There are too many example of ADE's to simply wave one's hand & dismiss it & that describe in minute detail what was occurring during the time, verifying it happened in exactly that way. But I appreciate you stating 'not so much.'
My mother had x-rays/MRI/CT verifying she had a growing cancerous tumor (biopsy taken & verified it as cancerous). The doctor said she should set an appointment to have an operation as soon as possible. My mother, a woman of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, had prayed & believed she would be healed. Many prayer chains were notified & prayed for this healing.
Just before she was scheduled for the operation, the operating doctor took more equipment scans & then more again. They all revealed there was no longer any visible tumor; it was no longer there. As is often true for doctors facing these situations, it was called 'an act of God.' There was no medical explanation for the sudden disappearance of the tumor, verified on previous scans.
This is an exaggerated extrapolation that hasn't been proven.
Often (adverb): frequently, regularly, continually, a lot, habitually.
I am sorry to see that you have experienced this. I have experienced the same treatment from agnostics, atheists, Muslims & much worse, even physical violence. So it can go both ways on varying scales.
I had one individual, who lived in the area where I would visit Christian friends & had a Bible study. If he saw me, he used to yell at me publicly on the street, calling me all kinds of derogatory names because I was a Christian & then got to hitting on me & pushing me around.
I knew I was suppose to love my neighbor as myself & rejoice when persecuted, but I am human. I remember praying to the Lord, that I felt like it would be no problem for me to beat him up & if he laid his hands on me, that is what I felt like doing. I simply prayed for the Lord to help me & asked Him what I should do. The Spirit of God told me to go visit him & spend time with him, rather than try to avoid him.
I did. It changed our relationship. He no longer hit on or swore at me. Not long after he got hit by a car while walking on the side of the road, was in critical condition in a body cast & spent a long time in the hospital, rehabilitating. I used to visit him periodically during this time, encouraging him to keep rehabilitating.
The last time I saw him before he moved away, he was walking with a cane. I told him that the Lord had spared his life for a reason & one of those was to trust in Jesus. He said, 'Maybe.' Long story short, I was visiting with a vendor in a mall many years later & happened to tell her about this story & mentioned his name. She said she knew someone back in a midwest state (where this person moved) & was going back there on vacation. I told her to see if this was the same person.
It was. He told her to tell that 'Jesus freak' (that's what he called me) that he had given his life to the Lord & was a deacon in his church. That was the rest of the story. God is good. Loving our neighbors IS the best policy, yet we do not stop preaching the whole gospel message, which the Lord Jesus Christ commanded us to do.
Jesus Christ was ridiculed, scorned, mocked, marginalized, physically beaten, scourged & killed for speaking what He spoke concerning people being sinners without excuse & warning all of the reality of people being cast into Gehenna or lake of fire for eternity.
He came the first time, to seek & to save the lost from that destiny by preaching repentance & belief in the good news of His death, burial & resurrection, preaching forgiveness of sins & salvation to those who trust in Him. He stated in the Sermon on the Mount:
Matt 5:3ff “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger & thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you & falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice & be glad, because great is your reward in heaven; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.
Luke 14:34,35;
Philippians 2:12-18)
13You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its savor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out & trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp & put it under a basket.
Instead, they set it on a lamp stand & it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good deeds & glorify your Father in heaven.
38You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye & tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. If someone slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also; if someone wants to sue you & take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well & if someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two...You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor & hate your enemy.’
44But I tell you, love your enemies & pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil & the good & sends rain on the righteous & the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even Gentiles do the same?
John 15:21ff Jesus said, "If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first. Remember the word that I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they kept My word, they will keep yours as well.
21But they will treat you like this because of My name, since they do not know the One who sent Me. If I had not come & spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, they have no excuse for their sin."
I have traveled around India with my brother. I have stood at the memorial site of Mahatma Gandhi. He carried with him, for most of his life, a copy of the Sermon on the Mount. In his autobiography, he says this about it:
"Even when I was EIGHTEEN, I came in touch with good Christians in London...who placed the
Bible in my hand...I could not...take much interest in the OT, which I had certainly read, if only to fulfill a promise I had made to a friend whom I happened to meet in a hotel...But the NT produced a different impression, especially the Sermon on the Mount which went straight to my heart...it delighted me beyond measure & gave me comfort & boundless joy..."
“The Sermon on the Mount left a deep impression on my mind when I read it. I do believe with you that the real meaning of the teachings of Jesus will be delivered from India...Christ’s Sermon on the Mount fills me with bliss even today. Its sweet verses have even today the power to quench my agony of soul.”
And his believing, living it out & spreading this message on the Sermon on the Mount did indeed impact the whole of India. But Mahatma Gandhi is dead, his body is still in that tomb. The Lord Jesus Christ is alive, He is not in the tomb they laid Him in. He is risen. Over five hundred witnesses verified that back when it happened. That is one of the central teachings of Christianity. And He is coming back again to the earth, to set up His millennial kingdom.
When you see the final antichrist broker a peace treaty in the middle east, which many have tried to do but have failed & bring peace on the earth--when you see two last day prophets standing in the streets of Jerusalem for 3 1/2 years, even calling down fire from the sky----when you see the world go on a cashless society & the world develops a one monetary system--when you see a large meteor/comet strike the earth, causing tremendous destruction--know that the Lord Jesus Christ is at the very door & will return to the earth once again.
