Jesus said, "Remove the stone." Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days."
Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" (John 11:39-40 NASV).
In my daily Bible reading I am currently reading through John's gospel. Today I was reading through the 11th chapter about the death and resurrection of Lazarus. I emphasized a portion of verse 40. The thought came to mind after reading those words, "The conventional wisdom is, 'seeing is believing.' Jesus says, ' Believe and you will see.'"
I am not sure how far to go with that but the gospels do record that Jesus could not do many miracles in His home town because of their lack of belief. Perhaps it is true that our lack of blessings are due to our lack of faith. Something to think about if we are to pray audaciously.
Our Father's Love,
Tom
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Thursday, November 13, 2014
KEEP HELL IN PERSPECTIVE
If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell (Matthew 5:29-30 NASV).
Hell is a serious, sobering subject, so much so that Jesus said it is worth any sacrifice to stay out of it. Still, there are those who refuse to take it seriously and use it as a common swear word in every-day language.
There are many theological positions taken on the subject of hell, and whatever position one takes will not change the reality of what actually is. Jesus said there is a hell. One has in this life the opportunity to decide his eternal destiny, there are no second chances.
Distilled to the essence, the different teachings about hell can be summed up in two doctrines. One is that disbelieving, unrepentant sinners will spend eternity in unrelenting torment, or, number two, disbelieving unrepentant sinners will be annihilated in God's consuming fire. Both punishments are eternal, but that is about all upon which the two sides can agree while each side accuses the other of false teaching and heresy.
I must reiterate, what ever position one takes will not change the reality of what is. If it is possible, I take a middle position. I know credible scholars on both sides of the subject that I trust. It seems to me, however, that those who are invested in eternal torment think that fear of punishment will bring people to salvation more so than a loving God who gave His only begotten Son for us. Though fear is a motivating factor for some, there are many more who are drawn by the love of God.
The day is coming when we will stand before the Creator of the universe and the One who loves us so much that He paid the price of our redemption. What fools we would be if we threw away the eternal hope that we have in Him for the temporary pleasures of the flesh. Earthly pleasures rather than eternity with God, our Creator, Redeemer and Friend--how stupid!
Hell will serve its purpose, do not make it more important than relationship with the One who truly loves us!
Our Father's Love,
Tom
If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell (Matthew 5:29-30 NASV).
Hell is a serious, sobering subject, so much so that Jesus said it is worth any sacrifice to stay out of it. Still, there are those who refuse to take it seriously and use it as a common swear word in every-day language.
There are many theological positions taken on the subject of hell, and whatever position one takes will not change the reality of what actually is. Jesus said there is a hell. One has in this life the opportunity to decide his eternal destiny, there are no second chances.
Distilled to the essence, the different teachings about hell can be summed up in two doctrines. One is that disbelieving, unrepentant sinners will spend eternity in unrelenting torment, or, number two, disbelieving unrepentant sinners will be annihilated in God's consuming fire. Both punishments are eternal, but that is about all upon which the two sides can agree while each side accuses the other of false teaching and heresy.
I must reiterate, what ever position one takes will not change the reality of what is. If it is possible, I take a middle position. I know credible scholars on both sides of the subject that I trust. It seems to me, however, that those who are invested in eternal torment think that fear of punishment will bring people to salvation more so than a loving God who gave His only begotten Son for us. Though fear is a motivating factor for some, there are many more who are drawn by the love of God.
The day is coming when we will stand before the Creator of the universe and the One who loves us so much that He paid the price of our redemption. What fools we would be if we threw away the eternal hope that we have in Him for the temporary pleasures of the flesh. Earthly pleasures rather than eternity with God, our Creator, Redeemer and Friend--how stupid!
Hell will serve its purpose, do not make it more important than relationship with the One who truly loves us!
Our Father's Love,
Tom
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
JESUS IS GOD
God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, "I AM has sent me to you." (Exodus 3:14 NASV).
Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am." (John 8:58 NASV).
The Septuagint is a translation of the Hebrew Old Testament Scriptures into Greek. At the time of the translation, three to two hundred B. C. Greek was generally the business language of the world; many of the Jews in the dispersion were losing the Hebrew language. Seventy scholars in Alexandria were commissioned to do the translation. Because of the dating, they certainly could not be accused of being Christian. This is important to the translation and interpretation of John 8:58.
Islamists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons and others cannot accept the fact that Jesus claimed Divinity. They claim that Christian translators are perpetrating a fraud. The problem for them is that the Septuagint translators translated the Hebrew into Greek in the same way that is written in the New Testament Greek Scriptures. Even though Jesus might* have spoken it in Aramaic, John, the apostle, understood it and wrote it in the same Greek as Exodus 3:14. Jesus quoted that Scripture.
