Adam White

I’ve gone and done it again. I get myself distracted and don’t blog for ages!

Here’s a short update of what has been going on over since Christmas:

• I’ve watched A LOT of movies – I got into the habit of watching a film a day, sometimes I would get through three!
• I have discovered a website called tvgorge.com that allows you to watch TV programmes online after they have aired on TV.
• And on the back of these two HUGE distractions in my life I’ve given up film/TV for lent! My life was beginning to revolve around a TV screen and I didn’t like it. So I have taken a step back and decided to spend the time I would have been watching moving images to get stuff done and focus on God.
• I’ve begun another Bible in a year reading plan. The difference with this on though is it is on my Android phone so I can read my bible on the move!
• And finally I have taken in a temporary lodger! A friend of mine found himself unexpectedly without a place to stay so he is sleeping in my spare room until he can get a place sorted.

That’s pretty much where I am at. I’m hoping to find more time to blog but I do tweet a lot so you can follow what I am up to via the sidebar on this website or at www.twitter.com/adamwhite1421

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It’s only 5 minutes and is worth a watch…

The Big Red Tractor from Jacob Lewis on Vimeo.

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“This is where I get the image that prayer is a wartime walkie-talkie, not a domestic intercom. It exists for advancing the mission, not for calling the butler to turn up the thermostat. Not that God is opposed to practical, nitty-gritty daily prayers. He simply wants all of them to relate to the mission of your life—that his name be glorified, that people live for fruitful ministry” – John Piper

I heard this tonight while listening to a preach by John Piper.  It really made me stop and think: Do I use prayer for selfish things in my life or are my prayers all about God and the advancement of His kingdom?

It’s so important not to fall into the trap of me, me, me prayers and to remember that it’s all about Jesus. We are to pray everything in His name and to only pray for things that will glorify the father.

“Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” – John 14:13-14

His preach then led into three practical teachings about prayer:

1. Set aside a set time each day, and don’t leave prayer to chance.
2. Combine prayer with reading the Bible and take what you find in the Bible and turn it into prayer.
3. Pray in concentric circles and make the aim of each circle the glory of God.

This third suggestion is my favourite but needs a little more explanation:

“You can work from outside in, or from inside out. For example, pray for your own soul, then for your family, then for your friends and colleagues, then for your church, then for wider ministries and the global mission of Christ, and then for the political leaders of the land.” – John Piper

If you want to listen/watch the full message from John Piper or read a transcript of the preach you can find it on desiringgod.org

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I thought I would start this series with a question about Jesus. This bloke that supposedly lived (and died) 2000 years ago, did he actually exist or is he just aanother character in this book called the Bible?

When I was an athiest I thought that the Bible was a fictional book full of myths and fables and this Jesus that everyone keeps going on about was just a character in one of the stories. So it came as quiet a surprise to me when I later discovered that actually no serious historian actually doubts that he was a real man that was crucified by Pilate 2000 years ago!

So what is the evidence for this? First off there is the Jewish historian Josephus. This man was a Godly man but not a follower of Christ. However, in one of his most famous passages from The Antiquities (A.D. 93) he describes Jesus as “a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man” who was crucified and who “on the third day he appeared [to those who loved him] restored to life”. To be fair, the authenticity of some of the more supernatural references in this passage are disputed by scholars but nobody doubts that the man Josephus was writing about was Jesus.

In A.D. 115, Tacitus (the most important Roman historian of the first century) wrote about how emperor Nero had persecuted the Christians as a scapegoat. Tacitus had referred to them as followers of the Christ who had “suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurator, Pontius Pilatus”. So while this passage does not refer to Jesus by name, it does refer to a man who was crucified by Pontius Pilate, from whom a the religious movement of “Christians” was borne.

On top of these there are also references to Jesus by Pliny the Younger and Suetonius, two more Roman historians.

The fact that authors and historians that were outside of Christianity confirm that Jesus was a real man that did exist and was crucified like the Bible says was really important to me. It meant that the option of him being a totally made up character was no longer an option and what that left me was to decide who he was instead.

If you want to know more why not read these Wikipedia articles: Josephus on Jesus and Tacitus on Jesus. Or if you would rather read a book written by a respected author I highly recommend The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel.

Or if you would rather have the opportunity to discuss this with people why not find a local Alpha Course to go on where you can debate your issues with real people who probably have the exact same questions as you!

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