#I consider it a miracle to make a full ref out of one of the many oc concepts I have lying around

[pink-pone]

nothing in life prepared me for owning 274561 ocs and not being able to draw them enough

[kaiwritess]

Hiii! Soooo I’m still kinda new to s Haikyuu!!! (Just finished the 2nd season) but I noticed there aren’t a lot of Karasuno imagines are there, soooo I’m here to request for Tadashi, Noya, Hinata and Suva with an s/o who’s usually very quiet and shy during the games but one rlly intense game they get super fired up and they get visibly frustrated, but once their bf gets the ball (or does like a super cool move lol) their s/o just yells “hell yeah!” and how the bois would react to them.

shid i had so much fun writing this :0

HCs of a Usually Quiet S/O Getting Excited During a Game

Yamaguchi Tadashi

Yamaguchi is called to be a pinch server in a very close game. The sets are tied, 1-1, and the score is 23-23. Karasuno has the ball.

Poor boy is feeling more nervous than he had ever felt before. Usually, the nerves don’t get to him anymore, but this game was different.

Especially because you were watching the match, he wanted to make sure he wouldn’t embarrass himself.

He looks at you, only to find himself blushing profusely when you scream the words, “You got this baby boy!”

Hearing that ignited a fire in him. Determined, he took a deep breath and did his signature jump serve

It was an ace!! When you yelled with joy, he got even more motivated.

Because of you, he managed to get another ace, leading his team to victory.

“Great job Yams!! You did amazing,” you ran up to him, hugging him tightly.

“Couldn’t have done it without you,” he says while giving you a kiss on the lips

Nishinoya Yuu

So we all know that Nishinoya gets kinda serious during volleyball matches

It was match point in the last set. This was kind of a miracle for Karasuno, considering how bad the ref was.

There were so many times where Noya successfully pancaked the ball, but the ref always thought it touched the floor when it obviously hadn’t!!

Everyone (especially you), was visibly frustrated at the biased ref. You knew that nothing could be done except hoping for the best.

Lost in your thought, you didn’t notice the opposing team’s ace spiking.

That’s when Noya made an amazing save (which led to Karasuno getting the point!)

Riled up, you shouted at top of your lungs, “LET’S GO NOYA!! THAT’S MY BOYFRIEND RIGHT THERE! YEA, THE ONE WHO JUST MADE THAT AMAZING SAVE?? HE’S MINE.”

Noya was shocked. Never in a million years did he think someone quiet and reserved like you would do that.

He gave you the biggest hug after the game and whispered, “You should do that more often.”

Hinata Shoyou

Everyone knows that Hinata is an amazing spiker. There’s no denying that.

However, he was really off today. The quick attacks weren’t working today. He was either to slow or too fast.

You could tell Hinata was getting beat down. He became more hesitant with his approach, and you could see him getting discouraged.

Situations like this rarely occurred. Hinata was usually the upbeat one, lifting everyone’s spirits.

As Karasuno called for a time out, you saw your boyfriend with his head down and fists clenched.

“YOU GOT THIS HINATA! WE ALL BELIEVE IN YOU!” you cheered. The spiker looked at you with a face full of shock. A genuine smile slowly appeared.

Giving you a thumbs up, he got back on the court. There was something different about him this time. His energy was a lot better overall.

He whispered something to Kageyama, and before you know it, they executed a perfect quick.

“THERE WE GO! HELL YEA! DO IT AGAIN, BABY.” you encouraged. Ever since that, he’s been on top of his game.

Hinata couldn’t pinpoint the exact reason, but something about you got him excited. You being the normally quiet girlfriend, got him fueled with spirit.

Sugawara Koushi (this one contains slight spoilers from S3!)

Suga rarely plays in an actual game. After all, his position was taken by the first-year.

In this match, Kageyama blocked a powerful spike which resulted in a finger injury. Suga, being the other setter, had to sub in.

Since it was a very important match, he got extremely jittery. You remained quiet, knowing that being nervous was a normal part of sports.

However, your concern for him increased when he flubbed a set badly. It only got worse as the game continued. You could see him getting upset with himself.

“COME ON SUGA! YOU COULD DO IT! I KNOW YOU CAN. NOW GET IT TOGETHER BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE, YOU IDIOT.”

Suga was stunned. Who knew his calm s/o had the ability to be so loud?

The ref turned back to look at you. With your facing turning as red as a tomato, you sat back down and tried to avoid eye contact.

He chuckled to himself. You were reminding him of that time where he yelled at the team during the Shiratorizawa match.

Somehow, your words got his act together. He finally got into the flow of the match and even executed some setter dumps.

maybe he should get y/n riled up even more

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Thanks for reading!

- Kai

[thecreaturecodex]

Demon Lord, Yhidothrus

Image © Paizo Publishing, artist unknown. Accessed @monstersdownthepath​ here

[Commissioned by @bobmuffin52. A lot of folks want top tier threats this go around, it seems. My version of Yhidothrus borrows a lot of mechanics from other impossibly large monsters. It’s kaiju massive, for one. I snagged the endless coils SQ from my previous ayakashi statistics.The impossible lunge is borrowed from Bestiary 5′s cetus, and the shifting coils ability is borrowed from the wrackworm in Planar Adventures (which the flavor text ties to Yhidothrus)]

Demon Lord, Yhidothrus CR 30 CE Outsider This impossibly immense creature looks like a mammoth worm, its oily night-black body opening at one end to reveal a maw filled with hooked jaws. Patches of shaggy bristles hang from it in chunks. The other end of the monster disappears into the distance.

Yhidothrus, The Ravager Worm CE male demon lord of age, time and worms Domains Chaos, Death, Evil, Repose Subdomains Ancestors, Demon, Entropy, Murder Favored Weapon spiked chain Unholy Symbol an hourglass filled with worms instead of sand Worshipers conqueror worms, liches, worms that walk Minions ghosts, grimslakes, worm-like monsters For information on Yhidothrus’ obedience and boons, consult Book of the Damned

Yhidothrus the Ravager Worm is associated with all of the negative aspects of time—aging, entropy and decay. His worshipers are few and far between, mostly made up of those that would do anything to prevent their own deaths, or creatures that have already died but have eternal unlives, such as ghosts and liches. Despite the obscurity of his cult, he is immensely powerful, roaming endlessly through the Spiral Paths that weave below the surfaces of all of the Abyssal layers.

Yhidothrus is so immense that lesser creatures usually fail to catch his attention. They wither away to nothing in his mere wake, so why bother fighting them? If his attention is forced, he usually opens with a powerful spell-like ability or two, then use his bite and Whirlwind Attack to finish off any survivors. Creatures that survive his bite have their years stripped away from them, aging to death even if the wounds do not take their toll. He is impossibly long, and always appears emerging from some surface—the space and reach listed below are the part of his body that appears on a battlefield. If attacked at range, he can lunge almost half a mile at a time to pick off distant opponents.

The true nature of Yhidothrus is obscure. Rumors abound as to what is at the other end of his ravenous maw. Is he a demon at one end and a qlippoth at another? Is he merely an appendage of some greater being, an animate tongue or intestine of something truly divine? Is he, in fact, infinite? It is said that when Yhidothrus uses his time stop ability, his true nature becomes briefly visible…and all those who have survived to witness this are utterly insane.

Yhidothrus            CR 30 XP 9,830,400 CE Colossal outsider (chaos, demon, evil, extraplanar) Init +6; Senses darkvision 600 ft., Perception +47, tremosense 240 ft., true seeing Aura cloak of chaos (DC 27), entropy (60 ft., 5d6 damage, Fort DC 43) Defenses AC 48, touch 9, flat-footed 45 (-8 size, +2 Dex, +1 dodge, +4 deflection, +39 natural) hp 752 (35d10+560); regeneration 30 (deific or mythic) Fort +31, Ref +27, Will +32 DR 20/lawful, cold iron and epic; Immune ability damage, ability drain, aging effects, cold, death effects,  disintegrate, electricity, energy drain, mind-influencing effects, negative energy, petrification, and poison; Resist acid 30, fire 30; SR 41 Defensive Abilities ferocity, freedom of movement, massive, shifting coils Offense Speed 80 ft., burrow 80 ft. Melee bite +48 (6d10+21/19-20 plus grab plus dispelling bite and decline), 1d4+1 slams (2d8+21) Space 60 ft. Reach 60 ft (120 ft. with bite) Special Attacks endless coils, hurl foe, impossible lunge, part the veil, swallow whole (AC 30, 75 hp, 10d6 damage plus annihilation) Spell-like Abilities CL 30th, concentration +41 Constant—cloak of chaos (DC 27), freedom of movement, true seeingAt will—astral projection, cone of cold (DC 24) M, create greater undead, greater dispel magic, greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs. objects only), insanity (DC 26), slay living (DC 24), word of chaos (DC 26) M 3/day—quickened empowered disintegrate (DC 25) M, quickened greater dispel magic, empowered horrid wilting (DC 27) 1/day—gate, summon (9th level, 1 demon of CR 20 or lower, 100%), power word kill M, time stop M, wail of the banshee (DC 28) M = Yhidothrus can use the mythic version of this spell-like ability in his realm. Statistics Str 52, Dex 15, Con 42, Int 33, Wis 28, Cha 32 Base Atk +35; CMB +64 (+68 sunder); CMD 80 (82 vs. sunder, cannot be tripped) Feats Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Critical Focus, Dodge, Empower SLA (disintegrate, horrid wilting), Greater Sunder, Improved Initiative, Improved Sunder, Lightning Reflexes, Mobility, Power Attack, Quicken SLA (disintegrate, greater dispel magic), Spring Attack, Staggering Critical, Stunning Critical, Whirlwind Attack Skills Bluff +49, Climb +51, Diplomacy +49, Escape Artist +37, Intimidate +49, Knowledge (arcana, dungeoneering, engineering) +46, Knowledge (history, planes, religion) +49, Perception +47, Sense Motive +47, Stealth +24, Spellcraft +46, Survival +44, Swim +51 Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Celestial, Draconic, Protean, telepathy 120 ft SQ burrow through, compression, demon lord traits Ecology Environment any land or underground (Abyss) Organization solitary (unique) Treasure standard Special Abilities Aura of Entropy (Su) All objects and creatures within 60 feet of Yhidothrus decay. All unattended objects have their hardness halved permanently; a worn or attended object may resist this effect with a successful DC 43 Fortitude save). All corporeal creatures take 5d6 points of damage a round (Fort DC 43 halves); a creature reduced to 0 hit points by this ability is reduced to dust, as per the disintegrate spell. The save DC is Constitution based. Burrow Through (Ex) Yhidothrus can burrow through solid stone without penalty. He may burrow through iron or other metals at a rate of ¼ movement. Decline (Su) A creature bitten by Yhidothrus must succeed a DC 38 Fortitude save or advance to the next age category. This aging can never have beneficial results (such as for a true dragon). The target gains the penalties associated with its new age category to its Strength, Dexterity and Constitution, but no benefits to its Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma. This advanced age effect is permanent unless removed via remove curse, break enchantment or a similar effect. A venerable creature that fails its saving throw is instantly slain as if by old age, and cannot be restored to life via a miracle, reincarnate, true resurrection or wish spell. This is a curse effect, and the save DC is Charisma based. Dispelling Bite (Su) A creature bitten by Yhidothrus is affected by a targeted greater dispel magic effect (CL 30th). Endless Coils (Ex) Yhidothrus can make a variable amount of slam attacks in a round. He can never make more than one slam attack a round against a single Huge or smaller creature. Hurl Foe (Ex) When Yhidothrus damages a Huge or smaller foe with one of its natural attacks, he can try to hurl the foe as part of that attack by attempting a combat maneuver check. On a successful check, the foe is knocked back 10 feet in a direction of Yhidothrus’ choice and falls prone. The distance the foe is hurled increases by 10 feet for every 5 points by which Yhidothrus’ check exceeds the foe's CMD. If an obstacle stops the hurled creature before it travels the whole distance, the hurled foe and the obstacle struck each take 1d6 points of damage per 10 feet of distance remaining and the foe is knocked prone in the space adjacent to the obstacle. Impossible Leap (Su) Yhidothrus can uncoil upward, revealing more length than it seems it could possibly possess while soaring to great heights. As a full-round action, he can leap out of the ground toward a creature up to 2,400 feet in the air and make a bite attack against that creature before coiling down and returning to his original space. This leap provokes attacks of opportunity. Massive (Ex) Because Yhidothrus is so massive, uneven ground and other terrain features that form difficult terrain generally pose no significant hindrance to his movement, though areas of forest or settlements are considered difficult terrain to him. A Huge or smaller creature can move through any square occupied by Yhidothrus, or vice-versa. Yhidothrus can make attacks of opportunity only against foes that are Huge or larger, and can be flanked only by Huge or larger foes. Yhidothrus gains a bonus for being on higher ground only if its entire space is on higher ground than that of its target. It's possible for a Huge or smaller creature to climb Yhidothrus—this generally requires a successful DC 30 check, and unlike the normal rules about Yhidothrus and attacks of opportunity, a Small or larger creature that climbs on his body provokes an attack of opportunity. Part the Veil (Su) Any creature that can see Yhidothrus when he uses his time stop spell like ability must succeed a DC 38 Will save or gain two madnesses with an instantaneous onset—one of these is moral insanity, and the other is of Yhidothrus’ choice. This is a mind-influencing effect and the save DC is Charisma based. Shifting Coils (Su) The first time each round that Yhidothrus is targeted by anything that resolves againsth is touch AC, he gains a +39 dodge bonus against that attack. Swallow Whole (Ex/Su) The damage dealt to a creature in Yhidothrus’ gut disintegrates creatures reduced below 0 hit points, as a disintegrate spell. In addition, a swallowed creature must succeed a DC 38 Fortitude save every round or be utterly annihilated, as per a sphere of annihilation.

[pastelsketches64]

Welcome to Sketches of the Month: June!

Well, this was definitely an interesting month; for more reasons than just my art, but I won’t get onto that stuff here. We’re all here to see the art hopefully! And indeed, I was the productive plush this month; and I would like to say that I’m quite enjoying the direction my art is going, if y'all don’t mind me speaking my mind. I’ve been experimenting with many different factors of my art; such as characterisation, emotion, expression and colour. And I feel like I’ve at least succeeded in some regard to these intentions!

But enough with the introductions now; let’s get on to the pictures themselves, shall we?~

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Picture 1: Two Player Game!

Yes, the Boyf is back! This was drawn right at the beginning of June, and I’ll admit my obsession with BMC has been toned down considerably to a light admiration; so I don’t have as much artwork pertaining to it. But I still really liked this sketch of them as the Mario Bros, even if I never finished it like I wanted to XD

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Picture 2: We found one!

Hey, remember back to last month’s SotM (Sketches of the Month) with that pic of me and Silver with the chaos emerald? Yep, I finished it off here, and my god did it turn out amazing! I mean, I feel it turned out amazing. This picture reached a level of detail, colour and atmosphere that I hadn’t reached before then, and it was definitely a pivotal moment for me this month! I swear, I’m not even quite sure how I drew this XD

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Picture 3: Moment of Music

This was also a sketch that was on last month’s SotM; and while it’s still a simple concept, I still feel like I excelled at experimenting with a softer and, dare I say, pastel colour scheme XD I’ve really noticed how much I love colours and how my brain seems to respond to them; especially when it comes to remembering things! I do indeed have that ukulele as well, sparkles and all XD

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Picture 4 & 5: I really like 06…

Ok, now that I’ve said that publicly, these are some screenshot redraws that I did after I saw some other artists try their hand at the idea. I immediately went to 06, as I knew my intense focus on character and emotion would be a pretty appropriate combination; as 06’s character models were definitely not the best at conveying any emotion at all if we’re being honest here XD

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Picture 6: Give them a chance to be happy…

Finished on the 23rd of June; this was basically my 26th anniversary picture for the franchise and the 16th anniversary for Sonic Adventure 2! I started the picture a day after my birthday, which was on the 20th of June, and was mainly attempting to experiment with the new markers that I got.

I was intrigued when I got the main idea for the piece sketched out, as I came to outline the picture with this shape that I’m not sure has a name??? XD Either way, I hoped I was able to convey Shadow’s story well through the picture, for his story was and still is some of the franchise’s best writing; and I can only hope for the best, story and all, in Sonic Forces!

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Picture 7: *Gasp* I HAVE OCS??!!!

Yes, I am just as surprised my dear followers, but I have somehow miraculously created my own original characters! It’s a stunning feat, I know, but how’s about I stop this degrading talk about myself and actually explain these characters to y'all?

Well, Adabelle is quite the musical geek, and does aspire to join musical theatre professionally despite her fear of performing on stage. She is a quiet girl who stays to herself a lot, and while smart academically, she is usually awkward and nervous socially. She also has a slight fear of water, mainly only shown when near a large body of water or when out in the rain.

Now Layla can be considered similar to Adabelle with her limited social interactions, but she differs as she is more then willing to engage in conversation if someone else provokes it first. She tends to get competitive while playing practically any video game, even when there is seemingly nothing to challenge. Because of an event that she doesn’t speak of, she moved school and eventually became close friends with Adabelle; who she eventually confided in with her secret.

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Picture 8: Chao are utterly adorable!

I believe this was also another sketch from last month, but I can’t recall at the moment. I’m still planning on doing a full background for it, but since the end of the month was coming up, I hastily made a background so I could make the picture transparent. This was another experiment with colouring, and I even drew myself wearing different clothes! *GASP* It's a miracle! I don’t smell anymore! XD JK, but yeah, I came up with a ‘Sonic’ design I guess you could call it; and I will probably do a ref sheet for it soon!

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Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this everyone! I know I always write a lot here, but I truly appreciate it if you actually read through it all somehow XD I just always have a lot that I can say about my art, and I want everyone to know about it if they’re going to see my art already. I’m always up for questions in my ask box, or even if you just want to talk about something, I’m up for it!

[the-christian-walk]

HALF RIGHT

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in Him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.

“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. If we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”

Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.

So from that day on they plotted to take His life.

Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Instead He withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where He stayed with His disciples.

When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple courts they asked one another, “What do you think? Isn’t He coming to the festival at all?”

But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest Him.

John 11:45-57

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

It was a defining moment in Jesus’ ministry and life in more ways than one.

His resurrection of Lazarus, in the presence of a group of Jews who had been mourning the death, had a major impact on those present and those who simply heard about it. We know this because the scriptures tell us so in the closing verses of John, Chapter 11. First, the impact on those who witnessed the event:

Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in Him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

As we have seen in other instances where Jesus’ power was on full display, some of the people who saw what He had done placed their belief in Him. On the other hand, others continued to reject Him and in this particular instance, these people went to the Pharisees to make a report about what Jesus had done. As we see in our passage today, the news brought increased concern within the group of Jewish religious leaders.

Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.

“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. If we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”

Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.

So from that day on they plotted to take His life.

Note here that the Pharisees were not at all happy that a man was among them that worked great miracles, blessing people who had been once afflicted. They couldn’t accept that Jesus had actually restored the sight of a man who had been blind from birth and in the case of Lazarus, they weren’t even centered on the joy of a man coming back to life from the dead. Rather, they were worried about themselves, their reputation, and even their own existence as religious leaders. Jews who were seeing what Jesus was doing and/or hearing His teaching were changing over from following the Jewish way to this new Christ-centered life. By their own words, the Pharisees were afraid that eventually everyone would believe in Him and their belief system would perish along with the nation.

How would they eliminate this threat?

Enter the high priest Caiaphas who shares a prophesy about Jesus. This prophesy had Jesus dying, one man for the people, one man in the place of the entire Jewish nation and the “scattered children of God”.

What would be the end result of this singular, saving sacrifice?

The nation would be rescued and the people would be brought together as one.

It was a plan that everyone embraced because the next words we read is that they started to plot a way to take Jesus’ life from Him.

Well, Jesus, knowing all the motives of the hearts of all people, whether open or hidden, was aware that He was in danger and so he chose to go undercover, not moving around publicly in Judea for fear He would be recognized and an attempt would be made on His life before the proper time. He went north of Judea to the village of Ephraim, located near the wilderness. There He stayed with His disciples.

Meanwhile, the time was approaching for the Jewish Passover and many devout Jews were getting set to make the trip to Jerusalem to become ceremonially clean before the Passover. Once in the capital city, the people looked for Jesus but could not find Him. While in the temple courts, they asked one another:

“What do you think? Isn’t He coming to the festival at all?”

Jesus was soon to arrive and participate but it wasn’t yet time. He knew what His Father had set forth for Him to do and He knew that once He was in Jerusalem, He would be vulnerable and open to arrest as the chief priests and Pharisees had issues orders for this to happen if He was seen.

The final days of Jesus’ life were coming and the high priest Caiaphas’ prophesy was only half right. Yes, Jesus, the One man, would have to die in the place of others in order to save them. But His death wasn’t only on behalf of the Jews but every person in God’s creation. He was sent by God to bring salvation to the Jew and the Gentile, removing the separation between God and His people that was created by sin.

Indeed, Jesus came to die and to save. Unfortunately, the Pharisees and chief priests of the day were too self-absorbed to realize He was actually there to save them. Because of their jealousy and self centeredness, they were blinded to the Savior of the world, sent by the God they claimed to be in partnership with. It is one of the most heartbreaking tragedies in the scriptures but these Jewish religious authorities had no one to blame but themselves. Had they even tried to consider for a moment that Jesus was who He said He was, and take a moment to go to God to validate the claims, then the entire story could have been different.

But that’s not what happened. The Pharisees and chief priests were ready to arrest Jesus, falsely accuse Him, and then hand Him over to the Romans for execution, essentially letting the Empire do their dirty work for them.

All because they only got things half right.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

[johnchiarello]

Sunday sermon

SUNDAY SERMON

 Psalm 69:9 For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

  [Post below]

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NOTE- Every so often some of my sites think I am Spam- or a Bot- I am not. My name is John Chiarello and I post original content [all videos and text are by me]. I do share my past posts from my other sites- but it is not spam- Thank you- John.

 Sunday Sermon

https://youtu.be/9mb2HulQ1mw 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tir8x5s87gvu38p/Sunday%20Sermon%203-4-18.mp4?dl=0

https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMh3Uz8BorraZOy6uu

 ON VIDEO

.Sally the cat

.The discipline of routine

.The mystery of Hudson County Park [North Bergen]

.Who is the real Cinderella man?

.Catholic lectionary- year A or B?

.Bishop Mulvey

.The 2 divisions of the 10 commandments

.How we relate to God- and our fellow man

.The purpose of the law

.The Sabbath- a history

.Its not about ‘Church day’

.Church history

.God’s rest

.Philosophy

.The money changers and zeal of the Lord

.Jesus ‘rested’ [was dead] in the grave on the Sabbath- and rose on Sunday

.Thus removing the accusation that he did miracles- on the Sabbath- see?

.Holy week

.The mystery of Hudson county park- the real name is James J Braddock park- the one and only Cinderella man from North Bergen New Jersey

   Teaching- [Past posts below]

 Today I covered a lot on the video- and will simply try and give a brief overview.

The verses from the Mass were on the 10 commandments- and the account from John 2 where Jesus turned over the tables of the money changers-

John 2:15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables;

John 2:16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.

From Exodus 20 [the 10 commandments] I taught on the Sabbath day command and covered the history of how different churches have disagreed on how we ‘keep’ this command today-

Exodus 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

 In short- it really is not a ‘command’ about what day Christians should ‘attend church’- but the Sabbath was a ‘place of rest’-

 Both in the Psalms and the letter to the Hebrews we are taught the ‘Rest’ spoken about was fulfilled in the New Covenant of Grace- a place of rest in Christ.

 Hebrews 4:10

For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

 The passage from John 2 also spoke about the Jews asking Jesus for a sign-

John 2:18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?

 The sign that Jesus would give to them was his resurrection from the dead- that would be the ‘sign’ that all men must believe on in order to be justified in the sight of God-

John 2:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

John 2:20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?

John 2:21 But he spake of the temple of his body.

John 2:22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.

Jesus fulfilled all the law- he even stayed in the grave on the Sabbath day- and rose on Sunday as proof that he fulfilled all the law- paid the price for sin [death] and rose again.

 The offer of rest in Christ is still available today- to all who will believe-

9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

Heb. 4

 It is not about what day ‘church’ is- but it is about us entering into the rest spoken about after God created all things in 6 days- and rested on the 7th-

 4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.

5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.

6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:

Heb. 4

 This rest- the grace of God- is still a ‘place’ where people enter in- they cease from their own works [the efforts of trying to be saved by the law] and believe on Christ- and freely receive the gift of grace.

 I also spoke on the verses pastor Bil preached on and will add my past commentaries below.

 The passage from Corinthians [Mass] sums it up-

1Corinthians 1:22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

1Corinthians 1:23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

1Corinthians 1:24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

It’s not about human wisdom [how smart we are] or about signs- but the answer is in Christ crucified- to the natural mind it seems foolish- to the unbelieving intellectual it simply does not make sense.

 But to all who believe- it is in him where we find the wisdom of God- he gave the Jews the sign they asked for-

 Matthew 12:40

For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

 And in so doing- we now have access to the true wisdom of God-

Which is found in the one who died- and rose again-

Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

1 Cor. 1:24 b

 PAST POSTS [My past teachings that relate to today’s post- Sunday sermon- Verses and other videos below]

 https://ccoutreach87.com/1st-2nd-corinthians/

https://ccoutreach87.com/1st-2nd-samuel-links-updated-3-17/

https://ccoutreach87.com/john-complete-links-added/

https://ccoutreach87.com/acts-links/

https://ccoutreach87.com/romans-updated-2015/

https://ccoutreach87.com/overview-of-philosophy/

https://ccoutreach87.com/hebrews-updated-2015/

https://ccoutreach87.com/house-of-prayer-or-den-of-thieves/

https://ccoutreach87.com/ephesians-links/ 

  Hebrews-

CHAPTER 3:

END NOTES-

PSLAMS 95.

TRUE SABBATH REST.

  ‘Wherefore HOLY BRETHREN, partakers of the heavenly calling’ I want to submit to you that these terms found thru out Hebrews are really speaking of the privileged position of the 1st century Jew before his final rejection of Messiah as a nation. Most times we read these verses and debate whether it is speaking of someone who is ‘saved’ or not. Later we will see this in chapter 6 ‘those who were once enlightened and partakers of the Holy Ghost’ all these terms can apply to Israel as Gods peculiar people and chosen nation. I feel Paul is still addressing them this way because they are still in a transition stage in the 1st century. There is still hope that they will receive Messiah as a nation. All these terms are referring to Israel as being Gods special people who came for a special purpose. Ultimately they will not live up to this calling [yet!] because they will reject Jesus as a nation, though there will be a remnant of Jews who will believe. So as we read thru out Hebrews we will look at all these privileged expressions as speaking of Israel as Gods special nation.

 This will clear up the arguments that many believers have over portions of this letter. ‘Consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus…and Moses was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things that would come later…but Christ as a Son over his own house WHO’S HOUSE ARE WE if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of hope firm unto the end’ a main theme from Paul is to compare Moses and Jesus. Paul will take lots of Old testament verses and quote them in this letter. I believe more than any other New Testament letter. He quotes them freely, not even giving the chapter and verse, he says ‘somewhere it is said’ and then goes right into it. Sort of like what I do on my blog! The point is Paul is seeing so many shadows of the Old Testament fulfilled thru Christ that his mind is exploding in revelation. It is almost like he can’t stop proving this point. Jesus is seen all thru out the Old Testament and Paul is obsessed with showing this to the first century Jew, his own cultural family. He says in Romans that he would be cursed himself if he knew it would open the eyes of his nation. Paul also reveals that Israel can become this house, if she ‘holds on to the end’. We will read stuff like this a lot in Hebrews. This causes some to read the letter as in if Paul were writing Christians.

 Jesus taught in John 15 that the branches would be cut off that would not bring fruit. Paul also said that Israel, the natural branches, were cut off so we [gentiles] would be grafted in. These terms of ‘holding on, staying steadfast’ can be applied to Israel in the sense that Paul is pleading ‘you have a few thousand year history with God. God has sent you prophets and anointed your kings with his Spirit [by the way this is why in chapter 6 it will say those who were once enlightened by the Spirit and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost- no other nation on earth had the Spirit of God actively administrating their government like Israel- the argument isn’t whether it’s talking about people who were ‘truly saved’ or not!] you, Israel, have been walking with him for a long time, DON’T FALL AWAY NOW!’ So in context the ‘holding on’ can describe the transition stage. Don’t fall away after all these years of waiting for Messiah as a national hope and promise. You will see Paul use this argument in Acts when he says ‘you guys are accusing me of heresy, and I am just preaching the fulfillment of the promise that our fathers have been waiting for, for over thousands of years’.

  ‘Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost says, today if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, the day of temptation in the wilderness, when your fathers tempted me and saw my works FORTY YEARS… so I sware in my wrath they shall not enter into my rest’ Now, a common theme is to teach that Christians cant get the promised land because they don’t have faith. It is taught that Israel in the wilderness are a type of believers and to get the promise you must believe. While all this can be true, this is not the context in Hebrews. Paul is trying to get Israel to BELIEVE in Christ for righteousness, as opposed to her trying to work for it [Romans 9-10].

 Paul sees the story of Israel not entering into the Promised Land as an example of the danger of not entering into the new covenant by failing to believe in Jesus and be justified by faith. He will later do this in chapter 11, the great faith chapter. He will show Israel how all of her Patriarchs received A GOOD REPORT [justified] by faith. I will explain it when I get there. So keep in mind that Israel in the wilderness is a type of Israel in the first century, and Paul is trying to tell them ‘just like our fore fathers couldn’t get into the promised land because of UNBELIEF, so too you are in danger of stumbling over the righteousness of God which is by faith, not of works!’ I also find it interesting that Paul includes the 40 year period of judgment. It was around 40 years after the crucifixion of Jesus until the destruction of the temple in AD 70.

