Recently, a portion of King Solomon’s palace was found in Jerusalem. Critical scholars had long believed this biblical king to be a myth, until a portion of the guards’ quarters were unearthed and identified.

One archaeological journal called the find “remarkably intact.” I guess the critical scholars once again myth-ed out.

Literally hundreds of archaeological finds over the years have verified over and over that the accounts found in the pages of the Bible are real. Not even a single find has ever disproved any word of Scripture. Not one.

Many scholars were convinced the accounts of Jesus’ crucifixion involving Pontius Pilate (Pilatus in Greek) were fantasy because there were no extra-biblical extant records of a ruler by that name. Then an entryway stone was unearthed in Jerusalem for the home of a wealthy Roman named — you guessed it — Pilatus.

Some people say that religions of any sort are based on faith apart from reason. Not so, my friends. True belief is based on reason.

I believe the sun will rise tomorrow. For what reason? Because it rose today. I believe based on reason.

I believe my family will love me unconditionally today because they have done so every day in the past. I’m sure the people of our hometown will be good neighbors next week because they were last week.

Mark Twain was a wonderful storyteller. He was known for his cheap cigars, quick wit and pragmatism.

Twain famously wrote, “Faith is believing something that you know ain’t so.” Unfortunately, his definition of faith was inaccurate.

Critical scholar Bart D. Ehrman wrote, “You can’t believe something just because someone else desperately wants you to.”

Once a professing Christian, Ehrman now spends his hours as an author and professor evangelizing atheism, because his reasoning did not lead him to faith in Christ — even though the wife he loves is a born-again believer, and has made it known publicly that her greatest desire is for her husband to come to know the same faith she does.

C. S. Lewis, in “Mere Christianity” wrote, “Faith, in the sense in which I am here using the word, is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods.”

In other words, faith is the house that is built on an unchanging foundation, no matter what fears the changing weather may bring.

The author of the biblical book of Hebrews wrote, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (11:1).

I see reasons for belief in creation, like the little mockingbird who perched on the bush outside our office and watched me as I took his picture. I see reasons for belief in what has happened in the lives of others, like my mother hemorraghing to death, two years prior to my birth, and hearing a voice asking her if she wanted to ‘come home’ or return to her body and family.

I see reasons for belief in my own experiences, like being told by doctors I would need the muscle of my left bicep removed because it was dead from a venomous spider bite, and necrotic (dead) tissue cannot regenerate, cannot heal. But mine did.

I’m sure Jesus exists because nothing He said or claimed has ever been disproven, no matter what someone else may think or say. I choose to go with the evidence. I choose to believe in what I can’t prove because there’s so much that has been proven.

I love God because He loved me first. That’s a good reason.

It’s good reason.

News editor Brett Campbell can be reached at 601-265-5307 or at brett.campbell@dailyleader.com.