Bible Archaeology

 

The Hittites

Did you know that the Bible was once mocked by historians for its references to a people called The Hittites as no other literature spoke of such a civilization? Critics used to say this was evidence that the Bible is fiction. However, archaeological excavations in the 1950's found the remains of the Hittite empire in the area where the Bible said it was (Turkey/Syria), and Carbon-14 dating tests prove that it existed at the time stated in the Bible (1375-1200 B.C.). Since then, an abundance of further evidence on the Hittites has been unearthed.

 

Sargon's Winged Bulls.



 

Sargon King of Assyria

It was once claimed there was no Assyrian king named Sargon as recorded in Isaiah 20:1, because this name was not known in any other record. Then, Sargon's palace was discovered in Dur-Sharrukin, Iraq. The very event mentioned in Isaiah 20, his capture of Ashdod, was recorded in the palace walls! Even more, fragments of a stela (a poetic eulogy) memorializing the victory were found at Ashdod itself. The palace was adorned with wall reliefs, and the gates were flanked with winged bulls shedu statues, which can now be seen in many western museums, including the Louvre in Paris and the British Museum. As Sargon was killed during a battle in 705 BC, his son and successor Sennacherib abandoned the project, and relocated the capital to Nineveh, leading to the eventual complete abandonment of Dur-Sharrukin. The site was rediscovered in 1843 by Paul-Émile Botta, the French consul at Mosul, although he believed he had found the biblical Nineveh. The artefacts from the excavations were taken to the Louvre museum in Paris.  

Jericho

 

Jericho

Is there any physical evidence for the Exodus described in the Bible? If you were to read the popular press, you would come to the conclusion that not only was there no evidence, but the evidence actually contradicted known archaeology. One such article recently appeared in Time Magazine...However, extremely strong evidence for the validity of the Exodus has been published in the scientific journals and never make it to the popular press. One of these studies examined the demise of Jericho (after the Exodus). Drs. Hendrik J. Bruins and Johannes van der Plicht reported in the prestigious British journal, Nature, that the destruction of Jericho was dated to 1580 B.C. (using 14C dating). This date is significant, since several archaeologists have insisted that Jericho was destroyed by the Egyptians between 1550 and 1300 B.C. The recent study discredits the Egyptian theory, since the date is much too old.

Third Century Roman Mosaic.

 

Jesus Worship

Dan Brown's book, and movie adaptation, The Da Vinci Code, makes the claim that Christianity as we know it today was not invented until the fourth century, after the council of Nicaea. Sceptics often claim that …the worship of Jesus was not "invented" until that time. Now, the discovery of a third century church in Megiddo, Israel discredits that claim.

While digging to expand the Israeli prison at Megiddo, Israel, prisoners found a large tile floor. Further excavation revealed the remnants of the walls of the church, within a larger Roman villa. In addition to beautiful fish mosaics, a number of inlaid inscriptions were found in the tile. The site was dated to the third century through pottery remnants (first half of the third century) and the style of Greek writing in the inscriptions. One inscription indicated that Gaianus, a Roman military officer, helped pay for the mosaic. A second inscription was in remembrance of four Christian women (maybe martyrs?) - three with Greek names, and the fourth with a Roman name. However, the most compelling inscription is the one that was a tribute to Jesus, "Akeptous, the God-loving, offered this table for (the) god Jesus Christ, as a remembrance." Obviously, the discovery of a third century inscription calling Jesus God discredits the idea that Jesus Christ was not worshipped until the fourth century. The discovery of a 3rd century Christian church at Megiddo, Israel, along with an inscription to the "god Jesus Christ" confirms that Christians worshipped Jesus Christ as God before the council of Nicaea. 

(Thanks to Vincent McCann and Rich Deem and others for much of the content.)

 

Stockport Pastor Assaulted in Broad Daylight (*some may find this disturbing.)

It seems as if I have gone over the events of that strange day many times in my mind. But perhaps it will be of benefit to others if I retell the thoughts, feelings and actions that preceded, accompanied and followed the vicious assault that occurred on that unforgettable Saturday afternoon.

It was a wet day in February 2014 when I stood waiting for two friends who were coming to support me in the preaching of the gospel. I had preached in the open-air for about four years and whilst I had received a number of threats, had things thrown at me and been punched (rather limply) in the chest, I never really suffered much more, than mildly unpleasant objections for the sake of the gospel.

As I arrived in Stockport it was raining, so I stood under a canopy near the town centre and began to hand out some tracts. As I stood there it seemed to me as if the Holy Spirit filled my heart with grace and a real sense of God's presence. A warm joy began to fill my soul, the culmination of a number of days in which I had felt extraordinarily close to the Lord. I looked up and saw my friends approaching.

