Human Origin...or God?

     This introduces upcoming blogs concerning the probable dates various NT letters were written...and why it matters. 

     We urge you to follow this short study. We'll allow maybe two days for each blog to run, to benefit readers who don't check in every day.

     After Jesus physically left the scene, his followers took up his work as he had charged them. Given supernatural power from God, they "performed many miraculous signs" and healed many of their diseases, even "those tormented by evil spirits." As word spread, many in Jerusalem and surrounding areas brought the sick to them. 

     "The Sadducees were filled with jealousy."

     "Peter and the other apostles (having been arrested) replied: "We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead. ...as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit." 

     "When they (the Sanhedrin) heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death."

     "But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law...addressed them:

     "Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered."

     "Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone. For if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God." - Acts chapter 5.

     Next: He who taught, "Blessed are the peacemakers" - Matthew 5:9 - was crucified. What did his followers do?

   

 

 Done With Sin

     Later in life, the apostle Peter wrote, "To suffer is an advantage...sin is no longer a power. Those who suffer in the body are done with sin." 

     He urged believers to live for the will of God, not human desires. How many of us do that? 

     "Love each other, deeply," Peter said. "Love covers many sins. Use whatever gift you have to serve others...with the strength God provides." 

     He challenges us to "speak the very word of God, that God may be praised through Jesus Christ." 

     Back to suffering, Peter wrote that we can rejoice while suffering, knowing that true joy comes when his glory is revealed. "Praise God that you have that name," he said.

     Finally, he wrote something we don't normally hear: "Judgment begins with the family of God. It is hard (even) for the righteous to be saved." 

     Nevertheless, ridicule and rejection strengthen us. Leading to joy. 

     When we focus more on our Savior than on ourselves, joy results. So we've heard.  

 

     

Trials and Temptations

     James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

     To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:

     Greetings.

     Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

     If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks he must believe and not doubt... 

So begins the book of James. 

Wednesday, Views will come to you from a new computer,

if all goes well. I must believe, and not doubt.

Jimmy

 High Crimes & Misdemeanors 

     Donald Trump's indictment is the first in U.S. history a former president has been charged with criminal wrongdoing.

     The House of Representatives impeached President Bill Clinton for perjury and obstruction of justice over his coverup of an affair. He admitted to lying under oath, surrendered his law license for five years, and paid a $25,000 fine.

     A grand jury named President Richard Nixon an unindicted co-conspirator for his role in the Watergate scandal. He resigned, avoiding impeachment. 

     A policeman arrested President Ulysses S. Grant for racing his horse-drawn carriage in Washington ... for the second time. He paid a $20 fine.

     Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned amid a corruption scandal, a felony tax-evasion charge. The government dropped corruption charges for alleged kickbacks during his Maryland political career. He was fined $10,000 and was disbarred. 

     Vice President Aaron Burr fled South after fatally shooting Alexander Hamilton in a duel. He returned after New York and New Jersey dropped murder charges. Two years later, Burr allegedly planed the secession of several Western states and tried to create an independent nation. 

WORLD magazine

     So, what's taking so long to indict the Biden family?

     

     

A Chosen People

     Some 30 years after Christ ascended, his disciple Peter was still communicating with the Lord above. 

     It seems that Peter, John and others were expecting Jesus to return in their lifetimes. They didn't realize how vast the world is, and how long it might take to deliver the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

     In any event, their letters were written long after they had known him and received the Holy Spirit to carry on. In first Peter chapter two, he writes:

     "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

     "Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.

     "Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us."

Just a taste of Peter's teaching

Still expecting Christ's soon return

      The two men of Emmaus walked seven miles back to Jerusalem, in the dark, to tell the disciples about their encounter with the risen Jesus, who planned... 

Another Surprise  

     "While they (the two men) were still talking (to the disciples) about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, Peace be with you. 

     "They (the disciples) were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have. 

     "When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, Do you have anything here to eat?  

     "They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence. (Ghosts don't eat)

     "He said to them, This is what I told you while I was still with you. Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms. 

     "Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." 

 Like 24:36-49

 

 

Confusion precedes revelation.

Did He, or Didn't He? 

     That Sunday morning, "two of them were going to Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him." 

     He asked, What are you discussing together? 

     "They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them asked, 'Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?'"

     What things? he asked. 

     "'About Jesus of Nazareth,' they replied. 'He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel."

