Tag: christianity

• D2, Genesis, Part 2, Introduction

  I’ve been working on what was going to be my next series on the Basics of the Christian’s life–the Bible (spiritual nourishment), prayer (spiritual communication), and temptation (spiritual protection). But a couple of days ago as I returned to my car from Walmart, the show on Truth radio just ending was Matt Slick Live.

  

  I didn’t quite catch what the caller had been talking about, but Matt responded, “What I’ve found works best for me is to approach God’s Word with a devotional attitude rather than a scholarly attitude.”

  

  Zing!  Talk about an arrow to the heart!  I felt like God was using that statement to point out how much I was approaching the Bible with a scholarly attitude, old scholar that I am, and not enough with a devout attitude.

  So, while I work on that attitude of devotion, I’m going back to what I had originally planned for my next series, and that is some things I learned from the Spring Men’s Bible Study on Genesis, Part 2.

  INTRODUCTION:
  As we were studying the second half of Genesis, I began to notice two main things. But first a little bit about Biblical interpretation.

  

  1. The first is to interpret the old by the new. That means we, as Christians, interpret the Old Testament based on what the New Testament says.

  

  (b) Secondly, within the Old Testament, interpret the Books of the La,w and history based on what the Prophets and Psalms say about them.

  

  (c) And then, within the New Testament, interpret the Gospels by the Epistles. So, as I tell and comment on these origin stories of the Patriarchs, I’ll also include what the Bible says about them later in order to better understand God’s perspective.

  

  2. The second thing to keep in mind is to interpret passages in the Bible based on the type of writing represented. Genesis is a collection of historical stories passed down by word of mouth that were written down by Moses, or under his direction. As such, they are considered historical narrative. That is, these people did/said these things to/with each other at these places. The basic questions answered are who, what, when (in terms of sequence) and where. There is no editorializing, they are not allegories (made up stories to communicate moral truths). But they can be viewed allegorically as true life examples that can help us understand how God interacts with people.

  

  OVERVIEW:
  1. So, one thing I noticed is that a lot of the historical characters are doing things that we as Christians would consider morally wrong, even just plain sinful. I thought a lot about that and realized that I should not spend time condemning these historical characters when the Bible is not condemning them. The truth of the matter is, they are not anyone particularly holy. These are, quite simply put, unredeemed sinners. As such, we should not be surprised that they act sinfully.

  

  2. The second thing I realized is these stories are not actually about the historical characters!  Instead this ‘His story’ is really about God shepherding His plan of salvation for humankind along from one generation to the next. Therefore, I learned to look for God’s touch and for instances when He ‘showed up.’

  

  What I began to see was God Is very skillful at moving people in the direction needed and that His touch was light. Essentially, God is trying to ‘herd cats.’ Instead of forcibly moving people like helpless pawns on a chess board, He skilfully works within sinful human nature to accomplish His divine purposes.

  

  APPLICATION:When I begin to see all that, I was even more impressed by God’s capabilities. If you’ve ever tried to get a recalcitrant child (or even an adult) to do something they don’t want to do, then you should know how difficult that can be. That God is very skillful in shepherding recalcitrant people has several implications, I think, for us.1. As Christians, we’re supposed to be willingly obedient all the time to God’s commands and guidelines. If that is true about you, raise your hand…🖐

  

  Yeah, me neither. Bill Gothard pointed out in his seminars in Basic Youth Conflicts and Basic Life Principles, that God initially gives us the chance to obey Him and move willingly in His direction. If we won’t do that, since it is so important to God that we live correctly in our relationship with Him, and because it is to our best benefit, then He goes to a harsher Plan B.

  

  The example that he used when I went to his seminar was of a young woman who was unhappy with the continuous restrictions placed on her freedoms by her parents. She decides that the best way to get out from under their thumb was to get married (this was a long time ago when young women didn’t have today’s opportunities to be on their own.)

  

  So, she gets married and has to maintain a household. Then she gets pregnant and has to care for a child. The responsibilities that her parents were trying to teach her, and against which she rebelled, now become necessities in her life. She is actually less free than before, but she’s learning!

  

  (a) So, what should we do? First of all, when you know God is telling you to start doing something new in your spiritual life or to stop doing something that is sinful, Just Do It! As a take on the sports apparel motto, that is the path to victory (Nike = the Greek goddess of victory.)

  

  (b) Next, don’t listen to the lies of our Enemy like, ‘It’s okay, it won’t hurt anything.’ ‘It doesn’t matter what you do, it won’t make a difference.’ ‘No one will ever know.’ ‘Do you really think you can change anything?’ ‘Come on, everybody does it!’ ‘Try it, it feels sooo good.’ It won’t hurt to do it just once.’ And I can go on and on. Recognize the lies of the Enemy, which are also the lies of the World, for what they are–LIES–and fix your eyes on Jesus in obedience instead.

  

  (c) And if you don’t hasten to obey, then don’t be surprised if God goes to Plan B by disciplining you. Our pastor @jdgreear.com points out that God’s discipline in our life is actually a sign of His love and grace. God loves each of us so much that He’s willing to meet us where we are, but He also loves us so much, He doesn’t leave us where we are–in the squalor and slavery of sin.

  

  Like our recent sermon series @summitchurch.com about God rescuing the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt in Exodus, God also wants to rescue us from a life of slavery to sin (whether we realize we’re in it or not) to a life of freedom serving Him. He wants to take us to a better place in our lives, just like He took the Israelites to the promised land.

  

  (d) My mantra in that situation in my life lately has been, ‘The judgments of God are just.’ God knows what we need in order to be changed into that new person He created us to be in Jesus Christ. He knows how long the metal must be heated, how long it must be pounded into shape and how many times it must be taken through the process to produce the strength that is needed for His purposes. If you could not learn to submit yourself in obedience, learn to submit yourself in God’s judgment. And as He promises, at the proper time  He will lift you up.

