DO YOU FEEL LIKE A LITTLE PREACHING TODAY

Do you know someone or maybe you yourself did this at one time in your life. You ask the Lord into your life, and then you either don’t get fed, or you don’t heed the food given to you and you slip onto the way side. You know in your heart that Christ answers prayers, but you don’t ask Him. You just try so hard to make yourself happy and the more you do, the more you slip into the waste that is around you.

People who have counseled you, prayed with you and for you, watch and all they can do is stand and wait for your call. You are ashamed to call us, as you are ashamed to face God. How can He forgive this, after you have known what He can do?

Oh baby, you did make the mess but He is waiting to forgive you and welcome you with open arms. Why do we run away instead of running to Him? What does the word of God say to do? Now hold your head up and lets go to the Lord and see what He has to say about it. Lets read His word and see if He says anywhere that if you do this or that I Your God will turn my back on you and never forgive you, I will brush you to the side and never look at you again. Let us look and see what the Father tells us.

We have all heard the story of the prodigal son. He asked and received his share from his father. He went out into the world and lost everything till he had the lowest position a man could have feeding he pigs. As he sat there thinking of eating the very food he fed to the pigs he started thinking. I believe at this point he even wondered if his father could still love him, but what he did know is his father treated his servants well. He would go ask his father to accept him back as a servant, that was all he was asking. As the father saw his son in the distant he ran to the son, but only after telling the servants to start cooking, we are having a celebration. Now while this was happening the good and faithful son was hurt, here is all this excitement for the bad child. But what did the father tell the good one all I have is yours. But look your brother has returned.

We can also look at the story of the Shepard leaving the sheep herd to go LOOK for the one lost sheep. Carrying that sheep back to the fold. Carrying, God not only will look for you He will carry you back to Himself.

The Word tells us He will never leave us nor forsake us. It is us that leave Him, but He is just and right to forgive us. Oh what a good God we serve.

If there is anything today that is keeping you from coming to God, let it go, and if you can’t let it go, then bring it with you. Yes you heard me right bring it with you. As you kneel at the altar of God tell Him I brought this sin along with me. I know it is wrong, but I can’t let go of it. Lord release me from the holds it has on me. I am trying Lord, I am here and I repent, I am sorry what I am doing. Help me Jesus to be all you want me to be, and this I know does not line up with Your Word. Release me today father, release me and set me free. Jesus I thank You for doing what I am incapable of doing, I entrust myself, my life and my problems into Your hands.

Now praise Him with thanksgiving. Praise Him for the Almighty, healing, cleansing God that He is today, yesterday and tomorrow. And if the part of you that you let go shows it self in your life, at the moment you realize it is back, say to it—I gave you to God and at the Name of Jesus you must flee from me, I am delivered from you. Have you heard that song ‘I Fall Down, I Get Up’ well that is what you do if you fall, get right back up. Do this as many times as it takes, until it doesn’t bother you any more. Whether you feel it or not you have given it to God, don’t take it back, claim what you know God can do, not what you yourself can see.

God Bless
rECj

DID YOU KNOW

English founder of Methodism, John Wesley wrote in a letter (1774): 'God...frequently...makes young men and women wiser than the aged, and gives to many, in a very short time, a closer and deeper communion with himself than others attain in a long course of years.'

SOURCE: Today in Christian History

RAHAB

RAHAB means wide

Rahab: insolence; pride, a poetical name applied to Egypt in Psalm 87:4; 89:10; Isaiah 51:9, as "the proud one."

When the Hebrews were encamped at Shittim, in the "Arabah" or Jordan valley opposite Jericho, ready to cross the river, Joshua, as a final preparation, sent out two spies to "spy the land." After five days they returned, having swum across the river, which at this season, the month Abib, overflowed its banks from the melting of the snow on Lebanon. The spies reported how it had fared with them (Joshua 2:1-7). They had been exposed to danger in Jericho, and had been saved by the fidelity of Rahab the harlot, to whose house they had gone for protection. When the city of Jericho fell (Joshua 6:17-25), Rahab and her whole family were preserved according to the promise of the spies, and were incorporated among the Jewish people. She afterwards became the wife of Salmon, a prince of the tribe of Judah (Ruth 4:21; 1 Chronicles 2:11; Matthew 1:5). "Rahab's being asked to bring out the spies to the soldiers (Joshua 2:3) sent for them, is in strict keeping with Eastern manners, which would not permit any man to enter a woman's house without her permission. The fact of her covering the spies with bundles of flax which lay on her house-roof (Joshua 2:6) is an 'undesigned coincidence' which strictly corroborates the narrative. It was the time of the barley harvest, and flax and barley are ripe at the same time in the Jordan valley, so that the bundles of flax stalks might have been expected to be drying just then."

God's blessings to each of you,
LJG

SOURCE: King James Bible, Easton and Smith's Dictionary

DID YOU KNOW

The Christmas hymn by Edmund Sears, "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear," was first published in "The Christian Register." Sears' carol features the American emphasis in Christian living, that is, the social message of "peace on earth, good will toward men." (1849)

SOURCE: Today in Christian History

ANOTHER DAY

We have spent time with families and friends. Or maybe we spent it alone. Preachers have taught of the mercy and compassion of Almighty God who gave us His Son so that we might have life.

There is one who spoke to many today and as I read the report of some of the words he spoke I was startled that there are those who believe this way. I will only quote a few of his remarks that make me look twice to see if I read correctly or took it out of context, but no it is what he said. I present it to you, and you think for yourself does this in fact line up with the word of Almighty God, the God of Abraham, Isaiah, and David, the Father of Jesus. …..I place in the hands of the divine Child of Bethlehem the indications of a resumption of dialogue….do what, the Child grew into a man and became the sacrifice for all sinners, etc, He is no longer a Child, He is grown. ….that..is why Jesus Christ is reborn…did I miss something there. I will go back and reread that one again. …..misled by facile prophets…I think you sir are the mislead facile. And then the final one he says …..I pray to God… considering what he has just said I wonder to what god he was referring.
Okay I said all that to say what. As I have said before, be careful; read the Word for yourself, check the scriptures. Do not take a man, yes a man or woman’s words as fact.

The year is drawing to a close, we have learnt, we have grown, We have fallen, we have got up. We might even take our eyes off Jesus for a minute but as soon as we realize our mistake we put our eyes and faith right back in Him. The Man who is our Savior. Yes I know we get more with sugar then with vinegar and I agree. But when I read such as this I feel that I must say something. I cannot in good faith stand still and keep my mouth shut.

So as we draw near to the end of the year let us put old things and habits away, let us seek to know Jesus, as he would have us know Him. Not as the Child still in the manager but as the Savior He became to save all of us who turn to Him and Him alone as the Way the Truth and the Light.

rECj/LJG

DID YOU KNOW

Popular American hymnwriter Philip P. Bliss, 38, died (1876) when the train in which he and his wife were riding plunged off a bridge into a ravine 60 feet below. Bliss had penned such enduring hymns as: "Wonderful Words of Life, "Let the Lower Lights Be Burning," "I Will Sing of My Redeemer" and "I Gave My Life for Thee."

SOURCE: Today in Christian History

FOR GOD SO LOVED ME

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

How many times have we heard or read this scripture? Many of us know it by heart, having learned it in Sunday school, at church as a young child. It is beautiful and tells us in one brief sentence how great the love of God is for us. He gave Himself.

Mark 1:3 tells us…’prepare the way of the Lord;… Luke 1: 46 Mary said: ‘My soul magnifies the Lord. John the Baptist is speaking of Jesus, Mary is speaking of God. Both call Him Lord. John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Go to verse 14 ‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.’ Two more scriptures Revelation 19:13 & 16; verse 13 ‘He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is The Word of God’; verse 16 ‘And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.’


One Lord, one King, one God, one Word, now let us look at John 3:16 again. This time lets read it as it is written personally to each one of us.

For God so greatly loved and prized me that He, Himself came to earth, taking on a flesh and blood body so that if I believe [hold, apprehend, support, accept, conceive, credit, trust in, rely, cling to] Him, I shall not perish [die, sink, cease, decline, decay, depart, wane, wither, languish, expire, come to destruction, be lost] but have eternal [undying, immortal, ceaseless, infinite, everlasting, deathless, perpetual, endless, timeless] life.

The greatest gift He gave us was Himself.

God Bless
rECj

DID YOU KNOW

English revivalist George Whitefield wrote in a letter: 'Redeem your precious time: pick up the fragments of it, that not one moment of it may be lost. Be much in secret prayer. Converse less with man, and more with God.' The year was 1741.

SOURCE: Today in Christian History

CONVICT ME LORD

Convict me Lord
So that I will change my ways
I want to be as You Lord
Want me to be
So let conviction come on me.

Let me delight in knowing
That what I change of me
Is because of the desire in me
Placed here from You.

I glorify You Lord
For being watchful
And showing attentiveness to me
As You do this work in me.

