World-class Biblical Archaeology Experts with Jeremiah Johnston on MyFaithRadio

Are you ready to listen to some of the best Christian thinkers in the world talk about today’s biggest issues? Every week, MyFaithRadio puts out a new episode of the Jeremiah Johnston Show and you can tune in Saturdays at 11 AM (CT) to hear about Biblical history, apologetics, Christian values in our day-to-day lives, and much more! Recently, Jeremiah has hosted a string of guests whose names you might recognize:

Eli Shukron, a renowned Israeli archaeologist who discovered the Pool of Siloam. Check out the episode here!

Dr. Craig Evans, a New Testament scholar who has lectured at some of the most prestigious universities in the world. Check out the episode here!

And author Jerry Jenkins, who wrote the Left Behind novels with Tim LaHaye and worked with Billy Graham in the writing and compiling of his memoirs. Check out the episode here!

These episodes are a great way to learn and get inspired! But how is Biblical archaeology tied to our faith in this day and age? Well, on the show, Dr. Evans put it like this:

“To deny the existence of Jesus, not only do you deny literature – Christian, Jewish, Greek, and Roman – but you have to ignore archaeology as well. If the writers of the gospels didn’t know what they were talking about, how did they get so much right?”

So Biblical archaeology proves that what we believe is grounded in historical facts. Many skeptics today try to claim that there is no real evidence that Jesus was who he claimed to be and that the New Testament writers made up their accounts to fit their beliefs. But as Dr. Evans points out, there are other sources that confirm, not only the historical fact of Jesus having lived but the accuracy of the contextual facts mentioned in the Gospels. So when people come to us and ask, “Why are you a Christian?” Biblical archaeology makes it easy for us to respond. “Because I know the Bible is true, and history proves it.”

During the course of each of these interviews, Jeremiah Johnston asked his guests about their upcoming travels to Israel. These three leaders, Eli Shukron, Dr. Craig Evans, and Jerry Jenkins, will all be in the Holy Land this September, and you have a chance to join them! Join our Christian luxury cruise and Israel tour for a chance to enjoy hearing from these three remarkable experts. Travel to Jerusalem, Galilee, Bethlehem, Rome, Crete, Malta and more! Spend time cruising through the Mediterranean on a 5-star cruise ship and stay at the historic Waldorf Astoria in Jerusalem where you will have a hosted dinner and a lecture from Dead Sea Scrolls curator, Dr. Adolfo Roitman! A luxury cruise ship, unique destinations, and the best Biblical archaeologists, and scholars in the world!

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source https://livingpassages.com/2019/02/jeremiah-johnston-myfaithradio/

The Left Behind Author is Digging into Biblical Archaeology

Jumping back and forth in time at a breakneck pace, Dead Sea Rising is a thriller as only Jerry B. Jenkins can tell it. Biblical history combines with gripping contemporary mystery. Just be aware — you’ll be hooked.

— James Scott Bell, International Thriller Writers Award Winner

From our favorite #1 New York Times bestselling author, comes a new work of Christian fiction grounded in archaeological and historical facts. Left Behind author Jerry B. Jenkins new work is shaking up the mystery genre by digging into ancient times. Taking you all the way back to 2000 BC, Dead Sea Rising follows the story of Terah, the father of Abraham, who serves in the court of King Nimrod. The story also follows Nicole, a modern day archaeologist who is attempting to dig for Biblical artifacts in Saudi Arabia and gets caught up in a dark and dangerous plot.

Why it’s important to read Christian fiction

There are thousands of entertainment options in our digital media-drenched world, but only a small percent of those entertainment options offer a Christian worldview that can help guide readers, watchers, and listeners, towards the truth. Most books and movies today, even those that are supposedly “family friendly”, contain messages that promote immorality, self-indulgence, atheism, violence, and contempt for the Christian faith. That is why it’s more important than ever to engage in entertainment that helps Christians to pursue their relationship with God and lead non-believers to the truth. While books like Dead Sea Rising may be Christian fiction, they can still serve as a great resource for helping to reach out to non-believer, or those who have walked away from the Faith.

What’s next for Jerry Jenkins?

Dead Sea Rising is the first book in Jerry’s new Dead Sea Series. As added inspiration for the books, Jerry will be traveling to Israel and the Mediterranean in September of 2019 with the series’ consultant, Dr. Craig Evans. Dr. Evans is a world-renowned, New Testament scholar who has been featured on documentaries focusing on the life of Jesus and the work of the Early Church. Together, Jerry and Dr. Evans will bringing unique insight and leadership to this incredible Christian cruise that will take travelers to Rome, Malta, Crete, Jerusalem, Qumran, Bethlehem, Galilee, and more!

 

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source https://livingpassages.com/2019/01/left-behind-author-archaeology/

Joel Richardson on Why Israel Matters

What is the Book of Revelation really about? A lot of Christians have wrestled with the End-Times prophecy over the years, but Joel Richardson sees it this way: the specifics of the End-Times are just steps leading up to the most significant event – the return of Jesus.

Jesus should always be the focus of our Biblical study. But it is still important to understand the role of Israel in the End-Times? Does Israel (as a nation) still have a role in the future fulfillment of Scripture?

“There is a restoration of the kingdom of Israel that is coming.” Joel said, addressing the congregation of Grace Church St. Louis.

During his address, Joel focused particularly on the covenant God made with Israel through the Old Testament Patriarchs, going all the way back to Genesis 15:

And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. – Genesis 15:5-7

God made a direct promise to the father of the Jewish nation, that the Jewish people would grow beyond number. God also told Abraham that the reason Abraham had been brought out of Ur was so that he could take possession of the land of Israel.

In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates… – Genesis 15:18

Not only did God give the land to Abraham, but to ALL of Abraham’s descendants, the land of Israel was their birthright forever.

“The Lord is not just the God of Israel” Joel continued. “It has always been for everybody, however, his original plan: to begin with this piece of land …has never changed.”

In conclusion, we see, as Joel points out, that Israel was the means by which God reached out to all the other nations and kingdoms of the earth. It was by Abraham’s bloodline that the Messiah came to be born. Israel mattered, will always matter, because it was through Israel that salvation was offered to the world by our Lord Jesus.

Israel will always be the promised land, that is one of the reasons why we hope you get a chance to see it for yourself! In April of 2019, Joel is traveling to Israel and he invites you to join him on a journey that will take in the best of the Biblical sites.

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source https://livingpassages.com/2019/01/joel-richardson-israel-tour/

The Bible is True and Apologist Frank Turek Can Prove It

Apologist Frank Turek doesn’t shy away from difficult questions. As a Christian speaker, Frank spends a lot of time traveling to college campuses across the country answering questions from young people who want to know why Christian’s believe what they believe.

Some college kids today behave a little like the ancient Greeks from the apostle Paul’s time. When Paul spoke to the Greeks at Mars Hill, they wanted logical proof, if Paul was going to convince them to believe in his God, his argument had to be convincing enough to win them over. Here is part of what Paul said to them:

…God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.

Paul wanted to show the Athenians that there was no logic to believing in the idols they worshiped. The true God does not need anything and does not exist to do our will. Rather God, who made all mankind in his image, made us so that we might know him.

Some of the Athenians mocked Paul after he spoke. Today, there are still “logical” men who mock Christians for believing what they believe and that is why young people need to hear from apologists like Frank Turek. When Frank debates an Atheist or answers questions from an audience, he doesn’t deflect hard to answer questions with “Because the Bible says so.” The Bible is filled with truth, but truth is always supported by reason. The task of an apologist is to show why the Bible is right in order to demonstrate, just as Paul did, that the God we worship is the true God. A God who created the rules of logic, the laws of science, and every other demonstration of reason in a world that atheists’ try to claim is nothing more than the result of a random accident.

Ready to learn from one of the best apologists in the world? Frank Turek is traveling to the Mediterranean on a footsteps of Paul cruise featuring 7 days on a 5-star cruise ship and stops in Rome, Corinth, Santorini, Mykonos, Rhodes, Crete, Cenchreae, and of course, the city of Athens! During this time you will get to listen to Frank’s teaching while exploring some of the places where the apostle Paul did his missionary work in the days of the Early Church. This will be an incredible experience for Christian travelers looking for a chance to learn while relaxing and taking in the wonders of the Mediterranean!

The post The Bible is True and Apologist Frank Turek Can Prove It appeared first on Living Passages.

source https://livingpassages.com/2018/11/frank-turek-apologist/

Eli Shukron’s Newest Archaeological Find

Renown Archaeologist Eli Shukron has made the news once again. In todays feature on the jewishpress.com, Eli Shukron was interviewed on the newest archaeological discovery of a beautifully preserved, stone weight with the word Beka engraved on it. Shukron, who directed the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities department, explains in his interview the significance of the weight saying,

“When the half-shekel tax was brought to the Temple during the First Temple period, there were no coins, so they used silver ingots. In order to calculate the weight of these silver pieces they would put them on one side of the scales and on the other side they placed the Beka weight. The Beka was equivalent to the half-shekel, which every person from the age of twenty years and up was required to bring to the Temple.”

According to Shukron, “Beka weights from the First Temple period are rare; however this weight is even rarer, because the inscription on it is written in mirror script and the letters are engraved from left to right instead of right to left. It can therefore be concluded that the artist who engraved the inscription on the weight specialized in engraving seals, since seals were always written in mirror script so that once stamped the inscription would appear in regular legible script. “Apparently, the seal craftsman got confused when he engraved the inscription on the weight and mistakenly used mirror script as he was used to doing. From this mistake we can learn about the general rule: The artists who engraved weights during the First Temple period were the same artists who specialized in creating seals.”

See the full article and video interview here.

This sifting project in the Emek Tzurim National Park, is regularly featured on our Living Passages Israel Tours. Guests of the tour can take part in the archaeological experience by joining a team of archaeologists at the sifting site, where artifacts such as this stone weight, other coins, arrowheads, pottery, jewelry and metals can be discovered in the excavated soil. Even more exciting is that Eli Shukron has partnered with Living Passages to guide our Israel Travelers through his discoveries in the City of David.

Interested in joining archaeologist Eli Shukron in Israel? Check our upcoming Israel Tours to find one that is right for you.

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source https://livingpassages.com/2018/11/eli-shukron-news/

Alaska Vacation for Families with a Visit to the Iditarod Racing Dogs

There is no U.S. state that has Alaska’s extremes. With towering snowcapped mountains year-round, creeping glaciers, the midnight sun, and all-day darkness, the Alaskan landscape can be as chilling as it is captivating.

Beyond the topography and elements, the people and the culture have their own unique draw. One of the quintessential sports in Alaska is dogsledding.

Dogsledding once was a primary mode of transportation for many Alaskans and helped secure mail routes and other freight movements in Alaska. The snowmobile changed Alaska’s reliance on dogs, but mushers still use their teams of dogs for transportation, hauling, and fun. For those who book by January 1, 2019, you will get your fill of the latter with a free dogsled tour by Heather Siirtola.

Heather is a four-time Iditarod veteran who has made dogsledding a way of life. The Iditarod is a 1,000-mile race from Anchorage, in south-central Alaska, to Nome, on the western Bering Sea. It traces a course through rough terrain made of mountains, rivers, forests, tundra, and coastline.

It is known for its brutal intensity that comes from the combination of the weather, terrain, distance, and strategy.

Heather offers tours of her facility and a chance to meet her dogs. When asked about what makes sled dogs special Heather told us, “Sled dogs are unique, not only being work dogs of yesteryear but can cover more mileage faster than most other animals in the wild.” She brings 18 years of sledding experience and a team of dogs that areraring to go. Always ready to go partly because Heather told us it is not uncommon for her dogs to have acupuncture and massage done on them.

