Tumgik
#and as a catholic I love seeing these types of things in biblically inspired works
the-derpy-duck · 3 months
Text
Tumblr media
St. Peter redesign sort of. I mostly just gave him one of the Pope robes because St. Peter was the first Pope if I am not mistaken, and also I think this might mean that Hazbin Hotel is supposed to follow a more Catholic based lore (obviously this goes in tandem with the cardinal/mortal sins (aka 7 deadly sins) which is a more catholic thing and Al being dressed as a nun, but saints are mostly recognized as a catholic thing but I know that some orthodox sects and I think maybe one Protestant sect also recognize a few saints.).
So anyway I gave him the Pope robe thingy and I made the cross on it upside down to reference how he was crucified and made him a bit more stressed out. Also keys because I thought it would be fun
21 notes · View notes
ironwoman359 · 4 years
Note
Can you explain the different beliefs of the different dominations of Christians? Like, the big differences I mean.
Well, I can’t accurately tell you what denomination neccessarily believes what, as I only really have first hand experience with two, but I can tell you what those different beliefs would be. A good way to find out what a specific denomination believes about an issue is ot look at their official website, but also, individual churches and congregations may hold different views than the official stance of the denomination they’re a part of, as many Methodist (i think it was) churches did when the Methodist leadership doubled down on their anti-LGBT stance. With that being said, here are some of the different teachings you may find across denominations:
Catholic vs. Protestant: 
While all Christians believe God to be Sovreign, the Catholic church tends to take reverence for God to the point of nigh unapproachability. When Catholics pray to saints, they are asking the saint to take their petitions before God in their stead, while a Protestant would just ask God directly. When Catholics go to confessional, they are confessing their sins to a priest and asking him to present them before God and ask forgiveness, while a Protestant would confess to God and ask for forgiveness directly. In general, Catholic churches tend to be more ritualistic (though there are protestant churches like that too, lutherans, for instance) and approach God with less familiarity than Protestant Churches. 
Calvinist vs. Wesleyan: 
In Protestant belief, there are two main schools of thought you’re likely to find, Calvinism and Wesleyanism. The differences between them get into very academic langauge that’s sometimes hard to explain, but I’ll do my best to explain. The big stickler of disagreement comes in the ideas of “Unconditional Election ” and “Irresistable Grace.” 
Undoncitional Election refers to the teaching that before God created the world, He in His infinite knowledge pre-selceted those who would be saved from sin and who would be condemed to the just punishment for their sins. 
Wesleyans, on the other hand, believe that Jesus’s atonement was for all people. Yes, God in His omnipotence knows who will and will not accpet His grace, but He still leaves it to the individual’s free will to make that decision. 
Irresistable Grace teaches that to those God has pre-selected for salvation, there is no resisting the call of the Holy Spirit. 
Wesleyans, since they believe that anybody could be saved, that the pull of the Holy Spirit is not irresistable, as humanity has been given the free will to accept or reject salvation. 
Another more minor disagreement between Calvinsim and Wesleyanism is the “once saved, always saved” argument. 
Since Cavlinists believe in Unconditional Election, they also believe in “Perseverance of the Saints,” which is the belief that if you are Saved you cannot ever lose your faith (you also don’t necessarily have to be a Calvinist to believe that once you are saved you can’t ever lose that salvation). 
Wesleyan teachings, on the other hand, state that Salvation can be lost, as continued salvation is conditional upon continued faith. Aka, someone who once had a strong and steadfast faith would have been saved at that point in their life, but if they lose their faith or walk away from it at some point, they have lost that salvation (though the arms of God are always open to welcome them back). 
The other points of Calvinism and Wesleyanism don’t necessarily contradict each other, and so aren’t worth pointing out, but as you can see the differences are pretty drastic, and it’s easy to see how these different ideas could have sparked different sects of churches.
Communion/The Eucharist: 
There are esentially two views on Holy Communion: that Jesus’s presence in the bread and wine is literal, or that His presence is symbolic. 
For Catholics, they take it to the literal extreme: Transubstantiation, which is the act of changing the substances of bread and wine into the substances of the Body and Blood of Christ. 
Most Protestants who believe in Jesus’s literal presence in the elements do not take it that literally, believing more along the lines of, just as the Holy Spirit is present in the waters of baptism and the water itself is not what’s special, Jesus is present in the elements of communion and it is not the bread/wine itself that is special. 
Then, there is the belief that communion is more a ceremonial remembrance of Jesus’s last supper and a communal declaration of faith.
While I personally don’t believe in Transubstantiation, I think that any of these interpretations of Jesus’s words at the last supper are valid, and that God cares more that the community of believers celebrate the Eucharist together than He does about the minutia of it.
Also some churches practice “open communion” meaning that any believer in Christ regardless of views on the meal may take communion at their church, while others practice “closed communion,” meaning you must either be a member of their denomination or have spoken with the pastor before the sacrament to confirm that your beliefs line up with the church’s before taking communion with the congregation.
Also also most churches have different ages they start children taking communion at, Catholics it’s around 6 years old I think, while I as a Lutheran had to take half a year of catechism classes and be Confirmed before I could start taking it, those classes begin around age 12.  
The Means of Grace
The Means of Grace refers to how salvation is achieved. In this, Calvinists and Wesleyans agree: there is nothing humanity can do to achieve salvation, it is solely through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that humanity is granted Salvation. This belief is often referred to as “By Grace Alone,” or “Saved by Grace,” as their is nothing that a person could do to achieve Salvation, it’s all through God’s gift of Grace. 
The other view of Salvation is that it is achieved through Good Works, aka, what most non-christians probably think all Christians believe: If you are a Good Person and do Good Things you will go to heaven, but if you do Bad Things and don’t repent, you’ll go to hell. Most Christian theologians will tell you that this is False Doctrine, but there are some who insist that Good Works are a part of Salvation. Most, however, say that this does not line up with the Bible’s teachings.
The counter to Salvation by Works is that Good Works are not a means of Salvation, but rather evidence of it. Yes, a Christain should strive to do good works, because Jesus commanded us to love one another and to help each other, but if you’re doing these things because you think they will save you, you are missing the point. I personally really like the way a VeggieTales cartoon about St. Nicholas put it once, actually. Nick to a nun feeding the poor: “Do you do that to feel happy?” The nun: “Oh, no. I do it because I am happy.”
Other Differences
Baptism: Namely, should you baptize babies? Catholics and Lutherans and others say yes, Nazarenes and Baptists and others say no!
Biblical Inspiration: was the Bible 100% dictated to man by God and thus absolutely flawless (ie, all of the bible is what God said word for word), 100% inspired by God and thus flawless but not dictated directly (ie, the different writers used their own words and voices to write what was inspired to them), Inspired by God but written by man and thus subject to the trappings of humanity and possibly flawed in places? Vote now on your phones. 
Ordination: Who gets to be a pastor? Can women be pastors? Are youth ministers, worship ministers, and other types of minsiters called pastors or are they called something different? 
The End Times: Is the Rapture a thing, or what?
Creation: How literal is genesis exactly?
Queer Issues: A lovely can of worms that no one seems to be able to agree on and which is sometimes the sole reason for a denominational split (The Evangelical Lutheran Chruch of America split into two factions when they disagreed on whether or not gay people should be allowed to be ordained ministers. There’s now one faction of that church that does ordain gay people and one that doesn’t). 
Nondenominational Churches
Some bodies of believers have said “screw that” to all the crazy infinitesimal differences in theology between all the denominatons and said “We are simply Christains.” Now, each nondenominational church will likely have its own stance on each of the issues I’ve mentioned here, they just have chosen not to identify with any larger denomination, and if you’re church hunting and go to a nondenominational church, you’ll probably have to talk to hte pastor/look at their website to find out what they say about all these things. 
Again, for me at the end of the day, I hold my own beliefs about these issues, but concede that for about 95% of them, where you fall doesn’t matter (for me, the lines that I draw are the means of grace and unconditional election; I believe that anyone can be saved and that we are saved by grace alone), what matters is that if you believe in God and have accepted Jesus into your life, you are a Christian, and my sibling in Christ. Hope this answered some of your questions, and again, I’m always happy to provide more clarification/talk about this stuff! (can you tell I enjoyed the theology classes I had to take in college?) 
59 notes · View notes
jonah-cartwright · 4 years
Text
JONAH CARTWRIGHT (HARRIS DICKINSON) is a 17 year old JUNIOR student at Broadripple Academy. HE is originally from ROCKLAND , MAINE but moved to Broadripple 3 YEARS ago. HE is COMPASSIONATE and DEDICATED but can also be INSECURE and WEAK-WILLIED.  
1. Full Name?
Jonah Charles Cartwright 
2. Preferred Names or Nicknames  
 Jonah usually works just fine but his older sister took to calling him Joanie when they were kids and never really stopped , not that he’d ever tell anybody that.
3. What does their name mean? Does it have any significance in their family? Do they like their name?
Jonah means dove in Hebrew , not that Jonah or his parents know that and if Jonah did know that he’d hate it for being too soft..But his name meaning a symbol for peace does fit him as a character. Basically Biblical or virtue names are just a family tradition and John and Marie Cartwright wanted something slightly unusual.Jonah doesn’t really have any strong opinions on his name.It’s another part of his parents authority that he doesn’t question.
4. Age and Date of Birth?
17 and July 25th
5. Gender and Pronouns?
Cis male and he/him
6. Hometown?
Rockland , Maine.
7. Does your character fit into any well known archetypes or tropes?
Repressed gay Catholic and closeted manly manly jock are the most stereotypical tropes you can think of but I have big feelings about them so here we are lads throwing my hat into the ring.Some other tropes I associate with him are The Heart , Team Mom , Stepford Smiler , “Well Done , Son!Guy” and lastly he has Catholic Guilt out the wazoo 
8. How long have they been at Broadripple?
Jonah’s been at Boradripple since the beginning of Freshman year.
9. What led them to apply to Broadripple? Was it a decision made by them or by their parents/guardians or somewhere in between?
His parents are the type of people that graduated from high school then immediately settled down and got minimum wage jobs.They wanted ‘better’ for their kids and for them to see more parts of the world so they made their oldest child apply for a scholarship to Broadripple , it seemed like it would give her a good education and give her those good pure Catholic morals.When she came back with good grades and apparently good fearing they had no choice but to continue the cycle and try to get their only son to there.
10. Whether they’ve been at Broadripple four days or four years, do they enjoy it?
Jonah enjoys Broadripple.He isn’t great at academics but he’s found his niche through athletics and has a bunch of good friends.
11. What house are they in? Do they care very much about their house? 
 Jonah is in Fenwick and takes the inter-house competitions very seriously.He wants to prove himself to his housemates and make sure he does well for them.
12. Who do they share a dorm with, or are they on their own for the moment? What are they like to live with? Are they clean or messy? Early risers or night owls?
Jonah shares a dorm with Ezra Bergman he thinks he’s kind of a weirdo but does his best to be friendly.In Jonah’s mind everybody has more to offer and hidden depths.Jonah’s extremely organised and makes sure’s nothing out of place and all of his stuff is on his side.However , he’s kind of a terrible roommate because he sneaks out at the crack of dawn to jog every morning.When the suns up he’s up. 
13. How is your character’s dorm decorated? Is it bare or bursting at the seems with personality? Any particular sentimental items from home?
His dorm is fairly minimalist.He doesn’t really have an eye for decorating and doesn’t really see the point.But he does like to stick photos up.He printed out a photo of him and Maggie after she went missing.
14. What is their favourite subject at school? Do they even have a favourite? Why?
Academics are a sore spot for him.As much as Jonah tries he struggles to grasp non-literal concepts and remember things for exams.But he thinks ASL is important and enjoys learning it.He also finds PE easy and excels at that.
15. Are they involved in any clubs? Which ones?
Jonah is involved in Sacristan Club.
16. How does your character feel about Broadripple’s Unofficial Clubs? Do they know about them? Are they a part of any of them?
Jonah became a pledge for the BBC because he thought it was a good way to fit in and gain him popularity.He puts a lot of effort into being one of the boys.He doesn't pay much attention to the other two clubs because it would be social suicide.
17. Does your character participate in any sports? If so, what made them join the team?
Jonah is a fullback for the boys hockey team , defender for the soccer team and apart of the swim team.He joined those teams because he feels like sports give him a purpose , make him feel calm and are the one thing he’s really good at.
18. What afternoon activities does your character do? Do they just do the one mandatory one or are they involved in multiple? Why?
19. Do they miss their home when they’re at Broadripple? Do they often go home for the weekends or do they only go home during holiday breaks.
When he’s at Broadripple he misses not being by the coast.Jonah goes home every couple of weeks because regular trips home would be costly and he has a difficult relationship with his dad.
20. Did your character know Izzy De Santis or Maggie Monroe?
He was pretty friendly with both of them thanks to the Unofficial Chastity Clubs.He felt pretty bad for Izzy after he gained his infamous reputation from that night in the woods.Jonah didn’t really think Izzy deserved it and just thought he was a troubled guy.Jonah thought Maggie was lovely and misses her like mad.He doesn’t have much involvement with the Unsolved club and thinks the whole king is disrespectful.
21. Has your character heard of Edith Lynch? Do they know the story? 
 His knowledge of Edith comes from the usual rumours that haunt the school.He tries not to think about what happened because it’s disturbing and makes him uneasy.
22. How does your character feel about Nighmore? Have they noticed the recently closed shops yet
Jonah used to spend a lot of time in Nightmore and made it his second home in a way but after Maggie disappeared he tried to avoid it as much as possible. 
23. Have you made any aesthetic Pinterest boards/WeHeartIt collections for this character? Or playlists? Anything you would like to share!
Here’s the pinterest for my boy.Hopefully some of the plot inspo stuff inspires you guys.
3 notes · View notes
dr-oliver-j-evans · 5 years
Text
all about oliver
Note: This is a template I used on the Choices Amino that belongs to X on the ven, vidi, amavi Amino. As of right now, I have his faceclaim as Diego Barrueco. 
┎┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┒
❝ have you ever seen a guy just look up at you with a tired half-smile and you feel like you could just melt? i haven't either so please take pictures when you do. ❞
┖┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┚
◢ вaѕιcѕ ◣
「 ᶠᵁᴸᴸ ᴺᴬᴹᴱ 」
➾ oliver james evans
「 ᴺᴬᴹᴱ ᴹᴱᴬᴺᴵᴺᴳ(ˢ) 」
➾ Olive tree; The biblical olive tree symbolizes fruitfulness, beauty, and dignity. 'Extending an olive branch' signifies an offer of peace.
➾ Supplanter
➾ The Lord is gracious.
「 ᴺᴵᶜᴷᴺᴬᴹᴱˢ 」
➾ oli, ollie, jamie, jamezie, evah, oj, orange juice, and ollie ollie oxen free
「 ᴬᴳᴱ 」
➾ 25
「 ᴮᴵᴿᵀᴴᴰᴬᵞ 」
➾ 12 may
「 ˢᵁᴺ ᶻᴼᴰᴵᴬᶜ 」
➾ taurus
「 ᶜᴴᴵᴺᴱˢᴱ ᶻᴼᴰᴵᴬᶜ 」
➾ rooster
「 ˢᴾᴱᶜᴵᴱˢ 」
➾ homo sapien / human
「 ˢᴱˣᵁᴬᴸᴵᵀᵞ 」
➾ homosexual
「 ᴳᴱᴺᴰᴱᴿ 」
➾ male
┎┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┒
❝ i have the strongest of urges to just grab you by the shoulders and tell you how much you mean to me. the thing is: you don't know i exist. ❞
┖┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┚
◢ pнyѕιcal ◣
「 ˢᴱˣ 」
➾ male
「 ᴱᵞᴱ ᶜᴼᴸᴼᴿ 」
➾ amber / light brown
「 ᴴᴬᴵᴿ ᶜᴼᴸᴼᴿ 」
➾ dark brown / black
「 ᴰᴵˢᵀᴵᴺᶜᵀ ᶠᴱᴬᵀᵁᴿᴱ(ˢ) 」
➾ light freckles scattered about his face
「 ᵀᴬᵀᵀᴼᴼ(ˢ) 」
➾ half of a floral sleeve on right arm and a galaxy themed bull head on left arm
「 ᶜᴸᴼᵀᴴᴵᴺᴳ ˢᵀᵞᴸᴱ 」
➾ mostly button up shirts, vintage t-shirts, and jeans with sneakers
┎┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┒
❝ the past is the past and the future is a mystery. we are in the present which is a gift for a reason. ❞
┖┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┚
◢ perѕonalιтy ◣
「 ᴾᴼˢᴵᵀᴵᵛᴱ ᵀᴿᴬᴵᵀˢ 」
¹⋅⁾ extremely passionate
²⋅⁾ god like patience
³⋅⁾ team player
⁴⋅⁾ organized
⁵⋅⁾ flexible (in more ways than one)
「 ᴺᴱᴳᴬᵀᴵᵛᴱ ᵀᴿᴬᴵᵀˢ 」
¹⋅⁾ not a morning person
²⋅⁾ dislikes rowdiness
³⋅⁾ clueless towards most innuendos
⁴⋅⁾ - -
⁵⋅⁾ - -
「 ᴴᴬᴮᴵᵀˢ 」
¹⋅⁾ tugs at his fingers when nervous
²⋅⁾ hums to himself when working
³⋅⁾ runs a hand (or two) through hair when bored
「 ᴳᴱᴺᴱᴿᴬᴸ ᴹᴼᴼᴰ 」
➾ reserved/shy but a tad bubbly
「 ᴵᴺᵀᴿᴼᵛᴱᴿᵀ ᴼᴿ ᴱˣᵀᴿᴼᵛᴱᴿᵀ 」
➾ ambivert
「 ᶜᴼᴺᶠᴵᴰᴱᴺᵀ ᴼᴿ ᴵᴺˢᴱᶜᵁᴿᴱ 」
➾ mix of both but leans towards being insecure
「 ᴱᴹᴼᵀᴵᴼᴺˢ ᴼᴿ ᴸᴼᴳᴵᶜ 」
➾ e m o t i o n s
「 ᶜᴸᴱᴬᴺ ᴼᴿ ᴹᴱˢˢᵞ 」
➾ clean
「 ᴳᴼᴼᴰ ᴼᴿ ᴮᴬᴰ 」
➾ good
┎┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┒
❝ i am a human being with simple needs: i constantly need love, reassurance, and food. ❞
┖┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┚
◢ lιĸeѕ / dιѕlιĸeѕ ◣
「 ✓ 」
¹⋅⁾ romance novels
²⋅⁾ art museums
³⋅⁾ the outdoors (especially flowers)
⁴⋅⁾ marvel movies (winter soldier and gotg made him cry)
⁵⋅⁾ anything 20's, 50's, and 90's
「 ✕ 」
¹⋅⁾ cucumber and pickles
²⋅⁾ ranch dressing
³⋅⁾ going to church (raised catholic but is now atheist)
⁴⋅⁾ long lines for anything
⁵⋅⁾ any pencil lead or pen ink rubbing off onto the side of his hand (happens to him a lot due to being a leftie)
┎┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┒
❝ your family does not have to be related to you by blood. they could be the people around you. ❞
┖┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┚
◢ ѕтaтѕ ◣
「 ᴵᴺᵀᴱᴸᴸᴵᴳᴱᴺᶜᴱ 」
➾ 7 / 10
「 ᶜᴼᴺᶠᴵᴰᴱᴺᶜᴱ 」
➾ 4.25 / 10
「 ᵂᴵˢᴰᴼᴹ 」
➾ 8 / 10
「 ᴹᴱᴹᴼᴿᵞ 」
➾ 8.5 / 10
「 ᶜᴿᴱᴬᵀᴵᵛᴵᵀᵞ 」
➾ 6 / 10
「 ᴼᴮᴱᴰᴵᴱᴺᶜᴱ 」
➾ 8 / 10
「 ᴿᴱᶠᴸᴱˣᴱˢ 」
➾ 6 / 10
「 ˢᴾᴱᴱᴰ 」
➾ 7.75 / 10
「 ᴬᴳᴵᴸᴵᵀᵞ 」
➾ 7.5 / 10
「 ᴼᶠᶠᴱᴺˢᴱ 」
➾ 5 / 10
「 ᴰᴱᶠᴱᴺˢᴱ」
➾ 6 / 10
┎┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┒
❝ who says i can't go to taco bell at three in the morning? i am an adult with a valid driver's license. ❞
┖┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┚
◢ relaтιonѕ ◣
「 ᴹᴼᵀᴴᴱᴿ 」
➾ emiliana evans
status: alive
「 ᶠᴬᵀᴴᴱᴿ 」
➾ damien cayden evans
status: alive
「 ˢᴵᴮᴸᴵᴺᴳ(ˢ) 」
➾ benjamin evans
status: alive
「 ᶠᴿᴵᴱᴺᴰˢ 」
➾ bryce lahela
status: alive
「 ᴸᴼᵛᴱ ᴵᴺᵀᴱᴿᴱˢᵀ(ˢ) 」
➾ ethan ramsey
status: alive
┎┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┒
❝ i may be hopelessly in love with him but...it's all up to him to see me. if he doesn't, then i guess it will be his loss. ❞
┖┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┚
◢ вeнavιor ◣
「 ᴬᴿᴼᵁᴺᴰ ˢᵀᴿᴬᴺᴳᴱᴿˢ 」
➾ he will keep to himself, saying nothing to the person or people unless acknowledged. when he does speak to them, he will be kind and most definitely on the awkward side.
