Discover the True Jesus

THE GOSPEL TRUTH
When David became a believer, he was immensely excited about the Bible, especially the red-letter words of Jesus in the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  “There is no place other than the Gospels or anywhere where you encounter Jesus unfiltered,” says David.  “It blows me away that when you actually read the Gospels you know you are encountering God Himself.”  Originally David wanted to introduce readers to the entire New Testament but as he began writing, he realized he had to narrow his focus on just the Gospels.  “The Gospels are their own best apologetic,” says David.  “If you read the Gospels with an open mind and seeking heart, you may well become a believer.”  He says it’s impossible to read those four books without recognizing that they are describing a being that no human author or group of authors could have conceived.  “I hope to inspire others with an enthusiasm for the Gospels to let them read them for themelves.”  While many people are desperate to want to believe, they are skeptical.  David says he felt the same way.  “There is a mountain of evidence that proves the reasonableness of Christianity,” he says.  That evidence includes the reliability of the New Testament writers, archeological findings that validate biblical record, among others.  “Then there’s the Bible itself,” says David. “The weight of evidence is compelling.”

David reminds us that while the claims of Chrisitianity are provable beyond a reasonable doubt, faith is required.  “While you study evidence and use your faculties to analyze it, you still have to take the extra step of faith,” he says. David hopes others will be inspired to read the Gospels to learn more about Jesus and dig deeper into them.  David explores the history of the Promised Land during the 400 years between the end of the Old Testament period and Christ’s birth.  The Jewish people had been released from captivity and returned to their land and were trying to restore the relationship with God while foreign empires dominated them and controlled the land.  He also examins the series of events that made this the perfect time for Jesus to enter into human history and for the spread of the Gospel message.  This was the time when the Roman Empire brought relative peace to the land and its roads facilitated travel.  Greek culture and language permeated all the lands of the empire.  “I’ve tried to include every event that occurred and every teaching Jesus imparted providing commentary along the way,” says David.  In order to stay true to the text, David included most of Jesus’ words verbatim but had to paraphrase for space purposes.  “My prayer is that you will acquire or reacquire a passion for the Gospels and for Jesus Christ,” says David. “To learn more about Him, and resolve to study the Gospels on your own.  Though they can be understood even by children, there is no end to their depth of riches and their ability to transform our lives.”

FROM SKEPTIC TO BELIEVER
David and his brother, Rush had an ordinary mid-western childhood with parents who took them to Sunday school and church every week.  David felt he had no need to distrust Christianity, but over time, he began to have his doubts.  By the time he was in college, David said he wondered about philosophical questions including who God was and what He was like.  “I thought I could bootstrap my way to an understanding of spiritual truths through my reasoning powers alone, largely unaware of the actual content of God’s special revelation in the Bible,” he says.  He couldn’t comprehend why God would establish a system of salvation whereby salvation  was attained simply by believing in Him.  Without even investigating the Bible as a young adult, David had his serious doubts.

At one point, David realized how foolish and arrogant it was for him to form final conclusions about the Bible and Jesus when he hadn’t studied Christine doctrine or Scripture.  One of his friends shared the Bible with him, showing David how the verses in the Bible were tied to others in content.  “I was blown away,” says David.  Since then, David’s interest in learning about the Bible and theology intensified.  “When it finally dawned on me that I was holding in my hands a written communication from the God of the universe, my life changed.”