Reasons to Believe in the Resurrection

This is the sixth of a series of blog posts with my sister Betty Haynie about what we believe. Our thoughts may be helpful to those who don’t believe in God. Betty wrote down her beliefs in detail several years ago. I’ll post her thoughts monthly and add my thoughts and beliefs to each one. Our thoughts are intentionally brief on subjects that could fill volumes.

Why I Believe in the Resurrection

By Betty Haynie

I believe in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ with all my heart and soul and mind. It is the most glorious knowledge there is. Without it, the Christian faith is worthless. Paul even says this.

¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; ¹⁴ and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.

1 Corinthians 15:13-14 NIV

The Resurrection of Jesus is a historical fact and is verified throughout Scripture. I believe in the Good News of Salvation, the TRUTH of history in recording the Birth, Life, Death, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ, and the TRUTHS contained in God’s Word. 

After Jesus died on the cross He was seen by 500 people; His disciples saw Him after His death for a period of 40 days or so. He talked with them and walked with two of them on the road to Emmaus. He appeared in the Upper room where His disciples were mourning His loss. They touched Him. Jesus appeared to Thomas who had doubted the truth of his fellow disciples’ accounts. Jesus offered him the chance to put his hand into the wound in His side but, when he saw the nail holes in His hands, he believed. Jesus appearance was not a ghost or an apparition - He ate food!! It’s documented!! Before His ascension He appeared to them and he gave them instructions, they watched as he ascended to heaven.  

The life, death and resurrection of Jesus are verified in history. I’m sure you don’t deny the lives of Napoleon or Henry the VIII, or the events of December 7, 1941 or Martin Luther King’s Civil Rights achievements. These are all documented historical events.  And so are the birth, life, and death on the cross of Jesus the Christ. And so is His resurrection. 

Most of the Gospels were written within 30 years of His death, resurrection and ascension. Books on Napoleon and Genghis Kahn were written long after their deaths and yet most people believe every word of those books!! Do they check them out? I doubt it. I’m sure you recall the Holocaust and Hitler and the Viet Nam War. This is more recent history, but you can’t deny history that happened before you were born just because it wasn’t in the newspaper or on TV.

Be logical. Read the information Dottie and I have included here and come to logical conclusions.  If He wasn’t who He claimed to be He was either a Lunatic or a Liar OR...He Was The Lord!! That’s all the choices you get. You can’t say He was “just a great teacher” because He claimed to be so much more. He claimed to be GOD. John 10:30 “I and the Father are one.”  

No one in history is like Jesus. He alone deserves our trust and He alone is the path to God. No one comes to the Father EXCEPT through Jesus!

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one can come to the Father, except through me.” John 14:6 NLT

Jesus and only Jesus has power over death. He came back from death!!

Blessings, Betty

  

Why I Believe in the Resurrection

By Dottie Parish

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most glorious truth anyone can know! I believe in the resurrection with all my heart and soul and mind – as does Betty and every Believer. This belief is based on reason, facts and evidence. Christ’s resurrection changed the world. His resurrection means that Jesus conquered sin and death and Satan and all evil forces. His resurrection means everyone will live eternally – forever and ever.

My first strong memory of celebrating the resurrection was on Easter when I was sixteen. God touched my heart in new ways that year and I knew Jesus was my Savior and that the Bible was true. Since then I’ve learned the amazing depth of the Scripture accounts of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. There were 500 witnesses who saw Jesus after he was crucified. There was an empty tomb that no one could explain in any other way. It was heavily guarded yet it was empty.

Jesus was seen by some of the disciples over a period of forty days. And they saw him ascend to heaven. Barclay notes that his resurrection appearances had to come to a definite end rather than just peter out. He says, “If Jesus was to give his followers unanswerable proof that he had returned to glory the Ascension was absolutely necessary.”

As Betty noted, there is massive historical evidence that Jesus lived and was crucified. Timothy Keller in his book, Making Sense of God, says “the historical evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus is formidable.” He cites N. T Wright’s book, The Resurrection of the Son of God. Wright’s book on the Resurrection is 700 pages long. Read it and see if you still doubt the truth of the resurrection!

Betty cited 1 Corinthians 15:13-14. Here’s the J B Phillips amplification of this passage:

Now if the rising of Christ from the dead is the very heart of our message, how can some of you deny that there is any resurrection? For if there is no such thing as the resurrection of the dead, then Christ was never raised. And if Christ was not raised then neither our preaching nor your faith has any meaning at all. Further it would mean that we are lying in our witness for God, for we have given our solemn testimony that he did raise up Christ—and that is utterly false if it should be true that the dead do not, in fact, rise again! For if the dead do not rise neither did Christ rise, and if Christ did not rise your faith is futile and your sins have never been forgiven. Moreover those who have died believing in Christ are utterly dead and gone. Truly, if our hope in Christ were limited to this life only we should, of all mankind be the most to be pitied!

