Dear Friends,
This week three men prayed with me according to the pattern of Luke 18:13 & Romans 10:9.
The first was a young man, married, living in Sweden. Our first meeting he cancelled shortly before the start, and the second scheduled meeting he missed because he forgot. I assured him that it’s easy to forget these so please let’s reschedule. We did and we finally met. He is a scientist studying Alzheimer’s Disease. We discussed that for a few minutes since my group has tangentially worked in that area as well. Here is what he had written to me:
“Hi, I do not understand the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ. Kindly,”
I asked if he believed in the physical resurrection. He replied:
“Hi again, I’m trying to understand what it means. I am convinced that the Gospel authors truly believed Jesus had risen. They were willing to give their life for what they believed. However, I don’t dare to say I believe in the resurrection of Christ since I feel I cannot comprehend such a miraculous event. To say I believe would for me belittle such an extraordinary event. How should I reason about this? Best,”
We met, I took him through the gospel message in 30 min, then we focused on the resurrection for 30 min, and he was open to pray and receive. He agreed to daily meditative reading of the Bible for 15 min, starting in John, and 13 weeks of discipleship. Chuck Lloyd arranged the mentor, relieving me of the burden of having to identify mentors after each conversion.
The next was a young man, married with two children, real estate developer, living in New Zealand. He wrote,
“Hi James, Greetings from Auckland, New Zealand! I just listened to your podcast with Dr. Safarti, and much of what you shared really resonated with me, particularly the idea that we are a while off explaining the origination of the first life! The thought of information as complicated as life coming from a purely chemical process just staggers me. I briefly researched this topic back in 2022, as I believe the answer to this question has profound implications for our lives, and will help inform the answers I’ll pass onto my Children as they grow up. The main reason I’m reaching out, though, is related to your conviction that the designer behind it all is the Judeo-Christian God—Jesus. You mentioned having evidence for Jesus’ resurrection. Is there a concise document, perhaps a one- or two-pager, that outlines the key evidence for this claim that got you across the line to become a “beliver”? I’d love to review such a document and then have a conversation with you about it. Many of the people I trust most in my life are Christians, but I personally struggle to see compelling evidence for Christ as God. While we seem to agree on the necessity of an intelligent designer, I feel there’s little beyond that which can link Jesus to being that designer which I qas hoping is where you can help. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. Best regards,”
I have not written my thoughts on this because many already have written on this topic, and I prefer to share in person to lead people all the way to salvation. However, for believers, I often suggest “The Resurrection of the Son of by God”, by N. T. Wright and “The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus,” by Michael R. Licona and Gary R. Habermas. In this case, this New Zealander needed salvation. So I pressed him and we met. It was a good thing that we did. Though he started out skeptical, he bowed to the evidence. It is compelling. He is in daily reading and in Bible study with a man whom Chuck arranged.
The third is a young man, early 20s, in college on the west coast of the US. He wrote,
“Greetings Dr. Tour, I am writing to request a Zoom call to hear about your story, and to talk with you about the reservations I have about becoming a Christian. I would be very grateful if you could help shed some light on my questions. Sincerely,”
We met. I shared. He was hesitant to pray because he said he would need 100% surety that Jesus rose from the dead, and that even 99% was insufficient. I then asked if he was 100% sure that George Washington was a real person. He said he was 100% sure of that. I asked, “How do you know?” The eye-witnesses are all dead. And even if one were still alive, they might be telling lies. How can you know anything from history with 100% certainty? It’s impossible. He agreed and we prayed, and he is now in daily reading and Bible study with Burt Brink.
I Cor 15:5 “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”
That simple message. There is none like it. Three young men on three different corners of the Earth, with three different areas of expertise, all bow at the gospel’s power.
God bless,
Jim Tour