 It was a prophetic sign, a sort of probationary period for Israel as a nation. It was like God said ‘40 years are now up, the temple is going to be destroyed just like my Son said, those who haven’t moved on and made the transition into the ‘new temple’ are now being judged’. Israel hasn’t had true temple worship since! ‘Wherefore the Holy Ghost saith, today if you will hear his voice harden not your hearts [as opposed to the voice of Moses which is the law] as in the provocation, the day of temptation in the wilderness: when your fathers tempted me, proved me and saw my works FORTY years…so I sware in my wrath they shall not enter into my rest, take heed brethren [fellow Jews] lest there be in any of you AN EVIL HEART OF UNBELIEF IN DEPARTING FROM THE LIVING GOD’ We are going to enter a theme that speaks of Israel not entering Gods true rest because of unbelief, not because of a lack of works [law].

  The apostle will begin to use the story of Joshua entering into the Promised Land as a story of Jesus [which the Old Testament translation of Joshua means Jesus] and his offering true rest [grace] to 1st century Israel. The fact is the only ones who entered in were the ones who believed. The unbelievers [all the adults except for Joshua and Caleb] all died out over a 40 year period in the wilderness. Just like many of the first century Jews would reject Messiah for 40 years until the destruction of their temple. Jesus said we must become like little children to inherit Gods Kingdom. The children of the older generation entered into the Promised Land, the parents died. Why did they die Paul? Was it because they didn’t have the law or do ‘works’? NO! They died because of unbelief. Paul is stressing that the 1st century Jew is also in danger of ‘not entering into rest [grace] because of unbelief’. We often read these verses applying them to Christians, which is OK. But when you read them in context, then you see the real meaning. This will help later when we read others passages. We wont argue over Arminian or Calvinistic interpretations of stuff, we will see that neither one is right as it pertains to certain portions of this letter. ‘And to whom sware he that they should not enter into rest, but to them THAT BELIEVED NOT, SO WE SEE THAT THEY COULD NOT ENETR IN BECAUSE OF UNBELIEF’ Do you see the significance of this argument? Brilliant Paul is using all of these well known Old Testament stories to convince Israel that they must believe [justification by faith] in order to ‘inherit the land’ [the promise of eternal life]. This is the whole context of Hebrews. That’s why when modern preachers use all these verses to say you must believe to get material things, that they are way off the mark. It is true that faith does obtain things. And when we believe God for healing and finances and answers to prayer that it is vital to believe. But so many modern teachers have taught these promises as getting stuff, while in context you begin to see the true meaning.

PSLAMS 95-

Once again we the writer freely quoting- and ‘interpreting’ this passage from Psalms- and showing that the sin that prevented Israel form obtaining rest- was UNBELIEF.

Why is this so important?

If you remember the Romans teaching I did last- Paul stresses that the righteousness of God comes by faith- not of works ‘lest any man should boast’.

So- this letter to the Hebrews [Jewish people] is intended to show them the superiority of the New Covenant over the Old.

And the way you obtain the benefits of the New Covenant [redemption] is thru faith.

The passage from Psalms recounts the history of the Jewish people- and those who did not ‘get in’ [Promised Land] were those who did not have faith.

We also read how Paul teaches that the Promised Land spoken of was still a future event/place-

Paul uses Psalms again and says ‘If Joshua gave them the rest [Canaan- book of Joshua] then God would not have spoken of another day’.

Here Paul says the true day ‘of rest’ also referred to as the true Sabbath day [age of grace- not an actual day] is fulfilled in the coming of the Messiah- and just like God ‘rested the 7th day from all his works’- so we too can rest from our works [the law] and also enter into rest- thru the ‘new Joshua’ [Jesus].

Psalm 95:7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,

Psalm 95:8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

Psalm 95:9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.

Psalm 95:10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:

Psalm 95:11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.

    HEBREWS 4-6 [Just made the video- so today you get ‘real time’- P.S.- to my kids- the carnival looks good- maybe we will go today? Text me- dad.]

CHAPTER 4:

NEW NOTES BELOW-

.SABBATH REST

  ‘Let us therefore fear [Jews in the first century, not Christians in the 21st century! At least in this context] lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest [now defined as the New Covenant rest. Paul is telling Israel God has left you a promise of rest in Messiah, where you will cease from your own works [law], beware Israel, our forefathers missed out on the promise because of unbelief, don’t do the same!] any of you should come short of it, for unto us was the gospel preached [1st century Israel] as well as unto them [Israel at the edge of entering the promised land had the gospel [good news] preached to them by Joshua and Caleb, they gave the ‘good report’ that the land was great and it was there for the taking, of course they didn’t believe and therefore couldn’t take it] but the word did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

  For WE WHICH HAVE BELEIVED [the remnant of Jews who were believing in the first century were entering into the rest of the New Covenant of grace, they left off trying to be made righteous by the law, they ceased from their own works] do enter into rest…for he spake in a certain place of the 7th day on this wise, and God did rest the 7th day from all his works, and again, if they shall enter into my rest. Seeing therefore it still remains that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: again he limits a certain day in David [Psalms] today if you will HEAR HIS VOICE [as opposed to the voice of the law/Moses] harden not your hearts. For if Joshua [my king James says ‘Jesus’ this is because the translation is the same] had given them rest then he would not have spoken of another day, there remaineth therefore a rest TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD! [Jewish people ‘of God’ not gentile converts!]. Well, we covered a lot here. Paul takes the creation account, the verses that will later speak of a future rest for Gods people, and then a verse from Psalms where David prophesies that there still remains a future rest. He puts them all together to show Israel that God has ordained a future ‘7th day’ for his people to enter into. He uses the 7th day as a symbol of Gods ‘day of Grace and rest’.

  He then shows Israel that it really wasn’t speaking of the rest of the Promised Land after all, because eventually Israel did inherit it, but yet David still spoke of it in the future tense. So Paul concludes that the future rest of the 7th day that ‘Gods people’ [Jews] still must enter is the offer of grace to the 1st century Jew. Wow! This is why some theologians feel Paul was a little too loose with the scriptures. I think this stuff is great! Paul basically was using all of his understanding as a first century theologian [Pharisee] and was absolutely proving Christ to Israel in a way that none of the other Apostles could do. He was the only Pharisee out of all the Apostles, one born out of due time. This is obviously why Jesus chose him. It is so important to see the connections that Paul is making here. If Israel were following the timeline that Paul is giving, they will see that their own Old Testament scriptures testify that there was a future ‘place of rest’ that would be offered to them as a nation.

  And Paul also shows that in history, Israel had a pattern of not entering into ‘this rest’ because of unbelief. And then he says ‘but the rest that Joshua finally did give them [the promised land] wasn’t really the true rest after all, because David still spoke of it in a future tense’ then he says ‘see, there remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God’. Seeing this in context clears up many wrong interpretations of these passages. You can still read Hebrews as a Christian and get wonderful principles, but you must see it in context to truly understand what its saying. ‘For he that hath entered into rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his’ amazing, Paul says just like God ceased from creative activity on the ‘7th day’ so likewise when we enter into the covenant of grace, we too will cease from the works of the law. This is so significant to the Jewish community whom Paul is addressing. He is showing them, in their language [Old Testament] the same things he writes to the gentiles in Galatians and Romans.

  He is using the story of Genesis to show the truth of grace. Out of all the Apostles, Paul is unique in his ability to see Jesus in all of these Old Testament stories. No one could have made a better apologetic for the Christian faith than Paul. ‘Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall into the same example of unbelief’ Now, I have heard it taught that this is telling Christians to ‘work for your rest’. This would be a complete contradiction to this entire letter. But if you see this in context, that the recipients of this letter are 1st century Jews who are already under the bondage of the law, then you read this as ‘those of you Jews who are always working to try and make yourselves righteous, you need to stop working for this, but instead let all your labors and struggles end up at the Cross’ in essence ‘labor [struggle] to see these things I am showing you, and if you do you will find rest’ in the New Covenant of grace! ‘Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession, for we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.’ This of course applies to all of us. Paul and other New Testament writers saw redemption in a way that naturally included everybody. It was only those who rejected it thru unbelief that were missing out. This is why you will see statements made like ‘Jesus is the savior of all men, specially of those that believe’ there was a real sense in the early church that Jesus really redeemed everybody.

  They were not preaching universal salvation in the sense that everybody will be saved. But the gospel was presented in a way that simply included everybody. So here Paul says ‘we have a high priest’ he is including Israel in the ‘we’. I also like to apply these verses to all of us. How many times do we feel intimidated to come before Gods throne? We feel unworthy and God seems unapproachable. Sort of like Saint John of the Cross who experienced the ‘dark night of the soul’ as well as Mother Theresa. There are times where believers feel separated from God's real presence. It is during these times when God says ‘come boldly, I too have experienced weakness and separation thru the incarnation. I know what it is like. Come to me, I can see what you feel like, I can feel your feelings of weakness and inadequacy, come to me for help my child’. In the next chapter we will read this in depth. Jesus and all the high priests of the law were able to identify with man because they were at one time in mans shoes. This is one of the great realities of the incarnation.

NEW NOTES-

.SABBATH REST

 Remember context- in this chapter the writer is appealing to his Jewish brothers.

And he reminds them of their own history- he says ‘just like our forefathers died in the wilderness- because they did not BELIEVE’-

So beware- if you now reject this new offer of REST- it will be because of UNBELIEF.

The writer is making an argument for Justification by Faith here.

He spiritualizes the promise of the Promised Land- and the story of Creation and Sabbath Day.

He says ‘ok- God RESTED himself on the 7th Day of Creation’.

This REST [a type of rest found in Christ and the New Covenant- based on Faith/Grace- NOT WORKS -The law].

Was not the Rest promised to Israel when they entered the Promised Land.

Why?

Because King David says many years later- in Psalms 95- that a Rest is still in the future.

What Rest?

The 1st century offer of Grace- thru Faith- not works.

See how important context is?

So- when he says ‘there still remains a REST TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD’- He is not talking to Christians- as this verse is often seen.

No- in the letter of Hebrews- the People of God are the Jewish nation- who now must ‘labor- work- strive’ to believe the Promise of Messiah- and enter into rest.

These verses only make sense in this context.

Preachers often teach the verse ‘strive to enter into rest- people of God’.

And apply that to Christians- who are already ‘in rest’.

No- that’s the wrong setting for these verses.

But- to the 1st century Jew- under the law- then it makes sense.

They were at a transition stage- they were still under the law [works] and they had to beware- because this present promise of grace- just like the Old Testament Promise of entering into the Promised Land- is based on faith.

So- when the writer says ‘if you strive- and hear this Gospel of Grace- you can enter into the Sabbath Day Rest’ [a symbol of the covenant of Grace].

And have Rest.

See?

NOTE- It’s not an ‘accident’ that the writer quotes from Psalms 95- written by Kind David.

Jesus is identified as ‘The Son of David’ so it’s thru the Davidic line that the promise of Rest would ultimately be fulfilled.

In a sense the writer is saying ‘The Joshua that lead our Fathers into the Promised Land was not the Real One- but the Joshua of the New Testament [Jesus and Joshua are the same word in the Hebrew/Greek English translation] has now come thru the Line of David- and he will lead us into the True Rest- if you Believe’

Psalm 95:6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.

Psalm 95:7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,

Psalm 95:8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

Psalm 95:9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.

Psalm 95:10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:

Psalm 95:11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.

Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

Genesis 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

Genesis 2:3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

Hebrews 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

Hebrews 4:2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

Hebrews 4:3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

Hebrews 4:4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.

Hebrews 4:5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.

Hebrews 4:6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:

Hebrews 4:7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Hebrews 4:8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.

Hebrews 4:9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

Hebrews 4:10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

Hebrews 4:11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

.SAMUEL 17 1Samuel 17:29 And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause? https://youtu.be/RL5eNCxrq5Y Samuel 17 https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/8-25-16-samuel-17.zip

ON VIDEO- .Did we land on the moon? [yes- I talk about it] .Corruption in government .The valley of Elah .Sibling rivalry .Why so mad David? .Next video- is the earth flat? [I hope you realize this is a joke] NEW- [past posts- verses below] Most of us are familiar with this chapter- David fights Goliath. The Philistines are in battle formation on one side of the valley- And Israel on the other. A great warrior from the Philistine’s side comes out and makes a challenge. ‘Instead of both our armies killing each other- just send out one of your guys to fight me- if he wins- we will become your slaves’. But if I kill him- ‘you serve us’. Simple- the idea was not new- it was practiced by the Greeks. The bible tells us that the army of Israel feared greatly when they heard the challenge. Not just because Goliath was huge- but because they were men of their word. The challenge was serious- if they lost- the whole ‘promised land’ thing was over. So- the giant makes the challenge for 40 days- and no one takes him up on it. David- still a young shepherd boy- brings some food to the front lines and hears the threat. He says ‘who does this guy think he is- he’s challenging God’! His oldest brother hears David saying this- and challenges his motive- ‘Who do you think you are- you just came up to see the fight’. Remember- his oldest brother was already passed up to be the next king- and David was anointed by Samuel. So- there is already some friction here. David turns away- and keeps asking. The words of David can be misunderstood- sort of like ‘sure- he talks big- but he has nothing to back it up’. The Corinthians said the same thing about Paul. 10 For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible. 11 Let such an one think this, that, such as we are in word by letters when we are absent, such will we be also in deed when we are present. 2nd Cor. But David meant it- he had a real anger about what the giant was getting away with. The bible says the zeal for God’s house has ‘eaten me up’. For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me. Ps. 69:9 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. Jn. 2:17 Referring to the righteous anger that Jesus also had. And this type of anointing can be misunderstood- most people do not believe others can have such a determination for a cause- that they would be willing to risk their lives. Saul hears that there is some guy in the camp who is willing to take up the challenge- and he calls for him. David shows up- Saul says ‘you can’t fight him- you’re a kid- and he a man of war since he was a kid’. David says when he was taking care of the sheep- he killed both a bear- and a lion when they threatened the fold. And he says God will do the same with this ‘uncircumcised Philistine’. David is not just making a derogatory statement here- he is saying ‘this guy is not even part of the covenant promise that we have’. Circumcision was the sign of the Old Covenant- and it did carry weight with it. So- Saul gives the permission- and David is off to meet the challenge. He put on Saul’s armor- but it was too much for him. So he stuck with the weapons he was familiar with- He takes 5 stones from the brook- and goes with a staff and sling. Often times we make the mistake- and try and imitate others to get the job done. No- keep it simple- use the tools you are already skilled with- God will do the rest. As the giant sees David- he too disdains him ‘what- you send some kid to fight me- I will feed him to the birds’. At this point I think David is getting tired of everybody challenging his ability. David says ‘I come to you in the name of the living God’. He slings the rock [the average rock for this type of stuff- was about the size of a baseball- and a good ‘slinger’ could sling it at around 100 miles per hour- it was no pebble]. David hits the giant in the head- and he falls face forward- dead. David has no sword- so he walks up to the giant- takes his sword [which we will read about later in the book of Samuel as well]. He chops the giants head off- and walks away with it- in hand. ‘Wow John- guess the Philistines surrender at this point- right?’ Wrong- they were not men of their word- and fled. But it made no difference- the army of Saul chases them down and finishes the job. A few things- David shows the head to Saul- and then the bible tells us he brought it to Jerusalem. ‘What’s wrong with that John’? Well- Jerusalem is not the capitol city of Israel yet. Some people called the Jebusites still had it. It was a strong fortress city- and David grew up under its shadow. Bethlehem was about 8 miles away. Now- David just had a great victory- he was already anointed as king- yet did not hold the official title yet. How could he have walked up to Jerusalem- still held by enemies- and place the head of the giant there? And why? I think David might have been making plans for his capitol. He knew Jerusalem was rightfully part of the inheritance- and it was a good fortress city. He might have been sending a message- ‘Look- I just killed some guy with this huge head- and your next’. And after the Jebusites got wind of the story- they might have ‘allowed’ David to place the trophy on the gate. Either way David had a great victory this day- all who challenged his motives and skill, including the giant- were proven wrong. David is now being seen in the eyes of the people as a great leader- even at this young age. When men of ability rise up in a kingdom- it’s usually a good thing. After all- you have a great fighter on your team. But when Kings who are over them- are struggling with their own identity- then it’s not a great thing. And Saul was one of those types of kings PAST POSTS- 1st- 2nd Samuel-  https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/1st-2nd-samuel/ [Old commentary I wrote years ago] VIDEO/POST LINKS- https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/24/every-cop-a-criminal/ [1-2 Samuel] https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/28/when-the-saints-go-marching-in-sam-3-john-2-4/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/29/just-a-box-samuel-4/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/would-you-be-isis/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/07/samuel-5-6/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/12/samuel-7-8/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/18/samuel-9/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/23/samuel-10/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/27/the-chapel/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/29/samuel-11-kings-n-priests/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/02/samuel-12-13/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/09/samuel-14/ https://youtu.be/iImxoD3cRfQ Samuel preview https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/13/john-12/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/17/samuel-15/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/19/samuel-john-hebrews-review/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/24/samuel-16/

VERSES- 1Samuel 17:1 Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim. 1Samuel 17:2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. 1Samuel 17:3 And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. 1Samuel 17:4 And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 1Samuel 17:5 And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. 1Samuel 17:6 And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders. 1Samuel 17:7 And the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him. 1Samuel 17:8 And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. 1Samuel 17:9 If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us. 1Samuel 17:10 And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. 1Samuel 17:11 When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid. 1Samuel 17:12 Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul. 1Samuel 17:13 And the three eldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next unto him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 1Samuel 17:14 And David was the youngest: and the three eldest followed Saul. 1Samuel 17:15 But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. 1Samuel 17:16 And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. 1Samuel 17:17 And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp of thy brethren; 1Samuel 17:18 And carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge. 1Samuel 17:19 Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 1Samuel 17:20 And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle. 1Samuel 17:21 For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army. 1Samuel 17:22 And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren. 1Samuel 17:23 And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them. 1Samuel 17:24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid. 1Samuel 17:25 And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s house free in Israel. 1Samuel 17:26 And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? 1Samuel 17:27 And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him. 1Samuel 17:28 And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. 1Samuel 17:29 And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause? 1Samuel 17:30 And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner. 1Samuel 17:31 And when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul: and he sent for him. 1Samuel 17:32 And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. 1Samuel 17:33 And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. 1Samuel 17:34 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: 1Samuel 17:35 And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. 1Samuel 17:36 Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. 1Samuel 17:37 David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee. 1Samuel 17:38 And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail. 1Samuel 17:39 And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him. 1Samuel 17:40 And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine. 1Samuel 17:41 And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him. 1Samuel 17:42 And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. 1Samuel 17:43 And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 1Samuel 17:44 And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field. 1Samuel 17:45 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. 1Samuel 17:46 This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 1Samuel 17:47 And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hands. 1Samuel 17:48 And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came, and drew nigh to meet David, that David hastened, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 1Samuel 17:49 And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. 1Samuel 17:50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. 1Samuel 17:51 Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. 1Samuel 17:52 And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron. 1Samuel 17:53 And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents. 1Samuel 17:54 And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent. 1Samuel 17:55 And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell. 1Samuel 17:56 And the king said, Enquire thou whose son the stripling is. 1Samuel 17:57 And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 1Samuel 17:58 And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite. So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo and inward. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. Gal. 4:26

http://www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com facebook.com/john.chiarello.5 https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg

https://plus.google.com/108013627259688810902/posts https://vimeo.com/user37400385 Note- Please do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. I deal with issues at times that it would be beneficial for some of you to download and save the file from the Word Press link. This creates a permanent record. The on-line videos are only good if sites are not hacked- which has happened in the past. Thanks- John.#

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  John 2[radio # 585]- Jesus does his first miracle, changes water into wine. They say ‘most people put the good wine out first, but you have saved the best for last’. This is a type of the new covenant of his blood [wine], Jesus will introduce a better covenant thru his blood. Many will not accept this new way because they have been ‘drinking’ old wine for so long, they are not willing to change. We often see this in Christian circles, people who have functioned in a limited way for years, God might bring to them new ways of seeing things, they will often reject the new wine on the basis of being comfortable with the old way, we don’t want to shake the apple cart. God wants us to shake it! Jesus finds the money changers in the temple and drives them out with a whip, turns the tables over and gets mad. He didn’t take the ecumenical approach! There are times for radical transition, I feel we are at that place now as the people of God. The gospel is not about us increasing our portfolio, it’s about laying our goals down for the kingdom. These money changers lost their influence in the ‘temple’ after Jesus got thru with them, I think it was prophetic. Jesus says ‘destroy this temple and in 3 days I will raise it up’ those hearing this mistake his Body [temple] with the building [temple in Jerusalem]. Evangelicals [some of them] make the same mistake today. They are looking to the natural events in natural Jerusalem, they should be looking at the real temple! [Both Jesus and the Body of Christ]. Jesus goes to the Passover, the people hail him and Jesus says he will not commit himself to them, because he knew what was in man. What was in man? These same people will be asking for his death not long from now. Jesus did not seek commitment from men, contrary to the way we see ministry today. Modern ministry seeks to increase man’s commitment to them ‘pledge so much money, join this or that’ Jesus knew he had a destiny, he would fulfill it without the help of man!

  (942)1st CORINTHIANS INTRODUCTION- Out of all of Paul’s letters, this one is ‘the most verified’ as being his. Of course we know this because Paul says so in the letter! But for all those intellectual higher critics, this helps. Corinth was a city of great influence and trade, many land and sea routes converged at Corinth and her port. The city was also known for her philosophers and ‘preachers of wisdom’ [Rhetoric]. They actually had a custom at Corinth in which you could ‘hire’ your own ‘preacher of wisdom’. These were the traveling teachers who made a living at speaking. This also might be why Paul specifically said ‘when I was with you I did not take money from you’. The custom of the traveling preachers was you could pay a one time honorarium for a single speech, or you could actually hire a regular speaker and have him ‘on salary’. Paul did not want the Corinthians to think that he was their hired preacher! How much influence this type of trade would have on the later development of the ‘hired clergy’ is unknown, but the similarities are striking. The famous 5th century bishop of Hippo, North Africa, Saint Augustine, made his living as one of these traveling teachers of philosophy before becoming a Christian. It’s believed that Paul wrote a 3rd letter to the church at Corinth, so what we know as 1st, 2nd Corinthians might actually be letters 2 and 3. I personally think Corinthians holds special value for the church today. The 21st century believer is being challenged on her Ecclesiology, the whole idea of what the church is. In Corinthians we see a specific picture of what the church is and on how she should meet. Paul will not address ‘the Pastor’ [there was none in the modern sense of the office] but he will speak directly to the brothers at Corinth and give them some heavy responsibilities to carry out [like committing a brother to satan for the destruction of his flesh! Ouch]. Paul went to Corinth on his 2nd missionary journey and spent 18 months with them [Acts 18] one of the longest stays at any church. Because of the pagan background of the city Paul will address specific issues related to believers and certain practices of idol worship. Eating meat offered to idols and stuff like that. Corinth also practiced a form of idolatry that included prostitution, so he will deal severely with the loose sexual morals of the people at Corinth. Well we have a lot to cover in the next few weeks, try and read Corinthians on your own as we plunge into this study, it will help a lot.

 (943)1ST CORINTHIANS 1:1-17 Paul greets them as an apostle called by God, he affirms his authority and ‘fathering ability’ as coming from God. He tells them he thanks God all the time for the fruit that he sees in their lives, the thing that made Paul rejoice was the work God was doing in the communities he was establishing as an apostle. Today ministers have a tendency to ‘rejoice’ over the Christian enterprise that we oversee. Whether its’ how well the budget went this year and stuff like that. Paul’s joy wasn’t in the fact that God called him to some great personal ministry where he would find self fulfillment. His joy was in the actual growth and freedom that ‘his churches’ [communities of people] were experiencing. He also defines them as ‘those that call upon the name of the Lord like all the others’. Remember what we said when studying Romans chapter 10? One of the signs of the believer is ‘they call upon Jesus name’. They are believing communities of ‘Christ callers’. Not so much a one time evangelical altar call, but a lifestyle. Jesus said we are ‘a house of prayer’. A spiritual community/house who intercedes for all nations. It’s in our very DNA! Paul also commends them as being enriched by God in all ‘knowledge and utterance’ [speech]. It seems funny that he would say they were blessed and enriched in speech. Paul will give some of his strongest rebukes over speaking gifts [tongues, prophesy] to this community. Yet he does not approach it from the strong anti charismatic view. He doesn’t say ‘your speech is demonic’ he says it is enriched by God! We will deal with the gifts later on. Now for the first real rebuke. Paul says he has heard reports that there are divisions and strivings among them. They are already dividing up into various sects. Some follow Paul, others follow Cephas, some say ‘we are the true Christ followers’. Paul rebukes them sharply over these divisions, he does not want the early church to identify with individual personalities and gifts at the expense of true unity. Was this the early development of denominationalism? To a degree yes. But I also don’t think we should view the various Christian denominations as deceived or ‘lost’. The modern church has become what we are thru many struggles and difficulties over a 2 thousand year history. My personal view is we should strive for unity, not by trying to dissolve all the various ‘tribes’ that exist in Christ’s church, but by growing into a more mature view of all who name the name of Christ as being fellow believers who partake of a common grace. I applaud all the efforts being made by various Christian churches today to come to a greater outward unity [for example the Catholic and Orthodox dialogue] but I also believe as we see each other as fellow believers and learn to appreciate our different emphasis, that this approach can also lead to greater unity among believers today. Paul saw the beginnings of division in the early Corinthian community, he did his best to quell the coming storm.

 (944)1ST CORINTHIANS 1:18-31 Paul declares the actual preaching of the Cross to be the power of God. The Jews sought for a sign [remember the sign of Jonas?] and the Greeks prided themselves in wisdom. Paul declares that Jesus IS the wisdom and power of God. In Christ is contained all the wisdom and power [signs] in the universe! Paul says God destroyed the wisdom of unregenerate man and that Gods foolishness is wiser than men’s greatest achievements apart from God. Wow, what an indictment on enlightenment philosophy. Man goes thru stages of learning and knowledge [renaissance, enlightenment. Industrial, scientific revolution] these are not bad achievements in and of themselves. Many of the greatest scientists and scientific discoveries were made by men of faith [Newton, Pascal, Faraday, etc] the problem arises when men think that sheer humanistic reasoning, apart from God, is the answer. Right now there is a movement [11-08] going on where some atheists bought ad space on the sides of buses that say ‘why believe in a god? Do good for goodness sake’. So they had both sides [Christian /Atheist] debate it. The simple fact is, sheer humanism cannot even define ‘what good is’. ‘Good’ becomes a matter of what serves me best at the time of my decision. Without God and special revelation [scripture-10 commandments] good can be defined by Hitler’s regime as exterminating one class of society for the benefit of the whole. Only Christian [or Deist, Jewish, Muslim] beliefs place special value and dignity on human life. It is a common misconception to think that all the enlightenment philosophers were atheists; this was not the case at all. Locke, Hume and others simply believed that thru human logic and reason people could arrive at a sort of naturalistic belief in God. This would form the basis of Deism, the system of belief in God but a rejection of classic Christian theology. Benjamin Franklin and other founding fathers of our country were influenced by this style of belief. Now, getting back to the Greeks. Paul says ‘God destroyed the wisdom of this world’. What wisdom is Paul talking about? The enlightenment  philosophers of the 18th century had nothing on the Greek philosophers going all the way back to a few centuries B.C. Plato, the Greek wrestler turned philosopher, had one of the most famous schools of Greek philosophy. At the entrance of the school the words were written ‘let none but geometers enter here’. Kind of strange. Geometry simply meant ‘form’ in this use. Most of the great theoretical physicists were also great mathematicians [Einstein]. The Greek philosophers were seeking a sort of ‘unified theory’ that would explain all other theories and bring all learning together under one intellectual ‘roof’. Sort of like Einstein’s last great obsession. The Greeks actually referred to this great unknown future ‘unifier’ as ‘the Logos’. Now, some atheists will use this truth to undercut the New Testament. They will take the common use of these words ‘The Logos’ and say that Johns writings [Gospel, letters] were simply stolen ideas from Greek philosophy. This is why believers need to have a better understanding of the inspiration of scripture. John’s writings were no doubt inspired, he of course calls Jesus the ‘Logos’ [word] of God. But he was simply saying to the Greek/Gnostic mind ‘look, you guys have been waiting for centuries for the one special ‘Word/Logos’ that would be the answer to all learning, I declare unto you that Jesus is this Logos’! So eventually you would have ‘the wisdom of the world’ [both Greek and enlightenment and all other types] falling short of the ultimate answer. They could only go so far in their journey for truth, and ultimately they either wind up at the foot of the Cross [the wisdom of God] or the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’. God said this ‘tree’ [sources of wisdom and knowledge apart from God] would ultimately lead to death if not submitted to ‘the tree of life’ [the Cross]. You would have some of the enlightenment philosophers eat from this tree all the way to the ‘death of God’ movement. Man in his wisdom would come to the conclusion that ‘God is dead’. If this is true, then the slaughter of millions of Jews is no moral dilemma. If God is dead then man is not created in his image, he is just this piece of flesh that you can dispose of at will. To all you intellectual types, it’s Okay to have a mind, but you must love God with it. If all your doing is feeding from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will surely die.

(868)ROMANS 13:7-14 ‘For this cause pay your taxes also, for they are Gods ministers’ I noted earlier how Paul taught ‘give to those around you that are in need’ [chapter 12] and here he teaches the importance of ‘paying taxes’. Where is the exhortation to ‘pay tithes’? In the ecclesiology of Paul, the ‘corporate community of people’ are the ‘new testament temple of God’. Therefore you see the need to ‘pay tribute’ to only two ‘institutions’. One being the ‘local church’ [as seen in simple giving to the needs of the community around you] and the other being ‘the government’. Paul sees no 3rd ‘institution’ that is called ‘the local church’ to which the tribute of the tithe belongs. To correctly apply the verse in Malachi [if you were going to use it at all. It is obvious that the prophet is directing the rebuke towards natural Israel] you would simply see the ‘bring all the tithes into the storehouse’ as ‘give to meet the needs of the community [Gods new testament storehouse] around you’. Now Paul teaches the primacy of the law of love for the believer. If we walk in Jesus command to love, we fulfill the law. And again Paul uses the language of ‘fluent soteriology’ [salvation]. He says ‘now is our salvation nearer than when we believed’. Paul comfortably jumps in and out of ‘being saved’ and ‘will be saved’. It is this free use of the term that we need to become familiar with. The New Testament clearly teaches a future salvation. And it is not as simple as ‘My spirit is saved, my mind [soul- which is really a very weak translation for soul. The soul is much more than the mind, emotions and intellect!] is ‘being saved’ and my body will be saved’. It is not this cut and dry. Your spirit is saved, your spirit will be saved and is being saved [he ever lives to make intercession to God for us- this ongoing intercession deals with all aspects of the humans salvation. Not just the body!]. All 3 modes of salvation [past, present and future] can apply to ‘all of you’ [spirit, soul and body]. Don’t think future salvation only deals with the ‘salvation of the body’.

