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anonymousdandelion · 10 months

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Thinking about language, and identity, and community, and Jewish history, and of course When the Angels Left the Old Country...

And how, to me, the characters' relationships to language feel reflective of their relationships, identities, and experiences in the context of Jewish history.

Sit down. Have some tea.

Per the book:

[Little Ash] had come from Babylon and the angel, perhaps, from the Garden of Eden.

Uriel (under one name or another) has presumably been around since the beginning, or at least something like it.

And the angel's first — and, for a very long time, only — language is Hebrew. The original language, the Holy Tongue, the language of Torah, the language of Creation, the language of a people in their homeland.

That is the language the angel speaks; the only language whose words comes naturally to its tongue; and for most of its existence the angel has never felt either the need or the ability to try to pick up another.

The angel used a certain vague sense of superiority to excuse to itself its failure to communicate with humans. What did anyone need to speak of, it sometimes thought, that could not be said in holy words?

In times gone by, speaking only Hebrew might well have been sufficient. And maybe, the angel is not ready for those times to be gone. (Can you blame it? Who would be ready — to accept that you are no longer at home, and your people are no longer at home, and even the language from which the whole world was built is no longer enough to get by?)

So, somehow, it manages to spend centuries as the Angel of Shtetl, a place where everything is Yiddish... all without speaking a single word in that language.

...Well, no, that's not quite true. The angel speaks exactly one, single word in Yiddish, but it does speak that one quite frequently. If a name counts as a word, anyway.

Ashel.

The only thing the angel says in Yiddish is its chevrusa's name.

(Yiddish to call its chevrusa by name; Aramaic to study Talmud with its chevrusa; English, later, to come to its chevrusa's rescue. Talk about love languages, hm?)

~ ~ ~

Which, of course, brings us to Ashel. To recap, here's what we know about about the when and where of his birth:

The demon king Ashmedai, over the course of several centuries of the Babylonian Exile, had taken two hundred and fifty bird-footed babies from their mothers’ arms...

And it was also mentioned in the quote cited at the beginning of this post that he comes from Babylon.

So... in stark contrast to Uriel, Little Ash was born into exile. He was the last of his father's sons, which means that by the time he came along they must have been far, far into those several hundred years.

(And from the fact that the "Babylonian Exile" is described here in terms of centuries, it seems clear that the term is being used in a broader sense than the relatively narrow, maximum-seventy-year era to which it usually refers.

Maybe, even when the Second Temple was built and the people had a temporary respite from dispersion, Ashmedai and his family never went back home. Maybe, for them, that first exile — which, for all the people, would not be the last — never ended at all.)

In any case, Little Ash was born in exile, and so the Jewish world as he knows it has always been one of diaspora. And not only does he have a demon's gift for languages, by the time that we meet him he has very specifically claimed Yiddish as his primary language. And he's gone much further than can be explained by simply wanting to be able to communicate:

Little Ash, for reasons known only to himself, had adopted a Yiddish accent in all languages, around the time of the false messiah.

As the Jewish world struggles to recover in the wake of the devastating blow of Shabbetai Tzvi (the false messiah), as they grappled with crushed hopes and deep turmoil and sorely damaged community... what does Little Ash do?

I'm Yiddish, he says now, Yiddish meaning Jewish. And he makes sure to say it with every word he speaks, no matter what language he's using at any given moment.

Yiddish: the language of exile, the language of home. For Little Ash, as for so many of us also born in diaspora, these concepts are intertwined and hard to separate, in a way that someone of Uriel's background would find very difficult to understand.

Even so, Uriel calls him Ashel.

~ ~ ~

...Oops, I didn't make to turn this post into a half-formed essay. Hope your tea is still warm.

But, one last thought: together, in learning and conversation alike, Little Ash and Uriel both know Aramaic. Judeo-Aramaic, to be precise.

An ancient language of the Jews... but, more specifically, somewhat like Yiddish, an ancient diaspora language of Jews. And the language of the Talmud, which among many other things served as a sort of bridge; a way of holding some amount of continuity from the era of Temple Judaism to the Rabbinic Judaism of diaspora.

They speak Aramaic, they study Aramaic, and they share Aramaic.

#dandelion says #when the angels left the old country #meta #wtaltoc meta #dandelion meta #little ash #uriel federman #jewish feels #history #jewish history #languages #hebrew #yiddish #aramaic #ashel #jumblr

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psalmonesermons · 5 months

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What makes Christianity different or true? Part 3

Christianity vs other major religions

We now consider the major differences between Christianity and other religions.

1. The Trinity

The very nature of God in Christianity is different from all the other religions.

The other major religions have various approaches to the nature of God and can be either polytheistic with several gods or monotheistic having one God. Others are non-theistic and have no significant god outside of themselves. Christianity is monotheistic but with a key difference: Christians believe in God who is One in essence but with three distinct personalities [1] namely the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This means that God has always existed in community shared by His three personalities. The Christian God has always been about relationship and has extended this to humankind though Jesus Christ.

2. The Gospel

The Gospel is the good news that Father God has provided a way for sinful people to be able to come to Him via the cross of Jesus Christ. This salvation is a free gift from God[2]. No law keeping, achievement, moral living, or performing religious rituals can save your soul. Jesus Christ, God the Son, became a man and died in the place of fallen humankind, but rose again from the dead to conquer sin and death.

Certain religions whilst agreeing that a person cannot provide their own salvation, but instead by trusting a human leader, they may be able to achieve some form of rebirth. Christianity is not a religion, but through faith in Jesus Christ, it is a relationship with God.

John 17:3 “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

We also note that no other faith except Christianity follows a leader who claimed to be God and who also rose from the dead.

3. The Bible is authoritative and has repeatedly been proven to be true.

Historians and archaeologists have repeatedly confirmed the authenticity of the Bible. Ancient historians confirm both the person of Jesus as described in the Bible and the major events presented in the New Testament.

The Bible today is the same as what was originally written. The Dead Sea Scrolls confirmed the accuracy of the Old Testament, and original writings of the New Testament authors are preserved better than any other ancient manuscript. The early church accepted the New Testament books almost immediately, and that the writers were either associates of Jesus or His original followers.

The Bible claims that it is God’s Word (see 2 Timothy 3:16 and 2 Peter 1:21). Jesus also viewed Scripture as authoritative (see John 10:35 and Matthew 22:29). The New Testament authors believed what they were writing was in fact God’s Word (see 1 Corinthians 14:37, 1 Thessalonians 2:13).

Insights into the differences between Christianity and other Religions [3].

Narnia author and Christian apologist C.S. Lewis comments that all religions do have some truth in them, and Lewis thinks that is what you would expect. Lewis thought that If you are a Christian, you do not have to believe that all the other religions are simply wrong all through.

However, if you are an atheist you do have to believe that the main point in all the religions of the entire world is simply one huge mistake.

Lewis felt it was atheism that wrote off all religious claims as false, while he was free to affirm truth wherever it was found. He accepted truths in other religions. He recognised the similarities – as well as the significant differences between religions. For Lewis, a commitment to Christ does not necessitate the denial of truth in other religions.

However, what makes Christianity unique is the incarnation, when God entered a specific historical place and time in the person of Jesus Christ.

This is utterly unique and is either true or false.

Lewis is quoted as saying [4], "If you had gone to Buddha and asked him 'Are you the son of Brahma?' he would have said, 'My son, you are still in the vale of illusion.' If you had gone to Socrates and asked, 'Are you Zeus?' he would have laughed at you. If you had gone to Mohammad and asked, 'Are you Allah?' he would first have rent his clothes then cut your head off. If you had asked Confucius, 'Are you Heaven?' I think he would have probably replied, 'Remarks which are not in accordance with nature are in bad taste.' The idea of a great moral teacher saying what Christ said is out of the question. In my opinion, the only person who can say that sort of thing is either God or a complete lunatic suffering from that form of delusion which undermines the whole mind of man."

[1] Athanasian creed.

[2] See Ephesians 2:8.

[3] See C.S. Lewis - Objection #10: Other Religions - Mark Conner

[4] God in the dock C.S. Lewis

In Part 4 we consider the significant changes that belief in Christianity brings to a believer's life.

#christianity #bible study #bibletruth #blog post #blessings #psalmonesermons #faith #victory #devotional #apologetics #christianity vs other religions

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dfroza · 10 months

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what is Love?

most people desire human love and affection. we were created this way for relationship.

but Love is actually our Creator’s very presence. it is the very atmosphere of Heaven. there is a holiness to Love. and Love reaches out to us in Spirit

(God is Love)

although some refuse to communicate. some choose not to read, to renew the mind in spiritual truth and to pray as a child to our heavenly Father

people have been given the invitation to read (and believe) the revelation given in the Scriptures about the Son (Yeshua) who came to earth to be rejected by Israel and die as a pure “Seed” 4000 years after Adam’s sin in the garden when death’s curse was introduced to the world.

And it has been just about 2000 years since Yeshua became the 2nd (last) Adam to redeem us from spiritual death through sacred Blood on the cross, reversing the curse, healing the human heart (spirit) by an act of rebirth. we stand at a significant place in History which could be as close as 7 years away from marking 2000 years since the cross, with the estimation of 30AD (40 years before the destruction of the 2nd Temple by the Romans in 70AD)

yes, the Spirit of our Creator is here on earth with us and He is silent and invisible, yet Yeshua the Messiah is YHVH (God’s revealed name) come in the flesh as a Man. He is I Am.

And for this claim some religious Jews wanted to kill Him under the charge of blasphemy, which they did by rejecting their Messiah

and so began the time of the Gentiles being gathered in as a global Church Body ever since, prepared as the Bride and the Spirit’s Temple

some have died (fallen asleep) in the meantime, yet we are very close to (A secret elopement) when we in faith who are alive and ready will be transformed in body to meet the Lord in the air (A trumpet’s calling and the voice of a heavenly messenger will announce His arrival, the arrival of our eternal King to take us to the place prepared for us)

and there will be an awakening of Israel to see their True Messiah (even though some for a time will fall under the deception of a false messiah) since God is bringing Together One New Man (Jew and Gentile) under the new covenant

Yes, God is our heavenly Father and seen as a Man. God created the first earthly man Adam in His image and God created the first woman as a beautiful mystery, taken right from Adam’s own body, given the name Eve. our Creator made the Family structure of a man & woman (a lifelong marriage covenant) who care for their children. God’s Love is whole in Himself (God is One) although He is known to us as Father, Spirit & Son. and so we can see God’s care of us, as children of Light (daughters & sons) as Paternal in nature, but also with Maternal aspects as well, the way both an earthly father & mother (as a unit, as “One” body) care for their own children. this is God’s orchestration that began as a “genesis” seed on garden earth. and as children reborn we will see the rebirth of earth itself in A grand end of time to restore the Genesis design

(the eternal tapestry)

A post by John Parsons about God’s sacred name:

the world ruled by man may seem like a crazy and anxious place to be in with so much corruption and so many lies, but we have to see where it is all headed. our heavenly King is returning to earth to rule from Jerusalem and will overthrow the kingdoms and governments that people have made, overturning all past attempts at others ruling the world apart from God’s truth.

yes, people have done and built amazing things on earth ever since the decimation of the global Flood. people dream and build beautiful architecture that have become earth’s many cities filled with activity. but there has been much tragedy as well. not all walk in Love. and walking in Love includes the ability to forgive others and to keep moving on with life and in hope.

Love is pure and Love is Light. and Love is also Justice who will make things right, eventually.

we either welcome Love’s grace or reject it. we have to replace human pride with humility of heart and mind and body since we have a heavenly King who is over all.

we’re not meant to adulterate what began as pure in True nature.

but even in our fallen state, we can choose to be reborn (inside, Anew)

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eli-kittim · 3 years

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Polytheism Versus Monotheism

By Biblical Researcher and Award-Winning Author, Eli Kittim

——-

The First Cause

Some Bible critics have argued that there maybe other gods in the universe. However, the Bible itself claims that there’s only one God. Now, you may see that as circular reasoning but there are also valid philosophical arguments which demonstrate that there can only be one cause to the universe, to wit, a “first cause.” Philosophy does not posit a multiplicity of first causes but rather the existence of a single, first cause, just as other theosophical and spiritual traditions have also posited a single incorporeal first cause. Let’s not forget that we’re not talking about a genus, a multiplicity of “contingent” beings, but about the source of everything, a “necessary” being that is beyond time and space and beyond being. If there were two such beings, then neither of them would be god. There can only be one maximally great being that can exist in every possible world.

——-

The Cosmological Argument

Plato (c. 427–347 BCE), in the Timaeus dialogue, posited a "demiurge" of absolute intelligence as the creator of the universe. Plotinus, a 3rd century Neoplatonist philosopher from Alexandria, claimed that the “One” transcendent absolute caused the cosmos to come into being as a result of its existence (creatio ex deo). Proclus (412–485 CE), his disciple, later clarified that “The One is God.”

Similarly, according to Aristotle, the “unmoved mover” (Gk. ὃ οὐ κινούμενον κινεῖ, lit. “that which moves without being moved”) or “prime mover” is the main cause (or first uncaused cause) of all the motion in the cosmos but is not itself moved or caused by any previous action or causation. Notice that the so-called “first cause” arguments do not entail multiplicity or diversity but rather unity and oneness.

In other words, nothing can come into being from nothing. Think about everything you see around you: your house, your car, your phone, your computer, your clothes, your food, your furniture, your TV, your parents, your friends, even yourself. Everything comes from something else. And the further back you go in time, in trying to unravel what caused what, the more you realize that everything came from something else. Someone or something either designed it, produced it, formed it, or gave it birth. If there were 2 gods, we would have to ask who came first? Who brought the second god into being?

However, the cosmological argument necessarily presupposes a single cause, which itself was never caused, namely, a timeless being, capable of creating everything (i.e. all contingent beings). Otherwise, if there was no first “unmoved mover,” there would be an infinite regress of causal dependency ad infinitum. This “first cause” can therefore be inferred via the concept of causation. This is not unlike Leibniz’ “principle of sufficient reason” nor unlike Parmenides’ “nothing comes from nothing” (Gk. οὐδὲν ἐξ οὐδενός; Lat. ex nihilo nihil fit)! All these arguments demonstrate not only that there must be a “necessary” being that designed and sustained the universe, but also that there can only be “one” such being!

——-

The One God of the Old Testament

Epistemology is a philosophical branch that questions the conditions required for a belief to constitute knowledge. The possible sources of knowledge that could justify a belief are based on perception, memory, reason, and testimony. Thus, divine revelation, which was subsequently transcribed or inscripturated, would certainly qualify as “testimony.”

There are multiple passages in both Testaments of the Bible where God declares to be without a counterpart: without an equal. Similar to the “Absolute Being” of philosophy which is logically inferred as a single, first cause, the Old Testament clearly affirms the existence of only one God. So, the uniqueness of a single God can also be attested by Divine Revelation. Scripture is therefore a witness to the reality of God’s existence as being unparalleled and unique. For example, in Isaiah 44.6-7 (NRSV), God declares that there are no other gods in the universe except him. He exclaims:

I am the first and I am the last; besides me

there is no god. Who is like me? Let them

proclaim it, let them declare and set it forth

before me.

In Isaiah 42.8, God states that he doesn’t share his glory with anyone. He alone is God without equal or rival:

I am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I

give to no other, nor my praise to idols.

Moreover, in Isaiah 43.10-11, God declares categorically and unequivocally that there were no gods formed before him, nor will there be any gods formed after him:

Before me no god was formed, nor shall

there be any after me. I, I am the Lord, and

besides me there is no savior.

This truth is reiterated several times in Isaiah 45.18, 21:

For thus says the Lord, who created the

heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth

and made it (he established it; he did not

create it a chaos, he formed it to be

inhabited!): I am the Lord, and there is no

other.

There is no other god besides me, a

righteous God and a Savior; there is no one

besides me.

This assertion, of course, implies that there are not multiple gods that receive many different forms of religious worship but rather a single Godhead sans equal.

In Isaiah 46.9-10, God sets a unique standard against which all other theories are measured, namely, the fulfillment of prophecy. That is to say, no one else can predict the future except God himself:

I am God, and there is no other; I am God,

and there is no one like me, declaring the

end from the beginning and from ancient

times things not yet done.

Similarly, 2 Sam. 7.22 seems to attest to the truth of God’s oneness by way of divine revelation (cf. 2 Pet 1.18):

You are great, O Lord God; for there is no

one like you, and there is no God besides

you, according to all that we have heard

with our ears.

——-

The One God of the New Testament

When we turn to the Christian scriptures, we find the exact same theme concerning one God who reigns supreme above humanity and the heavenly host. At no point in Scripture is there any hint that there are other gods that exist beside the God of the Old and New Testaments. John 17.3, for instance, brings to bear the authority of Scripture on the matter by calling the source of all creation “the only true God.” Critics of the Trinity (who view it as polytheistic) should be rebuffed because in the Johannine gospel Jesus clearly establishes that there’s *one essence* between himself and God. He proclaims, “The Father and I are one” (10.30).

The Christian doctrine of the Trinity holds that God is one God, but three coeternal, consubstantial persons or hypostases—the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit—as "one God in three Divine Persons". The three Persons are distinct, yet are one "substance, essence or nature" (homoousios). Paul the apostle also knows through direct revelations that “God is one” (Rom. 3.30). Paul understands that the Triune God is not equivalent to multiple gods but is rather a *monotheistic supreme deity* (1 Cor. 8.6 emphasis added):

there is ONE GOD, the Father, from whom

are all things and for whom we exist, and

one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are

all things and through whom we exist.

Colossians 1.15-16 explains that no other god or gods created the universe except God the Father (the source) through his Son (who is his image or reflection):

He [Christ] is the image of the invisible God,

the firstborn of all creation; for in him all

things in heaven and on earth were created,

things visible and invisible, whether thrones

or dominions or rulers or powers—all things

have been created through him and for him.

1 Tim. 2.5 basically reiterates the exact same concept of the ONE GOD, not as 2 or 3 separate beings, but as ONE BEING (in multiple persons):

For there is one God; there is also one

mediator between God and humankind,

Christ Jesus, himself human.

Similarly, Hebrews 1.2-3 reveals the exact same *truth* regarding a single God and his Son, “through whom he also created the worlds”:

in these last days he [God] has spoken to

us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all

things, through whom he also created the

worlds. He [Christ] is the reflection of God's

glory and the exact imprint of God's very

being, and he sustains all things by his

powerful word.

——-

God is Truth & Does Not Lie

The Bible repeatedly reminds us that God is truth, holiness, and veritable love itself, and therefore he does not lie. The Old Testament verifies his truthfulness by instructing us to imitate his holiness. Exodus 20.16 says,

You shall not bear false witness against

your neighbor.

Proverbs 12.22 reads:

Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord,

but those who act faithfully are his delight.

What is more, there are many Bible passages that demonstrate unlimited confidence in God’s honesty, transparency, and accountability. Titus 1.1-2 (emphasis added) is such a passage:

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of

Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of

God's elect and the knowledge of the truth

that is in accordance with godliness, in the

hope of eternal life that God, WHO NEVER

LIES, promised before the ages began—

In John 17.17 (ESV), Jesus himself says to God the Father:

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is

truth.

This is reminiscent of Isaiah 65.16 (ESV) which calls the creator, “the God of truth.” He is similarly acknowledged in Deuteronomy 32.4 (NKJV) as “A God of truth and without injustice.”

In Numbers 23.19 (NRSV), God is further attested as a higher-being whose good character precludes deception and lies:

God is not a human being, that he should

lie, or a mortal, that he should change his

mind. Has he promised, and will he not do

it?

Moreover, the doctrine of the Immutability of God describes an attribute of God which prevents him from changing his will or character. It implies that He will make good on all of his promises. Hebrews 6:18 (ICB) puts it thusly:

These two things cannot change. God

cannot lie when he makes a promise, and

he cannot lie when he makes an oath.

These things encourage us who came to

God for safety. They give us strength to

hold on to the hope we have been given.

Conclusion

This life has no guarantees. So, from an interdisciplinary perspective, when there are multiple lines of evidence concerning one God——coupled with cases abounding in the “religious-experience literature” down through the ages——the *testimony* becomes rather robust and trustworthy! In other words, the religious testimony is ipso facto a possible source of knowledge. And this global testimony——which goes far beyond the Judeo-Christian Bible and includes other world religions——indicates that only one God exists. If we add the philosophical arguments that also assert a first cause regarding everything that has been created in the cosmos, then we can safely say that there can only be one God that is responsible for creating and sustaining the universe!

——-

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nature-god-christ · 3 years

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Nature of Life: As A Dream

OK. So the Holy Spirit, had aspired a young man to walk according to God's Word. From his holy scriptures, He showed the young man things past, present, and future; of things, good and evil, holy and wicked.

However, observing deep wickedness, the young man marveled at those things, and darkness reached out and found something in him; a weakness, hidden, regarding the nature of flesh, still not yet disciplined by the will of mind, to the power of God's word.

Over the years, the young man enslaved himself to wickedness, incorporating into himself the very things he had previously despised. Yet, by a lust filled symbiotic arrangement, he allowed them entry, insinuation, and emotional substance.

True agents of wickedness who hold governmental powers in this world and had long desired him for their own purposes, decided that his condition and lifestyle had opened him up to false accusation and imprisonment; and so, they falsely accused and imprisoned him.

While in prison, the word came to him, to encourage and remind him of a dream, from years past.

The Dream:

Walking, his mind is filled with the word of God. Upon the closed shade of a opened window, dance shadows of a couple vehemently arguing. He says to himself that this household very much needs to hear the gospel of Christ; but continues on.

Almost instantly, he finds himself face-to-face with a familiar individual who asks regarding his life long friends. To which, he recited the illustrious careers and achievements of each one.

But then, the familiar individual asked the young man about his own career and achievements; to which, the young man fell silent in embarrassment. But then, he quickly stated, "I am in Christ. I am the Son of God."

The familiar individual then smiled, as if to say: Indeed that is the greatest achievement of all. He then, motioned that the young man should continue walking the incline.

Upon leaving the familar individual, the man crossed the street to observe the entrance of a cave, but quickly found himself chained to various people, arm and arm, leg and leg; walking a downward path of total darkness and nether gloom. There was also present, the feelings of guilt, condemnation, and punishment.

Then there appeared, to his left, an opening upon the cave wall. A portal, and one standing at a distance behind it, at a registry of some sort.

You say, you are the Son of God? He demanded. To which, the youngman answered, Yes.

The entity on the other side of the portal, drew closer, to enquire: Then why are you, with all these who are mine?

The young man, in utter embarrassment, gave no answer.

Moving ever so close, the entity demanded proof of the young man's claim; hurling cursings and declarations of ownership.

The young man, recalling the power of God, lifted one and then both feet off the ground, such that he hovered mid air. At which, he heard the voice of God loudly yelling, into his right ear: Do not proove anything to him. Preach my word!

Upon the hearing and flying at great speed, out of the darkness of nether gloom, the youngman found himself in daylight, speaking God's word to people of many ethnicities, tongues, and religions.

As all were rejoicing in the good word and revelations of God and Christ, the world leaders of such ethnicities, tongues, and religions who at first also rejoiced, became very displeased. Huddling together, they plotted, as how to destroy the young man away from the masses.

The Holy Spirit, revealing all things to him, empowered him to again fly. And looking down at his feet, the young man noticed that long spikes had grown from his soles.

With those spikes, he began scrapping the cars, houses, money, and luxurious belongings of those in opposition to God’s word; even as God continued speaking through the young man. This infuriated the religious, political, and economic leaders ever more so, as they plotted his demise.

Nevertheless, people who love truth rejoiced, continually, in God's word; the young man, however, began to look away in the direction of what he was hearing. Upon a distant mountain, he heard and was seeing a mass of people, covering the whole face of it, beautifully attired in brilliance.

Being drawn to it, he instantly appeared above them, flying overhead. As he did so, the largest most glorious of them all, led them in song and praises; himself, receiving praise and directing all such to God. That most glorious individual, whom the young man knew to be Christ, recognized him with the sign of approval, as the young man was crossing overhead.

The backside of the mountain, however, was completely barren.

The young man landed at the foot of the mountain, on its backside. Seeing no one and nothing but wasteland, he looked upward and called to God, saying: I have done, all that you have given me to do.

At that moment, the young man heard the voice of Christ, as he himself hurtled up, into the clouds; gathered with all who, at that time, heard him.

The young man awakened, from the dream that day, briefly speaking the heavenly tongue.

Repentance:

The word that came to the imprisoned older man, reminded him of that night vision from his youth; to encourage him, and return him to Life and repentance; to awaken him, to his mission and purpose for which God had originally sent him to earth.

So then, after threatening many years (more than 20), authorities were forced to release the man, in just a few months.

Four year later, the older man, is NOT a righteous man, is NOT the Good Shepherd, but is desperately aspiring to be such. Yet, again the word comes to him, simply saying: Do, Say, and Be. Water the seed.

Do the work of Christ: Gathering others, to him.

Say whatever the word agrees with, no matter how foreign to the listener. If they reject the seed blossoming, which God himself has implanted in such an imperfect earthen vessel, they yolk themselves to the crucible of Anti-Christ that is now in the world, by the seed of deception, administered through a pandemic of delusion.

Be righteous, by continual washing and cleansing of God's word, by the power of his Spirit, as we are willing of mind.

Be justified, in that the blood sacrifice of a perfected, obedient life that has already washed away all sins-past, present, and future-of all who are continually sanctifying themselves in Truth that is, God's word; having this faith, in willing mind.

Be saved, manifesting God's purpose in life that is today, right now.

Be the agent of God, in opposition to ones own sinfully educated mind and imaginations of heart; until Christ be fully formed, seated upon the throne of heart, subjugating mind, unto fleshly obedience to the commanments of Christ.

Walking The Path:

If one must fake it until they make it, then do so; but only to ones self, not to others. Do not be a hypocrite. For ones self, however, fake or mimic the pattern of righteousness. Do that which Christ exhibited, as an imprint upon words and deeds; in contrast to those, regularly practiced, in disobedience and wickedness. Do it, until the real thing, shows up.

Repetition, passes activity as habit, to mind and soul (emotion and Physiology) that seeds the heart.