  

  So, if you wake up one day to realize you’ve become a slave to sin, cry out to God for deliverance and He’ll hear you. Make every effort to follow His ‘way of escape’ (1 Corinthians 10:13), however it is presented.

  

  2. The other implication of God’s skillful ability to direct people along His plan has to do, in my opinion, with intercessory prayer. If you are praying for a wayward family member or friend, you can believe and trust that God is exerting subtle and skillful pressures to gently bring them back to right relationship with Him and with you.

  

  If they are in a harsh situation and suffering hardship, don’t try to bail them out of it!  Keep praying, keep trusting God that He will bring them to that ‘Aha’ moment like the prodigal son, where they’ve been humbled enough to return to what they will finally realize was best all along.

  

  If you need some encouragement to keep praying for something or someone, listen to Matthew West’s recent song, Don’t Stop Praying.

  We’ll start next with Genesis chapter 24, Finding a Wife for Isaac.

  

  July 13, 2025

  bible, christianity, faith, god, Isaac

  ---

• D1a, Story break – The Escape

  Hello my friends! Been wondering where I was the past few weeks? Besides taking a bit of a summer break, I’ve been researching my next series that I’m calling “Basics.” Until I start getting the blogs ready for publishing, I’d like to share the following vision that relates to one of those upcoming blogs named, ‘The Wiles of Satan.

  ‘Years ago, as I was praying for a friend of mine from a small startup church we were a part of, whrn I had the following vision that depicts the ‘roaring lion’ attack of Satan.

  ADVISEMENT: For those of you who are not familiar with visions, please be aware that they are not intended to communicate physical reality. Instead, God uses familiar imagery to communicate spiritual truths.

  

  In my vision, I saw my friend as she was happily walking along God’s ‘shining path.’  The path glowed the bright yellow of the sun and was bordered by slightly translucent walls of the same light that met overhead in a protective arch. Due to the brightness of the glow, what was outside could not be seen from inside.

  

  It appeared as though my friend was walking the path alone, but dimly perceived were many, many others also walking God’s golden path.

  

  For a moment my point of view shifted outside and I had a drone’s-eye view from outside the path. First I noticed that, although the path had seemed straight from the inside, it actually followed the contours of the land, dipping into a valley ahead, rising over a hill beyond, winding around some low mountains in the distance…

  

  Next I noticed the Earth was completely dark, except for the faint light of the stars and the glow from the path itself, as there was no sun or moon. The landscape was completely lifeless. The predominant feature was sand, everything that might have been there once was covered with sand. Protruding above the sand here and there were boulders of different sizes. Around their bases were collars of sand and I realized the boulders were actually the remnant of hills and mountains that uncounted years of lifeless entropy had been reducing to the sand that I saw everywhere.

  However, there was a sign that life had once existed. Dotted here and there among the boulders were the remnants of tree tops. There were no leaves and only the thickest of the branches survived as sharp, petrified spikes where the wood too had undergone its crumbling entropy and contributed to the ubiquitous sand.

  My perspective then snapped back to the path as the young woman continued to  confidently walk along God’s shining path.

  

  Suddenly there was a tremendous roar from the left. It sounded like the largest beast that had ever lived had just sighted its prey and was about to pounce and devour it.

  The young woman’s head snapped toward the sound and her heart was suddenly filled with an atavistic fear. Everything else fled her mind except for the overwhelming need to escape from the beast. She made an abrupt turn to the right, away from the direction of that horrendous roar, and she plunged through the protective wall of the path.

  

  She ran as fast as her panicked legs could carry her, glancing back frequently to make sure the beast had not caught up with her. As she left the relatively clear area near the lighted path, her frightened looks back caused her to stumble into the thickening boulders where she bruised herself over and over again. She also frequently brushed against the sharp, hard branches of the remnant trees that sliced through her clothing and cut her skin beneath.

  As the frightened woman became tireder and tireder, she began to sob continuously from the fear, the pain and the frustration of not being able to escape. She finally stumbled and fell face first into the sand, crawling in an effort to keep going. That’s when she realized that she could go no further.

  

  Rising shakily to her feet, she looked for a hiding place in the starlit landscape, having outrun the glow from the shining path long ago. She spotted what looked like a dark opening beneath one of the boulders.  She stumbled over to it, fell to her knees, and began shoveling the sand away with her hands to enlarge the opening.

  When the hollow was big enough to hold her trembling body, she crawled inside and carefully pulled the sand back, leaving only an opening big enough to breathe through. She then curled up into a fetal position, and with one last sob, fell into the deep sleep of the thoroughly exhausted.

  

  Maybe you feel like my friend did in the vision–you’re running in anxiety from you don’t know what. You don’t know what to do, you don’t know where to go. Maybe this song by a Christian music artist who felt the same way might help bring you back to a place of hope and trust in God.

  MercyMe – Even If, (c) 2017

  

  July 1, 2025

  christianity, dystopia, fantasy, short-story, vision

  ---

• C10d Now is the Son of Man Glorified

  

  When I think of ‘glory,’ I think of light rays shooting out of something or someone like this:

  

  When you read some of the Psalms where examples of ‘glorious’ things are given, you can get the impression that’s what it means:

  

  Here ‘glorious’ seems to refers to shining stars and other heavenly lights (no light pollution in those days, if you’ve ever seen the night sky away from a city, it IS ‘glorious!’)

  BUT if you look closely at the original meaning of the word, you get a different picture:

  

  

  Greek (doxa) that which evokes a ‘good opinion,’ dignity, honor, praise–the concept of obvious intrinsic worth.

  

  Hebrew (kavod) ‘pressed down heavily,’  ‘weighty,’ means important, respectful, worthy of honor, glory and praise.