「 ᴬᴿᴼᵁᴺᴰ ᶠᴿᴵᴱᴺᴰˢ 」
➾ just like when he is around strangers, oliver will not say much unless acknowledged. other than that, he will be bubbly and outgoing, helping his friends get through life.
「ᴬᴿᴼᵁᴺᴰ ᴱᴺᴱᴹᴵᴱˢ 」
➾ he will be cold towards them in the sense that he will simply ignore them. he knows that people can be temporary in his life and there's no room for any toxicity in his plan for success.
「 ᴬᴿᴼᵁᴺᴰ ᶜᴿᵁˢᴴ 」
➾ he will be incredibly awkward and vulnerable. oliver is not the type to fall for just anyone, they have to be important to him. oliver will try his best to flirt and give them signs of his attraction towards them. depending on the situation, he may open up more and be the one to start a conversation.
「 ᴬᴿᴼᵁᴺᴰ ᴸᴼᵛᴱᴿ 」
➾ he will be affectionate when appropriate, mostly holding their hand or looping his arm around his lover's. oliver is most definitely the type to shower his lover with compliments and genuine love that he only wishes to have returned to him.
「 ᵂᴴᴱᴺ ᴴᴬᴾᴾᵞ 」
➾ oliver will be a smiley mess with a bounce in his step. the man might even toss his enemy a compliment based on what made him so happy.
「 ᵂᴴᴱᴺ ˢᵁᴿᴾᴿᴵˢᴱᴰ 」
➾ he will simply not know what to do with himself, possibly resulting in flusteredness. oliver could even shut down emotionally and just stand there. though, that is not the most common thing to occur.
「 ᵂᴴᴱᴺ ˢᶜᴬᴿᴱᴰ 」
➾ he will most definitely be tense and freeze up. oliver isn't afraid of much but there are things that just frighten him to near death.
「 ᵂᴴᴱᴺ ˢᴬᴰ 」
➾ he will separate himself from others, not wanting to worry anyone about whatever it is he is going through. the man just needs a minute or two to collect himself and will talk when he is ready.
「 ᵂᴴᴱᴺ ˢᵀᴿᴱˢˢᴱᴰ 」
➾ it is rare to see him stressed but oliver will be tugging at his hair or any loose clothing, breathing through his nose at a fast pace. give him some space and things will resolve itself.
「 ᵂᴴᴱᴺ ᴵᴺᴶᵁᴿᴱᴰ 」
➾ it mainly depends on the severity of the injury. worst case scenario, he will not be able to move at all out of fear of making the injury or injuries worse. best case scenario is that he will not pay any mind to it and resume whatever it was he was doing.
「 ᵂᴴᴱᴺ ᴵᴸᴸ / ˢᴵᶜᴷ 」
➾ just like when he is injured, it just depends on how bad it is. oliver could be up and about while taking occasional breaks when need be or in bed for a week.
「 ᵂᴴᴱᴺ ᴮᴼᴿᴱᴰ 」
➾ oliver will play with his fingers or hair, not exactly the type to be on his phone when bored. he may even start up a conversation with someone or go for a walk.
┎┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┒
❝ the world can be a terrifying place. that's why you just need the right people by your side. ❞
┖┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┚
◢ orιgιn ◣
「 ᴸᴼᶜᴬᵀᴵᴼᴺ ᴼᶠ ᴮᴵᴿᵀᴴ 」
➾ santa barbara, california
「 ᴴᴵˢᵀᴼᴿᵞ / ᴮᴬᶜᴷˢᵀᴼᴿᵞ 」
➾ - -
┎┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┒
❝ some of us are sherlocks while others are watsons. either you are inspired or you are doing the inspiring. ❞
┖┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┚
◢ oтнer ◣
「 ᴼᶜᶜᵁᴾᴬᵀᴵᴼᴺ 」
➾ medical resident at edenbrook hospital
「 ᶠᵁᴺ ᶠᴬᶜᵀˢ 」
¹⋅⁾ can speak almost seven languages (english, spanish, italian, korean, and working on asl, french, and romanian)
²⋅⁾ was in gymnastics until middle school/junior high
³⋅⁾ came out of the closet through an accidental air drop in college but was fine with it due to being ready
⁴⋅⁾ he has a bit of an accent/lisp where his r's can sound similar to his w's
⁵⋅⁾ has been known to drop whatever he is doing just to get a caramel apple
1 note · View note
darkouter · 6 years
Text
just some sean headcanons cause Why Not
- sean is the kind of guy that brushes his teeth for like......  over 5 minutes.  and other behaviors like that.  long, meticulous showers every day (keep in mind that’s strange given the time period).  it kind of stems from when he was abused, feeling dirty.  now he works at the asylum, and it can be pretty grungy, even though he and lottie try to keep it clean as possible.  there’s also the matter of smoking - he wants to keep himself smelling nice as he can.  now that he’s a skal and eating all that meat, he also just really doesn’t want to smell like death.  gross.  he’s just really particular.  i wouldn’t say he has OCD or anything, but it definitely holds its roots in his anxiety.  he needs to be presentable, and he panics a bit when things aren’t perfect.
- definitely writes people poems or letters to leave for them if he holds any affection for them - in platonic relationships too!  wholesome content creator.  wants everyone to know how much they mean to him and tells everyone about their good qualities.  definitely would spout inspirational quotes, the kind you see girls on facebook sharing You Know What I Mean.  this behavior is definitely why william bishop called sean one of his closest friends - he just makes people feel loved when they feel like they’re unlovable.
- he’s a romantic !  in general, it’s hard for him because he has intimacy issues and his anxieties keep him at bay from expressing those kinds of feelings toward people - he hasn’t dated someone in a long time.  but he’s the type to get butterflies in his stomach even if he’s been with someone for years.  will buy roses.  brings food.  compliments always.  lots of love yous.  he’s a sad puppy please love him.  he’s pretty easily pleased himself.  just give him hugs and cuddles and affection blease.  reassure him when he feels insecure.  maybe give him a backrub though the poor guy has knots for days with all that stress.
- he’s pansexual, but again, he has intimacy issues and he’s a devout catholic, so he wouldn’t be ready for sex with anyone for a While.
- i mentioned it, but he’s a pacifist.  he didn’t even fight wil/liam bishop back despite having a cross around his damn neck.  if the guard of priwen decide to dust his ass, all he can do is run, but he’s honestly not even liable to do that.  he just tries to reason with people because he trusts too much, thinking they can be swayed.  also evidenced by bishop.  he doesn’t like to raise his voice with people either, and he’s more likely to cry during an argument than yell. 
- the only exclusion to all of this is tobias whitaker.  he hates tobias whitaker.  so much.  they regularly spit back biblical verses at each other if they talk - sean calls him a heretical zealot, has even cussed him out before, which shocked EVERYONE.  that was the big gossip for a long time.  and honestly?  he might have even thrown a punch at him at some point.  he’s given up on tobias, he really has.  there was a time when he would have polite debate, but it’s become an all-out feud.  it’s sean, so he tries not to bad mouth people in general, but he sure as hell would grit his teeth if someone asked him about tobias.  sean tries to completely avoid him now, if remotely possible.  literally will take the long route through alleys to stay away from him.
- drinking ekon blood, particularly jonathan’s because of how Pure and Good his blood is, has kind of...  upgraded him.  broke skal to woke skal.  by a week after turning, his wounds heal, and he looks quite a bit more presentable.  he’ll always look like he’s sick, given how pale he is, and his eyes continue to be white, so he doesn’t exactly become entirely human-passing, but !  it also sated his hunger quite a bit, and he doesn’t need to do much to sustain himself.  he can drink blood or eat animal meat between proper meals, but he does still have to resort to eating human corpses.  he feels bad about it.
- i’ve also mentioned:  he’s extremely bitter toward jonathan for manipulating him the way he did.  jonathan criticizing him for eating dead corpses, bringing up how he was orphaned and abused in order to force his hand, and being commanded to kneel?  drink blood by coercion?  he feels really gross about it.  he’s had memories dragged to the forefront of his mind despite it being over half his life ago.  he’s probably been able to move on in a lot of ways, but reid just scrambled his head.  sean is rightly upset with him, gets surly when jonathan asks to examine him.  however, sean also knows that jonathan was right.  he knows that jonathan was just doing whatever he could to protect sean and his flock, and they’re the most important people to him, so he has mixed feelings.  he feels guilty for being so thoroughly mad at reid because reid is still a good person, but he simply went about things in the worst way.  there’s a lot of shame over how sean acted so nonsensically during that manic episode, so he just feels embarrassed when jonathan comes around because jonathan saw him in his worst and most vulnerable moments.  it’s just Not Good
- because of this new resentment towards someone, he’s projecting a lot of his issues onto jonathan.  he has a lot of bottled up frustration, and he acts or thinks meanly toward reid.  he knows rationally that he shouldn’t.  he tries very hard to knock this out of his head, which makes for some...  interesting moments with jonathan.  because being around jonathan makes him uncomfortable, he tries to force himself to make up for it.  finally lets jonathan examine him, do check-ups on his health for research purposes.  but he ends up repeatedly signing some crosses and mumbling prayers underneath his breath, asking the Lord to forgive his spiteful thoughts or comments.  jonathan’s just left to be Very Confused
- because he drank from jonathan’s blood, he can sometimes hear him in the same way mary did.  obviously jonathan doesn’t even realize he’s doing this - doesn’t mean to - sean just hears....  random thoughts at random times.  gets confused at first.  wonders if and why the lord is talking to him about gossip around town.  takes a while to realize it’s reid he’s hearing.  of course it’s reid, the most awkward person it could possibly be.  besides tobias, that is.
- not a headcanon, but someone let me have a thread where he gets to cry.  we didn’t get to see him cry in the game even though that’s a major point of his character.  Give Me Crying Sean
5 notes · View notes
legit-writing-tips · 7 years
Text
Legit Worldbuilding Tip #3
or - “Crafting Religions for Fictional Worlds���
Whether you’re religious or not, there’s no denying the cultural, political, and social impact that religion has had on the world around us. 
So when crafting a brand new world, whether it’s high fantasy, science fiction, science fantasy, etc., religion can play a big part of the world that you’re building. And because of its relative importance, there are a lot of things to think about re: crafted religions. 
Religions Shape Morals and Virtues
Morals are a strange thing. People aren’t born with an innate knowledge of what to do in life, or how to act. It only makes sense, then, that people would turn to religion as a guide for how they should behave. That’s easy enough to see with the world we live in. 
The Golden Rule. Nearly everybody learns this one growing up. For Christians, it comes in the form of a Biblical quote - “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” But the concept isn’t unique to Christianity. Nearly every religion has this same rule, in some form or another. 
But when you get further into the details of differing religions, you see that each has its own set of morals and what it feels is “right.” This can range from Evangelicals who feel that same-sex love is a sin because of an archaic passage from the old testament to vegetarianism as a way to avoid hurting other living creatures, commonly found among Hindus. 
So What Does This Mean?
Well, this means that when you’re crafting a religion, one of the things to think about is what morals you want in your world. 
Don’t want a world with a bunch of homophobic assholes? I’ve got good news for you! A same-sex couple amongst your pantheon of Gods and you can have a world where people don’t just accept same-sex love, but celebrate it!
But that’s not the only thing to think about. Different taboos are often religion-centric as well. 
These taboos can have minor consequences on your world-building in some ways. For example, maybe you just want to make things more interesting by adding details such as characters who avoid certain kinds of metals or stones because they’re strictly forbidden in their religious texts. 
These taboos can also have major consequences on your story. For example, even in the modern day and age there are a lot of prejudices against albinism in some African countries. You can imagine the consequences for such a character.
Religions Shape Cultural Practices and Thoughts
In the West, pretty much everybody celebrates the holidays, even if they aren’t Christian. They may adapt their practices depending on their beliefs, but regardless, if you live in a country like America you’ll experience a lot of religious influence around the holiday season. Christmas, a day that celebrates the birth of a religious figure, has a tremendous cultural impact even on those that aren’t Christian. 
When crafting a religion, it only makes sense to think about the cultural impact said religion will have. Holidays, prayer, rituals, religious pilgrimages, the way that people keep track of time (as in our AD system), taboos (as already mentioned), fasting, celibacy, religious bathing/cleansing... 
These are just a few practices that exist within different religions. Many are so ingrained in our culture that people don’t even think of them as “religious” any more. 
For example, the practice of abstaining from sex before marriage. This single religious belief has created a culture that is very prohibitive regarding sexuality. A lot of people still think that fewer sex partners = a better person, even those who aren’t adherents of any religious philosophy. It’s just something that’s ingrained in our culture. 
All this to say - the best starting point for creating a religion in a fictional world is knowing what kind of world you want to write. 
With all that out of the way, let’s get on to the actual creation process. There are a few things to think about, but I want to start with something I feel is very important. 
There are a lot of religions out there. I suggest you research them and learn about them.
But please don’t just take an existing religion, especially one from another culture, slap a new name on it, give it an air of mysticism, and then be done with it. It’s disrespectful to those who actually practice these religions.
*Ahem* Okay, I’ve said my piece and now I’ll move on. 
Remember - Multiple Religions Can and Usually Do Exist in a Culture
This is the first and most important thing I want to point out. Most of the stories I’ve seen where creators do religion right is when they remember that not everybody practices the same religion. 
George R. R. Martin does this incredibly well with the different religions in ASOIAF. They are all different, they are all unique, they are very much shaped by the part of the world that those characters live in. 
Also remember that the same religion can have many different interpretations, leading to different branches and sects. They can be quite different and they may not get along that well. This is another thing that is often forgotten. 
Different Types of Religions
Throughout history there have been many different types of religions. Some have a single god. Some have an entire pantheon. Some see gods as people. Some see gods as animals. Some gods are both people and animals, depending on the story that’s being told. Some religions see gods as having no form. Some religions teach that god is the universe. Some say that there are no gods, but there is power in everything.
Let’s Talk Prophets and Stuff
Another thing to remember is that religions are often centered on a prophet, or a person’s teachings. While a god or pantheon of gods may be central to that religion, the prophet/guru/etc. is also very important. Jesus, Muhammed, the Buddha... just a few real world examples. 
This is where I take the time to point out something important. Your religion doesn’t have to have a male prophet/teacher. A prophet can be a woman. Or nonbinary. There can be six prophets who worked together, all of different gender identities. In fact, this can be a really good way to get rid of gross stuff like sexism in your world’s culture, or just plain avoid stereotypical high fantasy with Manly Men and Damsels in Distress.
Leave Some Stuff Unexplained
Another thing I want to point out is that religions don’t usually have explanations for everything. I mean, the whole point of religion is faith most of the time. 
I was talking with @more-legit-gr8er-writing-tips earlier about this. Because I still get mad about the midichlorian thing in Star Wars. The Force was an awesome (if a little underdeveloped) religion. It was focused on the power that exists in all things rather than the idea of a god. Certain people could access the Force. All was good. Then they made the Force the result of little critters that live inside people. 
