Today is the day many dressed up and went to the church someone in your family goes to or a place close to your house or your grandma’s as that’s where you’re having lunch afterward. I will not knock anyone that did just show up today as it’s always a first step that leads to a walk in the right direction.

With this in mind knowing I would have kids I don’t normally have for Sunday Junior Church and because even my normal kids never get to hear my story. I decided to tell the Junior Church why I believe in Jesus and salvation. So I thought maybe since I already got to tell them I’d write a little bit older version of today’s lesson in my blog for others to see.

I want to let people who don’t know me know this. I am a logical person as a Marine and mechanic. I see things pretty much as if it makes sense, then it’s probably true. If it has no rhythm or reason, it’s either a Ford or not true. I also have a BA in Psychology from Park University and an MA in Eduction from Liberity University. So I see things through those lenses. I say this because some of my thought patterns will make sense later when you understand the background of my mind thought pattern.

The exact day and time of my conversion is up for debate as I know the moment but I couldn’t tell you the day or time but It’s also possible that it’s a much later date either way doesn’t matter because I know I’m saved by Grace. Anyways, as a teenager, I had given my life to God for his service. Then, September 11th,2001 happened, and I watched that second plane hit the tower and I knew I had another calling in life, and it was with a uniform and a weapon. I did originally set out to be a witness to those around me and be a light in the darkness of war to those around me. I did start that way, then the peer pressure of beer and girls and the life I never knew before got to me.

I then found myself in war, bullets flying, explosions, and the yelling. All the yelling and confusion it was mind numbing. I saw things that made me question humanity and question God. This is not the blog where I go into God, War, and people decisions resulting in terrible things, but I just know God doesn’t want war either, but free will means consequences and war is a consequence of actions.

I then went in a twenty years spiral of doing what I wanted, and that is a long story in itself. All the falls me and my wife had, trying to stand back up and falling again. You would figure we would learn that the way we were doing it was wrong, and we had both dedicated our lives to God, and now we are not doing anything  for Him and he was calling us back.

Then I woke up in a hospital bed and lay there with some questions that I needed answers to. These are my questions and the answers I have come to using logical reasoning.

IS THERE A GOD? Logically, the earth and humanity must have a creator. I mean, you can refute this, but then explain the perfection of gravity or DNA, not to mention anything like neurons or protons. The best way I can describe it is if you were to make a video game and just throw code at the wall and make a character the chance of this is billions and billions to 1 and the fact that the world and everything in it is perfectly made there is no way it was by accident and no way it could have just boom happened without a creator.

I conclude there must be a creator, and that creator would then be the God of this world. Who that God can only be answered by further questions.

IS THE BIBLE REAL? This is a great question because if you believe the Bible is real, then you can know who the God of creation is. What stands out to me when I look at the Bible is the fact it is historical accurate and everything that can be checked and has been proven to be true. It is so historical accurate that it is used by archeologists to locate and dig up different lost cities and other historical sites that the Bible describes.

So, if it has never been proven to have anything inaccurate in it, then the parts you have to have a little faith to believe in are easier to do. So, for me, until something in the Bible is proven wrong, then it is all right to me.

CAN WE KNOW WHERE WE WILL GO WHEN WE DIE? This is the real question, isn’t it. If I believe there is a God and that the Bible is true. What makes me believe that Jesus was the Messiah and his words can be trusted.

It’s here where my Psychology background comes in. It came down to the twelve men who followed Jesus for me. These men fully believed that Jesus was sent by God, If you read the Bible it seems like almost all Jews believed Jesus was a prophet at the least and many religions see Him as just that and without His final act I would say calling Jesus a Prophet would be accurate but the resurrection turns that on its head.

The disciples to me are what proves the resurrection we read about is real. First off, there were 12 disciples in the garden the night Jesus was arrested. Of course, one was a traitor, so we are down to eleven men. How many went to Jesus’ trial? Two, only two followed him that far the rest turned off in fear of death or torture or whatever. Of those two, one of them denied to know Jesus at all.

Only one watched Jesus be crucified, and the rest went back to life before Jesus. Then this is where history splits. One side says the disciples stole his body and said he was alive. The other side says he resurrected. The actions of eleven men tell me all I need to know. These eleven men went on to preach Jesus and salvation to the end. Nine of them were tortured, jailed, and killed for their beliefs. NOT ONE ever said nope sorry we were joking. We stole the body. Not one of them. They died proclaiming Jesus was the son of God.

If I were to tell you that tomorrow you could rob a bank and get away with it, and you can take as many people with you, but if anyone tells it’s a wrap for all of you. How many of you are taking 1 or none with you? Because the disciples had 500 who saw Jesus alive and never changed their stories. It’s almost impossible to keep a secret with more than 3, let alone 500.

The actions of these eleven men who besides one (who doesn’t get killed for his belief, by the way). All ran away and went back to work like nothing happened, and the “strongest” of them even denied Jesus three times. Then afterward, do a 180 and are willing to die for a Jesus after his resurrection tells me that They had to have seen a resurrected Jesus because thats about the only thing that changes the minds of men from prophet to Son of God. These mens actions alone are all I need to know that Jesus must have come back and shown himself for real, and if he did, then every word he said is real and John 3 is real thus all have to do is believe that He came for me and that He died for my sins and I will live forever in heaven.

For someone like me, it’s a pretty simplistic way of looking at things, and you could counter with many things like the Bible isn’t real. Well, the story of Jesus is recorded in other history books also. The disciples’ stories are mostly recorded elsewhere also. You can say the Bible contradicts itself, at which I can say no, it’s a translation error. Read it in the original text, which you can do with the internet nowadays and see it doesn’t. You can even say that the big bang happened and the world just was. To that, I say, can you please throw a can of numbers against the wall and get me the jackpot numbers for the next 12 days of powerball because thats statistically more likely and more believable than it just happening.

I think logically and the most probable possibility is the most likely to be true.

You don’t have to believe me, but I urge you to sit down and answer these three questions and see what you come up with and if you can tell me a more logical answer to the three then I will listen.

I mentioned earlier you could say I was saved later in life and that could be the days I was sitting in the hospital deciding on what I believed but it doesn’t really matter because I’m going to Heaven either way and I still think I could be a bad Christian for years and still go to heaven but if you think I couldn’t have done the things I did being a Christian than maybe I did get saved in that hospital bed either way it doesn’t matter because I got it decided now!