It might hurt sometimes when God whispers to me. My spirit prickles, and I know that something has to go, and He starts a clean up in me. .(John 16:7-11)

Months before I asked the Lord into my life He started cleaning me up. First to go was my drinking. The smell hit me like a ton of bricks and though I tried to explain away the awful smell of my favorite drink, it turned my stomach so much, I stopped drinking. Next to go was my love of jewelry. I flaunted it and let you see it if you met me. I especially loved my diamond set in platinum, the rock I called it and it was THE ROCK. I took it off after someone told me my hand would look better without the finger, with the ring attached. It was months after I invited the Lord into my life before He led me to look at THE ROCK in its box. I opened it to see a rock, a salt rock to be exact. Not very pretty and not worth much when you look at it that way. God showed me the ring thru His eyes and it gave me a good understanding of why in the Bible it is not listed at the top of the list.

Yes, God convicted me, even before I asked Him into my life. And if you look at your own life you will probably see things that changed about yourself even before you asked Him to be Lord of your life.

I want God to continue to convict me, and He does. As I grow closer to Him desiring to know Him more, He causes me to search myself and brings to mind things it is time to let go of. He shows me areas in my life that I need to change and again I thank Him for that.

Once because of the atmosphere I was in I changed the way I dressed. Everyone else around me dressed a certain way and I wanted to fit in and be acceptable. It was the conviction of man, not of God. As soon as I realized it I stopped. The Lord led me to dress differently than I did when I was in the world, but not to dress as they felt I should. I also left that church. I wanted to be lead by God, not by man.

The conviction of God is when your spirit leads you to change a habit. Your spirit is from God to lead you and guide you. Conviction from a man is when you are told this is the acceptable way of doing things. Do not be mislead. A pastor, teacher, elder, mentor or brother or sister in the Lord can be used by God to show you an area in your life that needs to be changed.

God has told us in His Word that if it is from Him, He will confirm it by two or more. There will be times your spirit will convict you and you will know that you know it is from God. Then again there will be times you will say Lord is this from You. Well, ask Him, He will let you know if it is from Him.

We have to be careful of wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:11-15). What is even worst is when those wolves honestly believe they are Shepards. They will lead you into rocky paths that will hinder your walk with the Lord. The very Shepard you are following is in fact a lost sheep themselves. They will cause conviction to come on you because it is part of their rules or traditions.

Conviction is good if from God and a good Shepard will allow God to do a work in you. If the Shepard needs to give the sheep special care, he will separate the sheep from the flock and tend to him apart. He will not treat the hurt sheep in front of others. A good Shepard will guide, not push. He will not force, or demand. He will counsel and pray with you and for you. And he will love you whatever choices you make.

Conviction from God is wonderful, guidance from a man or woman lead by God is good, but unless God confirms what the man says…well what do you think?


God Bless
rECj

DID YOU KNOW

In 1899 American Christian temperance leader Carry Nation, 53, raided and wrecked her first saloon in Medicine Lodge, KA. She went on similar rampages in Wichita and Topeka, and in other cities in Iowa and Illinois as well.

SOURCE: Today in Christian History

MUSIC IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

How can a musical note be inherently good or bad? Aren’t note’s just a matter of pitch variation, tonal vibration, compressions and decompressions of air?

These two questions of the beginning of an article called “Battle for Christians Music” by Tim Fisher. And if you would like to read the article e-mail us and we will send it to you.

As I read the article I looked again at those two questions and came to the conclusion that the very evidence he presents as to why this is not Christian Music is the very evidence that points to it as being Christians music.

Mr. Fisher is quite direct in his choice of music. And there is nothing wrong with that. I prefer the modern music, and also love the old classics. I have a hard time understanding the hip-hop and rap gospel, but that is my problem, and does not make it wrong.

Fisher’s focus is on the melody, rhythm and harmony. Yeah, you do need those to make music and a song. He also compares two people in the kitchen. One who does not know how to cook and one who does.

Well, Mr. Fisher I am what you would probably call tone deaf. I love singing and I am sure God enjoys my singing. Being honest most other people don’t enjoy my singing as much as I do. This would seem to be neither here nor there, but I do write songs. And though I cannot sing I can direct others how to sing what I write. The non-cooking one in the kitchen!

His statements throughout tell what and how music is formatted. Just because it is not your taste does not make it wrong.

The theme song of The Twilight Zone does not make me feel like praising God. And we are all familiar with the eerie sounds that movies play as they near a cemetery or spooky house. They honestly do not nor would sound right to ‘God be the Glory.’

So Mr. Fisher I agree there is music that is not up lifting to God. But for hip-hop and rap and whatever else you want to include on your list. It is not the beat but the words that make the song. And those words are made up of letters, which as you state the letter E is neither good nor bad. PraisE the Lord or I hate God. You choose how that letter is used in a word. You could have as easily used the sentence I hate the devil. [But aren’t we told to love everything that God created; we can rebuke- it does not say hate-but that is another story.]

So if I have a rap song saying:
Praise Praise Praise
The Lord, Jesus
Jesus, Jesus
Praise His Name
and if that causes me to move in a certain way…wait a minute…is that the real problem, how we move to the music?

Let me see, I hope and believe all ages do read my articles. So I will address all ages, or at least try my best.

I love to dance for and with the Lord. Sometime the music is up beat and fast, but I do not do the dog or pop my hoochie to the Lord. Slow dance, well sometime I dance throughout the entire house and yes church in a soft flowing movement. At times at home I step into the embrace of my Savior and with my head on His chest and His arms around me I move slowly in His love. I do not press my breast into His chest or grind into Him, or back into Him and rub.

You say take the words away and people will move to the music, true very true. And in the world I moved as one with the world. As a Christian I move as one paying reverence to the Lord.

The words make the song, and yes the music can make the song. It all comes down to how we interpret it. Some is easy such as spooky music. But for the most part it is the words to the music that make it good or bad.

Just as some liked Bach and some did not, it is the same now. If the music and words are uplifting God Almighty, then each to his or her own. Praise the Lord- and you can set that to whatever music rocks your boat.

God Bless
rECj

DID YOU KNOW

0336 is the earliest known year that Jesus' nativity was celebrated on December 25th, as mentioned in the Philocalian Calendar of A.D. 354. Jesus' birth was commemorated on January 6th in Greek Orthodoxy, although by the 400s most of the Eastern churches had accepted the Roman date.

SOURCE: Today in Christian History

JOY TO THE WORLD

Joy to the world! The Lord is come, Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare Him room, And heaven and nature sing.

It came upon a mid-night clear, That glorious song of old, From angels bending near the earth, to touch their harps of gold: “Peace on the earth, good-will to man, From Heav’n all-gracious King: The world in solemn still-ness lay to hear the angels sing.”

Hail, thou long expected Jesus, Born to set Thy people free; From our sins and fears release us; Let us find our rest in Thee. Israel’s strength and consolation, Hope of all the saints Thou are; Long desired of every nation, Joy of every waiting heart.

Let all mortal flesh keep silence, And with fear and trembling stand, Ponder nothing earthly minded, For with blessing in His hand, Christ our God to earth descendeth, Our full homage to demand.

Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the new-born King; Peace on earth and mercy mild: God and sinners reconciled.” Joy-ful all ye nations rise, Join the triumph of the skies, With angelic host’s proclaim, “Christ is born in Bethlehem!” Hark, the herald angles sing, “Glory to the newborn King.”

THE WORDS OF THE OLD GOSPEL HYMNS SAY IT MUCH BETTER THEN WE.

We ask God to bless you with not only the news of His miraculous birth, but of a deep and unwavering knowledge of why that birth happened.
That we could all have freedom from the holds of this earth and the grave. That by asking Jesus to be your personal Savior you might have eternal life and all the benefits that we enjoy because of Him.

Merry Christmas
And
God’s Blessings
To you and your family.
rECj/LJG

Joy to the World!, The Lord is Come
Issac Watts, 1674-1748
Arr. from George F. Handel, 1685-1759

It Came upon the Midnight Clear
Edmund H. Sears, 1810-1876
Richard S. Willis, 1819-1900

Hail, thou Long-expected Jesus
Charles Wesley, 1707-1788
Lowell Mason, 1792-1872

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
From the Liturgy of St. James
Trans. By Gerald Moultrie 1829-1885

Hark! The Herald Angels sing
Charles Wesley, 1707-1788
Felix Mendelssohn, 1808-1847
Alt. By George Whitefield, 1714-1770
Adapted by
William H. Cummings, 1831-1915


Sorry we are so late getting this on today. Had an internet problem.

DID YOU KNOW

In St. Nicholas Church at Oberndorf, Austria, church organist Franz Gruber, 31, composed a melody on guitar for the poem, "Stille Nacht," written earlier by pastor Joseph Mohr, 26. This evening, in 1818, the world heard "Silent Night" sung for the very first time.

SOURCE: Today in Christian History

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVE

Brother Bob writes on many subjects and everything he writes is based entirely on scripture which you know we firmly believe in. So today we would like to introduce him to you. If you would like to know more about his work, or more about him, his infromation is at the bottom of this article.

HANDEL'S MESSIAH
A Closer Look

Mat 1:23 (KJV)
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son,
and they shall call his name Emmanuel,
which being interpreted is,
God with us.
~~~~~~~~

Dear Friends in Christ,

Many months ago, I found a cd copy of Handel's Messiah in a used book store, and snapped it up. What a treasure that nobody wanted! I had
never really listened to the whole work before, and the only thing I remembered from it was, of course, the "Hallelujia Chorus."

But it was so beautiful, and I listened to it over and over, and to my amazement I started recognizing the lyrics as fragments of Bible verses.
So I set about to find the verses and their references, and kept a file for my own studies.

As it turns out, The Messiah is either a Bible study with a beautiful concert attached, or a wonderful piece of classical music with a free
Bible study included at no extra charge. I can't decide which. I do remember reading that when Handel was alive, the Messiah was one of the most often performed pieces of music in concert, and that Handel gave away most of the profits obtained from his concerts to support orphaned children.

So, here is a copy of the lyrics and Bible Verses, and a little bit of history regarding its writing. You will find that Handel's Messiah is a beautiful study of the prophesies and other verses about our Lord Jesus Christ.

Yours, in Christ........brother bob.......<><

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George Frederic Handel


(1685-1759)

Performances of Handel's oratorio, Messiah , have become a Christmas tradition, and for many the "Hallelujah Chorus" expresses the joy which the coming of Christ, the King of Kings, brings. Handel wrote his masterful music in an amazing 24 days and was passionately moved by the Scriptures describing Jesus' incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and coronation as King of Kings. He worked on his masterpiece almost nonstop, with little sleep or food. One day his servant opened the door to find Handel at his work, with tears streaming down his face. Handel looked up and cried out, "I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself."

When Messiah was performed before King George II of England in 1743, the king rose when the triumphal notes of the "Hallelujah Chorus" were first played. Of course, everyone had to rise when the king did, and the tradition of rising for the "Hallelujah Chorus" began - a tradition that continues to this day.



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Handel's Messiah
George Frederic Handel (1695-1759)

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Part I
(1) Overture

(2) Comfort Ye
Isaiah 40:1-3
1. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
2. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her,
that her warfare is accomplished,
that her iniquity is pardoned. . . .
3. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

(3) Every Valley
Isaiah 40:4
4.Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill made low,
the crooked straight, and the rough places plain.

(4) And the Glory of the Lord
Isaiah 40:5
5. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together:
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

(5) Thus saith the Lord
Haggai 2:6,7
6. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts;
Yet once, a little while and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;
7. And I will shake all nations,
and the desire of all nations shall come


Malachi 3:1
1. The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple,
even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in:
Behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts.

(6) But who may abide the Day of His Coming?
Malachi 3:2
2. But who may abide the day of His coming?
and who shall stand when He appeareth?
For He is like a refiner's fire.

(7) And He shall Purify
Malachi 3:3
3. And He shall purify the sons of Levi. . .
that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.

(8) Behold A Virgin Shall Conceive
Isaiah 7:14 (Matthew 1:23)
Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son,
and shall call his name EMMANUEL,
God with us.

(9) O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion
Isaiah 40:9
9. O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into the high mountain;
O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength;
lift it up, and be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah,
Behold your God!


Isaiah 60:1
1. Arise, shine; for thy light is come,
and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.

(10) For behold, darkness shall cover the earth
Isaiah 60:2,3
2. For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people;
but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee.
3. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

(11) The people that walked in darkness
Isaiah 9:2 (Matthew 3:16)
2. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light:
and they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

For unto Us a Child is born
Isaiah 9:6
6. For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given:
and the government shall be upon His shoulder:
and His name shall be called
Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

(13) Pastoral Symphony

(14) There were shepherds abiding in the field
Luke 2:8
8. There were shepherds abiding in the field,
keeping watch over their flocks by night.


Luke 2:9
9. And lo! the angel of the Lord came upon them,
and the glory of the Lord shone round about them:
and they were sore afraid.

(15) And the Angel said unto them
Luke 2:10,11
10. And the angel said unto them,
Fear not;
for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11. For unto you is born this day in the city of David
a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

(16) And suddenly there was with the Angel
Luke 2:13
13. And suddenly there was with the angel
a multitude of the heavenly host praising God,
and saying,

(17) Glory to God
Luke 2:14
14. Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace, good will toward men.

(18) Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion
Zechariah 9:9,10 (Matthew 21:5)
9. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion;
Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem:
behold, thy King cometh unto thee.
He is the righteous Savior. . 10. . . And he shall speak peace unto the heathen.

(19) Then shall the eyes of the blind
Isaiah 35:5,6
5. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
6. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart,
and the tongue of the dumb shall sing.

(20) He shall feed his flock like a shepherd
Isaiah 40:11
11. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd;
and he shall gather the lambs with His arm,
and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.


Matthew 11:28, 29
28. Come unto [Him], all ye that labour and are heavy laden,
and [He shall]give you rest.
29. Take [his] yoke upon you, and learn of [Him];
for [he is] meek and lowly of heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

(21) His yoke is easy
Matthew 11:30
30. [His] yoke is easy, and [his]burden is light.
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Part II

(22) Behold the lamb of God
John 1:29
29.Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world.

(23) He was despised
Isaiah 53:3
3. He is despised and rejected of men:
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. . .

Isaiah 50:6
[He]gave [His] back to the smiters, and [His] cheeks to them that plucked off the hair:
[He] hid not [His] face from shame and spitting.

(24) Surely He hath borne our griefs
Isaiah 53:4,5
4. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. . . .
5. . . He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities:
the chastisement of our peace was upon him,

(25) And with His stripes we are healed
Isaiah 53:5b
5. and with His stripes we are healed

(26) All we like sheep have gone astray
Isaiah 53:6
6. All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned every one to his own way;
and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

(27) All they that see him laugh him to scorn
Psalm 22:7
7. All they that see [him]laugh [him] to scorn:
they shoot out their lips, they shake their heads, saying:

(28) He trusted in God
Psalm 22:8 (Matthew 27:43)
8. He trusted [in God] that he would deliver him:
let him deliver him, if he delight in him.

(29) Thy rebuke hath broken His heart
Psalm 69:20
20. [Thy] rebuke hath broken [his] heart;
[He is] full of heaviness.
[He]looked for some to have pity [on Him], but there was none;
neither found [He] any to comfort [Him].

(30) Behold, and see if there be any sorrow
Lamentations 1:12
12. Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto [his] sorrow. . .

(31) He was cut off out of the land of the living
Isaiah 53:8b
8. he was cut off out of the land of the living:
for the transgression of [Thy] people was He stricken.

(32) But Thou didst not leave His soul in hell
Psalm 16:10 (Acts 2:27)
10. [But] thou [didst] not leave [his] soul in hell;
neither [didst]thou suffer Thy Holy One to see corruption.

(33) Lift up your heads, O ye gates
Psalm 24:7-10
7. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors;
and the King of Glory shall come in.
8. Who is the King of Glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.
9. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors;
and the King of Glory shall come in.
10. Who is the King of Glory? The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory.

(34) Unto which of the angels said He at any time
Hebrews 1:5 (Psalm 2:7)
5. For unto which of the angels said He at any time,
Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee?

(35) Let all the angels of God worship Him
Hebrews 1:6b
6. "Let all the angels of God worship Him."

(36) Thou art gone up on high
Psalm 68:18 (Ephesians 4:8)
18. Thou art gone up on high,
Thou hast led captivity captive, and received gifts for men;
yea, even for Thine enemies, that the Lord God might dwell among them.

(37) The Lord gave the word
Psalm 68:11
11. The Lord gave the word: great was the company of [the preachers].

(38) How beautiful are the feet
Romans 10:15 (Isaiah 52:7)
15. How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace,
and bring glad tidings of good things!

(39) Their sound is gone out
Romans 10:18 (Psalm 19:4)
18. their sound is gone out into all lands,
and their words unto the ends of the world.

(40) Why do the nations so furiously rage together?
Psalm 2:1,2 (Acts 4:25-26)
1. Why do the heathen rage, and why do the people imagine a vain thing?
2. The kings of the earth rise up, and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord, and against His Anointed,

(41) Let us break their bonds asunder
Psalm 2:3
3. Let us break their bonds asunder,
and cast away their yokes from us.

(42) He that dwelleth in heaven
Psalm 2:4
4. He that dwelleth in the heavens shall laugh them to scorn;
the Lord shall have them in derision.

(43) Thou shalt break them
Psalm 2:9
9. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron;
Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

(44) Hallelujah
Revelation 19:6
6. Hallelujah! for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Revelation 11:15
15. . . the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ:
and He shall reign for ever and ever.
Revelation 19:16
16. . . . KING OF KINGS, LORD OF LORDS.
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IXTHEUS CHRISTIAN GROWTH DEVOTIONALS
ALWAYS FREE OF CHARGE
(but not necessarily free of COST)
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"The God Who is Really There"
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God Bless You.....brother bob.......

DID YOU KNOW

Birth (1648) of Robert Barclay, Scottish Quaker theologian. He published his most famous work, "An Apology for the True Christian Divinity," in 1676, making him the most prominent theologian in the early Quaker Church.

BELIEVE IT OR NOT

BELIEVE IT OR NOT

This is a collection of facts that I have gathered about Christmas. They are all true, read and enjoy.

Montgomery Wards gave us Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer.

Coca-Cola helped popularize smiling Santa’s.

Massachusetts Bay Colony leaders in 1659 passed a law prohibiting any celebration of the holidays, it was repealed 25 years later, but prejudice remained strong against it.

One of the most misinterpreted words in Christmas vocabulary is XMAS. Many Christians contend X in place of Christ is how atheists take Christ out of Christmas. The truth, X has been used by theologians for hundreds of years to denote chi, the first letter in the Greek spelling of the word Christ. It is meant to represent Christ and to be a reminder of the cross on which He was hung.

Constantino, the first Christian Roman emperor in 325 AD officiated December 25th as the day of the birth of Christ.

Christmas cakes came about as a way to break a fast on Christmas Eve with porridge. The people then added dried fruits and spices to make it special for Christmas. Over the years flour replaced oatmeal and eggs and butter were added.

ADDITONAL FACTS: The Christmas Story

There is no record of Joseph speaking in the Christmas story.

The number of wise men is not mentioned in the Bible, they were not kings.

There is no drummer boy in the Bible.

The star appeared above the house were Joseph’s family was living. Matthew 2: 9-11

Jesus ancestors include a prostitute, an adulterer, a woman who committed incest, and a non-Israelite. Rehab was a prostitute; David and Uriah’s wife were adulterers; Tamar and Judah committed incest; Ruth was from Moab, Matthew 1:3,5,6

Matthew 1:20 Tells us the angel Gabriel appeared to Joseph, Mary was first to be visited by an angel but we were not told his name.

We do not know how Mary got to Bethlehem from Nazareth, there is nothing recorded about her riding on a donkey.

The wise men did not arrive on the night of Jesus’ birth, they arrived sometime after Jesus was born Matthew 2:1 Jesus is called a child, rather then a baby Matthew 2:11.

God sent a choir of chubby angels is not true, God sent an army of warrior angels. Luke 2:13 tells us a company which is a military term.

Shepherds were not in a noble occupation. Shepherds were unable to remain ritually pure according to Pharisaic laws and were considered unclean. Yet God chose them for His birth announcement.

Both Mary and Joseph were told the baby was to be named Jesus Matthew 1:21, Luke 1:31. In Judaism babies were always named by their father. Here we see God the father [not Joseph] giving Jesus His name. By the way Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, the successor of Moses. Joshua means Yahweh saves.

CANDY CANES There is no truth to the story of a confectioner coming up with a candy cane with red and whites stripes for the blood of Jesus and purity. In 1670 the Choirmaster of Cologne came up with the idea of giving the children candy to keep them quite in church. By twisting the straight candy into a hooked one it became a shepherds crook, which was more acceptable then plain candy. In the 1920’s Bob McCormick added the stripe.

GOD BLESS
rECj

DID YOU KNOW

Anglican clergyman and hymnwriter John Newton wrote in a letter (1767): 'The Lord himself is our Keeper. Nothing befalls us but what is adjusted by His wisdom and love. He will, in one way or another, sweeten every bitter cup, and ere long He will wipe away all tears from our eyes.'

SOURCE: Today in Christian History

CHINESE TEACHINGS

Matthew 2:7 & 9
Then Herod when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.
When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the east went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.

We are concerned with what time the star appeared, that it was seen in the east, and that it stood over the Child.

It was a star that had NEWLY APPEARED , it TRAVELED SLOWLY through the skies, came from the EAST and STOOD over the young Child.

There is only one astronomical object that satisfies all of the above and that is a comet. When a new comet appears in the sky it travels slowly, usually 1-2 degrees per day.

Chinese? The Chinese kept a very close watch on comets and other interesting stars. According to ancient Chinese records there was a spectacular comet with a long tail which appeared in 5 BC and was visible for over 70 days. This is the only long tailed comet recorded by the Chinese in the period 20 BC thru AD 10, hence the comet of 5 BC may be uniquely identified as the star of Bethlehem. In addition, the Chinese records tell us the position in the sky where the comet first appeared and from this we know that the Magi would first have seen this comet in the east as described in Matthew.

Well I don’t know about you but I don’t need proof, I believe in my heart. But I love finding out these pieces of information that confirms what I already know.

God Bless
rECj

DID YOU KNOW

Anglican clergyman and hymn writer John Newton wrote in a letter (1776): 'It is necessary that our sharpest trials should sometimes spring from our dearest comforts, else we should be in danger of forgetting ourselves and setting up our rest here.'

SOURCE: TODAY IN CHRISTIAN HISTORY

EDITORIAL

I called this an editorial because it is my personal thoughts. I do not include any scriptures, because I don’t think any are needed. Of course if you have a question about anything I write here or anything else I write you are free, welcome and encouraged to ask any questions you have. We will do our best to answer them.

As Christians we all know what it is to slip, fall and have to call on God to pull us out of the very thing we have gotten ourselves into.

Maturing we find our struggles have changed. We still slip and fall once in awhile, but now the challenge is to stand. Can you recognize what I am saying when I speak about standing and standing, and then we fall and there is our answer. Oh, if it could have happened one hour, one day sooner, when we were still standing. Do you know what I am talking about?

I heard a preacher one time explaining how as he stood, he would ask the Lord what can I learn from this. Then he told how years later he got to a place were he said Lord I’m learning so much, let me tarry here a little longer.

At the time I said no, not me. Then I got attacked one day. Now we all know how when you stand the evil hits you hardest just before he leaves. Like he knows he is going so he gets in one last good hard hit to try and make you fall. Well as I sat there I remembered what that pastor said, and fool that I was, I said hit me with your best shot cause I’m standing. Well I gave him the authority and he took it and all but knocked the breathe out of me. Thank God I came to my senses and rebuked him. Which I should have done to begin with.

We learn , we grow. God brought all this back to me over the past few days. I see others around me and know that I am not going through what I am going through alone. I have noticed that God seems to be teaching the same lessons to a lot of us at the same time. With me right now it is not seeing or feeling the presence of my Father.

We do all the things we know to do, we pray, seek God, fast and stand. And stand. What else can we do-have joy where we are, be content where we are.

And though we might get a little antsy, asking Lord did I forget anything we stand. Because we know that He will never leave us nor forsake us. We hold onto His promises and know that He is there. And nothing can shake that. We have grown from questioning Him to questioning ourselves.

Then when it seems like God might have forgotten us, the smallest thing happens. Minor in the eyes of others, but we bubble over with joy, we know He is real and He cares for us. We relax and step into His arms, he shows us how we have conquered, that we have the victory. The battle is over.

We are His and He is ours.

God Bless
rECj

DID YOU KNOW

American missionary and apologist Francis Schaeffer wrote in a letter in 1965: 'God has given us rules not because He is arbitrary, but because the rules...are fixed in His own character... Thus, when we sin we break the law of God...in the direction of destroying what we really are.'

THREE WALKED WITH JESUS

Three walked with Jesus, being of the chosen twelve disciples. The fourth would become a disciple later. Who are these men and why do their stories differ so? Is it as past and present man try to make it, stories that were made up, invented, myths. If anything the differences that do in fact draw them together is one of the reasons they should be believed as truth.

Matthew was a Jewish tax collector (Matthew 9:9). His relationship with Jesus was close, he had an inside view of the coming and goings of the Christ. Because of his Jewish background he wrote as such and portrays Jesus as a teacher.

Mark did not walk with Jesus, his knowledge came from sources that included his mother and Peter, of whom he was a disciple (Acts 12:12). His mother had a house in Jerusalem where Jesus followers met in the early days of the church. Mark wrote with action, how Jesus suffered, and how the disciples must be prepared to do the same.

Luke the much loved doctor (Col. 4:14). He stressed Salvation, the signs of Jesus, and brings out the grace of God revealed in Jesus.

John is the disciple that was the beloved of Jesus (John 13:23). He was a fisherman. He shows Jesus as the Savior, and the significance of God becoming man.

With Jesus we have disciples from varies backgrounds, a doctor, tax collector, fisherman and a son who grew up hearing the Words of Jesus told by his mother and friends. And just as they varied in their backgrounds and personalities, so to does their writing. None was wrong, they were all right.

Then just as now each of us is attracted at different times to differing aspects of Jesus life and ministry. If sick, we seek out healing scriptures. Heartbroken we seek out His compassion and peace. Our personality will show in how we ourselves describe Jesus when we witness and share with others. Does it make our story untrue because we focus and express our story on what stood out to us? Of course not, who we are, which is who God created us to be, is as diversified as the snowflakes that appear in the sky, no two alike. Therefore no two people will write a story the same way.

God Bless
rECj

DID YOU KNOW

The Temple Beth-Jacob in Brooklyn, NY forced Rabbi H. Rosenberg to leave the Temple in 1892. Reason: eating pork.

MARTHA

"Mary and Martha are representatives of two orders of human character. One was absorbed, preoccupied, abstracted; the other was concentrated and single-hearted. Her own world was the all of Martha; Christ was the first thought with Mary. To Martha life was 'a succession of particular businesses;' to Mary Life 'was rather the flow of one spirit.' Martha was Petrine, Mary was Johannine. The one was a well-meaning, bustling busybody; the other was a reverent disciple, a wistful listener." Paul had such a picture as that of Martha in his mind when he spoke of serving the Lord "without distraction" (1 Corinthians 7:35).

The facts recorded in Luke 10 and John 11 indicate a character devout after the customary Jewish type of devotion, sharing in Messianic hopes and accepting Jesus as the Christ. Her love, though
imperfect in its form, is yet recognize as true, and she has the distinction of being one whom Jesus loved (John 11:5).

God's blessings to each of you,
LJG

SOURCES: Kings James Bible, Easton and Smith's Bible dictionary, Matthew Henry's Commentary, H H Haley's Bible handbook

DID YOU KNOW

After 1580 the French Protestants came to be known as Huguenots, a name signifying a distinctive mark of honor among the French Calvinistic Protestants. Huguenot predecessors included the pro-reform and Gallican Roman Catholics, like Jacques Lefevre. Later, Huguenots followed the Lutheran movement, and finally, Calvinism.

They shared John Calvin's fierce reformation beliefs which decried the priesthood, sacramental theology, and doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church. They believed in salvation as an act of God as much as in creation as an act of God, and thus that only God's predestined mercy toward the elect made them fit for salvation.

Some see this dual emphasis on creation and on salvation, and God's sovereignty over both, as a cornerstone principle for Huguenot developments in architecture and textiles and other merchandise.

Above all, Huguenots became known for their fiery criticisms of worship as performed in the Roman Catholic Church, in particular the focus on ritual and what seemed an obsession with death and the dead. They believed the ritual, images, saints, pilgrimages, prayers, and hierarchy of the Catholic Church did not help anyone toward redemption. They saw Christian faith as something to be expressed in a strict and godly life, in obedience to Biblical laws, out of gratitude for God's mercy.

Like other Protestants of the time, they felt that the Roman church needed radical cleansing of its impurities, and that the Pope represented a worldly kingdom, which sat in mocking tyranny over the things of God, and was ultimately doomed. Rhetoric like this became more fierce as events unfolded, and stirred up the hostility of the Catholic establishment.

Violently opposed to the Catholic Church, the Huguenots attacked images, monasticism, and church buildings. Most of the cities in which the Huguenots gained a hold saw iconoclast attacks, in which altars and images in churches, and sometimes the buildings themselves were torn down. Bourges, Montauban and Orleans suffered particularly.

The first Huguenots to leave France seeking freedom from prosecution had done so years earlier under the leadership of Jean Ribault in 1562. The group ended up establishing the small colony of Fort Caroline in 1564, on the banks of the St. Johns River, in what is today Jacksonville, Florida.

The colony was the first attempt at any permanent European settlement in the present-day United States, but the group survived only a short time. In September 1565, an attack against the new Spanish colony at St. Augustine backfired, and the Spanish wiped out the Fort Caroline garrison.

God's blessings on each of you,

LJG

SOURCE: Wikipedia

ADAM and EVE

Genesis 1:27
So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Genesis 2:21-25
And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man he made into a woman, and he brought her to the man.
And Adam said:
‘This is now bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.’
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,
and they shall become one flesh.
And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

God created them in His own image. Woman he created out of man so that when they came together they would be complete as one. Even the names given show that together they complete each other. Eve means giver of life. Adam means humanity, mankind. They were ideal mates, naked before each other.

Let us look at he word naked as it is used here. We all know it means without clothes. Lets continue: without covering especially the usual covering. Without addition, disguise, or embellishment. In other words the real Adam and Eve, no secrets, nothing hidden, totally open to each other.

Life will never be quite the same again for along time. True marriage is a unique and exclusive relationship.

Adam and Eve were independent and co-dependent. They were jointly responsible for the welfare of the world and of their children.

Because of disobedience, the closest human relationship is spoiled. In relationships all through the Bible and in world history until today, we see this curse played out, they were created together. Neither more than the other. One act and man and woman have been chosen to go their own way, disregarding the God who gave them life.
They have to leave the garden forever. They are alone apart from God, yet only half alive without Him. Woman must now suffer childbirth, the most fundamental human process. Man’s work will now be sweat and toil. Death is only a matter of time. God’s word was true.

What Adam and Eve did in disobedience ended in death. Because of Jesus’ death we can now have eternal life.

God Bless
rECj

UNTIL

Are you a until person? Well when things get better; until the boat gets to the dock; we have all said one of them at one time or the other. So what are you doing until?

I myself am standing on the Words of God. Okay sounds to easy. You bet it is. But you don’t want to hear of all the times I fell instead of standing. No, you don’t want to hear of how I have got all up in Jesus face asking Him when He was going to do what He said He would do. Yeah I have done those things. I was a hard head I wanted it when I asked for it and then said thank you and went on about my business. Well it took me a while to understand that I was the problem. Yeah me. See God can’t and won’t lie. He said what He said and He meant what He said. If I took my eyes off of Him, the truth of the matter is I stopped things from happening.

Now I am not saying get on your knees and stay there without moving. That is needed sometime. But what I am speaking about is the normal everyday supplies that you and I need or think we need sometime in this life.

If you have asked God for a house, well now until you actually get it, what do you do? Well I would pick out the new furniture. If I didn’t have money for it I would pick out pictures and put them in a book. I would act like I was about to move. I would not wait UNTIL. I would prepare myself for that move.

I know there she goes again with prepare. And you are right. You cannot bake a cake unless you mix the ingredients together. Even if you buy a store bought cake, at the very least you have to open the box. You don’t wait UNTIL someone else does it for you. You have to prepare. What do you do UNTIL you get where you want to be shows if you are ready for it. As I heard one person say ‘My boat is in the harbor, it just won’t come to the dock.’ Fool get a boat, swim if you have to go get it. Don’t wait UNTIL. Do something to show God you believe He has heard your prayers and is going to answer it.

If you walk outside my house right now, there are some toys in the yard and a basketball goal. But they are not where my car is going to park. Now I don’t know when my car is coming, and I have watched quite a few people get cars while I waited, but I never wanted their cars and I thank God for them getting their cars. The point is I have a place for my car. I am prepared for my car. My driver’s license is up to date. I know my car is on the way.

Stop waiting until and act like it is on the way.

God Bless
rECj

DID YOU KNOW

From the settlement of Jamestown in 1607 until the American Revolution in 1776, the British colonies in North America, with few exceptions, had established churches. In New York and the southern colonies, the Church of England enjoyed the same status as it had in the mother country, while in New England various forms of Congregationalism dominated. These colonies consistently discriminated against Catholics, Jews, and even dissenting Protestants.

SOURCE: Religion and United States Government

PRAYER OF BLESSING

Each day I recieve e-mails telling me to pass this along and such and such will happen. Well this morning it came to me why do we do this when God said in His Word we can speak blessings on others so today:

Lord Jesus today I speak blessing on each person who reads this, may their life be filled with the joy of Your sunshine on their face, may they be blessed with answer to prayers long standing, may they be blessed with encouragement in times of trouble. May they be blessed with a growing in knowledge of You. Bless each one Lord in their going out and in their coming in. Thank You

rECj

DID YOU KNOW

Dunking of Baptist Ministers
David Barrow was pastor of the Mill Swamp Baptist Church in the Portsmouth, Virginia, area. He and a "ministering brother," Edward Mintz, were conducting a service in 1778, when they were attacked. "As soon as the hymn was given out, a gang of well-dressed men came up to the stage . . . and sang one of their obscene songs. Then they took to plunge both of the preachers. They plunged Mr. Barrow twice, pressing him into the mud, holding him down, nearly succeeding in drowning him . . . His companion was plunged but once . . . Before these persecuted men could change their clothes they were dragged from the house, and driven off by these enraged churchmen."

The Dunking of David Barrow and Edward Mintz in the Nansemond River, 1778
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/f0509s.jpg
Oil on canvas by Sidney King, 1990
Virginia Baptist Historical Society (141)

SOURCE: Religion and the State Government

KEYS TO THE KINGDOM

The concept of "binding and loosing" is taught in Matthew 16:19 and 18:18, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." In this verse, Jesus is speaking directly to the Apostle Peter, and indirectly to the other apostles. Jesus' words meant that Peter would have the right to enter the kingdom himself, would have general authority therein symbolized by the possession of the keys, and preaching the gospel would be the means of opening the kingdom of heaven to all believers and shutting it against unbelievers. The book of Acts shows us this process at work. By his sermon on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-40), Peter opened the door of the kingdom for the first time. The expressions "bind" and "loose" were common to Jewish legal phraseology meaning to declare forbidden or to declare allowed.

Peter and the other disciples were to continue on earth the work of Christ in preaching the gospel and declaring God's will to men, and were armed with the same authority as He Himself possessed.

Something interesting that I also believe applies here is the fact that Peter was used to open each new "people group" to the Gospel. Peter preaches the gospel to the Jews in Acts 2, then to the Samaritans in Acts 8, and finally to the Gentiles in Acts 10. Thus, opening up each to receive the Gospel. Jews, Samaritans and Gentiles would then include all "people groups."

Simply put the "keys to the kingdom" is the Gospel. That's the key that unlocks the prison door and sets us free...it also unlocks eternal life and allows us to enter in.

Pastor John W. Sweat, Sr.
CROSSROADS Baptist Church

DID YOU KNOW

The Geneva Bible was a Protestant translation of the Bible into English. It has also been known as the Breeches Bible, after its rendering of Genesis 3:7, "Then the eyes of them both were opened and they knewe that they were naked, and they sewed figge tree leaues together, and made them selues breeches."

This was the Bible that was brought to America on the Mayflower and used by Oliver Cromwell in the English Civil War.

The Geneva Bible was the first English Bible to use verse numbers and an elaborate system of commentary in marginal glosses.

It has been stated by some, that the Geneva Bible was the Bible present at the signing of the U. S. Declaration of Independence and the U. S. Constitution, due to the fact that it was the Bible that the Puritans brought with them to America. However, the U. S. Library of Congress and the Independence National Historical Park both state that they do no know what version/translation of the Bible was present at these signings.

SOURCE: Wikipedia

JOANNA

JOANNA means whom Jehovah has graciously given, grace, gift of God

The wife of Chuza, the steward of Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee (Luke 8:3). She was one of the women who ministered to our Lord, and to whom he appeared after his resurrection (Luke 8:3; 24:10).

We are here told what Christ made the constant business of his life, it was teaching the gospel. Tidings of the kingdom of God are glad tidings, and what Christ came to bring. Certain women attended upon him who ministered to him of their substance. It showed the mean condition to which the Saviour humbled himself, that he needed their kindness, and his great humility, that he accepted it. Though rich, yet for our sakes he became poor.

See the affection and respect the women showed to Christ, after he was dead and buried. Observe their surprise when they found the stone rolled away, and the grave empty. Christians often perplex themselves about that with which they should comfort and encourage themselves. They look rather to find their Master in his grave-clothes, than angels in their shining garments. The angels assure them that he is risen from the dead; is risen by his own power. These angels from heaven bring not any new gospel, but remind the women of Christ's words, and teach them how to apply them. We may wonder that these disciples, who believed Jesus to be the Son of God and the true Messiah, who had been so often told that he must die, and rise again, and then enter into his glory, who had seen him more than once raise the dead, yet should be so backward to believe his raising himself. But all our mistakes in religion spring from ignorance or forgetfulness of the words Christ has spoken. Peter now ran to the sepulchre, who so lately ran from his Master. He was amazed. There are many things puzzling and perplexing to us, which would be plain and profitable, if we rightly understood the words of Christ.

God's blessings to each of you,
LJG

SOURCES: Kings James Bible, Smith's Bible Dictionary, Matthew Henry's Commentary

DID YOU KNOW

On this day in 1835 American Episcopal clergyman, Phillips Brooks was born. During his life he wrote ten volumes of sermons. In 1868 he wrote "O Little Town Of Bethlehem" for his Sunday School and that is what he is best remembered for today.

SOURCE: Today in Christian History

HANNAH

HANNAH, favour, grace

One of the wives of Elkanah the Levite, and the mother of Samuel (1 Samuel 1; 2; B.C. 1141 ). Her home was at Ramathaim-zophim, whence she was wont every year to go to Shiloh, where the tabernacle had been pitched by Joshua, to attend the offering of sacrifices there according to the law (Exodus 23:15; 34:18; Deuteronomy 16:16), probably at the feast of the Passover (comp. Exodus 13:10). On occasion of one of these "yearly" visits, being grieved by reason of Peninnah's conduct toward her, she went forth alone, and kneeling before the Lord at the sanctuary she prayed inaudibly. Eli the high priest, who sat at the entrance to the holy place, observed her, and misunderstanding her character he harshly condemned her conduct (1 Samuel 1:14-16). After hearing her explanation he retracted his injurious charge and said to her, "Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition." Perhaps the story of the wife of Manoah was not unknown to her. Thereafter Elkanah and his family retired to their quiet home, and there, before another Passover, Hannah gave birth to a son, whom, in grateful memory of the Lord's goodness, she called Samuel, i.e., "heard of God." After the child was weaned (probably in his third year) she brought him to Shiloh into the house of the Lord, and said to Eli the aged priest, "Oh my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord. For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him: therefore I also have granted him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he is granted to the Lord" (1 Samuel 1:27,28, R.V.). Her gladness of heart then found vent in that remarkable prophetic song (1 Samuel 2:1-10; comp. Luke 1:46-55) which contains the first designation of the Messiah under that name (1 Samuel 2:10, "Annointed" = "Messiah"). And so Samuel and his parents parted. He was left at Shiloh to minister "before the Lord." And each year, when they came up to Shiloh, Hannah brought to her absent child "a little coat" (Heb. meil, a term used to denote the "robe" of the ephod worn by the high priest, Exodus 28:31), a priestly robe, a long upper tunic (1 Chronicles 15:27), in which to minister in the tabernacle (1 Samuel 2:19; 15:27; Job 2:12). "And the child Samuel grew before the Lord." After Samuel, Hannah had three sons and two daughters. Its resemblance to that of the Virgin Mary comp. (1 Samuel 2:1-10) with Luke 1:46-55 see also (Psalms 113:1) ... has been noticed.

God's blessings to each of you,
LJG

SOURCES: King James Bible, Smith's Bible Dictionary, Matthew Henry's Commentary

DID YOU KNOW

In 1712 the South Carolina colony passed a "Sunday Law" requiring "all...person whatsoever" to attend church each Sunday, to refrain from skilled labor, and to do no traveling by horse or wagon beyond the necessary. Infractions of this law was met with a 10-shilling fine and or a two-hour lock-up in the village stocks.

SOURCE: Today in Christian History

GOOD MORNING LORD

Awoken by the kiss of Your sunlight
upon my face
Tumbling from my bed
to my knees to give You praise
So begins my day with You
You are always at my side
Even if I take my eyes from You
Walking from my safe place
out into the world
More resides here than I want to know
Strength from My Savior
guides me
You are always at my side
Even if I take my eyes from You
The day is over my work is done
Back to my safe place
Reading from Your Word
I dance with You across the room
Back to my knees to give You praise
So ends my day with You

rECj

DID YOU KNOW

KING JAMES BIBLE

Although it is referred to as the King James Version, the only active part King James took in the translation was limiting the criminal (death) penalty attached to its translation and setting very reasonable guidelines for the translation process.

By the time the King James Version was written, there was already a tradition going back almost two hundred years of Bible translation into English. Many of the vernacular (the mode of expression of a group or class) translations of the time were said to be filled with "heretical" (of, relating to, or characterized by departure from accepted beliefs or standards) translations and notes and were thus banned by the Church. The English translation of the Bible authorized by the Roman Catholic Church was the contemporary Douay-Rheims version which was a strict translation of the Latin Vulgate.

The King James Bible represents a revision of Tyndale's translation. Tyndale's New Testament appeared in 1525. Despite controversial renderings, the merits of Tyndale's work and prose style made his translation the basis for most of the subsequent renditions into Early Modern English, although Tyndale's own life ended with being strangled and having his body burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic authorities for his alleged heresy.

The King James Version was first conceived at the Hampton Court Conference, which the new king convened in January 1604, in response to the problems posed by Puritans in the Millenary Petition. According to an eyewitness account, Dr John Rainolds "moved his majesty that there might be a new translation of the Bible, because those which were allowed in the reign of king Henry the Eight and Edward the Sixth were corrupt and not answerable to the truth of the original."

King James hoped a new translation would replace the Geneva Bible and its offensive notes in the popular esteem. After the Bishop of London added a qualification that no marginal notes were to be added to Rainold's new Bible, King James gave the translators instructions, which were designed to discourage polemical notes, and to guarantee that the new version would conform to the ecclesiology of the Church of England.

King James' instructions included requirements that:

1...The ordinary Bible, read in the church, commonly called the Bishop's Bible, to be followed, and as little altered as the original will permit...
2...The old ecclesiastical words to be kept, as the word church, not to e translate congregation...
3...When any word hath divers significations, that to be kept which has been most commonly used by the most eminent fathers, being agreeable to the propriety of the place, and the analogy of the faith...
4...No marginal notes at all to be affixed, but only for the explanation of the Hebrew or Greek words, which cannot, without some circumlocution, so briefly and fitly be expressed in text...
5...such quotations of places to be marginally set down, as shall serve for the fit references of one scripture to another...
6...These translations to be used when they agree better with the text than the Bishops' Bible, Tyndale's, Coverdale's, Matthew Bible, Whitchurch, Geneva.

King James's instructions made it clear that he wanted the resulting translation to contain a minimum of controversial notes and apparatus, and that he wanted the episcopal structure of the Established Church, and traditional beliefs about an ordained clergy to be reflected in the new translation. His order directed the translators to revise the Bishop's Bible, comparing other named English versions. It is for this reason that the flyleaves of most printings of the King James Bible observe that the text had been "translated out of the original tongues, and with the former translations diligently compared and revised (by His Majesty's special command.)"

At least 80% of the King James New Testament is unaltered from Tyndale's translation.

SOURCE: Wikipedia

THE LAST PART OF PETER'S LIFE

Peter is also often depicted in the Gospels as spokesman of all the apostles, and as one to whom Jesus gave special authority. In contrast, Jewish Christians are said to have argued that James the Just was the leader of the group.

In the final chapter of the Gospel of John, Peter, in one of the resurrection appearances of Jesus, three times affirmed his love for Jesus, balancing his threefold denial, and Jesus reconfirmed Peter's position (John 21:15-17).

The author of the Acts of the Apostles portrays Peter as an extremely important figure within the early Christian community, with Peter delivering a significant speech immediately after Pentecost. According to the same book, Peter took the lead in selecting a replacement for Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:15). He was twice arraigned, with John, before the Sanhendrin and directly died them (Acts 4:7-22, Acts 5:18-42). He undertook a missionary journey to Lydda, Joppa and Caesarea (Acts 9:32-10:2), becoming instrumental in the decision to evangelize the Gentiles (Acts 10). He was present at the Council of Jerusalem, where Paul further argued the
case for accepting Gentiles into the Christian community without circumcision. The Jews were circumcised.

About halfway through, Acts turns it attention away from Peter and to the activities of Paul, and the Bible is fairly silent on what occurred to Peter afterwards. A fleeting mention of Peter being in Antioch is made by the Epistle to the Galatians (Galatians 2:11) where Paul confronted him, and historians have furnished other evidence of Peter's sojourn in Antioch. Subsequent tradition held that Peter had been the first Patriarch of Antioch. Some scholars also interpret Paul's brief mention of Peter in 1 Corinthians as evidence that Peter had visited Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:12).

A phrase in the last chapter of the Gospel of John refers to Peter's martyrdom by crucifixion, though without reference to its location: "...when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and take you where you do not want to." Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. (John 21:18-19).

The early writings by Clement, Ignatius and Tertullian give witness to the tradition that Peter, probably at the time of the Great Fire of Rome in the year 64, for which the Emperor Nero blamed the Christians, was martyred there in Rome.

In addition, the first Epistle of Peter ends with "The church that is in Babylon, chosen together with you, salutes you, and so does my son, Mark" (1 Peter 5:13). Thought the word "Babylon" refers literally to a city in Mesopotamia, it was used cryptically to indicate Rome, as in Revelation 14:8, 16:19, 17:5-6 and in the works of various Jewish seers.

When, in the early fourth century, the Emperor Constantine I decided to Peter with a large basilica, the precise location of Peter's burial was so firmly fixed in the belief of the Christians of Rome that the building had to e erected on a site that involved considerable difficulties, both physical (excavating the slope of the Vatican Hill, while the great church could much more easily have been built on level ground only slightly to the south) and moral and legal (demolishing a cemetery). The focal point of St. Peter's Basilica, both in its original form and in its later complete reconstruction, is the altar placed over what is held to be the exact place where Peter was buried.

SOURCE: Wikipedia

DID YOU KNOW

JOHN SMYTH

Born Cir. 1570. An early Baptist minister of England and a defender of the principle of religious liberty. Many historians consider John Smyth as a founder of the modern Baptist denomination.

He was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1594 in England. Soon after his ordination, he broke with the Church of England and became a Separatist.

In 1609, Smyth, along with a group in Holland, came to believe in believer's baptism, as opposed to infant baptism, and they came together to form one of the earliest Baptist Churches.

In the beginning, he was closely aligned with his Anglican heritage. As time passed, his views evolved.

First, he insisted that true worship was from the heart and that any form of reading from a book in worship was an invention of sinful man. This rejection of liturgy (the eucharistic rite of Eastern churches, a rite or body of rites prescribed for public worship, a customary repertoire of ideas, phrases, or observances) remains strong among many Baptists still today. Prayer, singing and preaching had to be completely spontaneous. He went so far with this mentality that he would not allow the reading of the Bible during worship "since he regarded English translations of Scripture as something less that the direct word of God."

Second, he introduced a twofold church leadership, that of pastor and deacon. This was in contrast to the Reformation trifold leadership of Pastor-Elder, Lay-Elders and Deacons.

Third, with his newfound position on baptism, a whole new concern arose for these "Baptists." Having been baptized as infants, they all realized that they would have to be re-baptized. Since there was no other minister to administer baptism, Smyth baptized himself and then proceeded to baptize his flock.

Before his death, Smyth moved away from his Baptist views and began trying to bring his flock into the Mennonite Church. Although he died before this happened, most of his congregation did join themselves with the Mennonite Church after his death.

This brought about a separation between Smyth and a group led by Thomas Helwys. The churches that descended from Smyth and Helwys were of the General Baptist persuasion.

SOURCE: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

SIMON PETER

Simon/Simeon means hearing

Simon/Simeon is a very common name in the New Testament. He was the son of Jona (Matthew 16:17). His mother is nowhere named in Scripture. His native town was Bethsaida, on the western coast of the Sea of Galilee, to which Philip also belonged. His father had probably died while he was still young, and he and his brother were brought up under the care of Zebedee and his wife Salome (Matthew 27:56; Mark 15:40; 16:1). There the four youths, Simon, Andrew, James and John spent their boyhood and early manhood in constant fellowship. Simon and his brother doubtless enjoyed all the advantages of a religious training, and were early instructed in an acquaintance with the Scriptures and with the great prophecies regarding the coming of the Messiah. They did not probably enjoy, however, any special training in the study of the law under any of the rabbis. When Peter appeared before the Sanhedrin, he looked like an "unlearned man" (Acts 4:13).

"Simon was a Galilean, and he was that out and out...the Galilean's had a marked character of their own. They had a reputation for an independence and energy which often ran out into turbulence. They were at the same time of a franker and more transparent disposition than their brethren in the south. In all these respects, in bluntness, impetuosity, headiness and simplicity, Simon was a genuine Galilean.

They spoke a peculiar dialect. They had a difficulty with guttural sounds and some others, and their pronunciation was reckoned harsh in Judea. The Galilean accent stuck to Simon all through his career. It betrayed him as a follower of Christ when he stood within the judgment-hall (Mark 14:17). It betrayed his own nationality and that of those conjoined with him on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:7)" His wife's mother is referred to in Matthew 8:14; Mark 1:30 and Luke 4:38.

At Bethabara, beyond Jordan, John the Baptist had borne testimony concerning Jesus as the "Lamb of God" (John 1:29-36). Andrew and John hearing it, followed Jesus, and abode with him where He was. They were convinced, by his gracious words and by the authority with which he spoke, that He spoke, that he was the Messiah (Luke 4:22; Matthew 7:29); and Andrew went forth and found Simon and brought him to Jesus (John 1:41).

Jesus at once recognized Simon, and declared that hereafter he would be call Cephas, an Aramaic name corresponding to the Greek Petros, which means "a mass of rock detached from the living rock." The Aramaic name does not occur again.
Simon responded at once to the call to become a disciple, and after this we find him in constant attendance on our Lord.

He is next called into the rank of the apostleship, and becomes a "fisher of men" (Matthew 4:19) in the stormy seas of the world of human life (Matthew 10:2-4; Mark 3:13-19: Luke 6:13:16), and takes a more and more preeminent part in all the leading events of our Lord's life.

"From that time forth" Jesus began to speak of his sufferings. For this Peter rebuked Him. But our Lord in return rebuked Peter, speaking to him in sterner words than He ever used to any other of his disciples (Matthew 16:21-23; Mark 8:31-33). At the close of His brief sojourn at Caesarea our Lord took Peter and James and John with Him into "an high mountain apart," and was transfigured before them.

Peter was the one that saved the first Gentile. That being the Roman Solider.

God's blessings on each of you,
LJG

SOURCE: The King James Bible, Easton's Bible Dictionary

DID YOU KNOW

PROTESTANT

In the early years of the Reformation, the term PROTESTANT applied to a group of princes and imperial cites who "protested" the decision by the 1529 Diet of Speyer to reverse course, and enforce the 1521 Edict of Worms. The 1521 edict forbade Lutheran teachings within the Holy Roman Empire.

A commonly given definition is "Christian denomination which is not Roman Catholic or Orthodox Christian." Those denominations, considered to be well within the realm of Protestantism, all have firm roots in the Protestant Reformation initiated by Martin Luther's 95 Theses during the sixteenth century.

Protestantism is currently the dominant religion of many first-world countries such as the United State and the United Kingdom. Protestantism - in particular, evangelicalism - is also currently the fastest growing branch of Christianity today, with significant growth in Countries such as China, India and many nations in Europe as well as Africa.

Peter

PETER WAS BLESSED

Matthew 16:17-19

Reading this we see that Peter was blessed, he is in fact Peter, and on this rock [Peter?] Jesus will build His church. And Jesus gives Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven. That is what we read, or is it?Let's start at the beginning and see what in fact Jesus is really saying and to whom. Lets look at the following scriptures to lay some ground work. Isaiah 22:22Rev 1:18, 3:7, 9:1, 20:1

We also want to look at these:
Matthew 7:24Luke 6: 47, 48John 1:42

Now that we have those scriptures lets look at Matthew the 16th Chapter. Start at verse 13 and read through verse 20.In verse 16 Peter was answering a question that Jesus had put to all the disciples. Verse 17 Jesus says Blessed are you Simon BarJonah.......and then it ends with a period, end of thought. No more no less. Verse 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, [comma] change of thought again and then Jesus goes on to say and on this rock I will build My church...Verse 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom....

To whom was Jesus speaking? Well verse 20 tells us He tells His disciples to tell no one. If in fact Jesus had given to Peter personally that which He gave no one else then we would have to go to Peter to get into heaven. And that would make Jesus a liar because His word tells us plainly that He is the way, the truth, and the light, and there is no way to the Father but thru Him.

What Jesus was giving is to all who believe and follow after Him. Jesus told the disciples not to tell anyone because it was not the time to tell others. Many call themselves men of God and use this to not explain the word of God to others. As to the keys that Jesus was giving those were the keys to Hades which no man has to pay the cost for, or needs because Jesus Himself paid that price. Those are the keys of David which He bares on His shoulders.

