Friday, April 8, 2011
Follow Me!
Let My People Go! The Early Christians met in fear of their lives but they knew following Christ was worth it. They knew that if they were found out that they would be killed for their commitment to the way, yet they met in hope of hearing the Word of God and having fellowship with other believers that were sold out to follow Christ. Christians in the first Century hung a sign over the door to signify the gathering places for those seeking safe passage and desiring at the risk of death to hear Gods Words. Today that emblem (Fish) is plastered on the back of every preppy SUV in the commuter lane. It no longer signifies the entrance to safe passage but has become an Icon for the Blessed achiever who has found a way to secure the American dream while still claiming to follow Christ. The Believer that sits back and guesses what would Jesus Do? Instead of claiming what it is Jesus actually said. Luke 9:57-62 Jesus Could call anyone of us to leave it all Luke 14:25-26 and to follow Him ? Mark 10:17-22 Follow Him Where ? Matthew 28:19 says to: " Go therefore and make disciples of all nations." There are still Pharaoh's holding God's people in bondage and yes God is still sending his messengers to give that message of deliverance. There are still Christians dieing for their faith while we sport all the "Not of this World tee shirts, Fish empblems and praying baby bumper stickers.Perhaps the only honest measure of the recklessness of my confidence in Christ is my readiness to die for what I believe. But, even greater yet perhaps a greater test of my faith in Him is not only my willingness to die for Jesus and the furtherance of the gospel but to live for him without the safety net of self-dependeption one-day at a time. Romans 8:13 our lord gives us a warning worth hearing "For if we live according to the flesh you will die;but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of he body you will be saved. " In His Service Pastor Fred
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Those who have Ears
The effective teaching of Gods word translates our theology our doctrine and our faith into our walk, our witness and our lives. Effectively taught by Gods word Kings become servants and servants become Kings.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
To Know God
"And this is eternal life that they may know You , the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" John 17:3
If a house is built for prayer , no man must expect a blessing who neglects to tread its floor.
If a pulpit is erected for the ministry of the word, No man must expect (although we do sometimes get more than we expect) to be saved except by the hearing of the word.
If the bible is printed in our own native language, and we can read it, he who neglects the Holy Scripture and ceases from its study has lost one great and grand opportunity of being blessed.
You may hear sermons from a man whom God delights to honor. You may read the writtings of a man whom God has blessed with a double portion of His Holy Spirit; You many attend every prayer meeting, or turn over every page of the blessed book But, in all this, there is not life for the soul apart from the breath of the divine Spirit.
Use these means , we exhort you to use them and use them dilegently but, remember none of these means are of any benifit to you unless God the Holy Spirit will own and crown them.
"Spurgeon the Holy Spirit"
How this speaks to my heart , there is no purpose in an empty chruch. A chruch filled with people yet devoid of the Holy Spirit. There is no purpose in erecting a pulpit that expounds wise words less the Spirit of God which gives them life. Ten thousand people may only yeild one whose eyes and ears have been opened to see and hear the Word of God as the Spriit of God has gifted. But, there must be those who seek the Spirit of God whose desires cannot be quenched by shallow self-ambitions and who sense the empty rooms.
If a house is built for prayer , no man must expect a blessing who neglects to tread its floor.
If a pulpit is erected for the ministry of the word, No man must expect (although we do sometimes get more than we expect) to be saved except by the hearing of the word.
If the bible is printed in our own native language, and we can read it, he who neglects the Holy Scripture and ceases from its study has lost one great and grand opportunity of being blessed.
You may hear sermons from a man whom God delights to honor. You may read the writtings of a man whom God has blessed with a double portion of His Holy Spirit; You many attend every prayer meeting, or turn over every page of the blessed book But, in all this, there is not life for the soul apart from the breath of the divine Spirit.
Use these means , we exhort you to use them and use them dilegently but, remember none of these means are of any benifit to you unless God the Holy Spirit will own and crown them.