  END NOTES- I’m adding portions of the Catechism at the bottom to show my Catholic [and Protestant] friends the official teaching of the church.

Some of my Catholic readers who are following along in this study- I want you to know that these doctrines are indeed in line with your faith.

 RENAISSANCE STUFF –

 The renaissance was the 13-14th century revival of culture and learning that was lost for centuries- It began in Florence Italy.

The catch phrase for it was ‘Ad Fontes’  meaning ‘back to the sources’- both in philosophy- as well as in Christian learning.

This began a revival of studying the Greek New testament again from its original language.

The Catholic Humanist- Desiderius Erasmus [15-16th century] – re introduced the New Testament in the Greek version [He was referred to as a Dutch renaissance Humanist- as well as a Catholic Priest and scholar]

Now- Erasmus was a critic of the Church- like Luther- but chose a ‘middle road’- he did not join the breakaway Protestant Reformers- but chose to stay within the fold of Rome- while speaking out against the abuses he saw.

But his first Greek translation of the New Testament did indeed set a spark- because it allowed the Priests to see the bible in its original language.

And Luther was actually teaching this book of Romans to his students in Germany when the Reformation began.

Today the Catholic Church [as you can see in the official Catechism that I have been posting] does indeed teach the bible as God’s Word.

The divisions between Protestants and Catholics are many- but they did agree that the bible was the Word of God.

Some Protestants do not know this- they think the church holds Tradition higher than the bible.

No- the church does believe that God speaks both thru tradition- and scripture.

They see the tradition of the church as simply another means by which God uses the church [Magisterium] to explain scripture- but the Catholic Church does not elevate tradition over the bible.

And indeed- it was a catholic scholar- Erasmus- who introduced the first Geek version of the New Testament.

NOTE- Erasmus disagreed with Luther on the doctrine of Predestination- which I covered in the last video. Luther was for it- Erasmus was what we would call ‘Free Will’.

In his writings- which were very influential- he wrote in Greek and Latin- the language of the elites.

He did this on purpose- for his target was the influential leaders of the Church.

He rejected offers of money- because he did not want to align himself with any particular movement- so he could be an independent writer with no strings attached.

He had many criticisms of the Catholic Church- and was very influential for the later reforms- those we see at the Council of Trent [Though the church criticized him- they said he ‘Laid the egg that hatched the Reformation’].

He taught that the church/priests/popes should be the servants of the people-

He rejected the idea that the Priests/leaders made up the ‘whole of the church’- but he believed all believers made up the true church.

Erasmus was a firebrand in his own way- rejecting the language that Luther and some of the reformers used [they were vulgar at times]-

Luther respected the works of Erasmus- he thanked Erasmus for debating with him on the nature of Justification by Faith-

He disagreed in the end- but said this debate was at the heart of the gospel- and was glad that Erasmus was willing to engage.

 RENAISSANCE ARTISTS-

The famous renaissance artists- DaVinci- Michelangelo- Raphael- used their artwork as a form of knowledge- the images taught things- they were not just paintings.

DaVinci’s most famous work was his painting on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel in the Vatican.

It took him 4 years to complete.

The renaissance period- from about the 13/14th century to the 17th– [though there was a sort of Renaissance that took place- yes- in the Islamic world before the European Renaissance] was marked by what we term Humanism.

Today we associate this term with ‘secular Humanism’ which often has a bad connotation- especially among Christians.

But it meant something different back then.

It was a new focus on breaking the limits off of man- and for man to excel in knowledge and skill- and to see man as having value.

There was somewhat of a break away from the church in a sense- in that the church and its teachings were not the only source of wisdom for man.

But- Jesus himself taught that ‘the Sabbath was made for man- not man for the Sabbath’- so- the Humanist spirit- elevating the value of man- does have a Christian basis in my view.

Leonardo daVinci [15/16th century] was what we refer to as a true Renaissance man- meaning his knowledge was in many fields- not just art.

He actually considered himself a sculptor first- then an artist- though he is most famous for his Fresco mentioned above.

1989    The first work of the grace of the Holy Spirit is conversion, effecting justification in accordance with Jesus’ proclamation at the beginning of the Gospel: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”38 Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, thus accepting forgiveness and righteousness from on high. “Justification is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man.”39 (1427)

1990    Justification detaches man from sin which contradicts the love of God, and purifies his heart of sin. Justification follows upon God’s merciful initiative of offering forgiveness. It reconciles man with God. It frees from the enslavement to sin, and it heals. (1446, 1733)

1991    Justification is at the same time the acceptance of God’s righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ. Righteousness (or “justice”) here means the rectitude of divine love. With justification, faith, hope, and charity are poured into our hearts, and obedience to the divine will is granted us. (1812)

1992    Justification has been merited for us by the Passion of Christ who offered himself on the cross as a living victim, holy and pleasing to God, and whose blood has become the instrument of atonement for the sins of all men. Justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who makes us inwardly just by the power of his mercy. Its purpose is the glory of God and of Christ, and the gift of eternal life:40 (617, 1266, 294)

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus.41

1993    Justification establishes cooperation between God’s grace and man’s freedom. On man’s part it is expressed by the assent of faith to the Word of God, which invites him to conversion, and in the cooperation of charity with the prompting of the Holy Spirit who precedes and preserves his assent: (2008, 2068)

When God touches man’s heart through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, man himself is not inactive while receiving that inspiration, since he could reject it; and yet, without God’s grace, he cannot by his own free will move himself toward justice in God’s sight.42

1994    Justification is the most excellent work of God’s love made manifest in Christ Jesus and granted by the Holy Spirit. It is the opinion of St. Augustine that “the justification of the wicked is a greater work than the creation of heaven and earth,” because “heaven and earth will pass away but the salvation and justification of the elect… will not pass away.”43 He holds also that the justification of sinners surpasses the creation of the angels in justice, in that it bears witness to a greater mercy. (312, 412)

1995    The Holy Spirit is the master of the interior life. By giving birth to the “inner man,”44 justification entails the sanctification of his whole being: (741)

Just as you once yielded your members to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now yield your members to righteousness for sanctification…. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the return you get is sanctification and its end, eternal life.45

1. Grace

1996    Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life.46 (153)

1997    Grace is a participation in the life of God. It introduces us into the intimacy of Trinitarian life: by Baptism the Christian participates in the grace of Christ, the Head of his Body. As an “adopted son” he can henceforth call God “Father,” in union with the only Son. He receives the life of the Spirit who breathes charity into him and who forms the Church. (375, 260)

1998    This vocation to eternal life is supernatural. It depends entirely on God’s gratuitous initiative, for he alone can reveal and give himself. It surpasses the power of human intellect and will, as that of every other creature.47 (1719)

I added these below for commentary on Romans 13- Civil authorities. In our world today- there are many governmental authorities- and some are changing ‘overnight’- with much instability in the world. So you have cases where one group- government- is in charge- to be ‘obeyed’- but yet- that group is ousted some times in a day. Then do you view the new government- and all the new courts- judges- etc. – as illegitimate? Because they did not submit to the former group?

I find lots of confusion among Christians about our right relationship to civil government- many do not seem to understand that when we in the U.S. rebelled against British/English rule- we too were not ‘obeying’ the authority. We formed a new government- with courts- judges- etc.

So- this portion below shows us that there are indeed times when government loses the authority to govern- given to them by God.

1902    Authority does not derive its moral legitimacy from itself. It must not behave in a despotic manner, but must act for the common good as a “moral force based on freedom and a sense of responsibility”:21

A human law has the character of law to the extent that it accords with right reason, and thus derives from the eternal law. Insofar as it falls short of right reason it is said to be an unjust law, and thus has not so much the nature of law as of a kind of violence.22

1903    Authority is exercised legitimately only when it seeks the common good of the group concerned and if it employs morally licit means to attain it. If rulers were to enact unjust laws or take measures contrary to the moral order, such arrangements would not be binding in conscience. In such a case, “authority breaks down completely and results in shameful abuse.”23

  ROMANS  14-16

https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/3-28-15-rom14-16.zip

 CHAPTER 14

.CAN WE WEAR SHORT, SHORTS?

.THE ATHEIST KNEW

NEW NOTES BELOW-

. ON EATING MEAT [I wrote this commentary years ago- so I added some recent notes below].

.DAVID KORESH- KING CYRUS?

[END NOTES-

.RETHINKING HOMELESS MINISTRY.

.TIMOTHY CHAPTER 6]

 (869)ROMANS 14:1-9 Paul discusses Christian convictions. Things that are personal habits of discipline where the scripture is silent on. Some believers abstain from certain types of food. Others see certain days as ‘more special’ than the others. It’s important to see that in this discussion Paul is not concerned with ‘who is right’. Though he will describe the legalistic believers as ‘weak in the faith’. And he himself will say he is convinced that ‘nothing is unclean in and of itself’. He is speaking about the convictions mentioned above. When I first became a believer I attended a good church. It was a Fundamental Baptist church that was a little legalistic in these areas. I remember a funny story, some of the brothers went on a canoe trip. We had a blast. One of the guys was wearing these old cut off shorts that looked like ‘blue jean hot pants’ [who wears short shorts, we wear short shorts!] the pants were old and the ‘fly’ kept unzipping. We told the brother ‘hey James, your gonna get us arrested or something if you can’t keep your shorts on!’. He got mad and called us a bunch of legalists! As you can see there are times where this accusation can simply be an excuse. But seriously the church was old fashioned [though well meaning]. I had another friend of mine that I led to the Lord and he asked ‘what’s wrong with the Christian rock, I like it’? He had heard some songs from the group Petra and he thought they were great. He also questioned why it was wrong for his boys to play mixed sports in public school. He was taught that the boys and girls wearing shorts in mixed company was wrong. So things like this are personal convictions that believers should not use to judge others. I want to stress that Paul does not condemn the more legalistic brothers, but he does make it clear that this is a sign of ‘weaker faith’. A faith that looks at the insignificant things and makes them significant. Many ‘Emergent’ church folk [of which I am one to a degree] seem to have had this type of background. Or at least are familiar with the classic evangelical message and preaching. Some have found a revolution in their thinking by re-organizing their lives around the actual lifestyle and teachings of Christ [which is a very good thing!]. But some seem to despise the older type churches and expressions of Christianity that they experienced while growing up. Some even cast away the good with the bad! Though many of the more legalistic churches practiced this type of Christianity, yet I commend them on spreading the gospel of Gods grace. Taking seriously their faith in the Lord. And being historic defenders of the faith at a time when the more liberal universities were throwing out the baby with the bathwater [the 20th century fundamentalist movement].

 (870)ROMANS 14: 10-23 ‘As I live…every knee shall bow and every tongue confess’. Paul teaches that we will all give an account of ourselves to God. He shows that one of the proofs that ‘he lives’ rides on this fact. How? The context of every one giving an account of his life is speaking of a future judgment day. But we also see the reality of Gods existence in the fact that most people [even atheists!] have at one time or another ‘spoken to God’. I was listening [or reading?] a testimony of a woman who was an atheist. Her child became critically ill and as the days went by in the hospital she had a conversation that went like this ‘I cant pray to God now. I would be a hypocrite. I have denied him my whole life’. The point is she actually knew that in time of need you should pray to God. This universal reality that most people on the planet have at one time or another ‘confessed to God’ is proof of his existence. Paul says because of this fact that we all will give an account to God, therefore don’t judge other people [motives] before the time. If you have the freedom to ‘eat meat’ [less legalistic] then by all means do so. But if this freedom causes another to stumble, then your first priority as a Christian is to live your life in an unselfish way for the benefit of others. So do not let your freedom become an offence to those who have ‘weaker faith’. Do all things with the benefit of others in mind. When Paul says ‘don’t judge your brother’ he is not saying there is never a time for correction and reproof. Paul used very harsh language when dealing with the Judaizers. These Jewish legalists did believe in Christ, they just mixed the law in with the gospel. Paul rebuked them harshly [just like Jesus and the religious leaders of his day]. But when dealing with new believers, those who are ‘weaker in the faith’ you don’t want to overload them with too much stuff. You want them to grow and mature in the proper time. If you used to be legalistic [not going to movies, not eating pork, all types of stuff] and now are more mature in your thinking [though some movies are bad and pork isn’t real good for you!] you should not despise those who still see the practice of their faith thru this lens. Paul said ‘he that eats, eats unto the Lord. He that abstains does it also to the lord’. In these less important restrictions that some believers abide by, most of the times their motives are pure. We shouldn’t demean them. We should try to live peaceably with all men as much as possible, we will all give an account some day.

NEW NOTES-

IS EATING MEAT OK?

The question of food and Holy Days are a subject that the Apostle Paul deals with more than one time in his letters to the churches.

For us today- it might not seem like a big issue- but for various reasons it was an issue for the 1st century church.

When he wrote the church at Corinth- their issue was whether or not it was ok to eat meat sacrificed to idols.

Corinth had a tradition [non-Christian that is] where the town folk would sacrifice animals to various ‘gods’.

Now- the priests who dealt in this trade- would take the leftover meat from the animal- and either eat it- or sell it to the local ‘butcher’.

These sacrifices were to false gods [also understood to be demon entities by the 1st century Jewish/Christian communities].

So- the question was- is it ok to eat the meat?

The apostle Paul tells them that we know there are no other gods but the true God- and meat in general is ok for us living under the New Covenant [he also says in the End Times some will command to not eat meat- and that God gave us all animals to be received with thanksgiving].

So- in general- the meat was fine.

But- if doing it offends a weaker brother- then don’t eat it.

Meat also played a big role in another sense- the Jewish converts to Christianity were indeed taught kosher rules for food/meat.

Were these converts not to obey their old religious rules about food?

We read of this type of debate all thru the New testament- not just about meat- but about the whole transition of the Jewish believers- and their relationship to the Old Law.

In Acts chapter 13- and 15 you can get a good feel of this debate.

There are Christians today who still struggle with the Old Law- and how we today should relate to it.

Paul says he is persuaded that there is nothing unclean in and of itself [here talking about food- not things like adultery- which some of my friends think is ok- I can’t stress enough that when the bible says ‘nothing is unclean in and of itself’- it is NEVER TALKING ABOUT BREAKING THE 10 COMMANDMENTS].

So- in the end- if in areas of what we call Christian convictions- it’s simply a matter of choice-

If the bible is silent on an issue- then lean towards grace-

But- if your freedom hurts your brother- because he thinks it’s a bad thing- then be willing to abstain from it- like eating the meat that was sacrificed to the idol- at least while their around.

Some see a contradiction in Paul’s teaching- at one point he says ‘meats ok- even if part of it was used as a sacrifice to idols’- yet he also says ‘don’t eat at THE TABLE with devils [demons]’.

Ok- one of the practices at the city of Corinth was you ate in a sort of ‘demonic’ Eucharist- those who worshiped false gods had a sort of meal like Christians celebrated- which we call Holy Communion.

These idol worshippers did sort of the same thing- they ate together at their own TABLE_ in a sort of celebration of their gods-

So- Paul did forbid this practice- he told the church at Corinth you cannot eat at the table of the Lord and the table of devils-

If you were actually participating at the Table- eating the meat there- in celebration of the false god- then it’s wrong.

But- if you simply bought some of the left over meat- at the local butcher- that was fine.

See?

No contradiction at all.

 KING CYRUS- DAVIVD KORESH?

Paul uses a quote from Isaiah 45 ‘every knee shall bow- tongue confess’ – talking about God using a pagan king- King Cyrus- to restore Israel to their land.

We read about him in the book of Ezra and Daniel-

He gave the famous decree for God’s people to return to their land [2nd Chronicles 36, Ezra 1].

Josephus the historian indicates that Cyrus was shown the prophecy about him [written by Isaiah about 150 years before].

It’s possible that Daniel himself showed this to Cyrus- being he held a high position in the Persian empire- at this time.

David Koresh- the infamous leader of the branch Davidians [a breakaway sect from the 7TH day Adventist church] took his name from Cyrus-

Koresh is the Persian name for Cyrus the Great.

·  1ST, 2ND CORINTHIANS

· 1ST- 2ND SAMUEL

· 1ST- 2ND SAMUEL [LINKS- UPDATED 3-17]

· 1ST-2ND KINGS

· ABOUT

· ACTS

· ACTS [LINKS]

· ATHEISM- APOLOGETICS [LINKS ADDED]

· CHRISTIAN RECOVERY FROM ADDICTION [LONG VERSION]

· CLASSICS OF WESTERN LITERATURE

· DEUTERONOMY, JOSHUA

· EPHESIANS [HIGHLIGHTS]

· EPHESIANS [LINKS]

· FURTHER TALKS ON CHURCH AND MINISTRY

· GALATIANS [LINKS]

· GALATIANS- JOHN’S GOSPEL

· GENESIS

· HAGGAI

· HEBREWS- UPDATED 2015

· HISTORICAL FIGURES FROM CHURCH HISTORY

· HOUSE OF PRAYER OR DEN OF THIEVES

· HURRICANE HARVEY

· INSIGHTS FROM A REVOLUTION

· ISLAM

· JAMES- 2015

· JOHN [COMPLETE- LINKS ADDED]

· JONAH [LINKS]

· JUDGES- RUTH [VIDEO LINKS INCLUDED]

· JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH

· LINK TO PAST POSTS- UP TO 12-2017

· LINKS TO STUDIES

· MARK [LINKS]

· MY BIBLE COMMENTARIES [OTHER LINKS]

· MY OTHER SITES

· N.J./NYC- 2017

· NEHEMIAH, ISAIAH

· NYC-NEW JERSEY TRIP- 2015

· ONE LINK

· OVERVIEW OF PHILOSOPHY

· OVERVIEW OF THE BIBLE

· PROTESTANT REFORMATION- LUTHER

· QM

· RADIO CATALOG

· RAPTURE- 2ND COMING- 2 EVENTS?

· ROMANS-UPDATED 2015

· RUSSIA- U.S.- WORLD EVENTS

· THE GREAT BUILDING OF GOD

· WESTERN INTELLECTUAL TRADITION

//

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UNCATEGORIZED

Mark 2 [North Bergen]

POSTED BY CCOUTREACH87 ⋅ MARCH 2, 2017 ⋅ LEAVE A COMMENT

WEDNESDAY 3-1-17 Revelation 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; Revelation 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. https://youtu.be/_SRevM8Tcs4 MARK 2 https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/3-1-17-mark-2-north-bergen.zip https://youtu.be/4S5YHb2hea8 BURGER KING [Glenn] https://youtu.be/mij6WkuCllE MONKEY WITH 3 TAILS [Rick] ON VIDEO [Mark 2]- .91st. st. to park [Fairview- North Bergen] .Who can forgive sins but God? .Man healed .Why was Jesus with sinners? .Culture shock .New Wine [and skins] .Don’t pick the corn .Don’t you remember what David did? .The Sabbath was made for man- not the other way around .David and his men a type of Jesus and his men NEW- I taught on the first video [Mark 2] and spent a few hours with some of my friends. Glenn is homeless- and we have had some good talks. I share a little of his story on the short videos. On the teaching video I’ll try and add my past teaching on this chapter. I haven’t done a commentary on Mark’s gospel- and when I get back to Texas I might pick up on where I left off and make a complete study out of it. When I left the guys I thought of possibly doing a NYC video at midnight type of a thing- I’ve done those before- and you can see how the streets are always crowded in the ‘city that never sleeps’. But I’ll put that off for now. On today’s post/video I walked past the spot where I made some of my first teaching videos- in 2014- below are those videos. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSwvNQlFyuY [North Bergen- 2014] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SxYy2p1OX4 [North Bergen- 2014] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4VF0gOYw_k [North Bergen- 2015] PAST TEACHING- [verses below] Jesus talks about the story of king David found in Samuel- I taught that chapter before- 1st Samuel 21- here’s the link to my study [below I’ll paste the text to my commentary on the chapter] https://ccoutreach87.com/1st-2nd-samuel/ I mentioned these bible books on today’s video [Mark 2]- here are my studies on them- https://ccoutreach87.com/john-complete-links-added/ https://ccoutreach87.com/james-2015/ (905)SAMUEL 21- David is fleeing from Saul and he goes to the priest at Nob. The priest wonders what’s up. David tells him he is on a special assignment from the king and he and his men need food. The priest tells him the only food available is the consecrated bread that is only for God and the priesthood. David convinces the priest to let them eat and David asks ‘do you have any weapons here’. The priest says ‘I have the sword you used to kill the giant’ David says ‘great, that will work just fine’. Jesus used this story to describe himself and the disciples [Mark 2]. One day Jesus and the disciples were going thru the grain fields and the disciples picked the grain and ate it on the Sabbath. The Pharisees said ‘your disciples are breaking Gods law by picking it on the Sabbath’. Now, to be honest they were breaking the over extended ideas that the religious Pharisees came up with thru their legalism. But Jesus still used this example as a defense. He says ‘have you not read what David and his men did? They ate the ceremonial showbread that was not lawful, only the priests could eat it’. David and his men are a symbol of Jesus and his men. While it is true that the bread was only lawful for the priests, David is a king/priest who gets away with doing ‘priestly things’ because of his picture of Christ. Scripture says he put on an ephod [priestly garment] which only priests could do. David functioned before the open Ark in Jerusalem. He did things that other kings were punished for [Saul, Uzziah]. Jesus in essence was saying to the Pharisees ‘I am the new priest/king from which all future law and worship will be measured by. Me and my followers are not under the law, the law serves us’! In Christ we are free from the guilt of the law, we live above legalism and follow the master. David and his men were acting like priests and kings contrary to the economy of their day. David was a type of Jesus whose future priestly ministry would ‘out trump’ the law. [parts] https://youtu.be/psCMQgX_7v4 Samuel 21 https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/10-6-16-samuel-21.zip ON VIDEO- [Yes- I ‘Backslid’. I promised no more political stuff- but for the first 20 minutes of the video- I get into it. The last 10 minutes I do teach- and have some new notes below on that. I made this video a few days ago- before the latest ‘controversies’- the Hillary WikiLeaks and the Trump video. It really makes no difference- I’m simply dealing with media bias. Trying to show how the media decides what to focus on. Yet- the real important issues of our time are put on the back burner- and we do politics like a sport]. .Debates .Media bias .Clinton Foundation .Why no taxes? .Clintons health is a real issue .Why is she off the trail? .How did the Clintons get rich? .What about the server? .Why did CNN fire the doctor? .Google even manipulated the search results .Russia .Abortion .The sword came back NEW- David is on the run from King Saul. He shows up at the house of God and asks the priest for food. The priest is nervous- David is alone [not a full military back up] and something just doesn’t seem right. David assures the priest ‘look- I’m on a special mission for the king- it’s so secret I left quickly- didn’t even have time to take food or weapons’. Wow- this must be some mission? How about some lie. Yes- David is good at lots of stuff- and he lied great here. So- the priest gives David and his few men the Holy bread- which is only for the priests. Now- David is not from the priestly tribe- Levi- but from Judah. Ok- David takes the food and asks ‘do you have any weapons’? The priest says ‘only the sword- I mean it’s wrapped up in the back- we treat the thing like it’s holy’. Yes- the sword David used to cut the giants head off. I think David must have felt a little remorse here. The whole nation had that sword as a memento of David’s great victory over Goliath. He used the sword only one time- the day he cut the giants head off. After all- it was the giant’s sword. Now- he’s on the run from Saul- already made up some great lies- and the priest gives him the weapon he used in the past. When he trusted in the living God- against all odds- and was a righteous warrior. David takes the sword- goes to the Philistines- Huh? Yes- he flees to the enemy camp- and the king of Gath says ‘why did you bring this guy to me- isn’t he David the great warrior who killed us in the past’. Now- David seems to have been trying to get a job- you know- as a mercenary. He couldn’t fight for Saul-and that’s his greatest paying skill. But when the philistines recognize him- Well- what do you think David did? Maybe yelled out ‘yes- I’m the one who took the giants head off- and I still come to you in the name of the living God- and…’ Yeah- did he do that John? Well actually not. Instead- he started drooling at the mouth- and scribbling on the doors- you know- like he was nuts. ‘John- you shouldn’t joke about stuff like that’. I’m not! Go read it [below]. Yes- the great man after ‘God’s own heart’ was so afraid- he pretended he was nuts- and yes- the scheme worked- The king says ‘this guy’s not David- that great man of honor- he’s a nut’! Ahh- we see what fear can do to a man- even a great man. Yes- David is in a tough spot- His own king- Saul- is out to get him. His only option was to go work for the enemy- At least that’s what he thought. And then he not only acted like a nut- He lied to the priest too. He ate the bread that Jesus himself said was only for the priests 25 And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him? 26 How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him? Jesus.

And he schemed his way into a corner. Does anything good come out of this at all? Yes- Jesus used this story- when defending himself and his disciples when they were accused of violating the law. 23 And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. 24 And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? 25 And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him? 26 How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him? 27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: 28 Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

And Jesus- who too was from the tribe of Judah- Superseded the Old Covenant law- He never broke it- but he ushered in a better covenant. By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. Hebrews So David- on his bad day- actually glorified Jesus on his good day. And even in his failure- gave Jesus one of the greatest stories he could use to show his superiority over the Levitical priests. Yes- that Jesus and his men- just like David and his- did indeed have the right to do what they did. Because they were from a better tribe- The one that our Lord ‘sprang from’. For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. Heb. 7:14 Amen.

   VERSES

1Corinthians 1:22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

1Corinthians 1:23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

1Corinthians 1:24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

1Corinthians 1:25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

John 2:13 And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

John 2:14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:

John 2:15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables;

John 2:16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.

John 2:17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.

John 2:18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?

John 2:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

John 2:20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?

John 2:21 But he spake of the temple of his body.

John 2:22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.

John 2:23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.

John 2:24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men,

John 2:25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.

Exodus 20:1 And God spake all these words, saying,

Exodus 20:2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Exodus 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

Exodus 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Exodus 20:6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Exodus 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Exodus 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Exodus 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

Exodus 20:10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

Exodus 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Exodus 20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

Exodus 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.

Exodus 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Exodus 20:15 Thou shalt not steal.

Exodus 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

Exodus 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

 Luke 24:1

Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.

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Acts 20:7

And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

1 Corinthians 16:2

Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

Romans 14:5

One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:

17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

Mark 2:28

Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of thesabbath.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

  March 4, 2018 - Year B

 « March 3  |  March 5 »

Third Sunday of Lent

Lectionary: 29

Reading 1

EX 20:1-17

In those days, God delivered all these commandments: "I, the LORD, am your God,  who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. You shall not have other gods besides me. You shall not carve idols for yourselves  in the shape of anything in the sky above  or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth;  you shall not bow down before them or worship them. For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God,  inflicting punishment for their fathers' wickedness  on the children of those who hate me,  down to the third and fourth generation;  but bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation  on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments. "You shall not take the name of the LORD, your God, in vain. For the LORD will not leave unpunished  the one who takes his name in vain. "Remember to keep holy the sabbath day. Six days you may labor and do all your work,  but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD, your God. No work may be done then either by you, or your son or daughter,  or your male or female slave, or your beast,  or by the alien who lives with you. In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth,  the sea and all that is in them;  but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the LORD has blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. "Honor your father and your mother,  that you may have a long life in the land  which the LORD, your God, is giving you. You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife,  nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or ass,  nor anything else that belongs to him."

Or

EX 20:1-3, 7-8, 12-17

In those days, God delivered all these commandments: "I, the LORD am your God,  who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. You shall not have other gods besides me. "You shall not take the name of the LORD, your God, in vain. For the LORD will not leave unpunished  the one who takes his name in vain. "Remember to keep holy the sabbath day. Honor your father and your mother,  that you may have a long life in the land  which the Lord, your God, is giving you. You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife,  nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or ass,  nor anything else that belongs to him."

Responsorial Psalm

PS 19:8, 9, 10, 11.

R. (John 6:68c) Lord, you have the words of everlasting life. The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul; The decree of the LORD is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple. R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the command of the LORD is clear, enlightening the eye. R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the LORD are true, all of them just. R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life. They are more precious than gold, than a heap of purest gold; sweeter also than syrup or honey from the comb. R. Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.

Reading 2 

1 COR 1:22-25

Brothers and sisters: Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom,  but we proclaim Christ crucified,  a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,  but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike,  Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom,  and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

Verse Before The Gospel

JN 3:16

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.

Gospel

JN 2:13-25

Since the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves,  as well as the money changers seated there. He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen,  and spilled the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables,  and to those who sold doves he said, "Take these out of here,  and stop making my Father's house a marketplace." His disciples recalled the words of Scripture,  Zeal for your house will consume me. At this the Jews answered and said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing this?" Jesus answered and said to them,  "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews said,  "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years,  and you will raise it up in three days?" But he was speaking about the temple of his body. Therefore, when he was raised from the dead,  his disciples remembered that he had said this,  and they came to believe the Scripture  and the word Jesus had spoken. While he was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover,  many began to believe in his name  when they saw the signs he was doing. But Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all,  and did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself understood it well.

