Using the greek and hebrew to explain the scriptures always made me feel that I was disecating God's Word and trying to stretch It to fit my point...
someone else says:
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In times past, I would offer a relatively comprehensive discussion on the Greek involved with the word or words I was evaluating. I have seen that this is foolish as it does two bad things. First, it serves to make the Greek 'experts' my teachers instead of the One Teacher, Messiah and the Father's Spirit (Matt. 23:8; John 14:26). Second, it seeks to set me up as a teacher as I claim to have some unique or special (or at least some intellectual understanding) insight into the original language that the reader might not, and thus the reader would tend to rely on me to understand something Jesus said....
There’s probably more uncertainty about the most important matter in the world than about any other. Let me illustrate: If you were to ask 100 people at random about the economy, politics, or pollution, you would get a fairly definite opinion from most. But ask the same 100 people, “Are you going to Heaven when you die?” The vast majority would answer with varying degrees of doubt—”I don’t know”...“I’m working on it”...“I have no idea”...“I’m not sure.” Many of these same people would tell you that they believe in Jesus Christ and that they believe in Heaven. Yet they don’t know whether or not they are going to Heaven.
I have found that one can tell how a person values life by his estimation of death. I once talked with a man who had never given serious thought to death until it was discovered that he had cancer. “Immediately my entire world changed,” he said. “The things I valued most are worthless, and the things that I thought were of little value are now the most important things in the world to me.”
People often get confused over the real meaning of Easter. Store shelves are crammed with row after row of Easter baskets, egg coloring kits, jelly beans and chocolate bunnies. But the real meaning of Easter goes way beyond such colorful, tasty fun. It’s about someone who died, and then found new life. Jesus Christ is the most central figure in all of human history, and Easter is all about his death and resurrection. Here is what the Bible says about who He is…what He went through on our behalf…and why.
People ask what house church is like. House church is like an extended family that puts Jesus at the center and reaches out to those who are orphans. What we do is gather in homes to pray, learn and grow in relationship. Sound simple? It is. Delightfully simple.
There are over three billion people on our planet who have never heard the name of Jesus one time. There remain thousands of people groups that have not been reached with the good news of God's love. Poverty, corruption, preventable diseases, and famine have turned whole countries and continents to ruin. We are stirred to face these challenges with faith in God's goodness and obedience to his commands.
"The Blueprint" by C.H. James is a book that compares the church that Jesus planted with the church we see today. Is today's church what Christ really intended? The truth is finaly being told.
Here is the first chapter:
Why have church in the home
rather than in a public building?
by Dan Trotter
Where we meet is very important. It is, of course, not as important as the living stones that are being plastered together as the church, but it is still important. I am fascinated by how often people who think like we do on many different points, will balk at my emphasis on meeting in the house. Why is this?
I was water baptized before I was one year old because I was about to die and my mother wanted me to go to heaven… so, would I be saved then? Maybe so, by the faith of my mother, since I was a new born and could not decide for myself…. The only sin that I had to be forgiven was the sin of Adam and Eve – the original sin - that I inherited from my parents. Since my mother DID have the faith to want me to be with Jesus, then would I have died I would indeed be in heaven. Would I be saved through the water of baptism? Not really, I believe I would be saved by the faith of my mother.
To understand the significance of baptism, let's first consider its historical background. The Holman Bible Dictionary explains: "At some point close to the time of Jesus, Judaism began a heavy emphasis on ritual washings to cleanse from impurity. This goes back to priestly baths prior to offering sacrifices (Leviticus 16:4,24). Probably shortly prior to the time of Jesus or contemporary with Him, Jews began baptizing gentile converts, though circumcision still remained the primary entrance rite into Judaism" (1991, "Baptism").
WordProLog is a web log aiming to publish, comment and analyse, from a biblical prespective, articles and writtings on a variety of contemporary issues. WordProLog has no religious or political afiliation; it is designed to promote faith vs. denominationalism, truth vs. traditionalism, hope vs. fatalism and love vs. warmongering and terrorism. "The pen is mightier than the sword", the Word [of God] ...is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Heb. 4:12)
Verse of the Day
"Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him."