Hey, everyone!!!

This Sunday is the 'Credible Faith for a Skeptical World' conference at Calvary Baptist Church, IN. I ask that you pray that unbelievers would come and be saved, and that believers would be strengthened in their faith and their confidence in God's Word. I will be giving two apologetics talks, 'Why Objections to the Traditional Authorship of the Gospels Fail', and 'How can God be good when he allows so much pain, suffering, and evil? And why a God who wants to save sinners must permit horrendous evils'. I will also be giving the 'Resurrection in a Secular Age' evangelistic message.

Just today, I also delivered Credible Faith's first bulk mailing at non-profit rates to the Peoria post office. That was the culmination of work beginning back in July, when I started learning about mySQL and starting the project to get address and contact data into an SQL database. That was followed by learning about the USPS system and work to get to USPS Full Service level with bar codes. From now on, in a single day, I would be able to select hundreds and hundreds of contacts, export their address information to the USPS Intelligent Mail System which produces bar code information, mail merge the addresses and bar code information with a newsletter, print those letters, put those letters in envelopes, seal the envelopes, and ship them at the Peoria Post Office. Since Credible Faith was founded in February of last year, only one mass mailing has been sent out prior to today's mailing. From now on, I would like to send out at least four mailings a year. If you would like to be included in such mailings, send me your mailing address.

In August, we had a birthday party for my nephew Silas at the beach house area near here on the day before his birthday, and I had a great time playing with nephews and my niece in the beach/water area. I had bought four gifts for him and showed them to him when I arrived, and when the present opening time came, he wanted to open them first. I think he liked at least one of them (the Star Wars Tie Fighter toy). I also took a walk with my nephew Sam, bought some Pepperoni Rolls for us at Firehouse Pizza and some pumpkin blizzards for us at Dairy Queen. My nephew Hosea also came over and caught a number of fish.

PRAYER REQUESTS
1. Fundraising. Financially, one of the hardest seasons for a ministry is the beginning. Please pray that God would bring monthly supporters alongside Credible Faith. Credible Faith is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization and donations are accordingly tax-deductible in the US as permitted by law.

2. Ministry Opportunities. Pray that doors would be opened for ministry in churches and on campuses and for relationships to be formed that would be mutually beneficial for ministry in those places.

Have a great month!!!

Sincerely,

Paul

Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Groveland, Illinois, USA

Quote of the Month

A quote from John Wenham's book, 'Easter Enigma: Do the Resurrection Accounts Contradict One Another?', pp. 127-128: It will be noticed that at a number of points I appeal to the evidence from one gospel to throw light on the intended meaning of another. Such harmonistic exegesis is generally frowned on in modern study of the gospels, except in cases where one writer appears to be actually using another gospel in his composition. It is held that each gospel must be considered in its own terms and be allowed to tell its own story and that ideas of one evangelist should not be read into the ideas of another. This is general a sound principle. It is particularly so if one regards the gospels as late creations which retain little contact with history. This applies, for instance, if one regards the stories about Jesus as the end-product of long processes of development which took place in widely separated parts of the world. If, on the other hand, we take the gospels to be apostolic in origin (even if not apostolic in actual authorship), and stemming from witnesses who worked together for a good many years and who in many cases participated in the same events, the matter is different. The choice of words of the various evangelists is conditioned by their knowledge of the historical facts, and statements by one evangelist (if true) are bound to limit or fill out the statements made by another. On this principle, the old commentaries which explained one gospel by another, had every justification for doing so. Exegesis cannot be divorced from criticism. Of course, the individuality of different writers must be respected, and the distinctive aims of different works (where these can be discerned) must be taken into account. Forced harmonizations are worthless. The tendency today, however, it the opposite ― to force New Testament writings into disharmony, in order to emphasize their individuality. The currently analytical approach to the gospels often has the effect of making scholars more and more uncertain at more and more points, till eventually their view of Jesus and his teaching is lost in haze. The harmonistic approach, on the other hand, enables one to ponder long and conscientiously over every detail of the narrative and to see how one account illuminates and modifies another. Gradually (without fudging) people and events take shape and grow in solidity and the scenes come to life in one's mind. Such study is beautifully constructive and helps to vindicate the presuppositions on which it is based. It is sad and strange when immense learning leads to little knowledge of the person studied. One thing is certain: Jesus was a concrete, complex and fascinating figure of history, and any method of study which fails to reveal him as such is working on the wrong lines.