Watch out for payday loans! They’re not worth it as they could push up the cost of Christmas by 72%!

Josh McDowell answers.

I (Josh) set out as a young man to refute Christianity. I aimed to show everyone that Christianity was nonsense. I thought it would be easy. It wasn’t. In fact, I discovered that the Bible is far and away the most meticulously preserved and widely attested documents of the ancient world. No other book even comes close (we go into greater detail on this subject in our book, Don’t Check Your Brains at the Door). This reliability was confirmed by the 1948 discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which showed that after a thousand years of copying, the text as it appears in modern Bibles was more than ninety-five percent the same, word-for-word and letter-for-letter, as it had been three thousand years earlier! And what differences did exist were mainly spelling variations.

Not all stillbirths can be prevented. However, there are some things you can do to reduce your risk.

These include:

• stopping smoking
• avoiding alcohol and drugs during pregnancy – these can seriously affect your baby’s development, as well as increasing the risk ofmiscarriage and stillbirth
• attending all your antenatal appointments so that midwives can monitor the growth and wellbeing of your baby
• making sure you’re a healthy weight before trying to get pregnant
• protecting yourself against infections (see causes of stillbirth) and avoiding certain foods
• reporting any tummy pain or vaginal bleeding that you have to your midwife on the same day
• being aware of your baby’s movements and reporting any concerns you have to your midwife straight away
• reporting any itching to your midwife

On 24th April 2015 my life was turned upside down and inside out. I went from 5th gear to reverse, with no gear changes in between. I was diagnosed as having oesophageal cancer, which was widespread and therefore inoperable. There was absolutely no possibility of a cure, so I was offered palliative treatment – effectively “we will try and give you some quality of life, and help you die well.” My life expectancy was 6-9 months (deadline day is 24th January 2016.)

I underwent radio therapy, then chemotherapy, which nearly killed me, as I was in the verge on kidney failure. I had a five day stay in hospital as I was badly dehydrated, and my weight had gone from a chunky 90kgs down to a skinny 60kgs.

Fourteen weeks ago I came home and cried my eyes out as I told my family that I wanted to die. I could not eat solid food and was being fed entirely liquid nutrition through a tube which went down to my stomach via my nose. I had constant diarrhoea. Going to the toilet was an enormous effort, so I waited until I was desperate. Drinking a glass of water a day was in the “too hard” box. I could hardly walk, so started using a wheelchair. Seeing people for longer than 15 minutes utterly drained me. Life was simply too much effort, and I genuinely wanted to die.

Since then I have been put on a different chemotherapy regime. Today I am eating proper food again, and the nose tube has been removed. My weight has shot up to a healthy 73kgs – very unusual in cancer sufferers. My bowels are functioning normally. My kidneys are no longer on the “at risk” register! I returned the wheelchair, and walked a half-marathon a few days ago to raise money for the Cancer Society.  I attended a Conference which Church Army NZ hosted recently, and even managed to speak at one of the sessions!  I don’t know if this improvement is mainly due to chemotherapy or prayer – I suspect both – but either way God is deeply involved.

So what exactly is going on?  My chemotherapy nurse today said “you are a completely different person. It is like a whole new life for you.” But I have not yet been cured of cancer. I had a CT scan on Monday, and my oncologist told me the results today – all positive, the cancer is responding well – but he would not say WHAT it is responding too, chemo or prayer! He was not willing at this stage to change my prognosis – officially I have a maximum of 7 weeks left.

I do not know when I will die, but I have faced the reality of my own death, and I am at peace with that reality. I have enough faith for today. I have a far greater awareness of and appreciation for the tiny things which make up my life on earth – people (family, friends and strangers) food, drink, walks, meercats (courtesy of Emily and Auckland Zoo), good books, being able to poo properly, doing the ministry I love so much, bird song, the affection of pets, the incredible depth of my relationship with Jesus…I love life here and now, and I long for it to continue for a good while yet! I desperately want many more people to know and experience the love of Jesus which has sustained and upheld me during the darkest days, and which enables me to live life to the full now, a multi-coloured roller coaster adventure which contained moments of deep stillness and contentment.

Jesus in Johns gospel answers with the phrase translated into English as ” I tell you the truth”.

In effect he says “Amen, Amen  I say unto you”

Amen means confirm, establish, verify something as truthful.

In the Verse in John 8. Jesus answered , ” I tell you the truth(Amen,Amen), before Abraham was I AM.

This was in response to the question I believe we all should ask   “Who are you?.

Jesus in effect is saying

• I am eternal
• I was there at the beginning
• Through the words of my mouth creation came into being
• I am  YWWH
• I am the self existant one
• I have always been and will always be
• I am He who is