"Spurgeon the Holy Spirit"
How this speaks to my heart , there is no purpose in an empty chruch. A chruch filled with people yet devoid of the Holy Spirit. There is no purpose in erecting a pulpit that expounds wise words less the Spirit of God which gives them life. Ten thousand people may only yeild one whose eyes and ears have been opened to see and hear the Word of God as the Spriit of God has gifted. But, there must be those who seek the Spirit of God whose desires cannot be quenched by shallow self-ambitions and who sense the empty rooms.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Was the Robe Placed on Jesus Scarlet or Purple?
Recently I was asked "Was the Robe Placed on Jesus scarlet or Purple? and why is there so much contraversy between the Gospel accords regarding this. I found this artical written in Apologetics press that was very articulate in covering the subject matter so I am quoting it here and refrences are given.
Apologetics press
Http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/559
Was the robe Placed on Jesus Scarlet or Purple?
By Eric Lyons, M. Min
After being flogged with a dreadful Roman scourge, Jesus was taken by Pilate's soldiers into the governor's headquarters where the whole garrison gathered around Him. It was here that the soldiers placed a crown of thorns on His head, a reed in His hand , and a robe on his body. Skeptics maintain that a contradictions exists between the Gospel accounts because they describe the color of the robe differently. Whereas Matthew says that the soldiers "put a scarlet robe" on Jesus (27:27-28), Mark says that "they clothed Him in purple" (15:16-17), and John states that the soldiers put "a purple robe" on Him (19:1-2). These differences have lead some to believe and advocate that the Gospel writers wrote under their own power with no help from a Higher being , and thus they contradicted one another in their narratives. Because increasingly more people are swallowing such allegations blindly and rejecting the inerrantcy of the Scriptures, logical answers are required. The question is do such valid answers exist for the differences in the Gospel narratives concerning the robe placed upon Jesus after his scourging?
All would agree that we oftentimes see colors a little differently. What one person calls blue, some one else may be more specific and call navy blue. a die-hard football fan may render to his team's color as dark red, whereas someone else who sees the teams faded uniforms for the first time at the end of a grueling season may conclude that the teams color is more maroon. While coloring pictures for their parents, one child may color an orange-yellow Sun, while the other draws a Sun that is bright yellow. Surely no one would accuse these individuals of lying or being deceitful because on was more specific than another. Like wise skeptics have no solid grounds on which to stand when they disregard common sense and create biblical contradictions that do not exist. The simple face is , Matthew, mark, Luke and John wrote from different perspectives; they did not participate in collusion. The same way that individuals today look at colors and see different tones, shades, and tints, the Gospel writers saw the activities surrounding the life of Jesus from different angles.
The garment placed upon Jesus after his brutal scourging likely was similar to the faded football uniforms mentioned above, but in His case we read of "a scarlet robe..faded to resemble purple" (The Wycliffe Bible Commentary). [It is difficult to imagine Pilate arraying Jesus' bloody body with a new robe. More likely it was one that had been worn and cast off as useless 9Barnes). According to A.T. Roberson, there were various shades of purple and scarlet in the first century and it was not easy to distinguish the colors or tints (1997) . In fact, the ancients (especially the Romans) used the term purple when speaking of various shades of red (Mcgarvey, 1875, p. 361;Barnes, 1997). Consequently, these different colors sometimes would be called by the same name.
AS one can see there is no discrepancy in the Gospel narratives concerning the color of the robe Jesus wore. Just like other of their day, the Gospel writers simply used the terms scarlet and purple interchangeably.
Barnes, Albert (1997), Barnes' Notes (Electronic Database: Biblesoft).
McGarvey, J.W. (1875) Commentary on Matthew and Mark (Delight AR: Gospel Light).
Robertson, A.T. (1997) Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament (Electronic Database: Biblesoft).
The wycliffe Bible Commentary (1985), Electronic Data base: Biblesoft.