No. No no no. Okay, I’ll stop. Just suffice it to say, whatever genre you’re writing in, don’t feel the need to explain everything. Even if magic exists, even if there’s science, just embrace the mystery and the wonder of the religion you’ve created.
Religious Institutions
I’ll keep this one short. But just remember that where there’s religion, there’s inevitably going to be some sort of religious institution. It may be that in your world every town has its own religious leader and group of scholars. Or you could have a vast system of temples. Or you could have the fantasy equivalent of the Catholic Church. 
(Remember also - the bigger a religious institution is, and the more influence it has on the people, the more likely it is going to be a power in its own right in your world - a.k.a. the Catholic Church basically being a governing power in our own history.)
Religion in Science Fiction
Apart from some science fantasy, I’m hard pressed to find many science fiction stories that include religion. I think there’s a general assumption that people will move away from religion, especially as we learn more about the world we live in.
But... people are people. And I’m 100% sure that there will always be some people who believe in something. Your dystopian government may not like it, but somebody somewhere will discover the last unburned copy of the Torah and a brand new religion with elements of Judaism will spring up around it. 
And that starship flying through space in the year 3277? Probably going to have Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, Muslims, and who knows what else on board. Though they may not practice religion the same way we do now. And who the crap knows what the aliens are going to believe in.
Common Themes in Religion
One of the final things I have to say is that, for as many differences there are in religions, there are a lot of commonalities. Things like prophets, and trickster gods, and miraculous births (such as children being found in rivers or born to virgins). I suggest you do some research on the commonalities in religions and use them if you need a bit of inspiration for crafting your own. 
Anyway, I’ve rambled long enough. I just want you to consider some of these things. This is just one way to build a little more complexity into a world you’ve created, and it can do a lot for everything from plot to making the reader really believe that your world exists. So have at it! Enjoy playing god(s). 
1K notes · View notes
asinglebulb · 5 years
Text
Tastes just like cherry cola
I’m going to try and write down some of my thoughts regarding this whole Methodist mess. Messodist. Ha. 
Every conservative Christian I know purports to love their LGBT brothers and sisters. They love them, they affirm them, they welcome them into their congregations. They just can’t let them get married or be ordained or do a whole load of other things that their hetero counterparts are allowed to do. This is because the Bible states clearly that their lifestyle (God, I hate that word) is a sin and, therefore, is in opposition to Christian beliefs and values. 
I do not argue that the Bible provides a clear statement condemning homosexuality. The most well-known examples are found in Leviticus, chapters 18 and 20.
You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. (18:22)
If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their blood is upon them. (20:13)
So. Pretty cut and dry. Here’s the thing, though. There are a couple of different camps concerning the reading of the Bible. Either you believe that the Bible was written during a certain time period for a certain audience in a certain context, and it’s important to update our own interpretations based on a modern audience and context. Or you believe that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God and can therefore only be interpreted in one way, and that is to the letter. (Spoiler alert: everyone in the second camp is wrong.)
If you happen to be among the folks who believe that every statement in the Bible requires immediate and unqualified acceptance, more power to you. It’s definitely a way to live. I imagine it’s safe to assume that, after reading this entry, you’ll be emptying out your checking account and 401k, selling your home, and giving every penny to the needy. We are commanded to do this, and a number of other uncomfortable things, repeatedly throughout scripture. 
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “There is still one thing lacking. Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” (Luke 18:22)
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)
So we’re all agreed to go ahead and update our understanding of the Bible for a modern audience, right? Good. This leaves us with the possibility that, even in a modern context, the Bible still argues that homosexuality is a sin. Let’s unpack that.
The aforementioned Book of Leviticus is, for the most part, a code of conduct dictated to Moses by God on Mt. Sinai. It’s basically “Ten Commandments: The Director’s Cut.” In reality, it’s a list of rules, written down over a very long time, governing things like hygiene and societally acceptable behavior. Throughout the text, it’s made clear that this code is to prevent the Israelites from behaving as the Egyptians and Canaanites historically had. This behavior included fertility rites consisting of sexual rituals. During these rituals, whole families, including husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, cousins, aunts and uncles would sometimes have sex. Also included was sex with temple prostitutes. In short, every kind of sexual practice imaginable was performed at these rituals, including homosexual sex. They liked to party.
Historians have concluded that, in Canaanite culture, long-term homosexual relationships did not exist. A tribal culture where there were strict divisions between men’s and women’s work, and offspring were considered essential for survival, simply would not have allowed for that sort of development. It’s unreasonable, therefore, to believe the author of Leviticus intended to prohibit a form of homosexual relationship that did not exist at the time. When read in textual and historical context, the "abominations” mentioned in Leviticus 18 and 20 are clearly directed at homosexual temple prostitution, and that is how they should be interpreted.
So maybe the Bible doesn’t specifically condemn homosexuality as a lifestyle (that damn word again, ugh), but does that mean it’s explicitly supported? Fortunately for us, there is scriptural evidence to answer this question, unlike, for example, abortion, which has no material whatsoever for reference, meaning the right-wing evangelicals arguing a pro-life case based on religion have no Biblical leg on which to stand. But I digress.
When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible distress.” And he said to him, “I will come and cure him.” The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, “Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you according to your faith.” And the servant was healed in that hour. (Matthew 8:5-13)
A quick lesson in Greek vocabulary: there are two words used in the original translation of this scripture that are noteworthy - pais and doulos. Doulos is a generic term for “slave”, which lines up with the English translation used above (NRSV, for anyone curious). Pais, however, has three different meanings. It could mean “son or boy;” it could mean “servant,” or it could mean a particular type of servant - one who was “his master’s male lover.” When the centurion referred to this particular slave, he used the word pais. When referring to any other slave, he used the other term, doulos, as if to draw a distinction. The clear implication is that the sick man was no ordinary slave. And when pais was used to describe a servant who was not an ordinary slave, it meant only one thing — a slave who was the master’s male lover. Jesus knew this and still healed the man, taking time to remark on the exemplary faith displayed by his lover. 
Then they wept aloud again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. So she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” But Ruth said,
“Do not press me to leave you    or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go;    where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people,    and your God my God. Where you die, I will die—    there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus and so to me,    and more as well, if even death parts me from you!”
When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her. (Ruth 1:14-18)
A Hebrew lesson this time. The word translated into the English “clung” was originally dabaq. There’s another place in the Bible that word is used.
And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,
“This at last is bone of my bones    and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman,    for out of Man this one was taken.”
Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. (Genesis 2:22-24)
That’s Adam and Eve, by the way. A man clings - dabaq - to his wife. The very same way that Adam felt about Eve, the same way a husband is supposed to feel about his wife, is the way Ruth felt about Naomi. That love is what led her to proclaim, “Where you die, I will die - there will I be buried.” 
But he said to them, “Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.” (Matthew 19:11-12)
Last one, promise. Although I could do this all day. This particular passage is Jesus’ response to the permissibility of divorce. Hi answer is, more or less, you’re not allowed to get divorced - another thing that folks who argue strict Biblical adherence might struggle with - but clarifies these three groups as people who should not marry women. What’s a eunuch, you ask? The short version is that it’s a man who has been castrated. Generally, we assume this castration is a physical act, but in this case, historical context implies a more symbolic meaning.
In reverse order: eunuchs who "have made themselves” eunuchs. It stands to reason that there aren’t many people out there who would castrate themselves, so we’re meant here to understand that these are men who have foregone marriage in order to better serve God. Sort of like Catholic priests. Well, the non-creepy ones, anyway.
Next, eunuchs who were “made eunuchs by others.” Yeah, that’s... that’s a regular old-fashioned castrato. Ouch.
Finally, eunuchs who “have been so from birth.” In ancient Jewish culture, “natural” or “born” eunuchs were not associated with missing testicles. Rather, they were associated with stereotypically effeminate characteristics and behavior, not unlike modern gay men. I’m not saying the stereotype is accurate, just that it exists. Moreover, eunuchs were commonly associated with homosexual desire. Jesus would have been well aware of this common view, yet states in no uncertain terms that some people are just born that way. You’re welcome, Lady Gaga. 
Finally, my favorite piece of evidence that the Bible doesn’t really give a shit who you love: There was no word in Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek for "homosexual" or "homosexuality." These words were invented near the end of the 19th century when psychoanalysts began to discover and understand sexuality as an essential part of the human personality in all of its diversity. Consequently, it cannot be claimed that the Bible says anything at all about it. The writers of the Bible had neither the understanding of it nor the language for it.
There’s a church here in town, part of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, with the following statement on their website:
The Scriptures clearly proclaim homosexual behavior as contrary to God's will and therefore sinful. The EPC affirms a life-changing gospel which can heal and transform even such a deep-rooted and serious deviation as homosexuality. A position paper on homosexuality is available.
This is wrong on so many levels, and I don’t even really want to tie it into the rest of this post, but it makes me so angry every time I think about it that I couldn’t not include it.
The United Methodist Church’s brand promise, since 2001, has been:
Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors.
However, they have just made it clear to the world that members of the LGBT community are second-class citizens. They are not worthy of marriage or ordination. Pastors who officiate same-sex weddings will be stripped of their titles. Churches that do not certify adherence to this position will be removed from the denomination. Time to find a new slogan.
Almost all Christians claim to love everyone, gay or straight, black or white, you name it. But claims and actions can be very different, and any belief which serves to diminish other people is clearly not born from love. Homosexuality is not a lifestyle, it is an important part of a person’s identity. Any position which states that God loves LGBT people but disapproves of this aspect of their identity is misguided. I don’t know much, but I know this: God created everyone, that creation was intentional, and it was deemed to be good. It is not possible, then, for God to disapprove of or consider sinful a fundamental part of this creation.
Bearing all of this in mind, I’m left with just one belief: “Christians” - and I use the quotes there with the maximum amount of snark available - who hold themselves in opposition to homosexuality or any other group on the gender or sexuality spectrum, do not do so out of any legitimate religious belief. Instead, these positions are rooted in a misguided morality and then justified via deliberately misinterpreted scripture. It breaks my heart to know there are so many who would pervert my faith to assuage their fears and increase their comfort. I mourn for my LGBT brothers and sisters, and I hope for a day when we can all agree that hatred has no place in the Kingdom of God. 
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)
0 notes
Text
Fire with Fire 1986: A Modern Retelling of Old Tropes
Released in 1986, I first saw this movie when I was seventeen years old, back in the post-infancy of cable television. It was offered in the free section of Pay-Per-View (PPV). In those days, movies were not released to PPV mere weeks after theatrical release, nor could you pre-order anything. It was over a year before I ran across it on television. I recorded it on VHS and the summer before my junior year of high school, watched it incessantly. I remember one reviewer asking “What hath Shakespeare wrought?”
Indeed, this is a modern retelling of not only Romeo and Juliet with a happier ending (they live), but it also introduced me to one of my favorite painting styles. Early in the film, Lisa Taylor (Virginia Madsen, in one of her earliest roles) is recreating John Everett Millais’ “Ophelia,” another Shakespearean reference. Years later, as a non-traditional undergrad in my thirties, I rediscovered this painting style, and found out it was deemed pre-Raphaelite. It’s amazing what movies can teach us, even if we don’t realize it at the outset. I have since become a connoisseur—particularly of John Waterhouse, although Gabriel Rossetti runs a far second. My issue with the latter as always stemmed from Rossetti’s subject matters appearing stone cold unreachable, whereas with Waterhouse there was some hint of vulnerability in his subjects.
Like a pre-Raphaelite painting at this point, Lisa (and by extension, the actress portraying her, Virginia Madsen), was a mystery to me as she is spied upon by Joe Fisk, an inmate at a nearby juvenile detention camp while he undergoes track and trail training with his fellows. I almost felt I was in Joe’s place—having not seen her previous starring work in Electric Dreams—Madsen was an enigma to me. In the mind of my youth I was as captivated by her as Joe was, her beauty was nearly surreal. Even after she spoke, she maintained an air of inscrutability. With this, she carried that 19th century Millais unknowable subject matter right into the pop-culture rich 80s.  It wasn’t until much later in the film that she became human to me; and at that point lost some of her appeal—there is something lackluster in shattering the illusion of this sort of puzzle in a love story that pales the onset of infatuation. Perhaps it is too much like real life—teenagers and romantics want to see the act of falling in love; not its fallout, even if it bumps its way to the sort of “us against the world” ending that we all hunger for.
Shakespeare seemed to know this. It is peppered throughout his poetry, and not least of all in his tragedies—which the great majority of his love stories were. His tragic heroines were either villainous (Lady Macbeth being the most readily obvious example) or victims of love. The latter type were either a) victims of unrequited love (as in Ophelia herself, whose great love was so obsessed with solving a family mystery that returning her affections was moot) or b) victims of circumstance (Romeo returns Juliet’s love, but their feuding families make being open about their romance impossible and they are forced to elope instead).
Still, there is something satisfying in re-writing these historical tragedies where not only does Joe keenly return Lisa’s feelings, but the pair manages to outsmart parents, Catholic school nuns, and the law. What is even more extraordinary is that this film is inspired by true events that happened in Oregon a few years prior. Of course I didn’t know this at the time, and in the larger scheme of things it doesn’t really matter. What is enduring about this drama are themes that traverse ages: forbidden young love, fighting the system, and transcendence. These are tropes found in classical poets such as Virgil and Ovid, biblical stories, medieval romances, and various works from Shakespeare to the Brontë sisters.
As a teenager—albeit an intelligent one—I mainly watched this movie on its surface level. I thrilled at Lisa’s cleverness of suggesting her school host a dance for the boys in the neighboring detention center as a guise to get Joe in her vicinity. My heart melted as Joe and Lisa slow danced at this event, their fingers entwined. And, yes, as a life-long romantic, I gazed longingly as they meet in a crypt to become physically intimate for the first time. It didn’t dawn on me that this story of people my age finding love was resonating on a deeper level until I entered my junior year and—as a college prep English student—began to study the likes of Shakespeare and modernized Chaucer.
Yes this film is fluffy, but it is also genius. It shrewdly snuck in lessons about Renaissance and Victorian art, literature, and culture, all while posing as a wish-fulfillment teenage romance romp. Watching it today as a middle-aged woman, I can appreciate its skill in acquainting me with Millais, and by extension Waterhouse and Rossetti, Shakespeare and the latter Romantic writers like Austen, the Brontës, and the Shelleys. It got me hooked on the Byronic hero through the character of Joe, and the almost unattainable beauty of a Romantic heroine through Lisa. If I were a teacher of high school English or a university Literature professor and wanted to garner interest in these topics for succeeding generations, I would show them this film, pausing to discuss its intricacies and all the tropes it smartly introduces to kids who might not otherwise give a shit.
0 notes
johnchiarello · 5 years
Text
Sunday sermon
SUNDAY SERMON
 2 Timothy 3:16 [Full Chapter]
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
 Blog-  https://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/
The blog is my main site- on some sites if you click the link it gives a ‘warning’- if that happens- simply type the address in or search on google- the site is safe- the most up to date posts are on the Blog.
Site- https://ccoutreach87.com/
Follow us on Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5?ref=bookmarks
Subscribe to our Youtube channel- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg?view_as=subscriber
Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/john.chiarello/channel/
Friend us on VK https://vk.com/id533663718  
Friend us on OK https://ok.ru/profile/589985645111
Follow us on Tumblr http://johnchiarello.tumblr.com/
Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ccoutreach87
Connect on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/home?trk=hb_logo
Watch our videos here-
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ccoutreach87/
https://www.dailymotion.com/ccoutreach87/videos
https://www.bitchute.com/channel/jsS961GkXUSn/
Other sites- https://ccoutreach87.com/links-to-my-sites-updated-10-2018/  
Cloud links- https://ccoutreach87.com/cloud-links-12-2018/
[Links to all my sites at the bottom of this post]
NOTE- Every so often some of my sites think I am Spam- or a Bot- I am not. My name is John Chiarello and I post original content [all videos and text are by me]. I do share my past posts from my other sites- but it is not spam- Thank you- John.
   Sunday sermon videos
https://youtu.be/YOC4SkjwvqI
https://www.dropbox.com/s/usompsuhz74dtbk/3-11-18%20Sunday%20sermon.mp4?dl=0
https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhSRGu1dng_0D5DEX
 ON VIDEO
.Pseudepigraphy
.Renaissance
.Elijah and Enoch
.John 3- Ephesians 2
.Galileo- Copernicus- Kepler
.Medici family
.Florence Italy [center of the Renaissance]
.Savonarola
.Erasmus
.Scientific revolution
.Was the controversy over a flat earth?
.No
.Heliocentric versus Geocentric
.Ptolemy’s cosmos- not that bad after all
.Alexander the great
.The philosophers
.The bible and science
.What about ‘Sun rise- Sun set?’
.Phenomenological language in scripture https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/phenomenological 
.The higher critics- 1800’s- Germany
.Jude and Peter
.The development of the canon and church councils
.The rounding of numbers in scripture- fine
.The debate between Luther and the Catholic church in the 16th century- did Luther call James epistle a straw epistle [letter]?
.Yes- but why?
.Why did the original Protestant reformers settle on ‘a fallible collection of infallible books’?
.Final word- the bible is reliable- it is the Word of God
  NOTE-
This Sunday I spoke too long- and talked on too much. So- instead of trying to write it all- I’ll add my past teachings below.
 I did talk about the Mass verses- the ones I heard on the radio this Sunday. And I mentioned a few verses that pastor Bil spoke on [Church Unlimited].
 Many of the subjects I talked about today I have talked about before. I guess that's OK- recurring  themes [repeating stuff] is actually a biblical principle.
So for those who never heard some of this before- I hope it benefits you. And for those who have heard this before- maybe it will rekindle your own desire to teach- speak- and ‘argue’ for the faith.
God bless all- John
 PAST POSTS [My past teachings that relate- Other videos below]
https://ccoutreach87.com/overview-of-philosophy/
https://ccoutreach87.com/protestant-reformation-luther/
https://ccoutreach87.com/ephesians-links/
https://ccoutreach87.com/john-complete-links-added/
https://ccoutreach87.com/galatians-links/ 
https://ccoutreach87.com/james-2015/
 [1770] TREASURY OF MERIT
 Let’s pick up where we left off 2 posts back. We were talking about Martin Luther and the events that led up to the Protestant Reformation.