  If we look at some of the passages again that use these words translated ‘glory’ with these definitions in mind, we can begin to see what is really meant:

  

  The reason we are exhorted to give ‘kavod’ to God is because of His steadfast, unfailing love and His faithfulness to Israel–intrinsic qualities seen about God through His dealings with Israel for many generations.

  Paul gives us insight into what the ‘glorious’ night sky is really supposed to communicate about God:

  

  …God’s eternal power and divine nature; that is, there IS a God and and that God is very, very powerful–beyond what we could ever imagine or accomplish ourselves.

  In the verse about the glory of Jesus from John 1, ‘glory’ actually means things like how Jesus showed us God’s character of goodness, holiness and love by how He acted, spoke and treated others. That would be more consistent with John’s writings.

  

  The ‘glorious’ qualities specifically mentioned in the verse are fulness of ‘grace’ and ‘truth.’ Something that we all as Christians are supposed to demonstrate in our own lives.

  In order to REALLY glorify God and His Son Jesus, we have to look beyond the physical surface and see the intrinsic qualities. I must admit, that is NOT easy.

  

  I had noticed many decades ago an irony in the church; that is, we say ‘Praise the Lord,’ or the Hebrew ‘Hallelujah!’ all the time, but we don’t actually do it. These are commands to praise God, but we use the command in place of really getting down to praising God for His attributes.

  As I was studying for this blog, I realized we do the same thing with ‘glorify,’ we use the word to substitute for really doing the commanded action.

  I think if we really understood what ‘glorify’ meant, it would be easier to see what about the Passion is Jesus being glorified. We do have some clues…

  

  So, one of the ways that God might have glorified Jesus during the crucifixion could have been the darkness and earthquake. These unnatural events would definitely get people’s attention and suggest that God is saying something about how He feels about what was happening to the man who claimed to be ‘God’s Son.’

  

  The centurion, a commander of 100, would be like a company commander in today’s army. He had been in charge of the crucifixion detail beginning from Pilate’s headquarters, all the way down the ‘Via Dolorosa,’ until the condemned had died, and probably had overseen many of these executions. He recognized there was something different about this man called the ‘King of the Jews.’

  The way that he ‘glorified” God after seeing everything that had happened with Jesus’ execution was to describe Him as a ‘righteous’ man. Now, just a note, righteous men were not usually executed. The fact that Jesus acted like He was God’s Son as He remained righteous in all His words and behavior during this ordeal, really stood out to this hardened and experienced Roman commander.

  

  This recognition of Jesus as ‘a son of the gods,’ (more accurate rendering from the Roman perspective) was in how Jesus died, He had just ‘cried out with a loud voice, and then breathed His last.’ Jesus acted much differently than the usual condemned criminal and this was how Jesus ‘glorified’ God during His ordeal–by showing how much He trusted God by never complaining, accepting the ‘cup” that God had ordained He ‘drink,’ never cursing or wavering from His purpose… Can you even imagine the fortitude and submission Jesus exhibited throughout His Passion? I certainly can’t.

  (In case you’re wondering about the order I presented the three gospel acounts being different than the books are in the Bible, see my next blog on how the gospels came to be. I presented them in the order modern scholarship indicates they were written.)

  

  I’ve often asked others this question to see how their answer compares to mine. “When did Jesus exhibit the most power during His time on earth?” Was it walking on the water? Calming the storm with just a word? What about raising Lazarus from the dead? Feeding the 5,000 with just 5 loaves of bread and 2 little fish?

  

  Different people answer differently. My answer is, Jesus demonstrated the most power during His crucifixion. It took every ounce of strength for Him to bear the sins of the whole world–past, present and future–and to forever pay the price for the penalty of those sins against God. No WONDER He was so worn out that He died much sooner than the usual several days.

  

  Jesus glorified the Father by how He acted and spoke during His ultimate act of obedience and sacrifice, and the Father glorified Jesus by signs in the heavens and on earth, and by accepting His atoning sacrifice–the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,” and then by resurrecting Him from the dead.

  

  We too are called to glorify the Lord Jesus. In light of these ideas about what ‘glorifying’ might really mean, how do you think we can better do that as Christ followers?

  

  A great song of praise and glorification is Yes I Will by Vertical Worship. Listen and let it guide you in your own glorification of God and His Son, Jesus Christ.

  I choose to praise…,
  To glorify, glorify,
  The Name of all Names…
  YES I WILL!

  June 16, 2025

  bible, christianity, faith, glorify, glory, god, jesus

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• C10c Father, glorify Thy name!

  

  John does not include the account of Jesus’ Transfiguration in his gospel, but does include a third account of God speaking to Jesus from heaven.

  Some think John is alluding to the Transfiguration in the prelude of his gospel when he wrote,

  

  And it’s interesting, because ‘glory’ is the theme of the next theophony. Let me set the stage for you. It is the final week before Jesus’ crucifixion, on one of the days between the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem and the Last Supper. Jesus has taken his core set of disciples outside the city to His favorite place of retreat, the Mount of Olives.

  

  Earlier some ‘Greeks’ had come seeking to talk to Jesus. These were most likely Hellenistic Jews from foreign countries on pilgrimage to Israel for the Passover. This multitude of foreign Jews figures prominently at the beginning of Acts as many of them responded to Peter’s Pentecost message and became Christ followers, later taking the gospel back home to their home countries all around the western Mediterranean, even as far as Rome. Apparently their visit signaled a turning point for Jesus, because He says,

  

  Up until now, He’s kept saying His hour had NOT come. Then He seems to go in an odd direction with the following teaching:

  

  

  

  Looking back with 20/20 hindsight, we now understand Jesus was referring to His death, burial and resurrection, and how this propitious sacrifice would produce ‘much fruit.’ Further teaching later suggests this is also the life of self sacrifice that disciples of Jesus Christ are to follow in order to ‘bear much fruit’ for the Kingdom of God.

