We’ve come to expect that every year, just before Easter, the worldwide media will publish some ostensibly monumental new finding about “the quest for the historical Jesus.” These are actually thinly-veiled attacks on core Christian beliefs–rooted in shameless cynicism. The “lost tomb” hoax of 2007 was one of the cheesiest, most offensive such assaults, boldly claiming that after nearly two millennia, credible scientific evidence–including DNA tests–had led certain “experts” to conclude that the tomb of Jesus had finally been located. “He is not risen; He is here,” the media reported with breathless gullibility.
   The fact that it took James White barely more than two weeks to write a book that conclusively debunks the entire “Jesus tomb” hoax demonstrates two important things: 1) The claims were obviously total rubbish and should never have been publicized in the first place; and 2) There may be no one better equipped than James White to defend the gospel skillfully in every major arena here it is currently under attack. Whether the battleground is historical, theological, textual, linguistic, or biblical, you can count on James to be ready to give a skilled defense of the truth and a convincing reason for the hope that is in him. I love him for that.

   Now that is so kind I might even have to talk to Angel about drawing a nice caricature of Phil some day. Maybe. First I have to send Angel the new book, and at least a Tomb t-shirt. I would send him an aomin.org t-shirt, but he could just buy a t-shirt and draw it himself. Which sort of ruins it. Along with Phil’s comments came these from John MacArthur:

James White adroitly dismantles the latest pseudo-scientific ploy of the skeptics. These increasingly clumsy and self-contradictory attempts to discredit the biblical account of the resurrection seem to reflect a growing level of desperation among Christianity’s postmodern critics. Dr. White wonderfully responds to this flash-in-the-pan silliness with some timeless truth, highlighting why the Resurrection is vital to all Christian belief, and demonstrating why the testimony of Scripture is trustworthy.

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