OTHER VIDEOS

 Bobby preaches  https://youtu.be/C25zsHNg1J8

3-18-18 Sunday sermon  https://www.bitchute.com/video/AuXrIAYVzT7X/

On the way back to Texas  https://www.instagram.com/tv/Bx4oWtAnn1A/?utm_source=ig_web_options_share_sheet

11-5-17 Sunday sermon  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhDrp8iA1KiuUl_1S

Ephesians 5  https://www.dropbox.com/s/1zau14j5ba1728k/2-1-18%20Ephesians%205.mp4?dl=0

Kingdom come  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMg1oEokSn7Lj112ki

Acts 17  https://youtu.be/fQSdBK5I6bk

8-27-17 Sunday sermon   https://www.dropbox.com/s/bh48my17zjp506z/8-27-17%20Sunday%20Mass.mp4?dl=0

Homeless friends  https://youtu.be/iWQnkKPnIpo

Holy saviour https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhFBZNsezMk9LU-Tj

Mark 13  https://youtu.be/vYBGKqDp5aE

12-10-17 Sunday sermon  https://www.dropbox.com/s/tf1saous3236lox/12-10-17%20Sunday%20sermon.mp4?dl=0

5-27-18 S sermon- 2  https://dai.ly/x7a8ocf

Acts 1  https://flic.kr/p/2gYUXZy

Friends and teaching  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMiyA3eY7su0Cjkajv

Ephesians 4  https://www.dropbox.com/s/lph733qd6gpbz0w/1-18-18%20Ephesians%204.mp4?dl=0

Acts 25  https://youtu.be/GO_EbKzNSpk

The man of sin  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhE7SqVRbrSoaS9m0

Acts 2  https://youtu.be/tEvhnzSd7OY

7-16-17 Sunday sermon  https://youtu.be/zHIb6LntfJQ

Isaiah 53  https://www.dropbox.com/s/09v8n61x6x3rsqo/8-27-16%20Isaiah%2053.mp4?dl=0

Nick- North Bergen  https://www.instagram.com/tv/Bx2IzVwn9sh/?utm_source=ig_web_options_share_sheet

12-17-17 Sunday sermon  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhEnvSSqZtPzXYFDU

Ephesians 3  https://www.dropbox.com/s/iv9uxkj7s25q1sb/1-2-18%20Ephesians%203.mp4?dl=0

The idol   https://www.bitchute.com/video/aVx5rilqaoPq/

Snake on a pole  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhEvf2463w_kxTtAh

Hurricane Harvey  https://www.dropbox.com/s/bhlp77odvbarw0s/8-25-17%20Harvey-1.mp4?dl=0

Take- eat- this is my Body  https://flic.kr/p/2gYfbuA

Whats real?  https://youtu.be/1xlAC-2CHPw

12-24-17 Sunday sermon  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhFZkWWvik6tihKw3

Ezra 9  https://youtu.be/wGZcv0-PQLc

5-27-18 Sunday sermon- 1  https://dai.ly/x7a5ij7

https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10206073167466428/

Romans 11-13   https://youtu.be/gZVN_AIvVpg

12-18-16 Sunday sermon  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhEqB_PrkjA4pODts

Kings 9  https://youtu.be/giHrjSJEfBs

Samuel 17- Preview  https://www.dropbox.com/s/i0uv3h5e5yeibcs/8-25-16%20Samuel%2017-%20preview.mp4?dl=0

Teaching- real time  https://dai.ly/x7a5ij8

Acts 24  https://flic.kr/p/2gWX4So

Jamal  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMix1W3a9ox0vTGaBu

Ephesians 2  https://www.dropbox.com/s/dcterll6r8stc28/12-9-17%20Ephesians%202.mp4?dl=0

Mark 2  https://youtu.be/_SRevM8Tcs4

Ephesians 3  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMbmJ7N-LFNKVN2n0

Remnant  https://youtu.be/ZMnozKiGmEc

Jimmy D  https://www.dropbox.com/s/w4gr0754673s5p4/8-25-16%20Jimmy%20D.mp4?dl=0

Glenn  https://www.instagram.com/tv/Bxw9-JkHmNG/?utm_source=ig_web_options_share_sheet

12-3-17 Sunday sermon  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhGiIcEmfQHfrjW9O

Ephesians 1  https://www.dropbox.com/s/uve5l1dh546zxcp/11-21-17%20Ephesians-%20Intro-%20chapter%201.mp4?dl=0

Colossians 1  https://www.bitchute.com/video/5WENfQZllKEQ/

Rams horn  https://youtu.be/XSA47cA2es4

Micah 4-6  https://www.dropbox.com/s/cjqqd8xf0kz244a/12-16-16%20Micah%204-6.mp4?dl=0

Homeless friends  https://youtu.be/JQTUmqnFM6s

Hebrews 10  https://www.dropbox.com/s/k3tzvcm5rf3842q/8-24-16%20Hebrews%2010.mp4?dl=0

The ring  https://dai.ly/x79zyn0

Acts 27  https://flic.kr/p/2gTpWSb

12-31-17 Sunday sermon  https://youtu.be/VCYa-UpvoBg

Galatians 6  https://www.dropbox.com/s/8p7q3cc47gtv6gb/1-31-17%20Galatians%206%20%5BConc.%5D.mp4?dl=0

Acts 16  https://ccoutreach87.com/2019/09/10/acts-16-text/

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[avanneman]

The Devil is in the Footnotes

Evelyn Douek is an S.J.D. candidate at Harvard Law School, studying international and transnational regulation of online speech. Before coming to Harvard to complete a Master of Laws, Evelyn clerked for the Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, the Hon. Justice Susan Kiefel, and worked as a corporate litigator. She received her LL.B. from UNSW Sydney, where she was Executive Editor of the UNSW Law Journal.

I am none of these things. However, I would like to criticize a certain “false meme” that Ms. Douek is, I believe, unwittingly circulating—“unwittingly” in the sense that she doesn't realize it isn’t true. Writing in Lawfare, in her article “Facebook’s New ‘Supreme Court’ Could Revolutionize Online Speech”, she speculates as to the the motivations of the notorious Mr. Zuckerberg as follows:

There is also the user-relations dimension. When Zuckerberg first floated the idea in April, I analogized Zuckerberg’s desire for restraint to the voluntarily segregated hotels and restaurants that counterintuitively supported anti-discrimination legislation during the Civil Rights Movement. They did so because they would earn more profits if they provided their services to everyone, but would pay a social cost in their white communities if they decided to voluntarily stop discriminating. Content moderation decisions on Facebook are hard and any call is likely to upset a proportion of Facebook users. By outsourcing the decision and blame, Facebook can try to wash its hands of controversial decisions.

I think the hand washing is very much on Facebook’s mind, but Douek’s “analogy” to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 struck me as dubious, because I wasn't at all sure that hotels and restaurants in the South wanted to be forcibly integrated back in the day, so I pursued the link to her earlier article, “The Supreme Court of Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg Floats a Governance Structure for Online Speech”, where I read the following:

In a recent article, Cass Sunstein describes how, during the civil rights movement, many segregated restaurants and hotels counterintuitively supported anti-discrimination legislation because they would earn more profits if they provided their services to everyone. Yet they wanted to be compelled by law to desegregate because social norms meant they would incur a high cost in their communities if they voluntarily decided to stop discriminating.

Okay, I still didn’t agree, so I pursued that link, to the article by the distinguished Professor Sunstein, who teaches at Harvard Law, succinctly titled “Unleashed”, which discusses a wide variety of topics relating to discrimination and norms, coming up with a little typology of behavior—four “cases”, defining “Case (4)” as the case “in which discriminators do not want to discriminate, but norms encourage or require them to do so.” According to Dr. Sunstein,

Case (4) may be the most interesting one. Here too, many discriminators will falsify their preferences. They will act as if they are sexist and racist, even though they are not. (In human history, that has often happened.) Faced with the stated conflict, what can discriminators do, short of defying the norm?

Here as well, norm entrepreneurs can act to alter the norm. They can also ask for or enlist law. Consider a revealing fact: Some of the restaurants and hotels that that were regulated by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 actually lobbied vigorously for the legislation. [Sunstein’s emphasis] Why – you might ask – would such companies affirmatively seek to be forbidden, by law, from discriminating on the basis of race? If they did not want to discriminate on the basis of race, they certainly could have stopped discriminating on the basis of race. Why did they need the law?

Norms help to explain what happened. The relevant companies had an antecedent preference: They wanted to make money. The best way to make money was to serve anyone who was willing to pay. For that reason, they did not want to discriminate. In fact they wanted not to discriminate, because discrimination, on their part, was costly. But in light of prevailing norms, they would incur a high cost for not discriminating, which would provoke a hostile reaction in their community. As Lawrence Lessig writes, “for a white to serve or hire blacks was for the white to mark him or herself as having either a special greed for money or a special affection for blacks.” In these circumstances, the force of the law was needed to alter the social meaning of nondiscrimination. Once the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was enacted, nondiscrimination was a matter of compliance. Profit-making companies were liberated.

Okay, I didn’t agree with Dr. Sunstein either, so I pursued the footnote he provided to his “revealing fact,” which reads as follows: “See Lawrence Lessig, The Regulation of Social Meaning, 62 U Chi L Rev 943 (1995). See also Richard H. McAdams, Cooperation and Conflict: The Economics of Group Status Production and Race Discrimination, 108 Harv L Rev 1003, 1065-85 (1995).

Via the miracle of the modern Internet, which has made Mr. Zuckerberg rich and me verbose, I discovered both Dr. Lessig’s and Dr. McAdams’ articles residing on the “Chicago Unbound” website, which I guess could also be called “Lawyers R Funny”.1 I confess I did not read either article in full, but did search for “Civil Rights” in both. I did not find anything in McAdams’ paper, “Cooperation and Conflict: The Economics of Group Status Production and Race Discrimination” about the history of the Civil Rights Act. But Lessig’s article, “The Regulation of Social Meaning” did discuss the act’s genesis. Pursuing what I would call an exercise in “fresh water” thinking, Dr. Lessig had this to say:

During the legislative hearings on the Civil Rights Act of 1964, supporters of the bill called before the committee white, southern employers and business owners whose discrimination against blacks was the prime target of the legislation. Some of these employers and businessmen supported the bill, and some of them supported the bill for reasons quite relevant to our analysis of social meaning construction.

…

[W]hat business leaders feared was the retaliation of whites against their voluntary efforts to integrate. This retaliation had both a behavior and a meaning. The behavior was simply the shift of business to another local business. The meaning was a form of stigma, this time stigma suffered by whites. In a context where voluntary integration was permitted, for a white to serve or hire blacks was for the white to mark him or herself as having either a special greed for money or a special affection for blacks. As one restaurant owner said, “If I'm the only one, how can I face my fellow citizens with pride?”

Despite his statement that “supporters of the bill called before the committee white, southern employers and business owners,” and despite summarizing their (alleged) testimony, Lessig doesn’t cite that testimony, buttressing his statement instead with a footnote that reads as follows:

See the testimony of Burke Marshall in A Bill to Eliminate Discrimination in Public Accommodations Affecting Interstate Commerce, Hearings on S 1732 before the Committee on Commerce, 88th Cong, 1st Sess 216 (1963) (stating that an overwhelming number of southern businessmen favor desegregation, but face serious collective action problems). See also Leslie A. Carothers, The Public Accommodations Law of 1964: Arguments, Issues and Attitudes in a Legal Debate 20-21 (Smith College, 1968) (same).

I confess that I did not pursue either Marshall’s testimony or Dr. Carother’s book but point out that Lessig is largely relying on Marshall’s conclusory testimony, which I would scarcely describe as unbiased. (The statement from the anonymous “restaurant owner” comes from Time magazine, not an unimpeachable source.)

Marshall was head of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, given the job by Robert F. Kennedy largely because Marshall wasn’t known as a civil rights advocate. Contact with southern racism both disgusted and enlightened Marshall and he became a passionate advocate, probably far more of one than Kennedy expected or desired. Marshall was a leading, if not principal, author of the Civil Rights Act. He had ample reason to argue that “an overwhelming number of southern businessmen favor desegregation”, but no way of knowing if that were true, and I have no doubt that that statement was in fact quite inaccurate.

It’s “likely” that the northern owners of the national chains of hotel and restaurants that operated in the South wanted integration forced upon them because they were embarrassed to be operating segregated facilities. They were also under heavy pressure from the federal government, which, in the “crusade” against communism, was deeply embarrassed on the international front by the South’s blatant racism. There was a particular problem caused by the fact that many non-white nations used the same diplomatic staff for both the United Nations and Washington, DC, meaning that they often had to travel through Maryland. They were frequently denied service at restaurants, because Maryland had been a slave state, and explicitly racist traditions and practices continued in that state.

But what northern sophisticates wanted was not what the people of the South wanted. To sit at the same lunch counter as a black person, to “serve” a black person—these were degrading things to a southerner, a violation of the “southern way of life”—the South’s preferred euphemism for racism. Marshall was telling Congress that passage of the Civil Rights Act would not be “controversial,” which was entirely inaccurate. Southern senators staged the longest filibuster in history (75 or 83 days, depending on how you count). Only one southern senator, Ralph Yarborough of Texas, voted for the bill. Over 90% of southern representatives in the House voted against the bill, including one George Herbert Walker Bush. Said Georgia Senator Richard Russell, “We will resist to the bitter end any measure or any movement which would have a tendency to bring about social equality and intermingling and amalgamation of the races in our states.”

In fact, the integration of businesses—as far as customers were concerned—did not prove nearly as “controversial” as school integration—but the process was not without difficulties. The “Heart of Atlanta Hotel” challenged the constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act. According to Justice Tom Clark’s majority opinion upholding the law, “The appellant contends that Congress in passing this Act exceeded its power to regulate commerce under Art. I, s 8, cl. 3, of the Constitution of the United States; that the Act violates the Fifth Amendment because appellant is deprived of the right to choose its customers and operate its business as it wishes, resulting in a taking of its liberty and property without due process of law and a taking of its property without just compensation; and, finally, that by requiring appellant to rent available rooms to Negroes against its will, Congress is subjecting it to involuntary servitude in contravention of the Thirteenth Amendment.”

Sunstein, Lessig, and McAdams are all connected with the University of Chicago, famous/infamous as the home of laissez faire, “all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds” thinking, in particular with Nobel Prize-winning economist Gary Becker, famous/infamous, in part, for his “theory” that the 1964 Civil Rights Act was unnecessary because segregation was “inefficient”—businesses that hired and promoted blacks on an equal basis with whites, and who accepted them as customers, would prosper because they would have better employees (a larger “talent pool”) and more customers, though in the “softer” version pushed by Sunstein et al., society has just somehow gotten stuck in an “irrational” attitude and simply needs a little nudge to do right and so they seize on Marshall's testimony—to my mind both dubious and overly convenient—to "prove" their pre-existing theory. But if their theory were true, then one wonders how this irrational attitude ever established itself in the first place, and how it maintained itself for so long, against all “reason”, why all the forms of discrimination practiced by whites in the U.S.—against American Indians as well as blacks, against “Mexicans” and Asians and all the rest—ever came to be—why, in fact, we haven’t been living in a perfectly integrated society for the past four centuries.2

Irrational racial/class prejudice has existed in India for thousands of years. Dietary proscriptions—against pork or beef, for example—which might seem even more “inefficient”, have lasted for an equally long time, and in fact continue to multiply. The taboo in the U.S. against the consumption of horse meat has grown significantly in my lifetime, with horses obtaining, among many people, a quasi-sacred status, in line with the general sanctification of “Nature” as a result of the environmental movement. There is more in heaven and earth than is dreamt of in the rationalists’ philosophy.3

Afterwords Prior to the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Atlanta restaurant owner Lester Maddox, enraged by “sit-in” protesters, provided ax handles for his white customers to use to defend themselves against any “outside agitators”. When the Act was passed, Maddox was so disgusted that he closed his restaurant rather than serve “Negroes”. Instead, he ran for governor in 1966, and won.

I happened to be stationed in Fort Benning in Georgia at the time. All the “best” people of Atlanta were deeply embarrassed by Maddox’s election, a confirmation in northern eyes, they knew, of every hillbilly cliché the most arrogant Yankee might entertain. The backlash against Maddox definitely helped enable Jimmy Carter’s election in 1970 as the "anti-Maddox”, even though Maddox, prohibited from running for a second term, was elected as lieutenant governor, winning both the primary and election as the “anti-Carter”, whom he naturally despised.

Afterwords, Part II, Special Picky Edition Going back to Ms. Douek (remember her?), even if the Sunstein, Lessig, and McAdams tale of the would-be integrationists were true—and, clearly, I don't believe it is—I don't see how their situation is "on all fours", as the lawyers like to say, with Mr. Zuckerberg's predicament. As Sunstein et al. tell it, the restauranteurs/hoteliers wanted to be forced to integrate because they would make more money that way. Zuckerberg doesn't really want to be forced to submit to a “Facebook Supreme Court”. He'd make more money if people would just leave him the hell alone.4 But he knows that won't happen, that powerful people and groups will continually make conflicting demands on him, demands that, no matter how they are resolved, will be sure to enrage and provoke renewed oppostion from some quarter, leading, in a worst case scenario, to either the actual breaking up of Facebook, however that could happen, or direct government regulation. So rather than take the heat himself for “controversial” decisions, he will graciously yield the field to a “higher power,” while doing as much as possible behind the scenes to ensure that he never ends up being forced to do something he really doesn't want to do. He isn't seeking a greater good, as the restauranteurs/hoteliers supposedly were, but seeking to ward off a greater evil.

McAdams is now at the University of Chicago. Is there a “Harvard Unbound”? I couldn’t find it. ↩︎

And don't get me started on women! Don't even get me started! ↩︎

The McAdams paper, which is quite long, comes across, according to my skimming, as a laborious, unsuccessful attempt to explain why, after the elimination of legal segregation, actual racial integration in the U.S. remains so incomplete. Because there is more in heaven and earth than is dreamt of in the rationalists’ philosophy. ↩︎

Zuckerberg's situation is really closer to Sunstein's “Case (2)”—doesn't want to submit to regulation but knows he has to—rather than “Case (4)”, but the fit still isn't exact. ↩︎

[flauntpage]

Reprieve! Reprieve! Flyers Still Alive After Some Memorable Performances.

I don’t know about you, but I still can’t figure out the Flyers.

How do you get embarrassed in two home playoff games (and three of the first four) and then go on the road, into the home arena of the two-time defending champions, in an elimination game, and win?

And not only that, they did it with a lopsided special teams disparity against them, and came out on the plus side of that ledger. They did it with a new starting goalie, who gave up two bad goals, but also made several big saves – including one in the final minute – to protect the win. They did it with a much-maligned depth forward being thrust into a position where he was destined to fail – and he played the game of his career. They did it with their most important player in this series, somehow playing with an injury he shouldn’t be playing with, one that noticeably limits his skating and is definitely limiting his minutes, scoring the game-winning goal.

In other words, they did it against all odds.

The Flyers won Game 5 4-2, forcing a Game 6 back in Philadelphia Sunday afternoon. And although the Flyers will tell you they did it by playing their best game of the series, it wasn’t.

But, it was good enough. And enough things went right for them at the right times and in the right places to stay alive in this first round series.

And I’ve finally come to the realization, after 87 games, that this is what the Flyers do.

They thrive in the chaos that surrounds the line of demarcation between good and bad play.

There is very little wiggle room there – tread one step to far on the bad side of that line, and you either get blown out by a good team, or somehow lose to a team you should definitely beat.

Tread one step beyond in the other direction, and you pull off playoff miracles like Game 5, or win games you have no business in winning.

So, yes, I now understand why Flyers fans have a bit of a complex.

Game 5 gave you moments of both the good and bad side of that line, but there ended up being more good than bad, and now we have a Game 6. Welcome to the Flyers own version of chaos theory.

Let’s break it down:

1. Willis Reed

For those younger fans who have no idea who Willis Reed is, you can learn about his legend here, but for those of you that do, the Flyers version of Reed in Game 5 was Sean Couturier.

Couturier has an injury with which he should not be playing. Yet he did on Friday. Without getting into specifics – out of respect for Couturier – everyone knows it’s an injury somewhere below the hip, but the reality is, this kind of injury usually keeps players out of lineups in sports for weeks, not days.

And yet, there he was.

He played almost 17 minutes, which is pretty incredible, considering. He wasn’t on the top line, because he was going to be a step slow. He didn’t have his usual burst. He had a couple moments where you can see the sharp pain was affecting him.

And yet he kept on playing.

This is why hockey players are considered warriors by many. The guy has no business being on the ice, and yet, he’s still out there, doing anything he can to help his team win.

He was positionally sound, as he so often is, and he played on all five of the Flyers shorthanded situations (more on that in a bit). He didn’t get power play time, which I found curious – I understand he was on a bit of a minutes restriction, but I’d rather your best players play at the times you have the best opportunity to score and take a couple five-on-five shifts off to make up the difference – but, the Flyers only had one early power play chance the entire game, so that ultimately didn’t matter much.

But the biggest moment was the reason the Flyers are still in this series:

SEAN COUTURIER PUTS THE FLYERS IN FRONT WITH JUST OVER A MINUTE LEFT! pic.twitter.com/GUN2uoE8ej

— Sons of Penn (@SonsofPenn) April 21, 2018

Just before this, Ivan Provorov took a nasty spill into the boards and hurt something in the upper body (looked like a shoulder, but I won’t speculate on severity). And Couturier went max effort just to keep the puck in at the blue line.

He got a fortunate redirect off of Brian Doumelin’s shin pad, but when you’re playing balls to the wall like Couturier was all game, you get those breaks.

This was the latest go-ahead goal in Flyers playoff history since Eric Lindros stunned the crowd at Madison Square Garden in Game 4 of the 1997 Eastern Conference Finals with a go-ahead goal with seven seconds remaining.

It was indicative of the boost that Couturier’s mere presence in the lineup provided. He wasn’t 100 percent – but he gave more than that. He was the epitome of a team-first player in Game 5, and his team thrived off that.

If there was a player that provided a boost when it was necessary, it was Couturier. The Flyers aren’t coming home Sunday for another game if not for him.

2. Ollie McClellan

You all have seen the movie Hoosiers, right? Right? If not… stop reading, and go find it now. But assuming 99 percent of you have, we had our very own Ollie McClellan situation in Game 5.

Michal Neuvirth started this game. He’s been riding the pine (primarily because of injury) almost as long as Ollie did.

It had been two months since Neuvirth played a full game and I’d venture to say that’s about how long it was in between the game where Ollie had to come off the bench and play with three teammates after Coach Norman Dale wouldn’t put Rade Butcher back in the game because he was a gunner and wouldn’t pass the ball four times, choosing to finish the game with four players and the time Ollie had to sub in during the regional final.

And like Ollie, made two critical errors, before saving his team’s bacon.

If Neuvirth played his best game, the Penguins wouldn’t have scored. Both goals were pretty awful – especially under the microscope of a playoff game.

I mean you can’t let this:

Bryan Rust fights his way free of Read and beats Neuvirth on the wraparound. pic.twitter.com/nlh7I4EEbe

— Sons of Penn (@SonsofPenn) April 21, 2018

Or this:

Guentzel beats Neuvirth through his five-hole. pic.twitter.com/EJpn01Vk2C

— Sons of Penn (@SonsofPenn) April 21, 2018

… happen.

They’re both goals that should be stopped by the goalie. Nothing flukey. No screens. They weren’t bombs. They weren’t snipes. They were easy stops – and Neuvirth didn’t deliver.

After Jake Guentzel’s goal, like when Ollie dribbled the ball off his leg out of bounds, you kind of felt like the game was slipping away.

But, then Neuvirth had his Ollie moment.  Not sure if, during a timeout, somebody grabbed his gloved hand and said a prayer like Strap Purl did with Ollie before the foul shots (although Dave Hakstol and the Preacher Purl have some similar expressions:

��     So… maybe….

But, anyway, after Couturier’s goal, Neuvirth saved the game by stoning Sidney Crosby – yes, the best player in this series by far – with an incredible glove save:

CROSBY IS ROBBED BY THE GLOVE OF NEUVIRTH! pic.twitter.com/MAkmmUHYHn

— Sons of Penn (@SonsofPenn) April 21, 2018

That’s the kind of save that no goalie – not Brian Elliott, not Petr Mrazek and not Neuvirth, has really provided in this series until that moment.

But oh, what a moment.

If Crosby scores there, we’re likely headed to overtime. And, with Pittsburgh smelling blood at that point, we’re probably starting the post mortem this morning.

But we’re not. Because Neuvirth made the stop when he needed to do so.

I still don’t have great confidence in Neuvirth. He’s so hot and cold. He’s also incredible fragile. But with Elliott just not healthy enough and Mrazek turning out to be a bad acquisition, this may be the goaltending prayer the Flyers need to cling onto.

If Neuvirth can get hot – he can steal Game 6 – and then all bets are off on Wednesday.

If he can’t, Sunday could be ugly – or at the least disappointing.

Either way, Neuvirth bought the Flyers season at least another 48 hours.

3. Gene Kranz

After two lackluster games at home in Game 3 and Game 4, the Flyers captain told the gathered media at practice that the team would be back home for Game 6.

It was a bold predicition, at a dire moment, much like this:

Ed Harris as NASA flight director Gene Kranz has a lot of Claude Giroux in him – from the ginger look, to the quiet confidence in the face of extreme adversity.

Because, there was Giroux, making a playoff guarantee, after he, himself, had not scored a goal in his previous 11 playoff games.

But, like the prescient flight director, Giroux’s confidence shined through in his performance. For he gave the Flyers an early lead with this:

CLAUDE GIROUX PLAYOFF SEX BOMB pic.twitter.com/0rkPI57M2J

— Sons of Penn (@SonsofPenn) April 20, 2018

Let the refs know that he didn’t like the disparity in penalty calls between his team and the favorite sons in Pittsburgh:

Giroux is giving it to the ref after the coincidental minors. pic.twitter.com/rPkCSu0kKu

— Sons of Penn (@SonsofPenn) April 21, 2018

Took this licking, and kept on ticking:

Jamie Oleksiak runs into Claude Giroux. pic.twitter.com/P3XM1a5DUC

— Sons of Penn (@SonsofPenn) April 21, 2018

And then reminded every one of his teammates as they came off the ice, just how big their effort was:

Giroux loves the clutch effort from Couturier pic.twitter.com/YMEFZbACOW

— Sons of Penn (@SonsofPenn) April 21, 2018

It was a great response from a great player in the face of criticism that he hasn’t yet shown up in the playoffs. If Giroux can get going, things could get really interesting really quickly.

4. Teen Wolf

I mean, who else can you compare Val Filppula too?

Before Game 5, Filppula was Scott Howard. A non-descript, regular guy on the team who did next to nothing to make his team better.

But then, out of nowhere, he arrived on the top line of the Flyers last night in his hairy glory, fangs out, and posted his best game as a Flyer.

One completely unexpected shorthanded goal, two more assists for a three-point effort.

It was a decision that no one – and I really mean no one – thought would work. Dave Hakstol had to be completely out of his mind to put Filppula on the top line between Giroux and Jake Voracek.

The entire hockey world was flabbergasted when they heard that decision… and yet….

Filppula ties it shorthanded! pic.twitter.com/yBmcQUXgtH

— Sons of Penn (@SonsofPenn) April 21, 2018

The cliche is always “Next man up” in sports, but this time, it was true. Filppula stepped into the spot the Flyers needed to fill with Couturier being managed because of his injury, and, holy smokes, he came through.

It was the first time the “veteran presence” response we always get from the coach rolled a seven on the craps table.

I’m not sure this can work over the course of three games (or however long this team survives) but for one game, it was the right button pushed by the coach.

5. Maximus

Provorov was a gladiator. He played 30:07 and the game didn’t go into overtime. He was on the ice for more than half the game – and he was sensational.

If the Flyers somehow do pull out this series, he could be the most unheralded MVP of a series in the history of the sport.

He is really the only reliable defensive defenseman the Flyers are putting on the ice. Andrew MacDonald has been OK this series, but other than that… that’s it. Provorov is being asked to do everything – and he does it well.

But… this happened:

That doesn’t look good.

The Flyers said they will update his injury today, but I guarantee that update is:

Upper body injury; day-to-day/game-time decision.

Some reporters said “he looked good” walking to the bus last night (he didn’t talk after the game because he was getting treatment) but really guys, how the hell can you tell how he looks by him walking to the bus in his suit when the injury is likely in the vicinity of his shoulder?

Knowing Provorov, he will take the same warrior mentality as Couturier and play, but if he is dinged up, that can’t bode well for the Flyers, since they count on him for so, so, so much.

In conclusion, this was a good game for the Flyers. It was a gutty win. It wasn’t great hockey, but it was good hockey. We finally had a game that felt like a playoff game. It was a little more physical (although I think the guy counting hits in Pittsburgh was having double vision – there weren’t THAT many).

But, Pittsburgh had bad games from Kris Letang and Phil Kessel. Evgeni Malkin was dominant, but didn’t score. If he keeps playing like that, he’s eventually going to get his, and Crosby is Crosby.

So, expect a better all-around effort from the Penguins too.

I’m not a believer. I don’t see them coming back in this series. And, I kind of felt this series would go six games from the jump (thus my prediction on the Snow the Goalie Podcast), but I’ve been wrong about the Flyers before, and they do seem to find a way, especially when everyone counts them out, so you never know….

Reprieve! Reprieve! Flyers Still Alive After Some Memorable Performances. published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

[usatrendingsports]

NFL Week 16 picks: Winless Browns shock Bears; Saints high Falcons in NFC showdown

If anybody desires to throw some cash down to purchase the Panthers, I am in. Certain, $2.5 billion looks like a excessive potential asking worth and we would be bidding towards P. Diddy, but when we begin a GoFundMe, I feel we will elevate sufficient cash to outbid him. 

Truly, I simply Googled Diddy’s web value and because it seems, i do not suppose we may really elevate sufficient cash to outbid him, which is simply too dangerous as a result of I might most likely be one of many six hottest house owners within the NFL. The very first thing I would do is have the opposite house owners place me on the competitors committee in order that I may change the catch rule. 

The rule is so poorly written that nobody may agree if Steelers tight finish Jesse James really made a authorized landing catch on Sunday. I imply, even Kim Kardashian’s ex-boyfriend was baffled by the decision. 