  Then Jesus tells them, “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.” And then He prays:

  

  And God answers!

  

  Jesus then says to His disciples that God spoke this affirmation for their sake.

  ‘Glory’ and ‘glorify’ are the 9th most common words in John’s gospel. The top five denote major themes. The second five denote secondary themes. Following this theme of glory in the next few chapters, we see such verses as,

  

  And in His High Priestly Prayer, Jesus leads off with,

  

  Do you know what happens afterward? Jesus suffers in every way imaginable–physical, emotional, social and spiritual. Here are just a sampling from His ‘Passion.’

  

  First, Jesus goes to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane and is in such agony over what is about to happen to Him that He sweats blood. (One of the times it might have been nice NOT to have the foreknowledge, but that isn’t how God set it up.)

  

  Then Jesus is betrayed by one of His trusted Twelve Apostles, Judas Iscariot, and is arrested, and the other disciples desert Him, fleeing into the night for fear of their own lives (actually part of the Plan.)

  

  Jesus is humiliated, falsely accused, interrogated, dragged back and forth between different officials, beaten with spear butts, punched repeatedly with a blindfold on, has a wreath of thorns jammed on His head, is flogged, rejected and condemned by the people who just a few days before had hailed his arrival as the Messiah.

  

  Then He is paraded through the streets of Jerusalem, carrying the instrument of His execution on his back to the jeers of His enemies and despair of His supporters.

  

  Then He is executed by crucifixion–an ancient form of death by exposure perfected by the Romans for maximum agony.

  THIS was being glorified? If so, then…

  WE NEED A NEW DEFINITION FOR ‘GLORY’!

  Are you feeling the need for a reset after contemplating the awful events of Jesus’ Passion like I am? Here’s a link to a classic worship song that I hope you will enjoy and join in giving glory to God and Jesus Christ.
  
  Proclaim the Glory of the Lord, Steve Green

  https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=iJZHy40xFu4&feature=shared

  

  June 10, 2025

  bible, christianity, faith, glory, god, jesus, passion

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• C10b Son of God Affirmed-Transfiguration

  2. Mount of Transfiguration

  The second time God spoke an affirmation from heaven of Jesus as His Son was at an event called the “Mount of Transfiguration.” Here’s an account in story form assembled from the three synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke.

  

  

  One day while Jesus and His disciples were passing by the tallest mountain in southeast Galilee, Jesus took Peter, and the two brothers, James and John, up the mountain for some alone time and to pray. When they got at the top, the three disciples made themselves comfortable on the ground and Jesus walked up to the summit where He began to pray.

  

  Just as the three disciples were nodding off, they began to hear the murmur of voices and the light started to become brighter. The three looked up to see what was happening and they saw the light was actually coming from Jesus!  Even as they watched, the skin of His face shone brighter and brighter like the sun, and His clothes shone whiter than any laundry could make them. 

  

  Appearing on either side of Jesus and talking with Him about what was going to happen when Jesus went to Jerusalem, were two glowing figures who could be none other than Moses and Elijah!

  

  The three disciples were awestruck and didn’t know how to respond. Peter blurted out mindlessly, “Master, I’m so glad to be here to witness this glorious event. I want to put up three shrines, one for each of you…”

  As Peter was babbling, a bright, white cloud had been forming directly above them. It became so big and so bright that it caught the three disciples’ attention and they looked up at it, beginning to be frightened, wondering what it might be. Peter even fell silent.

  Suddenly a loud voice thundered from the sky,

  

  This was just too much for the terrified disciples as they fell flat on their faces on the ground and lay there shaking and moaning in terror.

  When the echoes of the thunder died away, the bright light also faded. Jesus walked down to them and gently touched each in turn, telling them they could get up.

  

  As the three cowering disciples shakily arose and looked around, they saw the bright cloud and two glowing figures were gone. All that was left was the ordinary, everyday Jesus that they had been following for the last 3 years.

  Jesus motioned for them to begin the trek back down the mountain. As they were walking, Jesus sternly charged them not to say anything about what they had seen and heard until after He was raised from the dead. The frazzled disciples didn’t really understand what Jesus was talking about, but they readily agreed to tell no one about their harrowing experience.

  

  When the three disciples rejoined their companions below, none of the three said anything to anybody about what had happened with Jesus above, no matter how much they were asked and how badly the others wanted to know.

  IMPORTANCE FOR US

  The Apostle Peter later wrote of the importance of hearing God’s direct affirmation of Jesus as His Son,

  

  .. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed.” 2 Peter 1:19a

  Do you sometimes feel the need to have God’s word more fully confirmed in your life?  I know how uncertainty can weigh on someone. It would be nice to have some kind of miraculous event like the Transfiguration to assure us…but we don’t. We just have the Bible with its eyewitness accounts and faithful recording of God’s and Jesus’ words.

  When you see a Scripture repeated multiple times in the Bible, you should take note because that means it is important. Here is one:

  

  The original spoken by God to the prophet Habakkuk as the Chaldeans were invading Israel reads:

  

  Hebrew meaning of the last word: faithfulness, fidelity, steadfastness, trust, faith.

  The faithful are contrasted with the proud (puffed up), that is people (in the immediate case the invading Chaldeans) who are not considered upright, not living a straight life, not in right relationship with God, and therefore not pleasing to God.

  This verse is quoted three times in the New Testament:

  

  Greek meaning of the last word: faith, belief, trust, confidence; fidelity, faithfulness.

  Paul applies Habakkuk’s ‘life of faithfulness’ to faith in the gospel, where God has revealed His righteousness in sacrificing His Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for our sins and therefore reconcile us with Himself, that is restore us to right standing with Him. Thus OUR faith is in something that is in our ‘rear view mirror,’ the past event of Jesus’ sacrifice detailed in the New Testament.

