This is the definitive and everlasting difference between Christianity and any other religion in the entire world. This is the cutting edge - we Christians stand or fall by this. For further reading I recommend that you read 1 Corinthians chapter 15 - read the entire chapter. If you don't have a Bible, I suggest that now is the best time to get your own copy. You may also download a copy and I recommend the New International Version.
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The society,
internationally and locally in South Africa, are corrupt.
There is fierce battle
for truth and authenticity.
It is a given in
today’s world that Christianity is mistrusted, under suspicion and belittled. Anything
remotely connected to Christianity is instantly suspicions and anathema. The
sordid sad history of the Church with the crusades are partly to blame, but not
entirely. The entire world ethos is antagonistic towards the pure undiluted
Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Have you considered the
claims of Christianity? Have you considered the evidence for the Cross? I
submit to you that it is satisfactory, authentic and reliable.
What authentic and reliable
evidence are available about those things that happened 2000 years ago? There
is no better evidence available than the Scriptures themselves. And then you
have corroborating and contemporary documents as well.
Let us just consider
the uniqueness of the Scriptures. We should not only read the New Testament in
isolation although that will bring us a very long way. I am convinced that an
honest open-minded seeker/skeptic should also read the Old Testament [O.T.] –
because Christ is foreshadowed there. In other words, He is “hidden” if you
will, in the Old Testament and revealed in the New Testament.
Do we have contemporary
and corroborative write-ups about Christ? In other words, do we have ancient
documents that refer to Him? Reliable documents? Authentic documents? I submit
to you that those documents are there. This write-up of mine is not a treatise
about His crucifixion and resurrection, but just to whet your appetite and
present a short cogent argument for those claims. I have considered it and have
accepted it in my life. He changed my life and He works everyday in my life to
change it to His likeness. I suggest to you that you should use this write-up
to start your own open-minded investigation.
If you don’t have a
Bible, please go out and buy one. The alternative is to download one from the
internet and I suggest that you download the New International Version.
A few days after His
ascension into heaven on a cloud [there were eye witnesses for that event] His
disciples and other people were gathered in a room in Jerusalem and were
discussing these things that happened. They were discussing the crucifixion;
there were thousands of people in Jerusalem that gathered for the yearly
Passover celebrations. The judicial killing of Jesus took place just outside
the walls of Jerusalem and were a public spectacle – outside on a hill He hang
on a cross flanked by two criminals. People walked past and saw it, and
ridiculed Him. Now, a couple of weeks later there was this gathering and Peter
got up and he was addressing the people in attendance. He just knew that the
death and resurrection of Christ was going to be extremely controversial. I ask
you to take your Bible and turn to the Book of Acts the whole of chapter 1 and
then concentrate on verses 21 – 26. That is the crux of the claims of
Christianity: the death and resurrection of Christ. If you can break that, you
break Christianity. You will find the same argument in Corinthians chapter 15.
The logic is pure and convincing.
The tools and insights
of academic biblical scholarship deepen our engagement with the Scriptures as a
living text in a modern world.
The images below will guide you to search the internet for these sources and then you should engage with it. I am not going to do that for you – this is the challenge for you to take and run with it. I am confident that you will do that and that you will not be intellectually and spiritually lazy - this last remark is intended for Christians as well as non-Christians.
My
wife and I spent about a week in the Drakensberg, Kwa-Zulu Natal during November
2020. The mountains are absolutely magnificent and majestic! There are so many
write-ups about mountains in the different languages of the world that I cannot
and dare not try to copy or to emulate – I will fall flat on my face before I
even start. You can search my blog and have a look at my write-up about Cathedral Peak.
The Christian Scriptures are awash with references to mountains and the interaction we human beings have had in the very distant past. During 1992 a Rabbi instructed me to get a special translation of the Torah; he was so forceful that I immediately went to the Jewish Bookshop and got my copy. It was translated by the gifted Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan who unfortunately and untimely passed away. But his living legacy is alive and well not only in his original LIVING TORAH translation, but also in the translation of the entire Jewish Scriptures. And it is from that, that I take my inspiration for this blog publication.
The LIVING NACH SACRED WRITINGS – a new translation Based on traditional Jewish sources - quotes Psalm 121: 1 – 2 as follows: “I lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where will my help come? My help is from God, Maker of heaven and earth.”
How powerful are these words!
I stagger under the power of these concepts – and you?
Do you have enough faith to go without these powerful concepts? I don’t.
Having been in those towering Drakensberg mountains, it re-enforces the above quote. I believe these and try to live thereby moment by moment. When I look at my onion seeds these words flood my mind. When I look at my giant dahlias a.k.a. dinner plate dahlias, that I propagate in my garden, these words come to mind. Moment by moment I make progress.