 In order to understand the key act that caused the protest- we will have to teach some Catholic history/doctrine.
 In the 16th century Pope Julius began the effort to build St. Peters basilica in Rome. He got as far as laying the foundation and died. Pope Leo the 10th would pick up after him.
 The church needed to raise money for the project- and the German prince- Albert- would play a major role.
 It should be noted that both Catholic and Protestant scholars agree that the Popes of the day were pretty corrupt. They came from what we call the Medici line of Popes.
 If you remember last month I wrote a post on the Renaissance- I talked about the Medici family and how they played a major role in supporting the Renaissance that took place in the 13th century in Florence Italy that would spread to the region.
 Well this very influential family also played a big role in who would get top positions in the church.
 At the time of Luther and prince Albert- if you had the right connections and the money- you could literally buy a position in the church.
 Albert already held 2 Bishop seats- and there was an opening for an Archbishops seat in Mainz [Germany] and he wanted that one too.
 It should be noted that official Canon law [church law] said you could only hold one seat at a time- Albert was bidding on his 3rd one! And he was too young for all of them.
 So even the Pope and the officials held little respect for what the church actually taught at the time.
 So Albert opens up negotiations with Leo- and the bidding starts AT 12,000 Duckets [money] Albert counters with 7,000- and they agree on 10,000. How did they justify the numbers? 12- The number of Apostles. 7- The 7 deadly sins. 10- The 10 commandments.
 Yes- the church was pretty corrupt at the time.
 So Albert works out a plan with Leo- he will borrow the money from the German banks- and pay the banks off by the Pope giving Albert the right to sell Indulgences.
 What’s an Indulgence?
 Okay- this is where it gets tricky.
 The ancient church taught a system called The Treasury of Merit. This was a sort of spiritual bank account that ‘stored up’ the good deeds of others over the years.
 You had the good deeds of Jesus at the top- but you also had Mary and Joseph- the 12 Apostles- and other various saints thru out time.
 The way the ‘bank’ worked was you could tap into the account by getting a Papal indulgence- a sort of I.O.U. that had the Popes guarantee that it would get so much time out of Purgatory for a loved one.
 The actual sacrament that accesses the account is called Penance [confession].
 When a penitent does penance- he confesses his sin to the priest- and he is absolved by the authority of the church that the priest has. The priest usually tells the person ‘say so many Hail Mary’s- Our Father’s’ and that’s a form of penance.
 One of the other things the church practiced was called Alms Deeds. This term is found in the bible and it means giving your money to the poor- it is a noble act that Jesus himself taught.
 In theory- part of the sacrament of penance was tied into Alms Deeds- you can access the account thru the practice of giving to the poor- which also meant giving to the church that helps the poor- and in the hands of the Medici line of Popes- meant outright giving money to the Pope.
 So now you see how the abuse worked its way into the pockets of the faithful.
 Albert now had the permission from Leo to sell these indulgences in Germany- and he would pick a certain corrupt priest to sell them in a place called Saxony- the region where Luther operated out of.
 It should be noted that the Catholic Church never taught the crass act of ‘buying your way out of Purgatory’. The practice of including giving money as a part of the sacrament of penance was tied into the biblical principle of giving to the poor- a good thing.
 But Tetzel and others abused the official meaning of the indulgence- and did make it sound like you could by your way out of Purgatory [in theory- a loved one might be in Purgatory for so many years- and through the indulgence you are actually getting time off for them- because the good deeds of others are now applied to the account].
 The money Albert would raise- half would go to Rome for the building of St. peters- and half would go to pay off the banks in Germany- it was a sad system- and a sad time for the church as a whole.
 It would be wrong to judge the entire church at the time as being corrupt- you did have many sincere Priests and Catholic men and women who saw the abuses and did not take part in them.
 But there was corruption at the top- and this would eventually lead to the breakup of the church- and the launching of what we now call the Protestant Movement.
 As a side note- it should be said that many Catholics and Protestants are not aware of the whole treasury of merit system- and the church never officially changed her position on the doctrine.
 There were 3 Church councils since the time [Trent- 1500’s, Vatican 1- 1800’s and Vatican 2- 1962-65]. The Treasury of Merit never came up for change.
 Obviously Protestants don’t believe in Purgatory- and it’s not my purpose in these posts to change Catholics into Protestants or vice versa- but to give all sides a clear view of the issues that divided us- and to try and be honest- and respectful during the process.
 Does the bible teach anything like a Treasury of Merit? Well actually it does. The bible teaches that the righteousness of Christ is the treasury that people can access- by faith- and become righteous in the sight if God.
 The idea- applied to Christ- is good.
 But in the hands of the Medici Popes- and the ambitious prince of Germany- it would lead to disaster.
  [parts]
Alexander sought to implement the ideals of his teacher- he wanted to unify the known world under one people/culture- a belief that Aristotle held- a sort of ‘unified theory’ [Einstein] that would seek to bring all learning/knowledge together under one supreme [Divine] principle.
 Alexander’s experiment was called Hellenization- which was the Greek worlds attempt to impose Greek culture/language on all their conquered enemies- and at the same time allow them to hold on to the their own culture too. Alexander did amazingly well at this experiment- at the young age of around 24 he had accomplished most of his mission. The cities were a sort of composite of Greek culture mixed in with their own culture- this is where we get the modern term Cosmopolitan.
 Alexander died young and his kingdom was divided between 4 generals- one of them- Ptolemy- would himself make it into the history books because of his keen intellect.
 The system of cosmology developed under him would last [and work!] until some 17-18 hundred years later when it was overthrown by the Copernican revolution during the time of Copernicus and Galileo.
 Alexander’s generals would do their best to carry on the system of Hellenization- and other nation’s generals would keep the system going even after Greece fell. One of them- Octavian [Roman general] makes it into the history books by another famous name- Julius Caesar.
 Alexander established a great library in the Egyptian city of Alexandria [named after him] and many of the great writings were preserved during this time.
 The writings of Aristotle would be discovered again during the time of Thomas Aquinas [13th century Catholic genius/scholar] and this would lead to Scholasticism [a peculiar school of thought developed/revived under Aquinas] and give rise to the Renaissance.
 Okay- before the birth of Christ- the Jewish people resisted the imposing of Greek culture upon them- you had the very famous resistance under the Jewish Maccabean revolt- where the Jews rose up and fought the wicked ruler Antiochus Epiphanies- and till this day the Jewish people celebrate this victory at Hanukah.
 Eventually Rome would conquer the Greek kingdom and the Jewish people were allowed to keep their culture and temple- yet they were still a people oppressed. Hassidism [getting back to the beginning] developed during this attempt to not lose their Jewish roots- the Pharisees of Jesus day came from this movement.
 Alexander was pretty successful in his attempt to unify language- even though the bible [New Testament] was written by Jewish writers- living under Roman rule- yet the original bible is written in the Greek language.
 Bible scholars till this day study the Greek language to find the truest meaning of the actual words in the bible [I have a Greek Lexicon sitting right in front of me].
 It would take a few centuries before a Latin version appeared on the scene [the great church father- Jerome- would produce the Latin Vulgate].
 Yet it would be the re- discovery and learning of the Greek texts [under men like Erasmus- and the Protestant Reformers] that would lead to the Reformation [16th century] and other movements in church history.
   The Jews had various responses to the empires that ruled over them during various times.
Alexander the Great instituted Hellenization- a sort of cultural compromise over the people he conquered.
They could keep their religious/cultural roots- but would be subservient to Alexander and Greek rule.
Some Jewish people rejected any compromise- we call them the Essenes- they moved out of town- so to speak, and lived in what we refer to as the Qumran community.
This was a few centuries before the time of Christ- and this was where the Dead Seas Scrolls were found in the 20th century.
A Bedouin boy was looking for his goats- threw a rock in a cave right off the Dead Sea- and that’s how we found the scrolls.
The scrolls might have been hidden there by the Essenes-
Now- when my friends asked me about them- I told them that it’s been a while since I read up on any of this- but to the best of my memory the thing that made them significant was the fact that they were very old manuscripts- from the bible- and they backed up what we had had all along.
[parts]
PAST LINKS [verses below]
HISTORY OF EVERYTHING- IN 1 HOUR
And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. ...  2nd Thes. 2:10-13
 https://youtu.be/uwDi82SICXo  History of everything in 1 hour [part 1]
https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/6-16-16-history-of-everything.zip 
[parts]
(1327) GALATIANS; INTRO- Okay, finally made it, been wanting to teach this letter for a while. Let me overview some church history that I feel would be helpful in understanding the book. During the 16th century Reformation you had an explosion take place within Christianity, though the official ‘schism’ dates back to the year 1054 between the western [Catholic] and eastern [Orthodox] expressions of the church, yet in reality it was the 16th century upheaval that really split the church. A few centuries before [14-15th century] you had rumblings within the church that had well taught Catholic men challenging many of the institutional concepts of the church; men like John Huss, Wycliffe and others. These men were extremely influential and had an effect on the church. Then in the 16th century you had Catholic writers who remained within the Catholic Church, but they too challenged the status quoi. Men like Erasmus of Rotterdam, these intellectuals would call for the idea of going back to the original sources of study [Greek New Testament and also other renaissance ideas] and this too would lead to the historic Reformation. But without a doubt Martin Luther [the Catholic monk out of Wittenberg, Germany] would be the firebrand of the movement. Martin was a well trained Augustinian monk who struggled with the guilt of sin for many years. Not normal guilt, but extreme. A fellow Catholic leader would encourage Luther to trust in the grace of God for his forgiveness. While reading the book of Romans [whose themes relate strongly to Galatians] he would come along the famous passage ‘the just shall live by faith’ and in Luther’s mind this was a total release from the bondage of trying to appease God thru all the religious works that he was going thru. In essence Luther discovered the historic gospel of grace thru the reading of Romans and was set free. Now Luther had no intention of leaving the Catholic Church, but as a very influential teacher/scholar out of the university city in Germany, he had lots of influence. The Catholic church at the time was worldwide and you had differing views of the church in various states. Many saw the state of the church in Rome as having given in to materialism and become too worldly. Rome was at the time trying to raise money for the restoring of the religious buildings at Rome and one of the priests going around selling indulgences was named Tetzel. The abuse of selling these ‘get out of purgatory early’ things was offensive to many Catholics, and Luther had ‘no small stir’ when Tetzel reached his area. These things would lead to the famous nailing of the 95 questions on the door of Catholic academia and would be the beginnings of the historic split. While it would take way too much time to go into all the theological differences between the Protestants and the Catholics, one of the main issues deals with how we as Christians view ‘being saved’. The historic Protestant position is called ‘justification by faith alone’ [Sola Fide] the Catholics counter with ‘the only time ‘faith alone’ is mentioned is in the book of James, where it says a man is not saved/justified by ‘faith alone’. Ouch! The main point I want to make is this letter deals with the early church’s belief that man is accepted with God based on the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. Paul will challenge the ‘Judaisers’ [those who believed you needed to keep the law in order to be saved] and will argue that the law itself [Old Testament books] teaches that men are justified/accepted with God based on believing in the free gift of God thru Christ. Make no mistake about it, the New Testament clearly teaches this doctrine. Catholic and Protestant theologians BOTH agree that man is freely saved by the grace of God in Christ. But at the time of Luther’s day these glorious truths were lost in the morass of religious tradition and works. As we read thru this letter in the next few days, I want all of our readers to see the argument Paul is making from this basic theological view point. Is man saved by works [keeping Gods law] or grace? The bible teaches grace. Now I don’t have the time to also introduce the modern controversy between the ‘new view’ of Paul between Protestants [called new perspective]. There is an ongoing debate over whether or not the historic Reformation view of Paul is correct [men like N.T. Wright and John Piper are hashing it out] and I do think there are some merits to this discussion, but before we can delve into that aspect, we first need to see the historic question of works versus faith, and this letter is one of the best to deal with the issue.
 (1[parts]
Rationalism- as a philosophy- was an outgrowth of all the great strides that man was making in all these other areas of life. The Scientific Revolution totally challenged the age old beliefs of many in the church.
 Math became a sort of new ‘god’. How so? As science invented the Microscope and Telescope- man was able for the first time to peer deeply into the heavens- and to see deeply into the microscopic world.
 As the great minds [Copernicus] showed us that the Universe was different than what we thought [Heliocentric versus Geocentric] man was able to do mathematical calculations and to say that a specific planet or star [or Comet] would show up at an exact date- or spot- and Walla- it would happen [you could look thru the Telescope and sure enough the math was right- the object that was calculated to be there- was.]
 These calculations were mathematical formulas- so math began to be seen as the new religion in many ways.
 There are even some thinkers in the modern day that still say the only ‘real truth’ that exists is mathematical formulas. Yeah- one guy wrote an entire book on the subject- the problem? Well- his book was not written in math- but words.
 Yes- even the extreme deniers of Objective truth do make mistakes.
 Now- what’s wrong with rationalism? Of course being rational is okay- but the philosophy itself denied real Objective truth. Truth that corresponds to some other ‘outside’ reality.
 This form of thinking [rejecting outside reality] is called Relativism/Subjectivism. While there is some truth to all the various fields of thought- yet extreme Relativism denies ‘reality’ as most of us understand the term.  There was a strong resistance to the 17th century rationalists- we call this Philosophy Empiricism.
 The main thinker in this field was John Locke. Locke lived most of his life in the 17th century- but his thought laid the foundation for the 18th century Empiricist.
 This philosophy says that the mind does indeed play a major role in the knowledge of things- but this knowledge does not originate in the mind [Plato] but in the ‘thing’ itself [Aristotle- remember when we covered these men? Plato was an idealist- Ideas were more real than matter. Aristotle was a Realist- closer to the thought of Locke].
 Locke developed a theory called the Correspondence theory- that truth that the Mind discovers corresponds to real things that actually exist apart from the mind.
 Locke was a practicing doctor- and most of the other thinkers of the day had room to speculate about reality in a way that Locke could not.
 He lived in a real world with real patients who had real symptoms- in a nutshell Locke had to diagnose his patients based on his findings- he could not deny that there was a real problem- he had to have his ‘feet on the ground’ [based in reality] while engaging with his head up high.
 Okay- I think we’ll end with this. Maybe you can go back and read some of my previous posts on this subject- just to become a little more familiar with it.
 As Christians- we are not ‘required’ to know Philosophy- or current events- or science- but it helps us engage the culture when we do educate ourselves in these areas.
 Go slow in learning [not too slow!] and try and see how the Christian Worldview agrees with- or rejects certain aspects of these different felids of thought.
 Most Christians would reject Rationalism as a Philosophy- because it denies real objective truth- it says truth is relative- whatever the mind can conceive- or think- can be defined as truth [Unicorns?]
 Biblical truth is based on real historic events- 1st Corinthians chapter 15 says that if we deny the physical  resurrection of Christ- a real event- then our faith is in vain.
 Christians base their faith on a real historic event- not simply on a belief system.
 [parts]
https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/6-16-16-history-of-everything.zip ON VIDEO- .Did my ‘prophecy’ come true? Watch and see .They said a rocket hit the plane .What did Patience say? .Update on detention center .Bishop Mulvey .I was right about Devon Anderson- planned parenthood- the judge said she broke the law .Where did the animals come from? .Is the story true? Mesopotamia .Palestine .Aristotle .They were looking for the ‘LOGOS’ .Ptolemy .Copernicus .Cosmology .Scientific/Industrial revolution .Sir Ramsey and documentary evidence .Luke/Acts as historical evidence .Phenomenological language .Aquinas- Anselm and Augustine .Richard Dawkins alien creator .Einstein and the big bang .C.S. Lewis .Everything is proof of God MY LINKS- https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/overview-of-philosophy/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/protestant-reformation-luther/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/qm/
But let’s do a short overview. One of the common misconceptions of the early church is that lots of people believed the earth was flat- this is actually false. As a matter of fact- a few hundred years before Christ most cosmology was based on the Ptolemaic idea.
 Ptolemy was one of the 4 generals that took part of the broken Greek kingdom after the death of Alexander the Great. Ptolemy [the family line] introduced a system of the solar system that had the earth as a globe- being surrounded by a sort of crystalline sphere. On this outer sphere were the stars and planets. As this sphere rotated around the earth- you had the variations occur in the heavens thru out the year.
 Now- even though this system would later be overturned by ‘Galeyoo’- yet it did work well for around 2 thousand years. Now- during the Copernican revolution [Galileo and Copernicus were both influential in the change of this system] they had developed a better system- through the invention of the telescope man was able for the first time to actually see the solar system up close.
 And we then had the great breakthrough of our understanding of the solar system- we are Heliocentric- the sun is indeed the focal point- and we revolve around it- not the other way around [which was the older idea called Geocentric].
 Oaky- when Gaioploi first came up with the idea [you do realize I’m talking about Galileo here- I need to clarify this just in case Sharpton reads this post] his initial idea was indeed off. There were some very serious flaws in the initial system.
 Other scientists critiqued the plan and found these flaws- yes- the other scientists of the day ‘voted down’ Galeyoo.
 But- like all the other spouting heads of MSNBC- why mention facts- especially when you are engaging in speech that says ‘look at the dumb Texan- he rejects science’.
 Let me finish with a confession- as somewhat of a quasi intellectual who likes getting into all these types of things- I must admit I also like watching smart comedies- you know- good intellectually stimulating stuff. So let me quote a line from Jack Blacks Nacho Libre.
 As Black is trying  to convince his wrestling partner to get baptized before the big match- they were going up against another team called Satan’s disciples [or something like that]. Black keeps pushing his partner to get baptized- and the partner refuses- he says ‘I don’t want to get baptized- because I believe in science’. Ah- there it is- the present mantra of the liberal media- Perry, Bachman, Mitt- the whole crowd- these people don’t believe in science- not like us truly intellectual folk- they are all idiots’!
 Ah- these guys are all like the people who fought Galileo- they are against true science. You know- I guess an argument like this might have some legs- but when the person making it keeps calling Galileo ‘Galeyoo’ well- maybe not.