  

  Paul next contrasts the life of faith with the Jews who placed their reliance on right standing with God by keeping the Law of Moses. The Law served a purpose in preserving a people of faith through which the Messiah could come, but the Jews of Jesus’ and Paul’s day had turned the Law of Moses into a performance-driven religion rather than the life of faith that God had intended.

  The last quotation contains elements of the Septuigent translation into Greek:

  

  …which emphasizes the importance of FAITHFULNESS, trusting God first, foremost and always. This echoes Paul’s ‘from faith to faith,’ which can be interpreted to mean the Christian life starts with faith and then continues in faith to the end. If you’re struggling with your faith, consider praying this prayer of faith below from when you feel the need for some assurance or confirmation:

  

  Like our spiritual forefather, Abraham, we must CHOOSE to believe what God and Jesus, God’s Son, have said and done. It can be a very difficult road to travel, the road of faith, but if we can just hang in there…it will be worth it.

  Maybe this worship song about the Beautiful One, like the Jesus the disciples might have seen on the Mount of Transfiguration, will help strengthen your faith as it does mine.

  

  June 7, 2025

  bible, christianity, faith, god, jesus, short-story, transfiguration

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• C10a Jesus Affirmed as God’s Son – Baptism

  In the previous blog, I showed some of the ways that Jesus embodied the five characteristics of the Messiah from Isaiah 9:6, except that He didn’t set up His eternal kingdom of peace. During His trial, Jesus indicated His kingdom was not of THIS world (yet.)

  

  WE who have believed are members of this spiritual kingdom of Jesus Christ. In addition to fulfilling prophecies and demonstrating signs of God’s anointing, there were three times when God Himself spoke in affirmation of Jesus. I’ll look at those three events in the next three blogs.

  1. BAPTISM: The first heavenly affirmation was when Jesus was baptized by the prophet John ‘the Baptizer.’ John thought it should be the other way around, that Jesus should be baptizing John. But Jesus told him it was necessary, so John baptized Him. When Jesus came out of the water, the heavens opened…

  

  The Mark and Luke versions of the baptism personalize the message from God, as though it is assurance from God to Jesus. The Matthew version presents the message as more of an announcement to those who are there.

  

  John does not specifically cover the baptism of Jesus, but refers to it after the fact. (For more on why the gospels are different, see the upcoming blog, C11 – Origins of the Gospels.)

  That is, later when Jesus is passing by, possibly after returning from His 40 days of fasting and temptation, John the Baptist declares,

  

  The two disciples who were with John the Baptist at that time were Andrew, Simon Peter’s older brother, and the younger John,  the writer of this gospel. They left from following John the Baptist and became the first followers of Jesus.

  TAKEAWAY

  As I was studying the four passages about Jesus’ baptism, I noticed there were a lot of moving parts associated with just this one event–the baptism of Jesus by John.

  Many of these events were obviously put into motion and shepherded by God–but I’m sure there were many more than we actuality see recorded in the Bible. Let’s look just at at those surrounding the Baptism:

  1. John was sent a mission by God to point out Jesus as being the Messiah and prepare the hearts of the Israelites to accept and believe in Him.

  

  2. John was given a method to identify the Messiah. “I myself did not know Him, but…

  

  3. God spoke an affirmation from heaven when John baptized Jesus that was heard by those present, including John himself, although to others it was only the sound of thunder.

  

  4. And God provided a sign John was told to look out for, the Spirit of God coming upon Jesus in His fullness:

  

  This all kicked off Jesus’ ministry, gave Jesus His first two disciples–Andrew and John.  Andrew, the older of the two, used his experience as John’s disciples to became Jesus’ “major domo” and kept things running smoothly around Jesus. Young John became Jesus’ longest living Apostle. They both went and brought their brothers, testifying they had found the Messiah…, and so on and so on.

  The point is, God had a plan and was intervening as needed to keep the plan in motion and on the right track. Does that mean everything was always ‘roses and champagne’? NO! There was opposition. That opposition was actually expected and figured into God’s plan.

  WE are a part of God’s continuing plan to bring salvation through Jesus Christ to the entire world. Should we expect things to go smoothly? NO! Quite the contrary. What we CAN expect is that God is actively involved in moving His plan along–often out of our sight, behind the scenes, even in ways we can’t understand–and we need to keep forging ahead in our trust in Him and obedience to His commands.

  Here’s a worship song that encourages me to believe in that. I hope that it encourages you too.

  Even when I don’t feel it, You’re working…”

  Is that easy for you to do? It certainly IS NOT for me!  But we need to encourage each other to forge ahead. My blog is my way of trying to help you. I have brothers and sisters in the faith around me who keep me encouraged. I hope you have some of those around you too.

  

  June 5, 2025

  baptism, bible, christianity, faith, god, holy-spirit, jesus

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• C9 Ascension Day 2025

  

  I wanted to take a break from writing my next post to celebrate Ascension Day, which is Thursday, May 29th in the Protestant liturgical calendar, 40 days after Easter.

  The Ascension of Jesus Christ to heaven is a very important element of the Christian gospel. In reference to my previous posts, the Great Commission (series A) was given by Jesus to His disciples just before His Ascension.

  

  In series C, the interlude about the Paraclete, Jesus told His disciples that it was better for them (and the world) that He leave, otherwise He would not be able to send the Holy Spirit promised by God to dwell within those of us who respond to the gospel and are saved. This promise was fulfilled 10 days after the Ascension during Pentecost.

  

  The first chronological mention of Jesus ascending was by Luke at the beginning of his second book, “The Acts of the Apostles.” Luke wrote:

  After Jesus had said these things, He was taken up before their very eyes, until a cloud hid Him from their sight.

  

  The disciples were looking intently up into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two angels dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking up into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”

  The disciples then returned to the upper room where they had been staying in order to await the Holy Spirit as they had been instructed to do by Jesus.

