The Case for Christ (Happy Easter!)

This weekend, many of us will gather with our families to celebrate Easter. We'll likely attend a church service -- Easter and Christmas are the two dates in which churches of all Christian denominations see their greatest attendance -- and head off after the service to an area restaurant for a nice dinner. (And if you're one who has given up a specific food item for Lent, you'll likely feast on that item Sunday!)

But Easter, of course, isn't about church services (as good as they are) or dinners, Easter egg hunts, chocolate Easter bunnies or Easter baskets. Commemorating Christ's death and resurrection is what Easter's all about. Remember when holding up a John 3:16 sign in the end zone was the rage at college and pro football games? Well, there's meaning behind John 3:16. It's a verse in the New Testament that is one of Christianity's centerpieces: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son; that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

This is the hope I have as a Christian. But admittedly there are times when I could use some reassurance. So if your faith needs a boost, I'd like to recommend a couple of books this Easter weekend you might want to check out.

I lifted the title for this blog post directly from a book, called The Case for Christ, published by Zondervan. It was written in 1998 by Lee Strobel, a former teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church in Barrington, IL. What's interesting about Strobel is that he was once an atheist. And I can certainly relate to him because he's a fellow journalist. (Strobel was a legal affairs reporter at the Chicago Tribune.)

It took Strobel nearly 2 years to research this book, and he approached his research from the mindset of an atheist. He conducted interviews with 13 leading scholars and authorities, and examined such questions as, "Do the biographies (contained in the Gospels) of Jesus stand up to scrutiny?" "Does archaeology confirm or contradict Jesus' biographies?" "Was Jesus crazy when He claimed to be the Son of God?" "Was Jesus' death a sham and His resurrection a hoax?" "Are there any supporting facts that point to the resurrection?"

At the end of his research, Strobel reached this conclusion: "In light of the convincing facts I had learned during my investigation, in the face of this overwhelming avalanche of evidence in the case for Christ, the great irony was this: it would require much more faith for me to maintain my atheism than to trust in Jesus of Nazareth!"

The other book I recommend is titled, 90 Minutes in Heaven, by Don Piper with Cecil Murphey (Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group). A New York Times bestseller, it's the story about Piper -- an ordained minister whom medical personnel ruled had died instantly after his car was hit head-on and crushed by a semi that crossed into his lane in January, 1989.

EMTs became involved with others at the scene, and left Piper's body alone for 90 minutes. They then checked for a pulse again. No pulse. Shortly thereafter, a minister arrived on the scene, and authorities allowed him to pray over Piper's lifeless body, which was covered by a tarp. Piper miraculously regained consciousness.

Piper underwent 34 surgeries and still lives with debilitating injuries. But between the time he was initially declared dead and regained consciousness, Piper describes in vivid detail his time in heaven, where he was reunited with relatives and friends who had died before him -- and the sights and sounds he experienced while there.

I've read plenty of skeptical comments on Web sites which dismiss Piper as a fraud who's out to make a buck. One post said Piper's books "follow a 3-step program: 1. Go to heaven; 2.Come back and tell about it; 3. Make money."

Although there are many documented cases of near-death experiences, Piper lays out compelling reasons -- medically based and otherwise -- why what he experienced does not fall into this category. I'd simply recommend that you read this book and its sequel, Heaven is Real. I couldn't put either of them down. And I can tell you after reading both books that I won't be typing in comments labeling Piper a huckster.

Happy Easter!