One of the reasons that the John Ankerberg Show is unique is because we constantly televise programs that answer the questions of non-Christians, and at the same time teach and encourage Christians. Very seldom, if ever, will you see a program on TV that features some of the greatest Christian scholars answering these questions. But we will do that again this month.
The Historical Jesus
As you know, one of the main reasons teenagers, college students, and young adults are leaving the church is because they say they don’t believe in God. They claim they have never heard persuasive historical evidence about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection in church. Therefore, they don’t believe that Jesus died on the cross, paid for their sins, rose from the dead, and is living now. How do we fix this problem?
The answer is we all must learn and share the historical facts that Jesus: claimed to be the Son of God; said He came to die on the cross to pay for our sins; was buried in a tomb; and proved He was God by rising from the dead on the third day; and then appeared to His twelve disciples and over 500 people at one time.
To help you understand the historical evidence for these facts, this month we will air our important television series, “Did Jesus Literally Rise from the Dead?” with Dr. Gary Habermas. He will present 12 historical facts nearly all historical scholars today believe are true about the resurrection of Jesus. In a moment I will tell you why these scholars agree these facts are historically true. But first, here are the facts.
- Jesus died by crucifixion. 2. He was buried. 3. His death caused His disciples to despair and lose hope. 4. Jesus’ tomb was found empty on the third day. 5. The disciples all had experiences which they believed were literal appearances of the risen Jesus to them. 6. The disciples were transformed from doubters to bold proclaimers of Jesus’ resurrection. 7. The resurrection was their central message. 8. They preached the message of Jesus’ resurrection in Jerusalem and across the Roman Empire. 9. The birth and rapid growth of the early church across the Roman Empire. 10. Orthodox Jews who believed in Christ made Sunday their primary day of worship. 11. James, the half-brother of Jesus, was converted when he saw the resurrected Jesus. 12. Paul, who was capturing Christians, was converted when he believed he saw the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus.
Dr. Gary Habermas is considered the world’s foremost expert on the resurrection of Jesus. Since 1976 he has tracked more than 4,000 scholars in English, French, and German, and can show that 90 to 94% of these scholars today hold these 12 historical facts about Jesus to be true.
Dr. Habermas holds a PhD in philosophy from Michigan State University, and serves as Distinguished Research Professor of Apologetics and Chairman of the Philosophy Department at Liberty University.
Now, why do the majority of historical scholars believe these facts are historically true? To present this evidence, we are offering a second series with Dr. Habermas, called “Evidence for the Historical Jesus.”
This series answers such important such questions as: 1. How can we know this message and these facts about Jesus were preached before any of the New Testament books were written? 2. Are there any non-Christian sources that tell us Jesus actually lived, died on a cross, was buried, and afterwards was seen by His disciples? 3. What historical material inside and outside of the New Testament shows Jesus Himself said that He was God?
This series is also available on DVD for a gift of $49. Or you may receive both series, all 11 of these TV programs with Dr. Habermas, on DVD for a gift of $98.
Audio Bibles
Now some very exciting news. First, as a result of your giving toward Audio Bibles for people around the world who have never had a Bible in their own language, or are illiterate and cannot read their own language, we are glad to report that there are now 10,615,646 people in 46 countries who are listening to Audio Bibles that you have provided.
These Audio Bibles are being listened to in 253 different languages. We have also been told that about roughly half, or about 5.3 million, of these people have not only heard the Word of God, but have responded by receiving Jesus Christ as their Savior.
Further, all 10.6 million continue to learn and grow in their faith as they listen and interact with God’s Word and with each other. Thank you for your generosity in providing these Audio Bibles. Keep praying for them.
The John Ankerberg Show in Spanish
Second, here is some more exciting news. By faith, we have just signed TV contracts to place our television program on Spanish Television that reaches 67 million Hispanics right here in America, and 52 million Spanish speakers in Colombia, South America.
We have also signed contracts to place our TV programs in 17 other Spanish-speaking nations in Central and South America that reach close to 500 million people.
By faith we have taken these networks and will begin airing our programs on November 2nd. But this means we must first translate each of our programs using professional Spanish speakers who will record the “voice overs” —or re-say every word spoken by each of our guests—in Spanish. Finally, we will have to essentially remake every single program to account for the specifications of each of these nations. It is a massive undertaking.
On top of that, we will need to raise the money for airtime on each of these stations. This seems pretty overwhelming to all of us at times.
But I’m convinced God has worked a miracle in opening the door for us to present the gospel to all of these people in their own language. Therefore, I am trusting God to bring in the money and personnel necessary for us to accomplish all this work. Please fervently pray that God will provide and bring people to work with us and help us make all of this possible.
Thank you for being our friends and providing for our ministry. Our goal is to present Jesus to people so they will accept Him as their Savior and Lord, and then live for Him in their country. We pray for all of you. Thank you for praying for us.
Until everyone hears,
John and Darlene