Horrible name by refs on the finish of the Steelers sport that was a catch

— Reggie Bush (@ReggieBush) December 18, 2017

That incontrovertible fact that James’ landing bought overturned has brought on me to rethink all the things. I made a catch towards some buddies throughout a Thanksgiving sport in 2001 that I not suppose ought to rely as a result of I did not end the method of creating the catch. I feel I’ll admit it to them this weekend and retroactively forfeit the sport. It is solely truthful. If the Patriots have any ideas, they will do the identical. 

To repair the catch rule, I suggest a quite simple new rule: We let Jerry Rice resolve all the things. Now, I do know that sounds loopy, however hold with me right here for a second. Rice has caught extra passes then another participant in NFL historical past, so if he says one thing is a catch, then it is a catch. Additionally, I am by no means going to argue with Jerry Rice about whether or not one thing is a catch or not as a result of there is not any means I might win that argument. 

I am unsure if Rice would even need this job, however we’d undoubtedly make him a good provide. No matter Roger Goodell’s wage is, we double it and provides that to Rice as a result of if Jerry Rice is working within the league workplace, then he must be the very best paid individual within the league workplace. 

Anyway, you did not come right here to examine Jerry Rice, you got here right here for the Week 16 picks. If for some purpose you probably did come right here to examine Jerry Rice, I like to recommend his Wikipedia web page. I as soon as clicked on it after which bought sucked into an web blackhole for the subsequent seven hours. That just about occurs anytime I click on on anybody’s Wikipedia web page. 

By the best way, this is your weekly reminder you can take a look at the picks from each CBSSports.com NFL Skilled by clicking right here. The rationale you need to click on over and take a look at the opposite specialists this week is as a result of my CBSSports.com colleague Ryan Wilson went 14-2 straight up. I can not affirm this, however I am fairly assured Wilson will get all his picks from Jerry Rice. 

Alright, it is now time for the Christmas version of the picks, the place each decide is principally like its personal current. Which means I bought you 16 presents this 12 months, which is 15 greater than I bought anybody in my household. 

NFL Week 16 Picks: Christmas Version

Cleveland (Zero-14) at Chicago (Four-10), 1 p.m. ET (CBS): The state of soccer in Cleveland is so unhappy proper now that even Santa Claus has given up on the Browns. 

The excellent news for the Browns is that they do not want his help as a result of they’ve the one man who comes by means of on Christmas Eve extra typically than Santa: Hue Jackson. 

In what will certainly go down as my favourite NFL-related vacation stat of all-time, Jackson is definitely undefeated in video games performed on Christmas Eve. Since December 2011, Jackson is 2-Zero on Christmas Eve and Zero-32 in all different video games. There isn’t any logical solution to clarify this, so I am not even going to strive. Santa’s sleigh being pulled by 9 flying reindeer makes extra sense to me than Jackson’s undefeated document on Christmas Eve. He is the Invoice Belichick of vacation video games.

You recognize who’s not undefeated on Christmas Eve? John Fox. For the reason that 2011, the Bears coach is Zero-2 and he is misplaced these video games with two totally different groups. In fact, I might be loopy to choose the Browns primarily based fully on the truth that one coach is healthier than the opposite on Christmas Eve, so I’ll decide the Browns primarily based on the truth that I really suppose they’ve a sensible shot at profitable this sport. 

For one, after watching the Bears play 14 video games this season, I’ve observed that there is just one factor they do rather well offensively: Run the ball. That is notable as a result of the Browns protection solely actually does one factor properly and that is cease the run. The Browns are solely surrendering Three.Three yards per carry this 12 months, which ranks first within the NFL. That is not a typo, both, the Browns are one of the best within the NFL at one thing, which appears virtually unattainable to consider. 

You recognize what else appears unattainable to consider? man can fly around the globe and ship presents to each child in a single evening, however I’ve seen sufficient Hallmark Christmas films to know that is true. I’ll say the Browns win in a Christmas miracle, but when that does not occur, can somebody please ensure these Zero-16 jerseys are being handed out to all Browns’ followers earlier than the Week 17 sport in Pittsburgh. 

If the Browns fall to Zero-15, the NFL undoubtedly must flex their Week 17 sport to prime-time.  What higher solution to spend New 12 months’s Even than to observe the Browns full probably the most disastrous season in NFL historical past. 

The decide: Browns 23-20 over Bears

Atlanta (9-5) at New Orleans (10-Four), 1 p.m. ET (FOX): It is a good factor this sport is being performed in New Orleans as a result of Falcons followers are most likely going to need to suck down a number of drinks within the French Quarter earlier than they begin watching this one and that is primarily as a result of alcohol is admittedly the one solution to numb the anxiousness that comes with watching the Falcons each week. There’s additionally medicine you need to use, however alcohol’s most likely the better solution to go. 

If you happen to do make it to the French Quarter, do not invite Roger Goodell to drink with you as a result of he is nonetheless not welcome there. 

I used to be at NOLA Tremendous Bowl. French Quarter anti-Goodell shirts have been all the hearth emojis. Plus this signal @ eating places http://pic.twitter.com/rkhEmP3aI3

— Stephanie Stradley (@StephStradley) July 31, 2015

Now, when you watched the Falcons in any respect this 12 months, then you definately’ve most likely observed that their video games virtually at all times go right down to the wire. Together with their Monday evening win over the Buccaneers, the Falcons have now had a complete of 10 video games determined by seven or fewer factors, which is probably the most within the NFL this season. 

A kind of video games got here two weeks in the past after they beat the Saints 20-17 in a win the place I used to be 95 % certain Sean Payton was going to battle somebody. That is the sport the place Payton bought penalized for strolling out on the sector after which so as to add insult to damage, the NFL fined him $10,000 for improperly getting into the taking part in discipline. 

Since Payton needed to fork over $10,000 to the NFL this week, I feel it is solely truthful to let him make the prediction for this sport. So what do you suppose, Sean?

Falcons are going to choke? Falcons are going to choke. Who am I to argue. 

The decide: Saints 34-31 over Falcons

Jacksonville (10-Four) at San Francisco (Four-10), Four:05 p.m. ET (CBS): I hope the 49ers are at the very least sending a fruit basket to New England for Christmas as a result of they owe them at the very least that a lot as a thanks for the Jimmy Garoppolo commerce. I imply, have you ever been watching the 49ers currently? Three weeks in the past, that they had 12 followers, the stadium was empty, California was on hearth and so they have been in a dogfight with the Browns for the No. 1 total decide within the draft, however then Jimmy occurred and now all the things is healthier. 

Since Garoppolo took over as beginning quarterback, the 49ers have gone Three-Zero, they’re undefeated in December and the crew’s mascot is now smiling for the primary time in years.

He was emotionally lifeless earlier than Jimmy arrived.

As for the cheerleaders, I am guessing they’re smiling as a result of they get to cheer for probably the most good-looking quarterback within the NFL. As a matter of reality, Garoppolo is so good-looking that he should not even exist. 

Jimmy Garoppolo is actually too good-looking for this universe

— ugly sweater szn (@olivia___dallas) December 18, 2017

Will Jacksonville’s protection be shocked by Jimmy’s handsomeness? It is a truthful query. I imply, each different opposing protection has been. Garoppolo has began 5 profession video games in his profession and he is gained all of them. The man actually does not lose and I do not like selecting towards individuals who do not lose as a result of then I find yourself dropping. 

Though I like selecting towards the Jaguars, I’ve needed to re-think issues currently, as a result of my commonplace “there is a 90 % probability Blake Bortles goes to blow the sport” logic not actually applies. Bortles has arguably the been one of the best quarterback within the NFL throughout the month of December. 

Blake Bortles This Month NFL Rank W-L Three-Zero T-1st Yds per att 9.9 1st TD-Int 7-Zero 1st Complete QBR 85 1st

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 18, 2017

I imply, he is nearing Garoppolo standing. 

Blake bortles is so good-looking.

— Macey Morton (@MACEYSM_) July 26, 2016

The Jaguars protection is now taking part in with a considerably purposeful quarterback. I am unsure I can ever decide towards the Jaguars once more. 

The decide: Jaguars 30-23 over 49ers

Seattle (Eight-6) at Dallas (Eight-6), Four:25 p.m. ET (FOX): If you happen to’re questioning what Ezekiel Elliott was as much as throughout his six-game suspension, apparently, he spent all the time in Mexico getting buff at a five-star resort simply exterior of Cabo. He now appears like a battering ram.  

Ezekiel Elliott now appears like a battering ram.  NBC

By the best way, probably the most superb a part of this image is not that Zeke is ripped, it is 22-year-old male went to Mexico for six weeks with out gaining 30 kilos. I as soon as spent 4 days in Mexico and I am fairly certain I someway gained 19 kilos on that journey. I imply, it is unattainable to not acquire weight: The meals is affordable, there’s tequila in all places and random folks hand you churros on each nook. 

There is a purpose Mexico is the bender capital of the world. You’ll be able to have twice the enjoyable of Vegas for half the value. You need a four-night bender? Go to Mexico. Six-week bender? Positively Mexico. You do not actually need to do a bender, however you want churros? Go to Mexico. 

After re-reading these final two paragraphs, I’ve to say, I undoubtedly blew it by not asking the Mexican Tourism Board to sponsor this decide. 

Now, I do not know if they’ve TV’s in Mexico, but when they do, Elliott was most likely fairly excited if he was watching the Seahawks play on Sunday. Of their 42-7 loss to the Rams, the Seahawks someway forgot find out how to deal with. Watching Todd Gurley run over the Seahawks’ protection was like watching the tune “Grandma bought run over by a reindeer” be re-enacted in individual, and there is not any purpose to suppose that Elliott will not be capable to do the identical factor this week. 

The one factor that does concern me is that Elliott hasn’t performed in six weeks, which implies he may not be in soccer form. Nonetheless, he did spend most of his Cabo journey operating on a seashore and I’ve seen Rocky III sufficient occasions to know that when you practice on a seashore for six weeks, there is not any means you are dropping. 

Ezekiel Elliott’s life is principally a Rocky film.  NBC

After coaching on a seashore, Rocky beat Clubber Lang in three rounds, so clearly I will take the Cowboys by three. 

The decide: Cowboys 30-27 over Seahawks

NFL Week 16 picks: All the remainder

Ravens 24-16 over Colts

Vikings 24-17 over Packers

Lions 22-16 over Bengals

Rams 38-20 over Titans

Chiefs 30-13 over Dolphins

Patriots 31-17 over Payments

Chargers 19-16 over Jets

Redskins 19-13 over Broncos

Panthers 27-16 over Buccaneers

Giants 20-17 over Cardinals

Steelers 31-20 over Texans

Eagles 26-16 over Raiders

Final Week

Greatest decide: In my Week 15 picks, I predicted that the Cowboys would beat the Raiders in Oakland after which the Cowboys went out and beat the Raiders in Oakland. Now, did I do know that the referee within the sport was going to throw the rulebook out the window and measure a key fourth down with an index card?

In fact I did. As quickly as I noticed that Gene Steratore was officiating, I knew the sport was going to be on the quick observe to loopy city. If you happen to do not bear in mind Steratore, he is the man who overturned Dez Bryant’s catch towards the Packers again in January 2015 and I am guessing he sort of felt like he nonetheless owed the Cowboys one as a result of the primary down that Dallas bought courtesy of the index card undoubtedly did not seem like a primary down. 

The following time one thing like this occurs, I say we simply let Jerry Rice resolve whether or not it is a first down or not. He’ll want one thing to do when he is not reviewing catches. 

Worst decide: The Colts have been so dangerous this 12 months that I wasn’t even going to observe final week’s sport towards Denver, however then I heard their was going to be a pregame wedding ceremony and I used to be hooked. For the document, I did decide the Colts to beat the Broncos, however I’ve to say, probably the most stunning factor right here is not that I bought the decide unsuitable, it is that enormous blue horses are allowed to officiate weddings in Indiana. 

I feel we will all agree that if a mascot provides to officiate your wedding ceremony, you do not flip that down. If I may decide any mascot to officiate my future wedding ceremony, I might just about decide anybody apart from Steely McBeam. That man appears like he would drink all of the alcohol at your open bar, by chance knock three folks unconscious along with his beam after which begin a drunken battle with the maid of honor. He may need really accomplished two out of three of these issues after the Patriots sport.

Lastly, when you guys have ever puzzled which groups I am really good (or dangerous) at selecting, this is a fast look. 

Groups I am 13-1 selecting this 12 months: Browns

Groups I am 5-9 selecting this 12 months: Jaguars, Broncos, Rams

Each different crew is someplace within the center.

Notice: Thankfully for all of us, I am not Zero-14, 1-13 or 2-12 or Three-11 or Four-10 selecting any crew this 12 months

Picks Document

Straight up in Week 15: 12-Four

SU total: 140-84

Towards the unfold in Week 15: 6-7-Three

ATS total: 107-107-10

Merry Christmas to all and to all a very good evening. 

You will discover John Breech on Fb or Twitter and if he is not doing a kind of issues, he is most likely calling all his buddies to see in the event that they need to chip in on shopping for the Panthers. 

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from Usa Trending Sports – NFL | NCAA | NBA | MLB | NASCAR | UFC | WWE http://ift.tt/2BfZHgd

[march-alin-blog]

nine excuses all FIFA rage-quitters tell on their own

Because it’s not really technically losing in case you never make it through the full 90 minutes.

As long as multiplayer video games exist there will continually be rage quitters. You understand the type, those people who’d rather storm out of an online game associated with FIFA than become on the losing side when the ref blows the final whistle.

Everybody’s encountered them. Possibly you’ve even permitted yourself to become 1 once or twice. You know it’s wrong, but in heat of the moment it felt so right. Besides, you’re not like the others, are you? Are you? You’ve got a good excuse…

“The game’s against me. ”

This one’s the stone cold traditional of the cheap fifa 18 coins  genre. This normally comes out after your opponent has scored a last-minute equaliser, or, a whole lot worse, a stoppage-time winner. The thing is, their mood-spoiling goal was absolutely nothing to do with their proficiency on the pitch, and it certainly wasn’t due to your lack of it, it was because the game wanted them to succeed. Simple as that. Honest.

“Their bad connection stopped me playing my organic game. ”

All rage-quitters play the kind of silky, sexy football that’d make Barcelona look like a bunch of amateurs down the recreation area, but they can only do it when the connection is smoother than a buttered otter. “I can’t play in these circumstances! ” they’ll announce at the first hint of lag or even stutter, eventually pushing self-destruct on the game when you bundle the ball over the line in what is to them, as they repeatedly tell you, a flurry associated with dropped frames and mashed buttons.

“They scored with their first shot. ”

You have spent the first 1 / 2 comfortably keeping the ball, calmly patting it around the recreation area looking for gaps within the opposition’s defence, prior to peppering their goal with chances, just for their keeper to make a string of honestly preposterous last-ditch will save. It’s a miracle things are still all sq . after 45 minutes however the breakthrough must come eventually, right? It can - just not in the right end. You don’t stick around to find out how the rest cookware out.

“They view all the replays. ”

Nobody needs to see endless replays of this flukey tap-in these people scored just because your goalkeeper couldn’t maintain the ball if it was made out of experienced and he was putting on velcro gloves. However here we are, seated through it with regard to what seems like the 14th time. It was the same when they obtained the first goal as well. And the second, 3rd and fourth too. No, that’s not why you quit. It was the replays. Shut up.

“They’re playing anti-football. ”

When a game of football only lasts 12 minutes it should be regarding scoring as many goals as possible. Or at least attempting to. But here we have been, 30 virtual minutes into the match, your opponent has just eliminated 1-0 up and now they’re calmly passing the ball among their back four and the goalkeeper. You could switch to All Out Assault and throw in some lunging slide tackles, or you could simply show them exactly what you think of their joyless anti-football and vote together with your quitting finger.

“That celebration’s so irritating. ”

Some celebrations seem to be fine-tuned in order to wind you up as much as humanly possible. Which one gets on your nerves the most most likely depends how frequently you’re on the receiving end of it, however considering the Dab is on the verge to become unacceptable when a kid does it, let alone a completely grown adult, undoubtedly it’s often the final thing you see before reaching for the game’s emergency exit. Expect an additional spike when Harry Kane and Dele Alli’s over-rehearsed handshakes inevitably make it in to FIFA 18’s celebration repertoire.

“They kept making subs. ”

Nothing annoys somebody who’s losing a game of FIFA a lot more than pausing the game to make a substitution. To any logical person that would be a enhance. It suggests your opponent is concerned they might not hold onto the lead without getting on fresh legs, but to the potential rage-quitter it’s simply prolonging the agony. So rather than benefiting from the pause time to make a tactical change, or throw on the nippy winger in order to fifa ultimate Team 18 coins  torment the exhausting full-backs, you’ll do the FIFA equivalent associated with instructing their entire team to leave the pitch.

“It’s not rage-quitting in case you force your opposition to leave first. ”

Ah, the best get-out-of-jail-free card. If you can get them to rage-quit before you decide to do, they’re the actual bad guy in the situation, right? It doesn’t issue if you have to resort in order to scoring own-goal after own-goal after own-goal until they get sick of watching a person run up the score into double figures. In the end it will not be you that is had a tantrum and quit the overall game, will it? Even a hollowed out victory ends with three points.

“I just remembered I have a wedding to go to. ”

Bit of a last holiday resort, this one, as it will mean you have to find a wedding to go to, but whenever playing against buddies, and saving face is almost as essential as not losing, a very urgent however at least vaguely possible excuse must be hurriedly concocted and delivered into the microphone before you decide to reach for your console’s power cable and provide it a pull. If you can’t discover any nuptials to attend, at least make sure you do not go back online without having setting your status to invisible, OKAY?

[junker-town]

The Jazz needed a miracle. They got 2.

We have that and more in Tuesday’s NBA newsletter.

When Rudy Gobert went down with a bone bruise just under four weeks ago, the Jazz looked dead in the water. Utah was 5-7 when Gobert went down, and expected to miss him 4-6 weeks. The schedule looked unforgiving, and the Utah offense had been a huge disaster with a full deck of healthy players.

Gobert came back a little early. In his absence, Utah had gone 7-4 and sat a game above .500 at 12-11, in good position in the Western playoff race. And in Gobert's grand return, the Jazz beat the Wizards in Salt Lake City by 47 points.

The Jazz needed a miracle to survive Gobert's absence. They got two of them: Donovan Mitchell and Alec Burks.

Mitchell, a rookie out of Louisville, averaged 20 points per game and shot 41 percent from three in the 11 games Gobert missed. In an absolute gem of a season for rookies, Mitchell finds himself in the top three performers with Ben Simmons and Jayson Tatum. That's incredible for a No. 13 pick in such a star-studded draft with a top holdover in Simmons.

Burks, meanwhile, has come on more recently. He's dropped at least 24 points in each of the past three games. He hadn't broke 20 in any game prior this season, and he only broke 20 once last season. If Alec Burks is really going to be the threat that they have long prayed he will be, it's a different story in SLC.

Those two along with great play from Rodney Hood, Derrick Favors, Joe Ingles, and Ekpe Udoh Book Club founder Ekpe Udoh have kept Utah alive. Now that Gobert is back and the offense apparently works, the Jazz are no longer in trouble. Now they are the trouble.

Scores Galore ...

ORL 94, CHA 104 NYK 97, IND 115 PHX 115, PHI 101 BKN 110, ATL 90 MIL 100, BOS 111 CLE 113, CHI 91 MIN 92, MEM 95 GSW 125, NOP 115 DEN 105, DAL 122 DET 93, SAS 96 WAS 69, UTA 116

... And So Much More

The Grizzlies won a game! Congratulations!

Anthony Davis is just day-to-day with the pelvic issue. Whew!

Stephen Curry injured his ankle on Monday. It looked bad. X-rays were negative, but an MRI has been scheduled.

The Cavaliers' winning streak has reached 12. It's been almost one month since I declared that there was no way I was going to believe the Cavaliers were in actual trouble.

Who wants MORE EJECTIONS? Kevin Durant and DeMarcus Cousins got themselves booted in the waning moments of a Warriors win for screaming at each other. Good job, guys.

Devin Booker started the game 2-11 ... and ended up scoring 46 points to beat the Sixers. There's a real benefit to having a complete green light.

In an effort to put his current season in context, I ranked each of LeBron's 15 regular seasons. His worst seasons would legitimately fit in at best seasons for some Hall of Fame players. Dude is unreal.

HerHoopStats.com aims to be a big source of advanced data for women's basketball. Wonderful idea!

LiAngelo Ball, who has been suspended indefinitely on account of that whole shoplifting in China ordeal, is leaving UCLA, according to his dad. Shams Charania reports the two younger Ball brothers -- LiAngelo, who purportedly isn't an NBA-level prospect, and LaMelo, who might be -- are exploring opportunities in Europe. LaMelo was on track for UCLA in a couple of years, but has eligibility concerns due to the family sneaker business. Tim Cato argues LiAngelo should consider the G-League. Mike Rutherford argues that, even if another Ball boy never steps foot in Westwood, UCLA got what they wanted out of the family.

The Nerlens Noel Hot Dog Crisis explainer you didn't know you needed.

Alex Wong on the nuts and bolts and insanity of in-arena proposals.

The Supreme Court might rule to allow legal sports betting nationwide. The NBA is ready to cash in, if so.

The Seattle City Council approved an expensive plan to renovate KeyArena by 2020. An NHL team seems to be in the works. There continue to be rumblings that the NBA will look to expand to Seattle in the not-too-distant future.

Here's a new one: not only did Shaun Livingston get suspended a game for making contact with an official over the weekend, but the ref -- Courtney Kirkland -- got sat down for a week due to his actions in the confrontation. On review, it looked like the two went forehead to forehead with both acting aggressively. Can't do that.

All the panic about the Lakers' so-called LaVar Ball Rule limiting access to players' families during games seems like a whole lotta nothing. The team doesn't want in-game media scrums in which a very outspoken dad can rip the franchise. Seems reasonable. Reporters still have ways to reach families that want to be reached.

Three games on the docket for Tuesday. NBA TV's doubleheader is Suns-Raptors at 7:30 p.m. ET followed by Wizards-Blazers at 10. League Pass has the [eyeballs emoji] game of the night, though: Jazz-Thunder at 8.

Be excellent to each other.

[the-christian-walk]

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS FROM THE WORD OF GOD (PART 1)

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com. In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

 "Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues, put on love, which binds them together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and advise one another with all wisdom, as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."

 Colossians 3:12-17

 This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

 Several years ago, I was asked to deliver a message at a church service just before New Year’s Day. The Lord placed the following words on my heart as I was thinking about what He would want our resolutions to be for the coming year, ten resolutions from Paul’s letter to the Colossians. I pray they will be a blessing to you as get set to enter 2018.

 I will count down the resolutions across two devotions today and tomorrow. Feel free to share with others and may the Lord richly bless you and yours in all things. I will continue our journey through the Gospels and the life and ministry of Jesus on January 2nd.

Here are resolutions 10 through 6 for you to consider as you approach the coming year:

10. Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. How many of you are very selective in the things you wear?

 Most people are.

 Dressing properly takes time and careful consideration over season, occasion, style, and color as we choose what we’ll put on. We often want to ensure we look our best as we enter a world where others will see us.

Given this, are we just as selective and careful about the way we clothe ourselves with our attitudes and demeanors? Before we venture out, do we take as much time to properly prepare ourselves for others to see what we look like on the inside?

 Look at the things that God’s word says should be part of our inner wardrobe:

- Compassion which consists of affection, tenderness, pity, and mercy.

 - Kindness which can include courtesy, favor, good deeds, and goodwill.

- Humility which is defined as a spirit of mildness, humbleness, surrender, and modesty.

- Gentleness which involves sensitivity, friendliness and politeness

and

- Patience, or one’s ability to remain calm, composed, and cool under pressure.

  God’s word wants us to assess how well dressed we are on the inside?

 In this new year, maybe a makeover might be in order.

 9. Bear with each other.

 What does it mean to bear with one another?

 Perhaps it’s easier to ask:

 Can you think of someone right now who just seems to get under your skin, someone who annoys you to no end?

 Maybe we all have that ONE person.

The scriptures through the words of Paul are commanding us to be more tolerant in the new year.

 To respect others.

 To stop looking so closely at another person’s shortfalls while ignoring our own, for we’re all flawed and imperfect when we get down to the truth of the matter.

So seek to be more understanding of others and strive to resolve differences when they occur.

 Seek to rebuild bridges instead of burning or tearing them down.

 Pray for those who you differ with and seek reconciliation in the year ahead.

 Bear with one another.

8. Forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

We all know what forgiveness is.

 Putting it into action is often the real problem.

If left to our own devices, we could easily wiggle our way out of forgiving some people by deciding who we wanted to forgive and who we didn’t want to. We would turn forgiveness into a selective process and we would serve as the judge.

That’s why God had to put down strict guidelines to govern our forgiveness, saying:

 “Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

 WOW!

 This takes any compromise out of the matter of forgiveness.

 For we must forgive everyone without exception. If you doubt that, then I ask you to name anything you have done that the Lord is not willing to forgive you for. You won’t come up with anything and thus the power that comes in God’s statement. It is a checkmate to any consideration we might have to not forgive someone.  

 In the end translation, the Lord wants us to see that the first steps to inner healing when you are burdened with anger or hatred toward another is to say the words, “I forgive,” then resign to pray for that person who is in the same state you are, a sinner who is only saved through the amazing grace of God through Jesus Christ.

 The word of God is clear when it comes to the matter of pardon.

 Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

7. Over all these virtues, put on love, which binds them together in perfect unity.

 The package of prior resolutions all revolve around love which is central to the greatest commandments of Jesus.

 Remember His answer when asked about the greatest commandments?

 He said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength." Then He said, "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:36-40)

If you truly love God with all that you are, you will easily embody compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, bearing with and forgiving one another, all in the name of love through the One who showed and taught us what love is all about.

 So when you unwrap the gift of this new year, take off the ribbon and paper that is on the gift of Jesus and see what is inside. If you do, you will find priceless treasures in and of the Savior, the Christ who we should be seeking to be like in every way…and the first thing we see when we look at Him is love.

 So put Him in your heart in this coming year and watch love rule supreme in all you do.

6. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.

 In a world full of violence, confusion, problems and constant change, peace is sometimes very hard to come by, isn’t it?

 I think that’s why we were given these words from God found in Philippians 4:6-7:

"Do not be anxious about anything but give your concerns to God in prayer and petition and with thanksgiving. So you might find the peace of God that transcends all understanding and your hearts and minds will be guarded in Christ Jesus."

In 2018, God would want us to remember that He is the only One who is fully able and ready to handle any problem we have. And when we truly lay our burdens at His feet and allow Him to work awesome miracles in our lives, then we can fully experience that peace that transcends all understanding, a peace that will ensure our hearts are guarded by Christ Jesus.

 To achieve this, here’s an exercise you can do to put Philippians 4:6-7 to work in your life this year and avoid the pitfalls of stress, anxiety, worry, and fear. There are four easy steps:

 Step 1: Get out a piece of paper and begin to write down everything that you are stressed over, worried and anxious about, or afraid of. Make sure you list everything and it doesn’t matter how long or short your list is.

 Step 2: Take a moment to remember that God can do all things. He has assured us in the scriptures that there is nothing impossible for Him and that includes anything you are stressed about, worried or anxious over, or afraid of. You have to trust God can and will do what He said He could do or none of this works.

 Step 3: Go to the first item on your list and say a simple prayer over it. It could sound like this:

 Dear God, I trust you and know you can do all things. I need help right now as I try and deal with (whatever is on your list). The problem is too big for me but I know it isn’t too big for you and so I am giving it over to you out of faith. Thank You Lord for being there for me and giving me Your help. Amen.

 When you’re done, cross out the item on your list and let it go. You’ve given it to God. There is no need for you to carry it anymore.

 Step 4: Repeat Step 3 until you have covered every item on your list and if you have done this properly, leaving all your burdens at the feet of God, the only One who can so all things, you should feel a relief unlike what you have ever felt before, a peace that only comes from fully trusting God with whatever would seek to weigh you down.

 I pray that peace, the peace of Christ, will rule in your hearts and the hearts of all creation in the new year.

 Tomorrow, we’ll look at the top 5.

 Amen.

 In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com

[johnchiarello]

Sunday sermon

Sunday sermon  1-27-19

Matthew 9:17 [Full Chapter]

Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.

 Sunday sermon- [Video made 1-20-19]

https://youtu.be/7Y6fOuId3zQ

https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10205255604547866/

https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMikYc30VvFVnVlHnn

 ON VIDEO

.Diversity in gifts

.How the interaction with my homeless friends confirmed the readings for that same night

.We are God’s crown and Jewel- how?

.What about the New Name God gives us?

.The number 3 [how it fit]

.Why is John’s Gospel the only one that tells of the miracle of Water into Wine? [I give a few reasons on the video]

.Church history- Gnostics- Docetists

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Docetism

.What does the ‘Best for last’ mean in the context of the miracle in John 2?

.Augustine- Manichaeism -

https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Manichean+heresy

.How do we give God glory and strength?

.Value the storehouse God has given you [Remember the 10 virgins?]

Isaiah 8:18

Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

 [New Teaching below]

Blog- www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5?ref=bookmarks

Youtube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg?view_as=subscriber

Other sites- https://ccoutreach87.com/links-to-my-sites-updated-10-2018/  

Cloud links- https://ccoutreach87.com/cloud-links-12-2018/

Youtube Playlist- https://ccoutreach87.com/youtube-playlist/

[Links to all my sites at the bottom of this post]

NOTE- Every so often some of my sites think I am Spam- or a Bot- I am not. My name is John Chiarello and I post original content [all videos and text are by me]. I do share my past posts from my other sites- but it is not spam- Thank you- John.

Isaiah 62:2 And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.Isaiah 62:3 Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. [All verses below in the VERSES section]

 NEW [Other videos below]

This Sunday I did make a new teaching video- and this post is ‘new’- I guess the theme would be diversity [And the glory of God]-

And how it was confirmed by some of the interactions I had with my friends.

I explained on the video how this fit with the readings/verses for this week.

The main theme for the readings- was the glory of God- and how God’s people share in this glory.