Jesus is the eternal present.He did not say, "Before Abraham was, I was." Rather, the original grammar is in the present tense, "I am." Jesus quoted Exodus 3:14 as the Septuagint renders it; He did claim to be God! God has become flesh! He is our merciful High Priest! No one understands you like Jesus!
Our Father's Love,
Tom
*I'm pretty sure that for the most part, Jesus did speak Aramaic. However, Jesus lived in a multi-lingual culture. Jesus was raised in a village not far from a trade route on which the caravans traveled. I'm pretty sure that he was conversant in several languages, but Greek was the business language of the world and many, many people spoke it.
Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am." (John 8:58 NASV).
The Septuagint is a translation of the Hebrew Old Testament Scriptures into Greek. At the time of the translation, three to two hundred B. C. Greek was generally the business language of the world; many of the Jews in the dispersion were losing the Hebrew language. Seventy scholars in Alexandria were commissioned to do the translation. Because of the dating, they certainly could not be accused of being Christian. This is important to the translation and interpretation of John 8:58.
Islamists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons and others cannot accept the fact that Jesus claimed Divinity. They claim that Christian translators are perpetrating a fraud. The problem for them is that the Septuagint translators translated the Hebrew into Greek in the same way that is written in the New Testament Greek Scriptures. Even though Jesus might* have spoken it in Aramaic, John, the apostle, understood it and wrote it in the same Greek as Exodus 3:14. Jesus quoted that Scripture.
Jesus is the eternal present.He did not say, "Before Abraham was, I was." Rather, the original grammar is in the present tense, "I am." Jesus quoted Exodus 3:14 as the Septuagint renders it; He did claim to be God! God has become flesh! He is our merciful High Priest! No one understands you like Jesus!
Our Father's Love,
Tom
*I'm pretty sure that for the most part, Jesus did speak Aramaic. However, Jesus lived in a multi-lingual culture. Jesus was raised in a village not far from a trade route on which the caravans traveled. I'm pretty sure that he was conversant in several languages, but Greek was the business language of the world and many, many people spoke it.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
AN OVER-LOOKED REASON TO BE THANKFUL
Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?
When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, "Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!" (Luke 15:8-9).
I am writing this so that we can rejoice together. Sometimes I write a "bullet" just to record a significant event in my life, that is what this is about.
This past week end, Helen & I drove three and a half hours to pick up three of our grand children, Faith, Deacon and Parker, to spend the weekend with us. It was a very busy weekend as we also had the Harvest Festival to help with at church. We had a super, great time. When it was time to take the kids home I was in a hurry and left my billfold on the self-service gas pump in Sutherland. We were two hours on the road before I realized my forgetfulness.
These days it is dangerous to leave too much of one's identity out there for just anyone to pick up. I wasn't worried about the cash--I never carry very much, but it is the credit cards and driver's license that were troubling. Still, I wasn't too worried. Sutherland is mostly a community of honest people. The man who returned the billfold to me was one of those honest people. He told me that when he saw the billfold laying there he wondered, "Is this a test? Where is the camera?" We had a good laugh about that! It is such a blessing to live in a community where people are people of integrity and can be trusted.
If you live in such a community, thank God! I certainly was saved a lot of grief by one man's honesty and, to make a long explanation short, came by that honesty because of Jesus Christ.
Our Father's Love,
Tom
*Thanks, Mike K.
When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, "Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!" (Luke 15:8-9).
I am writing this so that we can rejoice together. Sometimes I write a "bullet" just to record a significant event in my life, that is what this is about.
This past week end, Helen & I drove three and a half hours to pick up three of our grand children, Faith, Deacon and Parker, to spend the weekend with us. It was a very busy weekend as we also had the Harvest Festival to help with at church. We had a super, great time. When it was time to take the kids home I was in a hurry and left my billfold on the self-service gas pump in Sutherland. We were two hours on the road before I realized my forgetfulness.
These days it is dangerous to leave too much of one's identity out there for just anyone to pick up. I wasn't worried about the cash--I never carry very much, but it is the credit cards and driver's license that were troubling. Still, I wasn't too worried. Sutherland is mostly a community of honest people. The man who returned the billfold to me was one of those honest people. He told me that when he saw the billfold laying there he wondered, "Is this a test? Where is the camera?" We had a good laugh about that! It is such a blessing to live in a community where people are people of integrity and can be trusted.
If you live in such a community, thank God! I certainly was saved a lot of grief by one man's honesty and, to make a long explanation short, came by that honesty because of Jesus Christ.
Our Father's Love,
Tom
*Thanks, Mike K.
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