There were smiles, handshakes and after a brief chat we bowed our heads and prayed. Then, as I had done many, many times before, I stood on my little box and began to preach the gospel. As I started to read from Romans chapter one, I was approached by a man dressed in the unmistakable orange robes of a Hare Krishna devotee (we had spoken before.) He put his hands together and bowed, then began to engage with me with questions. He came very close to me and his questions began to be more and more insistent, although still respectful. He held up a small card with some writing about Jesus on it and said "please read this out." I declined. Again he insisted; again I declined. After this he decided to read it out loudly himself, more or less preaching in my place. I instinctively resisted this state of affairs by quoting aloud John 3:16. He was not pleased. "Is heaven full of people like you, sir," he said through teeth clenched in a smile. Before I could answer, the question came again... and again. His implication was obvious and derogatory. An an ad hominem attack is tiresome and rarely profitable for anything; I just did not appreciate how physical that attack would become.



So there I was, effectively stopped from preaching. Incapacitated: A recipient of hostile questioning, bored; trying to figure out a way of returning to the activity of evangelism, and that's when everything changed.

His expression never changed, his posture never changed, his hands may still have been clasped in prayer and yet his words suddenly became very different. Through gritted teeth and frozen smile he said "I am going to knock you off your f***ing box." So surprised was I, that I nearly fell off my box! Then everything went black; just for an instant... and I felt pain. I had been punched in the side of the head; then came another and another, my glasses flew off my head and I landed somewhere on the floor. Continuing his diatribe, he hurled my now broken spectacles at me and began to rant something that sounded like, "The demi-gods are angry, the demi-gods are angry!" as my friend attempted to stand between us. I told him to move away, as I feared that he also would be hit. Thoughts of my wife and children flashed through my mind. Less than an hour ago I had been tucking my two year old daughter up in bed for her afternoon nap, now I was picking myself up from the ground! I denounced the man's actions as sin and prayed that God would have mercy on him.

As I tried to regain some sense of reality, it seemed to me as if I was alternately experiencing a dream and then (as my ear began to throb with pain) I was thrust back into the reality of being a victim of assault in broad daylight, in a packed shopping centre, on a Saturday afternoon.

Eventually the man stormed off and as some degree of equilibrium returned. I stood up and began to preach again. In disbelief, like a recurrent nightmare, I saw that my preaching had brought the man back again. His face was still contorted and angry; he showed no remorse, no empathy and things were about to get even worse!



 I moved away from him and stood quietly around the corner and began to hand out gospel tracts. My head ached and my hands were trembling. I blinked, trying to focus without my glasses, it felt strange to be outdoors without them. He moved menacingly towards me. His words were chilling, "If you stand on that box and preach again" he said, "I will kill you!" He repeated this phrase about six times. I replied, that I was not preaching anything and was simply standing on the pavement. He smiled and his whole face seemed to me to take on an otherworldly appearance. Then he deliberately and violently thrust his head forward into my nose. My nose exploded in blood (I heard someone groan audibly) and it poured onto the pavement and onto my leaflets. I tried to stop the blood, but it just kept running down my fingers and over the sleeves of my coat. A nearby busker held his violin to his chest and looked on in horror, as if he could not take in what he had just witnessed. An Asian man ran over with a handful of kitchen-roll and one of my friends returned with tissues from the nearby "pound shop." I looked around me: No policemen, no security guards no one stopping. Sometimes preaching the gospel can feel as if one is standing alone. Yet as the Apostle Paul says in 2 Timothy 4:17 "Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me and strengthened me..."

A little while later an elderly woman, observing my injuries, asked me, "Did you fall off your box?" I almost burst out laughing! The attack seemed to temporarily affect, confuse and accelerate my emotions.

I struggled for a few days with irritability, headaches, difficulty in concentration and other symptoms consistent with concussion. I informed the police (they gave him a caution), I dug out an old pair of spectacles and I tried to get back to the business of being a husband, father and Pastor.

I have learnt a lot from my encounter with violence; much of it about myself. I have learnt to forgive, I have learnt to conquer fear (I suffered with brief moments of irrational panic for about twenty-four hours after the assault.) I have learnt that I am not quite as indestructible as I had thought! I am more cautious about preaching on my own now and do not take the gospel out without a friend at my side, I also take care to pray considerably beforehand. Moreover, I have begun to see the truth of those familiar words in Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God..."

Paul Jennings.

Christianity Vs. Churchianity

 

“But they [Mary and Joseph] supposing him [Jesus] to be in the company went a day’s journey ; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.”  Luke 2:44 (KJV)

Dear friends, the above scripture tells us that Mary and Joseph as they travelled home from Jerusalem,  after attending the Feast of the Passover, thinking their twelve  year old son was with them, they discovered, alas, he was missing. In panic they returned to Jerusalem to find him three days later, in the temple. Mary was out of her mind with worry and said to Jesus “Son why have you done this to us? Look, your father and I have sought you anxiously”. Jesus replied “Why is it that you sought me? Did you not know I must be about my Fathers business? “

So today I ask you, are you about your Fathers business? For that matter, am I? Are you like Mary and Joseph, supposing him [Jesus] to be in your company? “Well I go to church on a Sunday, and my Mum and Dad were Christians,” that may be your reply. Going to church on a Sunday simply means you go to church on a Sunday; that does not make you a Christian.