  This entire scenario, starting with Jesus’ promise in John 14  that He was going to prepare them a place in His “Father’s house,” and then come back for them so they may be with Him forever, mirrored the Jewish marriage practices of His day.

  

  First there would be the betrothal ceremony and feast at the girl’s parents house. The bridegroom would return home and spend his spare time building an addition onto his parent’s home for them to live in.

  

  When it was done and he was ready, about a year later, the bridegroom would return to his bride’s village, retrieve his bride and take her to his parents’ house where there would be a big wedding feast before the marriage was consummated in the room he had prepared.

  John’s gospel, written later than Acts, quotes Jesus mentioning His departure several times, although John points out they really didn’t understand it because their expectation was the Messiah would come to set up the world-wide Kingdom of God in a physical sense.

  The prophecy of the Messiah in Psalm 110 hints at the delay between the enthroning of the Messiah in heaven and the establishing of the world-wide kingdom:

  

  The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”

  There is clear indication of a gap in time between when the Messiah sits down at the right hand of God and when He actually exercises rulership.

  

  To summarize, the Ascension of Jesus is important for many reasons in the Christian faith. Most importantly, it completes the supernatural act that began with the resurrection of Jesus, that proved His actual deification from God limited to a man’s body, into a glorified Being, sitting at the right hand of God in heaven, having been given all authority on Earth, as well as in Heaven.

  

  to Abraham that all the nations of the earth would be blessed by his descendents through Isaac. The prophecy of a Messiah that would rule all the world in peace.  The supernatural birth and life of Jesus as the Savior of the World leading to His death  burial and resurrection. The Great Commission Jesus gave to His disciples to carry this good news (gospel) of salvation throughout the world.  The Ascension of Jesus, then outpouring of God’s Spirit onto all who had believed in Jesus, resulting in an empowerment to proclaim the gospel–all the way down to us.

  

  We who have also believed in Jesus the Christ are beneficiaries of God’s plan of salvation to redeem as many people as possible from the kingdom of sin and darkness into His Kingdom of life and light.

  

  Take advantage of this Ascension Day to thank God for His grace and mercy toward us and the world.

  

  Thank Jesus for His willingness to suffer and die as a sinless sacrifice to God to pay the penalty for our sin and reconcile us to God.

  

  Thank the Holy Spirit for dwelling within us, for putting up with our continuing sinfulness, for our often ignoring Him, for our selfish self-centeredness – yet still staying with us.

  

  Thank Them that They stick with us, even when we walk away from Them, that in Their grace they gently call us back to Them, that They are always there, waiting for us with open arms and a heart filled with love, when we return.

  But don’t just stop with yourself. Commit to be faithful to walk as a Christian, as a disciple of Jesus Christ–to learn, to grow, to mature as a disciple–to reach the point where you are participating in the Great Commission–sharing the gospel with those around you and…who knows? Maybe even to the ends of the Earth.

  

  One day we too will ascend to meet the Lord Jesus in the air and be taken to the place in Heaven He has prepared for us who believe. Remember, we are a part of something bigger than ourselves now, let’s live like it.

  

  May 29, 2025

  ascension, bible, christianity, faith, god, holy-spirit, jesus

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• C8 Promised Messiah and Son, part 3

  

  (More Christmas in May)

  There is another prophecy of the Messiah written about 733 BC that also calls Him a ‘son.’ Isaiah 9:6:

  

  At the beginning of the verse we see the typical Hebrew literary technique of repeating what is said, but in a different way. That is, the ‘son’ is the same as the ‘child,’ and ‘born’ is the same thing as ‘given.’

  What is not so clear are the following descriptions. Are there two singles and then three doubles, or are there four doubles? Some English translations, beginning with the King James, put a comma between ‘Wonderful’ and ‘Counselor,’ indicating they are separate descriptions. Some of the modern translations don’t, therefore creating another double to match the three other double adjective+noun descriptions.

  So, I was wondering one day recently, “To ‘comma,’ or not to ‘comma’…”

  DISCLAIMER: I am not a recognized Bible scholar. My scholarship lies in education. I share the results of my Bible study because I find it interesting and hope that you will too.

  Looking at the Hebrew, we see the word translated as ‘wonderful’ is a noun. ‘Wonderful’ is actually an adjective and maybe that is what has led some translators to drop the comma and use it to modify ‘counselor.’

  However this noun is most often applied to someone who works ‘wonders,’ that is, miraculous signs that indicate they were sent and thus empowered by God. The word is most often applied to Moses.

  

  Therefore, the name could be translated “Wonder-Worker.”

  

  And what about ‘counselor?’ It is a common Hebrew word used to name anyone who gives advice. The word is most often used in Proverbs, especially to describe soneone who gives WISE advice. A wise Counselor is one who gives advice from God and His Word, and this ability is often taken to indicate a special gift of wisdom given to someone by God, such as Solomon asked for and received.

  

  Therefore, in keeping with the following duos, we could translate this name as  ‘Wise Counselor. ‘

  The following three pairs of words for titles of this prophesied child/son are fairly straightforward.

  ‘Mighty God,’ is not the ‘El Shaddai’ that I was expecting, but ‘El Gibbor.’ El Shaddai is usually translated the ‘Almighty God.’ It emphasizes the unlimited innate power of God, as in ‘All-powerful, and goes along with His other attributes of ‘All-seeing, ‘ and ‘All-knowing.’

  

  El Gibbor, on the other hand, refers more to applied power as in winning a battle or carrying out His will. This would be an appropriate name for the Messiah as He would be the instrument of God’s will on earth. This Hebrew word is used elsewhere, but Psalm 24:8 well communicates its meaning, which is also considered a prophecy of the Messiah.

  

  The Hebrew word for ‘Everlasting Father’ is a contraction of ‘Abba-ad,’ which can also be translated as ‘Father of Eternity.” Hebrew can be difficult to translate like that. The place where the meaning of this name is well communicate is Psalm 90:2.

