On Sunday I talked about helping those who are searching for answers about how Jesus is. The truth is everyone struggles with doubt and sometimes the right information helps. Many times we don’t know where to look and are overwhelmed with the intellectual questions.

There are some websites that I have found helpful. You may not agree with every point of view found in these places, but they will at least get you thinking about some of the questions you or someone you know wrestles with. My suggestion - look at the website, then go back to your Bible and let God’s Word be the final word.

Here are some places to help you tackle some of the tough questions of faith:

www.carm.org - Christian Apologetics Research Ministry

www.answersingenesis.org - Answers In Genesis

www.rzim.org - Ravi Zacharias Int’l Ministries (Just Thinking archives are good)

I hope this helps you as you work through your struggles and try to help others work through their struggles. Grace to you! - todd

When considering reasons to believe in Jesus, here are some things to consider (thanks to Gary Habermas for this list):

1. Jesus died due to the rigors of crucifixion.
2. Jesus was buried.
3. Jesus’ death caused the disciples to despair and lose hope.
4. Many scholars hold that Jesus’ tomb was discovered to be empty just a few days later.
5. At this time, the disciples had real experiences that they believed to be literal experiences of the risen Jesus.
6. The disciples were transformed from doubters who were afraid to identify with Jesus, to bold proclaimers of his death and resurrection, even being willing to die for this belief.
7. The resurrection was central to their message.
8. The resurrection was proclaimed in Jerusalem where the empty tomb was. As a result…
9. The church was born and grew…
10. …with Sunday the primary day of worship.
11. James, Jesus’ skeptical brother, was converted by the resurrection.
12. Paul, the great persecutor of Christianity, was converted by the resurrection

Think about it.

Pornography is the “dirty little secret” of the church. It is anything that creates an arousal that if acted upon would be classified as sin. If it leads you to think about sex with someone other than who you are married to it is porn.

This is not just an adult male issue. The average age of first internet exposure to pornography is 11 years old. And porn is progressive. Here is how you get hooked:

1. curious
2. curious and looking
3. curious and found it
4. past curious, now interested
5. find time to find it
6. have to find it everyday

This progression can happen in as few as three days. It is the crack of the internet and once you start down that road it is hard to come back. Here is what you should know:

• Pornography addiction can happen to anybody
• Just a little porn is not ok
• You are not strong enough to fix it on your own
• Don’t watch tv or use the computer by yourself, keep them in open areas (parents - tv and computers in your children’s rooms might just kill their soul)
• Find some accountability – www.x3watch.com or www.covenanteyes.com 
• Get help from a counselor or start with www.xxxchurch.com 
• Remove the temptation – get rid of the tv or computer
• Talk about it

God wants to help us in every area of our lives and especially this “dirty little secret”. Don’t let it darken your soul.

Fasting is something we might have heard of before. But it is kind of like running a marathon, most people never do it. I have some good friends who aren’t world class athletes but run marathons. How do they do it? They obtained some good information on how to do it and then they follow through.

I want to call our church to fasting. Jesus said in Matthew 6:17 – “when you fast”. Did you catch that? “When” not “if”. The problem most of us have is not with “when”, but with “how”. Dr. Bill Bright from Campus Crusade has written a great article you can access through the following link - http://www.ccci.org/growth/growing-closer-to-god/how-to-fast/index.aspx I encourage you to read “how” and then do it.

This is a personal thing. Jesus was teaching against fasting for show in Matthew 6. You can fast without making it about you. Fasting is about focusing on God, by intentionally taking the focus off yourself. Jesus never taught us not to fast, he actually modeled fasting and predicted fasting for those who follow Him. Who knows? A spiritual awakening could be in your future through the discipline of fasting.

No one likes to admit it, but sometimes it takes bad times to really appreciate good times. And while we like to think we are able to learn life lessons when it is easy. The truth is most of us are better because of the struggles we’ve been through.

Romans 5:3-4 tells us there are benefits to tribulation - And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.

God doesn’t create evil. Evil and suffering are the result of sin. But God has not abandoned us in the this world of evil. Sometimes He protects us and sometimes He uses the bad for our good. However, when we can’t see God’s hand we can trust His heart and find hope in a promise He made in Revelation 21:4.

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.

Don’t lose heart. It is not over yet!

Art Linkletter used to have a segment on his show called “Kids Say the Darndest Things”. Bill Cosby and Linkletter about ten years ago turned the idea into a television series. You never knew how the kids would answer the questions. And more often that not, they would say the funniest things. Children are individuals with minds of their own. The show proved that.

I love my girls and they say some funny things sometimes. They say wonderful things and less than wonderful things too. But as a father, my role is to train them to think and say the right things. I want their obedience, but not at the expense of their ability to think and act on their own. I am not trying to raise robots.

Adults have minds of their own too. God created us this way – with free will. Sadly, some people’s wills are bent towards evil. It takes a loving God to give us the opportunity not to love Him back. But make no mistake, there are consequences now and in the future. And if someone appears to live without accountability in life, they will not miss the accountability in death. The Bible calls that “judgment”.

In Matthew 13:26-30, Jesus tells a parable about a good crop and weeds growing in the same field. The weeds were there because of the enemy. However, the workers had to wait until the harvest to separate the two. The harvest is the day of judgment.

God gives us free will and combines that with His patience. A good thing for us who get off-track and then get back on – otherwise we would experience judgment immediately. But we are left to endure evil in the world until God calls for the harvest. Tell me what you think about this.

Most of us aren’t completely satisfied trying to reconcile evil by just saying we can’t understanding it. So let’s move on to another idea.

Option Two: We live in a fallen world. Romans 5:12 says, "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned." No one is perfect walking this earth today. We all have personal knowledge and experience that selfishness and sin go hand in hand.

Left to ourselves, we all have the capacity to be selfish. And selfishness unrestrained will eventually lead to sin. Sin by its very nature devalues others. Evil sees no value in its victims. This is the fallen world we find ourselves in.

But the good news is Jesus stepped into our world. And becuase of Jesus we can deny self, take up our cross daily and follow Him. Evil has to be stopped one person at a time. Let’s start with ourselves. Check back for option three next Thursday.

I continue to be shocked when I see the news. Horrible acts done to people by other people. Evil is the only word that fits. Over the next few weeks, I am going to give us some options to consider for why evil exists. Here is the first option for us to consider.

Option One: we simply can’t understand it. Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." There are some things on this side of eternity we will just never figure out. I believe this to be true. God asks us to trust him and have faith. It isn’t easy, but we are called to a life of faith.

If you are like me and agree with Option One, but you find yourself asking, "Ok, but can you give me something else?" Check back next Thursday and I will post Option Two.

Can I tell you a little story about me?  Seven years ago, I began to pray for Independence Hill Baptist Church.  I wasn’t the pastor; I hadn’t even had an interview.  But I will tell you what I had.  I had a God-sized conviction that prayer is crucial to knowing God’s will and even more crucial to having the courage to do God’s will.

I still have that God-sized conviction.  Forgive me if you haven’t heard me say it or worse have never seen me practice it.  Prayer is crucial.  To my life and the life of Independence Hill.  The problem is I forget.  I think if I know enough or work long enough everything will work out.  Who am I kidding?

In Acts 6:4 the disciples knew their priority was to prayer and the Word.  I hope through this blog we can connect in new ways, but always with connecting in prayer as a result.  Join me in praying the following:

Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer.
From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
For You have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy.
I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings.