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Windmill Ministries - Newsletter - June 2008 Welcome to Windmill Ministries' June 2008 newsletter, our once-a-month update about our Christian evidences ministry, recent apologetic discoveries, answers to asked questions, books, an inspirational story or poem and so on. Always be prepared to give an answer to
everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that you
have. (1 Peter 3:15)
Are
you prepared?
I was not prepared when I faced these kind of questions as
a teenager and because of that, I lost my interest in God and the
Christian faith. I did not have clear answers and my commitment to God
just faded away. Let this not happen to you! Get prepared - grow your own
faith and be better equiped to share with others by learning about the
compelling evidences for the truth of
Christianity. |
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Recent
News: the Phoenix Mars Lander Is there Life on Mars? | ||
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Are we alone in the universe or is there life on other planets? And perhaps even as close our next door neighbor, the planet Mars? Mars itself is – because it is further away from our heat source the Sun – a cold desert planet. So far without any signs of life nor liquid water on the surface. In 2002 the Mars Odyssey Orbiter discovered that large amounts of frozen, below the surface, water (ice) might be present on Mars’ North pole. As water is an essential prerequisite for any life to exist, the Phoenix Mars Lander was dispatched to investigate. The Phoenix landed, safely and as scheduled, on May 25th, 2008. Now it is in the process of using its robot arm to scoop samples of Mars’ soil and examine these in its onboard lab for the presence of water and other substances as well as any signs of current or past life. What can we expect to find? Could there be any life on Mars? In many ways, Mars – just like Earth – is a very privileged planet. It is orbiting a steady burning star (our Sun) of the right size and age to provide a rather constant source of light and heat. Mars – just like Earth – is also in a perfectly suited solar system. Of the right age and providing protection from comets and asteroids through the presence of much larger planets (especially Jupiter) in its outer orbits. And Mars – just like Earth – is located at the likely only possible location in its galaxy (the Milky Way) that will provide enough building materials but is not in a (too) heavy populated area of solar systems. The vast, vast majority of solar systems in our (and other) galaxies are located near the center or on the spiral arms. These areas are overcrowded and therefore life destroying collisions (like on a busy intersection of highways) occur quite often. Only planets in solar systems in-between spiral arms (like our solar system) stand even a chance to provide a ‘safe’ environment for life to exist. So, Mars is off to a promising start and in a much better situation that any other planet we know that might have a chance to be habitable for life. But that does not mean that it is perfect for life (like Earth is). For starters, it is too cold. Even the simplest organic life forms require average temperatures above freezing and not exceeding the boiling point of water. Mars is therefore too cold with is average temperature below 0 degrees Fahrenheit.
And life requires liquid water. Water – and the presence of at least another 26 essential elements – is a prerequisite to even consider the possibility of life. Therefore the engineers at NASA targeted the Mars polar region not expecting to find current life but perhaps evidence of past life during a time when Mars might have been closer to the Sun and therefore having a more life-inviting temperature. Still even the presence of liquid water and all other required elements, like carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and so on are not enough to make a planet potentially habitable. Studying life on Earth we now understand and appreciate that organic life also requires other conditions to be ‘just right’, like rotation speed, mass and gravity of the planet, presence and composition of an atmosphere, magnetic field around the planet, volcanic activity, plate tectonics, axial tilt, shape of the orbit, ozone levels and so on. And if all these conditions at some time in Mars’ history might have all worked out, then that does not automatically imply that life also ‘developed’. Having all the building blocks of life present does not ‘automatically’ build life. Just like the presence of all building materials for a house on a property not ‘automatically’ erects a beautiful residence. It is exciting to learn more about our universe and the complexity of life by using our most advanced scientific skills to study our neighboring planet. Let us just make sure that we objectively interpret the knowledge we have gained and will gain through the Phoenix Mars Lander and subsequent projects: our Earth is extraordinary uniquely positioned and composed to allow for life to exist. So uniquely and against all statistical odds that it gives a remarkable but resounding testimony to the words of Israel’s King David who wrote almost 3000 years ago: "The heavens declare the glory of God" (Psalm 19:1) Read more about the uniqueness of planet Earth | |||
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Apologetics: Only Jesus claims to be God! |
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For more articles like this see our resource center | |
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Jesus was not confused about His own identity; He unabashedly claimed to be God. But He also supported it by facts. Jesus performed many miracles; 35 are recorded in the gospels, including various nature miracles. One of the most impressive, the feeding of the five thousand, is attested to in all four gospels. And Jesus fulfilled each of the hundreds of prophecies about the Messiah from the Old Testament with remarkable accuracy, all but a few outside his own control, and well beyond any statistical probability of chance. When it seemed that Jesus was defeated, that evil had won by crucifying and killing the Messiah, God revealed His greatest miracle of all: The resurrection of Christ. The greatest moment of victory for the Evil One turned out to be the moment of his complete defeat. By the crucifixion, with His blood, Jesus purchased salvation for man. By His resurrection He proclaimed in a most glorious way possible that He was the Son of God beyond the grip of death. Hinduism had no founder, so there are no claims of deity. Gandhi was a humble man of integrity and had great care for other people. Yet he never claimed to be God. Siddhartha Gautama (Lord Buddha) did not claim to be God, nor are there serious claims that he performed miracles during his lifetime or that there was a resurrection. "The original accounts of Buddha never ascribe to him any such thing as a resurrection; in fact, in the earliest accounts of his death, namely, the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, we read that when Buddha died it was ‘with that utter passing away in which nothing whatever remains behind.’" The prophet Mohammed expressly claimed merely to be the prophet of Allah. Mohammed, also, fulfilled no prophecies nor is there even a single credible account of a miracle he performed. Many Muslims protest that the writing of the Qur’an is the greatest miracle of all. Others argue for some miraculous accounts about Mohammed deeply rooted in tradition, but these are not supported by history or reliable scriptures. But even if this was evidence for Mohammed’s divine inspiration these claims look pale next to the miracles and prophecies fulfilled by Jesus. Mohammed died June 8, 632 AD at the age of 61 in Medina, where his tomb is annually visited by thousands of devout Muslims. Later legends claim that he did not die but ascended to heaven in Jerusalem (at the location of the modern day Dome of the Rock). However, no credible evidence for this claim has been presented. Whatever Mohammed’s destiny, nobody has ever claimed he rose from the dead. Christ alone claimed to be God. Christ alone provided evidence to support His claims! | |
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Father in Heaven |
Inspiration and worship |
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"I will praise God’s name in song (Psalm 69:30) |
Dear Father in
Heaven |
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I like to thank You for the things I sometimes forget to see The gifts I take for granted Although you made them just for me Because the earth, the sky and the moon above Are daily reminders of you and your love |
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The Trees and their blossoms Flowers in colors so rare Are gifts from your heart To show me you care Lord, help me to take the time every day To see Your beauty in nature I pray Thank You Lord for loving me the way that you do And please accept this song of praises to you… |
 Amen.
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Last of all, but all important... | |
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Do not have time to read but spent plenty of time in your car listening to radio or music? Or perhaps you like to listen to your Ipod or to teachings on your computer? Well, we have also 'listened' to you. The unabridged audio version of Prepared to Answer is now availble on MP3 and as a collection of 15 CDs. The audiobook covers a total recorded time of more than 17 hours! You can order the MP3 version ($12.50) as well as the audio-CD version ($29.50) in our webstore as well as our 'Audio Center'. We need your continued support and prayers to: We would be encouraged to hear from you at our mailing address or e-mail (see below). |
"Prepared to
Answer"
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Windmill Ministries * PO Box 1253 * Port Hadlock, WA
98339, USA Windmill Ministries is a Christian apologetics ministry that equips believers and challenges skeptics through the sharing of evidences for the foundations of the Christian faith. If you do not want to receive these newsletters - please just reply with "remove" | |
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