  

  The last title, “Prince of Peace,’ in Hebrew is ‘Sa Shalom.’ ‘Sa’ is just the general word for a ruler and hearkens back to the earlier, “the government shall be on His shoulder.” (And yes, it is singular in Hebrew, whereas we would say ‘shoulders.’)

  King Solomon is an example of a ruler of peace. His name in Hebrew, Shalomo,’ actually contains the Hebrew word for peace.

  

  This “peaceable kingdom” of the Messiah is prophesied in more detail in Isaiah 11:

  

  The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
      and the leopard shall lie down
  with the young goat,
      and the calf and the lion
  and the fattened calf together;
      and a little child shall lead them.

  So, to sum up, this child/son/Messiah is Jesus Christ to us who are Christians, ‘Christ’ being the Greek/Latin equivalent of ‘Messiah,’ meaning ‘annointed.’ Let me show how Jesus embodied all five Names.

  NOTE: Hebrew doesn’t use any articles in this verse, that is ‘a’ or ‘an,’ which is the nonspecific article, meaning it could be anybody; and ‘the,’ which is the specific article for a singular, specific person or thing.

  The first two names are applied to other people, so we would say, ‘A Wonder-Worker,’ and ‘A Wise Counselor.” This pair of names establishes the ‘bona fides’ of the child/son as being FROM God and having His favor. The Jews of Jesus’ day knew this.  When Nicodemus came to see Jesus at night, he started with: “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” John 3:2

  

  The best testimonies to Jesus’ wisdom were actually given by His enemies. 1) The Jewish leaders:

  

  And 2) the soldiers they sent to arrest Him:

  

  The next pair of names are unique to God, so we would say, ‘THE Mighty God,’ and ‘THE Everlasting Father.’ These names say that the child/son IS God. Jesus claimed to be God clearly several times. Here are a couple: His eternal nature:

  

  What Jesus was claiming was clear to the Jewish leaders–that He existed before Abraham, progenitor of the Jews, was born, and that He was YHWH, (Yahweh, or Jehovah), the Great I AM, the self-existent God since eternity began.

  And just in case you think we’re reading too much into a simple statement, the Jewish leaders knew what He was saying. “They took up stones to kill Him with…” The second time they did this, Jesus asked them, ‘Why?’ They answered,

  

  There were no doubts about Jesus’ claims to be God among the Jewish leaders, but they chose to reject Him and reject His claims.

  Jesus claimed to have God’s Mighty power:

  

  The last name, ‘THE Prince of Peace’ is a unique identifier of the Messiah. So this name clearly indicates the child/son is THE Messiah.

  At least 21 times in benedictions in the epistles, the authors mention the peace (shalom) of Jesus. This prevalence is probably based on Jesus’ promise to His disciples:

  

  What about the government and rule of peace of the Messiah? What happened to that prophesy?

  

  The ‘Peaceable Kingdom’ is still to come at Jesus’ Second Coming. The delay between the two comings is so the gospel can be proclaimed to the ‘ends of the Earth.’ That means we of the other nations outside of Israel have the chance to hear about God and Jesus Christ, believe in the gospel and be delivered from Satan’s kingdom of darkness into God’s Kingdom of Light, which will then be forever, and we will be a part of it forever, and with Them forever.

  

  I’m okay with the delay…

  May 25, 2025

  bible, christianity, faith, god, jesus, Messiah, prophesy

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• C7 Interlude – What’s in a Name part 2b, Paraclete

  

  It is the Last Supper and the disciples were under a lot of stress. They were worried about the Jewish leaders’ plot to arrest and kill Jesus, and that they might be arrested and killed too. They were under a lot of stress because Jesus had been hinting more and more strongly that He was going to be leaving them, and they didn’t really understand. The Messiah was supposed to establish an eternal, worldwide government, wasn’t He?

  

  They could also tell that Jesus was very troubled by what was about to happen to Him, even if they weren’t exactly sure what that was going to be. Jesus knew about His upcoming betrayal, His arrest, abandonment, mistreatment, rejection and ultimate crucifixion–and His general angst infected them too.

  What a burden such foreknowledge must have been for Jesus as a man!  How difficult it must have been to focus on accomplishing His final tasks with His disciples.

  In the middle of this almost overwhelming tension, Jesus, being sensitive to what His disciples were experiencing, speaks words of comfort.

  

  I like the amplified versions of the Bible that try to help us understand the meanings from the original language. Some other translations of the Greek could be:

  “Do not let your hearts be agitated, disturbed, shaken up…”

  The Greek word for ‘believe’ is another one that can benefit from being amplified. It can be interpreted in English in three ways. The other two ways would be,

  “You trust in God, trust also in Me…”

  “You have faith in God, have faith also in Me…”

  Now Jesus has their attention. Here is the caring Teacher they have so faithfully followed for so long! Like drowning men clinging to a piece of driftwood, I imagine these men hanging on Jesus’ every word.

  

  Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, how could we possibly know the way?” John 14:5

  Jesus deals with this question and gives them a lot of quality teaching, most of which probably didn’t penetrate the disciples’ understanding at the time, but that was okay, because God had a plan for that. Then comes:

  

  Helper” translated here is the first use of the Greek word “Parackletos,” Anglicized as ‘Paraclete.’ We see several things right here:

  The Paraclete will come from Father God, 

  The Paraclete is referred to as ‘another’ one,

  The Paraclete will always be with them,

  They know who He is because He already lives with them,

  The Paraclete is called “The Spirit of Truth,” and

  The Paraclete will live INSIDE  of them.

  There is a lot more that Jesus teaches about the Paraclete / Spirit, but I’ll save following that strand through the next chapters for another time.

  Here’s a look at the more common translations for “Parakletos.”

