Updates fro India 68

Hi all, really sorry the blog is late. You know what it's like when you have one of those months with not enough days in it, well we just had one.
Normal service back soon!


Easter.

The most important time of the year for many Christians. But why? Our faith is predicated on Jesus having been crucified and then rose from the dead.

That’s quite a statement isn’t it?

I sit here today in India writing this post not for my Christion friends or for the Atheists out there, but for the others, those of you who haven’t made up your minds about this whole religion thing.

I am not going to preach at you, if like me before I was saved you had people knocking on your door, coming up to you in the street, all with one message….The word of God, the good news, whatever they called it. It doesn’t take long to become immune and just pass them bye hoping they don’t pick on you. I had a friend many years ago who got so tired of ‘evangelists’ at his door every month that he made a crucifix, painted it black and hung it upside down in plain sight of his front door. They never called again. Please be quite certain I am not disparaging the efforts of anyone to bring people to Christ, I am just telling it as it is for many people.

But why do we do it, why do we spend our time praising a God that we can’t even prove is real?

Ok, let’s look at that. I cannot by any scientific method prove that God is real, but to me there is no doubt whatsoever that He is as real as the morning sun. Why do I believe this?

 Let’s look at the core of my faith. Jesus and his crucifixion.

There are many secular historians who lived in the century after the death of Jesus Christ who confirmed his existence. Here are some of them:

There are many Non Bible sources that you can read for yourself.

 Flavius Josephus

 “Titus Flavius Josephus (37 – c. 100), was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in 70.”

His most important works were The Jewish War (c. 75) and Antiquities of the Jews (c. 94).  The Jewish War recounts the Jewish revolt against Roman occupation (66–70). Antiquities of the Jews recount the history of the world from a Jewish perspective for an ostensibly Roman audience. These works provide valuable insight into 1st century Judaism and the background of Early Christianity.

Josephus was a Jew who did not believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God or Christianity. In The Antiquities of the Jews, book 18, chapter 3, paragraph 3 the famous historian Flavius Josephus writes:

“Now, there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works—a teacher of such men as receives the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.”

Later Josephus writes:

“But the younger Ananus who, as we said, received the high priesthood, was of a bold disposition and exceptionally daring; he followed the party of the Sadducees, who are severe in judgment above all the Jews, as we have already shown. As therefore Ananus was of such a disposition, he thought he had now a good opportunity, as Festus was now dead, and Albinus was still on the road; so he assembled a council of judges, and brought before it the brother of Jesus the so-called Christ, whose name was James, together with some others, and having accused them as law-breakers, he delivered them over to be stoned.”

Josephus considered one of the greatest historians of antiquity, independently provides proof and evidence that Jesus was a real person who did exist and also confirms the crucifixion of Jesus on the cross under the orders of Pontius Pilate, thus confirming the Biblical account as well.

   

Tacitus

Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman Historian who lived from 55-120AD.  In 115 AD, P. Cornelius Tacitus wrote the following passage that refers to Jesus (called “Christus,” which means “The Messiah”) in book 15, chapter 44 of The Annals after a six-day fire burned much of Rome:

“Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired.”

Despite the fact the clearly despised Christianity as a “mischievous superstition”, Tacitus no less confirms once again the existence of Jesus and His crucifixion on the cross, it also states Pontius Pilate as the procurator who oversaw the crucifixion again giving non-Biblical proof of Jesus’ existence as recorded in the Bible.

Pliny The Younger

Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, (61 AD – ca. 112 AD) : “better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. According to Wikipedia:  “Pliny is known for his hundreds of surviving letters, which are an invaluable historical source for the time period. Many are addressed to reigning emperors or to notables such as the historian, Tacitus. Pliny himself was a notable figure, serving as an imperial magistrate under Trajan (reigned AD 98–117).  Pliny was considered an honest and moderate man, consistent in his pursuit of suspected Christian members according to Roman law, and rose through a series of Imperial civil and military offices, the cursus honorum.”

In his correspondence with the emperor Trajan (Epistulae X.96) he reported on his actions against the followers of Christ. He asks the Emperor for instructions dealing with Christians and explained that he forced Christians to curse Christ under painful torturous inquisition:

“They were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and bound themselves to a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft, adultery, never to falsify their word, not to deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up. When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of a meal–but ordinary and innocent food.”