   Kings 17
POSTED BY CCOUTREACH87 ⋅ JANUARY 17, 2018 ⋅ LEAVE A COMMENT
KINGS 17
Luke 4:21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
Kings 17
https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code=XZohkH7Z3RWCCqYjpokiqOTqYDnuUmODvcgy
This link [I have since removed it]- it was a teaching video I uploaded to Mega- testing on a cloud site- Mega- I’m not sure if the link works- but it’s funny how when you search and try ‘best free cloud’ various companies pop up. But until you try them you never know if they work for ‘you’. Some only play the first 3 minutes of video [Flickr] some have your videos play on a ‘porn’ lineup [Dailymotion] and some have other limitations. Overall I have learned that the best- most reliable ones are the normal dependable names on the market [IBM- Ustream]- Youtube- Google drive- etc]. So mega seemed like a good deal- the most free storage of them all. Then when I went to click ‘share’- a notice said do to copy right violations- you can’t share videos right now. I researched a bit and they have a disclaimer that the FBI or other government ‘intrusion’ might interfere with using the site- Ok- that might indeed be a problem. I just tried to copy the link above- no copy right violation- I own the video- and they are free to whoever wants them- but after all the work- and uploading- at least I might get one link out of the effort [New below].
Nuke alarm- mistake?- note to Tumblr friends –
Ecclesiastes 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: Update- https://youtu.be/7nZuLK-uQW8 [I made this the other day- and did a brief preview of Kings 17- also talked about local and world news]
ON VIDEO [Kings 17] .Why did Jesus use this miracle in Luke 4? .Elijah the prophet .Solace by the brook .Economic judgments .They effected Elijah too [the brook dried up] .The widow and 2 sticks .The jar of oil and meal [flour] .We see the elements of communion- and 2 becoming 1 [gathering of 2 sticks- see?] .The loft .The gospel .The plane
39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: 40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matt. 12
OTHER VIDEOS- https://youtu.be/ffi8bKDkiSY 2nd Samuel 16- homeless friends Samuel 7-8 https://vimeo.com/251236539 American sniper https://drive.google.com/file/d/12JYXB8zkWWW6AelPbypBY1qosExpuB2n/view?usp=sharing Mark 11 http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/111962603
NEW- Elijah brings a prophetic word of judgment to Ahab- 1Kings 17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. He then goes to the brook and God feeds him by the birds bringing him food, he also is sustained by drinking from the brook- 1Kings 17:3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. 1Kings 17:4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. The brook dries up- as a result of the word of the Lord- 1Kings 17:7 And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. And God sends him to a city that is outside of the borders of his people- 1Kings 17:8 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, 1Kings 17:9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. This will be for a sign that Jesus himself uses- Luke 4:25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; Luke 4:26 But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. God uses a widow woman to meet the needs of the prophet- and the bible says she was collecting 2 sticks and had both meal [flour] and oil- 1Kings 17:12 And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
These are elements of the communion table in a way- and the 2 sticks can be seen as the uniting of 2 people into one- Ezekiel 37:15 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, Ezekiel 37:16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and for all the house of Israel his companions: Ezekiel 37:17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. Then something happens- the woman’s son dies. Elijah will raise her son from the dead- and this will be the first recorded Resurrection from the dead in the bible- 1Kings 17:17 And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him. 1Kings 17:18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son? 1Kings 17:19 And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. 1Kings 17:20 And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? 1Kings 17:21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again. 1Kings 17:22 And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.
Why is this significant? Because the raising of the son from the dead will become the most important sign in all of history. During the ministry of Jesus the Jews were asking him for a sign- and he said there will no other sign be given to them like the sign of the son being raised from the dead-
38 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. 39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: 40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matt. 12
Yet this sign was indeed believed among the gentile nations- just like this sign was given to the widow woman of Sidon- a pagan people- and it was this sign that confirmed that the prophet was from God- 1Kings 17:23 And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth. 1Kings 17:24 And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.
Jesus himself said that Elijah was not sent to any widows in Israel- though there were many. But he gave this sign- and it was believed- by a widow from a pagan nation- one seen as not part of the people of God.
And this same sign of Jesus being risen from the dead was also believed by many in the gentile world- while the majority of the Jewish world did not believe it.
In short- we see the Gospel and it’s effects in the story of Elijah and the widow woman. We see a type of the Son of God in the first recorded resurrection found in scripture [A son raised from the dead]- And we see that is was in the sign of a son being raised from the dead- that showed to a gentile world- that he was the one sent from God.
PAST POSTS- [These are past teachings I did that fit with today’s post- Kings 17] People raised from the dead in the bible http://access-jesus.com/raised-from-the-dead-bible-list-html/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/07/07/acts-16/ KINGS- https://ccoutreach87.com/1st-2nd-kings/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/29/kings-2/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/12/kings-3/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/27/kings-4/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/05/04/kings-5/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/05/25/kings-6/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/06/17/kings-7/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/07/05/kings-8/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/07/18/kings-9/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/08/01/kings-10/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/08/22/kings-11/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/09/15/kings-12-3/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/10/19/kings-13-2/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/11/09/kings-14/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/12/06/kings-15/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/12/28/kings-16/
1ST KINGS 17- This chapter is pretty famous among Christians, not like the others we have looked at. God’s word comes to Elijah and he enters the scene as a significant Old Testament figure. Jesus will refer to John the Baptist as one who came in ‘the spirit and power of Elijah’. The religious people of Jesus day held on to the prophecy of Malachi that ‘before the great day of the Lords coming, Elijah would appear’ [Jesus applied this to John the Baptist] so the brother has good credentials. He comes out of the shoot like a rocket; he confronts Ahab, the wicked king of Israel and prophesies no rain in the land. God directs him to go into hiding/obscurity and live by a brook. The Ravens bring him food and he drinks from the brook. The drought causes the brook to dry up and God instructs him to go to a city and be cared for by a widow woman. He goes and asks the woman to provide for him, she fears she won’t have enough for both him and her small family [a son]. He encourages her not to fear and take care of him, she does and God provides supernaturally for the woman. Eventually her son dies and she blames God ‘did God bring you hear to show me what a sinner I am? Now my son dies!’ She was feeling condemned/guilty. Elijah takes the child and lays on him and God raises the boy from the dead, one of the greatest miracles that God does with men. A few things; Elijah was not there to instill fear into the average ‘church folk’. Last night I again made the mistake of channel surfing the Christian channels during ‘praise athon month’ [Double ouch!!] One channel had a brother telling the people ‘God is not moved unless your giving is sacrificial, it must hurt you to please God’ [in so many words] The other channel had a brother saying ‘God said if you hear preaching and benefit, and you don’t give money in return, you are sowing to the corruption of the flesh’ I am familiar with this passage, it is found in Corinthians. The tone and overall ‘sense’ of these appeals was wrong. It seemed to leave a feeling of fear and condemnation to the average channel surfer who might be looking for answers. Elijah told the widow woman ‘don’t fear’. Elijah also had the capacity to live in obscurity, though God spoke highly of him, yet he recognized that there would be seasons of obscurity; times when you simply serve the Lord thru simple tasks and go unrecognized for many years. I cant stress enough the contradiction between Jesus ethos of Christian leadership and what the average Christian is taught in our day. We connect Christian success in ministry with the tools of corporate growth and we simply set young ministers on a purpose driven course that often by passes the teachings and character of New Testament leadership. Elijah will eventually appear again on the scene, but he spent an awful lotta time by the brook!  
VERSES- [These are the verses I quoted or taught on the video- Kings 17] 1 Corinthians 1:22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Acts 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
1Kings 17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. 1Kings 17:2 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, 1Kings 17:3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. 1Kings 17:4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. 1Kings 17:5 So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. 1Kings 17:6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. 1Kings 17:7 And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. 1Kings 17:8 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, 1Kings 17:9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. 1Kings 17:10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. 1Kings 17:11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. 1Kings 17:12 And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. 1Kings 17:13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. 1Kings 17:14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth. 1Kings 17:15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. 1Kings 17:16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah. 1Kings 17:17 And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him. 1Kings 17:18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son? 1Kings 17:19 And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. 1Kings 17:20 And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? 1Kings 17:21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again. 1Kings 17:22 And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. 1Kings 17:23 And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth. 1Kings 17:24 And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.
Luke 4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. Luke 4:17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, Luke 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Luke 4:20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. Luke 4:21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. Luke 4:22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son? Luke 4:23 And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. Luke 4:24 And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. Luke 4:25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; Luke 4:26 But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. Ezekiel 37:15 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, Ezekiel 37:16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and for all the house of Israel his companions: Ezekiel 37:17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. Ezekiel 37:18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these? Ezekiel 37:19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. Ezekiel 37:20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. Ezekiel 37:21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: Ezekiel 37:22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all. Ezekiel 37:23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. Ezekiel 37:24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. Ezekiel 37:25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. Ezekiel 37:26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. Ezekiel 37:27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Ezekiel 37:28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore. Ecclesiastes 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: Ecclesiastes 3:2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; Ecclesiastes 3:3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; Ecclesiastes 3:4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; Ecclesiastes 3:5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; Ecclesiastes 3:6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; Ecclesiastes 3:7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; Ecclesiastes 3:8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. Ecclesiastes 3:9 What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? Ecclesiastes 3:10 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. Ecclesiastes 3:11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. Ecclesiastes 3:12 I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. Ecclesiastes 3:13 And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God. Ecclesiastes 3:14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him. Ecclesiastes 3:15 That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past. Ecclesiastes 3:16 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. Ecclesiastes 3:17 I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work. Ecclesiastes 3:18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. Ecclesiastes 3:19 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. Ecclesiastes 3:20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Ecclesiastes 3:21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? Ecclesiastes 3:22 Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?
MY SITES http://www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com [Main site] https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5?ref=bookmarks https://ccoutreach87.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg
https://plus.google.com/108013627259688810902/posts https://vimeo.com/user37400385 john chiarelloFollow On https://www.linkedin.com/home?trk=hb_logo http://johnchiarello.tumblr.com/ http://ccoutreach.over-blog.com/ https://www.reddit.com/user/ccoutreach87 https://ccoutreach87.jimdo.com/ http://ccoutreach87.webstarts.com/__blog.html?r=20171009095200 http://ccoutreach87-1.mozello.com/ http://ccoutreach87.webs.com/ https://ccoutreach87.site123.me/ http://ccoutreach87.wixsite.com/mysite https://corpusoutreach.weebly.com/ http://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/p/one-link_18.html https://www.flickr.com/photos/ccoutreach87/ https://www.ustream.tv/channel/WPxcs6kMdjN https://drive.google.com/drive/my-drive
Note- Please do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on- Copy text- download video links [Wordpress- Vimeo] make complete copies of my books/studies and posts- everything is copyrighted by me- I give permission for all to copy and share as much as you like- I just ask that nothing be sold. We live in an online world- yet- there is only one internet- meaning if it ever goes down- the only access to the teachings are what others have copied or downloaded- so feel free to copy and download as much as you want- it’s all free- Thanks- John.
[parts]
Kings 19
POSTED BY CCOUTREACH87 ⋅ FEBRUARY 15, 2018 ⋅ LEAVE A COMMENT
KINGS 19 1Kings 19:12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. Kings 19
ON VIDEO- [Filmed by the Lexington- good view of C.C. bay] .The history of fire and Elijah .Jezebel threatens the prophet .He ‘saw’ her words and fled .Why? Words create images in the mind .Elijah meets God- Earth, Wind and Fire .Than the still small voice .The fire in 2nd Kings 1- how did Elijah use it? .Did Elijah abuse the fire? .Jesus talks about Elijah and the fire- he came to save, not destroy .Leadership principles .Who is ‘your’ Judas? Or do we all play the role at one time or another?
OTHER VIDEOS- 2-13-18 Its all a gift https://youtu.be/USspJjtGN7E [I did not plan to teach on this video- but did talk about the Mass readings from this past Sunday- and will add them below under the VERSES section- here’s one verse from the video] – John 3:27 John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.
Samuel 15 https://vimeo.com/255652502 Acts 1 https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMddxUWpVS9RrGHjM Church History https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cz0Kyt77nZ6dsA93KOJjDbVii5tiqzTu/view?usp=sharing
John 12 [Heb. 6] https://vimeo.com/255477016 Kings 17 https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMdDGvaPNxP9Hgz3E John Locke- political theory- Jesus https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AAVBBVSygarsfTOEvPyhhz-GQv2C8XER/view?usp=sharing Empire state building [NYC] https://youtu.be/RH72w3GsXqE Samuel- John- Hebrews [review] https://vimeo.com/255825801
2-12-18 The real Moses https://youtu.be/KBNlvrkJE4c Deuteronomy 18:15 The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations Acts 3:22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
NEW- I want to focus on one aspect of this chapter- Elijah’s 2 chances. In this chapter we read how after the great victory over the false prophets- Elijah is then threatened by Jezebel- 1Kings 19:2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.
As he flees her wrath- he requests from God- that he might die- 1Kings 19:4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. He also intercedes- against Israel- 1Kings 19:9 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? 1Kings 19:10 And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. God provides food and drink for the tired prophet- and after some time to recover- God asks Elijah once again- and the prophet gives the same answer.
He then basically allows Elijah to leave the ministry- and simply gives him 3 more tasks to do [in the chapter]- One of them is to anoint his own replacement- 1Kings 19:15 And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria: 1Kings 19:16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. In this famous story we see how God was not in the various manifestations- Specifically not ‘in the fire’- 1Kings 19:11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: 1Kings 19:12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. I feel that Elijah had a chance to change his response. That God was showing the prophet that his job was not only to mete out justice- but to also make intercession for his people.
In the New Testament we read how 2 disciples of Jesus remembered the history of Elijah- and they asked Jesus if they too should call down fire from heaven- Luke 9:51 And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, Luke 9:52 And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. Luke 9:53 And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. Luke 9:54 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? Jesus rebukes them- and shows them that he came to save men- not destroy men- Luke 9:55 But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. Luke 9:56 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village. What account were the disciples referring to? It is found in 2nd Kings 1- 2Kings 1:9 Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him: and, behold, he sat on the top of an hill. And he spake unto him, Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down. 2Kings 1:10 And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. 2Kings 1:11 Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus hath the king said, Come down quickly. 2Kings 1:12 And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. Notice how Elijah [not God] took it upon himself to call down fire- he already had the great experience where God came thru for him- with fire- 1Kings 18:37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. 1Kings 18:38 Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. Yet now it seems like he became too familiar with it. After all- the messengers did not have to die this day [the 2 companies of 50]- yet- as a prophet sent from God- He knew God would honor his word.
The authority the prophet had was for real- and he had the faith to see it work- as many times as he felt he should ‘Tap’ into it. Yet Jesus- and Paul- tell us that he was interceding in a wrong way- Paul puts it this way- Romans 11:2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel saying, Romans 11:3 Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. Romans 11:4 But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. It’s possible that Elijah had simply missed the reality that God tempers judgment- with mercy. It’s possible that he had ‘too much faith’- meaning- he knew God would send the fire- because he did it before.
It will be the same fire that takes him into heaven- 2Kings 2:11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. Yet we see that just because you have the gift- a real gift- it does not always mean your motives are correct. The bible tells us faith works by love-
Galatians 5:6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
And the great apostle himself teaches us if we have powerful gifts- yet without love- it means nothing- 1Corinthians 13:2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. Elijah will go on to carry out the rest of his ministry- God will continue to come thru for him in a bind.