     "He said to them, How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them all the Scriptures concerning himself." 

     "Approaching the village, nearly evening, they urged him to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight." 

Luke, chapter 24

Next: He appears to the disciples

      

 Love and Suffering 

     Do we love others because they do something for us, one way or another? Or do we love them regardless of self-benefit? 

     Marriages fail sometimes because husband or wife isn't receiving the desired benefit ... not always because of abuse or infidelity. If we love someone only for what he or she does for us, that is self-love. 

     Jesus the Christ suffered and died to take the penalty for our transgressions ... and rose again to launch the great commission ... winning us over, enlisting us in his army, taking the good news to the ends of the earth. 

The Bible says, "He so loved the world..." 

     Does he love us because we are "righteous" people ... because we support our church and missionaries? Because he feels victorious when we choose him over Satan? I say, "No!" 

     He values those choices, but God is so superior to his creation, we can't imagine. He did give us some "light" when he appeared in our form 2,000 years ago. 

     God loves us ... because he loves ... yes, because he loves. Most of us love ourselves. He also wants us to love others, including our enemies ... those who don't believe ... who wish to rule us, or reject us, or destroy us. God's invitation is still extended to our/his enemies ... for a time. We aren't given the right to hate them into hell. Although that is the destiny of many.

     So, while obeying our Lord, we may suffer. In 1 Peter chapter 3 he calls us to rejoice in suffering, as Christ suffered. And if we suffer for the Name, an interesting development comes about. We are less likely to entertain sinful desires. 

         Jimmy

     

     

Marital Recession

25%

     The share of young Americans ages 18-34who are married. In 1978, it was 59%. 

126.9 million

     The number of unmarried adults in the U.S.  

17 million

     The number of unmarried Americans cohabiting, up from 6 million two decades ago. 

36% 

     The share of single women ages 18-29 who say they are open to dating, compared with 52 percent of men in that age range.

U.S. Census Bureau

What About Hell?

     How we talk about everything from soup to nuts. From light to darkness. Friends to enemies. 

     From left to right.

     What we seldom talk about is hell. Heaven, yes. Who wants to talk about the flames of the wrath of God? 

      In WORLD magazine, Lynn Vincent compares today's headlines with apostle Paul's and Peter's lists of what people will be like in the last days. 2 Timothy 3:1-4; 2 Peter chapter 2. She entertains the possibility that "humanity is not only hell-bound but picking up speed."

     She writes:

     "That world of misery, that lake of burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you! There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God! There is hell's wide, gaping mouth open, and you have nothing to stand upon, nor take hold of! 

     "Tis only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up! 

     "Some form of judge or judgment appears in the Bible more than 350 times. Yet Scripture says we are stiff-necked, blinded with maladies from complacency to wickedness. 

     "Perhaps it is time to replace winsomeness (appealing) with warnings about one possible eternity that is infinitely harder than our own hearts."

 Oh. So that's what the crucifixion 

and the resurrection is about! 

Jimmy

     

Who Knew?

     Not his disciples. Not the hostile crowd, or the Roman soldiers.

     It was a day of the Lord. 

                          Not the Day of the Lord yet to come. 

     You and I were judged for our transgressions. 

     God's vengeance on us was carried out, not by Christ, but on him.

     On the cross, before he breathed his last, he forgave those who whipped him, mocked him and nailed him there. They didn't know.

     Now resurrected, he offers forgiveness. Do we want to be forgiven?

     We are free to believe, forsake our ways, and begin to "follow" him. 

     His astonished, delighted disciples were eager for him to restore the kingdom to Israel, Abraham's children. Ah...not yet. 

     He told them to - go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And surely, I will be with you always. 

     The Day of the Lord and Israel's restoration is still on schedule. 

     Deliverance for some. Spiritual death for all the others. 

All is Quiet

     It is Saturday. The Sabbath continues.

     Those who wouldn't take truth for an answer are satisfied.

     Those whose teacher was crucified are crushed. 

     What's going on here? The Messiah didn't come in victory. 

     Wasn't this the Day of the Lord? 

 

Day of Judgment 

Friday  

     ...a day of darkness, earthquakes, wrath. A crowd armed with swords and clubs. A kiss of death. Spit, thorns and fists. Liars.

     A murderer set free. An innocent man condemned. Friends slip away. The sun stops shining. 

