The crocuses are blooming! I always forget where the tiny bulbs are buried, but in early spring they remind me by waving their purple blossoms. It's the first sign of color in an otherwise drab world. It means the daffodils will soon follow, and then the tulips. The show begins!

Your letter came yesterday, along with three bills and two offers for credit cards. You'll be happy to know I opened your letter first! Yes, I'd be glad to explain further why I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God and savior of the world.

I've always been impressed with the miracles of Jesus. By what He said, we know Jesus didn't do miracles to simply show off. He did them as a sign to encourage people to believe in Him as God's Son. And of course He did them out of compassion for the hurting people He met who needed a miracle.

Diann and I recently had the privilege of touring the Holy Land. We walked many of the places where Jesus walked. We also rode in a boat on the Sea of Galilee, around which -- and on which -- many of Jesus' miracles took place. The Sea of Galilee was rough the day we took our boat ride. Aram, our guide, said the water was as rough as he'd seen it in his five years as a guide. Though our boat was large, holding maybe sixty people, the waves tossed us around enough to tip over one of the tourists sitting on a plastic lawn chair on the main observation deck. While moving through the choppy waters we listened to someone read the account out of the Gospel of Mark where Jesus stilled the storm. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I thought of Jesus on this very lake, with much rougher waters and in a much smaller boat, commanding the eight by twelve mile stormy sea to quietness. The event astonished Jesus' disciples, at least four of whom were seasoned fishermen who thought they had seen it all.

The historical records of the four Gospels report miracles of many types that Jesus did. Paraplegics walked again. Lepers were healed. A woman, who today would have needed a hysterectomy, was instantly healed. Jesus raised at least three people from the dead, including a man named Lazarus who had been dead for several days. Jesus also miraculously multiplied a boy's lunch of bread and fish to feed over five thousand people. One time Jesus walked on water to reach His disciples, who were being tossed about in their boat on the Sea of Galilee.

But Jesus' greatest miracle was His own resurrection from the dead. This, more than anything else, proves Jesus was who He said He was: the Son of God come to earth to take away the sins of the world.

I know, these stories of Jesus' miracles can strike a person as being fanciful and unbelievable. Then why am I convinced they really happened? Because there's more than adequate evidence that the greatest miracle of them all, Jesus' resurrection from the dead, really did happen. If Jesus' resurrection happened, I don't have a problem with any of His other miracles.

I want to share the evidence of Jesus' resurrection with you, but I've probably given you enough to think about for a while. I'll write again soon. In what remaining daylight I have left I need to clean out my pond. There are no words to describe the odor that comes from leaves that have lain on the bottom of the pond since last fall. Am I having fun with my hobby of maintaining a pond? Don't ask.

A fellow seeker after truth,
Dave