Hamas attacked Israel. Many people will immediately wonder if this is the beginning of the end of the world. Can The End Times be forced? Jesus said we can’t know when. But can we force God to start fulfilling the prophecies about The End Times? Seven years ago, I wrote “Are Muslim and Christian “jihadists” […]
Hamas attacked Israel – can the End Times be forced? More
Why write about Tanakh in a Christian site? We have to remember that Jesus came as a Jew. Ministered to Jewish people. And the authors of most of the books in our Bible were Jewish. Not to mention, “our” Old Testament is Jewish Scripture – Tanakh. Therefore, we cannot fully understand what our own Scripture said without also understanding its roots.
What a tangled web we weave when we’re double-hearted. It happens a lot. We want one thing. We know we should want another thing. It’s like those old commercials where there’s an angel on someone’s shoulder. And a devil on the other shoulder. Both tell us what to do. We’d like to get the angel to tell us that what the devil said is OK.
And in the commercial – that can happen. Like with chocolate milk. Unfortunately, in real life – as in a good versus evil scenario – that’s just not going to happen. Why not? Because those aren’t the real life choices.
What a tangled web we weave when we try to deceive God – Part 1 More
Seriously – the Bible warns about high interest rates and subprime loans? How can that be? There weren’t any Wall Street banks or investment companies. If Wall Street even existed, it would maybe have been the path along the Wailing Wall along the west side of the temple.
Interest rates, subprime loans, and warnings from the Bible More
Which god provides salvation for us? Different people have different “gods” or deities. Even those who claim to have no “god” have one – maybe they view themselves as “the deity” of their own world. From there, we should recognize that outside of people who believe this life is “all there is” – we want something from our deity. One of those things we want from our “god” is “salvation” – we want that “god” to save us from something.
Which god provides salvation for us? More
I doubt that a huge number of people today would refer to Christianity as counter-cultural. In fact, being in what’s called a post-Christian era, more people are likely to view Christianity as the old way – much like young people don’t use email, Facebook, and countless other “old” technologies.
The question is – why not? Christianity should be very much a counter-culture. The fact that it isn’t, I believe, is more related to how Christianity is practiced than it is to what Christianity is really about. I’m talking about the Christianity of Jesus – not the Christianity of man. Not the European model, where people are more into following The Force, as in Star Wars, or being a “none”. And not the Christianity of America, where the so-called prosperity Gospel seems to have more followers than anything close to what Jesus actually spoke about.
So as you read this, think about Jesus’ words in that counter-culture way. Maybe it’s not what you’re used to hearing. But they are, after all, His words. They aren’t the watered down or misinformed words that are spoken or written about by people who don’t even follow Jesus’ teaching themselves. Think the “yeast of the Pharisees” here.
The Sermon On The Mount – Introduction More
Think about things like that when you can. Remember that the corporations are made up of people. At the top. And at the bottom. And really, the church is also made up of people. So when it comes to the question of religion and Wall Street pay – the simple truth is that we – people – are on both sides of that question.
What does religion have to do with Wall Street pay? More
The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. It’s a pretty common saying. It’s most likely to be used when something bad happens. Like it’s supposed to make people feel better. And it might actually accomplish that goal – if it was told correctly. It’s like the old thing about the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So here’s the truth about the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. It’s true. However, it’s not the whole truth. Therefore, it isn’t actually “nothing but the truth”.
The Lord gives and The Lord takes away More
Lord, you have been our dwelling place. Moses wrote that in Psalm 90. It’s from the very first verse.
Ps 90:1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.
But wait. This is part 2 of a series about “The End”. Why are we looking at the beginning? Well, it’s because what happens at the end is very much dependent on the beginning and the middle. And on one other thing. Honesty.
Lord, you have been our dwelling place More
So which one is it? Was Jesus telling Peter the rooster was going to crow once, or twice? Does it matter?
Well, yes it does matter. You don’t want to give someone a “free pass” to say there’s a discrepancy between the Gospels, and therefore there is an error in the Bible. There should be at least an attempt to see why this apparent discrepancy might exist.
However, first and foremost we need to see if it’s really even different. Conclusions are no better than the assumptions upon which they’re based. So, we really cannot just assume the verses disagree without verifying it.
Before the rooster crows, but was it once or twice? More
