Dear ABR Family,
Our faithful heavenly Father is with us and has blessed us and provided for our every need. While this is true, the work and outreach of ABR has doubled in the past 3 years and we continue to see the hand of the Lord upon the board, staff, and volunteers of this ministry. I am grateful to you for praying for us and for financially supporting ABR. Thank you for responding to the prompting of the Lord and for helping us as the weight of intense ministry and the struggle to reply with wisdom to our detractors is upon us. Such resistance has intensified as the importance of our discoveries has increased.
What has been accomplished?
Our staff understands that our calling is to declare the authority of the Bible, the Word of the Living God. We do not fear the attacks of the evil one for being counted among the faithful, who like Daniel must stand against the hissing blasts of the serpent, who uses the mouths and pens of both unbelievers and (sadly sometimes) of believers. Our hope is to be led of God to make discoveries that will affirm His Word and His work in history. We do this without apology. That includes discoveries in the field (at archaeological excavations and related projects) and in the study, where careful and in-depth scholarship is performed. We want to glorify God in all we do.
Discoveries by our staff in the field are challenging entrenched historical and theological paradigms: We experience great joy when our discoveries affirm God’s Word and directly confront false assumptions. This happens when we show clear evidence where the scientific dating of the material culture that we uncover fits biblical chronology and affirms the historical statements of Scripture. This is why secular archaeologists have set up entire schemes in the name of “unbiased science” to reinterpret the chronology of everything that we find in the ground. But thankfully, proper scientific methodologies and analytical results press back against such schemes and are the friend of the fair and honest scholar. When the evidence is allowed to speak, and the false schemes of the secularist are brought into the light of objectivity, we find a beautiful symmetry and correspondence between the material culture we discover, and the descriptions and assertions recorded in the Bible.
Your prayers and support make all the difference…
There are times in life when we experience disappointments and deep discouragement. We face these common human realities by living out our lives in a fallen world. The Scripture I quoted above declares that “hope deferred makes the heart sick.” This is true of course and is part of our human struggle. But the verses that follow make important balancing statements about fulfilled desires, that they are “sweet to the soul” and are even compared to “a tree of life.” What a beautiful way for the writer to express this counterbalance to our disappointments. These Scriptures came to mind today because I want you to know that your love and support for the staff of ABR is a mighty counterbalance against some of our recent discouragements. Your support has been our “tree of life” when we are experiencing a desert of disappointment. Thank you for lifting our arms in the battle and lifting our hearts when the “burdens grow greater.” Thank you for standing with us and strengthening us during this season of intense ministry activity.
I ask that your faithful prayers continue, and for your generous support in this current cycle of ministry. Already, we have over 100 volunteers registered for the 2024 dig at Shiloh, and we will be introducing and expanding several scientific methodologies as we improve our analytical work at the site. Our second peer-reviewed article on the curse-tablet from Mount Ebal will begin soon, and Volume I of our Maqatir final reports will be completed in October as well. These major achievements, as well as expanded TV, radio, and podcast ministry will all be taking place in the months ahead; this includes expansion of our social networking outreach ministry to young adults and teens. Your gift at this time will help us continue to expand our biblical and archaeological outreach, as the ABR ministry makes the Bible unavoidable to this generation.
All for Jesus,
Learn about the various ways that you can help our ministry: Support ABR
