JOHN SHIRK – In the Year of Exploration, today’s Reason to Believe is the martyrdom of Jesus’ disciples.

According to church history, most of Jesus’ Twelve disciples became martyrs for the Gospel. They lived and died for Jesus. In cases like that, there is no doubt about someone’s conviction that they believe their cause to be true and worth dying for.

There is something that Jesus’ disciples shared in common, except for Judas Iscariot. They were witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection after His death.

Peter said in Acts 10:40, “God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen-by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.”

That was the calling of Peter and the other disciples that they faithfully proclaimed to the end of their time here on earth.

The faithfulness of Jesus’ disciples to preach the Gospel and die for their faith is a reason to believe in God’s good news.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com