Roaring River

Good News Enquirer: The Dark Days When Pilate Ruled the Southern Province

JERUSALEM, 90 A.D. – Phineas of Nazareth celebrated his 85^th birthday yesterday surrounded by many of his Christian friends, and recounted the early days when Pontius Pilate first took over as governor of the southern province that included Jerusalem.

Phineas noted how Pilate had introduced a cruel time in our history. Spies were everywhere and no one dared challenge his rule. He was well-connected by marrying the granddaughter of Augustus Caesar, himself. It has been recorded that at one point Pilate became suspicious that a prophet named Jesus was aspiring to be King.  Pilate was the one that ordered Jesus to be put to death, assuming this execution would end any threat of a possible overthrow. 

Phineas was 23 when he first encountered Jesus, and his life was never the same thereafter. Jesus had made his mission clear. He wanted his followers to go into the world and preach the good news.  Phineas and thousands of others had done just that, carefully memorizing the teachings so he could tell them faithfully to all he met.

It occurred to no one when Jesus was crucified that his band of followers just might outlast the Roman Empire

Good News Enquirer: The “Not So Secret” Secret

GALILEE, 28 A.D. – – It has been rumored that a prophet from Nazareth has been astounding people with acts that apparently are miraculous.  The Good News Enquirer has now assigned a team of reporters to investigate these happenings. This reporter actually witnessed one such miracle when I was visiting a friend near Galilee. The prophet walked up the road, followed by his closest friends. A man with leprosy came to the prophet and fell to his knees begging, “If you are willing,” he said to this man Jesus, “you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man’s face, saying: “I am willing. Be clean!” Immediately, before my eyes, the leprosy left the man and he was cured.

Jesus had such a compassionate expression on his face, one I will not soon forget. It seemed strange to me then what he next said to the cured man. “Tell no one what I have done. Just go to the temple and offer your sacrifice.” Why would a prophet with such powers want to keep it a secret? With such powers, he could be famous and wealthy.

Jesus is not difficult to find because huge crowds gather everywhere he goes to hear his words.  People who have heard him tell of a great sense of peace that settles over their bodies in his presence. This prophet is certainly unlike any who has ever been here before. I will continue investigating this situation and report back to you again. 

         

Good News Enquirer:Missing Body Still Unaccounted For

JERUSALEM, 32 A.D. – – It has been a year since the body of the rabbi from Nazareth who was crucified turned up missing.  Hundreds, including the centurion who speared him as he hung on the cross, and other centurions who stood guard outside the tomb where the body was placed, witnessed his death and burial. A guard at the tomb seemed stunned and confused when he confessed, “We were just as surprised as everyone … the only reason we were guarding the area was to make sure none of the rabbi’s followers took the body … but we cannot explain how this happened!”  This does not appear to be the typical grave robbing.

The Good News Enquirer staff has now interviewed hundreds of people who claim to have seen this Jesus, alive and talking with them in the weeks following the man’s burial.  What is so remarkable is that this man predicted he would come back to life three days after his death. His body actually disappeared exactly three days later giving some credence to his predictions. 

His closest followers say they had frequent conversations with him during the forty days following his resurrection. One man named Stephen was stoned to death for refusing to discredit these claims. While it may seem incredible, such claims keep popping up. If true, it might well be accurate that this man called Jesus was the long awaited Messiah.

How could so many of us possibly have misunderstood who he was while he was living with us?  The Good News Enquirer will continue its investigation over the next several weeks. The mystery continues. Who was this man?

At any rate, things around here don’t seem to be much different. If he were truly the Messiah, surely he would have made a bigger difference in the world. The Romans are still in power.

The Gospels for Beginners – Discover the Good News Together!

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – these men were the biographers of Jesus. The stories they tell are The Greatest Ever Told – from birth to resurrection to ascension. 2000 years later, more people follow Christ than have ever followed any other living person. Literally no other human has so changed the world.

Tune into Roaring River’s study of the Gospels.