Although many different people from many diverse backgrounds wrote the books fo the Bible in very diffrent styles, in many diffrent places, over a long period of time, the bible really has only one author - God. Since, God is perfect, Holy and true, there are no real contradictions in His Word, even if it looks like it a first glance. So we have to look a little deeper. We can rest assure that if the Bible is truly from god, and if God is a God of truth (as we know Him to be), then if two parts of his word seem to be in opposition or in contradiction to each other, our interpretation of one or both of these parts must be in error. In many cases context, audiance, persepctive, and culture often brings clearity.
I am reminded of the Samaritan woman who came to the well upon meeting Jesus she was shocked that He would ask her for a drink of water. Jesus said to her " If you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you "Give Me a drink you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water". Later on Jesus askes her to Go, call her husband and the woman says she has no husband and Jesus calls her on having five husbands and the one whom she was with is not her husband either. She is amazed that Jesus knows her life but, she quickly changes the subject to our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship. In other words lets not talk about me and you. Lets talk about religion and third party facts. "Jesus said to her, Woman believe me, the hour is comng when you will neither on this mountian, nor in Jerusalem worship the Father. "You worship what yo do not know;we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. [V:24] God is Spirit and those who whorship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
The things of the flesh cannot comprehend the things of the Spirit. We must seek Him in Spirit and in truth... We must ask ourselves if we are truly seeking truth and are we doing it in the Spirit of the Lord. Most often confusion is easier then truth because confusion allows us to continue our lifestyle of choice and has no requirments and demands nothing of us. Truth demands a choice. Love demands a choice and it demands truthfulness.
The woman at the well said "I know that Messiah is coming (who is called Christ). When He comes He will tell us all things."
Jesus said to her, "I AM HE!" The color of the the Robe dosen't change that - She knew enough to make a choice. You may not understand all thing but perhaps you know enough to make a choice. You will never understand the things of the Spirit unless you seek in the Spirit.
Don't miss the Messiah because your stumbled on the Color of his Robe or any other minute detail that you may be stumbling on. Don't let your lack of ability to completley understand every single detail keep you from accepting Gods love and the other 99% of the bible. When I think about the creator of the Universe writting me a letter I'm not amazed that sometimes it takes me a little while to understand all that he is saying to me. But I know He loves and I'm going to keep reading that Love letter knowing he loves me until I understand.
Apologetics press
Http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/559
Was the robe Placed on Jesus Scarlet or Purple?
By Eric Lyons, M. Min
After being flogged with a dreadful Roman scourge, Jesus was taken by Pilate's soldiers into the governor's headquarters where the whole garrison gathered around Him. It was here that the soldiers placed a crown of thorns on His head, a reed in His hand , and a robe on his body. Skeptics maintain that a contradictions exists between the Gospel accounts because they describe the color of the robe differently. Whereas Matthew says that the soldiers "put a scarlet robe" on Jesus (27:27-28), Mark says that "they clothed Him in purple" (15:16-17), and John states that the soldiers put "a purple robe" on Him (19:1-2). These differences have lead some to believe and advocate that the Gospel writers wrote under their own power with no help from a Higher being , and thus they contradicted one another in their narratives. Because increasingly more people are swallowing such allegations blindly and rejecting the inerrantcy of the Scriptures, logical answers are required. The question is do such valid answers exist for the differences in the Gospel narratives concerning the robe placed upon Jesus after his scourging?
All would agree that we oftentimes see colors a little differently. What one person calls blue, some one else may be more specific and call navy blue. a die-hard football fan may render to his team's color as dark red, whereas someone else who sees the teams faded uniforms for the first time at the end of a grueling season may conclude that the teams color is more maroon. While coloring pictures for their parents, one child may color an orange-yellow Sun, while the other draws a Sun that is bright yellow. Surely no one would accuse these individuals of lying or being deceitful because on was more specific than another. Like wise skeptics have no solid grounds on which to stand when they disregard common sense and create biblical contradictions that do not exist. The simple face is , Matthew, mark, Luke and John wrote from different perspectives; they did not participate in collusion. The same way that individuals today look at colors and see different tones, shades, and tints, the Gospel writers saw the activities surrounding the life of Jesus from different angles.