Yes- I taught this before- and the 2 verses I shared from John’s gospel pretty much summed it up.

But that was the main theme that tied the readings together- and that's what I try and teach when you see me teach from the actual Catholic Mass readings on most Sundays.

I simply felt it would be helpful- over time- to teach not only from the bible chapters - or books you see me write studies on-

But also from the Sunday readings.

Though many Protestants- or non denominational churches also have their own sermons on Sunday-

Which is fine-

I simply felt I could do the most good- by teaching from the verses that most Christians/Catholics would be reading on any given Sunday.

And the way the Catholic church does have the same bible readings- world wide- on every Sunday- then yes-

It might benefit all Christians more- if I cover those verses.

Ok- I hope that explained some why you see me focus on the Mass readings for most Sunday sermons.

I did add my past teachings below on the key chapters-

And if I make a video later today [Sunday-1-27-2019] I will try and post it to facebook and YouTube.

During the week I have been testing new video sites- sharing from the ‘diversity’ of different platforms-

And the quality of the videos might not be as good on some sites as others.

To be honest- I don’t care as much about the actual video quality [some sites have lines in my videos]- as long as you can hear the audio- that's the main point.

I do want the quality there on the scenic videos- either by the water- or when you see my New York City videos-

But the main reason I post the videos is for people to kind of follow along and actually learn the bible.

As simple as that sounds- that's really what all these posts are about-

As well as seeing my friends who I have known and been with for many years.

I realize a lot of people see ‘homeless’ people- and many Christians never really get to know them-

So this too is a benefit in my mind.

Ok- that's it for now- hopefully you will hear from me later today-

John

 OTHER VIDEOS [These are the videos I upload nightly to my various sites- PAST POSTS below]

MLK in his own words https://youtu.be/ATPSht6318o

Samuel 20  https://youtu.be/a94K43DPJw4

7-8-18 Sunday sermon  https://dai.ly/x70c7i1

Christ church  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhB6ouDEfynx23GoY

King David  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uhswzEZPefc0H4jQwq-3_NgzFFTdC19m/view?usp=sharing

The paintings of the atheist  https://www.bitchute.com/video/t2WopPsjuKxn/

1-25-19 Update- stalker vehicle on video  https://youtu.be/NcfHpyAK_EQ

Part 2  https://youtu.be/utgy2BSqNpg

11-12-17 Sunday sermon  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhB1o6_Yw8DBRVEW-

Prayer  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KhIcAzh2PRIiwwHAG1LTahZp1qZ6GzUE/view?usp=sharing

Galatians 2  https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code=XZgycw7ZlfPW6Y5R4YjFpwdFIxgFsuYKTFK7

Teaching in NYC  https://ln.sync.com/dl/9201c1ab0/e4t4mzxn-37as8yfa-sc2dty67-mwva4xv8

This is the day  https://youtu.be/KRNu_7Q4dEo

Jonah- rev.- Samuel  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhBzlJVde1SLezHIt

7-15-18 Sunday sermon  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bxWAefUKkz5Z1-1gWzRiaYLiIb9yUBRn/view?usp=sharing

Mark 14  https://flic.kr/p/QCCYet

Friends  https://dai.ly/x70vru9

Friends  https://youtu.be/DH_cWsFN02Y

Kings 17  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMdDGvaPNxP9Hgz3E

Fb random  https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10205097588277558/

2nd coming- rapture  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Klg4Fb2Hzb2I8CO9LLlN_at-rss_GRXb/view?usp=sharing

Plymouth Rock  https://www.bitchute.com/video/pXzw2U8mVmiT/

Revelation 11  https://youtu.be/mXaBqHOO81Q

Samuel 25  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhBlAVgO1uXLksA5_

The ring  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PxEiFSzQgdIY1dkH48UBwiVQYg1PJ7S6/view?usp=sharing

Candle stick  https://dai.ly/x6c3sz0

Hackensack  https://ln.sync.com/dl/e3b1e15b0/c7hxptkv-bihzx45f-m2n8evsr-jm9jdsvb

1st Peter  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhBcxu_UPVdtb-F9d

Me n Pops sing  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iKW3ixyXt_t2BWeBr4wiozpDURa--TJz/view?usp=sharing

Friends - Real time teaching  https://youtu.be/FcRoveDV2Qw

Uncle Tom https://youtu.be/BLHp3DAOb5g

Apologetics- prophets  https://dai.ly/x6cbdav

10-8-17 Sunday sermon  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhBa3n8oVSUJeaz9t

Revelation- new name https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o4jteNd7jq5Cqy5YrnryekDzNppUReH1/view?usp=sharing

Guitar Jason  https://dai.ly/x707ofi

Galatians 1  https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code=XZ5EDw7ZhY4Vq5EIptSCTQ3KkR8DikYzzG7k

1-19-19  news update  https://youtu.be/Ze6hCYqi5tE

Corpus Christi- teaching with friends  https://youtu.be/ypqc51gfXro

Samuel 21  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhBSvLIKXP2GKSeMS

9-9-18 Sunday sermon  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RoMG8IR3p1NeYC2c_QoTUdNhJrGFMxxX/view?usp=sharing

Ephesians 6  https://www.dropbox.com/s/xecoai78k9ljdbx/2-15-18%20Ephesians%206.mp4?dl=0

 Kerygma- Friends  https://mega.nz/#!XLw0XKZJ!PwAf5iCm41NQ4z3FuLHhllfKyJTUBK9hqpvd1HdkAag

 Friends and teaching  https://youtu.be/NICjeyd2rx4

Teaching- Crow- homeless friends  https://youtu.be/0tgDvnYBDGs

Acts 1  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhBOtNdn3F2PIcSVU

9-2-18  Sunday sermon  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DsP04qa-f35cFRDwscFf1YxEvIzroUoI/view?usp=sharing

 2-24-17 St. Patrick’s- NYC  https://bit.tube/play?hash=QmTepABsy98NeoQcmbHtdUwTk2iVZJ987KCgY7SN1udyyH&channel=160276

Kings 17  https://www.bitchute.com/video/bk4Oc9bHXq1l/

 Take- eat- this is my Body  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhBJgH7idcLKZSrX9

Don’t drink it hot!  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sU3sWCdWzWppxdmmN975uzJON6GiO2wz/view?usp=sharing

5-27-18  Sunday sermon  https://flic.kr/p/28AnuNg

 Abortion- slavery n Jesus  https://dai.ly/x70qyqi

 Mark 6  https://ccoutreach87.com/2019/01/24/mark-6-2/

   PAST POSTS [These are links and parts of my past teachings that relate in some way to today’s post- Verses below]

https://ccoutreach87.com/hebrews-links-updated-10-2018/

https://ccoutreach87.com/protestant-reformation-luther/

https://ccoutreach87.com/overview-of-philosophy/

)1ST CORINTHIANS 12:1-6 ‘There are different gifts, ministries and out workings of the Spirit’ [my paraphrase]. In this section we see an idea that I feel gets lost in the current paradigm of ‘doing church’. When Paul addresses a church [community of believers] he is speaking to all the believers in the city. When we think ‘church’ we assume it means ‘church’ as ‘going to the church [building] on Sunday’. Therefore we tend to read these types of verses as ‘there are different gifts and functions in ‘the church’- the Sunday school teacher, nursery worker, door greeter’ well you get it. The better reading would be ‘there are various expressions and ways the Spirit works and administers thru/in the community’. For instance, those who labor in ‘Para-church’ ministries are often considered noble, but not ‘a church’. But according to this passage, they would be just as much ‘church’, a legitimate part of the local body, as the home meeting [of course we know in Paul’s day there were no church buildings]. So the broader view of church as community would see these verses saying ‘where you live there are a variety of gifted ones whom the Spirit of God lives and operates thru. These saints all express the community of the Spirit in various ways. All these expressions are just as legitimate as the other, it is one Spirit manifesting himself in diverse ways for the overall benefit of all the believers in your city’. When we label what the Spirit is doing thru other ‘administrations’ as ‘Para-church’ we violate this passage of scripture. When we limit the various expressions and gifts to ‘the Sunday church meeting’ we actually are violating the intent of these verses. In your city you have doctors, lawyers, and all types of trades. While it is fine for them to operate out of a building and to keep regular business hours. Yet you wouldn’t describe them as separate, individual little ‘cities’ who all operate out of your town. You would see all of them as various gifted people who ‘operate out of your city’. So this is the broader view of what I think Paul is saying. Now he will also give directions on how these various gifts work in the meeting, this of course is part of it. But we need to see the broader view of what the Spirit is saying. Jesus expected his disciples to go out into the highways and hedges and ‘compel them to come in’ [not into the church building for heavens sake! But into the Kingdom] Paul taught that the Spirit accomplishes this in many different ways thru ‘the church’ [people of God].

 (985)1ST CORINTHIANS 12:7 ‘But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to EVERY MAN to profit EVERY BODY’. I want to share a criticism that sometimes gets made against me. I know ‘the critics’ mean well, and are actually sincere men. It’s just they have been ‘shaped’ by the present system of ‘church’. The criticism goes like this ‘sure John has an effective teaching ministry [blog/radio] but if you need someone to come pray for you, lets see if he will come’. The idea is that the true legitimate ‘elders’ are those you can ‘call for’. James says ‘if any one is sick among you, let him call for the elders of ‘the church’. They see ‘the church’ as the actual 501c3, building, Sunday meeting [storehouse] type thing – they are simply seeing thru their ‘lens’. What James is simply saying is ‘if someone is sick in your community/local body of believers, call for the elders [more spiritually mature ones] and let them pray for you and anoint you with oil’. Now, I have personally spent many thousands [yes thousands!] of actual man hours on the streets helping people. I have helped and given to some of the local homeless population who attend some of these ‘churches’, out of my own pocket. Yet these same homeless brothers are encouraged to give ten percent of their money to ‘their church’. What am I saying here? I know the men who level this type of accusation are often intimidated by peer pressure and stuff. But the verse above says ‘the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every believer to profit every one around them’. The biblical view of ‘church’ would simply require all believers to ‘administer the gift’ in a way that would profit all those around them. There is no need to make these types of distinctions between ‘the elders of our church’ or ‘the spiritual leaders in our region’. They mean the same thing. So see your gift as a freely received charism that should be used unselfishly for the benefit of others. Also some Pastors do seem to come around to ‘my view’ after many years of hearing us. They might then try and do some city wide ministry, open to all the body. Then if the results are not good, they can become discouraged also. Understand, many of these men took many years before they could really see what we were saying, don’t expect a majority of local believers to see things that took you years to see! The paradigms don’t come down that easily.

 (986)CORINTHIANS 12: 8-10 this section deals with the various gifts of the Spirit. The list is not exhaustive, Paul speaks in Romans and Ephesians about other ones as well. Instead of diving into a definition for each gift, lets look a little at the various ‘modes’ and characteristics of the Spirit of God. In revelation we have a scripture that many seem to stumble over, it says ‘the 7 spirits of God that are before his throne’. Some associate Isaiah 11 with this. In Isaiah 11 you can find 6 distinct characteristics of the Spirit of God, some see 7. Or you could say ‘God has 7 actual Spirits’. Does God have 7 spirits? Or 25 or 10,000? God is the creator of all spirits. He is the Father of lights! In revelation you have Jesus holding the ‘7 stars’ in his hand, which are said to be angels. Then you have the ‘7 angels of the 7 churches’. I showed you before why these angels are not ‘Pastors’ they are angels! [You can find the post somewhere under END TIMES STUFF]. Revelation has 7 seals, bowls, candlesticks. The book is a prophetic book that has angels revealing and operating and functioning. The 7 spirits before God’s throne are probably the 7 angels spoken about in the book. Hebrews says the angels are ‘ministering spirits’. Well let’s get off the rabbit trail. In Isaiah 61 we have the famous verses that Jesus read and applied to himself in the New Testament [Luke 4]. Jesus opens the scroll and reads about the Spirit of God upon him, the eyes of everyone in that place were fixated on him. Notice how both in Isaiah 11 and 61, one of the main purposes of the anointing was to administer justice to the poor and oppressed. Much of Evangelicalism has opted out of this responsibility. There was an overreaction to the social gospel of the late 19th, early 20th century. The social gospel had a tendency to overemphasize good deeds, without focusing on conversion. But the Fundamentalist movement of the 20th century neglected the social justice aspect of the kingdom, thank God for the Catholics who picked up the torch. The point today is the purpose of the gifts, which we will get into tomorrow, is not simply for self glory and edification. Or should I say the purpose of the anointing. Jesus made it very clear that his mission involved justice for the poor and oppressed, he did not limit his ministry to ‘the church’.

 (991)1ST CORINTHIANS 12: 8-11 Instead of giving you my definition for each one of the gifts of the Spirit, let me just give you a sense of where I’m coming from. Over the years I have learned the normal Pentecostal understanding of these gifts. I also have learned the ‘anti-Pentecostal’ view. I take a little from each camp. The strong Pentecostal view usually sees all the gifts as ‘supernatural’ I do too! But to them this means the gifts of Wisdom and Knowledge can’t be ‘regular wisdom or knowledge’. Okay, so what are they? Some teach that the ‘word of wisdom’ is simply a prophetic word about future stuff. The ‘word of knowledge’ is simply prophetic insight into ‘past stuff’. To be honest I have no idea how people come up with stuff like this [well, actually I do have an idea]. I see Paul as operating in a strong gift of knowledge, though Paul was trained and had a good education, the Spirit took all of his ‘head knowledge’ and quickened it. I see James as having a strong gift of wisdom, his epistle is the only New Testament work considered to be part of the corpus of wisdom literature. Of course the gifts of healing[s] and prophecy are supernatural, but wisdom and knowledge can be ‘supernatural’ without having to fall into some prophetic type category. If it’s wisdom and knowledge from God, then it is supernatural! I have known Pastors who had the gift of wisdom, sometimes they would come to the same conclusions as me, but they took a different route to get there! They might not have ‘seen’ all the knowledge portions of scripture that I saw, but the wisdom they operated in caused them to arrive at the same place. Some teach that after the Spirit fell on the church at Pentecost [Acts 2] that you no loner had miracles, dreams and visions or angelic visitations. Why is this wrong? The book that records more miracles and angels and visions than any other book [except for the gospels] is the book of Acts. In essence, one of the major New Testament books on these manifestations shows them to be a result of the Spirits outpouring! The point being these things didn’t end after Pentecost. I realize both camps [Pentecostal- non Pentecostal] have had their wars over this stuff. I find that both sides can be just as legalistic and judgmental in their views. I think one of the major ‘signs’ of being ‘Spirit filled’ is a life based on free grace. When people grasp the gospel and are filled with the Spirit, they should be free from living their lives out of a state of condemnation and guilt. Many ‘Spirit filled’ churches operate in the gifts [their view of them] but are just as legalistic as the non Pentecostals. To me this is not what it means to be ‘Spirit filled’. Overall we should be open to the working of the Spirit in supernatural ways. We should avoid making this the goal or identity of our Christian walk, but we should not reject or despise prophetic/supernatural things. They are available and necessary at times for completion of the mission.

 (994)1ST CORINTHIANS 12: 12-26 Paul uses the analogy of a body to describe the church. Keep in mind that the ‘church’ in Paul’s writings mean ‘all Gods people in the region/city’. Not just the gathered assembly! It’s important to make this distinction because much of the talk on the restoration of the organic church versus the institutional church focuses too much on the way believers meet. Here Paul is saying ‘you are all individual distinct members in the local community, you express Christ in various ways, though you have unique gifts you also are part of one corporate expression of Christ in your city’. The distinct gifts function in your community, not just in the meeting! [Whether it be the Sunday building type thing or the living room!] Paul also tells them to be on the guard for the ‘one member dominating the group’ expression of church. If everyone is centered on one particular gift then the corporate expression of the Body of Christ is diminished. Or if everyone saw ‘full time ministry’ as being a modern Pastor then you would have too many sincere believers all seeking to serve God in a limited way ‘if all were an eye, ear, mouth [speaking gift]’ then where would the Body be? I find this chapter to be a key chapter in the current reformation of modern church practices. As Gods people strive for a more scriptural expression of ‘being the church’ we need to keep this chapter in mind. Now, a word for the strong organic church brothers. The fact that Paul encourages a corporate expression in the church does not mean the gatherings of Gods people must be leaderless. Paul includes the concept of Elders in his writings. To be sure these men were not to dominate the meetings, or be the weekly speaker on an ongoing basis. But some hold to a type of idea that the way the church is supposed to testify of the ‘headship of Christ’ is by demonstrating a human leaderless church. That is God ordained the local bodies of believers to have no functioning human leaders in order to show forth Christ’s headship. To be honest I don’t see this in scripture. I see leaders in plurality [never a one man show] and Paul was not afraid to tell Titus and Timothy to ‘ordain’ [recognize!] Elders in the church. But the overall instruction in this chapter is God wants all of his people to function on a regular basis in the Body of Christ. This of course includes the gatherings, but it is not limited to them. The primary way we ‘show’ the world the Lordship of Jesus is by the selfless love we have one for another. When we daily live charitable, sacrificial lives, this demonstrates the ‘headship of Jesus’ over the church. The way believers meet has some effect on this, but most of Jesus instructions to the disciples was on how they would go out into the world and bring the great message of the kingdom to society. The primary ‘battlefield’ of the church militant is the world, not the meeting place!

 (996)1ST CORINTHIANS 12:27-31 Lets talk about ‘the fivefold ministry’ [some say four]. In the 90’s there was a real interest in this subject. It comes from this portion of scripture [and Ephesians 4]. The basic teaching is/was that God was restoring all these ministries [Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers- some see this as one combined gift] and that this restoration was one of the final things to happen before Christ’s return. I read and bought lots of books on church planting and how Apostles are gifted to ‘plant churches’. This teaching really wasn’t a new thing. Back in the 1800’s you had Edward Irving head up an apostolic movement called ‘the apostolic catholic church’ [Irvingites]. You had interesting folk like John Alexander Dowie who would start a modern city of God called ‘Zion’ in Illinois. Brother Dowie saw himself as an apostle and felt the Lord led him to start an apostolic city. You can still visit the city today. It was also common for many ‘up and coming’ preachers to begin seeing themselves as ‘apostles/prophets’ and actually advertise their callings in this way. Well of course the old time brothers who reject the gifts all together, saw this as another sign of the end time apostasy. You also had a strange phenomenon take place. It was common for ‘apostolic/prophetic’ people to be taught ‘the missing ingredient is covering and authority’- the churches are weak because they are under pastoral authority, they don’t have apostles ‘covering them’ [ouch!]. So it was not uncommon to have respected men kind of stepping over the normal boundaries of relating to churches and to say things like ‘you need to do this’ ‘you over there, be quiet. I don’t give you permission to speak’ and stuff like this. These sincere men thought it their responsibility to act this way. They felt this was a part of the restoration of apostles. Now, do apostles exist today [and prophets]? To be honest with you, yes. If you read this section along with Ephesians chapter 4, it is next to impossible to teach that they passed away in the first century. These scriptures make it clear that after Jesus ascended he gave ‘some apostles, others prophets’ they are included in the list of evangelists, pastors and teachers. If you lose one gift, then you lose them all. Also the timing of their ministries is given ‘till we all come to the unity of the faith unto a perfect man’. These gifts are all given to build Gods people up until we come to fall maturity. We aint there yet! So it’s pretty obvious that these gifts exist. Those who believe they don’t exist usually refer to the fact that the apostles of the Lamb [a category unto itself] did pass away. They will show you the truth of these apostles having to have been witnesses of Jesus actual resurrection. But these are a different category of apostles. The ones in this chapter were not even ‘made’ until after Jesus ascended on high. The same for the prophets. So, what do these strange fellows do? In all the books and stuff I have read on these movements, I feel some have been too limited in their definitions. Some taught that they were primarily itinerant men [traveling church planters]. Of course Paul was the master at this. But you find James as a stable pillar of the church at Jerusalem. Peter did travel, but he was no Gentile church planter like Paul! And Timothy in the New Testament had an apostolic type gifting, yet he was a protégée under Paul. So for the most part apostles do carry a special ability to ground Gods people in truth. Those who are called to ‘plant churches’ need to be more in tune with the example of Paul. Many modern day ‘apostles’ see church planting as going to a region and organizing Christians to meet in certain ways. I have heard it said ‘I have planted an organic church’ ‘I have planted a home group’ or of course the standard ‘I have planted a building based church’. The main ‘church planting’ of Paul was bringing the gospel to UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUPS and evangelizing those groups. Now of course he did give instructions to them on ‘how to meet’ [like in this book we are reading!] But don’t confuse ‘church planting’ with organizing believers around a new way to meet. All in all God gave us these gifts to build each other up and bring us to maturity, a place where we are no longer dependent on these gifts to function. I feel one of the greatest dangers was the strong authoritarian mindset that some of the apostolic brothers had, they meant well, but they stepped over their boundaries at times.

 (998)CORINTHIANS ‘DO ALL SPEAK WITH TONGUES’? – Before we leave chapter 12, let me overview a little. Paul mentions ‘do all speak with tongues’ and the presumed answer is ‘no’. I love my Pentecostal brothers, but some have developed an interesting doctrine that says ‘God wants all to speak with tongues’ though here it is obvious that all don’t! I am familiar with the classic defense of this. It says that in the beginning of the chapter the gifts are individual gifts that all believers can have [true enough] but that later in the chapter the ‘tongues’ that all don’t operate in is speaking of some sort of ministry gift of tongues. That Paul is basically saying ‘you can all prophesy, speak with tongues, etc..’ but you are not all going to have public ‘ministry gifts’ in these things. Okay, I got it. What’s the problem with this defense? Simply that when your done making the case, the brothers usually wind up saying ‘therefore, we should all speak with tongues’! Any argument [case] made from scripture, needs to use the plain language/thought flow to interpret that which is not plain. I believe all the gifts are for today [though I would disagree on certain Pentecostal definitions of them] but I also believe we violate the New Testament when we teach that certain gifts are supposed to operate in every person. Sure, you can find tongues and other gifts as signs in the book of Acts that believers were filled with the Spirit. But this doesn’t mean that those who don’t speak in tongues are not filled with the Spirit. Paul’s teaching here is that we are all baptized into Christ by the Spirit and we are all ‘drinking in the one Spirit’ but yet he empathically says ‘you all will not have the same gifts operating’. I think it is a violation of scripture to develop a doctrine that says ‘unless you function in a certain gift, you are not Spirit filled’. I do not see the classic Pentecostal division between ‘public tongues’ [that everyone doesn’t do] and ‘private tongues’ that you must have in order to have proof of being baptized in the Spirit. I do see the division to a degree, but I feel the Pentecostal brothers are being legalistic when they make this case.

 (999)1ST CORINTHIANS 13:1 ‘THOUGH I SPEAK WITH THE TONGUES OF MEN AND OF ANGELS, AND HAVE NOT LOVE, I AM BECOME AS SOUNDING BRASS OR A TINKLING SYMBOL’ Over the years I have seen how the church can ‘have a voice-make noise’ without actually effecting change. Last night I watched some Martin Luther King stuff. Without ‘sucking up for political purposes’ I must admit that Martin is at the top of my list of personal heroes. Martin spoke with a revolutionary purpose in mind, he was not ‘delivering sermons’. One time I spoke at a friends church, I only spoke for around 15 minutes [much like my radio show] and the pastor said ‘no wonder John doesn’t have a church/ preach regularly, you have to at least speak for 45 minutes’ [something like that]. Though after the message I had good comments from the people, the sincere pastor felt like we didn’t ‘put the time in’ in order to fulfill the Sunday morning practice of ‘church’. Were did we get our modern sermon from? [The actual format]. If you go to Bible College you can take a course called ‘homiletics’ this course will teach you the structure of speaking and putting a message together. If you study Greek rhetoric you will find that this science existed in the Greek intellectual world before Christians embraced it [the actual format and structure taught in homiletics comes right out of the Greek system of rhetoric, to the tee!]. I find it funny how many modern pastors seem to measure a persons degree of ‘being scriptural’ by this measuring rod. ‘Well brother, didn’t they preach in scripture’ you bet they did. We see Jesus reading from the scroll in the synagogue. Paul and Peter were master ‘preachers’ if you will [though Paul himself was no ‘golden tongue’] basically the biblical concept of preaching/teaching was more of a spontaneous thing. It’s certainly not wrong to borrow the sermon from the Greeks [which we did do] but we don’t want to fall into some mindset that sees modern ministry [pastoral] as being a professional speaker. Here Paul says there is a danger of believers becoming like ‘sounding brass and tinkling symbols’ we can lose the reality of simple communication. We also can lose the prophetic edge of speaking into society over issues of justice. If we become too mundane and ‘professional’ then the world simply views us as another program to simply pass over when clicking the remote. Both Martin Luther King and Charles Finney were known for their social activism. One of the charges [actually true] made against them was that they held to liberal theological positions. Finney was effected by the higher criticism of his day [the trend in the universities to deny the supernatural elements of scripture] he embraced certain doctrines that could be viewed as heretical [things on the atonement and mans sinful nature]. King’s critics make note of the fact that he also accepted certain types of bible interpretation that viewed some of the miraculous stories as ‘myth’ [not fake, but simple allegorical stories that were not literal but simply meant to convey a spiritual theme]. Things like Jonah and the whale, or Ballams talking donkey [or the talking snake in the garden!] Some intellectual brothers view these stories this way. Is there any validity to these views? Actually yes. I personally hold the ‘literal’ view with stuff like this, but ‘literal’ does not mean the bible does not contain different styles of writing. You do have poetry, allegory, symbol and other types or forms of grammar in scripture. Even the strong literal brothers will contradict themselves when they fully accept the ‘Lamb on the throne’ as not being a literal Lamb! [or when they interpret the scorpion like demons in Revelation as Black Hawk helicopters] So scripture does use allegory and symbol. But why did Luther and Finney associate with the more liberal trends in theology? I feel it was because of the strong anti social gospel that the fundamentalists embraced. The more conservative thinkers who rejected the liberal trends in teaching, would also reject social activism. Luther and Finney simply gravitated towards those who were like minded in their concern to speak into society. Basically they didn’t just want to be theologically correct [though they might have been in some of there views] but they wanted to be able to effect change in society. They wanted to be more than just a tinkling symbol that could tickle your ears.

 (1002)1ST CORINTHIANS 13: 2-3 ‘and though I have the gift of prophecy [Pentecostal, prophetic expressions] and understand all mysteries and all knowledge [Orthodox, Reformed, intellectual creedal churches] and though I have all faith that I could remove mountains [the Faith camp] and have not charity [Agape- love] I am nothing’. Whew! Thank God us mission/outreach type guys are not in there. ‘And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor [ouch] and have not love it profits nothing’. I love the various expressions of the church, I feed from the Reformed brothers teaching, Love reading and studying Orthodoxy and Catholicism. I of course favor the outreach/hands on type ministries, but according to this text we can have all these things and still be missing the mark. Our intellectual type brothers are engaging the culture and defending the faith, but without love we don’t even put a dent in the culture. The apologists are great at refuting the new atheists, to be honest about it the Christian intellectuals are head and shoulders above the atheists [Craig Lane and men like him] but I have noticed that we don’t really change that many minds even when all the proof is on our side. And I cant tell you how many well meaning missions and soup kitchens I have been too, but often times there is a disconnect between the people being served and the ‘servers’. You get the feeling sometimes that the well meaning helpers are simply punching a time card. We all need to reevaluate our motives. People can tell when we are in ‘ministry’ for the love of the business. Or for the self glory and adulation that comes with our service. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because they truly were in it for the recognition of men. They wanted others to see that they were ‘successful in the ministry’ so they could receive recognition in public. Paul tells the Romans ‘he that shows mercy, let him do it with love [cheerfully]’. It’s easy to fall into a rut and simply be functioning out of a sense of duty. Now duty can be a good thing, there are times where we just need people to report for duty! [The harvest is plenteous, but the workers are few] but we need to examine ourselves and make sure we are functioning out of the Love of God. Often times the various ministries and expressions of the church are simply God ordained ‘places’ where we can connect with people. As we interact with the lost world, lets do our best to win the arguments, give proof for the legitimacy of Christianity. Combat false ideas and mindsets that are imbedded in our culture, but lets leave room for the other side to get in with us. Understand that they have a ‘missing piece’ [Augustine’s hole in the heart] and we are the only ones that can show them how to fill it.

 (1003)CORINTHIANS 13:4-10 Okay, what exactly is this love that we need? Paul has told us that all religious activity apart from it is vain. Paul here simply gives us a picture of the way it acts. You can read this section and substitute your name for the word love ‘love puts up with stuff and is kind’ ‘John puts up with stuff and is kind’ [ouch] ‘It does not boast or show off’. ‘It does not seek its own benefit’ a ‘what’s in it for me’ type mentality. Love is being just like Jesus. James tells us ‘if you fulfill the royal law of scripture, you do well’. The law is to love thy neighbor as yourself. Paul also shows us why love outshines the other gifts of tongues and prophesy and knowledge. He says ‘we know in part, prophesy in part. But when we are made perfect and mature at the appearing of Christ the partial gifts will no longer be distinguishable. Only love will rule’ [my paraphrase] I find it interesting that Paul says knowledge itself will cease. Will actual knowledge cease? What exactly is ‘knowledge’? When we use this term in society what we usually mean is the degree of ones learning/education compared to someone else. If you have a masters and I have a high school diploma, we see a difference. We measure knowledge by the amount we have as compared to others. Now, at Christ’s appearing when we all ‘shall know, even as we are known’ this fine distinction will ‘pass away’. We still will have knowledge, but as a tool that we use to measure one another, it will cease. It wont make a difference how much of the ‘knowledge pie’ [know in part] you possess, at that time everyone one will have ‘all pie’. Knowledge is a funny thing, our understanding of it has developed thru the centuries. During the enlightenment era the concept of ‘what does it even mean to know’ was tackled. One of the famous sayings was ‘I know/think, therefore I am’ [Descartes? Hey, I forget sometimes] the study of ‘how we learn/know things’ is called epistemology. The enlightenment produced a way to approach knowledge that can be called ‘modernism’ mans modern way of knowing stuff. In essence, there exists real truth that a person can know and learn. There is/was a challenge to this mode of thought. Many in the Emergent church movement would grasp on to another theory of ‘knowing’ loosely defined as being in the category of ‘post modernism’. Some challenged the actual ability to know a thing. The emphasis is on who is actually viewing/learning the thing. The terms ‘metta- narrative’ are sometimes used to describe this dynamic. There is some truth to the fact that our context, who we are and where we are coming from, can shape the actual stuff learned. But the question is ‘does our perspective actually change the thing, make it real or not’. Some in the field of Cosmology have grasped on to this post modern theory and have surmised that the very act of human beings studying and examining a thing can in and of itself cause the thing ‘to be’. You can see how this theory would be helpful to the atheist. ‘Where did every thing come from?’ ‘it is a result of human kind’s thoughts and inquiry’ [Ouch]. This sounds a lot like the metaphysical cults that espouse that reality is a product of what you think, confess. That man has the power to create reality simply by the act of studying a thing. Well this is of course a challenge to the truth of God. Jesus and the Cross aren’t ‘real’ because men ‘put their mind to them’. They are real whether or not man ever thought about them. ‘Let God be true, but every man a liar’ Romans. Paul tells us that all these varying degrees of knowledge will some day ‘pass away’. We will all stand before a self existent God and give an account of our lives. This day is coming whether you ‘think about it or not’.

