EASTER!

This year it is split into Three.

One has passed, the Jewish Passover is to come and the Eastern orthodox will be still much later this year, but the message is still relevant and many people are seeing the growth of Islamic influences more so in Europe and they now fear that Christians will be left behind with the many secular changes in laws and the taking away or watering down on the emphasis of Easter?

We as believers know the story well of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus but there is one area that one has never noticed being covered in the events of Good Friday and that is the darkness that fell over Jerusalem and Israel as Jesus hung dying on the cross for all human failures!

Matthew 27:45, Mark 15:33, Luke 23:44, John 3:19, 8:12, 12:35, Acts 26:18, 2 Corinthians 4:6.

When we come away at the end after Jesus death a Roman soldier believed and how many were to follow on that day alone and still do to this day?

Mark 9:49!

In the AV/KJV, but not in the ESV?

Why has a crucial text in the Gospel of mark been removed by the modern translators of the ESV, thus loosing an important message of Salvation to the readers?

One has to wonder how much more of the Bible is to be changed to satisfy the selfishness that is entering Ekklesia in relation to justifying conduct and life style to fit in with the ideology of the world and the loss of an important message that our Lord was warning if lost cannot be got back again!

Matthew 5:13, Mark 9:50, Luke 14:34, Colossians 4:6.

Modern Translations!

Missing the definitions of the text?

Many of the new translations of the Holy Bible, that have sought to move away from the King James version have done an injustice to the Greek, if not also the Hebrew languages and lumped words together into one, when missing the real context of what is being said!

It remains hard to know if this has been done deliberately or it is just being lazy in the work, hoping that only a few would take any notice?

We need to be clear and understand what God is saying to us in the scriptures so that we can preach the Gospel message and see souls saved!

Matthew 22:29, John 4:23-24, Romans 15:4, Hebrews 4:12-13, Revelation 3:20.

Woke-ism and Christianity!

Allowing in more delusion?

First it was issues around divorce, then abortion and now in the last few years more so in the western-Churches homosexuality and now WOKE!

Soon if believers do not take action it will be the undoing of the Holy Bible, last time we discussed the removal of the word rape for another one in relation to Tamar being violated a word that has many connotations, where rape is what it is.

Many other description’s of vile sin too will in time be replaced and the whole emphasis of the Christian faith will be under minded to perhaps a book of fables?

Isaiah 50:8, 51:17, 58:6, 2 Corinthians 11:12, Ephesians 6:13.

Happy New Year 2024!

Jesus and the Law?

Many unwise believers today think that God has given up on His law and its application in our lives, but as we who have a personal faith should know that He has not and the Law of God is eternal!

Yes we are free from the curses of breaking the Law and its punishment, because Jesus fulfilled this for us on the cross and His rising from the dead!

But the law is still not to be abused or ignored and the ten Commandments are part of the 613 laws that cover all area of our lives, they are not archaic as some believe, because of where we might live in the world and we are advised to obey them in our relationship with Jesus, while also pointing them out to both Kosmon and to Ekklesia?

Exodus 20:1-17, Leviticus 19:22, Matthew 19:17-19, 1 John 4:7-21.

The cost of Faith!

Bearing Witness?

All believers will be challenged about our faith in Jesus, about truth, honesty and integrity and we have both a testimony and a knowledge of God and what He is doing for us!

When we think of Stephen the first martyr of the Ekklesia, we see a man who could not be out done and so out of spite and jealousy free slaves handed him over to the religious men of the day to have him stoned to death.

Many believers around the world today are being murdered for the name of Jesus, wither they practice or not, they bear the name Christian and Islam is one of the most hostile followed by all atheism nations who make excuses for truths they cannot bear to hear?

Matthew 10:15, Mark 13:9, Luke 21:13, John 15:26, Revelation 6:9-11.

Creationism!

The Genesis Factor?

The debate in the world continues over creationism and Darwinian theory as too evolution only from a scientific point of view, that always discounts the facts of the Holy Bible and yet here in the scriptures we have the simple answers to complex questions!

In recent years climate change or global warming are at the of the agenda of humanity and one would think why are we not racing to save our planet?

Biblical truth points to our world created out of water and the first world destroyed by it because of evil, but this second world is to be destroyed by fire and it will become dry and parched!

Genesis 1:6, 9, 9:15, Hebrews 11:3, 2 Peter 3:5-7.

Bear Fruit!

For God.

We all who believe have been set free and thus we are told in the book of the Romans, that our purpose is to bear fruit for our Father.

But in this context Paul is not writing in relation directly to winning souls, but to that of improving our character, that we are more Holy towards God and able to cope with the hostility that is around us.

We are precious to God and He wants the best for us, since we would be enabled to not get angry or slack in our service to Him, we would be stronger to counter the silly arguments at times the world try to throw at us?

Romans 7:11, (6:22), 2 Corinthians 10:5, Galatians 5:22, Ephesians 5:9.

Blessing God!

Many believers only see it the other way?

But in the New Testament we find two passages in the Gospels in relation to two men blessing God, one in relation to John the Baptizer and the other in the Temple at Jesus’ circumcision. Luke 1:64 and 2:28 respectively.

Zechariah could speak and Simeon had lived long enough to see this day of both the last and greatest prophet John and the Messiah.

Many people today are living a long time again and some believers will live long enough to see our Lord returning on the clouds of glory, but even more so since we live the this time of Spirit and truth John 4:23-24, we should bless the Lord everyday both in prayer and in worship!

Pentecost!

A gap between the Jews and the Gentiles?

Most believers just accept that the Holy Spirit was poured out on all in Jerusalem, ten days after Jesus ascended into Heaven!

But when we read the book of Acts we will discover that this is not true and there is a substantial gap, letting us know that it was the believing Jews who first received and then much later the Gentiles through the work of the Apostle Peter.

This theme runs right through the New Testament in Revelation the tribulation will come to the Jews first, then to the rest of the world.

Acts 2:1-6, 10:44-46. 11:1.