Saddam and Nebuchadnezzar

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King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold. – Daniel 3:1 ..and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power … for the glory of my majesty?” – Daniel 4:30 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them. It will never be inhabited or lived in for all generations; … – Isaiah 13:19-20a Here’s an extract from wikipedia that I grabbed several years ago… “In 1983, Saddam Hussein started rebuilding the city on top of the old ruins (because of this, artifacts and other finds may well be under the city by now), investing in both … Continue reading →

The Meaning Of Yahweh’s Name

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Israel went through a time of slavery in Egypt. God had told Abram this would happen beforehand (Genesis 15:13), but He allowed it to happen anyway. Slavery is evil, but God always has a purpose and is able to bring good to His people out of anything. Whatever manner God deals with His people, whether through something He does or something He allows, it is always to bring glory to Himself. Glory is simply the revealing of God’s character and nature such that we can understand and appreciate Him better. So to find out why the Israelites were enslaved, we need to ask how God revealed His character and nature through the situation. What do we learn about God from … Continue reading →

Heat Maps

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…I have not shrunk back from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. – Acts 20:27 If you’ve watched the news lately, you have probably seen one or more heat maps. A heat map uses areas of different colors to give an overall picture of some kind of statistic. For example, weather reports will sometimes show ocean temperatures in the Pacific to indicate if we’re heading for an El Niño or La Niña. And while technically not a heat map, we’ve all seen recent maps of the United States election results colored red or blue by county. I like heat maps, and it got me thinking of a biblical application. What if you could view the entire Bible as … Continue reading →

Belief Systems

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There are basic five states which you can be in relating to the essentials of any belief system, whether it be Christianity, Islam, or even atheism: Ignorant acceptance: You can subscribe to a belief system without knowing the details of the belief system. This is not a good state to be in. There are many who identify themselves as Christian, Muslim, Atheist, or whatever without having personally investigated what they believe. Until recently (and maybe still so today), most Americans identified themselves as Christians, but the majority pick that belief system as the default (“I believe Jesus was a good man, and I’m not a Muslim, Buddhist, or pagan, so I guess I’m a Christian.”), not knowing what Christianity is … Continue reading →

The Covenantal Context

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“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers… – Jeremiah 31:31-34 (ESV) We Christians today are experts at taking verses out of context. We do it almost as much as Hollywood or the Name-It-And-Claim-It crowd. We just don’t realize it. How many of us regularly quote Philippians 4:19 (“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.“), taking this verse as an unconditional promise that applies to all believers? Well, it’s not. Paul wrote this to those who, in spite of their poverty, were … Continue reading →

Identifying True Christians

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Once upon a time there was a great, big wolf, and he hadn’t eaten in days. His last meal was only a couple of small mice… not even enough for an appetizer. You can be sure he was on the lookout for some serious grub! Suddenly, a flock of sheep caught his eye. As he looked at them grazing peacefully in the distance, immediately his mouth started watering uncontrollably, and his stomach growled expectantly at the thought of fresh mutton. But he was so famished and weak from hunger, he didn’t have the strength to chase down even one small lamb. What was he to do? Then it came to him. “I know how I can get a plump, juicy … Continue reading →

Holistic Bible Study

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For I have not shrunk back from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. – Acts 20:27 (VW) Biblical illiteracy is epidemic in the church today. Unlike any other time in history, we swim in an ocean of Bibles, but we don’t make an effort to study them for ourselves. We prefer to trust others to tell us what the Bible says and means. As a result, we’re ignorant of even the basics, and we let every wind of strange and corrupt doctrine sway us. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the rudimentary principles of the Words of God; and you have come to need milk and not … Continue reading →

Know Your Bible For Yourself

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So, you want to know what the Bible really says: what it says about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, man, right and wrong, etc.? Then study the Bible. Don’t listen to what a church or some famous preacher or teacher says. Don’t listen to Hollywood, the History Channel, Time magazine, the Pope, Brigham Young, the Watchtower, Joel Olsteen, Billy Graham, Charles Wesley, Martin Luther, John Calvin. Don’t listen to the church fathers (Clement of Rome, Ignatius, Justin Martyr, etc.) Don’t listen to your pastor. Don’t listen to me. Especially, don’t assume you know it yourself. There is an incredible amount of Bible disinformation out in the world today, from verses taken out of context to outright lies. You may think … Continue reading →

“Say These Words…”

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During the terrorist incident in Mali this past week, many hostages died. But one hostage was let go after an Islamic attacker told him to recite verses from the Koran. This reminded me of an episode of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown where he was at the wailing wall in Jerusalem. Anthony said he didn’t believe in a higher power. But after finding out he was a Jew, a rabbi quickly grabbed him, strapped on a phylactory, and got him to recite the words of a bar-mitzvah blessing. I think it’s pretty obvious the freed hostage did not become a Muslim merely by reciting verses from the Koran, just as Anthony Bourdain did not become a practicing Jew and believer in … Continue reading →

What The Good Shepherd Doesn’t Do

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The Good Shepherd (Jesus) doesn’t… … Leave me hungry, … “Feed” himself at my expense, … Leave me unprotected from predators and robbers, … Leave me where I was driven to, … Abandon me when I stray away, … Let me stay “weak” or “sick”, … Consider me just a business burden (as the hired shepherd). (Ezekiel 34, John 10)

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