If what is seeded in the heart, is a pattern of Christ, the Holy Spirit enjoins with it to incubate a mentality of Christ that conforms to the practiced pattern.

The degree to which one allows the power of God's spirit to autopilot ones own development in Christ, is directly related to ones exposure to accurate knowledge and revelation of God's Word; which, in turn, yields a more exacting likeness of Christ, manifesting through a once disobedient life.

LITV 2Cor 4:7: "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the excellence of the power may be of God, and not from us;"

On the Path:

King of Wonders

#Jesus #Yeshua #prison #sin #salvation

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xapitos · 3 years

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Who is Jesus of Nazareth? A study of the Gospel of Mark to answer this question.

Who is Jesus of Nazareth?

A Devotional Study of the Gospel of Mark

by xapitos

Introduction

This is a biblical study of the Gospel of Mark from the New Testament. This study is based on the Gospel of Mark (and in turn the entire Hebrew and Christian Scriptures) as being the inerrant (without error) words of God given to Mark and to each author of each book of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, known to many as the “Holy Bible.” God is interpreted as the God presented in those Scriptures, namely, the personal Creator of all things (except evil, a creation of man by his free choice), Sustainer of life and Giver of eternal forgiveness for one’s rebellious/sinful nature against God through the sacrificial offering of his Son, Jesus Christ, taking God’s wrath for such sinfulness upon himself on the cross out of love for all of mankind.

A little bit about me. I have been a Christian for more than 60 years, knowing at a very young age, that the Lord was my heavenly Father and that I would become a pastor. After a career of earning a Bachelor’s degree in Koine and Classical Greek, a Master’s of Theology degree in Old Testament Studies (a four year degree), being a missionary in South America, pastoring in three churches and being a hospice chaplain, I have never once found the Holy Bible to be in error. I have had to seek insight into some of its parts. Those parts, have no easy answers. That does not mean that there is no answer, nor does it mean that the hard to understand parts are errors. It means that I, the reader, do not understand what is put forth plainly in those parts. The understanding issue is not in the presentation but in the interpreter. I have also found that the great majority of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures are straight forward, clear to understand and deeply challenging to the soul. I believe it is this challenging part that we as humankind use to deflect, hide from the truth that we find in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. For instance, the command to love your neighbor as yourself is broad and not always easy to apply. Some people are mean and obnoxious. Yet, they are my neighbor and my responsibility is to love them regardless of themselves.

Meditating upon the Holy Bible, whether we claim Jesus as our Lord and Savior or not, and asking the Lord for insight and guidance usually results in the same. My personal growth in God’s truth is often the issue that prevents me, for a time, to understand and/or apply his truth. Furthermore, truth is both refreshing and confrontational. When I am to love my neighbor as myself, even though my neighbor may be an unloving, mean person, I am “confronted with God’s truth.” I can love, despite my neighbor’s actions, or be self-focused. The choice is mine, not God’s. Confrontation is not a bad thing but a good thing. Confrontation should be gentle. As someone once wrote, we all need to learn the art of giving a shot without the recipient feeling the needle.

It is my prayer that all of us who read/meditate upon this study will be honest with ourselves about what the Gospel of Mark says and that we sincerely search our souls regarding its claim that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, the Redeemer of all peoples from their sinful state to enjoy the wonderful and enriching relationship with the Triune God forever.

A Word About the Methodology of This Study

For simplicity sake, this study follows the paragraph breakdowns of The Greek New Testament, edited by Kurt Aland, Matthew Black, Carlo M. Martini, Bruce M. Metzger and Allen Wikgren, Institute for New Testament Textual Research, Munster/Westphalia, Third Edition, United Bible Societies, copyright 1966, 1968, 1975. The Hebrew Scriptures referred to are from Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, Deutsche Bibelstiftung Stuttgart, copyright 1967/1977. The English translation used, when not translating from the Hebrew Scriptures and Greek New Testament, is the New International Version of the Bible.

Secondly, since this study looks at the Gospel of Mark as written and Hebrew Scriptures as referred to within the Gospel of Mark as taken at face value for what they claim, these documents are seen as the final authority in all matters to which they speak. When studying any book, the normal interpretative approach is to study a book at face value for what it claims to be. Thus, this study looks at the historical, cultural and grammatical contexts in which the Gospel of Mark was written. Mark claims in 1:1-2, that his book is the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, based upon prophecy from the Hebrew Scriptures. Thus, this study assumes the same. If contradictions and errors are found to exist, then the Gospel of Mark will be assumed to be false. Otherwise, it is only honest integrity and personal character to recognize and accept wholeheartedly what the Gospel of Mark presents.

Premise

The question at hand is, “Who is Jesus of Nazareth?” Mark, a disciple of the apostle Peter (whom Jesus left in charge before he ascended into heaven), wrote his book with this question in mind. All of us have premises. The question is, which one is the truth to be the foundation and cornerstone of our lives and the gift of life itself? This question makes the question “Who is Jesus of Nazareth” all the more imperative.

Study

Chapter 1:1-8

1:1 The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ (Messiah) son of God

Mark states the premise of his book in its opening words. With the use of the name “Christ” (the Greek word for the Hebrew word “Messiah”) Mark immediately draws attention to Jesus of Nazareth being the Promised One of the Nation of Israel. He wants all to know, especially Jewish people, that the Messiah they have been looking for has already come. Mark also claims that this Messiah is the Son of God. A debatable matter amongst Jewish and Gentile people. Yet, the claim is so bold, that it is worthy of investigation.

1:2-3 Just as it has been written in Isaiah the prophet, Behold I will send my messenger before you who will prepare your way, a voice of one calling out in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight paths for him.’

Immediately, Mark lays claim to the Hebrew Scriptures as the supreme authority to backup his statement in verse 1. Isaiah was written approximately between 740-701 B.C., long before the arrival of the Mark’s good news/gospel that Jesus Christ is God’s Son, the Promised One to the Jewish people and to the world. Isaiah chapters 1-39 are about Israel’s rebellious, sinful ways (Isaiah 1-5), and then about the LORD’s coming judgment upon the Jewish people because of their chosen rebellion. Isaiah 39 reviews the coming judgment through the hand of the Babylonians, who will even ransack and burn the Lord’s temple and take his people into captivity. We know that Daniel 9 reviews the 70 year captivity. The context of Isaiah 40-66 is to comfort the LORD’s people (the Hebrews), that the times of judgment will not last, and that there will be the time to prepare the way of the LORD and make straight paths for him for his Messiah will redeem and restore his people and any who claim his name as Lord. It is with this comforting news that Mark begins the good news of Jesus Christ/Messiah God’s Son.

In both Isaiah and Mark, the forerunner of the Messiah is key. A forerunner prepares, go before. Thus, the very nature of a forerunner makes the message about what follows even more imperative and worthy of listening to with a change in action for the listeners.

1:4 Now there was John the Baptizer in the dessert and he was preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

John the Baptizer performed his mission not in the cities and villages but in the dessert. Why? For none, there are less distractions in the dessert. Someone proclaiming a message and baptizing people would stand out more than in a city, where he could easily be ignored. Also, he was baptizing people in the Jordan river, where many go for water, bathing and washing of clothes, as well as to be refreshed from the arid, hot climate of Israel. Thus, word would easily spread about John and his message.

The historical context of Mark at this point is that the Hebrew people have been under the thumb of the Roman Empire for many years. They were heavily taxed, oppressed and helpless against a ruthless government that worshiped Caesar. Thus, the Romans were detestable to most Hebrews, who worshiped the LORD God of Israel through sacrifices at the Second Temple in Jerusalem.

What kind of message is John the Baptizer preaching? It isn’t one of sacrifices per the Law of Moses. It’s a new message, a different message of repentance for forgiveness of sins. A message that would smooth out the valleys and bring low the mountains of life. The roughness of life shall become level, its rugged smooth. Thus, his message stood out all the more. This would cause the message to spread quickly.

Self-Reflection

Where/what is our dessert? Where/what is the refreshment of our souls? To whom are we listening? One proclaiming the way of the Lord to make straight paths for him? Or, are we listening to the many voices, the confusion and the hustle and bustle of a hectic life, filled with many voices? How is our present state of life refreshing our souls and bringing us closer to who the Gospel of Mark claims Jesus of Nazareth to be? Name three ways in which you can change your life to listen better to John the Baptizer’s message, as well as the message of the Gospel of Mark thus far?

1:5 and all the Judean region and all those living in Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.

The going out to John was an intentional one. One of purpose. Under the heavy hand of Rome (like the Hebrews of Isaiah’s and Daniel’s day being judged by God through the Assyrians and the Babylonians) there is now the time of preparing for the way of the LORD and making straight paths, leveling out life’s hardships and difficulties. This message is not carried out by throwing off the hardships and difficulties but by turning to the One who forgives sin and then makes our way smoother in the midst of the hardships and difficulties. Although the people of that time were used to traveling in the dry, arid climate of the Judean wilderness, it was still an arduous journey. The trip from Jerusalem to the Jordan River crosses a dessert area littered literally with millions upon millions of rocks of various sizes, deep crevices, low mountains, valleys, dust, heat (depending on the time of year), little to no water. The people of the region and of Jerusalem are so thirsty for a making straight of their oppressed and rugged lives, that they welcomingly travel the arid countryside by foot, donkey and/or camel to listen to this new message from a loner man, who lives in the dessert.

1:6 and John wore clothes made of camels hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey.

To the Hebrew, this is a clear reference to the highly-esteemed prophet, Elijah. Mark is saying that one like Elijah, the mighty prophet and miracle worker of the Hebrews, is now here and his message is even greater, as the new Elijah, John the Baptizer. That Elijah is so pertinent to the Jewish culture of this time, Elijah himself is one of two people who appear and talks with Jesus on the Mount of Tranfiguration (Mark 9:2-13). Jewish people understand that Elijah must come before the Messiah arrives. Mark claims that John is that man.

Self-Reflection

Would we truly travel across a dessert area on foot or animal, let alone a vehicle of today, to listen to the message of a loner, who lives in the dessert? His hair has to be dirty and matted. His beard, eyebrows, ear hair long, possibly filled with dirt and grime. He stinks. His teeth are dirty and possibly rotting. Not only all of this, he dresses like a crazy man, wearing camel haired clothes (brown and tan against his sun darkened skin). He eats giant grass hoppers and unprocessed honey. What kind of truth does he have to offer? Would we be willing to accept him as greater than one of the greatest of God’s prophets ever? What would we do personally to change our lives in light of his message?

1:7-8 and he preached saying, There is one more powerful than I, after me, of whom I am not worthy to loosen the straps of the sandals of his feet. I baptize you with water, but he himself will baptize you with the holy spirit.

Baptism is a common concept to Jewish people. The Greek word “to baptize” is equal to the Hebrew ritual word used for the “ritual cleansing bath” a worshiper would take to spiritual cleanse oneself before offering sacrifices to the LORD at the Temple in Jerusalem. At the southern end of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem there is an archaeological find of what are known to be “mikvahs”. Mikvahs are the ritual cleansing areas one would use before entering the Temple Mount to offer sacrifices to the LORD at the Temple. Mikvahs have steps that descend some 4-5 feet into a small area that was filled with water to immerse one’s self for the cleansing ritual. The Mikvah area at the southern end of the Temple Mount is most likely where over 3000 people were baptized by Peter and other apostles with him when he preached on the Day of Pentecost, post-resurrection of Jesus (Acts of the Apostles 3).

The message here is clear, spiritually cleanse ourselves before the LORD by being baptized to receive forgiveness of our sins. In other words, instead of taking the symbolical ritual mkvah bath to present yourselves to the LORD at the Temple with your sacrifice(s) for him, be ritually/spiritually cleansed by offering yourself as the sacrifice to the LORD for the forgiveness of your sins. Clearly, a new message, the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ/Messiah Son of God has come to his people and to the world.

This new message brings a new gift, the holy spirit. In the Hebrew Scriptures of Psalm 51, King David (the one to whom the LORD promised an eternal kingdom) cries out in deep grief stricken repentance that the LORD will not remove his spirit from him. David was the man after God’s own heart, as the Hebrew Scriptures describe him. Yet, David committed adultery with another man’s wife (one of his soldiers), deceived others about this by calling her husband back from the war front to sleep with his wife, plotted to have him killed in battle (murder), and then lied about it for a year. The LORD sent his prophet Nathan to confront David for all of this. This is the context of Psalm 51. It is no wonder that David cries out begging the LORD not to remove his spirit from him. The LORD mercifully forgives David and grants his request. David knew that without the spirit of the LORD, he could not become the man and king that the LORD wanted him to be. John proclaims that The One who is greater than I, he himself will baptize you with the holy spirit. The religious leaders of Israel did not teach this teaching. They emphasized a distorted message of the LORD, because of which people from all over the Judean wilderness and Jerusalem itself, flocked to a loner, hairy, stinky, weird dressed, grasshopper eating man, who proclaimed a new message from the LORD, be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins, for the Promised Messiah is coming soon.

Self-Reflection

How committed are we to obeying the call of the LORD upon our lives to live in a deepening relationship with him? What are we willing to give up in the comfort and convenience of our lives to be a lone soul in the dessert of life crying to any who will listen…There is a better way, a smoother way. There is a life worth living, that is not filled with the clutter of many voices and guilt ridden teachings and philosophies of self-dependence. There is a better life, because the only One who is worthy has come and invites us to live in the wonder and joy of his forgiveness and guidance to the deeper life with the Father. What will we do to live in, to embrace that life?

