Dear Friend,

I pray that you had a Merry Christmas and/or a Happy Hanukah (for our Jewish
and Messianic Jewish family members).

Who is Jesus Christ? Was He a myth? What evidence is there? Send all those
who doubt to:
http://users.netreach.net/InfoQuest/apologetics.htm

In today's edition of InfoQuest*, I'm sharing some daily e-mails that
provide a glimpse of history!

Enjoy!

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American Minute with Bill Federer
December 24th

On Christmas eve, December 24, 1492, one of Columbus' ships, the Santa Maria
ran aground on the island of Haiti and had to be abandoned. Columbus left 40
men on the Island and named the settlement "La Navidad," meaning "The
Nativity," promising to return the following year. On this same day,
Columbus wrote in his Journal to the King and Queen of Spain: "In all the
world there can be no better or gentler people. Your Highnesses should feel
great joy, because presently they will be Christians, and instructed in the
good manners of your realms."

"There Really is a Santa Claus - The History of Saint Nicholas & Christmas
Holiday Traditions," which contains events which took place on Christmas
throughout history, is available at www.amerisearch.net

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American Minute with Bill Federer
December 25th

In the first six months of the Revolution, the Continental Army was driven
back, out of New York, across New Jersey and into Pennsylvania. The American
troops dwindled from a high of nearly 20,000 volunteers down to barely 2000,
and half of those were planning on leaving at the end of the year, when
their six month enlistment would be over. In a desperate act, Washington
crossed the dangerous ice filled Delaware River in the freezing cold on
Christmas Day evening, December 25, 1776, and attacked the Hessian troops at
Trenton, who were not at their highest level of alertness due to the effects
of their Christmas partying. General Washington captured nearly a thousand
of them, and ten days later captured 3,000 British at Princeton. Washington
later wrote: "The Hand of Providence has been so conspicuous in all this
(the course of the war) that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks
faith, and more wicked that has not gratitude to acknowledge his
obligations; but it will be time enough for me to turn Preacher when my
present appointment ceases."

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American Minute with Bill Federer
December 26th

John Alexander Logan died this day, December 26, 1886. He was a
Major-General during the Civil War, serving with General Grant at Vicksburg,
Mississippi, and General Sherman on his march to the sea. He was shot three
times, but recovered. He became a U.S. Congressman, Senator, and
Vice-Presidential Candidate. A peak in the Rocky Mountains and a college in
Illinois are named for him. But John Alexander Logan is best known for
founding Memorial Day, where the graves of America's soldiers are honored.
He stated: "The beautiful ceremonies of love and remembrance, now so
universally performed with flowers, came...through...the Christian religion.
Branches of palms were thrown in the path of our Saviour as He entered
Jerusalem. The crucified Christ received a crown of thorns from His
executioners, but flowers strewn by unseen hands exhaled their fragrance
around the cave where His body was laid."

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American Minute with Bill Federer
December 27th

He suffered an attack of smallpox when he was four-years-old which left him
with crippled hands and poor eyesight. Overcoming those handicaps, he
studied Copernicus' works and at age twenty-three became a professor of
astronomy. His name was Johannes Kepler, born this day, December 27, 1571.
His laws of planetary motion, known as Kepler's Laws, helped Newton
formulate the theory of gravity. Regarding his book on astronomy, Kepler
stated: "O, Almighty God, I am thinking Thy thoughts after Thee!...The book
is written, to be read either now or by posterity, I care not which. It may
be well to wait a century for a reader, as God has waited six thousand years
for an observer."

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