The garment placed upon Jesus after his brutal scourging likely was similar to the faded football uniforms mentioned above, but in His case we read of "a scarlet robe..faded to resemble purple" (The Wycliffe Bible Commentary). [It is difficult to imagine Pilate arraying Jesus' bloody body with a new robe. More likely it was one that had been worn and cast off as useless 9Barnes). According to A.T. Roberson, there were various shades of purple and scarlet in the first century and it was not easy to distinguish the colors or tints (1997) . In fact, the ancients (especially the Romans) used the term purple when speaking of various shades of red (Mcgarvey, 1875, p. 361;Barnes, 1997). Consequently, these different colors sometimes would be called by the same name.
AS one can see there is no discrepancy in the Gospel narratives concerning the color of the robe Jesus wore. Just like other of their day, the Gospel writers simply used the terms scarlet and purple interchangeably.
Barnes, Albert (1997), Barnes' Notes (Electronic Database: Biblesoft).
McGarvey, J.W. (1875) Commentary on Matthew and Mark (Delight AR: Gospel Light).
Robertson, A.T. (1997) Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament (Electronic Database: Biblesoft).
The wycliffe Bible Commentary (1985), Electronic Data base: Biblesoft.
Although many different people from many diverse backgrounds wrote the books fo the Bible in very diffrent styles, in many diffrent places, over a long period of time, the bible really has only one author - God. Since, God is perfect, Holy and true, there are no real contradictions in His Word, even if it looks like it a first glance. So we have to look a little deeper. We can rest assure that if the Bible is truly from god, and if God is a God of truth (as we know Him to be), then if two parts of his word seem to be in opposition or in contradiction to each other, our interpretation of one or both of these parts must be in error. In many cases context, audiance, persepctive, and culture often brings clearity.
I am reminded of the Samaritan woman who came to the well upon meeting Jesus she was shocked that He would ask her for a drink of water. Jesus said to her " If you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you "Give Me a drink you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water". Later on Jesus askes her to Go, call her husband and the woman says she has no husband and Jesus calls her on having five husbands and the one whom she was with is not her husband either. She is amazed that Jesus knows her life but, she quickly changes the subject to our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship. In other words lets not talk about me and you. Lets talk about religion and third party facts. "Jesus said to her, Woman believe me, the hour is comng when you will neither on this mountian, nor in Jerusalem worship the Father. "You worship what yo do not know;we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. [V:24] God is Spirit and those who whorship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
The things of the flesh cannot comprehend the things of the Spirit. We must seek Him in Spirit and in truth... We must ask ourselves if we are truly seeking truth and are we doing it in the Spirit of the Lord. Most often confusion is easier then truth because confusion allows us to continue our lifestyle of choice and has no requirments and demands nothing of us. Truth demands a choice. Love demands a choice and it demands truthfulness.
The woman at the well said "I know that Messiah is coming (who is called Christ). When He comes He will tell us all things."
Jesus said to her, "I AM HE!" The color of the the Robe dosen't change that - She knew enough to make a choice. You may not understand all thing but perhaps you know enough to make a choice. You will never understand the things of the Spirit unless you seek in the Spirit.
Don't miss the Messiah because your stumbled on the Color of his Robe or any other minute detail that you may be stumbling on. Don't let your lack of ability to completley understand every single detail keep you from accepting Gods love and the other 99% of the bible. When I think about the creator of the Universe writting me a letter I'm not amazed that sometimes it takes me a little while to understand all that he is saying to me. But I know He loves and I'm going to keep reading that Love letter knowing he loves me until I understand.
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