So not only was Pliny aware of Jesus Christ, he also provides description of the activities of the early church. In a later writing he details persecution against Christians:

“Even this practice, however, they had abandoned after the publication of my edict, by which, according to your orders, I had forbidden political associations. I therefore judged it so much more the necessary to extract the real truth, with the assistance of torture, from two female slaves, who were styled deaconesses: but I could discover nothing more than depraved and excessive superstition.

In the meanwhile, the method I have observed towards those who have denounced to me as Christians is this: I interrogated them whether they were Christians; if they confessed it I repeated the question twice again, adding the threat of capital punishment; if they still persevered, I ordered them to be executed. For whatever the nature of their creed might be, I could at least feel no doubt that contumacy and inflexible obstinacy deserved chastisement. There were others possessed of the same folly; but because they were Roman citizens, I signed an order for them to be transferred to Rome.”

So here we see that not only did Pliny not follow the Christian faith, he was torturing Christians and threatening death against them. And he even records that under threat of execution (just for believing in Jesus Christ as God) the early church members refused to deny their faith in Jesus. This is remarkable evidence of Jesus’ existence outside of the Bible.

Well I could go on quoting different sources but that just gets boring doesn’t it. Note one thing here though; these statements were made by men alive at the time of Christ, but who were not Christians. There is NO doubt that as a historical figure Jesus existed. The crucifixion was also recorded by both Roman and Jewish historians (who on the whole denounced him as a blasphemer) as a fact.

Well that leaves the resurrection doesn’t it.

I am not going to argue faith here but I am going to ask you two questions:

Why would many many different people (Hundreds, not just one or two) claim and never deny even under torture or pain of death that they had sat talked or had eaten with the risen Christ?

Secondly;

Why did His disciples and others over the next 40 years die rather than deny Him as Christ?

Well forget faith; let’s just use a little common sense.

Would you die? I have to be honest, if it was a scam, lies or conspiracy I would NOT die to continue it, nor would I sustain days of pain and torture and the whole time stand by what I had said. It just doesn’t make any sense to me to say they were not being totally honest in their story. Perhaps the best common sense approach I have ever read from a modern reporter comes from;

Charles W. Colson

“I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Everyone was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren't true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world-and they couldn't keep a lie for three weeks. You're telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.”

At this time, Easter I only ask that you consider what Christ did for me and can do for you. He gave me a new life, filled me with the joy of knowing him, forgave my sins (there were many) and all just because I let him in. No charge, no conditions, just love. I am not the person I once was, violent immoral and drug addicted, I have been as it says in my bible ‘Born again’.

I am today another person since that time and would die before denying Christ just as many others before me have.

Think about that fact for a moment, I don’t know about you but to me the very fact that I would willingly die rather than deny Christ means I am either, mad, deluded or saved, you decide which.

God bless you all. Believers, atheists and all the rest of you who don’t yet know Christ as your saviour, I pray one day you will.

In other news

A trip away.

We were planning a trip away this month but life interfered.

A friend (good friend) had a silly argument with his friend (girl but not girlfriend). Our gate was locked and so having borrowed my phone because his was flat he climbed over it, fell on his face splat and bust my phone! Laughed till I cried.

Anyway trip money bought a new phone. He wanted to pay but he is a very good friend so I told him to pay me in beer!

Also

I got bit by a rabid dog two days ago, the dog died! 

That’s what happens when you mess with the Welsh. 

More details from Kris.

Isn’t life interesting.

Building work

We are joining the house to the dividing wall to form a long ‘shed’ connected to the servant’s quarters that will now be a work shop. In the monsoon or summer the bikes can park under cover. Because this side of the house never gets direct sun it is much cooler in there so working on the bike will be better now. No more bringing it in for the A/C luxury.

 

The door in the background is to the servants quarters, all 12'x6'
of it. The covered area is 25' x 10' joined to both the house
and the property wall.

Bench supports.

Gardens

Looking good but heat now starting to burn crops so shade going up to protect them and lengthen the cropping season.

The lawn is starting to burn
Daily temperature now 40deg C and rising.

Comments by Kris

Well its that time again folks.

I have been reflecting on the time Chris and I came to India to live; our feelings of anticipation, excitement, concern about a new culture, new jobs etc. The reason for this reflection now is simple; a colleague has just left her job and has just moved to Canada to see if she can build a new life there. It made me think about our decision to move to India, yes it shocked family and friends. Some didn’t think we’d make a year out here but God is good and he just knew the plans he had for us. Yes we have had difficult times, health issues and house moves (on the same colony thank goodness) but God has been so faithful to all his promises. It’s also Easter when we remember all the Lord has done for us. Would I still come here if I knew all we would have to do to build a new life, Absolutely so long as Chris and I are together. Do I envy our colleague her adventure in Canada, no I don’t but I am happy for her to experience new things. As for me and Chris, the Lord still has adventures for us here in India and he continues to guide us along our journey.