  

  ADVOCATE: ‘Paraclete’ was mainly used in Greek to refer to a legal advocate who accompanied a person to court to argue their case on their behalf. The Roman word for that person is where we get the English word  ‘advocate’ from.

  

  The actual Greek is a combination of ‘para-‘, alongside, like PARAlell lines run alongside each other  and ‘kaleo’ which means to call. So technically, it means someone who is called, asked or invited to come stand alongside you. An Advocate certainly fits that description and matches the context of John 14, and is also used that way in John’s first epistle to refer to one of Jesus’ roles in heaven, but there is much, much more.

  

  COMFORTER: The translators of the Old Testament Hebrew into the Greek Septuigent used parakaleo (the verb form) in Job to mean ‘to comfort, ‘ as when his friends came to be with him and console Job in his misery. Hence some translate Paraclete in John as ‘Comforter.’

  

  

  Parakletos is also often translated “Counselor,’ which can be used as a synonym for an attorney–just another variation of a legal advocate, but can also be more general like a “life coach,” someone who advises you in every aspect of life and personalizes the advice for you.

  Following the logic chain back, God’s Spirit is “God WITHIN us.”

  Jesus was the ‘other’ Paraclete, so He had to have been “God WITH them,” in other words, the Hebrew ‘Immanuel.’ It was not a name as we think of them. It was a description of who He was…and I’m okay with that answer.

  

  Waiting for decades for an answer was a principle of faith that I learned a long time ago. That is, when I see things happen in the world that I don’t understand, especially to me and to those I love, when I read something in the Bible that doesn’t make sense to me, instead of letting my questions stew in my mind causing doubt and disbelief to creep in and shake up my faith, I go back to my decision to trust God. I put my questions on the ‘back burner,’ and then move on.

  Sometimes God will answer those questions to my satisfaction later. There are still many He hasn’t. That is why Jesus spoke those words of faith, “Trust Me…” to His shaken disciples, and that is when those words mean the most to me.

  

  I have to be honest, I’ve been in and out of the faith, up and down in my fervor, and frankly, just all over the place in my life. But every time when I reach a point of realization that, “THIS is NOT how I want to live my life!”, I’ve felt the call of God to return to Him and I felt like He welcomed me with open arms and a heart full of love.

  

  I think I know how the core disciples felt when Jesus asked them, “Will you leave Me too?” Peter answered for them all:

  

  Only God/Jesus Christ has given me an abundant life now–a life that is fullfilling and worth living–and a promised eternal life of joy with Him after this one.

  Where are you right now as a Christian? More on the trusting side or more on the troubled side? You CAN choose to trust…

  

  May 24, 2025

  advocate, bible, christianity, comforter, counselor, faith, god, holy-spirit, Immanuel, jesus, Paraclete

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• C6. What’s in a Name part 2a – Paraclete

  

  John introduced a new Greek name into the Biblical lexicon in chapter 14 of his gospel, finalized about 95 A.D., ‘Paraclete.’  The word has been translated many ways in different English versions of the Bible.
  Since “Paracletos’ is translated so many ways, let me set the scene in the upper room where John writes it (or its Aramaic equivalent) was used by Jesus to maybe help us understand what it meant in context.

  The tension began at the Festival in Jerusalem the previous winter. John 10:24. (‘The Jews” is John’s shorthand for the Jewish leaders.)

  

  Jesus answered them… 

  

  But Jesus eluded their grasp and crossed over the Jordan River and was staying there. John 10:39-40

  

  After a couple of days, Jesus went to Bethany, over the objections of His disciples. “Rabbi, don’t you remember when we were just there that the Jews were trying to stone you?”

  When they got to Bethany, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.

  

  John 11:45-53 Many of the Jews believed in Jesus because of this miracle, but some went back to Jerusalem and reported it to the Pharisees. The Jewish rulers were very, very worried that so many of the Jews would believe in Jesus, they would cause a riotous situation where the Romans would take over the government and the nation. Their leader’s suggestion was…

  

  John 11:7-8 After a couple of days, Jesus announced they were going to Judea again. It was time for the Spring Passover Feast and Jesus said, as recorded in the other gospels, He “earnestly wanted to eat this Passover dinner with them.”

  His disciples were alarmed and reminded Him, “Rabbi, the Jews were trying to stone you when we were just there, and You want to go there again?”

  

  John 11:16 When it was clear Jesus was going to go back across the Jordan, Thomas said to his fellow disciples…

  

  Then Jesus, despite the trepidations of His disciples, made a flashy entrance to Jerusalem to adoring crowds who had heard about the resurrection of Lazarus from those who had been there. John 12:13

  

  

  The Jewish leaders realized they couldn’t arrest Jesus in public without causing the very riot they were seeking to avoid, so they were trying to find a time and place where they could catch Jesus in private.

  John 12:27  Now Jesus’ thoughts turn toward what’s going to happen to Him soon…

  

  Arrangements are made for the Passover supper in a rented upper room, but even there, at what should be a time of celebrating God’s deliverance of the nation of Israel from slavery to the Egyptians,  there is tension.

  John 13:21 Jesus said, “My soul is deeply troubled, one of you will betray Me!”

  

  The disciples were at a loss as to which one of them He was speaking about. “Is it I? Is it I, Lord,” They were all asking.

  Do you get the picture of what is going on this eve before the arrest, trials and crucifixion of Jesus? There is a lot of tension here: Jesus is struggling with His upcoming suffering and crucifixion, and even if His disciples don’t understand why He’s so troubled, they’re like children who become upset when their parents are upset, so they’re troubled too.

  

  The disciples are also stressing about what the Jewish leaders are plotting and afraid they will be caught up in it. They could always leave Jesus, their Master these past 3 1/3 years, but to their credit, they were determined to be with Him to the end.  It is in the middle of these tensions that Jesus introduces the Paraclete to them.