I was fortunate to get some unique seeds from the veld in Dullstroom, Mpumalanga and it started sprouting on my side table where I sit and read in my lounge. Just, like that, in the open and even close to soil. My wife shouted at me while I was in my office tending to my legal work and I got such a fright because she never shouts at me. And yet, that day, she shouted. I jumped up and ran towards the lounge and she just pointed her finger at the seeds in the open plastic bag and said to me: “Look!” Yes, there they were sprouting on my little side table. Now you wonder what kind of seeds are those? Seeds from veldplants. Brunsvigia radulosa – also known as tumble weed or the candelabra flower.
Look at my photos of the plants in the veld and the seeds in my container in my kitchen.
I was struck by the thought that plants grow specifically to multiply! My gardener from Malawi planted five seeds from the Malawian pumpkin; I harvested hundreds of seed from just one pumpkin. Have you ever seen onion seeds? Tiny little things, but brim-full of life. Carrot seeds? Have a look. Look at a corn cob – and think of an agriculture land full of corn. Millions of seeds that bristle with life. This is what carrot seeds look like. Wow!
I took some shop bought pineapples and used those tops to start growing my own pineapples. Our daughter is very keen on growing papaya trees from the seeds she harvests from shop bought papayas; and then she gives it to friends.
Surrounded by mountains and veggies seeds! These blessings tend to over power me and leave me almost speechless – that is the reason why I am writing this on my blog.
ZUMA
SHOULD BE PROSECUTED WITHOUT DELAY
I am writing as an individual that is extremely concerned about the apparent raping of our legal system and the apparent inaction of the prosecuting authorities to act speedily and decisively against the former President of the Republic of South Africa, Jacob Zuma. The short history behind it is that Zuma was subpoenaed by the Zondo-commission into State Capture to give evidence. Zuma walked out and now refused to return even in the face of the highest court in South Africa, the Constitutional Court, that ordered him to do so. This can be accessed on the internet because it is awash with many, many articles about this; you can click on this link just to whet your appetite click on this link.
If you have the inclination to read more about this saga, you can follow
all the links to your heart’s desire!
In the meantime, 233 individuals and 59 organisations came together and discussed this sorry state of affairs. They issued a press statement on 22 March 2021. This date was not accidental or chosen at random. I am sure that these guys and girls sat and debated a most opportune time to issue such a statement. Do you want to read their statement? Click on this link.
The title is significant: THE ASSAULT ON SOUTH AFRICA’S CONSTITUTIONAL
DEMOCRACY: A CALL TO UNITED ACTION.
It is also rather conspicuous that two of South Africa’s Nobel Prize winners
were NOT signatories to this declaration.
President F.W. De
Klerk you will recall, was president of South Africa and he got the Nobel Prize
for his sterling work by unbanning a whole lot of organisations and his contribution
towards peace in SA. The Norwegian Nobel Institute issued a specific citation
setting out the reasons why he was selected – you can access it by clicking on this link.
And now, he had this wonderful opportunity to act and yet he remains
silent.
Even his F.W. De Klerk Foundation remains silent.
Archbishop Desmund Tutu is also silent about this initiative and yet he was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize as well; to read his citation, please click on this link.
Oh, my word, sorry, I almost forgot to tell you more about the date it
was released! It was released the long weekend while peace loving South Africans
celebrated Human Rights Day. Although the statement does not name Jacob Zuma by
name, it was a necessary implication that it does refer to that man.
If you really want to get confused as to what this man JZ can glibly say, click on this link
A man of contradictions? Not only that, but he reminds me of contortionist,
chameleon and octopus with multiple fingers in many pies.
In the meantime, a teenage girl was jailed for failing to appear in a court in Kwa-Zulu Natal! Look at this headline of the article: KZN TEEN BULLY CURRENTLY SERVING TIME IN JAIL FOR NOT APPEARING IN COURT Read the report by clicking on this link
And Zuma defies the Con Court and he is walking around!
I appeal to all who read this blogpost to spread the news further afield.
My wife and I went to Cathedral Park Hotel during November 2020. And it was such a blessed experience - we met the most wonderful people. Please have a look at my short audio-visual that I created and you will read their names. They told us stories about their lives and we in exchange told them stories.
While surrounded by majestic mountains, I constantly thought of my seedlings and cuttings of plants that I cultivate back home. Being surrounded by these mountains I was in awe of God's handiwork. But, having referred to my seedlings, what I see happening there, is just as awesome as those mountains. I have the utmost privilege to actually work with the plants and experience how they grow and thrive and eventually producing fruit, flowers or vegetables. And my chickens? They produce eggs for my household.
I can carry on but will leave you to think about your interaction with nature. Please tell by writing to me: neelscoertse@wirelessza.co.za
Please visit my GALLERY page.
Thank your for visiting my page and I trust that you have received a blessing.