List three ways in which the Lord is speaking to you about such change:

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scarlettrose0 · 3 years

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Part 3/?

I don’t agree with everything in this post, specifically it claiming that evolution is false. I’m honestly still studying that and thinking about it. But, I’m sure you get the main idea, the main audience or rather the target audience is Christians.

Made in God's Image: Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…" –Gen. 1:26

📷God exists as three persons in one Trinity. Likewise, the triune God created tripartate man, with body, soul, and spirit (1 Thes. 5:23) and He also imprinted our world with His triune nature. Space exists in three dimensions, height, width, and length, as does time in past, present and future. There are protons, neutrons, and electrons and the primary colors of red, green, and blue. We live on this third planet from the Sun and enjoy matter in solid, liquid, and gas. We build with the strongest shape, the triangle, and our DNA uses only three-letter words. Human beings live here, in heaven, and in hell, with those who love Him crying out, "Holy, holy, holy." Being made in God's image imagerefers to our form, and being made in His likeness refers to our essence as sentient, morally-responsible persons. Charles Darwin hoped for evidence that apes eventually began standing erect. However, thousands of kinds of animals made by God, along with all the four-footed beasts, have a stooped stance and look to the ground, whereas men and women alone stand upright created with a heavenly gaze and as the most social of creatures. For the first thing that God created was a form, that is, an image, for the eternal Son to indwell (Col. 1:15; etc.). And in that image "He made man," and not in the image of apes (see AmericanRTL.org/Darwin). But He made them "male and female" as Christ affirmed (Mark 10:6), "from the beginning of creation." And as Moses wrote in Hebrew צֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים‎‎, which in Latin is imago Deiand in Greek, εἰκόνα θεοῦ: "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them" (Gen. 1:27). And because a fish is not made in God's image, one can eat another without guilt, and it is impossible to "murder" a tomato or a turkey. Only a human being can be murdered. For God prohibited the shedding of innocent blood, "for in the image of God He made man" (Gen. 9:6). See more at rsr.org/3.

Pain in Childbirth Resulted from Sin: [As a result of Adam and Eve's sin:] To the woman God said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children..." –Gen. 3:16

God DID NOT inflict this pain in childbirth as a sadist but IN MERCY toward the child, and thus, toward the mother too. How so? Please consider that after being created on the sixth day (Gen. 1:27), Adam sinned so quickly that his wife did not even have time to conceive a child before the Fall. However, if Eve had given birth before the Fall, she would not have experienced pain in childbirth. Why not? As a result of Lucifer tempting Eve, God then put enmity between him and mankind. And as a result of Eve's sin, God multiplied the length of time for human gestation. Sin and death destroyed the perfection of the cosmos itself, for "the creation was subjected to futility" (Rom. 8:21) and as the Apostle Paul continued, "For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now" (Rom. 8:22). So after man's sin, the Earth lost its original environmental perfection as a paradise and instead became a relatively hostile place in which to survive. This would be especially true for tiny human newborns who would face a terribly high infant mortality rate being born not into an Eden but into our current world struggling to survive in freezing weather, sweltering heat, with less than optimal nutrition, and fighting pathogens. We know that with loving care and great wisdom God designed the development of the fetus in the womb. So because sin would destroy the perfection of the cosmos, God created a genetic contingency for Adam and Eve such that, if they sinned, as a biological consequence, a fetus would then remain in the womb for a longer period of time, in order to grow much larger and stronger (as compared to His original design and as compared to many animals like the koala, opossum, and kangaroo.). As God said to the woman, "I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children" (Gen. 3:16). To "multiply... your conception" does not mean that after the Fall women would conceive more children, for previously God had commanded the first parents "to be fruitful and multiply" (Gen. 1:28). And of course children themselves are not a curse but one of the greatest blessings from God (Ps. 127:3-5). So what does this mean? In this context the term "conception" is a metaphor meaning gestation. A typical figure of speech is the use of the beginning of something, say a book or an alphabet, to represent the whole, such as the ABCs and the word title, as in "That author wrote three best-selling titles." We understand the figure, that he didn't just write the titles, but the entire books. So by this common language convention, here the term conception is a metaphor which means gestation. By multiplying a woman's gestation, God gave her baby a much greater chance of surviving in our hostile world. This comes at the expense though of mom's discomfort and pain. However, just as the Apostle Paul wrote that "the sufferings of this present world are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed" (Rom. 8:18), so the members of American Right To Life who are moms have made it clear that the pain in childbirth, though it is often severe, is nothing compared to the joy of holding their newborn child. Interestingly, Scripture may contain sufficent clues to indicate the length in months of the original gestation period. By His original design, a woman may have labored with child for six months. Why? Today we say that a full-term baby is one who is born at nine months, and they average 20 inches long weighing seven pounds. At six months the fetus (which is Latin, for bringing forth and offspring) is half-a-foot shorter and weighs just under two pounds, so that a perfectly healthy woman (like Eve) delivering a tiny child like that would not experience today's intense labor pains. Further, an original gestation of six months is biblically appropriate because from the Genesis to Revelation, six is the number of a man. For he was created on "the sixth day" (Gen. 1:31) and the antichrist uses 666 because "it is the number of a man (Rev. 13:18), and in the Ten

Commandments God wrote that for "six days you shall labor (Ex. 20:9). And nine is the number for judgment, as shown in the crucifixion when Jesus took the judgment for man's sin, for "from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land," (Mat. 27:45; Mark 15:33) similar to "darkness over the land of Egypt" in the ninth plague (Ex. 10:21) which was followed by the death of the firstborn and the Passover. "For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us" (1 Cor. 5:7), crucified on the very daythat the passover lambs were being sacrificed. So as Luke reports at "the ninth hour... He breathed His last" (Luke 23:44-46). So six is the number of man, and nine is a number of judgment. Thus God likely multiplied the original six months by one and a half to get today's nine months of gestation in mercy for both mother and child.

Rights Come from God: "Thou shall not murder... Thou shall not steal. Thou shall not bear false witness..." –Exodus 20:13-16 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…" –Gen. 1:26

Human rights do not come from the government, for then they wouldn’t be rights; nor from the majority (consider America and slaves, Germany and Jews, China and Christians); nor from the delivery doctor or hospital. For rights come from our Creator, at that moment we are created. That's why the right to life commences at conception, and not at some arbitrary later time. Further, Jeremiah 1:5 quotes God, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you." The Declaration of Independence affirms what those who believe in God have always known. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life…” We have human rights because we are made in our Creator’s image and likeness, which is why parents, unlike animals, have a moral obligation to protect and love our children, born and unborn. Further, as said to Bill Maher on ABC, "You cannot elevate animal rights without denigrating human rights." Human beings have the right to due process as affirmed by God when He said, "Thou shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." And we have the right to own private property as affirmed by God when He said, "Thou shall not steal." And we have the right to life as affirmed by God when He said, "Thou shall not murder."

#prolife #prochoice #abortion #christianity

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gduncan969 · 3 years

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Does God Always Heal?

2 Kings 2:1 “And it came to pass, when the Lord was about to take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind.. 11 Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.”

2 Kings 13:14 “Elisha had become sick with the illness of which he would die. 20 Then Elisha died, and they buried him.”

John 9:6-7 “..He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.”

Anyone who, like me, lived through the great “Charismatic Renewal” of the Church between 1960's - 1990's will know that it was a time of the restoration of the various gifts of the Holy Spirit to those believers who either asked for or were open to receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit as experienced by the 120 on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2) and afterwards those at the House of Cornelius (Acts 10) and Ephesus (Acts 19). These “times of refreshing” during the Charismatic Renewal were accompanied by great healing miracles as witnessed in the Kathryn Kuhlman services in Pittsburg and Los Angeles and even one service in Ottawa, Ontario which my wife and I had the privilege of attending in the 1970's. Throughout these exciting times, reports came in from all over the world of a mighty move of the Holy Spirit which saw many souls added to the Kingdom through the efforts of many new para-church organizations such as “Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship International” with its ministry to those in the corporate world of business and finance, many of whom were reluctant to visit a church or attend a tent meeting. However, it also gave rise to a host of ministries with teachings and methods that hyped financial and material blessings for the believer, claiming that these were evidence of God’s favor—what became known as prosperity gospel! This teaching flourished among numerous tele-evangelists who displayed their great wealth as proof of their great faith while shipwrecking the faith of many of their followers who gave generously in the hope of the same promised 100-fold return but were left financially devastated and spiritually bankrupt when there was not even a 1-fold return! Out of this false gospel came the teaching that God always heals when we meet the right conditions—guaranteed!

I’ve been reading through First and Second Kings and the two chapters quoted above struck me as odd. Added to that, my daughter Susan, testified during her broadcasted gospel singalong with her big sister on Sunday evenings at 7.00 PM EDST (you can log on from Facebook by searching for “Susan Tucker, Woodstock”) about her on-going struggle with her special-needs son, my grandson, Graham, who suffers from a very debilitating but undiagnosed illness which prevents him from walking and interferes with his brain function. Now, 2 Kings 2:11 tells the exciting story of how the prophet Elijah did not die but ascended directly to Heaven in a chariot of fire becoming only the second person in the bible to escape physical death (the other being Enoch who was “translated” to Heaven (Genesis 5:4)) but eleven chapters later, we learn that Elisha—who was given a “double-portion” of Elijah’s spirit, “had become sick with the illness of which he would die”?? There’s an apparent disconnect here: why would God take Elijah to Heaven in a firey chariot but let Elisha become sick and die? Surely, if Elisha got a double-portion of Elijah’s spirit, he was twice as likely to escape physical death as Elijah?

To bring that question closer to home, there was an incident last week in our former dwelling place in northern Ontario where we lived for eleven years. The village of Swastika is now part of the Town of Kirkland Lake and has a pretty river that runs right through the middle of the village giving the local kids a great place to play. Our kids were no exception but like most parents, we had great concerns about the two large deep pools in the river which were a magnet for the local kids. Last week the local pastor’s 7-year old daughter, Emilia, fell in to the upper pool and was dragged under by the fast flowing current. Her father was quickly summoned from home by the other kids, including her big brother who was hysterical and screaming for his sister. Dad dived in along with a neighbor from the other side of the river and frantically searched for the girl to no avail until a neighbor who lived further down the river near the end of the lower pool also dived in about ten minutes later. He could see nothing in the water but his hand felt something which he grabbed and pulled to the surface and it turned out to be the hair of the listless child. Her eyes were wide open and she was not breathing and had no pulse. CPR was immediately started with no response but by now the mother had arrived and she and the brother began screaming at everyone who had gathered to pray, which many did. The police arrived and CPR was continued until, miraculously, the heart started to beat and her breathing returned. She was transported to the local hospital 8 Km away but fearing brain damage, they ordered her air-lifted to Sudbury, 200 Km away. There just “happened” to be a medevac helicopter idling at the hospital waiting to pick up a patient who gladly stepped aside to allow the little girl to be flown to Sudbury. The doctors in Sudbury warned the parents of the high likelihood of brain damage but the little girl was sent home the next day, fully recovered and fully cognizant. A miracle indeed!

Now, why would God revive a dead child who drowned in the river in answer to the urgent prayers of her parents, brother and neighbors but He hasn’t healed my grandson these past ten years after many long hours of prayer by his parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents and church family? The short answer is: I don’t know. But am I mad at God? Are his parents angry with God? Do we all feel God is very unfair, even heartless? The answer is a resounding, No! The photo at the start of this article explains why and tells me all I need to know about the nature of God’s love for me, for my family and for my grandson, Graham. The photo is the view I get from my front door every time I step into my house and I thank God for the builders who installed such a reminder of who is looking after all I have in my living room window, even if they never saw what I see and what, I trust, you see too. Do we still pray for Graham’s healing? Of course we do. Do we still believe God heals today? Of course we do. Some might accuse us of a lack of faith and maybe they are right but if that’s true then I will gladly use their faith to see my grandson made whole. You see, the last scripture above from John 9: 6-7 tells the story of Jesus healing the blind man at the pool of Siloam. There is no record that the blind man asked Jesus for his sight. Jesus chose to heal him not because the man had great faith or a great desire to be healed but simply so that God could reveal Himself in his healing. The bible talks of another pool, the pool of Bethesda (John 5:2) where “a great multitude of sick people” hung out, waiting on the angel to disturb the water and the first one in the water supposedly got healed. One lame man at this pool was healed by Jesus but the question is: How many sick people did Jesus clamber over to get to the one whom he healed? That’s a very valid and thought-provoking question because it makes us want to scream “Why didn’t you heal the others at the same time?” Just imagine, if one of the others was your son or grandson, or even you, yourself! Our struggle with why lots of people are not healed through prayer has much more to do with our lack of trust in a loving Saviour than any sense of equal treatment and fair play. I still don’t know why my grandson is not healed but I’m still praying he will be but that will never cause me to accuse God or denounce Him because I have already experienced the love He has for me and while I don’t understand the why’s, I trust the One who does and will continue to praise Him. If you’ve been struggling trying to find answers to these questions, leave them aside and discover again how much He loves you. As His “marvelous billows of love” flow over you, rest in them and be encouraged to trust Him more.