So is Jesus really in your company? Can you be found each day about your Fathers business? You may well say, “don’t be silly, of course I am a Christian.” The very use of that term suggests there is something wrong. There is no “of course” about being a Christian. It is something entirely new, described as a “new birth,” a “new creation,” a life changing happening. Can it be said you reply” by the grace of God I am what I am” so we must be about our Fathers business.  I say that on the authority of scripture John 14:23 “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my father will love him and we will come unto him…” So as we look at our text once again I ask, are you assuming, as Mary and Joseph assumed that the Lord is with you? Or will he say” I never knew you depart from me.”  Are you concerned for that lost soul? He may be an Atheist, a Mormon, a Jehovah's Witness, they are lost souls.  Are you really about your Fathers business, or do you have Churchianity?

(Article written by William Bacon – First and LastMinistries.)

 

John Fletcher: His Life and His Legacy.

 

 

John William Fletcher (September 12, 1729 – August 14, 1785), was born at Nyon in Switzerland, his original name being de la Fléchère.

Fletcher was a contemporary of John Wesley (the founder of Methodism), a key interpreter of Wesleyan theology in the 18th century, and one of Methodism's first great theologians. He sometimes preached with John Wesley and assisted him with clerical duties in Wesley's London chapels.  Of French Huguenot stock, his given name was actually Jean Guillaume de la Fléchère. Fletcher was renowned in the Britain of his day for his piety and generosity; when asked if he had any needs, he responded, "...I want nothing but more grace."

In 1757 Fletcher was ordained as deacon (6 March 1757) and priest (13 March 1757) in the Church of England, after preaching his first sermon at Atcham being appointed curate to the Rev. Rowland Chambre in the parish of Madeley, Shropshire, whom he succeeded as Vicar of Madeley.

 

“His prescription for this success appears to have been a mixture of prevailing prayer, personal devotion to the Person of Christ, intensive study of the Scriptures, social concern for the flock, and a willing readiness to visit anyone who was in any form of trouble. He had a special corner in his study which he favoured as a place to pray; there he knelt for hours every day-the wall opposite bearing the mark of his agonised petitions. For two evenings a week he sat up reading, in order to obtain a better understanding of the Christian faith, until-just before dawn and overcome with sleep-he retired for a few hours. He organised, and played a large part in, care for the aged, the poor, the dying, widows and orphans. He showed a typical evangelical compassion for the social needs of those around him, and gave sacrificially in order that his vision might become reality. His giving was so extensive that little was left of his stipend for the maintenance of his house and for meals.” (An Appreciation of John Fletcher – David R. Smith)

 

In theology he upheld the Arminian doctrines of free will and unlimited atonement, against the Calvinist  doctrines of unconditional election and limited atonement. His Arminian theology is most clearly outlined in his famous Checks to Antinomianism. He attempted to confront his (and John Wesley's) theological adversaries with courtesy and fairness, although some of his contemporaries judged him harshly for his writings. His resignation on doctrinal grounds of the superintendency (1768–1771) of the countess of Huntingdon's college at Trevecca left no unpleasantness. Fletcher was characterized by saintly piety, rare devotion, and blamelessness of life, and the testimony of his contemporaries to his godliness is unanimous.

Fletcher became the chief systematizer of Methodist theology. Addressing Wesley's position on the sovereignty of God as it relates to human freedom, Fletcher developed a particular historical perspective espousing a series of three dispensations (time periods) in which God worked uniquely in creation. (This is not to be confused with Dispensational theology, which was fashioned long after Fletcher's death.) Through these dispensations, God's sovereignty was revealed not in terms of ultimate power but in terms of an unfathomable love. Fletcher sought to emphasize human freedom while connecting it firmly with God's grace.

He typically wrote of God in terms of divine moral qualities rather than in terms of power or wrath. His themes were:

"1. Man is utterly dependent upon God's gift of salvation, which cannot be earned but only received; and

2. The Christian religion is of a personal and moral character involving ethical demands on man and implying both human ability and human responsibility."

 

 John Fletcher himself summarized his theological position thus:

"The error of rigid Calvinists centers in the denial of that evangelical liberty, whereby all men, under various dispensations of grace, may without necessity choose life...And the error of rigid Arminians consists in not paying a cheerful homage to redeeming grace, for all the liberty and power which we have to choose life, and to work righteousness since the fall...To avoid these two extremes, we need only follow the Scripture-doctrine of free-will restored and assisted by free-grace."