Yet I think his ministry was cut short- Because he missed the most important thing- The fire he became familiar with was not only for the purpose of judgement- But it was to save men’s lives as well- Luke 9:56 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village. PAST POSTS- [Past teaching I did that relates to today’s post- KINGS 19]
KINGS- https://ccoutreach87.com/1st-2nd-kings/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/03/29/kings-2/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/12/kings-3/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/27/kings-4/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/05/04/kings-5/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/05/25/kings-6/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/06/17/kings-7/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/07/05/kings-8/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/07/18/kings-9/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/08/01/kings-10/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/08/22/kings-11/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/09/15/kings-12-3/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/10/19/kings-13-2/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/11/09/kings-14/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/12/06/kings-15/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/12/28/kings-16/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2018/01/17/kings-17/ https://ccoutreach87.com/2018/02/01/kings-18/
More past teaching that relates- https://ccoutreach87.com/2018/02/12/sunday-sermon-24/ https://ccoutreach87.com/romans-updated-2015/ https://ccoutreach87.com/john-complete-links-added/ https://ccoutreach87.com/acts-links/
https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/3-12-15-romans-11-13.zip [note- there’s much more on the video than the post] .ROMANS 11 .ROMANS 12 .ROMANS 13     END NOTES- .What effect did the Renaissance have on the Reformation? .How did Erasmus differ from Luther? .Do Catholics exalt Tradition over Scripture? .Renaissance artists. .Do Catholics believe in Justification by Faith? .Catholic teaching on Civil Authorities [Romans 13]. .What does ‘AdFontes’ mean- and how does it relate to the Renaissance/Reformation?   Romans 11 .Was Paul a full time preacher- paid? .Is he teaching universalism here? .Elijah was not alone. (861)Romans 11:13- ‘For I speak to you Gentiles, in as much as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify my office’. Let me just make a few comments today. How is Paul ‘exercising’ his apostolic authority over the Gentiles in Rome? We know he hasn’t been there yet [since becoming a follower of Jesus]. He did not have some type of relationship with them where they contributed to him. He was holding no ‘church services’. He exercised it by speaking into their lives and caring for their welfare. He did this by WRITING THIS LETTER! Recently there has been some discussion on ‘Gods government’ and the apostles ‘bringing things into alignment’ [dealing with the mistakes at Lakeland]. Lots of talk that I am familiar with. What is Gods government? In the world we have 2 competing ‘world views’- systems or modes of operation. You have God’s kingdom, and then the worlds system. When the apostle John said ‘love not the world, neither the things that are in the world’ he was referring to this system of lies and pride and sin. In Gods kingdom you operate under his laws ‘love the Lord thy God with all thy heart… and your neighbor as yourself’. In this family [children of God] you have different types of ‘gifts’. Some are apostles, others prophets, etc. All these gifted ones are given for the singular purpose of building you up so you can have a mature faith grounded in Christ and be the ‘glorious temple’ of God in the earth. Paul was playing his part by communicating Jesus to these Roman Gentiles. He did not have some type of a corporate relationship with them where he said ‘commit to my authority over you. Either I will be your ‘covering’ or someone else!’ These are mans ideas. Now, we often say ‘Paul didn’t receive money from the Corinthians, but he did from the other churches’. I have said this myself. Paul did receive support from the Philippians, but that was support for his traveling ministry. To get him to the next place. If you read carefully you will see Paul telling the Thessalonians ‘when I was with you I did not eat, or take stuff for free. My hands ministered to both me and those that were with me’ I think he even said he worked night and day. When he spoke to the Ephesians elders in the book of Acts, he also said ‘I labored when I was with you, I did not take support from you when I was there. I did this to leave you ELDERS an example’. Now, the point I want to make is it seems as if Paul did not take money when he was actually living among the saints. It seems he took it only for traveling expenses [and of course for his ministry to the poor saints at Jerusalem]. Now, I believe and teach that it is scriptural to meet the needs, financially, of laboring elders. The reason I mention this is to show you that being an ‘apostle’ or any other gifted minister in the church simply means you bear extra responsibility to bring Gods people to maturity. It was not some type of office where you were a ‘professional minister’. When I hear all the talk of ‘Gods apostles are bringing Gods government back into alignment’ for the most part these are men’s ideas being applied to an American corporate 501c3 ministry. Gods ‘government’ operates along different lines. So in this example Paul said ‘I magnify my office’ he was simply imparting some truth to them for the purpose of their own edification. Paul did not see them coming under ‘his covering’.   (862)ROMANS 11- let me make a note on the previous entry. Over the last few years, as well as many years of experience with ‘ministry/church’, I have seen how easy it is to fall into the well meaning mindset of ‘I am going into the ministry, this is my career choice. My responsibility is to do ‘Christian stuff’ and the people’s role is to support me’[ I am not taking a shot at well meaning Pastors, I am basically speaking of the many friends I have met over the years who seemed to think ministry was a way to get financial support]. In the previous entry I mentioned how Paul seemed to have a mode of operation that said ‘when I am residing with a community of believers, I refuse to allow them to support me. I will work with my own hands to give them an example, not only to the general saints, but also to the elders. I am showing you that leadership is not a means to get gain’. It does seem ‘strange’ for us to see this. Of course we know Paul also taught the churches that it was proper and right to support those who ‘labor among you’. I have taught all this in the past and I don’t want to ‘re-teach’ it all again. The point I want to make is we ‘in ministry’ really need to rethink what we do. How many web-sites have I gone to that actually have icons that say ‘pay me here’. The average person going to these sites must think ‘pay you for what’? Paul did not teach the mindset of ‘pay me here, now’. Also in this letter to the Romans we are reading Paul’s correspondence to the believers at Rome. He often used this mode of ‘authority’ [writing letters] to exercise his apostolic office. Of course he also traveled to these areas [Acts] and spent time with them. And as I just showed you he supported himself on purpose when he was with the saints. Basically Paul is carrying out the single most effective apostolic ministry of all time [except for Jesus] and he is doing it without all the modern techniques of getting paid. He actually is doing all this writing and laboring at his own expense. He told the Corinthians ‘the fathers [apostles] spend for the children, not the children for the fathers’. So in todays talk on ‘apostles’ being restored. God ‘bringing back into alignment apostolic government’ we need to tone down all the quoting of verses [even the things Paul said!] that seem to say to the average saint ‘how do you expect us to reach the world if you do not ‘bring all the tithes into the storehouse’! When we put this guilt trip on the people of God we are violating very fundamental principles of scripture. Now, let’s try and finish up chapter 11. Paul is basically telling Israel and the Gentiles that God’s dealings are beyond our understanding [last few verses]. God is using the ‘unbelief’ of Israel as an open door to the Gentiles. He is also using the mercy that he is showing to the Gentiles as an ‘open door’ to Israel! He will ‘provoke them to jealousy’. There are a few difficult verses that would be unfair for me to skip over. ‘All Israel shall be saved’. Paul uses this to show that God’s dealings with natural Israel as a nation are not finished. Who are ‘all Israel’? Some say ‘the Israel of God’ [the church]. I don’t think this fits the text. Some say ‘all Israel that will be alive at the second coming’ I think this is closer. To be honest I think this can simply mean ‘all Israel’ all those who are alive and also raised at the return of the Lord. Now, this would be a form of universalism [all people eventually being saved]. I am not a Universalist, but I don’t want any ‘preconceived’ mindset [even my own!] to taint the text. I think God has the ability to reveal himself to the whole nation of Israel in such a way that ‘they all will be saved’. If I were a Jewish person I wouldn’t wait for this to happen! Just like the Calvinists argument of ‘why witness’? Because God commands it. So even though you can make an argument here for a type of universal redemption at Christ’s revealing of himself to Israel at the second coming [which is in keeping with this chapter, as well as other areas in scripture; ‘they will look upon him whom they have pierced’ ‘God will pour out the spirit of mourning and supplication on Israel at his appearing’. Which by the way would fit in with ‘whoever calls on the Lord will be saved’ which I taught in chapter 10. This is a futurist text implying a time of future judgment and wrath’]. So God’s dealings with Israel are not finished. Paul also warns the Gentiles ‘don’t boast, if God cut out the true branches [Israel] to graft you in. He can just as quickly cut you out too’! It would be dishonest for me [a Calvinist] to simply not comment on this. You certainly can take this verse in an Arminian way. Or you can see Paul speaking in a ‘nationalistic sense’. Sort of like saying ‘if Germany walks away from the faith, they will be ‘cut out’. [France would have been a better example! Speaking of the so called ‘enlightenment’ and the French Revolution]. In essence ‘you Gentiles, don’t think “wow, look at us. God left Israel and we are now special!”’ Paul is saying ‘you Gentiles [as a whole group] stand by faith. God could just as quickly ‘cut you out’ and replace you with another group’. I also think the Arminians could use this type of argument for the previous predestination chapter [9]. But to be honest I needed to give you my view. One more thing, Paul quotes Elijah ‘lord, I am the only one left’. He uses this in context of God having a remnant from Israel who remained faithful to the true God. God told Elijah ‘there are 7 thousand that have not bowed the knee to baal’. Paul uses this to show that even in his day there were a remnant Of Jews [himself included] who received the Messiah. An interesting side note. The prophetic ministry [Elijah] seems to function at a ‘popular level’. Now, I don’t mean ‘fame’, but Elijah was giving voice to a large undercurrent that was running thru the nation. If you read the story of Elijah you would have never known that there were ‘7 thousand’ who never bowed the knee! Often times God will use prophetic people to ‘give voice’ or popularize a general truth that is presently existing in the ‘underground church’ at large. Sort of like if Elijah had a web site, the 7 thousand would have been secretly reading it and saying ‘right on brother, that’s exactly what we believe too’!   2nd KINGS 1- The king of Israel is on his roof in Samaria and falls thru. He sends his men to inquire from a pagan god whether or not he will get healed. On the way Elijah meets them and tells them because he sought information from a forbidden source, he will die. They go back and the king realizes it was Elijah. So he sends 50 men to tell Elijah to come and see the king; Elijah calls down fire from heaven and they get ‘sacrificed’. This happens with the second group of 50 as well. The third group comes and says ‘please, we don’t want to die like the rest, just come and see the king for heavens sake’. Elijah goes. He tells the king that he will die because he sought foreign gods and rejected the true God. In Luke 9 the disciples ask Jesus ‘do you want us to call down fire from heaven and burn them up, like Elijah did’? They treated the story as literal. Why did the disciples ask this? Jesus was going to Jerusalem and he sent two men to Samaria, the same city where the king of Israel was associating himself with. The people did not welcome him because he had his mind already set on Jerusalem. The whole history of Israel and Judah [northern and southern tribes] involved a debate over where true worship occurred. Samaria was considered a low class place; the people had little respect in the eyes of the pure Jew. Jesus disciples saw nothing wrong with the death of these Samaritans. Jesus told them that his kingdom was not about getting rid of the ‘heretics’ but redeeming them. It seems strange that the disciples would even contemplate the death of these ‘illegals’, after all Jesus is going around healing and helping people who are considered low class. He is trying to instill this mindset into his men, but yet somehow on the road to the Kingdom they see no contradiction in thinking that part of the process would include the destruction of a whole society of people. Many sincere Christians/preachers seem to make this same mistake in their treatment of Muslims/Arabs. No matter how theologically wrong a certain class of people are, yet their destruction is not part of the plan. Let me also mention the error that many well meaning Catholics have fallen into in my part of the world. Over the years I have had the privilege of working with lots of brothers who have come from strong Mexican/Catholic backgrounds. Often times they would see nothing wrong with going to a ‘Catholic fortune teller’ or hiring someone to place a curse on an enemy. The Catholic Church expressly teaches against this. There are many differences between Catholics and Protestants; one of them is the teaching of asking the saints who have died to intercede for us. The Catholic Church does not teach ‘praying to the saints’ in the sense of praying to God for prayer to be answered. Many Catholics and Protestants are confused about this, many do think that praying to the saints is like asking God to answer a prayer. The official Catholic doctrine is you can ‘pray’ in the sense that you are asking a believer who has died to ‘pray for you’. In essence the doctrine teaches you can ask a believer who has died to pray for you, because in reality they are still alive. Okay, I personally don’t go for this, but I get the difference. Here close to Mexico there is a superstitious mixing of saints with actual occult practices [Santeria]. Many Catholics have a misguided understanding of seeking these practices and thinking they are Catholic in nature. They are not. So in this chapter we see that seeking wisdom from a pagan/occult source brought death upon the king. I want to warn all of our readers [both Catholic and Protestant] that the official teaching of both churches condemns doing this, don’t do it!   (1241) 2nd KINGS 2- Elijah is going to be taken up into heaven and Elisha follows him, Elijah tells him to leave but Elisha requests a double portion of the Spirit that anointed Elijah. He tells Elisha that if he witnesses his translation into heaven he will get it. As Elisha follows Elijah to the various towns [Bethel, Jericho, etc.] he runs into the ‘sons of the prophets’ who independently tell Elisha that Elijah will be taken this day. These sons of the prophets are the same group from the ‘school of the prophets’ under Samuel. They lived a communal lifestyle, were provided for by offerings from the community and were recognized as a legitimate group sent from God. Over the years I have had both ‘prophetic’ type experiences as well as learning and growing in Christian truth. Often time’s believers will live their whole lives only experiencing and learning Christianity from their particular group. While many of these various denominations are fine groups, they are only a limited picture of the church. The problem comes in when one group sees itself as ‘the group’ to the exclusion of the other groups. There are ‘prophetic groups’ who operate in these gifts, these gifts do exist and function in the church today. Many of these groups have cut themselves off from the ‘intellectual’ branch of the church. Some seem to regulate their entire Christian experience around the gift. Often times it is next to impossible to correct them doctrinally, because they believe that the fact that they do experience real prophetic gifts justifies all their beliefs. Often times they are wrong. Many times the young believers who follow these gifted men/movements become infatuated with the gift and never truly grow in the things of God. Having said all this, we also need to be open to the miraculous gifts of the Spirit that the bible speaks about. The majority view of Christianity [Catholic, Orthodox and most Protestants] do believe in the charismatic gifts of the Spirit. There are those who try and make a case for their cessation [cessationists!] but for the most part these gifts do and have functioned since the early days of Christianity. I can personally give you many examples from my own story; let me share a recent one. A few weeks ago I had some of my homeless friends over for a fellowship time. We had communion and shared the word in my yard. This spot is the same spot where I pray over the communities of people that we relate to. I have a habit of ‘anointing’ myself with oil while praying for the brothers. I will actually put anointing oil on my head and pray ‘just like this oil is on me, Lord anoint all those we are reaching out to’. One of the homeless guys is very gifted and he does function in the gift of Prophecy, he will often make off the cuff comments and he does not realize that he is actually prophesying. So any way as we were all sitting in my yard he keeps telling me ‘you know brother, I keep thinking of the verse in the bible where the oil was on Aarons head and it ran down to the rest of his body’. This is a verse in Psalms that coincides with the exact type of prayer thing that I regularly do over the guys in this exact spot. So it’s stuff like this that shows me that prophetic people and gifts are not all fakes. Now Elijah does a few prophetic things before the chariots from heaven come and take him; he strikes the Jordan with his mantle [coat] and it dries up for him to cross. After Elisha witnesses Elijah’s ascension he does receive the ‘double portion’ and on his way back into town he does the same thing. The sons of the prophets recognize that the mantle [gift] passed from Elijah to Elisha. A few things; in this chapter we see that those who witness the ascension of ‘the prophet’ receive a greater anointing. Of course this reminds us of the early church, they were the group that saw Jesus ascend and did receive the Spirit. Some say that Elisha does twice the miracles as Elijah [the double portion]. I underlined all the miracles once and think they might be off one or two miracles, but they do come close [Elijah 7, Elisha 13 or 14]. Jesus said we would do greater miracles than he did [in number we would do greater works as the family of God]. And of course the miracles surrounding the Jordan and Elisha pouring salt in the fountain of water to ‘heal the waters’, all these images speak of the ministry of Jesus and John and the significance of baptism and how Jesus would ‘heal the waters’ i.e.; he would unite with us in the waters of the Jordan and we would meet with him thru the ordinance of baptism, in essence Jesus ‘healed the waters’ by his pure life, his ‘saltiness’ [preservation power]. Jesus said we were the salt of the earth. So there are some good prophetic pictures from a prophetic chapter. All in all we as believers are to be grounded in the word, have a grasp on all the various groups/movements that constitute Christianity, and be open to the miraculous. God has given us his Spirit and we do have the ability as Gods people to function in these gifts. But at the end of the day our assurance is in the Lord, not in our gifts.  
The Flood
POSTED BY CCOUTREACH87 ⋅ JUNE 21, 2016 ⋅ LEAVE A COMMENT
THE FLOOD- Amos 9:5 And the Lord GOD of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt. https://youtu.be/BLELo-v0rRc The flood https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/6-18-16-the-flood.zip MY LINKS- https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/16/brief-history-of-egypt/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/09/church-unlimited-outline/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/house-of-prayer-or-den-of-thieves/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/further-talks-on-church-and-ministry/ ON VIDEO- .Russia bombs ‘our fighters’- while we stand by and watch .50 diplomats rebuke Obama .Cyber influence is just as real as ‘going to the building’ [Harvard- Cambridge- etc.] .The U.S. govt. still uses Floppy disks to save info .Maybe we are behind the times when we say ‘The radicals are not ‘REALLY’ terrorists- because there is no connection’. In Today’s world [one without floppy disks] you can be trained by the top universities in the world- without actually ‘being there’. .Syria- Russia .Ukraine .Guccifer .They even hacked Hillary’s campaign! .Crimea voted to go back to Russia- by over 90 % of the vote- John Kerry and the U.S. said ‘we will not honor it’. Hmm? I thought we were for Democracy? .Hillary ‘Trumps a birther’ [meaning- he questioned if Obama was born in the U.S.] .The media found out who actually started the birther movement. http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2015/09/26/washington-post-confirms-hillary-clinton-started-the-birther-movement/ [see note below- BIRTHER?] .The Hillary Clinton campaign- when she was running against Obama the first time- were the ones who floated that actual story- yes folks- no lie .Who said ‘Obama is the biggest joke going- he should be serving us coffee instead of running for president- he is playing the race card on us’? Bill Clinton .Whose starting the wildfires? .ISIS .Personification of wisdom .Proverbs and John’s gospel .How much money did it take? .Pastors- don’t be ‘building centric’ .Is a hurricane on the way to Corpus Christi- this year? BIRTHER? As an avid news reader- I remember when the newspaper [Washington Post? Or Times?] Did the full story on how IT WAS INDEED the political campaign of Hillary- around 2007-8- that spread the rumor that Obama ‘might’ not have been born in the USA. As I looked earlier for the link- ahh- there’s about 20 google searches for ‘did Hillary start the birther movement’ [SHE DID] But- they link to actual articles- and admit- as they researched it- IT CAME FROM HER PEOPLE. But you know the media- as they progress thru the story- they conclude that ‘it’s not true’! Huh? They admit that it started with her campaign- and then say ‘but we could not trace a direct link to Hillary’. In the famous words of Bill Clinton ‘I DID NOT HAVE SEXUAL RELATIONS WITH THAT WOMAN- Miss Lewinsky’ I mean he was very believable. That’s if you don’t count oral sex in the Oval office- as sex. As you see- I’m not political- and to all my readers who are voting for Hillary- I love you all. I even pray for you daily- that you will be delivered from a spirit of delusion! [I still love you anyway]
https://youtu.be/BLELo-v0rRc The flood Ok- on today’s video- once you get past my political ranting- there is actually some stuff of value- here it is in short. Remember when Jesus told Nicodemus- unless you are born from above- ‘you cannot see the kingdom’? Then he tells him ‘the Son of man [Jesus] is in heaven’ [verses below] How was Jesus ‘in heaven’ and yet- on earth? You could say it this way ‘I am walking in the kingdom of heaven right now- but only those who follow me can see this kingdom and function in its mysteries’. I also talk about the principle in Proverbs- how a wise man builds the house [structure] he prepares the table- and sends out the food- thru the maidens. In a nutshell- this is how Jesus built the church- he wasn’t about building temples or synagogues- though he preached there at times. But he was building his community of men- he shared the bread- word of God with them- and he sent them out with the great message. The whole process was repeated in the book of Acts- and it took no huge funding campaign. It was the wisdom of God that accomplished the establishing of the church- simple and organic in nature- and indebted to no man. We too can follow this simple pattern- if we operate in the gift of wisdom. Remember- the people you are communicating to- are the house. The word of God is the bread on the table. And the maidens are the tools of spreading the word- thru the people themselves- running with the message- thru their writings as well- or in our day- their Re-tweets and stuff like that. The power of kingdom building is in the word- but not just in the speaking of it- but in power. It being demonstrated with signs and wonders. But you must walk in holiness- free from the lust of the flesh- or your words will simply be that- just words. BREXIT- I talk about media manipulation a lot. It matters in the ‘big things’ more than some of the little stuff. In a few days Britain will vote on whether or not to leave the E.U. The markets are rising and falling on this- like other things [whether the fed will raise interest rates]. What would happen if Britain did the ‘Brexit’? They might have financial waves- that would spread from Europe- around the globe. What kind of waves? Maybe regional countries facing near bankruptcy- or even Asian economies slowing down. And that eventually will come to the U.S. Yet- ALL OF THAT- and more- has been happening for the past 2 years [Greece- China and Japan- etc.] So the game is ‘let’s look for any reason to pump billions into the over ‘pumped’ world economies’. If the Brexit never happened- or did happen. It really makes no difference- the real dangers have been going on already- Germany having to bail out other struggling economies in the E.U- Greece still never solving its ongoing crisis- and that’s not to mention Syria and other real global instability. Our jobs numbers for the previous month were around 38 thousand- a real sign that the current global slowdown is indeed already happening. But because of the Casino mindset that I’ve spoken about- it takes one possible ‘good’ note- and millions- billions of dollars go up or down. Whether or not the Brexit happens- makes absolutely no difference- we are in a global downturn already- and we have not been able to stop it- whether you realize it or not.