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tinyshe · 3 years

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still worth reading ... more now than ever:

The Kraken Unleashed: Are We Ready to Fight the Beast?

Father Richard Heilman January 14, 2015

“And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads; and on its horns were ten diadems, and on its heads were blasphemous names. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And the dragon gave it his power and his throne and great authority. One of its heads seemed to have received a death-blow, but its mortal wound had been healed. In amazement the whole earth followed the beast. They worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it? – Revelation 13:1-10

“In the 2010 film, Clash of the Titans, there is a scene in which Zeus, angry with the humans, is persuaded by Hades to visit vengeance upon the mortals in the form of the Kraken, a giant monster from the depths of the sea. The visual of this great evil being unleashed is something to behold:

“If this scene is evocative, perhaps it is because it’s familiar. Like a Kraken released, we have a colossal problem in our world today. There are few who are not stunned by the growing specter of evil; a darkness more profound and spreading more quickly across the globe than any civilized human being could have ever imagined. Many of those I speak with have admitted that they now abstain completely from watching the news: “It’s just too much,” they say. “It’s just so horrifying!”

“For the past two years I have been confiding to close friends my own growing sense that something is happening, that something unholy is stirring. I have spoken with others who have admitted the same suspicion. The way I have tried to describe it in the past is like the rumblings felt just before a volcano explodes.

“Now, I find myself wondering if the eruption is upon us.

“Who could ever conceive of atrocities like those we are seeing executed in the name of religion? Where once we might see coverage of a tragic conflict far away, we now face an evil that is not confined to some distant corner of the planet. With the always-on, near-instant spread of information in our digital age, your next door neighbor can be radicalized from the comfort of their living room.

“What we are facing is, first and foremost, a form of spiritual warfare. In a time where violence is rampant and the innocent are threatened, it is true that we must be ready to physically engage the malefactors. But if we deny the spiritual nature of this surge of evil we are facing, we will have no hope of victory.

“When confronted with atrocity, the immediate reaction of most people is, “What can we do to stop it?” Yes! That is the exact question we need to be asking. Summoning us to courage, St. Augustine challenges us to do battle: “Hope has two beautiful daughters: their names are anger and courage. Anger that things are the way they are. Courage to make them the way they ought to be.”

“But to begin to answer the question of what we can do, we must first properly assess where we are. What are our capabilities? How is our strength? What is the state of our conditioning? Without this kind of brutal honesty, we are likely to flounder rather than fight.

“Jesus warned, “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth” (Luke 21:34-35).

“And yet isn’t that exactly what has become of us? Consider this sobering analysis of our present condition from columnist Jeffrey Kuhner at the Washington Times:

“For the past 50 years, every major institution has been captured by the radical secular left. The media, Hollywood, TV, universities, public schools, theater, the arts, literature — they relentlessly promote the false gods of sexual hedonism and radical individualism. Conservatives have ceded the culture to the enemy. Tens of millions of unborn babies have been slaughtered; illegitimacy rates have soared; divorce has skyrocketed; pornography is rampant; drug use has exploded; sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS have killed millions; birth control is a way of life; sex outside of wedlock has become the norm; countless children have been permanently damaged — their innocence lost forever — because of the proliferation of broken homes; and sodomy and homosexuality are celebrated openly. America has become the new Babylon.

“This cultural assessment is bleak. And I believe that underlying it all is a deeper evil, a more ancient and intractable error which gives rise to all the rest. Many have pointed to “Modernism” as the heresy of our times. Modernism, while it takes many forms, is basically a break or rejection of our past in favor of all things new. And, while it seems evident that our Church is fully infected with the heresy of Modernism, I believe that it, too, is a symptom of this more fundamental threat.

“What am I referring to? Something that impacts the very nature of human existence and the opportunity for our salvation. Lacking an official name, I call this monster, “Stealth Arianism.” Students of history know that the Arian heresy – the worst crisis in the Church before our present age – was rooted in the belief that Jesus Christ was merely a created being, not equal to God the Father. Stealth Arianism follows the same fatal error, but with a twist: while the Arians of the fourth century openly denied Christ’s divinity, today‘s Arians will profess Jesus as God, and yet through their actions deny it. In other words, they don’t even know they are heretics. Many even believe that they are doing God’s work in their attempts to elevate Christ’s humanity at the cost of His divinity.

“You see, once we diminish the identity of Christ as the Son of God, we are left to view Him as simply a historical figure that was a nice guy, a respectable teacher and a good example for how we are to live. Religion is then reduced to a nice organization that does nice things for people as we seek a kind of psychotherapy for self-actualization. And this is not only not what He came to give us, but it’s something He made sure to leave no room for.

In his Christological examination, [easyazon_link asin=”0060652926″ locale=”US” new_window=”default” nofollow=”default” tag=”onep073-20″]Mere Christianity[/easyazon_link], C.S. Lewis makes the case plain:

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

“Over the past 50 years, the Stealth Arians have done everything within their power to remove from our lived experience of Catholicism anything that would point to the divinity of Christ, and the supernatural quality of our faith. Everything has been stripped from our churches – sacred art, sacred architecture, sacred music, and the sacred elements of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass – and we are left in the barren desert of the banal. It is no wonder many Catholics think nothing of approaching the Most Holy Eucharist dressed in a t-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops, and grabbing the host like they’re reaching into a bag of chips. As Flannery O’Connor said, “If it’s a symbol, to hell with it.” It’s more surprising that these individuals even bother to attend Mass at all.

“Moreover, the Stealth Arians have deliberately chosen to keep their teachings muddled, ambiguous and elusive in an effort to increase “pastoral sensitivity” as the highest of all values, which keeps people feeling good about themselves just the way they are – though never challenged to strive for sainthood! Of course, when people like the way their church makes them feel about themselves, that keeps the money flowing into the collection basket. But whether confused and uncertain, or simply spiritually blind for lack of true pastoral care, the faithful who have been abandoned by their spiritual leaders are prone to be conformed to the world and its prince, a murderer and liar from the beginning.

“St. John Chrysostom exhorts, “Let us be filled with confidence, and let us discard everything so as to be able to meet this onslaught. Christ has equipped us with weapons more splendid than gold, more resistant than steel, weapons more fiery than any flame and lighter than the slightest breeze … These are weapons of a totally new kind, for they have been forged for a previously unheard-of type of combat. I, who am a mere man, find myself called upon to deal blows to demons; I, who am clothed in flesh, find myself at war with incorporeal powers.”

“That sounds noble for St. John, but about for us? Are we really prepared to such a fight? Just when we need mighty spiritual warriors for these dangerous times, Satan has spent the past 50 years diminishing the Church’s legions to little more than a bunch of Girl Scouts. Now that we are left in our weakened state, Satan seems to be calling out to deal the last blow, “Release the Kraken!”

“Indeed, what can we do?

“St. Paul gives us the answer in his epistle to the Ephesians (6:10-18):

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

“Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.

Originally published on September 18, 2014.

Father Richard Heilman

Fr. Richard M. Heilman is a priest of the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin State Chaplain for the Knights of Columbus. He is a regular guest host on Relevant Radio’s The Inner Life, and is the founder of the Knights of Divine Mercy, which is an apostolate for Catholic men’s faith formation..

He is also he founder of the Ladies of Divine Mercy, which is an apostolate for Catholic women’s faith formation. He is the author of the Church Militant Field Manual and the Roman Catholic Man website, which are both dedicated to helping Catholics understand and train for their role in the mission of combating evil and rescuing the souls of our loved ones who have lost the precious gift of faith.

#catholic #fr richard heilman #be awake #be aware #be prepared #get right with God #spiritual battle #pray #are you ready to fight the beast

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mrlnsfrt · 3 years

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Character is not Transferrable

This post is part two of my Watching, Waiting, Ready series. You can find part one here.

We began by looking at Matthew 24:36-51 and there we found two parables.

The first parable taught us that the second coming of Jesus will be unexpected. Matthew 24:42-44

The second parable taught us that we have to be more than merely passively waiting. We have responsibilities, things to do as we wait for Jesus to come again. Matthew 24:45-51

The third parable will be discussed in this post and we will learn that we must be prepared for an unexpected delay. Matthew 25:1-13.

Groundwork

Let’s clarify a few things before jumping into the interpretation of the parable of the 10 virgins.

The Messiah is the Bridegroom - Isaiah 54:4-6; 62:4-5; Ezekiel 16:7-34; Hosea 2:19 (God/YHWH portrayed as Husband)

Jesus refers to Himself as God in His parables - Matthew 13:37-39

Jesus is the Messiah and also the Bridegroom - According to John the Baptist John 3:27-30; according to Jesus Himself - Matthew 9:15; Mark 2:19-20.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. - Matthew 25:1 NKJV

The parable begins by letting us know that this story will teach us something about the Kingdom of heaven. Next, we are introduced to ten ladies, described as virgins. Each one has a lamp and all of them are going out to meet the bridegroom. At this point in the story, there is no distinction between these maidens.

Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. - Matthew 25:2 NKJV

We quickly find out that there are two kinds of maidens. Half of them are wise and half are foolish. At this point, we still have no idea what differentiates the wise from the foolish. They are all very much similar at this point in the story, we have no way of telling them apart, but we now know that there is a difference, these ladies can be divided into two groups, some are wise and some are foolish.

Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. - Matthew 25:3-5 NKJV

Now we know the difference! The foolish virgins are virgins and look just like the wise virgins, they are also waiting for the bridegroom, just like the wise virgins. The only difference between the two groups of virgins is that some brought a vessel filled with extra oil, while the others did not. This seems like a very small detail. It is difficult to appreciate the difference extra oil would make at this point in the story. Another similarity among these maidens is that they all fell asleep.

So far we have ten virgins that are similar in every way except five of them brought a vessel with extra oil. All ten are virgins awaiting the bridegroom and all ten fell asleep.

The Delay

Something unexpected happened. The bridegroom is late! Well, he can’t really be late, it’s his party, rather he is taking longer than the maidens expected. The maidens wait as long as they can but eventually all of them fall asleep.

The Midnight Cry

“And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’

- Matthew 25:6-9 NKJV

At midnight, the middle of the night, the darkest part of the night, there is a shout, the bridegroom is coming! The maidens did not expect him to come so late, but they had their lamps with them and they light their lamps to go meet the bridegroom. They had been waiting for him, they all knew he was coming, however, the foolish virgins were not prepared for the delay. At midnight they realized they are not as ready as they had hoped to be. They had hoped that it was enough just to have the lamp, to be a virgin, and to know that the bridegroom was coming. They had not brought any extra oil. It is not that they forgot, it is not that they couldn’t, they just didn’t think they would need it. The wise virgins had brought extra oil, after all, the bridegroom did not have a set time, they knew he was coming, but they did not know when he would come. But they had extra oil on them in case there were any unexpected delays. However, their extra oil could not be transferred or shared with those who were unprepared. The foolish virgins had to go out and try to find oil at midnight.

The Door was Shut!

And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.

“Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’

- Matthew 25:10-12 NKJV

The bridegroom came and those who were ready joined him in the wedding feast. However, those who were not ready did not go in. After the bridegroom and the five wise virgins went into the feast the door was shut. The other virgins finally return, there is no mention of whether or not they found any oil, but they show up and ask the bridegroom to open the door to them, but he tells them that he does not know them, and there is no room for negotiating here.

How tragic, that these five virgins looked so ready, looked prepared, they knew the bridegroom was coming, they had their lamps, they even came to the door and asked to go in, but it was too late. Once the door was closed it was impossible to go in, just like once the midnight cry was heard and the bridegroom showed up, it was too late to get oil. The preparations had to be made ahead of time.

Watch!

“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. - Matthew 25:1e NKJV

Here we have a repetition of the main theme in the three parables we have looked at so far in this series. (read about the first two here) Watching then must involve not only being aware that Jesus is coming but also being prepared for an unexpected delay. If everything had gone according to expectations all ten virgins would have gone into the wedding. The delay is what separated the wise from the foolish. It was the unexpected hardship that revealed the difference among the virgins.

Practical Application

The foolish virgins did not forget to bring the oil. It was the delay of the bridegroom that revealed they did not have enough. The foolish virgins were unprepared for the delay and so shut out in the end. The wise are referred to as wise because they were prepared for the possible delay of the bridegroom. Regardless of when the bridegroom came, they would be ready. The only difference between the wise and foolish is that the wise were prepared for a possible delay and the foolish expected to meet the bridegroom but were unprepared for a delay.

Can your faith handle unexpected challenges?

One application that is evident in this parable is that the faith of some can handle unexpected events while the faith of others cannot. Some, when they experience hardship, cease to believe. Their faith cannot handle unexpected turn of events, cannot survive an unexpected delay. The delay is a time of trial that places their faith under stress. We can interpret this to be a trial that reveals if those who claim to believe in Jesus truly trust Him and His promises.

Like the church, for a while, there is no difference between the virgins. Think of the virgins as church-attending Christians. All of them know scriptures, they all know that Jesus is coming one day, many are even eagerly looking forward to that great day.