The resurrection is the heart of the gospel. It takes faith to deny there is life after death.

Read the biblical accounts of the resurrection here. Don’t miss out on knowing God personally and living with him in glory forever!

Blessings, Dottie

Watch for the next Reasons to Believe post on WHY I BELIEVE IN PRAYER in mid November by Betty and Dottie

 

Psych Info: Healing Inner Wounds

Psych Info: HEALING INNER WOUNDS  

 Q. A friend of mine is seeing a counselor and she has been taught to identify her inner “wounded child,” her inner “critical parent” and her inner “adult.” This seems like a very helpful way to understand yourself. I often feel very hurt by what others say and do. Is this my “wounded child”? What do I need to do to heal this part of me? Where can I learn more about this approach?

A. There are many theories about personality and about therapeutic change. Many of these theories identify the broken part of us as the wounded child. Transactional Analysis was one of the earliest theories to do so. Dr. Eric Berne noticed that each of his patients moved in and out of various ego states. (An ego state is an identifiable system of feelings, behavior and physical reactions.) Dr. Berne identified three ego states that we all have and need: the Parent, the Adult and the Child. This is a very helpful way to identify the patterns in your own inner struggles and can help you heal your wounded child.      

         

The Parent ego state holds all the messages we have received from our parents and have internalized. This includes all the shoulds, oughts, expectations and criticisms from our parents and parent figures as well as all the nurturing messages they gave us. Thus, the parent ego state includes the “critical parent” and also the “nurturing parent.”

The Adult ego state is reason, logic. “Nothing but the facts.” It contains the facts about our day-to-day life and represents adult ways of dealing with life.

         

The Child ego state is our emotions and wants both now and through out our lives. It is the storehouse of all our past hurts and it is also the area in which we are free, spontaneous, and rebellious. Thus, the Child ego state contains both a “wounded child” and a “playful, free child.” 

         

No one has a perfect childhood. We all carry inner hurts into adulthood though we may not know this. We coped with these hurts by repressing them and they pop up later.

When we are hurt as very young children we cannot cope with our overwhelming emotions. We learn to freeze inwardly, to block out feelings, thoughts and memories, in order to survive. We are easily hurt as adults when something reminds us of a past hurt because this reservoir of pain has been tapped.

         

The wounded Parent copes by fighting. To ward off pain or ownership of problems the wounded Parent blames others. The wounded Adult has learned to flee and will avoid close relationships.

         

When we are in our whole Child we are spontaneous and playful. When we are in our whole Adult we behave as reasonable contented adults and we are interested in having meaningful intimate relationships. When we are in our whole Parent we will be very nurturing of ourselves and others.

         

Often our wounded parts are at war with each other. For example our wounded Parent may be critical of our wounded Child. You can help yourself by identifying which ego state you are in at any given time. When you become aware you are in one of your wounded ego states, tap into the whole nurturing Parent within and comfort yourself. This means no matter how childish your wounded Child is, you will comment from your nurturing Parent in a supportive, comforting way. 

         

For further ideas about healing the inner child read these classic books “I’m OK, You’re OK" by Eric Berne, M.D. and Your Inner Child of the Past by Hugh Missildine, M.D.  Counseling can also help. Resolving buried issues from the past often requires professional help.

A Christian counselor might use Transactional Analysis to help a client understand inner conflicts but would also encourage a Christian client to know God and turn to him for help and healing.

“Come unto Me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matt. 11:28

Blessings, Dottie

LIVING WITH PAIN

 Q.  I’ve been suffering with chronic pain for six months. Medication relieves the pain some but the side effects of the medication stop me from using very much of it. My doctors have told me to remain as active as I can and “live with the pain.” Can you suggest anything that would help me do this?

A. There are a number of things you can do that will help you learn to live with the pain or better yet lessen or end the pain. The most important one is to develop a positive attitude. Our thoughts have a profound effect on our moods and on our pain.

Herbert Benson, M.D. in his book Timeless Healing cites the placebo effect as evidence of the power of our thoughts. Patients believe sugar pills will alleviate their pain and their belief makes this happen. A research study showed that patients with chronic pain were more likely to be handicapped, no matter the severity of their pain, if they believed pain indicated impairment. In other words, those who believed pain and disability were always linked became more crippled. When patients focused their minds on thoughts of being active and well, even though in pain, their health improved. 