VERSES- John 1:50 Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. John 1:51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. John 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. John 3:9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? John 3:10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? John 3:11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. John 3:12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? John 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
Amos 9:1 I saw the LORD standing upon the altar: and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered. Amos 9:2 Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down: Amos 9:3 And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them: Amos 9:4 And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good. Amos 9:5 And the Lord GOD of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt. Amos 9:6 It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name. Amos 9:7 Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir? Amos 9:8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the LORD. Amos 9:9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. Amos 9:10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us. Amos 9:11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: Amos 9:12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this. Amos 9:13 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. Amos 9:14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. Amos 9:15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God. ________________________________________ Proverbs 9:1 Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars: Proverbs 9:2 She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table. Proverbs 9:3 She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city,
NOTE- As I make this note [6-20-16] the White House changed course- and will release the entire 911 transcript from the Orlando shooter. So- you see how at first they did not want to- then there was pressure [they initially said it was dangerous to release it] – but more than likely it’s because of what I said- politically motivated. Proof? Then why release it now- See?
NEWS LINKS- http://www.kztv10.com/story/32264030/man-shot-while-selling-key-chains-in-parking-lot http://www.kztv10.com/story/32263633/ccpd-felon-found-with-loaded-gun-and-brass-knuckles http://www.kztv10.com/story/32263196/fathers-day-celebration-leads-to-stabbing http://www.kiiitv.com/story/32257817/westside-party-leads-to-stabbing-victim-in-critical http://www.kztv10.com/story/32262037/high-ranking-nyc-police-officials-charged-in-corruption-case http://www.kztv10.com/story/32258888/recovery-schools-for-addicted-teens-on-the-rise http://www.caller.com/news/national/383640491.xhtml http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/20/asia/us-military-base-protests-okinawa/index.html http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/19/us/oakland-police-scandals/index.html Notice in this story [above] she can’t- BY LAW- tell you about the actual crimes the cops committed. The average person has no idea how civilian departments cover up every crime under the book- by their own guys- it’s utterly amazing. http://www.kristv.com/story/32267579/911-transcript-orlando-gunman-said-he-was-islamic-soldier http://www.kristv.com/story/32267328/apnewsbreak-report-assails-nyc-jails-sex-abuse-response http://www.kztv10.com/story/32265588/driscoll-police-chief-placed-on-administrative-leave http://www.kztv10.com/story/32265161/cops-investigating-a-possible-homicide-at-an-apartment-complex http://www.kztv10.com/story/32264030/man-shot-while-selling-key-chains-in-parking-lot http://www.kztv10.com/story/32263633/ccpd-felon-found-with-loaded-gun-and-brass-knuckles
http://www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com
EPHESIANS 2 Ephesians 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;Ephesians 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; Ephesians 2 https://youtu.be/nILDsbbHiok
Friends- https://youtu.be/yn-q0HwTPhM Andy- GPL- https://youtu.be/9NqGwEClF3g
I made these videos yesterday and needed a post to tag them to- I felt this day was meant to hang out with some of the guys- to be honest- I was cold but it was meant to be.
You only catch a small glimpse of the day- I have known these guys for many years. Many of the friends I have met the last few years are really new friends- not part of the community that have been around for years.
When I spent about 4 hours with Andy and Art- we did talk about the old days- but to be honest- Art shared in a way I have never heard him open up before- you don’t catch this on video- but after knowing him for around 20 years- it was one of the first times we had some real honest discussion.
The whole day was indeed ministry- honest evaluation of our lives- some of the guys told me they never thought they would wind up where they ‘wound up’. Many of the guys have skills- education- and are very talented- and they have had to deal with the reality of the choices they have made- they were telling me this during our talks-
And how they took responsibility for being where they are. To be honest- they were the ones actually ‘doing ministry’ this day- I was just there as a friend.
Zechariah 8:6 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the Lord of hosts.
ON VIDEO- [Ephesian 2] .Phone school .The course .True spiritual warfare .Our time .The snow came- 12-8-17 .We are his work .Created for good works .Troy barks .Men reconciled to one another .Seated with him .Not a culture- But God’s promise .There is one God .Objective truth .My talk with a Muslim at the Kingsville Fire Department .Texas A and I [now A and M] university .God will bless all the children of Abraham
NEW-
The ultimate victory over satan- is seen in the first few verses- Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Ephesians 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. God made us alive- we have been raised with Christ- and it is in this act of redemption that delivers us from the ‘course of this world’- the course that unbelievers walk- and give expression to the ‘prince of the air’-
Satan deceives lost man- and when man walks in the flesh- this is the primary way satan manifests himself in the world-
Later in this study we will look at spiritual warfare- but for now- we see it is thru the Resurrection that satan has been dealt a death blow.
Now the ‘famous’ passage- Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) Ephesians 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: Ephesians 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Ephesians 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. Yes- we are indeed saved by faith- not by works-
We were dead in sin- unable to save ourselves- but because of God’s choice- his mercy and love- he raised us up from the dead and we are now positionally seated with Christ in heavenly places.
Yet- there are works that are involved here- works that God himself predestined for us- Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. That’s the new course- we have left the old one and the Spirit of God himself lives in us- and these good works of the Spirit were the plan of God for us before time- ahead of time- pre-planned if you will- our purpose and destiny in God.
The work of Christ not only reconciles us to God- but also to each other Ephesians 2:11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; Ephesians 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Ephesians 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; Yes- the law in the first century [10 commandments and the law and the prophets] also played a role in division between Jew and Gentile-
The law is good- yet in the hands of the first century religious leadership- it devolved into a sort of barrier- We see this in the interaction of Jesus and the religious leaders in the gospels.
It created a class of people- who looked down on ‘the other’-
Yet now in Christ- he took this out of the way by nailing it to his Cross-
Colossians 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
And not only brought man back to God- But man back to a right relationship with his fellow man.
We are now ONE NEW MAN and the middle wall of partition is broken down- and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; The separation is gone- And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And it is this redeemed community that God dwells- we are the people of God- The Church of God- a temple of people that God dwells in- It is no longer about natural land and temple- or holy sites in the middle east- No- it’s about us- you and me- all who have embraced the love that God has shown to us- Yes- we are that spiritual community representing God to our fellow man- And this reconciliation to each other thru Christ- has enabled a people to become the actual dwelling of the living God- Ephesians 2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; Ephesians 2:21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: Ephesians 2:22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. The answers to the problems we see in the world today will never be found in any political leader- in any human agenda- though well meaning- these do not have the ability to truly reconcile man with his neighbor. But God has accomplished this thru his Son- as we have been redeemed thru the Cross- We are now the Holy dwelling place where God dwells- This spiritual temple has no earthly boundaries- it is found all over the earth right now- Africans sing the praises of our God- Europeans are worshiping the king as I type- Asians are meeting as brothers in Christ at this moment- Some in Muslim lands are embracing this great God and fully comprehending Jesus as the Prophet sent from God- As the Son of God- Yes- all nations are being brought together because this was the plan of God from the start- And this is the only plan that will ever work.
PAST POSTS- https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/11/30/ephesians-1/ http://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/p/romans-2015-video-links-included-romans.html http://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/p/romans-study.html http://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/p/galatians-links.html http://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/p/study-galatiansjohns-gospel.html https://ccoutreach87.com/justification-by-faith/ https://ccoutreach87.com/james-2015/ https://ccoutreach87.com/protestant-reformation-luther/ https://ccoutreach87.com/hebrews-updated-2015/ https://ccoutreach87.com/islam/
VERSES-
Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Ephesians 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) Ephesians 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: Ephesians 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Ephesians 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; Ephesians 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Ephesians 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; Ephesians 2:16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: Ephesians 2:17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. Ephesians 2:18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Ephesians 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; Ephesians 2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; Ephesians 2:21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: Ephesians 2:22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
MY SITES http://www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com [Main site] https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5?ref=bookmarks https://ccoutreach87.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg
https://plus.google.com/108013627259688810902/posts https://vimeo.com/user37400385 john chiarelloFollow On https://www.linkedin.com/home?trk=hb_logo http://johnchiarello.tumblr.com/ http://ccoutreach.over-blog.com/ https://www.reddit.com/user/ccoutreach87 https://ccoutreach.yolasite.com/ https://ccoutreach87.jimdo.com/ https://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/jchiarello http://ccoutreach87.webstarts.com/__blog.html?r=20171009095200 http://ccoutreach87-1.mozello.com/ http://ccoutreach87.webs.com/ https://ccoutreach87.site123.me/ http://ccoutreach87.wixsite.com/mysite https://corpusoutreach.weebly.com/
https://youtu.be/uwDi82SICXo History of everything in 1 hour [part 1] https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/6-16-16-history-of-everything.zip ON VIDEO- .Did my ‘prophecy’ come true? Watch and see .They said a rocket hit the plane .What did Patience say? .Update on detention center .Bishop Mulvey .I was right about Devon Anderson- planned parenthood- the judge said she broke the law .Where did the animals come from? .Is the story true? Mesopotamia .Palestine .Aristotle .They were looking for the ‘LOGOS’ .Ptolemy .Copernicus .Cosmology .Scientific/Industrial revolution .Sir Ramsey and documentary evidence .Luke/Acts as historical evidence .Phenomenological language .Aquinas- Anselm and Augustine .Richard Dawkins alien creator .Einstein and the big bang .C.S. Lewis .Everything is proof of God MY LINKS- https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/overview-of-philosophy/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/protestant-reformation-luther/ https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/qm/
VERSES- Matthew 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Matthew 2:2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. Matthew 2:3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Matthew 2:4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. Matthew 2:5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, Matthew 2:6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. Matthew 2:7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. Matthew 2:8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. Matthew 2:9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. Matthew 2:10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. Matthew 2:11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh. Matthew 2:12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. Matthew 2:13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. Matthew 2:14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: Matthew 2:15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. Matthew 2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men. Matthew 2:17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, Matthew 2:18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. Matthew 2:19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, Matthew 2:20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life. Matthew 2:21 And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. Matthew 2:22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: Matthew 2:23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene. Revelation 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD. Is. 54:1 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Heb. 13:2 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. Lk. 21:11
http://www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5?ref=bookmarks https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg
https://plus.google.com/108013627259688810902/posts https://vimeo.com/user37400385 john chiarelloFollow On https://www.linkedin.com/home?trk=hb_logo http://johnchiarello.tumblr.com/ http://johnchiarello.thoughts.com/
Note- Please do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. I deal with issues at times that it would be beneficial for some of you to download and save the file from the Word Press link. This creates a permanent record. The on-line videos are only good if sites are not hacked- which has happened in the past. Thanks- John.#
Share this:
· Press This
· Twitter
· LinkedIn1
· Pinterest
· Tumblr
· Print
· Facebook1
· Google
· Reddit
  VERSES-
Matthew 8:20
And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
 [parts]
Alexander sought to implement the ideals of his teacher- he wanted to unify the known world under one people/culture- a belief that Aristotle held- a sort of ‘unified theory’ [Einstein] that would seek to bring all learning/knowledge together under one supreme [Divine] principle.
 Alexander’s experiment was called Hellenization- which was the Greek worlds attempt to impose Greek culture/language on all their conquered enemies- and at the same time allow them to hold on to the their own culture too. Alexander did amazingly well at this experiment- at the young age of around 24 he had accomplished most of his mission. The cities were a sort of composite of Greek culture mixed in with their own culture- this is where we get the modern term Cosmopolitan.
 Alexander died young and his kingdom was divided between 4 generals- one of them- Ptolemy- would himself make it into the history books because of his keen intellect.
 The system of cosmology developed under him would last [and work!] until some 17-18 hundred years later when it was overthrown by the Copernican revolution during the time of Copernicus and Galileo.
 Alexander’s generals would do their best to carry on the system of Hellenization- and other nation’s generals would keep the system going even after Greece fell. One of them- Octavian [Roman general] makes it into the history books by another famous name- Julius Caesar.
 Alexander established a great library in the Egyptian city of Alexandria [named after him] and many of the great writings were preserved during this time.
 The writings of Aristotle would be discovered again during the time of Thomas Aquinas [13th century Catholic genius/scholar] and this would lead to Scholasticism [a peculiar school of thought developed/revived under Aquinas] and give rise to the Renaissance.
 Okay- before the birth of Christ- the Jewish people resisted the imposing of Greek culture upon them- you had the very famous resistance under the Jewish Maccabean revolt- where the Jews rose up and fought the wicked ruler Antiochus Epiphanies- and till this day the Jewish people celebrate this victory at Hanukah.
 Eventually Rome would conquer the Greek kingdom and the Jewish people were allowed to keep their culture and temple- yet they were still a people oppressed. Hassidism [getting back to the beginning] developed during this attempt to not lose their Jewish roots- the Pharisees of Jesus day came from this movement.
 Alexander was pretty successful in his attempt to unify language- even though the bible [New Testament] was written by Jewish writers- living under Roman rule- yet the original bible is written in the Greek language.
 Bible scholars till this day study the Greek language to find the truest meaning of the actual words in the bible [I have a Greek Lexicon sitting right in front of me].
 It would take a few centuries before a Latin version appeared on the scene [the great church father- Jerome- would produce the Latin Vulgate].
 Yet it would be the re- discovery and learning of the Greek texts [under men like Erasmus- and the Protestant Reformers] that would lead to the Reformation [16th century] and other movements in church history.
   The Jews had various responses to the empires that ruled over them during various times.
Alexander the Great instituted Hellenization- a sort of cultural compromise over the people he conquered.
They could keep their religious/cultural roots- but would be subservient to Alexander and Greek rule.
Some Jewish people rejected any compromise- we call them the Essenes- they moved out of town- so to speak, and lived in what we refer to as the Qumran community.
This was a few centuries before the time of Christ- and this was where the Dead Seas Scrolls were found in the 20th century.
A Bedouin boy was looking for his goats- threw a rock in a cave right off the Dead Sea- and that’s how we found the scrolls.
The scrolls might have been hidden there by the Essenes-
Now- when my friends asked me about them- I told them that it’s been a while since I read up on any of this- but to the best of my memory the thing that made them significant was the fact that they were very old manuscripts- from the bible- and they backed up what we had had all along.
[parts]
In the last Philosophy post I hit on the 10th-14th century development of modern thought- today I want to jump into the 16th-18th centuries. Like I said in a previous post- after the Renaissance and the Reformation and the great scientific revolution- you had the world in somewhat of a tailspin.
  What I mean is for hundreds of years people trusted in the old institutions [like the Catholic Church] to tell them what was true or false- then with the development of all these modern movements people began questioning stuff.
 Was it good to question things? Sure. But some challenged the very foundations of thought and knowing [called Epistemology] and went a bit too far.
 Some thinkers went  back to the thought of Plato [400 years BC] and said that the mind is the main source of all knowledge- these were the 17th century Rationalists.
 Rationalism- as a philosophy- was an outgrowth of all the great strides that man was making in all these other areas of life. The Scientific Revolution totally challenged the age old beliefs of many in the church.
 Math became a sort of new ‘god’. How so? As science invented the Microscope and Telescope- man was able for the first time to peer deeply into the heavens- and to see deeply into the microscopic world.
 As the great minds [Copernicus] showed us that the Universe was different than what we thought [Heliocentric versus Geocentric] man was able to do mathematical calculations and to say that a specific planet or star [or Comet] would show up at an exact date- or spot- and Walla- it would happen [you could look thru the Telescope and sure enough the math was right- the object that was calculated to be there- was.]
 These calculations were mathematical formulas- so math began to be seen as the new religion in many ways.
 There are even some thinkers in the modern day that still say the only ‘real truth’ that exists is mathematical formulas. Yeah- one guy wrote an entire book on the subject- the problem? Well- his book was not written in math- but words.
 Yes- even the extreme deniers of Objective truth do make mistakes.
 Now- what’s wrong with rationalism? Of course being rational is okay- but the philosophy itself denied real Objective truth. Truth that corresponds to some other ‘outside’ reality.
 This form of thinking [rejecting outside reality] is called Relativism/Subjectivism. While there is some truth to all the various fields of thought- yet extreme Relativism denies ‘reality’ as most of us understand the term.  There was a strong resistance to the 17th century rationalists- we call this Philosophy Empiricism.
 The main thinker in this field was John Locke. Locke lived most of his life in the 17th century- but his thought laid the foundation for the 18th century Empiricist.
 This philosophy says that the mind does indeed play a major role in the knowledge of things- but this knowledge does not originate in the mind [Plato] but in the ‘thing’ itself [Aristotle- remember when we covered these men? Plato was an idealist- Ideas were more real than matter. Aristotle was a Realist- closer to the thought of Locke].
 Locke developed a theory called the Correspondence theory- that truth that the Mind discovers corresponds to real things that actually exist apart from the mind.
 Locke was a practicing doctor- and most of the other thinkers of the day had room to speculate about reality in a way that Locke could not.
 He lived in a real world with real patients who had real symptoms- in a nutshell Locke had to diagnose his patients based on his findings- he could not deny that there was a real problem- he had to have his ‘feet on the ground’ [based in reality] while engaging with his head up high.