But there is a delay, a time of trial, and a time in which their faith is tested. When the midnight cry is heard not everyone is ready. This is when many realize that mere intellectual knowledge of the truth has no noticeable impact on the soul and no power to sanctify the heart. Unless the Holy Spirit is working in us, our character will not be transformed.

The foolish virgins are not hypocrites as we saw in Matthew 24:48-51 (blog post here).

They have regard for the truth.

They have advocated for the truth.

They are attracted to those who believe the truth.

BUT

They have not yielded themselves to the working of the Holy Spirit.

They have not fallen upon the Rock (Jesus Christ) and permitted their old nature to be broken up.

The foolish virgins are “Christians” who are content with superficial work. A superficial faith that has never been tried and tested. Essentially, they don’t know how to trust God when it matters most.

So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain. - Ezekiel 33:31 NKJV

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! - 2 Timothy 3:1-5 NKJV

Preparedness cannot be shared nor transferred.

The foresight and preparedness of the wise virgins cannot benefit the foolish virgins when the bridegroom appears. Being surrounded by people who have a solid and vibrant relationship with God will not save you. Though it is beneficial to have people who can be an example for you, you must make your own decision. Your walk with Jesus is a personal matter, you must invite Him into your life and heart, you must learn to trust Him.

Many “Christians” like the foolish virgins are sleeping with a false sense of security, and when they are startled by hardships they become aware of how weak their faith is. They now begin to ask others to supply their lack but this is impossible in spiritual matters. No one can make up for another’s spiritual deficiency.

God’s grace is freely offered to everyone.

And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. - Revelation 22:17 NKJV

But no one can believe for another, and no one can receive the Holy Spirit for another.

Character is not transferrable. No one can impart to another character because it is the fruit of the inner work of the Holy Spirit.

“even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.” - Ezekiel 14:20 NKJV

‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts. - Zechariah 4:6b NKJV

The Door is Shut

It is in a crisis that the character is revealed. The sudden and unexpected calamity that brings you face to face with death will reveal whether your life is sustained by grace. However, at this point, it is too late for the needs of your soul to be supplied. Your character is developed by all the small choices you make over the years.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ - Matthew 7:21-23 NKJV

Some look like they love and serve Jesus, but never made preparations for the coming kingdom. They like Jesus, but they love the world and its comforts. They claim the name of Jesus, but never truly made Him the LORD of their lives. After the door is shut it is too late to try to get serious about your spiritual life.

This reminds me of the story of the flood. After the door of the ark was shut, it was too late to want to get in. Those who waited for it to start flooding before they decided to go into the ark found out it was too late. God had already shut in those who had walked in by faith. Those who were inside the ark would be safe from the floodwaters.

On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark— they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life. So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in. - Genesis 7:13-16 NKJV

We cannot keep Jesus at arm’s length while here on earth and expect to be fitted to His companionship in heaven.

Call to action

The time to prepare is now. This is not about salvation by works, this is about developing a real and vibrant personal walk with Jesus. This is about being filled with His Holy Spirit and allowing Him to cause us to reflect His character.

People are losing their knowledge of the character of God.

God has been misunderstood and misrepresented.

A message from God must be proclaimed, and this message must be illuminating in its influence and saving in its power.

In our world full of suffering people need a glimpse of God. Does your life reveal what the grace of God had done for you?

How did Jesus live his life?

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. - Acts 10:38 NKJV (bold mine)

And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” - Luke 4:17-21 NKJV

What does God as of His people?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. - Isaiah 58:7-8 NKJV

I know that these words are challenging. Where does anyone get the notion that the true Christian life is smooth and easy? Self-denial is hard, helping others is not always easy and straightforward. Caring is extremely difficult and even painful. But my friends, look around. There is so much suffering in the world. So much hate, anger, and fear, and anxiety. Would it not be nice if there was a group of people willing to aid in relieving and softening life’s hardships and misery?

Jesus calls us the light of the world in Matthew 5:14, and then He adds

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. -Matthew 5:16 NKJV

Jesus does not tell us to strive to shine. We do not shine because we try so hard. Jesus invites us to LET our lights shine. Just remove whatever obstructions are keeping your light from shining. Even better, invite him to remove them for you. Are you willing to let your light shine? Because if you are in the habit of letting your light shine, you will also be in the habit of carrying extra oil with you. And even if Jesus delays his coming, even if you were to fall asleep, you would have nothing to worry about, because you have been living your life in harmony with Him. Continually relying on Him to fill you with His Holy Spirit so that you might have the wisdom and power to reflect His character in this suffering world.

If you would like to read more about this parable I strongly recommend Christ’s Object Lessons chapter 29 “Meet the Bridegroom” (you can read it online for free)

#Parable #Jesus #Matthew #Second Coming

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bestacimpodcasts-blog · 3 years

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Is "The Loss of deep space" a Legitimate Analysis of "A Course In Miracles?"

In 1992, 2 beings showed up to Gary Renard, informed him they were ascended masters, as well as, over a duration of years, offered him their interpretation of A Course in Miracles acim podcast, later to be released in his publication The Disappearance of deep space. The Course is a profound job, practically 1,300 pages, poetically revealed and tough to recognize, which was spiritually determined by Jesus to a psychologist, Helen Schucman. It makes it possible for a person who methods and also researches its trainings and also mental workouts to progressively get rid of the vanity. In spiritual mentors, the vanity is one's false sense of identification, of who and also what one really is. It resembles a collection of associated thoughts that develops from as well as includes the standard, underlying idea that we are separate from God. It keeps one unconcerned of the fact that they are standing in the visibility of God. It creates us to think we are minimal, mortal beings, rather than endless, eternal Spirit, one with God. From the vanity emerge guilt, concern, attachment to the body, narcissism and suffering. God and also our real identification, the immortal Self, are blocked from our understanding. The function of the Course is to liquify the vanity and also its false ideas to ensure that we can straight experience God, God's expansion as Spirit (also mentioned as the cumulative Son, the Self, or Christ), as well as Heaven. The Course consists of several effective declarations regarding the nature of God, Spirit, and their creations, and also the reality that the apparently separate Sons of God are magnificent, produced in the picture and similarity of God. These affirmations aid to dissolve the ego as well as its illusions and also lead us towards direct expertise of our reality as Spirit. In the Course, Jesus speaks of God as being transcendental, beyond form and duality, in other words, beyond the world, or universe, as we perceive it. In order to eliminate our impressions and also heal our minds, God created the Holy Spirit to work with us worldwide, assisting and motivating us through the "inner guide" and with divine carriers. The Holy Spirit leads us out of darkness right into the light and love of the Christ. When all our illusions are gone, we are filed with love and also light, and also understand our eternal oneness with God. The Course teaches that the world is not real. This makes sense if we think about "fact" in regards to the wonderful, transcendental truth of God as the Absolute, past type as well as duality. This kind of truth is very different from the reality we ascribe to the world as it is experienced with the physical detects, brain, and also average mind. Genuinely informed beings, that with entirety with the Christ Mind are able to experience the euphoric, everlasting fact of God, Spirit, and also Heaven, teach that the world, as seen with the body's eyes as well as the thoughts of the vanity, is an impression, although some of them speak of it as having existence. By this they indicate that the impression of it exists. Arten and also Pursah - both beings who analyzed the Course for The Disappearance of deep space - claim that, prior to the illusion of the globe occurred, there was only God and the Christ Mind (a marvelous expansion of God, wholly related to God, Its Creator). After that, a really tiny facet of the Christ Mind wondered what it could be like to be on its own, in other words, aside from the rest of Spirit. From the innovative power of this thought emerged the vanity and the actual experience of being separate from God.

They take place to state that this tiny facet of the Christ Mind pertained to approve the ego as part of itself as well as the vanity's thoughts as its very own. Next off, feeling guilt for having separated itself from God, it made deep space and bodies as a "hiding area" to escape pictured penalty wherefore it had done, as well as, splitting itself into several individual minds, it went into these bodies. Considering that they were under the influence of the vanity's physically oriented, false concepts, these minds had actually shed their recognition of being one with their Creator and, therefore, identified themselves with the physique and also its restrictions. According to Arten as well as Pursah, this is how humankind came into being. The entire circumstance (Disappearance, Chapter 4) took place in believed just - not in reality, as truth is comprehended in the context of the Course - thus it is an impression. Arten and Pursah's mentors regarding why as well as how deep space and human bodies were made are not located in the Course. The Course states that the Sons of God made a globe of their very own visualizing, yet does not provide any type of details concerning the series of occasions or attempt to take into words the nature of the "compound" from which the globe was made. Numerous informed masters have instructed that the cosmos as well as bodies were developed by God or an aspect of God as well as infused with Spirit, as well as that people, or at the very least numerous of them, having been given the present of cost-free will to believe and act as they selected, visualized themselves as separate from each other and also God, and dropped from elegance.

Some spiritual writings discuss that God is still developing and also clarify the nature of the Fall. Various masters define the Creation from various viewpoints, they all consent with the teaching of the Course that the globe is unbelievable, in the feeling that we view it in terms of dualities (revers), relativity and also change. From their own, individual experience throughout lofty states of recognition, they know with the wonderful, everlasting, unchanging fact of God, Spirit, as well as the greatest heaven - the Heaven spoken of in the Course - and they teach that, on the other hand, the globe, as we experience it, is an impression as well as unreal. They typically mention it as a planetary motion picture or dream, projected onto the display of human awareness, which differs God, Spirit, or the highest paradise, and even the magnificent light that is the substance of this cosmic desire. Furthermore, everyone's experience of the globe is subjective, colored by the nature and also content of that person's mind. Even time is an illusion, for, as Jesus as well as the masters tell us, just the everlasting present is real. The purpose of the Course is to liquify the ego and its incorrect ideas so that we can directly experience God, God's expansion as Spirit (additionally spoken of as the collective Son, the Self, or Christ), as well as Heaven. The Course includes lots of powerful statements regarding the nature of God, Spirit, and their developments, as well as the reality that the apparently different Sons of God are divine, created in the picture as well as likeness of God. Arten as well as Pursah - the two beings who translated the Course for The Disappearance of the Universe - claim that, prior to the impression of the globe emerged, there was just God and also the Christ Mind (a glorious extension of God, entirely determined with God, Its Creator).

Many informed masters have taught that the world and bodies were produced by God or an aspect of God and also infused with Spirit, and also that humans, or at the very least many of them, having been given the present of free will to act and also assume as they selected, visualized themselves as separate from each various other and also God, and also fell from grace. From their very own, personal experience during exalted states of awareness, they are familiar with the wonderful, everlasting, changeless fact of God, Spirit, and the highest paradise - the Heaven spoken of in the Course - and also they educate that, in contrast, the world, as we experience it, is an illusion and not real.

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acourseimiracles · 3 years

Text

Is "The Loss of deep space" a Legitimate Analysis of "A Course In Miracles?"

In 1992, 2 beings showed up to Gary Renard, informed him they were ascended masters, as well as, over a duration of years, offered him their interpretation of A Course in Miracles acim, later to be released in his publication The Disappearance of deep space. The Course is a profound job, practically 1,300 pages, poetically revealed and tough to recognize, which was spiritually determined by Jesus to a psychologist, Helen Schucman. It makes it possible for a person who methods and also researches its trainings and also mental workouts to progressively get rid of the vanity. In spiritual mentors, the vanity is one's false sense of identification, of who and also what one really is. It resembles a collection of associated thoughts that develops from as well as includes the standard, underlying idea that we are separate from God. It keeps one unconcerned of the fact that they are standing in the visibility of God. It creates us to think we are minimal, mortal beings, rather than endless, eternal Spirit, one with God. From the vanity emerge guilt, concern, attachment to the body, narcissism and suffering. God and also our real identification, the immortal Self, are blocked from our understanding. The function of the Course is to liquify the vanity and also its false ideas to ensure that we can straight experience God, God's expansion as Spirit (also mentioned as the cumulative Son, the Self, or Christ), as well as Heaven. The Course consists of several effective declarations regarding the nature of God, Spirit, and their creations, and also the reality that the apparently separate Sons of God are magnificent, produced in the picture and similarity of God. These affirmations aid to dissolve the ego as well as its illusions and also lead us towards direct expertise of our reality as Spirit. In the Course, Jesus speaks of God as being transcendental, beyond form and duality, in other words, beyond the world, or universe, as we perceive it. In order to eliminate our impressions and also heal our minds, God created the Holy Spirit to work with us worldwide, assisting and motivating us through the "inner guide" and with divine carriers. The Holy Spirit leads us out of darkness right into the light and love of the Christ. When all our illusions are gone, we are filed with love and also light, and also understand our eternal oneness with God. The Course teaches that the world is not real. This makes sense if we think about "fact" in regards to the wonderful, transcendental truth of God as the Absolute, past type as well as duality. This kind of truth is very different from the reality we ascribe to the world as it is experienced with the physical detects, brain, and also average mind. Genuinely informed beings, that with entirety with the Christ Mind are able to experience the euphoric, everlasting fact of God, Spirit, and also Heaven, teach that the world, as seen with the body's eyes as well as the thoughts of the vanity, is an impression, although some of them speak of it as having existence. By this they indicate that the impression of it exists. Arten and also Pursah - both beings who analyzed the Course for The Disappearance of deep space - claim that, prior to the illusion of the globe occurred, there was only God and the Christ Mind (a marvelous expansion of God, wholly related to God, Its Creator). After that, a really tiny facet of the Christ Mind wondered what it could be like to be on its own, in other words, aside from the rest of Spirit. From the innovative power of this thought emerged the vanity and the actual experience of being separate from God.

