Category: Biblical Studies

Here is something cool to think about.

About Zebulun he said: “Zebulun, rejoice as you go out and Issachar, in being inside your tents. They will call the peoples to the mountain, and there they will offer righteous sacrifices, for they’ll draw from the abundance of the sea and from the hidden treasures of the sand.”
(Deu 33:18-19)

About Asher he said: “May Asher be blessed, along with his descendants, may his brothers be pleased with him, may he dip his feet in oil, may your bolts be made of iron and bronze, and may your strength be sufficient for each day you live.”
(Deu 33:24-25)

I am often struck with wonder when I realize something that God has done has happened right before me.  For one,  He never does something in quite the way I think it should be done.  It is always done in a better way.  What is more, there are always multiple reasons for a thing that is done.  Sometimes I can see them, sometimes not.  I imagine that even when I do see something done and can see more than one reason for it, there are likely even more reasons I don’t see.  I wouldn’t be suprised to find that out, at any rate.

There is a new picture in the Gallery.  Two really, but they are the same thing one being made to look like water color painting and the other is the original.  Here is a small version of it:

Anyone who keeps up with the news since at least the 1950s has to admit that there are an awful lot of lawsuits showing up against any christian symbology or text.

The plaintiffs invariably pull out the first amdendment as their reasoning. The concept of spiritual warfare tells us the real reason but I want to talk about a myth that has arisen.  That is the myth that the constitution prohibits public display of any religious trappings.  Anyone who knows me, knows I am not a fan of religion.  It is a man made attempt to get right with God.  As I have no other word to use to describe what I mean right now, I use it.

A short article today. Mostly to bring attention to a secular article showcasing a problem that is near to me. Ignorance of the bible. The article can be seen here.

Even the secular world recognizes a vast ignorance in the most important book handed down to us from God. We profess to love it and even attempt to quote it but most of us haven’t even read it.

What is the rapture?

I wrote about this in January when the May 21st rapture announcement came out.  I am writing it again now that the 21st has passed us because there are still a number of confused or maybe just amused people out there.

A belief in something that isn’t provable.
A belief in something that might be untrue.

Faith (Webster’s dictionary) –
1 a: allegiance to duty or a person: LOYALTY. b: (1) fidelity to one’s promises (2): sincerity of intentions
2 a (1): belief and trust in loyalty to God (2): belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion
b (1): firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2): complete trust
3: something that is believed especially with strong conviction; esp: a system of religious beliefs

Just yesterday there was a popular tv show on where one of the main characters was trying to get her family to become more religious. In one scene, the woman asked a man she mistook for a priest about his ideas on faith. The answer was faith was belief in something you couldn’t prove that you just considered that there were bigger things than one’s self. That is a very shallow and mystic definition.

Passover starts today. I’m not Jewish but a study of this Jewish feast; the conditions under which it was first ordained and its observance through to its fulfillment are a great study to go into.

By now, if you are a regular church go-er, you have all likely heard thematic messages concerning the Passion of the Christ.  For those who don’t know what that is, it is a term to describe the sufferings of Christ between the night of the Last Supper and his death.  Being that this last sunday is also known as palm sunday, you probably heard about the events going all way back to a week before the beginning of the Passion. _{Therein lies a fascinating study of the 70 weeks of Daniel from Daniel 9.}

All of this is well and good.  We should remember that Jesus did suffer and pay the penalty for our sins.  At the end, everyone in attendance is probably feeling really down.  However, a thought occurred to me as I listened to the sermon this past sunday.  I had a thought of just chopping down that cross posted at the front of the sanctuary.

If that last statement shocked you, I pray that you continue reading as I explain.

There are many principles applicable to christianity that are also applicable to your dealings in the secular world. One of them is stated above.  Another is a favorite of mine that I shorten to call Acts 17:11.

These people were more receptive than those in Thessalonica. They were very willing to receive the message, and every day they carefully examined the Scriptures to see if those things were so. (Act 17:11)

This passage is speaking of the Bereans who were told the gospel but didn’t just take what they heard as truth until they could verify it though the scriptures.  They didn’t take a single source and run with it.  They checked the facts.  I suggest you all be like the Bereans particularly with the Bible, but also in your general lives.  We live in an age with the Internet.  While it is a great resource, I am sure a great number of you already know how many lies spread using the same tool.

A few years ago, a fairly famous man died. I believe he was a politician, I can’t remember his name now.  He wasn’t a very nice man when he lived and the internet forums were full of rejoicing over the man’s death.  I expressed some compassion for the man’s family and was quickly rebuked for doing so. In response I tried to explain that it is easy to have compassion for someone you like or is likeable, it is an entirely different and more difficult thing to have compassion for someone you don’t like. They didn’t understand at the time.

Maybe now they do, but this is a biblical theme. Take your pick from the scriptures. You may have seen the following as a random proverb to the right: