Sunday, September 30, 2012

IGNORING GOD'S WILL

Romans 2:4a Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience... My eight year old daughter Amanda came home from school yesterday with news one of her friends, "Gets to watch Hannah Montana [the television show] any time she wants!" With hands on her hips and looking me right in the eye, she asked, "So why don't I?" Having had this conversation a number of times including complete explanations and open discussion, I retreated into parent-land and said, "Because I said so, that's why." Not satisfied, Amanda inquired, "Well what would happen to me if I watched it anyway?" I have to admit I was a little perturbed, not to mention shocked -- confrontational rebellion from my normally well-behaved eight year old? I usually didn't have to deal with this phenomena until the kids were teenagers. A few minutes further into our conversation I realized Amanda wasn't really rebelling, she just wanted to know, what bad things would happen to her [or someone else] if inappropriate television shows were watched? In other words, not punishment from Mom or Dad, but why is it bad -- how will it hurt her? Those of you who are parents know how challenging it can be to explain to an eight year old all the subtle complexities of unsuitable moral and ethical behavior demonstrated on television, versus our faith in the Lord Jesus and His example. As I read our passage today, I realized Amanda's response was not too different from our own when choosing between Biblical direction and instruction versus our own will and demands of the flesh. Do we show contempt for God if we take an approach to life contrary to His teaching? Paul's answer is yes. We know God's patience is incredible, but too many people mistake his patience for impotence or indifference. As Amanda's earthly father I am certainly not powerless or indifferent, and if she rebelled against my will I would be forced to discipline her behavior. How much more caring and powerful is God? Do you think God is unconcerned about what we do? Are you prepared for the consequences? Whether children or adults, we know small things like what we watch on television can have eternal consequences because of the way it shapes and pollutes our thinking. We also know the things we shouldn't do -- and just because God is patient with us doesn't mean He isn't opposed. So what are you going to do about your rebellion? Are you going to keep ignoring God's will? PTL.ORG

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Saturday, September 29, 2012

OUR LOVE WILL BE TESTED

English: Abraham embraces his son Isaac after receiving him back from God (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Our Love Will Be Tested Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 1 John 3:16 Read: Genesis 22:1-2 Not only is love expensive, it may also undergo a trial. If you don’t believe this, ask Abraham. At a time, Abraham was torn between his promised child Isaac and God. It became inevitable for God to test whether he still loved Him (Genesis 22:1-2). Whether you like it or not, your love for God will be tested. Usually it would be based on someone or something you really love. Isaac was about 15 years before the test. Abraham had become so fond of him to the point of Isaac being inseparable from him. Your love may be tested on the fiery furnace or in the lion’s den. Since Jesus laid down His life for you, He expects nothing less from you to your brethren (1 John 3:16). It is either you love God to the extreme or you don’t. To succeed in life could be quite expensive because of the requirement to study at night when others are sleeping, or study in the day while others are playing. One may even be called a bookworm and other names, yet that is a far cheaper price to pay than failure. If you fail, you will become a servant to your colleagues who succeeded. Every Christian may claim to be born again and on their way to Heaven, yet it is only the few who really love God that will make it on the last day. You can be part of the few! ACTION POINT: Every disciple of Jesus will be required to take the test of love. Ask for grace to scale through. May the LORD bless Nigeria, American and Israel and take care of us; May the LORD make His face shine upon us, And be gracious to us; May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us, And give us peace, In Jesus Christ Name, we pray! Amen! BUMMYLA http://bummyla.wordpress.com/2012/09/08/our-love-will-be-tested/

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Friday, September 28, 2012

ABANDON HOPE ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE

The title of this article comes from the “Inferno,” first book of Dante’s tri-part poem, known as the “Divine Comedy”. It is part of the message carved over the arch that marks the entrance into Hell. Hope is the divinely inspired desire for Heaven. Those who choose to defy the good and its reward, throw hope away, foolishly, to meet the demands of the finite ego, rather than submit to the will of the One who is love and the source of all goodness. The great English poet, John Milton, in his epic poem called “Paradise Lost” has his monumental character, the fallen Lucifer, now called Satan, rising up from his supine position on the fiery lake, after his infinite fall from grace, gathering the other fallen angels together to proclaim with ultimate pride, “I would rather reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.” These are two imaginative depictions of the nature of sin by two of the greatest writers in the Western literary canon. Both go on to explain that nature, arising from the misuse of our natural freedom and its inevitable consequences for the eternal soul. They deal with sin for what it is, an abandonment of God, and, therefore, the loss of hope. Thomas Merton writes in his “No Man Is An Island,” “It would be a sin to place any limit upon our hope in God. We must love Him without measure. All sin is rooted in the failure to love. All sin is a withdrawal of love from God, in order to love something else. Sin sets boundaries to our hope, and locks our love in a prison. If we place our last end in something limited, we have withdrawn our hearts entirely from the service of the living God. If we continue to love Him as our end, but place our hope in something else together with Him, our love and our hope are not what they should be, for no man can serve two masters.” Sin, therefore, is foolishness on all levels. It is foolishness, because it is a conscious and freely willed turning away from God, the only source of all that is good. It is foolishness because it loves something finite, for nothing more than its own sake, for vanity’s sake, for the sake of something as fragile and ephemeral as a wisp of smoke. Why love something that is limited in its pleasure, or its rewards? Is this not the definition of foolishness? If we place our hopes in finite and temporary things, as Milton’s Satan does in his own ego-driven desire for power, we can be nothing less than fools, just as he is. Oh, we may, for a time, command fearful respect, but even that has its limits. Satan is the ultimate fool, for he knew God personally and still chose to abandon that love that was unconditional, freely given, and eternal, for something so mundane as the desire to be “number one.” Is it any wonder that he wants company in his foolishness then? All fools know that they are fools at some deep level of their psyche, and their natural shame can only be assuaged if others join them or follow them into the despair of Hell. It is, of course, true that “no man can serve two masters.” It is also true that there is only one, true Master worthy of being served, for, and here is the paradox of faith again, in serving God we are made infinitely free. Why would we want to settle for anything less? If we put our hope in wealth and fame, or power, it is greed and pride that we serve with all of our time, money and effort. And none of that lasts, certainly not beyond the grave. If we put our hopes in lust, and gluttony, it is only our own loins and our own stomachs that we serve. These are even more momentary and finite than money and power. If our hopes for happiness are limited to our momentary wants, in defiance of our natural needs, we are serving only imaginary pipe-dreams. What could be more sad than that? Our natural hope for things eternal is a gift from God. Why would we abandon this gift, unless we foolishly believed that something less than God could satisfy our desires. Our truest hope is rooted in the mature desire to serve only that which is eternal and infinitely satisfying. To serve the only One who can fulfill all that is right and good for us is pure wisdom. If we put our hopes in the living God, serving Him only, we will find the happiness our hearts most naturally desire, both in the now and forever. Only God has unlimited gift to give us. Only God has infinite care and love for us. To serve anything less than God in this life can, therefore, be nothing less than foolishness. Dan Doyle is a retired professor of English and Humanities. He taught 13 years at the high school level and 22 years at the university level. He spends his time now babysitting his granddaughter. He is a poet and a blogger as well. Dan holds an AA degree in English Literature, a BA in Comparative Literature, and an MA in Theology. To read more of Dan’s work, click here http://jesus-loves-you.org/?p=7988

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Thursday, September 27, 2012

JUST ONE: ONE NOTE

We have lived with this phrase so long that it is almost as universally accepted as the law of gravity. Yet when we first heard it as kids, we thought it was dumb and unfair. However, most of us have heard it so frequently that we don't even think about it: we assume it is true because we've heard it so much. Despite our promises to ourselves as children that we would never tell it to our kids, we now pull out this little nugget of "truth" and use it with our own children, grandchildren, and students. More than likely, you first heard this axiom of wisdom from a parent, grandparent, teacher, or coach. And what is this widely accepted kernel of truth? "If I do it for one, I have to do it for everyone!"Of course you probably heard it phrased something like this: •"If I let you lick the chocolate icing off the beaters then I have to let your brothers do it too and I only have two beaters." •"If I let you leave practice early today, then I will have to let everyone else leave early some day." •"If I let you have ice cream ... or stay up late ... or watch that show or have a sleep over or ... then I will have to let your brothers do the same." And when it comes to people who desperately need help, our subconscious minds rush to this supposed universal truth: "If I do it for this one, I have to do it for everyone!"So we end up doing it for no one. And here's the rub: it's not true! It's not true about ice cream, staying up late, watching shows, or sleep overs. Now granted, there is generally more peace if parents and teachers and coaches apply this truth, but that is not the issue. There is no reason to not handle individual requests by unique people ... individually and uniquely. It just requires more effort and explanation. Let's face it: when it comes to helping people in need, we are inundated and overwhelmed everyday with more and more information. We didn't have this thirty years ago. We knew about a few big things going on in our area, but now, we are bombarded in TV commercials, ad slides during the movie previews at the theater, bumper stickers, posters at church, outdoor advertising, website ads, special mailing appeals, magazine ads, and the Hollywood stars and starlets pitching their latest charity. And we also know about our own friends and people around us who are in trouble with health, marriage, kids, and financial issues. So being overwhelmed, when we see another image of the latest need, we respond a little emotionally, then we usually move on without doing anything to help. Because we can't do something for everyone, we end up doing nothing for anyone! Just imagine what would happen! Our (psuedo-)compassion becomes limited to that little rumble in our gut when we first see and hear about the need, but then it is quickly gone. The Holy Spirit nudges our spirit to help us respond more fully, but we put the concern to bed by thinking, "If I do it for one, then I'm going to have to do it for everyone." Thankfully, Jesus introduces us to a whole new approach to this problem (Mark 1:35-45 — please read to see Jesus in action on this principle). Jesus acts this way: "I will do for one what I would like to do for everyone!"* If you look at this story, Jesus had a busy day the previous day (Mark 1:21-34). His day lasted well into the evening after dark (Mark 1:32). He had gotten up early the next morning and went off to a secluded spot well before daylight (Mark 1:35). He prayed. Then his followers, Peter and his friends, found Jesus and let him know that everyone was looking for him (Mark 1:37). Jesus knows the "One Tune" God wants him to play — his mission at this time in his life. Jesus is determined to stick to this "One Tune"! So he moves from that area and goes to other villages and towns accomplishing his mission (Mark 1:38). Yet on one special day as Jesus is following his mission and playing this "One Tune" with his life, God places a man with leprosy directly in his path (Mark 1:41). And what does Jesus do? Well he doesn't do what the priest and Levite did in the parable of the good Samaritan who walk by a hurt man in the road ignoring his needs (Luke 10:30-37). Jesus reaches out his hand and touches the man to show this man love, acceptance, and grace, then heals him of his leprosy (Mark 1:41). As Jesus does this, he reminds us of another crucial principle to help us live our lives for God and love our neighbors as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40): "I can do for one what I wish I could do for everyone!" In our series called "Just One!" we are learning from Jesus how to balance our lives and do what God wants us to do. Our first principle was this: I can't do everything, not even everything that matters, so I will do what matters most to God! We discover what that "One Tune" is by spending time in prayer and Scripture with God, asking the Holy Spirit to reveal it to us. And as we ask this life-ordering question, we also should be asking the Lord to help us recognize our "One Note," our one touch of grace that we are to share with someone this week. And because we are asking God and paying attention to the Holy Spirit and to the people God places around us, I am convinced that God will show us who needs our touch of grace, our "One Note" we are to share this week! We can't do it for everyone, but just imagine what would happen if all of Jesus' followers would do for one what they wish they could do for everyone! We would certainly get a lot closer to blessing everyone!So let's do for one what we wish we could do for everyone! I am thankful to Andy Stanley who introduced me to this concept both in a seminar podcast and sermon you can view here — http://hlt.me/nljp8L by Phil Ware http://www.heartlight.org/articles/201109/20110903_onenote.html

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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

A LOVERS PLEA

By Hanna Perlberger When I think of Jewish holidays, Tu B’Av does not readily come to mind. When I Googled “Jewish holidays” and clicked on the kind of sites that should be comprehensive, I did not easily find this holiday. Since there are no laws or customs I have to observe, it was never on my radar. Beyond the fact that in modern-day Israel Tu B’Av is celebrated as a “day of love,” and is considered a propitious day for getting married, I didn’t see the deep meaning or relevance in it. As a former divorce attorney now doing marriage coaching, however, any Jewish holiday with a love and marriage theme is going to get a deeper look from me. I was amazed to find out that this rather obscure and uncelebrated holiday is actually considered by the Talmud as one of the greatest festivals of the year! While there are six separate events linked to Tu B’Av, two of them are linked to marriage. In the first generation to enter the land, a woman who had inherited land from her father was not permitted to marry a man from a different tribe, lest the land that had belonged to her father’s tribe now be ceded to a different tribe. On Tu B’Av, that decree was lifted. Love triumphed over tribal considerations. Later, there was a horrific incidence of rape that occurred within the tribe of Benjamin that so incensed the other tribes that a civil war broke out, virtually wiping out the tribe of Benjamin. Six hundred men escaped, but were prohibited from marrying women from the other tribes. Recognizing that the tribe would become extinct, however, the tribes later relented, and on Tu B’Av that decree was lifted. Kindness and connection triumphed, and love prevailed. Tu B’Av, a day of rejoicing, a day of love, a day on which evil decrees were lifted and miraculous events occurred, is preceded six days earlier by Tisha B’Av, the saddest day of the year, on which the First and Second Temples were destroyed, among other calamities. This interval of time is so short that one could view these events as being interconnected. One connection comes readily to mind. The most significant marriage that can said to have occurred for the Jewish people can be linked back to the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. The Midrash teaches us that Shavuot was a wedding ceremony, and Mount Sinai the chuppah, the marriage canopy. The Jews stood united before G‑d and were His beloved, and we were ready to do anything to make Him happy. It was a fulfillment and culmination hundreds of years in the making. We were on our way, we had everything we needed, we set out on our honeymoon—and then things went south, and due to some very inappropriate behavior on our part, the Groom, as it were, split. G‑d didn’t file a divorce complaint. But with the destruction of the Temple and the departure of G‑d’s holy presence, the Shechinah, it has to be said that G‑d and the Jewish people are not exactly living together in their marital residence. Every year that the Temple is not rebuilt, every year that Moshiach is not here, our marital separation continues. We need our holy Husband to want to reconcile, to want to return home and never leave again. We need the power of Tu B’Av to dispel the darkness and disconnection of Tisha B’Av. A friend of mine has a saying, “If you want an important person to stick around, you better give him a comfy chair.” Maybe G‑d is just waiting for the Jewish people to give Him a place to sit, to dwell amongst us as He once did. So what could G‑d’s comfy chair look like? What could “happily married” to the Jewish people look like to G‑d? The only think I can think of is this: lovingkindness, an open and generous spirit, compassion and connection, within and without. We must show up with love, kindness and compassion for ourselves, for our fellow Jews, for others, for every living thing, for the divine spark that manifests and dances throughout every facet of creation. Make a space, pull up a chair, fluff up the cushions, open your heart, embrace holiness, and the Beloved can come home. Reb Nachman of Breslov said, “If we have the power to destroy, we have the power to build.” May we rebuild our selves, our homes, our marriages, our families, our community and our connection to G‑d. May we lift Tu B’Av out of its obscurity and embrace the deep and beautiful meaning of the day, when we will be celebrating the triumph of love and the return of the Beloved. May we be worthy of connection, so that G‑d will reveal the promise of a day that the Talmud calls the greatest festival of the year. By Hanna Perlberger More articles... | Hanna is a professional life coach specializing in marriage and relationships http://www.chabad.org/theJewishWoman/article_cdo/aid/1899764/jewish/A-Lovers-Plea.htm

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IMPARTING "CHARISMA" GIFTS

Romans 1:11 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong In our passage today, Paul is speaking of the "charisma" gifts of the Spirit (Greek translation of "spiritual gift") from 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, which include: gifts of "...wisdom, ...knowledge, ...faith, ...healing, ...miracles, ...prophecy, ...distinguishing between spirits, ...speaking in tongues, ...and interpreting of tongues". I realize this might be a controversial subject, however I thought it would be prudent to point out Paul's letter to the Romans was addressed to believers (those already saved) for whom he wanted (his words) to: "impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong". This might imply (as some believe) that spiritual gifts come at, during, or following saving. Regardless of differing theologies on the topic of spiritual gifts (how, when or if they are received), Paul clearly instructs believers to: "Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts" (1 Corinthians 14:1); with this stipulation: "Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church" (1 Corinthians 14:12). Today I am only challenging you to read your Bible and make up your own mind on this subject -- allow God to lead. Every revival begins when people begin to open, read, and study their Bibles. Too often our minds are made up or closed to certain subjects because of church doctrine. I think it is the responsibility of every Christian to listen to God speaking to us individually through His Word. Remember, Christianity is not a religion of rules -- rather it is a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Acts 7:51, "You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!" Are you or have you been resisting the Holy Spirit? Will you submit to His will and leadership? THE POCKET TESTAMENT LEAGUE.ORG

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Sunday, September 16, 2012

ROSE AND LINDA'S BLOG ARE YOU LONESOME TONIGHT

That tune started off in my head, but ended with just that verse. I was an Elvis fan for many years, so why could I not remember the rest. As He does many times in my life Christ filled in the rest of the words. I pray they will mean to you as much as they meant to me.



Are you lonesome tonight

Look up to the sky

See each star winkling bright

Those are my thought s of you.



I know that you miss

Those you have recently lost

I know that you need time to mourn

Look up above for my thoughts of you



I am lonesome for you

I need time with you

I desire to be closer to you

I am lonesome tonight for you



I have watched you cry

Have heard you ask why

Yes all that time I was here

I am more lonesome then you



The sun is rising

Another day is here

Yet you continue to mourn

Look at the sun beams



Each beam is a thought of you

I create all this for you

So look up above, yes

Even the rain drops



Each one is a thought of you

I am lonesome for you

I miss you so much

Will you turn your thoughts toward me



Turn your focus on Me

Yes just you and Me

I will turn your sadness to joy

Your despair to hope



I am lonesome for you tonight.



Come unto me all those that are weary laden, and I shall lighten your load.



God Bless,


rECj/LJG

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Saturday, September 15, 2012

VISIT TODAY FROM PHILLY, PA










HAD A FRIEND VISIT THIS MORNING.
HE ARRIVED EARLY, SAT DOWN WITH ME AND CHATTED FOR A WHILE ABOUT HOW THINGS WERE CURRENTLY GOING FOR ME IN MY LIFE.

AFTER VERY CAREFULLY AND COMPASSIONATELY
LISTENING TO ALL THAT I HAD TO SAY,HE STOOD UP, WALKED OVER TO ME, LEANED OVER AND GENTLY HELD ME FOR AWHILE.

THEN, AFTER REASSURING ME NOT TO WORRY, THAT EVERYTHING WOULD WORK OUT FOR ME AND BE JUST FINE, HE ASKED ME IF I KNEW OF ANYONE ELSE THAT COULD USE A VISIT FROM HIM.

I IMMEDIATELY THOUGHT OF YOU MY FRIEND.

I GAVE HIM YOUR NAME AND HE KNEW WHERE YOU LIVED. HE GAVE ME ANOTHER REASSURING HUG, THANKED ME AND I WALKED WITH HIM TO MY FRONT DOOR. HE TOLD ME THAT HE WAS ON HIS WAY TO YOUR PLACE.

When He gets to your PC, escort Him to the next stop. Please don't allow Him to sleep on your PC. The message He is carrying is very important.
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I asked Him to bless you and yours with peace, happiness and abundance.

Say a prayer and then pass Him on to bless others as I sent him on to bless you. Our assignment is to spread love, respect and kindness throughout the world.

Have a blessed day and touch somebody's life today as hopefully I have touched your life.

He's walking around the world via e-mail!!

Please pass it on so He can get there....

When you forward this on, please list where he departed from in the subject line.


http://momsfirstscreenn.wordpress.com/2012/09/15/visit-today-from-philly-pa/














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VACATION TIME

We will be going on a vacation.

I don’t write the articles, I just post them. I guess, oh for about a month now, I have been having trouble getting therm posted. I thought it was the devil coming against me but this morning when I posted Learning to Believe again after only five days, I knew it was God talking to me. God is not the author of confusion so I know He is doing the talking. So…I will listen.

Now, y’all don’t go anywhere you hear? Cause we will be coming back.

LJG/rECj

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Friday, September 14, 2012

EGO, LUST AND GREED - BEWARE OF FALSE GOD'S PART THREE


“Next, taking him to a very high mountain, the devil showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ‘I will give you all these,’ he said, ‘if you fall at my feet an worship me.’ Then Jesus replied, ‘Be off, Satan! For Scripture says: ‘You must worship the Lord your God, and serve him alone.’” – Matthew 4:8-10

The following is the third installment in contributing writer, Dan Doyle’s, series about temptation. You can also read Part I and Part II now.

The Temptation in the Desert: Part III

How many times have we been tempted to worship other ‘gods’ than God? What other ‘gods’? The answers are not simple, but when we finally see how familiar they are to us and how dominant these other gods can be in our lives, we also realize how much we need to turn back toward God once again.

Some of us are driven by the god of the belly. When we find ourselves caught up in the addictions of food or drink, we begin to give all of our time and our treasure to that insatiable god. Some of us make a god of sex and sensuality. Look at our culture’s obsession with these things and how much attention and money is paid in the worship of these gods. Indeed, some of us give all of our selves over to the illusions of money and its supposed ability to bring us happiness.


“Next, taking him to a very high mountain, the devil showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ‘I will give you all these,’ he said, ‘if you fall at my feet an worship me.’ Then Jesus replied, ‘Be off, Satan! For Scripture says: ‘You must worship the Lord your God, and serve him alone.’” – Matthew 4:8-10

The following is the third installment in contributing writer, Dan Doyle’s, series about temptation. You can also read Part I and Part II now.

The Temptation in the Desert: Part III

How many times have we been tempted to worship other ‘gods’ than God? What other ‘gods’? The answers are not simple, but when we finally see how familiar they are to us and how dominant these other gods can be in our lives, we also realize how much we need to turn back toward God once again.

Some of us are driven by the god of the belly. When we find ourselves caught up in the addictions of food or drink, we begin to give all of our time and our treasure to that insatiable god. Some of us make a god of sex and sensuality. Look at our culture’s obsession with these things and how much attention and money is paid in the worship of these gods. Indeed, some of us give all of our selves over to the illusions of money and its supposed ability to bring us happiness.

http://jesus-loves-you.org/?p=6777




Dan Doyle is a retired professor of English and Humanities. He taught 13 years at the high school level and 22 years at the university level. He spends his time now babysitting his granddaughter. He is a poet and a blogger as well. Dan holds an AA degree in English Literature, a BA in Comparative Literature, and an MA in Theology. To read more of Dan’s work, click here.

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Thursday, September 13, 2012

DON'T TEST GOD


“The devil then took him to the holy city and made him stand on the parapet of the Temple. ‘If you are the Son of God,’ he said, ‘throw yourself down; for Scripture says: he will put you in his angels’ charge, and they will support you on their hands in case you hurt your foot against a stone’” Jesus said to him, “Scripture also says: ‘You must not put the Lord your God to the test.’” – Matthew 4:5-7

The following is the second installment in contributing writer, Dan Doyle’s, series about temptation. To read the first article, click here now.

The Temptation in the Desert: Part II

How many times do we put God to the test? When we say to God, “If you do this or that for me, I promise I will walk in your ways,” are we not putting God to the test? Are we not saying to God that if He does not answer our prayers in the way that we think they ought to be answered that we will turn away from Him? How many times has it seemed to us that our prayers have fallen on deaf ears and we found ourselves in our frustration shouting, “There is no God!”

Instead of testing God, demanding from God what we want, like Satan does in this passage, we need to put our faith in God’s wisdom only. We must believe that His answers are better than our own. God’s intentions for us are rooted in His unconditional love for us.

Sometimes, it is true, His answer to our prayers is “no”. We may not be able to comprehend the reasons for this, because the Mind of God comprehends more than we can even imagine. He knows all of the consequences of our prayers, the good and the bad, the intended and the unintended. Yes, Jesus said, “Ask and you shall receive.” And we shall. But what we receive might not be in accord with our limited human expectations. Even still, our prayers, if offered in humility, will indeed be answered. God’s ways are not our ways, and God’s time is not our time.

The Holy Spirit offers us the gift of patient endurance. Pray for this gift and practice it. It is the patience that endures that will allow us to see God’s answer in all things.




Dan Doyle is a retired professor of English and Humanities. He taught 13 years at the high school level and 22 years at the university level. He spends his time now babysitting his granddaughter. He is a poet and a blogger as well. Dan holds an AA degree in English Literature, a BA in Comparative Literature, and an MA in Theology. To read more of Dan’s work, click here.

http://jesus-loves-you.org/?p=6773

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DPM

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

HOW SATAN TEMPTS US PART ONE

The Temptations in the Desert: Part I

“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, after which he was very hungry, and the tempter came to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to turn into loaves.” But he replied, “Scripture says: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Everything recorded for us in the Gospels about the life of Jesus is full of meaning not just for those of His own time, but for us today. We see here that Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit. He knew that his time was coming and that he had to prepare for the trials that were to come. He, therefore, went into the desert to fast and to pray. For forty days and nights he did this. Most of us have no clue of what that kind of fasting would be like, but we certainly understand that at the end of such fasting we would know a profound hunger.

We also know how weak we are when it comes to hunger. We miss one meal and we claim to be famished, suffering the pangs of a terrible and unfair deprivation. We know too that hunger can be sated so easily with mere food. In Jesus’ case, the devil suggests that Jesus turn stones into bread.

How many of us are tempted by hungers of all kinds, not just for food, but for other simple, sensual pleasures. Besides food (think of all the attention paid these days to the fashion of being a “Foody”, the cooking/eating shows on T.V.) there is, of course, the ever-present lure of “sex, drugs, and Rock & Roll.” Is this not the Tempter attempting to take us away from the Word of God every day through the allure of such simple, if immediately gratifying, sensual desires. Are we not tempted often to turn “wants” into “needs”, in order to justify our sense of entitlement toward these immediate pleasures? Do we sometimes enjoy these things in excess, rather than in the healthier ways of moderation? All of these things were created by God, and because of that they are, in themselves, good. But it is the temptation to see these mere “things” as the source of our happiness that takes us away from God. For God is the only source of true, everlasting happiness.

Or do we respond to these temptations with the courage of Jesus? Do we say to the Evil One that life is more than these temporary and limited “things”? Do we believe that there is something greater, that we are made of better material, that Jesus, the very Word of God, is our only and true ultimate desire, our most gratifying, eternal need?

Pray over this. Ask God to send His Spirit to watch over you, to strengthen you against the advances of the one who desires to take you away from Him. Believe that it is His will that you will prevail and that you will live with Him forever in Heaven. He desires this for us, but we must choose this too. We, too, must see the value of fasting and prayer, With the Spirit, we too can prevail against the one who wants to destroy us. If we keep our eyes on Jesus, we will see in Him the model of what He made us to be.




Dan Doyle is a retired professor of English and Humanities. He taught 13 years at the high school level and 22 years at the university level. He spends his time now babysitting his granddaughter. He is a poet and a blogger as well. Dan holds an AA degree in English Literature, a BA in Comparative Literature, and an MA in Theology. To read more of Dan’s work, click here.

http://jesus-loves-you.org/?p=6741

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Tuesday, September 11, 2012

THE GIFT OF ENOUGH

An Elul Lesson

By Robyn Cuspin



Who is rich? He who is happy with his lot. (The Ethics of Our Fathers 4:1)

Dinner is over, but my work is far from done. A small portion of spaghetti bolognaise waits for me on the floor, while an overturned bowl reveals only part of the story. My toddler likes spaghetti bolognaise. In fact, he loves it, which is why I made it for him tonight. The first two bowlfuls went down well. The trouble started when he requested a third bowl. Now, even very active toddlers have a limit to how much spaghetti bolognaise they can eat, and I had a suspicion that anything leftover would wind up on the floor.

I played it safe. I gave him another small spoonful. "More, more!" he responded, dangling his bowl over the side of his high chair tray. I added two more noodles. "More, more!" he insisted, continuing to hold his bowl over the side of his tray. His threat was obvious. I added a single additional strand, and said firmly, "That's it."

"More, more!" he insisted.

"No more," I responded firmly, "That's it."

Now he got the message. The problem is that he didn't like the message he was getting. He looked me in the eye, and very deliberately, turned the bowl upside down and dropped the contents on the floor. Then, for good measure, he chucked the bowl onto the floor as well. He looked at the mess he had made. Then he looked at me and smiled, as though to say, "Either you give me what I want on my terms, or I am not accepting anything from you at all."

I looked at the floor. It was a small mess. A contained mess. But it was also a wake-up call. I too am frequently the recipient of gifts that don't come on my terms. Looking at the blob of spaghetti on the floor, I wondered how often I respond to my Benefactor in the same way.

My life is filled with blessings. Yet I can easily pass an entire day focusing entirely on what I am lacking. I can get caught up in small frustrations and spend hours agonizing over miniscule losses. I can, in a sense, ignore the first two bowls of spaghetti and focus entirely on the fact that the third bowl is not entirely to my liking.

It's Elul, which is written with the Hebrew letters: Aleph, Lamed, Vov, Lamed. Written backwards it would spell: Lamed, Vov, Lamed, Aleph. Read this way, it spells two Hebrew words, the juxtaposition of which explain the entire struggle of this month. Lamed-Vov spells Lo – which means "for Him." Lamed-Aleph also spells Lo though the different letter changes the meaning to "No," a negation of our own self-interest. Elul poses the question: Who and what are we promoting in our life? Are we spending our time and our energy merely pursuing our own self-interests and self-advancement, or are we capable of accepting the challenge of Elul and recognizing that spiritual growth involves shifting our focus from the material realm and the realm of self-gratification in order to focus on the spiritual side of our existence, the side which concerns the meaning and purpose of our lives.

Allowing ourselves to become overly dependant on physical comforts can get in the way of our freedom to pursue spiritual goals. Sometimes G‑d helps us out by giving us a nudge in the right direction. He says "No" to something we want, which is in a sense saying "Enough of this already." The challenge of Elul means recognizing that G‑d is still speaking to us, even when He says "no."

As long as we continue to need more than we have, we remain in a state of incompletion, which we experience as an insatiable need for more. But when we begin to find fulfillment in what we already possess, then, for the first time, the experience of happiness and satiety finally becomes possible to us. G‑d wants us to experience the fullness and satisfaction lying just beneath the surface of our desire for more. So when He sees us getting caught up in the endless cycle of the bottomless more, he gives us a gift, the gift of a firm, "That's It. No More."

When this is the response we receive to our request for more, then, like the demanding toddler, we need to learn how to accept it gracefully, rather than emptying the rest of our bowl onto the floor. The difference between Jacob and Esau is that when comparing their wealth, Esau answered, "I have plenty," while Jacob, who had much less, answered, "I have it all" (Genesis 3:9). G‑d wants us, too, to experience the contentment of having it all. What prevents us from experiencing true satisfaction in our lives is our continual need for more.

This Elul, let's work on recognizing the blessing concealed in the gift of enough.


By Robyn Cuspin More articles... |


Robyn Cuspin is a therapist living in Israel.


http://www.chabad.org/theJewishWoman/article_cdo/aid/555539/jewish/The-Gift-of-Enough.htm

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Monday, September 10, 2012

I AM ONLY BEGINNING TO KNOW

I am beginning to know how to paint. It has taken me over fifty years to work to achieve this result, which is still far from complete. —Pierre-August Renoir (1841–1919)

I once attended a Renoir exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. One of the first sights when entering the exhibit was this quote, painted starkly in large, unadorned letters, centered on a bare, white wall. Renoir said this in 1913, at the age of seventy-two. By this time, the Impressionist artist was a master at his craft. He was well-established, and considered by many to be the greatest living painter in France.

One cannot help but marvel at his humility and self-awareness. While he did not trivialize the brilliance of his work, he also knew how far he still had to go.

It’s easy, sometimes, to feel content with how far we’ve come and how much mastery we’ve attained. To give ourselves a congratulatory pat on the back, stretch out our arms, pop open our recliners, and bask in the delightful glow of our accomplishments.

To some extent, we should feel proud of what we’ve achieved, how far we have come. And once in a while, we should relax—in body, perhaps even in mind. But never in spirit. Spiritually, we must internalize the balanced discernment of the mountain climber—simultaneously contented at seeing how far we’ve come and tenaciously eyeing the next mountain we must scale.

…And then the next one, and the next . . . never quite feeling like we’ve arrived at the zenith of our talent or ability or comprehension.

Renoir seemed to understand something that many of us, in our microwave generation of instant gratification and everything-at-our-fingertips technology, have a difficult time grasping: true mastery of anything—be it art, music, basketball, science, philosophy or spirituality—is not something that can be achieved in a month, a year, even a decade. Perhaps it’s not something we can attain at all, but an awareness that truly knowing means realizing how much we don’t know.

One might say that a life spent in a consciousness of, perhaps, inadequacy would feel frustrating and demoralizing. But perhaps it depends on our perspective. If it’s not just about us and our accomplishments, then the knowledge that true mastery is impossible, given the complexity and vastness of the subject or pursuit, might be the most liberating knowledge there is. For one, it tells us the infinite possibility and potential that lies within us and within humankind.

As I once heard someone say, life is like riding an escalator going down. If we don’t keep moving, learning, growing, increasing, we will inevitably fall. No matter how far we’ve come, there is always another level to reach, another mountain to scale. And one thing that G‑d undeniably gave the Jewish people is a deep yearning to strive, to be better, go father, do more, seek a higher truth. Something in our nature will not let us be completely happy with the status quo. If channeled the right way, this relentless craving to go higher and do more can allow us to transcend our limitations and reach awesome heights.

This message is especially relevant as we approach Rosh Hashanah. We are now reaching the eighteenth day of Elul, “Chai Elul.” This day is the first of the final twelve days of Elul, leading up to a new year of the Jewish calendar. Each of these twelve days symbolizes one month, and as such affords us the opportunity to reflect on our behavior and actions during that month, on what we have accomplished and how we can improve in the coming year. And on the first day of each new year, a new energy enters the world, one which has never before been experienced by humankind. That means a whole new reservoir of potential and possibility.

And if we ever feel ourselves growing stagnant or complacent, especially in spiritual matters—such as attempting an understanding of G‑d and this magnificent, mysterious world that He created—we must realize that the more we know, the more we are only beginning to know . . .

May you be inscribed for a good and sweet new year.


By Chava Shapiro More articles... |


Chava (Erica) Shapiro, a freelance writer and classical singer, is an alumna of the University of Michigan and the Mayanot Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. Originally from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, she now resides with her husband Michoel in Carlsbad, California.


http://www.chabad.org/theJewishWoman/article_cdo/aid/1600689/jewish/I-Am-Only-Beginning-to-Know.htm

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Saturday, September 08, 2012

BLESSED BY OUR DIFFERENCES

Romans 1:8b

...for all of you...





This can be a hard one. Paul didn't say as I might, "And I thank God for Rob, Ty, Jack and John...and not so much for the rest of you [just kidding]." Rather he said, "I thank God for all of you." In Romans 12:4-5, Paul deals with the body of Christ -- that's all of us: "Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others."
Clearly Paul really got it -- he understood that our differences should be celebrated not criticized or ridiculed. In his letter to the church at Corinth Paul writes, "If the ear should say, 'Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?" (1 Corinthians 12:16-17).
The challenge is not as much to philosophically understand this concept as it is in the difficulty of application. Why? Because we have a tendency to choose team members the same way we do our friends -- based upon what we have in common, not our differences. Imagine how poor a basketball team would be if it were made up only of players who could dribble and shoot from the perimeter. Who would rebound? Think about it related to our own physical bodies -- some parts like the eyes, may get a little more recognition than the kidneys, but try living without kidneys -- you wouldn't last very long no matter how well you could see. The same is true in the body of Christ -- and Paul understood this with crystal clarity -- it's why he thanked God for ALL of you!





Look around you: Who is in your small group? Who attends your Bible study? Do they look, think and act just like you? I hope not because some of my greatest growth as a Christian has been because of my relationships with people not in my economic bracket, who weren't raised like me, who were much older, or conversely much younger. The next time you have a chance, develop a relationship with a Christian brother or sister who is as different from you as the east from the west -- you will be blessed!

THE POCKET TESTAMENT LEAGUEPTL.ORG

PTL. ORG

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BLESSED BY OUR DIFFERENCES

Romans 1:8b

...for all of you...





This can be a hard one. Paul didn't say as I might, "And I thank God for Rob, Ty, Jack and John...and not so much for the rest of you [just kidding]." Rather he said, "I thank God for all of you." In Romans 12:4-5, Paul deals with the body of Christ -- that's all of us: "Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others."
Clearly Paul really got it -- he understood that our differences should be celebrated not criticized or ridiculed. In his letter to the church at Corinth Paul writes, "If the ear should say, 'Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?" (1 Corinthians 12:16-17).
The challenge is not as much to philosophically understand this concept as it is in the difficulty of application. Why? Because we have a tendency to choose team members the same way we do our friends -- based upon what we have in common, not our differences. Imagine how poor a basketball team would be if it were made up only of players who could dribble and shoot from the perimeter. Who would rebound? Think about it related to our own physical bodies -- some parts like the eyes, may get a little more recognition than the kidneys, but try living without kidneys -- you wouldn't last very long no matter how well you could see. The same is true in the body of Christ -- and Paul understood this with crystal clarity -- it's why he thanked God for ALL of you!





Look around you: Who is in your small group? Who attends your Bible study? Do they look, think and act just like you? I hope not because some of my greatest growth as a Christian has been because of my relationships with people not in my economic bracket, who weren't raised like me, who were much older, or conversely much younger. The next time you have a chance, develop a relationship with a Christian brother or sister who is as different from you as the east from the west -- you will be blessed!

THE POCKET TESTAMENT LEAGUEPTL.ORG

PTL. ORG

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Friday, September 07, 2012

THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY'S FLIP FLOP



The Democratic Party’s flip-flop and the resulting anger and confusion about whether or not to put reference to God into their platform, highlighted the great weakness in our political system. The Yes and No vote is reminiscent of another vote that was taken 2,000 years ago, which resulted in the one-man steering committee washing his hands of the whole process.This is what happens when a nation abandons the Bible as its moral guide. It has no rudder in the stormy sea of human opinion, so it is driven by whatever wind blows the hardest. When the Bible is abandoned, the question is asked, “Is killing a child in the womb morally okay?” The answer comes from those who yell the loudest. The same applies with homosexuality and other moral issues. Abraham Lincoln once said, “Our government rests in public opinion. Whoever can change public opinion, can change the government…” That becomes a weakness and not strength, when the Bible is left out of the equation.

The Scriptures are “a lamp to our feet and a light to out path.” When they are ignored we are left in moral darkness and we will soon forget the truth of the words “God mend thine every flaw, Confirm thy soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law!” Thomas Jefferson said “The greatest danger to American freedom is a government that ignores the Constitution.” I propose a small amendment to his words. They should read, “The greatest danger to American freedom is a government that ignores the Scriptures and treats the Constitution as though it was the Word of God.”

This fiasco should also remind us of Lincoln’s, “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.” Check this out: www.180movie.com.


WWW.LIVINGWATRR.COM














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Thursday, September 06, 2012

LEARNING TO BELIEVE

“And they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, ‘Hear me, O Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God and you shall be established; believe and remain steadfast to His prophets and you shall prosper.” II Chronicles 20: 20 Amplified Bible

EXPLORATION

“Learning to Believe in the Wilderness”

“Let us seek blessing for our journey through the wilderness. May we be held in the palm of God’s hand as we meet our Saviour may we keep the light before us.” Lisa Withrow Seasons of Prayer

What is the “wilderness place” in my life right now?

Do I believe God is with me as I journey through this barren, dry place?

“There is a voice that cries in the wilderness, the prophet word demanding change: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; fill in the gullies, level the ridges, straighten the crooked, move the mountains. God’s glory shall be revealed and every eye shall see it.’” Bruce Prewer

INSPIRATION

“Over the frontier, in the wilderness, it can seem as if the world is falling to pieces…and yet the call keeps coming, a call, I think, which is not so much to power as to community with all those others who are wounded, whose worlds or lives also seem to be falling apart, yet who are actually – we must believe – giving birth to something new.” Veronica Brady

In my husband Jim’s younger years, he was quite a traveler. He enjoyed seeing unusually remote parts of the world and one area he spent time in was the Middle East, especially around the desert areas of this region of the planet. One of his most striking experiences was traveling in the Sinai Desert with a group, and as Jim described the scene, he concluded that the word “barren” was not strong enough to portray the desolation he witnessed. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a woman came from behind a rock with a small herd of goats. Jim said he looked everywhere in the rock-filled terrain to try and see some type of tent where the lady might reside but to no avail. With a piercingly hot, desert sun penetrating the earth, Jim said that for him, it was one of the most isolated places he had ever been. And his feeling of aloneness was greater than he had ever experienced in his life.

When you and I think about what a “wilderness” is, probably these words, found in the dictionary, are the ones that come to our minds: “An uninhabited region. Barren. Empty. Wasteland. A wild region of bewildering vastness.” Does this sound like what a “wilderness” is? And furthermore, does this description paint an accurate picture of how a wilderness area feels in your own life right now? Is your personal wilderness a bewildering place that is so vast you feel like you can’t make your way out of it?

All through the Bible, we find stories of God’s children entering wilderness experiences – some for safety, some for refuge, and some for instruction.

Think of Moses, who after he killed an Egyptian, found the desert of Midian a place of safety. Then there were the children of Israel who were instructed by God in the wilderness experience of their lives. And this week, we looked at the time the prophet Elijah fled to the wilderness in desperation only to find the shelter of his Father’s refuge.

Wilderness experiences are not uncommon events in the lives of God’s children on earth. And most likely, not a one of us will leave this planet without experiencing a time when the parched dryness of the desert, or the loneliness of isolation, or the barrenness of the wasteland doesn’t make us not only question the route of our journey but also the Guide whom we feel has brought us into a place of such desolation.

This is why I’m so thankful the Bible is such a complete book, with story after story about the way other people, just like you and I, have battled through those times of abandonment, when a wilderness experience nearly saps every drop of your energy and leaves you feeling lost and forgotten.

I’m so grateful God doesn’t leave His children in a wasteland. And to highlight exactly how He comes to our rescue, God inserts an experience like that of King Jehoshaphat into a book of records, like Chronicles. If we will take the time to uncover the gold that is buried in the Wilderness of Tekoa, we will come away from our own wilderness experience with an even deeper belief in our Father and His tender care for us.

The thoughtful author and speaker, Kathy Galloway, describes personal wilderness experiences as those times when we are given the opportunity, “to explore the inner geography of our lives for areas of dead wood, thorns or tangled knots. Twisted relationships, the dead wood of old hurts or habits, the confusion that sometimes comes when we feel we can’t see the wood for the trees – all these are wilderness areas, and they need to be cleared away before growth and new life is possible. Or perhaps there are desert patches – arid, dry areas where nothing can grow or blossom, parts of us which have almost withered away from not being used or tended or tested – some tenderness, some care, some talent, some forgiveness, some humour – that need the water of life to bring them bursting into flower.”

In II Chronicles 20: 20, early in the morning, before the activities of the day had begun, the king and people of Judah went out into the wilderness. As they journeyed into this desolate place, King Jehoshaphat stood and from this barren wasteland, long before victory had been won, declared these words: “Believe in the Lord your God and you will be established – believe and you will remain steadfast.” In the midst of a desert place, trust in God became the bedrock of victory. What a wonderful voice of encouragement Jehoshaphat was to his people, for out of this time of apparent abandonment and fear, came a refreshing that watered the barren and brought forth life from the desolate.

Desert

“The desert waits, ready for those who come, who come obedient to the Spirit’s leading; or who are driven, because they will not come any other way.

The desert always waits, ready to let us know who we are – the place of self-discovery.

And whilst we fear, and rightly, the loneliness and emptiness and harshness we forget the angels, whom we cannot see for our blindness, but who come when God decides that we need their help; when we are ready for what they can give us.”

Ruth Burgess, in Bread of Tomorrow, ed. Janet Morley

AFFIRMATION

Look Beyond

“Your God is the dawn, and later He is full daylight, and later still high noon. You are the land that waits for the light, the blackboard that waits for the white chalk of the draughtsman who walks towards you with that chalk in his hand. Sit down and try to be still; sit still and try to hope. Look beyond yourself, beyond helplessness and your limitations, and wait. Your heart has been tried by suffering and darkness. Let your tears flow, to water the arid land of your faith. Persevere. Do not think of anything else. God is before you. God is coming to you… And if He is watching you, He loves you, and in loving you, He gives what you are looking for: Himself. What other gift could there be for one who had searched so hard. Our heart is so hard to satisfy. God alone can fill it. Things never can.”

Carlo Carretto, In Search of the Beyond

Your friend,

Dorothy Valcárcel,

Author When A Woman Meets Jesus

Dorothy@TransformationGarden.com


transformationgarden.com.

http://www.christianity.com/devotionals/TransformGarden/11676424/

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Wednesday, September 05, 2012

MY TEACHER AND THE POMEGRANATE

For the last few weeks I have been reading a book that was written by one of my professors at the Hebrew University, where I learnt Bible and Biblical Hebrew. His name is Yair Zakovitch and he is so knowledgeable that I would like to dedicate this newsletter to him. Prof. Zakovitch is as we say in Hebrew “a man that is full like a pomegranate” (מָלֵא כְּרִמּוֹן – “malle’ karimon”. The meaning of this expression is that without any doubt he is responsible for me being a Biblical Hebrew Teacher, he is a man that has a lot of wisdom and knowledge in a lot of fields.

Due to his wisdom as a pomegranate, I have decided to share with you all the information that the Hebrew Bible has on this topic. It is really important to emphasize that this fruit is very important in other cultures and religions as well. The Babylonians for example, believed that if you chew the grains of the pomegranate before you go to war, you will be undefeated in that war. In Old Egypt the people who buried people put a pomegranate in their grave as a sign of strength.


The first encounter with the pomegranate is found in the book of Exodus, when Moses described how the robe of the high priest should be as written:


“You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. There shall be an opening in its top in the middle of it; around its opening there shall be a binding of woven work, like the opening of a coat of mail, so that it will not be torn. You shall make on its hem pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet material, all around on its hem, and bells of gold between them all around: a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, all around on the hem of the robe”(Exodus 28:31-34)


You can see the same idea also in Exodus 39:24-25. The pomegranate, or “Rimon” in Hebrew is one of the signs of the high priest as he was a sign also for the Promised Land. After Moses sent the spies to enter this land one of the fruits that they brought was the pomegranate, as written:


“Then they came to the valley of Eshcol and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men, with some of the pomegranates and the figs.”(Numbers 13:23)


This fruit was also mentioned in the words of Moses to Israel in Deuteronomy, when the pomegranate is one of the seven species that the Land of Israel was blessed with, as you can read in Deuteronomy 8:7-8-


” For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey”

In the promised land, where the priest had to serve, there is another encounter with this fruit, as we can find him decorating the two pillars that were built by an unknown man from the tribe of Nafthaly, as written in 1 Kings 7:14,18, 20-


“He was a widow’s son from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze; and he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill for doing any work in bronze. So he came to King Solomon and performed all his work…. So he made the pillars, and two rows around on the one network to cover the capitals which were on the top of the pomegranates; and so he did for the other capital… There were capitals on the two pillars, even above and close to the rounded projection which was beside the network; and the pomegranates numbered two hundred in rows around both capitals”


Until now we have seen that the pomegranate is a sign of the high priest, the land of Israel, and the pillars of the temple, whose names are Boaz and Yachin. But this fruit is also a symbol of love as we can read in the beautiful words of Song of Songs 4:3-


“Your lips are like a scarlet thread, And your mouth is lovely. Your temples are like a slice of a pomegranate Behind your veil.”


Whether this love is between a man and a woman or between people and their G-d as the allegory is described, the pomegranate is a symbol of beauty in the most important issues in Judaism. Every year on Rosh Hashanah we eat this beautiful fruit.


Let us pray for happy year for all this world, Eli


http://mail.aol.com/36912-111/aol-6/en-us/mail/DisplayMessage.aspx?ws_popup=true

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Tuesday, September 04, 2012

WHAT'S THE PLAN?

Mary Southerland

Today’s Truth Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. Before you were born I set you apart! (Jeremiah 1:5, NIV).

Friend to Friend I want to be successful – don’t you? And the awesome news is that God wants us to be successful as well. When we know and seek God's perfect plan for our lives, we will find success. Our immeasurable value rests solely in the fact that God created us, that His stubborn love sets us apart and the amazing fact that He designed and empowers a unique plan for each one of us. Yes, I know that plans are rampant in your life. God loves you and everyone else has a plan for your life, right? But the only plan that matters is the plan made for you by the One who formed you - the One who loves you, knows you and has set you apart to be His own. And it is a great plan!

1.Your life plan is customized. Psalm 139:16 You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book!

You were born in response to the determined plan of God, not as an afterthought. Before you took even one breath, every day, every step and every circumstance in your plan was recorded. God's plan uses your strengths as well as your weaknesses. We all have strengths - they are part of the plan. We all have limitations - they are also part of the plan. We all have seasons of life that are essential to the plan as well. True success comes when, instead of constantly fighting against or trying to change the plan, we learn to identify and build on our strengths, accept the limitations as hedges of protection from God, and yield to the seasons in life as God's avenue of perfect timing. God's plan for you is not a "one-size-fits all." It is customized and just your size.

2. Your life plan is good. Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,” plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

For some reason we tend to think that God sat down one day and designed a sinister life plan laced with pain and defeat. Nothing could be farther from the truth. This train of thought contradicts the very nature of God and misunderstands His heart - the heart of a loving Father who wants the absolute highest and best plan for His child. It is a good plan!

3. Your life plan is guaranteed. 1 Thessalonians 5:24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

God always empowers what He calls us to do. With the plan comes every resource that we will need to accomplish that plan. For many years, my life mission was really quite simple. I tried and often succeeded in filling every waking moment with activity. Oh, it was wonderful activity filled with good things - but they were not the best things or the highest things for my life. I did many of those things in order to feel worthy and important, hoping they would bring my life into balance and under control. I hoped that doing good things would provide a purpose and plan for the restlessness in my soul. While sitting at the bottom of a deep, dark pit named "Clinical Depression," I discovered a truth that has redefined who I am and altered my soul perception of God. I now realize that the most powerful life flows from a clear life plan not to it!

How do we discover our life plan?

At first glance, that question may seem complicated and almost impossible to answer, but when we spend time with the Plan Maker, that question is easily answered as we step out in obedience to God. When we begin to saturate daily life with His truth and continually turn our hearts to conversation with God, His plan naturally unfolds as we take every "next step" in obedience. Consider the following questions when praying about and asking God to reveal His plan for your life:

· What are your spiritual gifts?

· What are you passionate about?

· What are your natural abilities?

· What is your personality type?

· What are the spiritual markers in your life?

· What do others see in you?

After a two-year battle with clinical depression, I realized that I had lived a great deal of my life based on the wrong plan. I began to ask these questions, looking for the gifts He has given me instead of the ones I thought I should have or wanted to have. I began to accept my limitations knowing that He had woven them into the seams of my journey for my good. I began yielding to the seasons of life, trusting Him to lead the way through this foreign land called life.

Guess what? I looked around one day to find myself smack-dab in the middle of His life plan for me. It was suddenly so simple and amazingly clear! I am learning to say "no" to those things that do not fit into that life mission. Certainly, I fail and have to begin again. And sometimes I am misunderstood because I have chosen to follow God's plan instead of someone else's. But I would rather be misunderstood than disobedient. I had to choose a new audience for this race of life and so must you. I had to make a decision about the One I wanted to please and so must you. Don’t waste another minute on anything but God’s very best plan for your life.

Let’s Pray Father, I want to know and live out the plan You have for me. Sometimes my faith is weak but I really do want to please and honor You. Guide my steps, Lord. Give me Your strength to be obedient. Thank You for giving my life purpose and meaning. Today, I choose Your plan above all others and celebrate the joy I find in knowing You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Now It’s Your Turn Read and memorize Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Spend time alone with God in prayer and ask Him to help you answer the following questions:

· What are my spiritual gifts?

· What am I passionate about?

· What are my natural abilities?

· What is my personality type?

· What are the spiritual markers in my life?

· What do others see in me?

www.girlfriendsingod.com

http://www.christianity.com/devotionals/girlfriends-in-god/11676296/

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Monday, September 03, 2012

BRIGHAM YOUNG'S 55 WIFES

Brigham Young, Joseph Smith's successor as president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, had a tremendous number of wives.

Ann Eliza Webb, after she decided to divorce Young in 1873, published an exposé entitled Wife No. 19. A later biography of Ann Eliza Young termed her The Twenty-Seventh Wife. It turns out that she was actually wife No. 52 or thereabouts.

Recent studies, including my own, have found 55 well-documented marriages. There are several debatable cases, but most readers will agree that anything over 50 is rather extravagant as far as marriage is concerned. Brigham Young was probably the most oft-married man in 19th-century America.

The sheer variety of Brigham Young's marriages makes it difficult to make sense of them. He married -- was sealed to, in Mormon parlance -- young (Clarissa Decker, 15) and old (Hannah Tapfield King, 65). He married single women and widows. Perhaps most unusually, he was sealed to his first two mothers-in-law. Perhaps most controversially, he married women who were already married, some to Mormon men in good standing.



As of early 1842, Brigham Young was a contented monogamist. He dearly loved his wife, Mary Ann Angell. "This evening I am with my wife a lone by my fire side for the first time for years," Young wrote in his diary in January 1842. "We injoi it and feele to prase the Lord."

Two months later, Young proposed marriage to a 17-year-old British Mormon named Martha Brotherton who had recently arrived in Illinois. She turned him down and signed an affidavit denouncing his behavior. Nevertheless, in June Young proposed to a second woman, who accepted him.

Young probably felt some level of attraction to Brotherton, whom he had known in England. But lust or sexual attraction was not the reason for his entrance into polygamy. Instead, Young sought a second wife because Joseph Smith instructed him that plural marriage was a divine commandment that would bring a select number of righteous men tremendous blessings for eternity. Young briefly resisted Smith's new teaching, later explaining that it was the only time in his life that he "desired the grave." Once he accepted it, however, he accepted it wholeheartedly.

After his first plural marriage, Young married three more times before Smith's 1844 murder. Young did not live with any of his additional wives, and they bore him no children during these years. During the year after Smith's death, Young married around 15 women. Celestial marriage became more of an earthly reality now, as Young began to have children with several of his wives. His rate of marriage peaked in early 1846, when he married nearly 20 additional wives in the church's Nauvoo, Ill., temple. Shortly thereafter, Brigham Young headed for the American West, bringing with him many of the women who had married him over the previous four years.

While writing about 55 marriages creates unusual challenges for a biographer, Young married a string of fascinating women who are a treasure trove of information about early Mormon polygamy and Young's family life:
•Augusta Adams, disappointed at being one of many, wrote scores of letters to her husband complaining of financial and sexual neglect, expressing jealousy of other wives, and even swearing at Young. Still, when outsiders portrayed Mormon women as slaves of their husbands, Adams sharply defended plural marriage in public forums.
•Lydia Farnsworth begged Young to marry her. In 1855, she met with him and expressed her "conviction that I belong to you." Two years later, she repeated her desire "to be sealed to you for Eternity." Young curtly dismissed her entreaties. "[W]hen I wish to have any woman sealed to me," he upbraided her in a letter, "I shall reveal the fact. I am not guided by revelations coming through any woman." For unknown reasons, he later changed his mind and granted Farnsworth's request.
•Zina Huntington cried before she moved into a home with a number of Young's other wives. "I wept," she wrote, "yes wept bitterness of Soul y[e]a sorrow and tears that wore rung from a heavy hart." Though she admired Young fervently, she knew what she would lose by joining a polygamous household.

Adams, Farnsworth and Huntington were all married to other men at the time of their sealing to Young. These instances involve the sort of scandalous stories that are undeniably intriguing about early Mormon polygamy: jilted husbands, scorned wives and considerable gossip.

Beyond such sensationalistic material, Young's marriages reveal a great deal about his personality and humanity. In interactions with his wives, he was at various times romantic and aloof, generous and stingy. Even as an older man, he could fall in love, but he could also grow cold to those he had once loved. As was the case with many of his other followers, he could both thrill his wives and deeply disappoint them.

Young did not care very much what others thought about his marriages, and he had little patience -- or time -- for his wives when they expressed dissatisfaction. When wives demanded divorces, though, he granted them. He also bought homes for women in outlying Utah settlements for wives who preferred a greater measure of independence or privacy. At the same time, he tried dearly to create a harmonious and united family, instructing his wives and children to join him for prayer each day.

Regardless of the strong moral reactions polygamy has always generated, plural marriage showcases one of the defining traits of early Mormonism -- its sheer audacity. When they bumped up against the conventions and limits of 19th-century politics, economics, theology and marriage, early Mormon leaders like Joseph Smith and Brigham Young proposed their own audacious paths. Young led thousands of beleaguered refugees across the plains and over the Rocky Mountains, attempted to establish an independent political kingdom at a time of expanding American power, wanted his followers to consecrate all their property to the church and married nearly three score women. Many of the women in Young's life, such as Augusta Adams, Lydia Farnsworth and Zina Huntington, were equally bold. They made choices that severed old bonds, opened up new possibilities and perhaps inevitably brought them a measure of grief in the process. Given such audacity, Brigham Young's life -- and his marriages -- necessarily produced a heady mixture of failure and success, but it was never dull.

John G. Turner teaches religious studies at George Mason University and is the author of 'Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet' (Harvard University Press).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-g-turner/brigham-young-and-polygamy_b_1792555.html?utm_campaign=082712&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Alert-religion&utm_content=Photo#slide=more245644 (SEE MORE PICTURES HERE)

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Sunday, September 02, 2012

TO ME THIS IS JUST PLAIN STUPID: THE EVOLUTION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

A chronological New Testament is different from and yet the same as the New Testament familiar to Christians. It contains the same 27 documents, but sequences them in the chronological order in which they were written.

The familiar New Testament begins with the Gospels and concludes with Revelation for obvious reasons. Jesus is the central figure of Christianity and so the New Testament begins with Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Revelation is about "the last things" and the second coming of Jesus, so it makes sense that it comes at the end. Revelation and the Gospels function as bookends for the New Testament. Everything else comes between: Acts, 13 letters attributed to Paul, and eight attributed to other early Christian figures.

A chronological New Testament sequences the documents very differently. Its order is based on contemporary mainstream biblical scholarship. Though there is uncertainty about dating some of the documents, there is a scholarly consensus about the basic framework.

It begins with seven letters attributed to Paul, all from the 50s. The first Gospel is Mark (not Matthew), written around 70. Revelation is not last, but almost in the middle, written in the 90s. Twelve documents follow Revelation, with II Peter the last, written as late as near the middle of the second century.

A chronological New Testament is not only about sequence, but also about chronological context -- the context-in-time, the historical context in which each document was written. Words have their meaning within their temporal contexts, in the New Testament and the Bible as a whole.

Seeing and reading the New Testament in chronological sequence matters for historical reasons. It illuminates Christian origins. Much becomes apparent:
•Beginning with seven of Paul's letters illustrates that there were vibrant Christian communities spread throughout the Roman Empire before there were written Gospels. His letters provide a "window" into the life of very early Christian communities.
•Placing the Gospels after Paul makes it clear that as written documents they are not the source of early Christianity but its product. The Gospel -- the good news -- of and about Jesus existed before the Gospels. They are the products of early Christian communities several decades after Jesus' historical life and tell us how those communities saw his significance in their historical context.
•Reading the Gospels in chronological order beginning with Mark demonstrates that early Christian understandings of Jesus and his significance developed. As Matthew and Luke used Mark as a source, they not only added to Mark but often modified Mark.
•Seeing John separated from the other Gospels and relatively late in the New Testament makes it clear how different his Gospel is. In consistently metaphorical and symbolic language, it is primarily "witness" or "testimony" to what Jesus had become in the life and thought of John's community.
•Realizing that many of the documents are from the late first and early second centuries allows us to glimpse developments in early Christianity in its third and fourth generations. In general, they reflect a trajectory that moves from the radicalism of Jesus and Paul to increasing accommodation with the cultural conventions of the time.

Awareness of the above matters not just for historical reasons but also for Christian reasons. American Christianity today is deeply divided. At the heart of the division, especially among Protestants, is two very different ways of seeing the Bible and the New Testament. About half of American Protestants belong to churches that teach that the Bible is the inerrant "Word of God" and "inspired by God."

The key word is "inerrant." Christians from antiquity onward have affirmed that the Bible is "the Word of God" and "inspired" without thinking of it is inerrant. Biblical inerrancy is an innovation of the last few centuries, becoming widespread in American Protestantism beginning only a hundred years ago. It is affirmed mostly in "independent" Protestant churches, those not part of "mainline" Protestant denominations. Catholics have never proclaimed the inerrancy or infallibility of the Bible, even as many have not been taught much about the Bible.

Biblical inerrancy is almost always combined with the literal and absolute interpretation of the Bible. If it says something happened, it happened. If the Bible says something is wrong, it is wrong.

For Christians who see the Bible this way, whatever Paul wrote to his communities in the first century is absolutely true for all time. For them, whatever the Gospels report that Jesus said and did really was said and done by him. So also the stories of the beginning and end of his life are literally and factually true: he was conceived in a virgin without a human father, his tomb really was empty even though it was guarded by Roman soldiers, and his followers saw him raised in physical bodily form.

These Christians are unlikely to embrace a chronological New Testament. It would not only change the way the see the Bible and the New Testament, but also make them suspect and probably unwelcome in the Christian communities to which they belong.

There are also many Christians, as well as many who have left the church, for whom the inerrancy of the Bible and its literal and absolute interpretation are unpersuasive, incredible, impossible to believe. For these Christians, as well as others interested in the origins of Christianity, a chronological New Testament, I trust, can be interesting, helpful and illuminating.





1 Thessalonians

"The first document in this chronological New Testament is Paul's letter to a Christ-community in Thessalonica, the capital city of Macedonia, a province in northern Greece. It was written around the year 50, possibly a year or two earlier. Somewhat surprisingly, given the movement's origin among Jews in the Jewish homeland, the earliest Christian document is written to a community in Europe, which was largely Gentile." (Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written)


Galatians

"Whether this letter should be second in a chronological New Testament is a toss-up. The other serious candidate is Paul's first letter to Corinth, customarily dated around 54. Because some scholars date Galatians as early as 50 and many others in the first half of the 50s, I have decided to put it before 1 Corinthians." (Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written)


1 Corinthians

"First Corinthians is the second longest of Paul's letters. Only Romans is longer, and thus this letter comes right after Romans in the canonical New Testament. But in this chronological New Testament, it comes after 1 Thessalonians and Galatians. According to Acts, Paul created a Christ-community in Corinth in southern Greece around the year 50." (Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written)


Philemon

"In the canonical New Testament, Philemon is the last of the 13 letters attributed to Paul because it is the shortest, only 25 verses long, so brief it is not even divided into chapters. But in this chronological New Testament, it comes early, in the middle of the seven letters universally accepted as by Paul himself. Philemon is one of Paul's 'prison letters. From details in the letter, we know that it was a Roman prison. Some scholars think it was in the city of Rome and thus date Philemon to Paul's imprisonment there in the early 60s. But there were Roman prisons throughout the empire, especially in provincial capitals such as Ephesus in Asia Minor. A majority think these two letters were written during an imprisonment in Ephesus in the mid-50s. Because they were written near each other in time, it is arbitrary to place one ahead of the other. For didactic rather than historical reasons, I have put Philemon before Philippians." (Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written)


Philippians

"Philippians is the most consistently affectionate of Paul's letters. Philippi was the capital of ancient Macedonia, in northern Greece. According to Acts 16, it was the first city in Europe in which Paul founded a Christ-community after leaving Asia Minor in the late 40s. We do not know if he had visited it in the years since, though it seems likely, given his visits to Macedonia. In any case, his relationship to the community seems to have been uncomplicated. The tone of the letter is not only affectionate, but filled with gratitude. It also contains important and extraordinary passages. Like Philemon, Philippians was written from a Roman prison, probably from the same imprisonment in Ephesus in the mid-50s. Unlike in the closing of Philemon, in which Paul writes that he hopes to be freed, in his letter he is uncertain about whether his imprisonment might end in execution." (Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written)


2 Corinthians

"Second Corinthians is not a single letter, but a combination of at least three letters from Paul to the Christ-community in Corinth. Though there is consensus within modern scholarship about its composite character, there is no unanimity about the extent of each letter. The most common divisions are chapters 1-7, 8-9, and 10-13, though probably not in that sequence. The community in Corinth preserved these letters and later combined them into one letter as 2 Corinthians. That this letter combines several letters is important not only for reading and interpreting it, but also because it provides a vivid glimpse of Paul's continuing relationship to one of his communities. Recall that Paul founded the community in Corinth around the year 50 and spent a year or two there. Recall also that 1 Corinthians refers to a previous letter that he had written to the Corinthians and also to a letter he had received from them. Second Corinthians adds to this correspondence." (Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written)


Romans

"Paul's letter to the Christ-communities in Rome is distinctive in many ways. It is his longest letter. Only 1 Corinthians is a serious rival. It is the only letter he wrote to people he didn't know; Paul had never been to Rome. Unlike his other letters, it does not deal with highly specific issues like whether it's acceptable to eat meat sacrificed to idols, for women to prophesy with their heads uncovered, for male Gentile converts to remain uncircumcised, or for a Christian master to have a Christian slave. Except for a brief section near the end on 'weak' and 'strong' within the community, Romans has none of this specificity. It is probably his last letter. Though a small minority of scholars think that the 'prison letters' -- Philippians, Philemon and Colossians -- are later, most think Romans is the last of the universally agreed upon seven genuine letters of Paul. He wrote it from Corinth around the year 58, just before he began what became his final journey to Jerusalem, arrest, imprisonment, and eventual execution in Rome itself." (Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written)


Mark

"Around the year 70, an early Christian put the story of Jesus into written form for the first time. Though the location is uncertain, the best guess is a Christ-community near the northern border of Galilee in the Jewish homeland. We call the document 'Mark,' though it is not certain that somebody named 'Mark' wrote it. The gospel does not name the author; he did not write 'The Gospel According to Mark' at the top of the first page. So also the authors of Matthew, Luke, and John do not name themselves. Names were assigned only in the second century when the existence of several gospels required a way of distinguishing among them. Perhaps somebody named 'Mark' wrote the earliest gospel, and perhaps not. It really doesn't matter; its value doesn't depend upon who wrote it. But we will call him and his gospel 'Mark.' (Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written)


James

"The dating and authority of James are inextricably intertwined. The author identifies himself as 'James' (1.1). For centuries, Christian tradition took it for granted that the author was James, the brother of Jesus. According to Acts and Paul, James was the 'leader' or 'head' of the Christian community in Jerusalem. He was executed in the early 60s. If by this James, the letter must have been written before the early 60s, thus making it earlier than any of the gospels. Indeed, some scholars argue that it could have been written in the 40s or 50s, which could make it as early or even earlier than the letters of Paul -- perhaps the earliest document in the New Testament. But the majority of mainstream scholars do not think the author was the brother of Jesus. The author does not say so, but describes himself simply as 'James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.' Moreover, his use of Greek language and grammar is quite sophisticated -- not impossible for a brother of Jesus from the peasant class who native language was Aramaic, but at least somewhat unlikely. If the author was not the brother of Jesus, then its date becomes wide open. There is no scholarly consensus. Estimates range the 70s or 80s to as late as the early 100s. I have decided to place it in the 70s or 80s, later than Mark, but before Matthew, because much of James seems like early tradition." (Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written)


