Yes, we had a good time flying the kite. It's always so much more fun letting out more string to let the kite go higher and higher than it is winding up all that string again when you're done. Sometimes I'm tempted to just cut the string and let 'er go! The kite would have the freedom to fly on its own, and I wouldn't have to wind up all that string! I know, a free kite with no string attached quickly floats back to earth, most likely landing in a tree. I'm with Charlie Brown, I don't like kite-eating trees. I guess that's why I go through the boring and anti-climactic task of winding up the string: to save the kite for another flight on another spring day.

Let me respond to the question in your last letter by first telling you a story. Several years ago I was invited to speak at a banquet attended by members of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Club. It was the 50th anniversary of that fateful Sunday morning when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and ushered us into World War II. Those men at the dinner had been there, at Pearl Harbor. Now old, with deep wrinkles etched in their faces and unsteady on legs that once walked sure-footed on rocking naval vessels, they reminisced. They talked in vivid detail about that eventful morning when all hell broke loose from the sky. To hear them talk, 50 years ago was yesterday.

Did I have any doubts that the attack on Pearl Harbor had really happened? It never crossed my mind. These men were eyewitnesses to the event, and more than that -- they were participants. They remembered in greater detail the planes and bombs from fifty years ago than they remembered what they had for breakfast the morning of the banquet.

Now, back to your question. Yes, we can believe that the New Testament is a historically reliable and accurate set of documents concerning the life and mission of Jesus. One primary reason is that the entire New Testament was written by the end of the first century, most of it within 50 years of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The New Testament begins with four gospels which are historical accounts of the life and message of Jesus. The Gospel of Mark was the first of the four to be written, probably in the 50s (20 years or so after Jesus' ministry). Matthew and John, two apostles, also wrote gospels. With the rest of the 12 apostles, they spent three years, day and night, with Jesus. The Gospel of Luke was probably written in the 60s or 70s. Luke makes clear in the introduction to his book that he's writing an accurate account of the events of Jesus' life based on eyewitnesses.

We can consider these writings trustworthy because they were written in a time frame when many eyewitnesses of Jesus' ministry were still alive and could have refuted any false information. These gospel accounts survived and were copied and distributed by early Christians because they were seen as accurate accounts of what had happened.

I have no doubt that the men at the Pearl Harbor Survivors Club banquet had an accurate view of the events that happened 50 years earlier. If any of them ever took the time to write down their experiences of those events, we'd find them to be largely trustworthy accounts. That's exactly what we have in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They are accounts of the life and work of Jesus written by His contemporaries. There's no good reason to doubt that they tell His story accurately. I believe you can turn to these four Gospels and find Jesus.

Now that the weather is more inviting, I'm spending a greater amount of time outdoors. Spring means yard work. I'm always amazed that no matter how well we clean up the yard in the fall, we still have leaves and branches to pick up in the spring. It's as if they multiply under the snow. The grass is just starting to green up. The tulips are in full bloom, bobbing their colorful heads in the fresh spring breeze. I've always felt that winter requires the virtue of patience, but spring inspires the virtue of hope.

A fellow seeker after truth,
Dave