 (1004)CORINTHIANS 13:11-13 WHEN I WAS A CHILD I UNDERSTOOD AND THOUGHT AND SPOKE LIKE A CHILD, BUT WHEN I GREW UP I PUT THOSE THINGS BEHIND ME-  Paul shows us that we presently see and understand things thru ‘a glass’. God gives us insight and glimpses into Divine truth, but we need mercy because we all have limited sight. Over the years I know I have ruffled some feathers. Whether it be our teaching on what the church is, tithing, end times stuff. How New Testament believers should view the nationalistic promises made to Israel under the Old Covenant. I have found that the problem usually isn’t solved by simply proving something from scripture. For instance someone might become convinced by an ‘avalanche’ of information, they might actually see what I am saying. They can even articulate it to a degree [sometimes better than me!] but at the end of the day the answer to the problem is we all need to ‘grow up’. We need an overall change in the way we view things thru a legalistic lens. For instance, the tithe issue. Over the years I have taught the concept that believers are not under this law. Those of you who have read this site for any length of time know this. But I have also taught that it is fine to put 10% of your money into the offering on Sunday. It’s okay to support those who ‘labor among us’. But there are also many examples in the New Testament warning Gods leaders to not be in it for the money. Now, if we took seriously the mandate in Malachi to tithe. If we want to actually bind the believer’s conscience in this way ‘how are you robbing God? By not bringing in the tithes!’ Then we need to also look at the context. Israel as a nation was mandated to ‘tithe’ of their goods [not money] in three ways. They gave to support the Levites, also for the poor, and then they gave a tithe for religious feasts. In essence this ‘tithe’ was a total of around 30 % of their annual income, not 10%! [This by the way is right around what I spend on a monthly basis for the ministry stuff I do]. So, if we were telling people ‘you are going to be cursed if you don’t pay 10%’ we are actually misreading this verse. Also, how many believers think they are going to be cursed if they don’t ‘tithe to the poor’? Most modern preaching on the tithe simply puts it in the category of the Sunday offering. Most of this type of giving goes to support salaries, building upkeep, light bills, insurance for staff. I could go on and on. A very minute portion of this money [in general] goes to the poor. Certainly not a third! Also the portion that went to the Levites could not be used to purchase anything that would be owned by the Levite. They were forbidden to own any type of personal inheritance as Levitical priests. How often does the modern concept of tithing include this? The whole point is if we are going to bind peoples consciences in this way [which we shouldn’t] then we need to make sure we are at least teaching it right! Why bring this up? This is simply a good example of what Paul is saying. ‘When I understood in a limited way, I spoke and acted in a limited way’. The answer to the problem is simply ‘becoming mature in our thinking and speaking’. Recently I read an article from a U.S. congressman, he was speaking about the situation between Israel and Palestine. He sided with a military interpretation of the Old Testament promise to Abraham to ‘posses the land’ and used that to influence his political activism for war. How ‘mature’ is this type of thinking? Did any of the JEWISH apostles do this? No. So instead of trying to ‘crisis manage’ every single doctrinal problem, we really need to mature on an overall basis and view these doctrines thru the paradigm of Jesus and his life and work. Are we imitating his ethos when we do these things? Was this the primary message and life of Jesus when he walked the earth? How did he respond to Roman oppression and unjust govt.? Did he advocate military action in defense of the promises of God made to the nation of Israel? If we as the 21st century church do not ‘rightly divide’ these things, then we are of all men ‘most miserable’ [1st Corinthians 15].

    John:1[radio # 584] Jesus is called the Word of God, he comes into the earth as the incarnation, the ‘fleshed out’ fulfillment of Gods Word. John the Baptist is asked who he is. The Jewish leaders ask ‘are you that prophet?’ he says ‘no’. What prophet? The one Moses said would come ‘the Lord God will raise up a prophet unto you, like me. Whoever doesn’t listen to him will be destroyed’. We covered this in Deuteronomy. They ask him ‘are you Elijah’ he says ‘no’. John was the fulfillment of the Malachi prophecy that said before the Lord comes he will send Elijah the prophet. Jesus says this about John. Why did John deny it? I am not sure,  but it might be because he really didn’t know. Sort of like the thorn in Paul’s side, God allowed things to happen to Paul so he would not get puffed up in pride and side track his mission. Maybe the Lord never let John see how truly effective he was. John does say ‘I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness’ John does see himself thru the prophet Isaiah. I like this. I have personally had many words from Isaiah that I felt the Lord had given me, John saw himself in this book too. John was ‘the voice’ just like Jesus is ‘the Word’  John is ‘the voice’. John was a voice before he was a man. God had predestined John to carry a message before he was born. He had this word in his DNA at birth. His body was simply a carrier, an ‘incarnation’ of the voice that he was to have. God has predestined all of us with a purpose before we were born. Our appearing on the planet is for the sole purpose of carrying out this destiny. You are not here to be happy, have a nice income, go to a nice church. You are here to fulfill Gods will, you can have the other things or not, that is irrelevant. You must first fulfill the mission! John testifies of Christ by the Spirit descending on Jesus. John says ‘I knew him not, but by the Spirit’ John knew Jesus, he was his cousin! But John was only going to recognize the gifts and callings on people. He would follow Paul’s admonition ‘know no man after the flesh’. It is incumbent upon us to recognize the gifts in others and to operate accordingly. Don’t make alliances and pacts with people based on friendship and personal affiliations. It’s good to have friends and all, but the Kingdom is built upon recognizing and receiving those who have come with a mandate from God. John saw Jesus in this light. Scripture says ��the world was made by him, he was in the world, yet they knew him not’ Jesus was creating a divine atmosphere of grace for people to access. They didn’t even know or recognize him, yet this didn’t side track him from his purpose. Understand that God has placed you in a geographical location with a pre planned destiny in mind. God has chosen you to be where you are and for this season. You will fulfill your calling whether people ‘know’ you or not. God requires us to see the gifts in each other, but many will not appreciate what you are doing, do it any way, you have come with a destiny to fulfill, so fulfill it!

 (563)       John 2[radio # 585]- Jesus does his first miracle, changes water into wine. They say ‘most people put the good wine out first, but you have saved the best for last’. This is a type of the new covenant of his blood [wine], Jesus will introduce a better covenant thru his blood. Many will not accept this new way because they have been ‘drinking’ old wine for so long, they are not willing to change. We often see this in Christian circles, people who have functioned in a limited way for years, God might bring to them new ways of seeing things, they will often reject the new wine on the basis of being comfortable with the old way, we don’t want to shake the apple cart. God wants us to shake it! Jesus finds the money changers in the temple and drives them out with a whip, turns the tables over and gets mad. He didn’t take the ecumenical approach! There are times for radical transition, I feel we are at that place now as the people of God. The gospel is not about us increasing our portfolio, it’s about laying our goals down for the kingdom. These money changers lost their influence in the ‘temple’ after Jesus got thru with them, I think it was prophetic. Jesus says ‘destroy this temple and in 3 days I will raise it up’ those hearing this mistake his Body [temple] with the building [temple in Jerusalem]. Evangelicals [some of them] make the same mistake today. They are looking to the natural events in natural Jerusalem, they should be looking at the real temple! [Both Jesus and the Body of Christ]. Jesus goes to the Passover, the people hail him and Jesus says he will not commit himself to them, because he knew what was in man. What was in man? These same people will be asking for his death not long from now. Jesus did not seek commitment from men, contrary to the way we see ministry today. Modern ministry seeks to increase man’s commitment to them ‘pledge so much money, join this or that’ Jesus knew he had a destiny, he would fulfill it without the help of man!

The only biblical ‘test’ that is where you have a clear cut statement on ‘if you believe this your okay- if you believe this you’re not’- the statement comes from the epistle’s [letters] of the Apostle John [New Testament].

 In 1st John and 2nd John he talks about those who believe that Jesus is the Christ- they are ‘from God’ ‘Born of God’ and those who say that ‘Jesus has not come in the flesh’ these are not ‘of God’ these are ‘the anti christ’.

 It’s interesting to note- that in the entire bible- the few times the actual word ‘anti christ’ is used are in these passages.

 So the test- if you want to look at it this way- is a Christological test- do you believe Jesus is the Christ [Messiah]. And ‘do you believe he has come in the flesh’ [what we call the Incarnation].

 That’s the test- you do not have a ‘Trinitarian’ test so to speak- though the doctrine itself is found in the bible.

 Why would the apostle John give these 2 criteria as ‘the test’? Because for the 1st century Jewish believer- Jesus did indeed come as the promised Messiah- and the question is indeed ‘do you believe he is the promised one- or not’.

 The other ‘test’ is a little more tricky- but in the 1st century you began having a challenge to the main belief of Christians- it came from the Gnostic ‘cults’. These were the quasi ‘Christian’ groups that mixed in Greek concepts of matter with Christian belief.

 The last few weeks we discussed their ideas a little- and one of the ideas that Plato taught was that matter itself was evil.

 This is not the Christian view- the Christian view is that matter [creation] is from God- it is good- not inherently evil.

 Okay- so you had a division of the Gnostics [which their name meant Knowledge- they believed they had secret knowledge about these things that the average Christian did not have] called Docetists.

 These guys taught that Jesus was not Really a human being- who came ‘in the flesh’. Why did they teach this? Because they also taught that matter/flesh was evil- and Jesus could not have really been ‘in the flesh’.

 This doctrine violates the very clear N.T. teaching that Jesus was indeed born of the Virgin- and was fully God and fully man- thus the apostle John was targeting them when he said ‘if anyone does not believe that Jesus has come in THE FLESH he is not from God’.

ACTS 1- Luke, the writer of this book, feels the need to document the ongoing work of Jesus and his revolution. He already wrote a gospel and believes this to be the beginning of the story. In essence, the reality of Jesus and his resurrection are just the start, we have much more to do and become on this journey. Most writers jump to chapter 2. We have churches and music groups called ‘Acts chapter 2’. Why does Luke seem to wait till chapter 2 before getting to ‘the good stuff’? Chapter one records the 40 days of Jesus showing himself alive after his death. Luke feels this singular truth to be important enough to simply stand alone [I do realize the early letters did not have chapter and verse divisions like today]. The real physical fact of Jesus bodily resurrection is without a doubt the foundational truth of the gospel. The outpouring of the Spirit and the whole future of the church depends on the reality of the resurrected Christ. Paul will write the Corinthians and tell them if the resurrection were not true then they are the most miserable of all people. Luke tells us Jesus gave instructions for the Apostles to wait at Jerusalem for the Spirit. Thy will be witnesses of him to all the surrounding nations after the Spirit empowers them. We also see Peter emerge as the key spokesman for the group. He quotes freely from the Psalms and reads their own history into the book. He sees the prophetic verse from David on ‘let another take his office’ as referring to Judas betrayal and death. They cast lots and choose Matthias as the one to replace Judas. Peter shows the importance of Judas replacement to come from one that was with them thru out the earthly time of Jesus. Someone who saw and witnessed Jesus after the resurrection. Scholars have confused this with the ‘ascension gift Apostles’. Some scholars have taken the truth of the early Apostles having the criteria of being actual witnesses of Jesus, and have said ‘therefore, you have no Apostles today’. Paul will teach in Ephesians that after Jesus ascension on high he gave gifts unto men ‘some Apostles, others Prophets, etc.’ The New Testament clearly speaks of Apostles as an ongoing gift in the church. Barnabas will later be called an Apostles [Acts 14:14] as well as many other references in the original Greek using the same Greek word for Apostle. But here we find Peter seeing the need to replace Judas. Other scholars think Peter might have jumped the gun. They see Paul’s apostleship as the possible person the Lord picked out as the replacement. You do find Paul referring time and again to his Apostolic authority as one ‘born out of due time’ who saw Jesus on the Damascus road. If Paul was simply an ascension gift Apostle, why would he refer time and again to his authority based on being a witness who also saw Jesus? It’s possible that Paul was in this group of ‘Apostles of the Lamb’ who had extra authority based upon their testimony of being eyewitnesses. So in chapter one we see that Jesus appeared for 40 days giving instructions to the early leadership and told them to wait at Jerusalem for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We see the incarnational purpose of God, Jesus was and continues to be the express image of God to man. He was not some ‘phantom’ like the Docetists will claim, but a very real physical resurrected Lord. Luke begins the early history of the church with this reality being important enough to stand on its own.

[parts]

Almost finished with Noll’s book [scandal of the evangelical mind] and thought it time to comment. The book was published in 1994 and I realize a lot of water has gone under the bridge since then. Noll brings out great points; he shows a fundamental weakness in American evangelicalism because of the way the movement shaped a sort of anit intellectual way/thought pattern of viewing the world and society. He really takes the dispensational wing of the church to task, frankly, I was surprised how willingly he dismantled many of their belief systems. I agree with him on this issue, but was surprised that a very popular book would go this far [and still be nominated book of the year by Christianity today- back in 1994!]. I think an area of weakness in the book is Noll’s ‘over association’ of young earth creationism with the Seventh Day Adventist church, and his repeating of the charge that creationists [and fundamentalists in general] are practicing a form of ‘modern Manichaeism’. He basically links an ‘anti material spirit’ that was seen in the early Christian heretics [Gnosticism, Docetism and Manichaeism] and applies this to the views of creationists and their so called unwillingness to allow the facts from nature speak for themselves. I wrote the note ‘way too much’ a few times when reading the book. I think he’s basically mistaken on this, many early Christian thinkers did hold to a young earth view, and they were the same thinkers who rebuked these cults who rejected the natural world as evil. Overall the book is a worthwhile read, it exposes the weakness of the fundamental/evangelical movement to ‘think Christianly’ about the world and society around them. Too often believers think ‘thinking Christianly’ means introducing bible verses into the conversation, this is not what Noll is speaking about. He shows the fundamental error that arose during the modernist/fundamentalist debates of the 19th/20th centuries, and how this caused the church to accept modes of thinking and learning that were disconnected from the fathers of these movements. For instance, Jonathan Edwards, who is considered to be the greatest homegrown thinker of the American experience, he embraced an acceptance of the natural sciences as a way to learn more about the ways of God. True studies of the earth and universe and things in the world were accepted as a means of God communicating truth to his people thru the ‘book of nature’. Noll shows how the fundamentalist movement came to reject this willingness to look at the natural world and learn from it. Thus his overstated charge of Manichaeism, a group that saw the natural world as evil. A blind spot of Noll is his seeming belief that the majority of all Christians/scientists accepted as fact the old earth views of the Geologic table and the other sciences that arose at the time [like evolutionary theory]. He paints a picture that says ‘see, most believers were open to learning from science back then, but the fundamentalist movement and the rise of creationism side tracked the church’. This is simply not true. Many scientists and Christians did not accept the science of an old earth and the interpretation of the geologic table. Many fathers of the church accepted a young earth view [Noll's creationism] since the beginning of church history. Though Noll quotes saint Augustine in his defense of thinking critically, yet Augustine himself believed in a young earth. He actually believed God made everything in an instant and the 6 days of Genesis 1 were symbolic, that God used the ‘6 day framework’ to show us his creative acts. The point being, Augustine’s spiritualizing of the days of creation did not make him an old earth believer! So there were a few things like this that I take issue with, overall I think every evangelical/protestant believer would benefit from reading the book. Noll’s challenge to the evangelical church to ‘think Christianly in all areas of life’ is a needed rebuke to many in the church. Noll is correct in showing the weakness of the American protestant church and her basic disdain of intellectual learning, thinking that higher learning in and of itself is a bad thing. This has fostered a community of believers that has cut itself off from the basic institutions that effect society as a whole [the research universities being one example]. If Christians shy away from the natural sciences and the reality that even unbelievers have at times revealed to us true things thru these studies, then we are going down a road that will eventually cut our influence off from the broader society at large.

  POSTED BY CCOUTREACH87 ⋅ SEPTEMBER 24, 2016 ⋅ LEAVE A COMMENT

JOHN 17 John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. https://youtu.be/nbUgpSNo7nE John 17 https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/9-15-16john-17.zip ON VIDEO- .Hooch grows .Stop draining the lake .Lord’s prayer .Deity of Christ .You see me- you see the Father .Trinity is not Tritheism .Oikos .Pastors .Unity is vital

NEW- Jesus prays for his core community ‘that they would be one’- then- he prays for those who will later believe thru ‘their word’. John 17:9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

The church is a light in the world- just like Jesus. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Matt 5:14 Paul calls us the ‘Body of Christ’. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. 1st Cor. 12:27 We often think that when the church is powerful- she will reach the world. If we have the gifts functioning – that will do it. Or how about when ‘we all become rich and grasp the prosperity promises’. Surely that will get the work done. But Jesus says when we are one- unified- then the world will know he has sent us. John 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

I apply [on video] some practical application to the verse I posted at the top- ‘Glorify me with the glory we had- before the world was’. Now- to God be the glory- forever. Yet we share in the glory of Christ. John 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I like the way John’s gospel says Jesus ‘knew he came from God- all things were given to him from God- and he was going back to God’. The apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians that we too ‘came from God’ he planned us before he made the world- yes- the bible teaches that. Ephesians 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: So- before any of us were involved in the things we are doing- Pastors- your church Preachers- you’re calling Whatever ‘world’ God has allowed you to play a part in- your sphere of influence. Before ‘that world’ ever existed- you had this this aloneness with God. Where he revealed his purpose for your life- and you took hold of it- despite what others said. You prevailed by faith to see this ‘world’ come to pass. Hebrews 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. You learned that ‘all things were given to you by God’. Now- after these things are built- after you saw God use you to build the church- or ministry. Then there comes a time where you say ‘Father- let me not forget the way all this started- it was just me and you- and let me now return to the ‘glory’ that we had- before these things were’. All of us need to know what it’s like to simply walk with God. These last few years I learned to spend whole days- just with God. No ministry- no outreach- no human contact for that day. And it was not easy to learn this. But at the start of the Christian walk- there was indeed this sense that it was just me and him. Then we get involved in all types of kingdom things- good things- ‘world’ things. And we have to come back to the start again- we have to pray ‘Father- let me experience once again- that one on one relationship that we had at the beginning- before all these things were’. And trust that the word that you have deposited in the people you have had influence with- that it will continue- even after you are gone. When you learn to be alone with God again- you will realize you are not alone- but the Father is with you in a very real way- Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. Jn. 16:32 See?

PAST POSTS [verses below] JOHNS GOSPEL LINKS- https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/14/amos-5/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/15/jesus-christ/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/17/father-abraham/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/21/the-flood/ John 3 https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/25/the-well-john-4/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/30/john-5/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/05/john-6/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/09/john-7/ https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/8-10-15-john-14.zip https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/16/john-8/ https://youtu.be/f8VpxlYM_kU John 8- ‘who the Son sets free’ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/25/john-9/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/07/31/john-10/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/05/john-11-the-8th-sign/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/10/i-found-a-verse/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/13/john-12/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/19/samuel-john-hebrews-review/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/22/john-13/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/08/26/john-14/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/09/04/john-15/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/09/15/john-16/

. [1486] ARIUS- a priest from Egypt who would challenge the deity of Jesus in the 4th century. Arius taught that Jesus was the Son of God, but not eternally the Son. He said Jesus was a created being whom the father ‘bestowed’ son ship upon. He taught that Jesus was ‘like God’ but not God. The emperor Constantine would call the famous council of Nicaea in 325 a.d. and the council would agree with Athanasius and say that the Son and the Father were of ‘the same substance’ [homoousios] and Arius’s belief would be rejected. The debate would still rage on thru out the century as Constantine would die and the new emperor from the east would hold to ‘Arian’ views. Eventually Orthodoxy would win out and Arianism would be rejected by the majority of believers. I should note that many of the oriental churches would go the way of Arianism till this day; some of these churches are not like the modern cults that we would automatically reject, but they do hold to beliefs that Orthodox Christianity has rejected. As I have written about before, it’s easy to see how various believers have struggled with these issues over the years, some of the ways people express things can be deemed heresy a little too quickly in my view. There are believers who express the deity of Jesus in ways that some Arians express it, and they are not full Arians! The point being, yes- Arian went too far in his belief that Jesus was a created being, Johns gospel refutes this belief strongly [as well as many other portions of scripture] but too say that Jesus was/is the full expression of the father, because he ‘came out from God’ is also in keeping with scripture. Today we should be familiar with the issues and also use much grace when labeling different groups of believers; and we should strive for a unity in the Spirit as much as possible. As believers we accept the full deity of Christ, one who is of the ‘same substance’ of the father- true God from true God. He who has seen the Son has seen the father- Jesus said to Phillip ‘I have been with you a long time, if you see and know me, you have seen and known my father’ Jesus is God come down in the flesh to dwell among men, the true Immanuel, God with us.

[1484] ‘This is why I Paul am in jail for Christ, having taken up the cause of you outsiders, so called. I take it that you are familiar with the part I was given in God’s plan for including everybody… none of our ancestors understood this, only in our time has it been made clear thru God’s Spirit… this is my life work, helping people understand and respond to God’s message. It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details’ Ephesians 3, message bible. As I said earlier in this study, the ‘mystery’ that God revealed to Paul was the reality that thru Christ all ethnic groups would be on the same footing with God. This specifically related to the religious belief of the day that the ethnic nation of Israel were the only ones with special access to God. For Paul to have been preaching this message in his day would be like us teaching that God’s plan for all people today- Jews, Arabs, Palestinians, Iranians, etc., it would be like saying Gods purpose for our day is to accept all of these ethnic groups as one group thru Christ. To be frank about it, I believe many evangelicals today are not fully seeing the reality of the Cross when they exalt the natural heritage of Israel as Gods special people. Though I realize many of these teachings mean well [end time scenarios and stuff] yet in practice they deny the equal footing that all people have in Christ. Paul was preaching the great news that your ethnic/cultural background no longer made any difference- thru Christ we are all Gods special people. This does not mean that we are all accepted whether or not we believe in Christ, a sort of religious syncretism, but it does mean that the offer of Jesus is available to all. [parts] (1226) 2ND CORINTHIANS 4- In chapter 3 Paul said we are beholding/seeing God in an open way as compared to the old covenant. In this chapter he shows us how we ‘see God’. We see him in his Son. God has chosen to reveal himself to us thru his Son. One of the first Christian councils [after the one at Jerusalem in Acts 15!] was held in the 4th century under the Roman emperor Constantine. The reason was to bring unity to the church on the issue of Christ’s divinity. These councils played political roles as well as theological. After Constantine became emperor he established the great city in the eastern empire called Constantinople. This city [named after him] became both the theological and political seat in the eastern half of the empire. So you had both a religious and political competition going on in the empire. Rome, situated in the west, was feeling like she would lose her position if the eastern half started gaining too much influence. So you had differing reasons for these councils. But you also had sincere men who held to various beliefs at the time. The bishop Arius came to teach that Jesus was the Son of God, but not God himself. This created a stir in the empire and Constantine called a council to settle the question. The debates went forth, both views were discussed and classic Orthodoxy came down on the side of Jesus being God. Now, there would be more councils dealing with Gods nature and Christ’s role, but this was a defining moment in Christian history. The church [and the scriptures] teach that God became man [incarnation] and thru Jesus we ‘see God’. Paul also relates the many sufferings and trials he was going thru. He says he tastes death and bears in his body the death of Jesus. He simply does not give a picture of the Christian life that is common in today’s world. Many believers are taught that these types of difficulties and sufferings are a result of their lack of faith, or their inability to rightfully ‘access their covenant rights’. Paul refutes this doctrine strongly. Paul has already mentioned those who ‘peddle Gods word’ or who twist the scriptures for their own benefit. It always amazes me to see well meaning believers/teachers go thru the entire corpus of the New Testament and never see these things. It’s so easy for preachers/teachers to read the scriptures with blinders on. Here Paul taught that the many sufferings [both physical and spiritual] were an honorable thing, they were his way of sharing in the sufferings and death of Christ. They were ‘death in him, but life in you’ he saw his difficulties thru a redemptive lens. He says the present sufferings are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us. The first verse of this chapter says seeing we have received this great ministry, we don’t faint. I like Eugene Petersons Message version, he says ‘just because times get hard, we don’t throw up our hands and walk off the job’ I like that.

(1227) 2ND CORITNHIANS 5- Paul speaks of the Christian hope- resurrection! This chapter can be confusing if not taken in context. You could think that Paul is saying when we die we have a house/room in heaven ‘waiting for us’ and this seems true enough. But he is really saying something more along the lines of ‘in heaven [Gods realm] we have a promise of a new body. The Spirit in us is the down payment, but full redemption will be complete when we are raised from the dead’ the hope is a new body, not our souls living some type of disembodied existence in a heavenly [parts] JAMES 1 https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/5-28-15-james-intro-chapter-1.zip Try and watch this video- I cover lots of stuff that place this letter in context for this study. [ Read acts 10,11,15, Galatians 1-2] Intro- This letter was written by James- the brother of Jesus. He was one of the main church leaders at the church in Jerusalem- we read about him in Acts chapter 15. This [Acts 15] was the first church council in the history of Christianity. I already taught the book of Romans written by the apostle Paul. And as we read the New Testament in context- we can see the reason why James penned this letter- and addressed it to Jewish believers. Paul was the most influential missionary in the early church- he established most of the gentile churches we read about in the bible [Rome being the exception]. He also wrote most of the letters that make up our New Testament. His main teaching was Justification by faith. There was a division we read about in the bible- between some of the Jewish believers at Jerusalem- and the churches Paul was planting [the church council mentioned above- was convened over this issue]. This division was based on the teaching of Paul- and some Jewish believers in Jerusalem accused Paul of rejecting the Mosaic Law. Paul defended himself in the letters of the New Testament [Romans/Galatians] and even talks about his visits to the leaders at the church in Jerusalem. Now- in this context- it seems fitting for James- the main church leader of the Jewish brothers- to ‘set the record straight’. And to write his own letter- showing the importance of GOOD WORKS- and even saying ‘see how a man is justified/saved by works- and not by faith alone’. The higher critics of Christianity [who you have heard me talk about in recent videos] will teach that James and Paul ‘taught different theologies’. I do not agree with them. But- our bibles are an early collection of the Real Time things that were taking place in the early church. At the time these men were writing these letters- they were not writing them as a complete canon [book] – but were writing them as you or I would write a letter to another person. In the wisdom of God- I think it is possible for these men to have seen different aspects of the manifold wisdom of God- and maybe they were not fully seeing the other writer’s point of view. To me- this would not be a criticism of the canon of scripture- but it would show us that God used these men- thru their experiences- and yes- even disagreements- to write the letters that make up our bibles- And in time- they would indeed become the official teaching of the church- Embracing a broad range of Divine Revelation- that in the end- does NOT CONTRADICT itself- but instead makes a complete work- which we call the bible. This letter is short- and packed with short verses of great wisdom. It is the only New Testament letter that falls into the category of Wisdom Literature- Meaning a particular genre’ of writing- like Proverbs in the Old Testament. Because of this- I am going to post each chapter of the letter during this teaching- for those of you who have never read the bible all the way thru- I want to challenge you to read these short chapters over the next few weeks. I will comment and add historical stuff in this teaching- like I did in the other recent studies. But most of all- read each chapter for yourself- ask God to give you wisdom- and apply the instruction of this letter to your life. It is a very practical- straight forward teaching that comes to us from the brother of Jesus himself. As I have been commenting on the other writings that did not make it into our bibles- like the Gnostic gospels- One of the reasons these extra biblical writings have so much appeal- Is because they claim to have other teachings- from/about Jesus- that are not in the bible. For those of us who reject these other writings- as canon- The letter of James kind of fills the void of ‘we want to know more about what Jesus taught’. This would be the letter to read- because James grew up with Jesus- in the same home. He was the oldest sibling of the Holy Family- And he was not a follower of Jesus until after the resurrection of Christ. He was one of the witnesses Jesus appeared to after his resurrection [Paul told us this in Corinthians]. So- if anyone has any ‘secret insight’ into the other stuff Jesus taught- it would be James. James 1:7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. James 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. James 1:9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: James 1:10 But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass [parts] END NOTES OF POST- WHAT ARE THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS? OCTAVIAN- A GOD? CICERO- MARK ANTONY [or Anthony if you like]. WHO WERE THE ESSENES? DID THE CHURCH ENGAGE IN A GRAND CONSPIRACY?