 

 



Review 2013

Here are a few pictures that tell the story of our year as a church in 2013. We hope you enjoy them!

At the start of the year, Kirsty and I had a newborn baby girl to consider. So we started January a little gently. Kirsty (and baby Elisabeth) joined the Ladies Prayer group for a meal...

 

 

and I did some filming for a short documentary I made called "The Secret War- Part 1 and 2"

 

 

In February we did a leaflet drop in the local area of a thousand leaflets and called the project "Good Morning Stockport!"

 

 

 

In March/April we celebrated our second Anniversary as a bone fide church...hallelujah! 

 

 

April was a very busy month. In fact it was "Mark Month!" We took the Gospel of Mark as our theme and... preached on it, studied it in House Group...

 

 

Read the whole of the Gospel of Mark out in our town Centre...

 

 

...and sent "Mark Facts" to everyone via text.

 

 

 

We also managed to upset a few Jehovah's Witnesses when Norman Lowndes and I leafleted the local Kingdom Hall's "Memorial Service."

 

 

In May we linked up with UK Partnerships for Christ, to put on a Ex-JWs for Jesus Day. It was an outstanding success, with Christians coming from all over the country, including at least two current JWs, who have subsequently left the Watchtower, one of whom has been born again! The video of the testimonies from this event is still bearing fruit now and has recently resulted in the salvation of another lady who was encouraged to leave the Witnesses after watching the videos.

 

 

 

 

 

It was also a blessing to baptise Charlotte and we were very thankful to Reddish Christian Fellowship for the use of their Baptistry.

 

 

 

In June we started the first of a three part outreach called "The Big Three!"

 

 

We preached, testified and gave away free Bibles in Stockport.

 

 

There was real spiritual opposition, so oppressive that many said they felt it.

 

 

As we carried on through the summer, we got some new people...praise the Lord!

 

 

We hit Stockport Carnival at two locations for our second summer outreach...

 

 

 

We gave away free Bibles and Christian literature and offering cold drinks and gospel tracts to those watching the Carnival procession.

 

Matthew and I managed to fit in a visit to North Cotes (New Tribes Missions) Bible College at the invitation of our good friend Dan. We stayed a few days, sat in on lectures and got to chat to some of the students and Lecturers.

 

 

 

 

We got back in time for our third and final outreach of the summer.

 

 

I also hooked up with my good friend Jason Thickpenny of UK Partnerships for Christ and made friends with a whole bunch of Christians witnessing at the Mormon Pageant in Chorley.

 

 

We slept (for free) on the floor of Chapel House Christian Fellowship and although the floor was hard, my heart was warmed by the fellowship I had with the brothers and sisters I met in those few days.

 

 

 

 

 

We were even allowed in to see the Mormon Pageant itself, although we had a security guard escort us...and they were rather large!

 

 

 

 

On October 5th, Tom and I went with some Christian friends down to the King James Bible Seminar in Dudley. It was a real blessing to hear Dr Jack Moorman defend the AV 1611 with skill and authority and we appreciated the hospitality of Hellier Street Gospel Hall.

 

 

 

As we headed into late October it was my great pleasure to ordain our brother Matthew Purves as an Elder of Stockport Evangelical Church. He has often provided wise counsel and his teaching has edified the Fellowship.

 

  

On the 31st October we held our Reformation Day Celebration. Instead of Halloween, I discovered that some churches have had a tradition of remembering this date in 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the Wittenberg church door. It sounded like a good idea to me, so we had a meal, recreated the event...

 

 

had readings, teaching and singing; and remembered the martyrs that had given so much.

 

 

 

We also got a visit from Pastor Ian Moulton whose church in Chorley had graciously offered their building when we did the Mormon Outreach. Pastor Ian spoke on The Dangers of the Emergent Church.

 

 

In November Matthew and I were invited to speak at an Ex-Jw Conference down in Southend, called "Finding JESUS for Jehovah's Witnesses", organised by Martin Sarfas. It was a blessing to meet up with old friends again and to hear great testimonies. We left early as it was a long drive back and listened to an excellent sermon on the way home by Major Ian Thomas.

 

 

 

We finished a busy year by celebrating Christ's birth with our Christmas Carol Service. We only sent out about five-hundred leaflets, but we got a number of people in who had never been to the church before. The children also performed a Nativity and we used a projector and Scripture readings to tell the story of when "the Word became flesh."

 

 

We look forward to what the Lord is going to do next year and hope maybe you will pay a visit to Stockport Evangelical Church.

 

To everyone in the Fellowship, thank you so much for all your support and prayers throughout the year, for all the kind things you have said to encourage me and all the hard work you have put in to making 2013 such a successful year for the church. I look forward to pastoring you all for as long as the Lord wills. Happy New Year!