Join our Alaska vacation for families with Buddy and Kay Davis of Answers in Genesis in the summer of 2019. This tour is filled with a variety of Alaskan experiences for the whole family, such as a tundra safari, fishing, nature walk, gold panning, and a visit to Denali National Park. Buddy will offer creation-based teachings inspired by the surrounding topography and wildlife.

Book your Alaska Family Vacation before the end of the year and you can visit Heatherand her dogsled team for free.

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source https://livingpassages.com/2018/11/alaska-vacation-families/

Why Corinth is the Perfect Teaching Site on a Footsteps of Paul Greece Tour

Corinth is famous for being the early church to which Paul wrote the letters of First and Second Corinthians, containing some of the most well-known passages in the entire Bible. Along with the letters Paul wrote to the church there, he also visited and helped to establish a community of believers in the city. The population was likely 750,000 or more in Paul’s time and the city was absolutely central to trade and commerce. The size, historical significance, and Biblical importance of the city make it a crucial stop on any footsteps of Paul Greece tour. The city was important in ancient times and the lessons and instructions Paul wrote to the young church are particularly relevant now, when the world is returning to an idolatry of immoral lifestyles.

• The Bema Where Paul Stood Trial

Looking for something unique on a Christian tour? How about heading to the place where the apostle Paul himself stood trial before Gallio, the pro-consul of Corinth. But it wasn’t the Greek people of Corinth who brought Paul to trial, instead, it was the Corinthian Jews who claimed that Paul had violated Jewish Law. The Bema was the raised platform from which pro-consul Gallio pronounced judgment on Paul.

• Acrocorinth: The Ancient Fortress and Temple of the Corinthians

High above the city of Corinth, there is a steep rock that overlooks the town. Rising 1800 feet above the plains, Acrocorinth was once the seat of the Temple of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, whose worship contributed to the sexual immorality that Corinth was infamously known for.

• Erastus, the Chamberlain of the City

Paul had many friends in Corinth and one of the friends is named in Roman 16:23 was “Erastus the chamberlain of the city”. What is interesting about Erastus is that his existence seems to be confirmed by an inscription found east of the theater in Corinth. The inscription reads, ‘Erastus for his aedileship paved (this) at his own expense.’ Erastus seems to have been a man of wealth and position and was a friend of Paul’s, who contributed to the improvement and infrastructure of the city.

• The Synagogue of Corinth

The synagogue of Corinth was a hub of public debate when Paul came to the city. Acts 18:4 says “Every Sabbath he would argue in the Synagogue and would try to convince the Jews and Greeks”. It was because of Paul’s relentless preaching that the Corinthian Jews hatched their plot to put Paul on trial before the Roman Pro-consul Gallio.

• The Port of Cenchreae

Like several other Biblical figures, the apostle Paul dedicated himself to the Lord with a Nazarite Vow. According to the book of Numbers, those who took a Nazarite Vow were not to:

1. Partake in any fermented drink or consume grapes in any form.
2. Cut their hair for the duration of the vow.
3. Go near a dead body

When Paul stopped at the port of Cenchreae it was, according to the book of Acts, to have his head shaved in keeping with his vow. Biblical historians are unsure of whether Paul was beginning or concluding his vow in Cenchreae, but we know from archaeology that Cenchreae was a port city just outside of Corinth. The submerged remains of the Cenchreae Synagogue can still be seen from the shores.

Corinth is frequently chosen as a teaching destination by leaders on a footsteps of Paul Greece tour. The many points of Biblical and historical interest the city has to offer make it an ideal spot for teaching and instruction.

The post Why Corinth is the Perfect Teaching Site on a Footsteps of Paul Greece Tour appeared first on Living Passages.

source https://livingpassages.com/2018/11/corinth-footsteps-paul-greece-tour/