Excerpt from Ada Brownell's book, Imagine the Future YOU
IMAGINE EVIDENCE FOR FAITH
By ADA BROWNELL
It is not difficult to believe in God. Archaeology has found
evidence for many decades to support much of the Bible’s historical
information. Cities mentioned in the Bible have been discovered. According to the Biblical Archaeology Society, on July 18, 2013, the
Israel Antiquities Authority reported in a news release: King David’s Palace
was uncovered in the Judean Shephelah.
The Pool of Siloam where Jesus healed a blind man
was discovered after excavations in the Jerusalem. From reports, another pool
was thought to be the Pool of Siloam, but when this one about the size of two
football fields was discovered along with a series of steps leading down to the
pool. The pool was uncovered by a Jerusalem utility crew. Work was halted and
archaeologists took over.
The pool is at the end of an amazing aqueduct discovered
in 1838 by American biblical scholar Edward Robinson. The tunnel was far more
spectacular than anyone imagined, hewn out of solid rock and 1,750 feet long.
Skeptics claim the tunnel must have been created more recently than 1,700 years
ago, but analysis of the ancient writing found in the tunnel, carbon 14 dating
of the plant life disrupted by the tunnel, and uranium-thorium dating of
stalactites and stalagmites that grew after completing of the tunnel, support a
date of around 700 BC, the date given in the Bible.
Why did Hezekiah build the canal?
At about that time, the Assyrian Army led by King
Sennacherib conquered nearly every prominent town in the southern kingdom of
Judah. Israel lay in ruins. Sennacherib’s strategy was to cut off all food and
water outside the fortified city walls, then when the people inside were near
death from thirst and starvation, begin the siege.
When King Hezekiah heard what was
happening around Jerusalem, he sought the Lord, and built a tunnel, a canal,
from the springs outside the city through solid rock to bring water under the
wall and to the people. You can read about it in 2 Kings 18-20 and 2 Chronicles
32.
There is much more archaeological evidence to
support the Bible. Ancient writings also
have been found that verify people mentioned in scripture lived at the time
described.
Archaeologists have found so much evidence for
the Bible accuracy it takes books to tell it.
Fulfilled prophecies
also show the Bible is something on which we can depend. The Jews returning
from being scattered over the earth after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD
and Israel becoming a nation in 1948 fulfill Ezekiel’s prophecy concerning the
valley of dry bones. You may remember the song about the “dry bones” connecting.
Fervent study of
scripture reveals many fulfilled prophecies.
IMAGINE EARTH THE WAY GOD MADE IT
Anyone who will look with an open
mind will see that creation is “programmed” the way God designed it. Species
reproduce only after their kind. The body returns to dust—from which the Bible
says it came.
If we look at creation,
there is too much perfection to be attributed to chance.
It is with awe toward the
Creator that we see not one but two kinds of humans, animals,
insects, reptiles, birds, and fish—which keep reproducing to populate Earth.
Doesn’t it take too much faith to believe two kinds evolved so perfectly so as
to join together and have the capacity to create others just like them?
Any part of the human
body or any other part of creation defies explanation outside of the design of
Almighty God.
More evidence for faith surrounds us. The
power of God at work in the lives of men and women today is a great testimony.
First, a personal relationship with God is the only thing that really satisfies
the soul of man. Even if we have access to everything the world has to offer,
if we don’t know God, we have emptiness.
IMAGINE WHY
FAITH IS IMPORTANT TO YOUR FUTURE
Dr. Andrew Newberg, neuroscientist and author of Why We Believe What We Believe, says our
brains seem to have a special place for faith. He has tracked how the human
brain processes religion and spirituality. It's all part of a new field called
neurotheology.[1]
Newberg says the
frontal lobe, the area right behind our foreheads, helps us focus our attention
in prayer and meditation. The parietal lobe, located near the back of our
skulls, is the seat of our sensory information. He says this place in the brain
is involved in that feeling of becoming part of something greater than one’s
self. The limbic system, nestled deep in the center, regulates our emotions and
is responsible for feelings of awe and joy.
Newberg says
similar areas of the brain are affected during prayer and meditation. He
suggests brain scans may provide proof that our brains are built to believe in
God. He says there may be universal features of the human mind that actually
make it easier for us to believe in a higher power.
I believe people search for God because of the
“God-shaped void” within. If they haven’t heard the Gospel or reject it, they
worship the earth, an idol they know is nothing but a figure humans created, or
devise their own religion—even making unbelief into doctrine.
IMAGINE GOD GIVING YOU JOY AND PEACE
Besides
satisfying the longings deep within us, we can see other results of the Lord in
the lives of men and women today. When people accept Jesus Christ as Savior,
their lives are changed for the better. They won’t be perfect, but they will be
much better individuals than they were before they came to know God.
Parents
who neglected their families begin to care for them. They clean up their lives
and become solid, dependable individuals. The Bible says they are “new
creatures in Christ Jesus. Old things are passed away. Behold all things become
new.”[2]
If someone claims to be a Christian but
doesn’t turn from sin, however, he probably didn’t submit himself to God. By
the same token if they say they know God, and no longer walk in obedience to
Him, they are not Christians.
In
addition to changed lives, if a person gets to know a Christian well he will
learn of many answers to prayer. In most Bible-believing churches, all you
would need to do is ask, “What is the greatest answer to prayer you’ve
experienced?” I’ve done that and discovered many wonderful testimonies: God
turning a forest fire from a home; a man with a head injury from a motorcycle
accident back to work in six weeks—after doctors said he probably would never
work again; a slowly dying child healed; God keeping a rainstorm behind a
highway paving machine for three days so a man with a large family could
work.
We’ve
experienced miracles in our family—a daughter thought to have multiple
sclerosis totally healthy years later; a son where tests showed he had only 40
percent kidney function, but later tests determined his kidneys worked
perfectly. Our six youngest grandchildren are miracles, four because of
pregnancy issues of their mothers, and the last two loving gifts of adoption.
God
doesn’t always work the way we wish. We lost a daughter to cancer, but the Lord
was our Comforter and gave peace. He does great things in answer to prayer.
In the church, especially,
one can see the work of the Holy Spirit, which Jesus promised He would send
when He went away, drawing men and women to salvation, filling them with power,
and teaching them.
When all information for
belief in God or all information for belief in atheism is given, however, there
is still room for doubt.
Why would God leave room
for doubt?
The answer next time.
[2] 2
Corinthians 517
IMAGINE THE FUTURE YOU
By Ada Brownell
A
GREAT GIFT FOR TEENS OR FAMILY WORSHIP. This motivational Bible study will help
youth discover evidence for faith; how to look and be their best; who can help;
interesting information about dating, love and marriage; choosing a career; how
to deposit good things into the brain you can spend; and how to avoid hazards
that jeopardize a successful life on earth and for eternity, all mingled with
true stories that bring a smile.
E-book,
paper and audible. Read
or listen to first chapter free! Great narrator.
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