God Bless,
rECj

DID YOU KNOW

Constantine I of the Roman Empire

Moved the date of celebration of Jesus' birth to December 25th, since this was the celebration date for the birth of Mithras and Bacchus, and also the date of other winter solstice festivals.

He merged Church and State for easy governance, and of course for one of the oldest reasons in the world: MONEY. There were heavy taxes levied on the all Churches and Bishops. He created the Edict of Milan to legalize his newly found infatuation with Christianity.

Critics of the merger of Church and State point to this shift of the beginning of the era of Constantinianism when Christianity and the will of God gradually came to be identified with the will of the ruling elite; and in some cases was little more than a religious justification for the exercise of power.

In addition, Constantine instituted use of the Chi-Rho symbol, representative of Christianity, also alleged by some scholars to have had use as an obeloi for "auspicious" thus serving both Christian and non-Christian purpose simultaneously.

Was the first Emperor known to receive a Christian baptism, abolished crucifixion in the Roman Empire at the end of his reign.

PETER

Born
in Bethsaida (traditional)
Died
~64 in Rome
Venerated in
All Christianity
Major shrine
St. Peter's Basilica
Feast
February 22, June 29, November 18
Attributes
Bald man, often with a fringe of hair on the sides and a tuft on top; book; rooster; keys; man crucified head downwards; man holding a key or keys; man robed as a pope and bearing keys and a double-barred cross; reversed cross


SAINT PETER
Also known as Simon Ben Jonah/BarJonah, Simon Peter, Cephas and Kepha, original name Simon or Simeon (Acts 15:14). He was one of the Twelve Apostles whom Jesus chose from among his original disciples. His life is prominently featured in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. A Galilean fisherman, he, with his brother Andrew, was literally "called" by Jesus to be a disciple. Above all the other disciples, Peter was assigned a leadership role by Jesus (Matt 16:18; John 21:15-16); and many within the early Church, such as St Clement of Rome, and St Irenaeus mention his primacy.

The ancient Christian Churches, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox, consider Simon Peter a saint, and the first Bishop of Rome.

Some who recognize his office as Bishop of Antioch and, later, as Bishop of Rome hold that his episcopacy held a primacy only of honor, as a first among equals. Some propose that his primacy was not intended to pass to his successors. Still other view Peter as not having held the office of bishop or overseer, on the grounds that this office was a development of later Christianity. Many Protestants do not use the title of "saint" in reference to him.

The Roman Martyrology assigns 29 June as the feast day of both Peter and Paul, without thereby declaring that to be the day of their death. St Augustine of Hippo says in his Sermon 295: "One day is assigned for the celebration of the martyrdom of the two apostles. But those two were one. Although their martyrdom occurred on different days, they were one."The Annuario Pontificio gives the year of Peter's death as A.D. 64 or A. D. 67. Some scholars believe that he died on October 12 A. D. 64.

To be continued.

God's blessings on each of you,
LJG

SOURCE: Wekipedia

DID YOU KNOW

CHRISTIANITY

Is a monotheistic (the doctrine or belief that there is but one God) religion centered on Jesus of Nazareth, His life, death, resurrection, and teachings as presented in the New Testament. Christians believe Jesus is the Son of God and the awaited Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament, they call Him the Christ.

With an estimated 2.1 billion adherents in 2001, Christianity is the world's largest religion. It is the predominant religion in the Americas, Europe, Philippine Islands, Oceania, and large parts of Africa. It is also growing rapidly in Asia, particularly in China and South Korea and in Northern Africa, and remains one of the fastest growing major religions with a growth rate of 2.3%.

Christianity began in the 1st century as a Jewish sect, and shares many religious texts with Judaism, specifically the Hebrew Bible, known to Christians as the Old Testament. Like Judaism and Islam, Christianity is classified as an Abrahamic religion because of the centrality and pre-cedence of Abraham in their shared traditions though Jesus himself stated that He had pre-existed Abraham (John 8:58), and Christianity places Jesus as God incarnate (not Abraham) as central to the faith. The name "Christian" was first applied to the disciples in Antioch, as recorded in Acts 11:26. The earliest recorded use of the term Christianity is Ignatius of Antioch.

WHAT WOULD???

What would our lives be like if there was in fact no God? Whatever happened in life we were on our own. That we only had friends to comfort us, not that they aren't good or there, but a comforter that is beyond belief. Beyond belief, that is what our belief in God is about. He is able to do exceeding above what we can think or dream. Not having to settle for only what we could believe in? I do not want to not believe that this is all there is. I love knowing that beyond all this there is a hope and a promise that is unbelievable to the naked eye. That there is a Supreme Being, Almighty God who loves me so much more, then being merely a speck in the cosmic reality of what the world sees. If there was no God I would have to accept that my life as it is will stay this way, as I am unable to change anything about it at this time. I do not want to continue in pain, and poverty. I want to believe that there is hope when all seems at a standstill. I want to know in my heart that the words I speak are being heard and answered. That someone cares more about me than to say, I am thinking of you. That there is One who desires that all this pass, and even if I do not see better here, I know that in the end I have a beautiful home waiting for me, with no worry's and no pain.
What would our lives be like if there was in fact no God? We would not have the hope that we cling to and endure this earth for. We would seek out pleasures to fill us that would not complete the purpose. We would be empty in the far reaches of our soul.
Let me hold tight to my belief. It is all that I have at this time. Without it I would be lost. A tiny speck in this vast cosmic sphere.

God's blessing to each of you,
rECj

FATHER JACQUES MARQUETTE

Born June 10 1637 in Laon, France. Joined the Society of Jesus at age 17. Preached in France for several years. In 1666 was dispatched to Quebec to preach to the Native Americans.

In 1668 was sent by his superiors to missions farther up the St. Lawrence River in the western Great Lakes. Worked at Sault Ste. Marie and while working at the Mission of the Holy Spirit in La Pointe, near the present-day town of Ashland, Wisconsin, he came into contact with members of the Illinois tries, who told him of the existence of the Mississippi River and they invited him to come teach. However, due to the war between the Hurons at La Pointe and the neighboring Dakota people he had to relocate to the Straits of Mackinac. There he informed his superiors about the rumored river, and requested permission to explore it.

1673 leave was granted. Marquette was joined by Louis Joliet, a French Canadian explorer. They departed from St Ignance on May 17 1673. They followed Lake Michigan to the Bay of Green Bay and up the Fox River. From here, they went to the Wisconsin River, which they told led to the river they sought. June 17, 1673 they entered the Mississippi near Prairie du Chien, becoming the first Europeans to enter the river.

The Marquette-Joliet expedition traveled to within 435 miles of the Gulf of Mexico, turned back at the mouth of the Arkansas River. By this point they had encountered a number of natives carrying European trinkets, and feared an encounter with explorers or colonists from Spain. They followed the Mississippi back to the mouth of the Illinois River, which they learned from local natives was a shorter route back
to the Great Lakes. They returned to Lake Michigan at the point of modern-day Chicago.

Marquette and his party returned to the Illinois Territory in late 1674, becoming the first Europeans to winter in what would become the city of Chicago.

Spring of 1675 , the missionary again paddled westward, and celebrated a public Mass at the Grand Village of the Illinois near Starved Rock. A bout of dysentery picked up during the Mississippi expedition, however, had sapped his health. On the return trip to St. Ignace he died near the modern town of Ludingon, Michigan. The precise date and location are unknown.

JEWESS and EUODIAS

Jewess: a woman of Hebrew birth

EUODIAS, a good journey,
A female member of the church at Philippi. She was one who laboured much with Paul in the gospel. He exhorts her to be of one mind with Syntyche (Philippians 4:2). From this it seems they had been at variance with each other.

Let believers be of one mind, and ready to help each other. As the apostle had found the benefit of their assistance, he knew how comfortable it would be to his fellow-labourers to have the help of others. Let us seek to give assurance that our names are written in the book of life. Joy in God is of great consequence in the Christian life; and Christians need to be again and again called to it. It more than outweighs all causes for sorrow. Let their enemies perceive how moderate they were as to outward things, and how composedly they suffered loss and hardships. The day of judgment will soon arrive, with full redemption to believers, and destruction to ungodly men. There is a care of diligence which is our duty, and agrees with a wise forecast and due concern; but there is a care of fear and distrust, which is sin and folly, and only perplexes and distracts the mind. As a remedy against perplexing care, constant prayer is recommended. Not only stated times for prayer, but in every thing by prayer. We must join thanksgivings with prayers and supplications; not only seek supplies of good, but own the mercies we have received. God needs not to be told our wants or desires; he knows them better than we do; but he will have us show that we value the mercy, and feel our dependence on him. The peace of God, the comfortable sense of being reconciled to God, and having a part in his favour, and the hope of the heavenly blessedness, are a greater good than can be fully expressed. This peace will keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus; it will keep us from sinning under troubles, and from sinking under them; keep us calm and with inward satisfaction. Believers are to get and to keep a good name; a name for good things with God and good men. We should walk in all the ways of virtue, and abide therein; then, whether our praise is of men or not, it will be of God. The apostle is for an example. His doctrine and life agreed together. The way to have the God of peace with us, is to keep close to our duty. All our privileges and salvation arise in the free mercy of God; yet the enjoyment of them depends on our sincere and holy conduct. These are works of God, pertaining to God, and to him only are they to be ascribed, and to no other, neither men, words, nor deeds.

God's blessings to each of you,
LJG

SOURCES: King James Bible, Smith's Bible Dictionary, Matthew Henry's Commentary