Colossians

"Colossians is almost certainly the earliest of the letters attributed to Paul but not actually written by him. Its strongest literary connections are to Ephesians, whose author most likely knew Colossians. Ephesians was most likely written no later than around the year 90, and thus Colossians must have been written earlier, probably in the 80s." (Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written)


Matthew

"Matthew was written a decade or two after Mark, in the 80s or perhaps early 90s. Along with John, it is one of two gospels named after a disciple of Jesus. According to 9.9, Matthew was a tax collector before Jesus called him to be a disciple. Mark and Luke tell the same story, but name the tax collector 'Levi.' They could be different names for the same person. The name Matthew also appears in all the lists of the 12 disciples in the gospels and Acts. For centuries, it has been taken for granted that this gospel was written by this Matthew, and thus by an eyewitness to the historical life of Jesus. And not just any eyewitness, but one of the inner circle of 12." (Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written)


Hebrews

"The document we know as 'the letter to the Hebrews' is exceptionally rich. Its central and best-known metaphor presents Jesus as the 'great high priest' who offers himself as the 'once for all' sacrifice. Its chapters on faith is one of the most famous in the New Testament. Its creative use of texts from the Jewish Bible, especially from Psalms and the prophets, is powerful. We do not know who wrote it. In the 200s, an early Christian theologian named Origen said that its author 'was known only to God.' In the centuries since, there have been guesses, Around the year 400, Augustine and Jerome suggested it was written by Paul, and thus it has sometimes been called the 14th letter of Paul. But there is no reason to think Paul wrote it, and many reasons to think he did not. Other guesses have included Barnabas, Apollos, and Priscilla. None is persuasive, and modern scholarship agrees with Origen: God only knows who wrote it." (Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written)


John

"Mainline scholars commonly date John around the year 90. Most also think that John has earlier and later layers. The clearest example is that the gospel seems to end twice -- once at the end of chapter 20 and again at the end of chapter 21. The most plausible explanation is that John 21 was added to a 'first edition' that ended with John 20. Scholars have also argued that the author may have had what is commonly called a 'signs source.' Despite uncertainty about what might be earlier and what is likely later, there is a strong consensus that the form in which we have John came from the decade of the 90s. It tells us how Jesus was spoken of in a Christian community near the end of the first century. It does not tell us very much about how Jesus himself spoke." (Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written)


Ephesians

"Like Colossians, Ephesians is one of the 'disputed' letters of Paul. A minority of modern scholars argue that it was written by Paul, but a majority have concluded that it was written by a generation or so after Paul's death. Though it has the typical forms of a Pauline letter and echoes some important themes from the seven genuine letters of Paul, it also differs in a number of ways. The framework for dating it is created by its close parallels to parts of Colossians that indicate that Colossians is earlier; and it seems to have been known by the Christian author Ignatius around the year 100. The suggests a date around 90." (Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written)


Revelation

"Because Revelation refers to persecution, it has been commonly dated either in the mid to late 60s, shortly after Nero's persecution, or in the mid-90s near the end of the reign of the emperor Dormitian (c. 96 CE). But Nero's persecution of Christians was confined to the city of Rome and did not affect Asia Minor, and the historical evidence for official Roman persecution under Dormitian is very weak. Moreover, the document itself does not indicate that large-scale persecution was already under way. The letter to Smyrna warns that suffering is imminent, but has not yet begun: "Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Beware, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have affliction. Be faithful until death" (2.10). The letter to Pergamum names one Christian who has already been killed (2.13). One of the visions refers to 'those who had been slaughtered for the word of God and for the testimony they had given' and to future persecution of 'their brothers and sisters, who were soon to be killed' (6.9-11). But the massive persecution of which it warns is still future from its point in time. Thus most contemporary scholars affirm that the persecutions in Revelation were unofficial, local, sporadic, and not official Roman persecution. With the link to Roman persecution severed, the primary reason for dating it in the 60s or the 90s is gone. Along with most scholars, I date it no earlier than the 90s, in part because its criticism of Christians in the seven communities sounds as though it is directed to second- or third- generation followers of Jesus who have begun to accommodate to the norms and values of the dominant culture. But it is also possible that it was written in the early decades of the second century." (Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written)


Jude

"Jude is perhaps the strangest document in the New Testament. It is one of the shortest, about a page long,and is the most enigmatic. Its authorship, the community to which it was addressed, and its date involve more 'guesswork' than any other document. The author identifies himself as 'Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James' (v.1). Jude (Judas) was a common name in New Testament times. According to Mark 6.3, one of Jesus's brothers was named Jude. Because the author of this letter also identifies himself as 'brother of James,' another brother of Jesus and leader of the Christ-community in Jerusalem, it was taken for granted until recently that the author was also a brother of Jesus. If so, that would make Jude one of the earliest documents in the New Testament. But modern mainline scholars have concluded that it was written much later. The precision is impossible, most date it around 100. It contains nothing that suggests the location of either the author or its recipients." (Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written)


1 John, 2 John and 3 John

'Three letters are attributed to 'John' in the New Testament. The first is the most substantial and important. Five chapters long, it emphasizes love as much as any document in the New Testament. The other two are less than a page long and are among the shortest documents in Christian scripture. Dating these letters is difficult. There is a consensus that they are later than the gospel of John, most likely written around 100. But there is no way of knowing whether all were written at about the same time or whether they might be separated by a decade or more. I have decided to keep them together without any particularly good reason to do so, just as there is no particularly good reason to do so, just as there is no particularly good reason to separate them chronologically." (Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written)


2 John

As mentioned in the previous slide, this letter was most likely written around 100.


3 John

As mentioned in the previous slide, this letter was most likely written around 100.


Luke

"The gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles belong together. For about a century, the conventional wisdom of mainline scholarship has dated Luke and Acts to the late 80s or 90s. But in the last decade, a growing number of scholars have dated them significantly later, in the first decade or two of the second century. Thus there is no consensus about their dating, though probably at least a slight majority still favor the 80s to 90s. They see Luke, like Matthew, as written a decade or two after Mark and thus as a voice from a generation or so later. In this view, there is no compelling reason to date Matthew earlier than Luke or vice versa. Thus Luke and Acts would belong in the first half of the New Testament chronologically -- not long after Mark, roughly contemporary with Matthew, and before John, Revelation, and several letters. Dating them later, as I do, is the exception to the rule that I have sought to follow, which is to reflect consensus conclusion when possible, and, when there is no consensus, to follow majority opinion. The growing movement to date Luke and Acts in the early second century has more than one foundation. Some scholars argue that the author knew passages from the works of Josephus, a Jewish historian who wrote in the 90s, thus making Luke-Acts later than that. Though the evidence that the author dd know the writings of Josephus is not completely persuasive, there is another reason for a date a decade or two later than Matthew, namely, both Luke and Acts emphasize the constant rejection of Jesus by 'the Jews.'" (Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written)


Acts

As mentioned in the previous slide, this letter is dated to the first decade or two of the second century.


2 Thessalonians

"Paul's first letter to the Christ-community in Thessalonica in northern Greece is the earliest document in the New Testament, but 2 Thessalonians is one of the disputed letters of Paul. The majority of mainstream scholars do not think it was written by Paul, but by someone writing in his name some three to four decades after his martyrdom in the 60s." (Pg. 547) (Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written)


1 Peter

Two letters in the New Testament are attributed to Peter, the most important of Jesus' male disciples, who was executed in Rome around the year 64. But the majority of mainstream scholars do not think that either one was written by Peter. The letters reflect a later historical context. Moreover, they were not written by the same person. Second Peter is significantly later than 1 Peter. There is no unanimity about [1 Peter's] date. Some mainline scholars date it to around 90 or as early as 80s. The reason is that some think that the author of 1 Clement, an early Christian letter not in the New Testament but dated by some to around the year 96, knew of 1 Peter. If so, 95 or so is the latest possible date for 1 Peter. But is is not clear that 1 Clement was written that early. Moreover, because both 1 Clement and 1 Peter were most likely written in Rome, their authors might well have known each other. Given that, similarity of language need not mean literary dependence. Some of its themes, especially its endorsement of Roman authority and imperial conventions about slavery, suggest a date early in the second century." (Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written)


1 Timothy

"In the canonical New Testament, 1 Timothy is the first of three letters known as the 'pastoral letters' or 'pastoral epistles.' The other two are 2 Timothy and Titus. They are called 'pastoral' in part because they are addressed to two early Christian 'pastors,' Timothy and Titus. 'Pastor' did not yet refer to an official institutional role, but had its ancient meaning of shepherd, leader of the flock. Their themes are also pastoral, providing practical advice for ordering the community's life. Though all three letters claim to be written by Paul, most modern scholars see them as written long after his death in the first decades of the second century. There is a consensus that they were all written by teh same person. But was that person Paul? For more than one reason, authorship by Paul has been rejected." (Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written)


2 Timothy

As mentioned in the previous slide, along with 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy was composed in the first decades of the second century. (Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written)


Titus

As mentioned in previous slides, along with 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy, it this letter is believed to have been composed in the first decades of the second century.


2 Peter

"There is a strong scholarly consensus that 2 Peter is the last New Testament document to be written. Some date it as late as 150, and most date it between 120 and 150. Among the reasons for its late dating are its references to 1 Peter (3.1), its mention of the letters of Paul (3.15-16), and its use of phrases from the letter of Jude. In addition, it offers an explanation for the delay of the second coming of Jesus (3.3-10)." (Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written)

New Testament Books in Chronological Order

1 Thessalonians

"The first document in this chronological New Testament is Paul's letter to a Christ-community in Thessalonica, the capital city of


Marcus Borg

Canon Theologian, Trinity Episcopal Cathedra

A Chronological New Testament

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