     Blood money. Flogging. Mocking. The temple curtain torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shakes and rocks split. Tombs break open. Roman guards are terrified. 

     A crucifixion, confirmed with a spear into his side. Take his body down. It's time for the Sabbath.  

     Friday night. Time to rest, in obedience to the commandment. 

     Could this be the Day of the Lord?

     

They Were Warned 

Part 2

     Prophets foretold that disobedient people would face supernatural disaster on the Day of the Lord. 

     There were crises in Bible times, a foretaste of wrath. Malachi 4:5 (the next to last verse in the Old Testament): "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes." 

     If John the Baptist represents the return of Elijah, and if Jesus is truly the Messiah, then what are we waiting for? 

     This must be the Day of the Lord. It's time for God's vengeance on his enemies. 

Part 3, Friday! 

Day of the Lord

Part 1

     This is the week.

     The story began in Eden. There was light, water, vegetation, stars, two great lights, living creatures in the sea, birds, livestock, wild animals... "and God saw that it was good." 

     He made man in his own image...to rule over the earth. Soon, there was fear, guilt and shame. Then a flood the world over. Sodom and Gomorrah. Rescue for some; judgment for others. Deliverance for Hebrew slaves; death for Pharoah's army. 

     Before Moses descended the mountain, impatient people built and worshipped a golden calf. 

     The day of the Lord will be the best news for some, and the worst news for all the rest. Prophets warned...disaster for the wicked, deliverance for the faithful. 

     God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. Deut. 4:24. 

     Isaiah 13:9: "The day of the Lord is near...cruel, with wrath and anger." Jeremiah 46:10: "The sword will drink its fill of blood." Amos 5:18, 20: "Will not the day be darkness, not light, and pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness in it?"

     Will Friday be the Day? 

Saving the World

Seeking peace  

     English is the language world governments use. If we don't solve the vowel crisis, Mandarin will replace English. So, I called the five vowels together, determined to make peace at all costs. 

     a              e              i             o            u

     Okay. So, they're not together. I encouraged unity with a question:           Be yo up an in?    Silence.  

     Then, a glared at o and snarled, yoyo! To which o replied, ok, go ax ya...and before he could finish, u yelled at i, if it is, is it? Then E laughed, he he, and the o laughed ho ho. 

     But, o did provide a glimmer of hope when he said to all, do no mo of wo or... Unwilling to allow o to hog all the attention, the vowels just lost it, o included: 

ad@/pi[+lo^%we"}to##ye:<oz=&&ox~%a

p@so?/?as-ye)#`at=|ex*\\| ad.... 

     Stop! I yelled. Gather together!   a        e       i       o        u

     Closer!      a   e   i   o   u  

     Now, listen to me. You have forgotten that you all have prominent roles in the English spelling of the Holy One. See that, o? Look, e and u, you have the privilege of appearing in the Name, Jesus. And i, you are in Christ. You and a are side by side in Messiah, and e is with you. You again, o, a contribution to Lord. And i, you have two places in Spirit. 

     Repent of your pride, all five of you, and come together in love.

                                          aeiou

     That's better. 

War of the Vowels 

        As one who spent decades wrestling with the written word, I stumbled upon trouble in the arena of spoken words. Curious, I left my keyboard, grabbed my tape recorder and approached the hostile combatants. 

     There are five vowels, although y can be a vowel also. The five are extremely proud, being essential in their contribution to a language dominated by 21 consonants. 

     I found the vowels arguing, each claiming to be superior to the others. 

     For example, the vowel a is in the very center of "war," a reason for pride if there ever was one. 

     I don't worship multi-syllable words like snooty college professors do. My language level is suited to this task - to unite the fractured a/e\i/o\u family. 

     First, I approached the letter i, which answered "Hi." So far so good. But every attempt at conversation, i just repeated "is it?" The others had a similar response. Each vowel refused to use a word that included another vowel. The survival of the English language was at stake. 

     I searched for what they had in common. The scale! - do re mi fa so la ti do. My elation evaporated when I learned that e had replaced i. They sound the same, but i was livid. 

     And a replaced e, which had twice replaced i. The letter o appears in more than 40 percent of two-letter English words - our field of study. Others were jealous, and o wasn't willing to share. 

     We must unite the vowels in the interest of saving our language and the world. But, no promises. 

 Tomorrow

     

 

Monday & Tuesday

War of the Vowels