1 note · View note

acimpodcasts · 3 years

Text

Is "The Loss of deep space" a Legitimate Analysis of "A Course In Miracles?"

In 1992, 2 beings showed up to Gary Renard, informed him they had ascended masters, and, over the years, offered him their interpretation of A Course in Miracles podcast, later to be released in his publication The Disappearance of deep space. The Course is a profound job, practically 1,300 pages, poetically revealed and tough to recognize, spiritually determined by Jesus to a psychologist, Helen Schucman. It makes it possible for a person who methods and researches its training and mental workouts to get rid of vanity progressively. In spiritual mentors, vanity is one's false sense of identification, of who and also what one is. It resembles a collection of associated thoughts that develops from and includes the standard, underlying idea that we are separate from God. It keeps one unconcerned about the fact that they are standing in the visibility of God. It creates us to think we are minimal, mortal beings, rather than endless, eternal Spirit, one with God. From vanity emerge guilt, concern, attachment to the body, narcissism and suffering. God and also our real identification, the immortal Self, are blocked from our understanding. The Course's function is to liquefy the vanity and its false ideas to ensure that we can straight experience God, God's expansion as Spirit (also mentioned as the cumulative Son, the Self, or Christ), as well as Heaven. The Course consists of several useful declarations regarding God's nature, Spirit, and actions, a. These affirmations aid in dissolving the ego and its illusions and lead us towards direct expertise of our reality as Spirit. In the Course, Jesus speaks of God as being transcendental, beyond form and duality, in other words, beyond the world, or universe, as we perceive it. To eliminate our impressions and heal our minds, God created the Holy Spirit to work with us worldwide, assisting and motivating us through the "inner guide" and divine carriers. The Holy Spirit leads us out of the darkness right into the light and love of Christ. When all our illusions are gone, we are filled with love and light and understand our eternal oneness with God. The Course teaches that the world is not real. This makes sense if we think about "fact" regarding the beautiful, transcendental truth of God as the Absolute, past type and duality. This kind of truth is very different from the reality we ascribe to the world as experienced with the physical detects, brain, and the average mind. Genuinely informed beings, that with entirety with the Christ Mind can experience the euphoric, everlasting fact of God, Spirit, and Heaven, teach that the world, as seen with the body's eyes and the thoughts of the vanity, is an impression. However, some of them speak of it as having existence. By this, they indicate that the impression of it exists. Arten and Pursah - both beings who analyzed the Course for The Disappearance of deep space - claim that before the illusion of the globe occurred, there was only God and the Christ Mind (a marvellous expansion of God, wholly related to God, Its Creator). After that, a tiny facet of the Christ Mind wondered what it could be like to be on its own, in other words, aside from the rest of Spirit. From the innovative power of this thought emerged the vanity and the experience of being separate from God.

They take place to state that this tiny facet of the Christ Mind pertained to approve the ego as part of itself as well as the vanity's thoughts as its very own. Next off, feeling guilt for having separated itself from God, it made deep space and bodies as a "hiding area" to escape pictured penalty wherefore it had done, as well as, splitting itself into several individual minds, it went into these bodies. Considering that they were under the influence of the vanity's physically oriented, false concepts, these minds had shed their recognition of being one with their Creator and, therefore, identified themselves with the physique and its restrictions. According to Arten as well as Pursah, this is how humankind came into being. The entire circumstance (Disappearance, Chapter 4) took place in believed just - not in reality, as truth is comprehended in the course context - thus, it is an impression. Arten and Pursah's mentors regarding why and how deep space and human bodies were made are not located in the Course. The Course states that the Sons of God made a globe of their very own visualizing, yet does not provide any details concerning the series of occasions or attempt to take into words the nature of the "compound" from which the globe was made. Numerous informed masters have instructed that the cosmos, as well as bodies, were developed by God or an aspect of God as well as infused with Spirit, as well as that people, or at the very least numerous of them, having been given the presence of cost-free will to believe and act as they selected, visualized themselves as separate from each other and also God, and dropped from elegance.

Some spiritual writings discuss that God is still developing and also clarify the nature of the Fall. Various masters define the Creation from various viewpoints; they all consent with the Course's teaching that the globe is unbelievable, in the feeling that we view it in terms of dualities (revers), relativity, and change. From their own, individual experience throughout lofty states of recognition, they know with the beautiful, everlasting, unchanging fact of God, Spirit, as well as the greatest Heaven - the Heaven spoken of in the Course - and they teach that, on the other hand, the globe, as we experience it, is an impression as well as unreal. They typically mention it as a planetary motion picture or dream, projected onto the display of human awareness, which differs God, Spirit, or the highest paradise, and even the glorious light that is the substance of this cosmic desire. Furthermore, everyone's world experience is subjective, coloured by nature and content of that person's mind. Even time is an illusion, for, as Jesus and the masters tell us, just the everlasting present is real. The purpose of the Course is to liquify the ego and its mistaken ideas so that we can directly experience God, God's expansion as Spirit (additionally spoken of as the collective Son, the Self, or Christ), as well as Heaven. The Course includes lots of powerful statements regarding the nature of God, Spirit, and their developments and the reality that the different Sons of God are divine, created in the picture and the likeness of God. Arten, as well as Pursah - the two beings who translated the Course for The Disappearance of the Universe - claim that before the impression of the globe emerged, there was just God and also the Christ Mind (a glorious extension of God, entirely determined with God, Its Creator).

Many informed masters have taught that the world and bodies were produced by God or an aspect of God and also infused with Spirit, and also that humans, or at the very least many of them, having been given the presence of free will to act and also assume as they selected, visualized themselves as separate from each various other and also God, and also fell from grace. From their very own personal experience during exalted states of awareness, they are familiar with the beautiful, everlasting, changeless fact of God, Spirit. The highest paradise - the Heaven is spoken of in the Course - and also they educate that, in contrast, the world, as we experience it, is an illusion and not real.

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thethingsihavelearned · 4 years

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The Historicity of Jesus According to Non-Christian Sources

These last few articles have been leading up to this topic on the historicity of Jesus. We defined truth as being that which corresponds to reality, and we considered why it is actually important to answer the question of the historicity of Jesus Christ – is he a real historical figure, or is he merely a myth or an allegory.

First, understand that it is impossible to know anything from history with absolute certainty. Because no one can capture every aspect of a particular event, we cannot know for certain that the event in question happened in a particular way, in contrast to how we can know precisely the answer to a math or physics problem. For example, I cannot prove without question that Alexander the Great was born on August 8, 358 BC, at night, but I can prove to you without question that 2 + 2 = 4, quite literally. I will spare you from that proof for now, but my point is that historians cannot prove things in the same way that students of the hard sciences can. Historians must determine to what conclusion the facts most strongly point, and we can know things from history with reasonable certainty. It is similar to the dichotomy in law between trying a civil case and trying a criminal case. In a civil case, the lawyer must demonstrate that the preponderance (or majority) of the evidence supports his conclusion. In a criminal case, the prosecutor must prove his case beyond a reasonable doubt. Historical research is more like the civil case than the criminal case. We must determine which conclusion the majority of the evidence supports.

There are several ways to address this question of the historicity of Jesus that occur to me. First, one can examine the historical record, other than the Biel, pertinent to the time period during which Jesus lived, which is what we will do here today. In Evidence That Demands a Verdict, Josh McDowell looks at the allusions to Jesus Christ in the following sourced: Toledot Yeshu, the rabbinical source from the fifth century; the Qur’an; Suetonius, the second century Roman historian; Pliny the Younger, governor of Bithynia from 111 – 113 AD; Mara bar Serapion, the 70 AD stoic philosopher; Cornelius Tacitus, the Roman historian who wrote his Annals around 100 AD; and Flavius Josephus, the first century Jewish historian. All of these sources have one thing in common, which is that they were not Christians, but in their writing about the first century, they had to discuss Jesus because he was the most prominent historical figure of that time period; otherwise, their records would have been woefully incomplete. McDowell also discusses the historical document about that time period that the Christians wrote. Some example he examines are the First Clement and the letters of Bishop Ignatius, both from the early part of the second century. Another mode of attack would be to prove the veracity of the New Testament, which liberal scholars seem to doubt for no verifiable academic reason, and consider what it says about Jesus. Finally, from a philosophical standpoint, one could use syllogisms to elucidate the logical necessity of Jesus based on what we perceive about God’s character. The philosopher would show how the triune God’s perfect harmony of love and holiness logically necessitates the life, death, and resurrection of God the Son. It makes sense for a beautiful argument, but at this juncture, it seems pertinent to me to use the works of Jesus’ critics to draw conclusions about his life. I hope you will enjoy it as well.

Using these non-Christian sources to glean information about Jesus is useful because no critic of Christianity can label them as biased toward the Christian position. Early church fathers such as Polycarp and Clement of Rome, not to mention the Bible, certainly have a lot to say about Jesus; however, the critic could claim that these Christians lie or exaggerate to support their own arguments. I would disagree with this contention. Many of the early church fathers died a martyr’s death, never renouncing their faith in Jesus. I am no psychologist, but I would think that if these men were lying regarding Jesus, they would have admitted to their lying in the end to save themselves from the hangman’s noose. The fact that these martyrs maintained their position even to death strengthens their argument, showing at least that they believed strongly in their claims about Jesus; therefore, their writing is worthy of consideration. Notwithstanding, for now, we will consider Josephus, Tacitus, and some of the other non-Christian sources.

In History, as in law, the most valuable evidence is first-hand. In a court of law, second-hand evidence is inadmissible as hearsay. For example, if Sally witnesses Johnnie’s car wreck and tells Suzy all about it, Sally’s testimony is admissible and relevant, while Suzy’s is inadmissible because only Sally actually witnessed the wreck. In like manner, the further in time a historian writes his record from the time at which the event happened, the more likely it becomes that the report contains inaccuracies. First-hand reports recorded on the day of the event make the best evidence, and other records lose value loosely in proportion to a combination of the distance in time they are from the event and distance in people. There is a children’s game where children gather in a circle, and child one whispers some phrase into the ear of child two. Child two whispers phrase to child three, and the process continues accordingly around the circle. Without fail, the phrase is always different when it makes its way back around to the first child. Similarly, time and the people chain tend to weaken the strength of historical documentation such that the report of an eyewitness on the day of the event is best, and second-hand and third-hand testimony becomes weaker the further in time the testimony is recorded form the original event. With this historical analysis lesson in hand, let us now attempt to examine some of the historical record regarding Jesus.

Fist, consider the attestations to Jesus in the Qur’an. The Muslim prophet Muhammed dictated the Qur’an. Ergo, it stands to reason that the Qur’an probably harbors some polemic devices against Christianity, yet look at the information it contains about Jesus. According to the Qur’an, Jesus performed miracles, uttered prophecies that came true, and was born of a virgin. It also argues against the Christian doctrines of Jesus’ divinity, the Trinity, and even Jesus’ crucifixion. I believe the only reason that the Qur’an mentions Jesus at all is because his fame was already so widespread at the time of its writing. The Qur’an, purporting to be a religious book, had to include some true information about Jesus to give it any credibility whatsoever. Although its denial of Jesus’ crucifixion, as well as several other errors, probably tolls its death bell, its information about the miracles surrounding Jesus’ life mirrors that of the other historical accounts we will analyze. The Toledot Yeshu is similar to the Qur’an in that it is likely polemical against Christianity by its very nature. It is a Jewish commentary written around 450 AD that discusses Jesus Christ, calling him essentially a false prophet, certainly denying his godship. The Toledot proposes that Jesus was a disrespectful charlatan who mastered demonic magic to gain a following. It says that the Romans crucified Jesus and erroneously reports that his body was stolen by his disciples and ultimately recovered by the Sanhedrin. Clearly a Christian would disagree with this polemic’s contention about the recovery of Jesus body, but notice the tacit referent to three core Christian tenants. First, where the Toledot says that Jesus mastered magic, it is attempting to account for Jesus’ well-documented miracles that he performed throughout his life, interestingly doing so in the same way that the Gospels say that the Jewish leaders did so during Jesus’ lifetime. Second, it agrees that Jesus was crucified. The Toledot disagrees with the Christian as to the purpose of Jesus’ crucifixion, but it agrees that Jesus was indeed crucified. Finally, it attests to Jesus’ resurrection. It says that Jesus’ body was stolen and later recovered, again mirroring the story that Matthew, in his Gospel, tells us that the Jewish council fabricated. The Toledot Yeshu had to address these three issues regarding Jesus because his story was already so widespread by the fifth century. Like the Qur’an, the Toledot Yeshu likely does not contain any independent information about Jesus due to its late date, but, here again, Jesus’ critics help to verify the Gospel account of Jesus’ life.

Next, let us examine some documents written much closer in time to Jesus’ life. In the second century, knowledge about Jesus had not been disseminated as widely as it would be, but the process had begun. Suctonius, the second century Roman historian, mentions “Chrestus” as the reason for Jewish disturbances and their expulsion from Rome in 49 AD. “Chrestus” almost certainly is a misspelling of “Christus”, which is the Greek spelling of Christ, and Suetonius’ record tells us, at the very least, that differences in opinion about Jesus within the Jewish community aroused the attention of Rome. Mara bar Serapion, a Syrian stoic philosopher, writes about Jesus in a letter to his son in 70 AD. Mara describes Jesus’ teaching, calling Jesus the “Jew’s wise king.” Neither of these men were Christians, nor were they particularly invested in the Christian movement. Nevertheless, both discuss Jesus in their works around the end of the first and the beginning of the second century.

Cornelius Tacitus presents a different situation altogether. From his works, it is obvious that he despised Christians. Tacitus lived between 56 and 120 AD, and historians today consider him to be the greatest Roman historian of all time. He writes about Jesus in his Annals toward the end of the first century. Tacitus claims that Christians worship Jesus Christ as their god and that Pontius Pilate, under Emperor Tiberius, crucified Jesus in the 30s AD. Tacitus considered the Jews to be an inferior race, likening them to rodents, so he would not have used Jewish sources in his records; ergo, Annals represents a source that is completely independent from the Gospels and that attests to Jesus’ life and death by crucifixion. How about that lasting confirmation from a man who admittedly hated the Christian way.

Finally, Flavius Josephus mirrors Tacitus in his timeline and his disdain for Christianity, as well as his independent support of the Gospel record of Jesus’ life. Josephus was a Jewish historian and politician who lived between 37 and 100 AD. He wrote Antiquities of the Jews to explain Jewish history to the Romans. Josephus was probably related to Caiphas and Annas, the two Jewish high priests during Jesus’ life, who instigated Jesus’ crucifixion, and Josephus shared their opinion about Jesus and his followers. They viewed Christianity as a cult that endangered the Jewish nation, and they wished to eradicate it. In Antiquities, Josephus mentions James, the brother of Jesus Christ, being one of the early leaders of the Christians and describes James’ death by stoning. He also discusses Jesus being the crucified founder of the sect and the man who Christians worship as God. Josephus describes these two topics while castigating the Christian faith, and his information likely came from the very men who crucified Jesus. With Flavius Josephus, we have another source independent from the Bible that calls Jesus the founder of Christianity who really lived and whom the Romans crucified. In fact, Antiquities of the Jews even presents Jesus as resurrected, although, admittedly, this detail seems to have been added at a later date by an interpolator.

These works represent only a sampling of the references to Jesus in ancient historical documents. McDowell refers to even more documents in Evidence That Demands a Verdict, but these should be enough to put to rest any doubt about whether or not Jesus really live in history as the Bible claims. These sources, other than the Qur’an, also confirm the Gospel account of Jesus’ crucifixion. Frankly, the last two references alone, one from a Roman historian and the other from a religious Jewish historian, disprove the absurd contention that Jesus never lived or was not actually crucified. Jesus Christ really in live in “space-time” as Francis Schaeffer like to say. He is no allegory or mythical character invented by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It is up to you to decide if you will believe God’s promises and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. If you have not already, I sincerely hope that you will.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” – John 1:14

#Jesus Christ #God #Christianity #Thoughts #spilled ink #spilled truth #spilled thoughts #truth #writing #read #long reads #passages #lessons #life #apologetics

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dailyaudiobible · 4 years

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01/18/2020 DAB Transcript

Genesis 37:1-38:30, Matthew 12:22-45, Psalms 16:1-11, Proverbs 3:27-32

Today is the 18th day of January, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it's great to be here with you today as we end a…end a week. This is actually…I’m looking at a calendar…this is the third weekend of this new decade. I guess I hadn't realized that until just now. Nevertheless, we have set sail. We have moved all the way here 18 days on our journey and we will continue that journey today. We’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week, which is today, and we have been working our way through the stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, whose name became Israel. And now we’re going to pick up the story of Israel and Jacob's son Joseph. So, today Genesis chapters 37 and 38.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You for another complete week together in Your word and starting to feel the rhythm of the year now, this new decade upon us, starting to settle in, which is one of the words that we spoke of this year. And, so, we ask that You help us to do that, to find within ourselves, amidst all of the disruption that the Bible can bring to us, that what's really happening here is that what's false is being shaken. And sometimes we didn't even know it was false until it's exposed. But there is the truth deep within us where You live where the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells and this place is true and we want to learn about this place within us, because this is the place that Your word speaks to. And, so, come Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth. This is the promise the Scriptures give us, and we believe that You will. Lead us on the narrow path that leads to life. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, its where you find out what’s going on around here. So, be sure to stay tuned and stay connected

The Community section of the website, and for that matter, the app, you can get all these sections in the Daily Audio Bible app by pressing the Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner. And by the way, while we’re talking about this, I mean, over the years of the Daily Audio Bible there’s been different iterations of the app. The latest iteration is the one that we are really trying to move everybody into and onto because we have finally reached a place where so many of the technologies that we were building and dreaming and living into and having to come up with, finally, we have like an incredibly stable environment where, if you check a box that you listened, it checks the box. We even had problems with that last year. Like if you check that box, it's checked, it's done. Done deal. In fact, you check a box it's checked on any device you are logged in. Like, so, I had a fun time playing with this. like logging in on the web player, then using the app and checking the checkbox that I’d listened to a certain day on the app and then watching it instantly appear on the computer. It’s like across the board, finally. So, I say all that to say, if you haven't updated recently then go to your web store and look for Daily Audio Mobile app. You may see other Daily Audio Bible apps. Some of those other previous apps, they are being depreciated, they’re going away. Look for Daily Audio Bible mobile app. And even if that's the app that you're using, but you haven't updated in a while, this most recent update that we've done back, actually back at the beginning of the year, is by far…I mean…what's under the hood….the technology under the hood…is really what you’re gonna want to be using. So, update. How did I get on all that? Like I was talking about navigation. So, like, alright, back to the website or the app, go the Community section of the website, find a different links to different social media channels that we participate in, links to the Prayer Wall, like ways to stay connected and praying for one another and now we’re a couple weeks into this year. So, one of the rhythms that become apparent is that we’re a community that's actually incredibly loving, incredibly accepting. Like everybody knows that we’re in this together and we’re all…like…we’ve decided to try to live in the truth, like Jesus is demonstrating for us, which means that…that we accept each other on…on the journey that were on knowing that we’re sharing some history together. And the best thing we can do is love one another, pray for one another, encourage one another. And, so, you know, that's…that's the Prayer Wall and that's the prayers that come in at the end every day. So, you know, kinda like a little bit of a discombobulated conversation, discussing all these things, but I think that's really, I wanted to say is stay connected. That makes all the difference in the world on a journey like this. So, stay up to date and stay connected.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link that lives on the homepage and I thank you profoundly and humbly for your partnership. If you're using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I will be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi, this is Candace from Oregon. I love you Daily Audio Bible. Have I told you that lately? And Brian and Jill thank you so much. Oh Lord that none of us ever take for granted this amazing situation. I want to thank Rachel from Pennsylvania and everyone else who’ve been praying for me and my household. We were under terrible attacks. Starting in November, it went on all the way into January and made…the holidays were good…but this was sort of underlying it and very stressful. I think it’s much better now. Please pray. January 28th, I have a beloved in law who might…who has to go to court and might end up doing some jail time. So, please pray that whatever is the best thing for this dear one will occur, be that jail time or not and that the judge and everyone he has to interact with will know how to point him in the right direction. Lord have your way. Also, please for my February 8th piano recital, that all the students will do well and that the whole experience of taking these lessons will be part of drawing them into a relationship with the Lord Jesus. Thank you so much for your prayers and I am praying for all of you as well. May the Lord’s name be praised.

[singing starts] I will send out an army to find you in the middle of the darkest night. It’s true I will rescue you. I will never stop marching to reach you in the middle of the hardest fight. It’s true I will rescue you [singing ends]. Hey this is for Anonymous who called back on December 27th and to anyone else who thinks since God’s so good and we’re so bad we’re not worthy and He doesn’t want anything to do with us, but like the song says He’s doing everything He can to get to us and He will rescue you. So, just a little encouragement.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family this is Carla Jean from Las Vegas calling today asking you to pray for my son Noah. He’s 23 years old and has been fighting a spiritual battle most of his life. I keep thinking that God must have great plans for this boy for him to be so pursued by Satan. He’s 23 and he contacted me yesterday in the middle of an anxiety attack and we Facetimed for an hour trying to get him to seek help. He lives in a different state and he’s afraid because he has no health insurance and I told him I don’t care, just get the help you need, and I will take care of it financially. I’ve asked him if he wants me to come to him and he does not want me to go there. He is a sweet boy and I’m just…am asking you to storm heaven with me. Matthew 8:16 said many who were demon possessed were brought to him and He drove out the spirit with a word and healed all the sick. That’s my prayer for my son Noah and I’m praying for all of you who are fighting spiritual demons right now. May the Lord grant us all peace. Amen.

Some skim the surface while others dig deep yet both of them say Your commandments they keep one says confess and believe in your heart and you shall be saved you’ll have a new start and nothing and no one can take that away salvation is yours, whatever may but then the other one says action speaks louder than words and faith without works is just air for the birds if God is in your life then there should be some change all things are new if they’re not something strange but both of them say that Christ is the way that judgment is coming and you should trust and obey but yet and still both of them put others down including each other the cycle just goes round vicious in nature and not from our God which they both claim to represent which really seems odd traditions and customs leading to sin the Sadducees and Pharisees all over again what will it lead to where will it end misleading the children of God is a terrible sin though not by intention for they too are deceived but that original serpent also fooled Eve some skim the surface while others dig deep yet both of them say your commandments they keep

[email protected]. Like to give a shout out to Sherlock Washington and Kim and Michelle from LA. Hope you both are doing well and know you’re all in my prayers daily. And once again Brian and the Hardin family thank you for this wonderful podcast for God’s Holy Spirit flow. Keep it flown’ y’all. All right bye-bye.

Hello sweet DABber family this is Trusting Father in South Carolina. It is Sunday the 12th about 4 o’clock in the morning and I’m a five-year listener, this is my second time calling in, the first time being about a year and a half ago when my daughter had an affair. Since then she divorced and went into another relationship, a real bad relationship and from that she is pregnant, and we have a precious little baby boy on his way in April. But also, in her family she has two other little boys, one is five and the other soon to be three and I’m asking prayer for her. She…I don’t even know how to put it into words, but she is…she is very confused. She is in a high-powered job and, you know, before she went into her affair, she and her husband were…you know...they like to party and…and I’m…I just…I don’t even know. I feel like her…she’s just messed up mentally, emotionally, physically and, of course spiritually. So, I need to also tell you this, that I have a son who’s an alcoholic and a recluse and he’s 34 years old and we have another daughter who’s been in a 10 year relationship with another woman and my husband has been depressed before we were even married when where we are age 19 and 20. So, it has been very intense here, especially lately. And I want to, I don’t know, I just felt very led to reach out just ask for your prayer and I’m just so grateful in knowing that Father’s faithful. And thank you so much.

Hello this is Duncan from Fredericksburg Texas. I’ve tried…I’ve been on here once at least, I know that. For the lady in South Carolina whose sister is…is in...is in ICU let me pray right now. Oh Father so many hurting people and there are many listening to this who are broken and hurting and at various stages of grief, various stages of anger, various stages of anything that’s not good. Father, I know I’ve been in…I’m still…the post-holiday __ or hardships of life are…are sometimes harder to deal with and especially Father for those of us who have lost loved ones as I have lost my wife back in October. Father just take care of…of this gal, just please touch her and heal. Father just raise up people, more people who will love her back…back to health. Father, I believe that can be done with encouragement and father with being ministered to and I just ask you to do that for this lady who is suffering from bipolar and is in the ICU. And for…I cannot remember names, so many of them. So, just take care of them Jesus. Thank you. Amen. And now, just for me. I request, I am a pianist, I am…just happened to be totally blind but that doesn’t stop me. I’m 73 years old that does not stop me either. And I will be going to upstate New York next weekend and then to Long Island and then finally back up to Buffalo. I leave Saturday the 27th and then come back…no…Saturday the 18th and then come back the 27th then a player local gig on the 28th. So, I just ask you to pray for me…

Hello Daily Audio Bible family this is J from Nashville. Got a little bit of a something going on with my throat, but I wanted to take a moment to pray for the people who just feel like they can’t catch a break. Heavenly Father, in the precious and mighty magical name of Jesus Christ, God we come before You this morning adoring You and lifting up the holy name of Jesus. Mighty God bless You as we confess of any sins that we may have committed knowingly or unknowingly. Lord we rest in Your forgiveness and we thank You for Your grace and mercy allowing us to come to You again and again receiving this precious gift that You give us. Father, we need You in this moment. We pray for Your comfort. We pray that Your Holy Spirit will give us wisdom and understanding in these times where we just feel like giving up, where You feel like all the odds are against us and we can’t find a single way out. Lord we ask that in these moments of despair, confusion, fear, we ask that You will remind us in a way that only You know how, that You are there and You will always be there and You are in control. We love You Father. We praise You Jesus. We glorify You God and we thank You. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. I love you family. I miss you. Until next time.

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