END NOTES [I posted the video for this portion a few days ago- it goes along with Hebrews 7-9 video/post] The past few weeks I had a few friends ask me about the Dead Sea Scrolls- and a few other questions about the ‘lost books of the bible’ and some other common- and mistaken ideas [like the original sin being Eve had sex with the serpent]. So- I figured I would cover a little Jewish history- which would help in this study of Hebrews- And also hit on a few of these subjects. As we read Hebrews- it helps to also understand some of the history that we don’t have in our bibles [though the Catholic bibles do have some of it in the Apocrypha]. Ok- the ruling empire at the time of Christ was Rome- just prior to the appearance of Jesus- the Roman Emperor- Caesar Augustus- consolidated the Roman Empire under his rule- Rome was ruled by a senate- some famous names from history were in it- Cicero being one. Caesar Augustus was the nephew of Julius Caesar- his real name was Octavian [Octavius]. After the death of Julius Caesar- there were some power struggles that took place- between some other famous people. Marc Antony being one of them [Cleopatra too- he was in love with the girl for sure]. Now- we read about Augustus in the New Testament- and we read in the book of Revelation about the Mark of the Beast- and that those who don’t worship- give homage to the Beast- they will be killed. So- Many Christians would be killed because they would refuse to give homage to Caesar Augustus [meaning son of the Divine]. ‘Wow- how did he get a name like that’ [there was more than one Caesar by the way- as well as more than one Herod- who did play a part in these power struggles- it can get confusing- even to me]. When Octavian defeated Marc Antony at Actium [32 BC]. Herod [The Great] had a problem- he had previously sided with Antony and found himself on the losing side. Yet he was smart- did some ‘brown nosing’ as we say-and patched things up. Herod had 3 sons- who would eventually take positions of authority in the Roman government at the time of Christ. Herod Antipas was over the region that we read about in the New Testament where Jesus did most of his ministry- Galilee. Ok- Octavian claimed deity because of a heavenly sign associated with his rise to power- and this is how he became called ‘Caesar Augustus’. He sort of saw himself as a ‘re-incarnate’- of his great uncle Julius Caesar. ‘John- what in the heck does this have to do with the Dead Sea Scrolls’. Ok- good question. The Jews had various responses to the empires that ruled over them during various times. Alexander the Great instituted Hellenization- a sort of cultural compromise over the people he conquered. They could keep their religious/cultural roots- but would be subservient to Alexander and Greek rule. Some Jewish people rejected any compromise- we call them the Essenes- they moved out of town- so to speak, and lived in what we refer to as the Qumran community. This was a few centuries before the time of Christ- and this was where the Dead Seas Scrolls were found in the 20th century. A Bedouin boy was looking for his goats- threw a rock in a cave right off the Dead Sea- and that’s how we found the scrolls. The scrolls might have been hidden there by the Essenes- Now- when my friends asked me about them- I told them that it’s been a while since I read up on any of this- but to the best of my memory the thing that made them significant was the fact that they were very old manuscripts- from the bible- and they backed up what we had had all along. I did read up this week- and basically had it right. The earliest Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament we had previously dated back to around 900- 1000 A.D. These manuscripts went back about 1000 years earlier- and they contained portions from almost every book of the Old testament- and some complete books. The only book missing was Esther. So- this was indeed a very significant find for scholars. But the Scrolls also contain some of the writings from the Essenes themselves- things we never had before- so this too was significant. There were Jews at the time of the first century who tried to ‘get along’ with Rome- and with the person in charge of their region [one of the sons of Herod the Great at the time of Christ]. These are referred to as Herodian’s in the bible. Some wanted a revolution to rid Rome from Jerusalem- these were the Zealots [one of Jesus disciples was in this group]. Some thought if they returned to a legalistic obeisance of the law- that this would bring in a deliverer- like the stories we read about in the Old testament- these were the Pharisees. And some took more of a political compromise- these were the Sadducees. Eventually a war with Rome would be fought [By the way- Josephus- the famous 1st century historian- fought on the side of the Jews in the war- and after Jerusalem was sacked in A.D. 70- he went to Rome and wrote his great works- thinking he would make a case for the Jewish people with the Romans. This is why we have his works today- which are very valuable to scholars]. NOTE- In time I’ll try and cover how we ‘got our bibles’ [called the Canon- meaning Rule/ Measurement]. Frankly- there is a lot of confusion in the general public about conspiracies [like the Catholic Church had some type of plot to keep certain books out]. Or stories about how the Church taught Mary Magdalene was a prostitute so they could discredit her. Actually- we read in the gospels that Jesus cast out ‘spirits’ from a woman who was probably living this type of life- And Jesus had a ministry to the down and out- it is indeed possible that Mary was one of these women- And if true- it would not demean her in any way- That’s how this tradition more than likely developed- But- we don’t know for sure. So a few years back the Church officially said ‘we don’t know’. Ok- Plot? No- just being careful. So there are other misguided beliefs like this- that sincere people have- and over time I hope to get to them. I’ll do one more in keeping with this post. I mentioned above that Caesar Augustus did indeed take the title of ‘son of God’. And some critics of the Church say ‘see- there were all types of religions that had Sons of God’. I watched one show a few years back- and it stated that these religions had ’12 disciples- a leader named Lord and Savior- and he healed and claimed to be God’s Son- and rose from the dead’. Ok- that show was ‘fibbing’ to put it lightly- they went too far [historically speaking] in trying to diminish the Christians claim of Christ by doing this. Now- is there some truth to this at all? Yes- like I just mentioned above- Octavian did indeed claim deity- a ‘son of god’. So- how do we explain this? In the book of Galatians the bible says ‘in the FULLNESS of times God sent forth his Son’. Jesus came at a set time in history- in fulfilment of the Jewish Prophets- to be who he was- and to do what he did. Now- this is not special pleading here- but I find it a masterpiece that God’s Son came at a time when the Roman Empire had one sitting on the throne- who too claimed deity. Yet Jesus was in a region of the lower class- his men were not highly educated- and his followers were people under oppression. Augustus lived in the wealthy and influential capital of ‘the world’- he had all you could ever ask for- he was worshiped as a god. Yet in 3 short centuries- one of the heirs of the empire- Constantine- would have an experience – not with a former Caesar- but with a vison of a Cross- He would convert to Christianity- and declare Christianity to be the religion of the realm. He would then ‘convert’ the pagan temples- into churches for these followers of Christ. So I don’t see the fact that Augustus claimed to be a son of god right before Christ- as some type of discredit to the claims of Christ. No- I see it as God’s way of pulling the rug out from the oppressor- see? [Oh- by the way- only one of them rose from the dead- can you guess?]

[parts] [1740] THE UNEXAMINED LIFE IS NOT WORTH LIVING- PLATO.

I caught a show the other night on Link TV. It was a spin off from this famous Platonic quote- it was called ‘The examined life’.

They interviewed some of the most prominent philosophers of our day. Cornell West, Peter Singer- a few others [I think the name is Singer?] I found it interesting that Singer- who specializes in Ethics- tried to make the case that you really don’t need religion/God in order to do ethics- all you need is to work from the basic principle that says ‘try to treat others like you too want to be treated- and then you will have a foundation for morals’.

Now- I caught the contradiction right away- do you see it? Who is he quoting? This is the great moral principle- given to us by Jesus himself- called the Golden Rule.

This actual principle- in Theology [the study of God] we call Natural/Moral law. The Argument is based on the reality that all people [not animals- Singer- get to it in a moment] have within them this moral compass [Romans 1] and that this in itself is proof that there must be a higher moral being- a transcendent being- who has put it in man.

I just found it funny that Singer- who is supposed to be a prominent atheist/agnostic thinker- would fall flat on his face like this.

Singer advocates for legal Rights for animals- and has also argued that viability of the new born baby should determine its personhood- he says that we should be able to abort babies up until around the age of 1- because they can’t really survive on their own until that age.

Sad.

Okay- why do Philosophy- or Physics- or any other of a number of schools of thought? Because too often Christians abandon these fields- and then when someone from that field says ‘this is why we don’t need God’ we usually have no answer.

When we think about philosophy- most of us think about the 3 great big shots- Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. While it is true that these guys were the major guys at right around the 5th century B.C.- yet we actually date the beginning point to the early 6TH Century B.C. to a man by the name of Thales.

Thales accurately predicted a solar eclipse in the year 585 B.C. and he gained notoriety because of this. Thales was the first Greek thinker to grapple with the idea that there must be one reality that makes up all things.

He would argue that Water was this element- that contained being and Motion and life. Many of these pre Socratic thinkers were obsessed with the idea of motion- where did it come from?

Thales observed that streams and rivers- and all types of water sources flow- so to him this was a logical source of motion.

This idea- that only one element makes up all reality- is called Monism. Monism is not be confused with Monotheism- the belief in one God- Monism actually leads to another religious view- called Pantheism- the belief that God is everything- and everything is God.

This is not the historic Christian view.

Now- the pre Socratic guys- Parmenides, Zeno, Heraclitus- these guys would challenge Thales view that water was the main thing.

Some said ‘maybe it’s Air’ another said ‘Earth’ and some Fire. These 4 elements [Earth, Air [wind] Fire and Water- are the 4 basic elements of the early Greek philosophers.

We see these things in the naming of musical groups [Earth Wind and Fire] as well as the themes in movies [fantastic 4- based on 4 basic elements- powers].

Now- one of the thinkers said ‘wait- maybe the reality behind all things is not any one of these elements- maybe there is a 5th dimension [another musical name- and also the famous Bruce Willis flick- called the 5th Element] a Boundless being- outside of time and matter- maybe this 5ht element is the foundation for all things.

Of course this view would lead to the more developed view of God that Socrates and his followers would embrace- an early view of God- much like the later Christian view [absent the Trinity].

By the way- the view that 2 or more elements make up all reality is called Pluralism- not to be confused with religious Pluralism [that all religions lead to the same God]. The most common form of Pluralism is Dualism [2 realities equally true] but all non Monists who embrace more than one reality are Pluralists.

Okay- maybe a bit much with the 10 dollar words- but it might spark the interest of some.

The church has debated for centuries on whether or not Philosophy should be taught to Christians. One of the early church fathers- Tertullian- said no- his famous quote is ‘what does Jerusalem have to do with Athens’.

Meaning what does Philosophy have in common with Christianity [Athens- Greece was the seat of philosophy in Jesus’ day].

For the most part- the early church fathers would embrace the study of philosophy- and try to make arguments for the Christian faith by presenting Christianity as ‘thee’ philosophy that best answers the questions of man.

These early Christian thinkers are called Apologists- men like Justin Martyr are in this class.

Apologist is a word we use to describe those who defend the faith- it comes from the Apostle Peter’s letter in the N.T. where Peter says ‘give an answer to those who ask you about the faith’. In the Greek language- the original language the N.T. was written in- this phrase is talking about a defense- an ‘apology’ in the sense of ‘making the case’ not in the common sense of apologizing.

In the book of Acts- chapter 17- we read the famous sermon of the apostle Paul- given at Mars Hill. He was in Athens at the time- and he was debating with all the philosophers of the day. He tells them ‘as I was looking around town- I saw that one of your altars is addressed to The Unknown God’.

He would go on and declare unto them that this Jesus is the true God- the one raised from the dead.

Paul also said ‘in Him we live and MOVE and have our being’. Kind of a popular verse quoted by preacher’s today- but we often overlook the significance of the MOVE part.

I mean- why say we MOVE in him too? Paul was a smart guy- he knew these children of Socrates questioned where motion came from [Remember Thales?] So he was basically saying ‘I am declaring to you the one true reality- the true 5th Element- the missing God particle from your system’ and he went on and preached Christ- being raised from the dead.

Paul knew that you can’t really do true philosophy- to grapple with the questions of life and being and ‘motion’ without realizing that God is indeed the ultimate answer to all things.

Even Peter Singer- who claimed that you don’t need God or religion in order to do Ethics- even he unknowingly quoted Jesus in attempting to give a basis for his Philosophy- yes- he quoted a God- one unknown to him- just like the altar at Athens- but a God never the less.

An inescapable 5th element- the missing part to the whole puzzle.

VERSES- John 17:1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: John 17:2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. John 17:4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. John 17:6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. John 17:7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. John 17:8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. John 17:9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. John 17:10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. John 17:11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. John 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. John 17:13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. John 17:14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. John 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. John 17:16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. John 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. John 17:18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. John 17:19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. John 17:20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; John 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. John 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: John 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. John 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. John 17:25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. John 17:26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. 9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. 14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: Ephesians 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Ephesians 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. Tim. 3:16 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. 27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.

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Sunday sermon [R] 1-20-19

Mark 1

Sunday sermon 12-2-18

[parts]

If you remember we stopped at the 4th-5th century B.C. and we left off with Aristotle. Now- Aristotle [and Plato and Socrates] ruled the day for hundreds of years- most Western thinkers were shaped by their ideas.

 So for that reason- lets skip about 800 years forward- to the time of Saint Augustine. Augustine lived in the 4th/5th century [A.D.]. When studying Philosophy you will study this man. But you run into him in the fields of Theology and church history as well- he’s considered by many to be the ‘best’ theologian of the 1st thousand years of Christianity- and to some- the best ever.

 I have covered Augustine before- so let’s go light right now and hit a few high points.

 Augustine had early  influences that led him to the philosophy of ‘Neo Platonism’ [an offshoot of Plato’s thought] and he dabbled [well more than dabbled] in a sort of early metaphysical cult called Manichaeism [like a 3rd century type of Christian Science- the movement in our day].

 As Augustine carried out his traveling teaching ministry [he was a teacher who was skilled in Rhetoric- and these traveling teachers would charge for their services] he eventually converted to Christianity [the Catholic Bishop Ambrose played a major role in Augustine’s conversion] and became the Bishop of Hippo- North Africa.

 Augustine came to defend the Christian world view against his former belief in Neo Platonism. Platonism taught a Pantheistic view of God and creation. This view teaches that God and creation are one in the same. Many eastern religions still hold to this view in our day.

 Augustine argued that God was the creator of all things- but that he himself was not created- or a part of the created world.

 He developed a very sound theology on creation- which most Christian traditions hold to this very day.

 He had a few theological battles in his day. With Pelagianism and Donatism- these were early Christian movements that broke away from the standard teaching of the church- they derive their names form the Bishops/priests who espoused these ideas.

 Pelagius denied the doctrine of original sin- and he taught that men were indeed capable of obeying Gods law- out of their own moral integrity- and thus ‘save themselves’. Augustine rejected this view and taught that men were saved only by the grace of God- that men were indeed sinful and corrupt- and if left to their own designs would end up in hell.

 There were various adherents to Pelagius’ view- and his ideas have carried down thru the centuries to varying degrees- sometimes you will hear [read] the term ‘Semi- Pelagian’ this refers to those who have various ideas about man’s ability to save himself through good works.

 Some in the Reformed church [the original Protestant belief system that came out from the 16th century Reformation] accuse the Catholic Church of this very thing- yet the Catholic Church has made it clear that they do reject Pelagianism- and they agree with Augustine on the matter.

 The Donatists taught that the Sacraments were dependent upon the ‘holiness’ of the Priest who ministers them. That if you were in a Parish where the priests were bad- lived in sin- rejected a holy life- then if you were Baptized by these men- that the Baptism didn’t ‘stick’.

 The Donatists formed there own break away church in the 3rd century- and a few very influential men would join the group. A well respected early church father- Tertullian- eventually joined their ranks.

 Augustine argued against the Donatists teaching- and taught that Gods grace- and the grace given to believers thru the sacraments were not derived from the holiness of any priest or preacher- but if a believer in good conscience received the sacraments- that that’s what really counted.

 Saint Augustine is one of the titans of church history- he is loved by Protestants and Catholics alike. He is famous for his belief in the doctrine of Predestination [that those who are saved were chosen by God before they were born] and for this reason he is loved by the original protestant theologians [Luther, Calvin, etc.]

 He also taught a very ‘Catholic’ form of Ecclesiology [church govt.] and is well loved by many Catholics as well.

 The Catholic Church refers to him  as the Doctor of Grace- later on in the 13th century we will meet Saint Thomas Aquinas- who the church refers to as the Angelic Doctor.

 Both of these men played a major role in the development of western thought and Augustine made an effort to distinguish true Christian thought from the philosophy of Neo Platonism which was very strong in his day.

 When reading Augustine [he wrote a lot] you need to be careful to distinguish some of his earlier writings from his later ones.

 Early on you still see forms of Platonic thought in Augustine- but as the years rolled by his thinking progressed more and more towards historic Christian  thought.

 For those of you who are interested- the Confessions of Saint Augustine is considered one the classics of Christianity- you can pick up a short version at most good bookstores- it’s well worth the time to read.

[parts]

)1st CORINTHIANS INTRODUCTION- Out of all of Paul’s letters, this one is ‘the most verified’ as being his. Of course we know this because Paul says so in the letter! But for all those intellectual higher critics, this helps. Corinth was a city of great influence and trade, many land and sea routes converged at Corinth and her port. The city was also known for her philosophers and ‘preachers of wisdom’ [Rhetoric]. They actually had a custom at Corinth in which you could ‘hire’ your own ‘preacher of wisdom’. These were the traveling teachers who made a living at speaking. This also might be why Paul specifically said ‘when I was with you I did not take money from you’. The custom of the traveling preachers was you could pay a one time honorarium for a single speech, or you could actually hire a regular speaker and have him ‘on salary’. Paul did not want the Corinthians to think that he was their hired preacher! How much influence this type of trade would have on the later development of the ‘hired clergy’ is unknown, but the similarities are striking. The famous 5th century bishop of Hippo, North Africa, Saint Augustine, made his living as one of these traveling teachers of philosophy before becoming a Christian. It’s believed that Paul wrote a 3rd letter to the church at Corinth, so what we know as 1st, 2nd Corinthians might actually be letters 2 and 3. I personally think Corinthians holds special value for the church today. The 21st century believer is being challenged on her Ecclesiology, the whole idea of what the church is. In Corinthians we see a specific picture of what the church is and on how she should meet. Paul will not address ‘the Pastor’ [there was none in the modern sense of the office] but he will speak directly to the brothers at Corinth and give them some heavy responsibilities to carry out [like committing a brother to satan for the destruction of his flesh! Ouch]. Paul went to Corinth on his 2nd missionary journey and spent 18 months with them [Acts 18] one of the longest stays at any church. Because of the pagan background of the city Paul will address specific issues related to believers and certain practices of idol worship. Eating meat offered to idols and stuff like that. Corinth also practiced a form of idolatry that included prostitution, so he will deal severely with the loose sexual morals of the people at Corinth. Well we have a lot to cover in the next few weeks, try and read Corinthians on your own as we plunge into this study, it will help a lot.

[parts]

)1ST CORINTHIANS 10: 5 ‘But with many of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness’. As I just sat down and was debating on how much to cover, I felt the Lord wanted me to stop with this one verse. Let’s review a little. Does this experience of being ‘scattered in the wilderness’ define past experiences for you? [Or present!] Historically the church has always had to deal with wilderness times. St. John of the Cross called this ‘the dark night of the soul’. After Mother Theresa’s death we found out that she struggled with doubt many times thru out her life. The historic church has been ‘scattered in the wilderness’ over truly insignificant stuff. I find it ridiculous that one of the main reasons the western [Catholic] and eastern [Orthodox] churches split in 1054 a.d. was over the silly distinction of whether the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father [the historic creed] or the ‘father and the Son’. This is considered the official cause of the split, though there were many other factors as well. In a day or so we will cover a verse that says ‘God is the head of Christ’. I had a friend that used to point out the fact that many Baptists would refer to ‘God and Jesus and the Spirit’ he would think this was in error because they would leave out ‘the Father’. To be honest he was consistent with Trinitarian thinking [I am one by the way!] If the ‘sole’ definition of God in the New testament were ‘3 separate persons who equally posses the Divine attributes’. Then the phrase ‘God is the head of Jesus’ would not make sense. It would be like saying ‘God [Father, Jesus and Holy spirit] are all the head of Jesus’. What am I saying here? Basically the historic church came to certain ways of framing the argument that were limited in their application. Does the New testament teach the Trinity? Yes. Does the word ‘God’ primarily refer to ‘the father’ in its language? To be honest, it does. Though the reality of the Trinity is there, yet the normative language of ‘God’ is referring to ‘the Father’. So my Baptist buddy was right in seeing a contradiction when Baptists said ‘God, Jesus and the Spirit’. If they were true to all the historic language, then they should have said ‘the father’ not ‘God’. Because ‘God’ would be the all encompassing language of ‘3 distinct persons who all posses the divine attributes’. But in fact, my friend was wrong. Why? Because the language of scripture mostly means ‘God the Father’ when simply saying ‘God’. Now why go into all this? Because the historic church has been divided over the language used. Arian, the Catholic Bishop/Priest, said that Jesus is ‘not God’. That ‘God the Father is God’. He was rightfully condemned, and the Trinitarian language would prevail. The problem is some of the language of the creeds and councils that would follow were not totally accurate. Some of the Creeds would say ‘Jesus was eternally begotten [always begotten]’ this statement was for the purpose of refuting those who said ‘Jesus had a beginning’ [Arianism]. Now, did Jesus ‘have a beginning’? John’s gospel says Jesus was with the father from the beginning, and that ‘the Word was with God, and was God’. Jesus had no beginning! But, does this mean he was ‘eternally begotten’? No. He was begotten by Mary 2 thousand years ago. Begotten refers to the incarnation, not the preexisting Son who was with the father from all eternity. So the well intended phrase ‘eternally begotten’ was wrong. Why even discuss this? Because most of Christian Orthodoxy would still condemn certain aspects of the Syrian and Ethiopian churches over this. We at times are ‘scattered in the wilderness’ and our ‘bodies’ [denominations, divisions in Christendom] are a sad representation to the world. [NOTE- I want to restate what I have said in the past. I believe in the Trinity. But I also want you to see how other Christian perspectives have viewed these things in the past. There are large groups of ‘historic churches’ [not Gnostics and stuff like that, the so called ‘lost Christianities’] who lean towards Arianism. Most of the invading barbarians who sacked the Western Roman empire were converted to this ‘brand’ of Christianity. So while I hold to the historic orthodox view, I wanted you to see that we too have been inconsistent at times].

[parts]

2ND CORINTHIANS 4- In chapter 3 Paul said we are beholding/seeing God in an open way as compared to the old covenant. In this chapter he shows us how we ‘see God’. We see him in his Son. God has chosen to reveal himself to us thru his Son. One of the first Christian councils [after the one at Jerusalem in Acts 15!] was held in the 4th century under the Roman emperor Constantine. The reason was to bring unity to the church on the issue of Christ’s divinity. These councils played political roles as well as theological. After Constantine became emperor he established the great city in the eastern empire called Constantinople. This city [named after him] became both the theological and political seat in the eastern half of the empire. So you had both a religious and political competition going on in the empire. Rome, situated in the west, was feeling like she would lose her position if the eastern half started gaining too much influence. So you had differing reasons for these councils. But you also had sincere men who held to various beliefs at the time. The bishop Arius came to teach that Jesus was the Son of God, but not God himself. This created a stir in the empire and Constantine called a council to settle the question. The debates went forth, both views were discussed and classic Orthodoxy came down on the side of Jesus being God. Now, there would be more councils dealing with Gods nature and Christ’s role, but this was a defining moment in Christian history. The church [and the scriptures] teach that God became man [incarnation] and thru Jesus we ‘see God’. Paul also relates the many sufferings and trials he was going thru. He says he tastes death and bears in his body the death of Jesus. He simply does not give a picture of the Christian life that is common in today’s world. Many believers are taught that these types of difficulties and sufferings are a result of their lack of faith, or their inability to rightfully ‘access their covenant rights’. Paul refutes this doctrine strongly. Paul has already mentioned those who ‘peddle Gods word’ or who twist the scriptures for their own benefit. It always amazes me to see well meaning believers/teachers go thru the entire corpus of the New Testament and never see these things. It’s so easy for preachers/teachers to read the scriptures with blinders on. Here Paul taught that the many sufferings [both physical and spiritual] were an honorable thing, they were his way of sharing in the sufferings and death of Christ. They were ‘death in him, but life in you’ he saw his difficulties thru a redemptive lens. He says the present sufferings are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us. The first verse of this chapter says seeing we have received this great ministry, we don’t faint. I like Eugene Petersons Message version, he says ‘just because times get hard, we don’t throw up our hands and walk off the job’ I like that.

[parts]

   VERSES [These are the verses I either quoted or taught from on today’s post]

Hebrews 1:1

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

Revelation 3:12

Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

Revelation 21:2

And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

1 Corinthians 2:11

For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

 3 Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:

4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

Prvb. 24

 2 Corinthians 4:4

In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

 Hebrews 8:6

But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

 2 Peter 1:4

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

 John 14:12 [Full Chapter]

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

 Colossians 2:5

For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ.

In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations

 January 20 2019

 « January 19  |  January 21 »

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 66

Reading 1

IS 62:1-5

For Zion's sake I will not be silent, for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet, until her vindication shines forth like the dawn and her victory like a burning torch. Nations shall behold your vindication, and all the kings your glory; you shall be called by a new name pronounced by the mouth of the LORD. You shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the LORD, a royal diadem held by your God. No more shall people call you "Forsaken, " or your land "Desolate, " but you shall be called "My Delight, " and your land "Espoused." For the LORD delights in you and makes your land his spouse. As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall your God rejoice in you.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 96:1-2, 2-3, 7-8, 9-10

 R. (3) Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations. Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all you lands. Sing to the LORD; bless his name. R. Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations. Announce his salvation, day after day. Tell his glory among the nations;  among all peoples, his wondrous deeds. R. Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations. Give to the LORD, you families of nations, give to the LORD glory and praise;  give to the LORD the glory due his name!  R. Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations. Worship the LORD in holy attire. Tremble before him, all the earth; Say among the nations: The LORD is king. He governs the peoples with equity. R. Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.

Reading 2

1 COR 12:4-11

Brothers and sisters: There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit;  there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit. To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom; to another, the expression of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another, faith by the same Spirit; to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit; to another, mighty deeds; to another, prophecy; to another, discernment of spirits; to another, varieties of tongues; to another, interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person as he wishes.

Alleluia 

CF. 2 THES 2:14

R. Alleluia, alleluia. God has called us through the Gospel to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

JN 2:1-11

There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servers, "Do whatever he tells you." Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told the them, "Fill the jars with water." So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, "Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter." So they took it.  And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from — although the servers who had drawn the water knew —, the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, "Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now." Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

 When Jesus heard what had happened, He withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed Him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them and healed their sick.

 As evening approached, the disciples came to Him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

 Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.

 “Bring them here to Me,” He said.

 And He directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, He gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

 Matthew 14:13-21

 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to Him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, He said to them, “Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So He began teaching them many things.

 By this time it was late in the day, so His disciples came to Him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”

 But He answered, “You give them something to eat.”

 They said to Him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”

 “How many loaves do you have?” He asked. “Go and see.”

 When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”

 Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, He gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then He gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.

 Mark 6:29-44

 When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then He took them with Him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, but the crowds learned about it and followed Him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.

 Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to Him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.”

 He replied, “You give them something to eat.”

 They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” (About five thousand men were there.)

 But He said to His disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” The disciples did so, and everyone sat down. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, He gave thanks and broke them. Then He gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

 Luke 9:10-17

 Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed Him because they saw the signs He had performed by healing the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Festival was near.

 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for He already had in mind what He was going to do.

 Philip answered Him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

 Another of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

 When they had all had enough to eat, He said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

 After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make Him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by Himself.

 John 6:1-15

 This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Out of all the miracles Jesus performed, only two are described in all four Gospels.

 One is Jesus; resurrection and the other is His feeding of the five thousand, the miracle at the heart of today’s devotion. Through His powerful, amazing provision of sustenance for so many from so little, we are reminded that we serve a Savior who routinely makes the improbable probable.

 As we look at this significant event in the course of Jesus’ earthly ministry, it’s important to consider all four Gospel accounts as each writer shares something a little different from their peers. Summing up the parts, we get a much fuller view of what happened on that momentous day.

 It all started with Jesus’ disciples returning to him after being dispatched for ministry work. Much had happened on their respective journeys and they were anxious to share it all with their Master. The hope was that they would have dedicated, uninterrupted quality time with Him but as we see, that didn’t happen for there were people coming and going all around them. Jesus suggested they all go to a solitary place where they could rest and so they got in a boat and set out for Bethsaida, a town on the northern shores of the Sea of Galilee. It was a good idea but it didn’t quite work out as planned.

 This is because the scriptures tell us that the crowds who were following Jesus got wind of where He and His disciples were going and followed them there. They had witnessed the miracles He had performed and were hungry for more.

 So when Jesus arrived, there was a crowd of people waiting for Him. You might have thought this would have disappointed Him but you would be wrong. For we read where Jesus had compassion for the people because He saw them as “sheep without a shepherd”. And so He went ashore and took the time to do what He normally did, teaching about the kingdom of God and healing the sick.

 Well, as the day wore on toward evening, we find the disciples growing concerned for the crowd was very large and would need feeding but they were in a remote area. As the disciples come to Jesus for an answer, He simply gives them a command saying:

 “You give them something to eat.”

 The scriptures tell us that Jesus already knew what He was going to do but He wanted to test His disciples who as we see, tried to come up with a worldly solution as they responded:

 “That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”

 Rather than do that, their recommendation was to let the people go into the surrounding villages to not only find food but lodging as well. After hearing their idea, Jesus asked them:

 “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.”

 Their search didn’t render much. Andrew, Peter’s brother, found a boy with five small barley loaves and two fish which by conventional means was not anywhere near enough to feed those present, a number which numbered 5,000 men alone. Adding women and children to this total made the number of people far greater and only amplifies the miracle Jesus was to perform.

 For Jesus next had His disciples seat all present on the ground in groups of fifty each. He then took the five loaves and two fish, looked up to heaven, and gave thanks before breaking the loaves. The bread was then distributed to the people before Jesus repeated the process with the fish. When the meal was over, all had been fed and were satisfied, AND there were leftovers, twelve baskets full of leftovers.

 You see, Jesus had provided an abundant blessing from just those five loaves and two fish. He didn’t just give the people what they needed but gave them far more than they could have imagined.

 Friends, this is what Jesus continues to do today. He comes to us in our time of need and meets that need, no matter how improbable our circumstances might be, not just giving us the bare minimum but rather lavishing an abundance of His goodness and provision upon us. My prayer is that this miracle feeding, significant enough to be documented by all four Gospel writers, will take a place of significance in your life, buoying you up in hope and faith when life’s challenges come your way.

 With Jesus, all things are possible.

 Amen.   In Christ, Mark PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com