Andrew Weil in his book Spontaneous Healing says the psychic aspect of pain can be modified by hypnotherapy, guided imagery, meditation and acupuncture. He also suggests that deep breathing exercises can help. Similarly, the book Nutritional Healing, a huge reference book, lists many of the same procedures and includes also biofeedback, chiropractic and more. It suggests that the physical and psychological can be intertwined. So for example a physical reduction of pain may decrease anxiety and improve outlook. The mind can also be used to relax muscles and effect other physical changes that reduce pain.

         

How can you do this? Notice what you say to yourself about your pain. Thoughts such as “I can’t stand this pain” Or “I’m never going to feel any better” can cause you to tense up, causing more pain. Thoughts such as “What did I do to cause this?” or “Why is God punishing me?” are common to most of us but can lead to guilty anguish about something you didn’t cause.  Pain is not a punishment for something we’ve done.

Express your feelings - your fears, anxiety, and anger about what has happened to you.. When we express feelings we feel relief. Write about your feelings and then let it go. Distract yourself from the pain. Focus on something other than your symptoms. Focus on what you can still do, rather than on what you’re unable to do. Listen to music, watch TV, work a crossword puzzle. 

Practice relaxation exercises. Use your imagination to keep your mind off your pain and to help you relax. Visualize a peaceful scene. See yourself in this scene and use all your senses to notice specific details such as a soft breeze, a butterfly, puffy white clouds. Learning relaxation exercises reduces the tension in your body. Concentrate on deep breathing and letting go. 

Use your faith to help you.  Meditation and prayer will relax you. The Psalms can comfort you. Ask God for help, healing and peace of mind.

         

If your chronic pain has isolated you from family and friends and from activities you enjoy, make it a goal to get involved again. You may notice your pain less if you’re out doing things. 

         

Exercise as much as you can. Due to the pain, many sufferers avoid physical activity.  This leads to a loss of strength and flexibility which can lead to depression. Gentle exercise will help decrease pain and strengthen muscles giving you greater mobility and independence. 

The responses of family and friends to your chronic pain can add to your problems. If your family misunderstands your pain, they may minimize or even dismiss it. They may not believe it’s real. Their seeming lack of support may lead to hurt or angry feelings and to depression. 

The opposite response - overprotection, also has its problems. When family and friends coddle and baby someone with chronic pain, the sufferer may become more dependent and more disabled. Talk with family and friends and tell them specifically what kind of support you need.

If you need help putting these ideas into practice, consider joining a group for people with chronic pain.

Focusing on positive thoughts in the midst of pain is not easy. The key is to monitor your thoughts and don’t dwell on how bad you feel.  Acknowledge your illness or pain but think about other things most of the time. We can’t control what happens to us but we can learn to control our thoughts.

“Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” Proverbs 16:24 NASB

Blessings, Dottie

Psalm 119 Meditations and Prayers Relating to the Law of God

This is the eighth section of Psalm 119 – the longest chapter and the longest Psalm in the Bible. There are 8 different terms referring to Scripture used through out. These are: law, testimonies, precepts, statutes, commandments, judgments, word and ordinances. I'm journaling through this Psalm and have found it very meaningful.

Heth. 

⁵⁷ The Lord is my portion;
I have promised to keep Your words.

Father, You are the lover of my soul,

I promise to keep close to you and keep your words.

⁵⁸ I sought Your favor with all my heart;
Be gracious to me according to Your word.

Father, I seek you with all my heart, most of the time. Help me give my all to you.

Be kind and gracious to me as your word promises.

⁵⁹ I considered my ways
And turned my feet to Your testimonies.

Father, I think about my purpose now in life and seek your direction

I am studying your Word daily.

 
⁶⁰ I hastened and did not delay
To keep Your commandments.

Father, I hurry and don’t linger

To obey Your commandments.

⁶¹ The cords of the wicked have encircled me,
But I have not forgotten Your law.

Father, an evil world view had trapped my world,

But I am now wrapped up in your your law, your church, and your love.

⁶² At midnight I shall rise to give thanks to You
Because of Your righteous ordinances.

Father, I give thanks to you every time I wake up during the night.

Thank you for your righteous laws and your righteous character.

⁶³ I am a companion of all those who fear You,
And of those who keep Your precepts.

Father, I am friends with those who fear and love You,

And the true believers who keep your commands.

⁶⁴ The earth is full of Your loving kindness, O Lord;
Teach me Your statutes.

Father, This world is full of Your unfailing love,

Teach me your commands and your ways.

Blessings, Dottie