I was thinking about how well I manage the shopping with my minimal Hindi, English and sign language. I confess when I get really stuck I use google translate and images from the internet, and on rare occasions I ring a Hindi friend to translate for me. Yes I wish my Hindi was better, and yes I do practice but when you get to my age learning a new language is not so easy. I had a funny conversation with some of our students recently. They asked if I cooked and if so did we eat Indian food. Well yes, both Chris and I cook and we love Indian food but sometimes we like a good old fashioned roast dinner. We even have Indian friends coming to eat foreign food (Western food that is) with us. Students also asked if we ate mostly at restaurants or got take aways, no we rarely eat out, yes to the occasional takeaway, so they were convinced I did all my shopping at the large supermarket. But I told them I bargained at the local veg mundi (vegetable market) and shopped locally, I can’t remember the last time I went to the supermarket, probably over six months ago. However there is a new one opening this weekend not too far from us (about 3to 4 kms) which I will try.

A Hindu friend suggested some time ago I stop Chris from drinking alcohol by telling him not to go to the English Wine Shop (only place to get alcohol outside a restaurant or hotel) in the hope he would not drink anymore. I said he doesn’t go to the English Wine shop, I do. This does raise some eyebrows as women don’t go to these places or buy tools from toolshops but I do and I have to say I am very well accepted and treated with respect when I do. I have no intention of stopping Chris drinking, he doesn’t drink daily or to excess and I myself like a Bacardi and Coke. I believe Jesus has no problem with it after all he did turn the water into wine at the wedding. She also wanted me to get Chris to cut his hair and shave off his beard, oh no, then it wouldn’t be the guy I married as I have always known him with long hair and a beard. Why would I want to change the man I fell in love with and married to someone he is not.

It’s been a busy month, I was going to get new chicks but that has been put on hold till next week as there are a lot of holidays so the agricultural college is closed where I get my chicks from.

Also we have builders in doing some work in Chris’s workshop, building a flower bed at the entrance to our home and building a car port for our bikes at the side of the house. To say there is mess everywhere would be an understatement and these guys work clean and tidily, but the dust just gets everywhere including inside the house. They may take another two days to complete but it has been worth it. Somewhere to protect the bikes from the heat of the sun and the monsoon rain. We decided that rather than do the work ourselves we would employ someone, which I think was a magnificent idea Chris.

We have had a fantastic yield of cherry tomatoes this year and they have been yummy all organically grown. Our friends and neighbours have been pleased to receive them too.

Chilly has had her sterilization operation and has coped surprisingly well, the wound is healing and she’s bouncing around with Blue’ in the garden. Unfortunately whilst building work has been ongoing they have been confined to the house whilst the workers were here, but they loved jumping and digging in the 2 tons of sand we had delivered.

The other day one of the street dog puppies came into our garden when the builders were here, so frail and thin you could see its little ribs, no we can’t have another dog I said to Chris it would be too much. We happily fed it though and kept an eye out that it was okay. I carried it back out into the street from the garden. I was so very lucky. Later that day it bit the neighbours daughter and several other people on the colony and the next day bit Chris on his hand. Animal Aid came to collect it as it was becoming very aggressive and they notified us that the animal was tested positive for Rabies and died shortly after being collected. Ahhhh poor dog and everyone who was bitten by the Rabid dog, so off to the hospital for anti Rabies injections. Rabies is a killer and if Chris does not get his 5 injections over the next month it will kill him too. First injection at the hospital and as I’m a nurse I can give the other 4 injections on specific dates this month oh what joy for Chris. Well he can add another disease to his list out here, I’m thinking of quarantining him as he keeps making howling noises and scratching his ear (he does it for a joke, which secretly I think is funny but don’t tell him as he will just do it more)

Easter Monday we fasted till evening and then sat down to Roast Turkey, stuffing, roast potatoes, cabbage and green beans, yummy, alas no Yorkshire puds as the milkman came too late.

That’s all for this month

Hope you all had a Happy Easter

God Bless

Chris and Kris in Udaipur, Rajasthan, India