 Okay- I think we’ll end with this. Maybe you can go back and read some of my previous posts on this subject- just to become a little more familiar with it.
 As Christians- we are not ‘required’ to know Philosophy- or current events- or science- but it helps us engage the culture when we do educate ourselves in these areas.
 Go slow in learning [not too slow!] and try and see how the Christian Worldview agrees with- or rejects certain aspects of these different felids of thought.
 Most Christians would reject Rationalism as a Philosophy- because it denies real objective truth- it says truth is relative- whatever the mind can conceive- or think- can be defined as truth [Unicorns?]
 Biblical truth is based on real historic events- 1st Corinthians chapter 15 says that if we deny the physical  resurrection of Christ- a real event- then our faith is in vain.
 Christians base their faith on a real historic event- not simply on a belief system.
 [parts]
Aristotle did not believe that something comes from nothing- a phrase that will come up a lot as we progress in this study is ‘ex nihilo nihil fit’- meaning Nothing comes from Nothing.
 He was also what we refer to as a Teleolologist- he believed that there was design and purpose in the created order of things.
 He saw design in the universe- world.
 Many today embrace an idea that there is no purpose or design- that the design we see in the material world is by accident- and furthermore some say all that we see- CAME FROM NOTHING.
 I can’t stress enough that this is simply not possible- I don’t say this from the Christian view point alone- but from a scientific one.
 Science deals with the observation and testing of things- we look into the material world and come to certain conclusions based on what we see- observe.
 One of the most fundamental observations that science SEES- is what I quoted above- NOTHING COMES FROM NOTHING.
 That is- every effect has a cause.
 This is important for our day- because many have capitulated to the view that all things CAME FROM CHANCE.
 Not only is this statement illogical [chance is simply a word- this statement ascribes Ontological status to a word- which is impossible].
 But it is scientifically not true.
 Why?
 Because science shows us that things do not ‘pop into existence’ without a cause- from nothing.
 True science in no way contradicts belief in God- no- it backs it up.
 Aristotle- as well as most of the great thinkers we shall cover- came to the conclusion that there had to be some immaterial thing [being] that was the cause of all other things.
 Now- why did he argue for a PRIME MOVER?
 Because he believed that the universe was eternal- if there ever came a time when science showed us that the universe had a beginning point- then the argument would be over.
 The Theists [those that believe in God] would win.
 Sure enough- in the 20th century that’s exactly what happened.
 Today Physics teaches us that time- space- matter did indeed have a beginning point- what we refer to as the Big Bang Theory.
 If the early thinkers had this knowledge- then the argument for a Prime Mover would be moot- because instead we would have a Prime Starter- see?
  Aristotle is credited with writing the second greatest work on Ethics from the ancient period- called Ethics [the first one being Plato’s Republic].
 He wrote on political theory- believed that Aristocracy [rule by the excellent] was the best form of government [sort of like Socrates Philosopher Kings].
Aristotle’s most famous student was Alexander the Great.
 During Alexander’s conquests- he took a huge team of scientists with him- they collected all types of specimens from these conquests- and Alexander brought them back to Athens and they were used at the Lyceum for further study.
 It has been said that this was the most expensive scientific enterprise up to the day of the modern space program.
 He taught that the intellectual virtues can be taught directly- but the moral ones HAD TO BE LIVED FIRST.
 The bible says ‘the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom’.
 I agree.
 Proverbs 3:19 The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.
Proverbs 3:20 By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.
 Unfinished study- will complete over time.
JOHN LOCKE- JESUS- AND MONEY.
https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/5-22-15-john-locke-political-theory-and-jesus.zip 
 Today’s video [and post] is one of those ‘spur of the moment’ ones-
I made the video/post  yesterday- ‘off the cuff’-
I’m at the ranch as I write- and have no WiFi out here- or I’d post it now- I also don’t have my on-line concordance- so I’ll try and remember exactly where some of the verses are and add them in [I do have my on-line bible saved to the drive!]
This video/post is in keeping with some of the stuff I’ve been recently teaching.
 [parts]
Let’s pick up where we left off 2 posts back. We were talking about Martin Luther and the events that led up to the Protestant Reformation.
 In order to understand the key act that caused the protest- we will have to teach some Catholic history/doctrine.
 In the 16th century Pope Julius began the effort to build St. Peters basilica in Rome. He got as far as laying the foundation and died. Pope Leo the 10th would pick up after him.
 The church needed to raise money for the project- and the German prince- Albert- would play a major role.
 It should be noted that both Catholic and Protestant scholars agree that the Popes of the day were pretty corrupt. They came from what we call the Medici line of Popes.
 If you remember last month I wrote a post on the Renaissance- I talked about the Medici family and how they played a major role in supporting the Renaissance that took place in the 13th century in Florence Italy that would spread to the region.
 Well this very influential family also played a big role in who would get top positions in the church.
 At the time of Luther and prince Albert- if you had the right connections and the money- you could literally buy a position in the church.
 Albert already held 2 Bishop seats- and there was an opening for an Archbishops seat in Mainz [Germany] and he wanted that one too.
 It should be noted that official Canon law [church law] said you could only hold one seat at a time- Albert was bidding on his 3rd one! And he was too young for all of them.
 So even the Pope and the officials held little respect for what the church actually taught at the time.
 So Albert opens up negotiations with Leo- and the bidding starts AT 12,000 Duckets [money] Albert counters with 7,000- and they agree on 10,000. How did they justify the numbers? 12- The number of Apostles. 7- The 7 deadly sins. 10- The 10 commandments.
 Yes- the church was pretty corrupt at the time.
 So Albert works out a plan with Leo- he will borrow the money from the German banks- and pay the banks off by the Pope giving Albert the right to sell Indulgences.
 What’s an Indulgence?
 Okay- this is where it gets tricky.
 The ancient church taught a system called The Treasury of Merit. This was a sort of spiritual bank account that ‘stored up’ the good deeds of others over the years.
 You had the good deeds of Jesus at the top- but you also had Mary and Joseph- the 12 Apostles- and other various saints thru out time.
 The way the ‘bank’ worked was you could tap into the account by getting a Papal indulgence- a sort of I.O.U. that had the Popes guarantee that it would get so much time out of Purgatory for a loved one.
 The actual sacrament that accesses the account is called Penance [confession].
 When a penitent does penance- he confesses his sin to the priest- and he is absolved by the authority of the church that the priest has. The priest usually tells the person ‘say so many Hail Mary’s- Our Father’s’ and that’s a form of penance.
 One of the other things the church practiced was called Alms Deeds. This term is found in the bible and it means giving your money to the poor- it is a noble act that Jesus himself taught.
 In theory- part of the sacrament of penance was tied into Alms Deeds- you can access the account thru the practice of giving to the poor- which also meant giving to the church that helps the poor- and in the hands of the Medici line of Popes- meant outright giving money to the Pope.
 So now you see how the abuse worked its way into the pockets of the faithful.
 Albert now had the permission from Leo to sell these indulgences in Germany- and he would pick a certain corrupt priest to sell them in a place called Saxony- the region where Luther operated out of.
 It should be noted that the Catholic Church never taught the crass act of ‘buying your way out of Purgatory’. The practice of including giving money as a part of the sacrament of penance was tied into the biblical principle of giving to the poor- a good thing.
 But Tetzel and others abused the official meaning of the indulgence- and did make it sound like you could by your way out of Purgatory [in theory- a loved one might be in Purgatory for so many years- and through the indulgence you are actually getting time off for them- because the good deeds of others are now applied to the account].
 The money Albert would raise- half would go to Rome for the building of St. peters- and half would go to pay off the banks in Germany- it was a sad system- and a sad time for the church as a whole.
 It would be wrong to judge the entire church at the time as being corrupt- you did have many sincere Priests and Catholic men and women who saw the abuses and did not take part in them.
 But there was corruption at the top- and this would eventually lead to the breakup of the church- and the launching of what we now call the Protestant Movement.
 As a side note- it should be said that many Catholics and Protestants are not aware of the whole treasury of merit system- and the church never officially changed her position on the doctrine.
 There were 3 Church councils since the time [Trent- 1500’s, Vatican 1- 1800’s and Vatican 2- 1962-65]. The Treasury of Merit never came up for change.
 Obviously Protestants don’t believe in Purgatory- and it’s not my purpose in these posts to change Catholics into Protestants or vice versa- but to give all sides a clear view of the issues that divided us- and to try and be honest- and respectful during the process.
 Does the bible teach anything like a Treasury of Merit? Well actually it does. The bible teaches that the righteousness of Christ is the treasury that people can access- by faith- and become righteous in the sight if God.
 The idea- applied to Christ- is good.
 But in the hands of the Medici Popes- and the ambitious prince of Germany- it would lead to disaster.
   [parts]
JOHN 6
John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
https://youtu.be/--3fJK_dqiU  John 6
https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/7-3-16-john-6.zip 
 ON VIDEO-
.See the quads
.it was a test
. ‘We don’t have enough money for the ministry Jesus’?
.What did Jesus do- multiply the money- or the bread?
.Don’t  leave the crumbs behind
.Nungesser’s bowling alley
.The acid trip
.Manna a sign
.A little Greek stuff
.Zwingli
.Lake Geneva
.Renaissance
.Florence- Italy
.Medici family
.Aquinas
Aristotle
.Greek lexicon
.Proof texting a no no
.Hocus Pocus?
.Fundamentalism
.Aldous Huxley
MY LINKS [verses below]
https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/protestant-reformation-luther/
https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/further-talks-on-church-and-ministry/
https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/house-of-prayer-or-den-of-thieves/
https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/overview-of-philosophy/ 
[parts]
John’s declaration- where the Christian song/chant comes from]
[parts]
Note- Morrison got the name for his group from Aldous Huxley’s book ‘The Doors of Perception’. Strangely- the book- 1st published in 1954- deals with Huxley’s drug trip- on Mescaline [the drug I took- and seemed to open up a fascination with near death experiences]. Huxley recorded his own trip on Mescaline- and even used the term ‘sacramental vision’ describing the hallucinations he had.
 One of the quotes I found interesting while researching for this post was ‘We need to experience death consciousness to awaken to what’s important’ the bible says ‘teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom’.
 Another quote- from the Nihilistic perspective- ‘we are condemned to be free’- without a God perspective- free will- even when talking about the ‘choice’ to die- has no real meaning- there really is no higher good served- because life has no meaning. But- when your death serves a greater purpose [like redeeming mankind] then it can actually be a virtue- a good thing- if your death impacts others in a positive way- then yes- it’s not meaningless- to the contrary- it’s profitable.
 [parts]
 In the last Philosophy post I hit on the 10th-14th century development of modern thought- today I want to jump into the 16th-18th centuries. Like I said in a previous post- after the Renaissance and the Reformation and the great scientific revolution- you had the world in somewhat of a tailspin.
  What I mean is for hundreds of years people trusted in the old institutions [like the Catholic Church] to tell them what was true or false- then with the development of all these modern movements people began questioning stuff.
 Was it good to question things? Sure. But some challenged the very foundations of thought and knowing [called Epistemology] and went a bit too far.
 Some thinkers went  back to the thought of Plato [400 years BC] and said that the mind is the main source of all knowledge- these were the 17th century Rationalists.
 Rationalism- as a philosophy- was an outgrowth of all the great strides that man was making in all these other areas of life. The Scientific Revolution totally challenged the age old beliefs of many in the church.
 Math became a sort of new ‘god’. How so? As science invented the Microscope and Telescope- man was able for the first time to peer deeply into the heavens- and to see deeply into the microscopic world.
 As the great minds [Copernicus] showed us that the Universe was different than what we thought [Heliocentric versus Geocentric] man was able to do mathematical calculations and to say that a specific planet or star [or Comet] would show up at an exact date- or spot- and Walla- it would happen [you could look thru the Telescope and sure enough the math was right- the object that was calculated to be there- was.]
 These calculations were mathematical formulas- so math began to be seen as the new religion in many ways.
 There are even some thinkers in the modern day that still say the only ‘real truth’ that exists is mathematical formulas. Yeah- one guy wrote an entire book on the subject- the problem? Well- his book was not written in math- but words.
 Yes- even the extreme deniers of Objective truth do make mistakes.
 Now- what’s wrong with rationalism? Of course being rational is okay- but the philosophy itself denied real Objective truth. Truth that corresponds to some other ‘outside’ reality.
 This form of thinking [rejecting outside reality] is called Relativism/Subjectivism. While there is some truth to all the various fields of thought- yet extreme Relativism denies ‘reality’ as most of us understand the term.  There was a strong resistance to the 17th century rationalists- we call this Philosophy Empiricism.
 The main thinker in this field was John Locke. Locke lived most of his life in the 17th century- but his thought laid the foundation for the 18th century Empiricist.
 This philosophy says that the mind does indeed play a major role in the knowledge of things- but this knowledge does not originate in the mind [Plato] but in the ‘thing’ itself [Aristotle- remember when we covered these men? Plato was an idealist- Ideas were more real than matter. Aristotle was a Realist- closer to the thought of Locke].
 Locke developed a theory called the Correspondence theory- that truth that the Mind discovers corresponds to real things that actually exist apart from the mind.
 Locke was a practicing doctor- and most of the other thinkers of the day had room to speculate about reality in a way that Locke could not.
 He lived in a real world with real patients who had real symptoms- in a nutshell Locke had to diagnose his patients based on his findings- he could not deny that there was a real problem- he had to have his ‘feet on the ground’ [based in reality] while engaging with his head up high.
 Okay- I think we’ll end with this. Maybe you can go back and read some of my previous posts on this subject- just to become a little more familiar with it.
 As Christians- we are not ‘required’ to know Philosophy- or current events- or science- but it helps us engage the culture when we do educate ourselves in these areas.
 Go slow in learning [not too slow!] and try and see how the Christian Worldview agrees with- or rejects certain aspects of these different felids of thought.
 Most Christians would reject Rationalism as a Philosophy- because it denies real objective truth- it says truth is relative- whatever the mind can conceive- or think- can be defined as truth [Unicorns?]
 Biblical truth is based on real historic events- 1st Corinthians chapter 15 says that if we deny the physical  resurrection of Christ- a real event- then our faith is in vain.
 Christians base their faith on a real historic event- not simply on a belief system.
 [parts]
 Let’s do a little more on Eschatology [end times stuff] today. Over the last few weeks these things have been in the news because of the Harold Camping prediction and you have heard various news folk- as well as believers giving their slant to all the popular verses that deal with the subject.
 Some media people were quoting ‘no one knows when the last day will happen- not even the Son, only God’. Then you have had a few other popular verses seep into the flow. The main portions of the bible that deal with the end times are Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21. John’s gospel does not have an ‘end times’ discourse- possibly because he covers the subject in length in the book of Revelation.
 The main gospel on the subject is Matthew- Mark’s gospel seems to be a shorter compilation possibly taken from Matthew. By ‘taken’ I mean Mark was a scribe/recorder- he was the personality we see in the book of Acts- John Mark. If you remember- he had a falling out with the Apostle Paul and Mark ‘went home’ while Paul took Silas and they embarked on the great missionary journeys of the Apostle.
 You don’t hear that much about Mark after the ‘falling out’ but we know that Mark would later pen the 2nd gospel and he was also a recorder [secretary] for the Apostle Peter [might be important to remember this- if I get to it?]
 So anyway mark seems to have borrowed from Matthew [some scholars think the familiarity between the gospels should be attributed to another unknown common source- referred to as Q- I prefer to simply see it as the writers being familiar with what the other writers were writing- and in the 1st century you did not have Plagiarism as we do today- where it would be illegal to copy something verbatim from another writer- that’s why Mark- who also probably penned 2nd Peter- not as a Plagiarist who used Pseudepigraphy- writings by authors who pretended to be someone else- but as a scribe who was familiar with the other source documents of the time. 2nd Peter has come under scrutiny because chapter 2 seems to have borrowed heavily from the letter of Jude. At some spots it looks like a direct copy. But as Peter’s scribe- it would not have been out of the ordinary to have included- verbatim- a passage from Jude and to have attributed the entire letter to Peter. Or Peter might have simply been familiar with Jude's letter and it would not have been wrong according to 1st century writing standards to have done this. But skeptics in our day try to use this to say the bible is a forgery- so that’s why it’s important to be familiar with the debate and to have a good response.]
 Okay-lets at least try and start a little end times stuff. Matthews 24 begins with Jesus and the disciples walking away from the Temple and Jesus says ‘see all these buildings- truly I tell you that there will not be left one stone on top of another’.
 The disciples then ask Jesus ‘when will this happen- and what will be the sign of the end of the age/world, and the sign of your coming’. Now- this sets the stage for the entire scope of the answer. Jesus told them one thing ‘the temples coming down some day’ and they ask a few things.
 Some scholars believe that the entire answer Jesus gives- about the end of the world and the coming tribulation- some teach that all these things did happen by A.D. 70- that’s when the Roman general Titus [future emperor] attacked the city of Jerusalem and destroyed the temple. Jesus prediction about ‘one stone not being left on another’ was fulfilled to the tee because the temple stones were overlaid with Gold and the looters burned the stones to melt the gold and in the process they literally laid every stone out.
 In the Matthew discourse Jesus also warned the disciples that ‘when you see these things beginning to happen- let those in the city flee to the mountains’. As Titus made his way towards Jerusalem some early communities took his words literally and did use the mountains as a place for protection. The community at Qumran hid their writings in ‘the mountains’ that overlooked the Dead Sea- some 2 thousand years later these writings [scrolls] would be discovered- those are the Dead Sea Scrolls of today- one of the greatest archeological finds of history.
 And there were Jewish believers at Jerusalem who did indeed flee to the mountains and they escaped the slaughter. So there certainly were things that Jesus spoke about in his 'end times’ teaching that were fulfilled in the 1st century.
 But what about the other famous portions? As various media persons were quoting a few famous parts of this discourse [this is the 4th famous discourse known as the Olivet discourse in Matthew- 5 famous long sections of Jesus’ teaching] it would help us to know the entire context of the discourse [which includes chapter 25 by the way].
 One of the famous verses is ‘when you see the fig tree putting forth leaves- you know that summer is near- so when you see these signs you know the end is near’. In American evangelicalism this verse has been made popular by men like Hal Lindsay who teach that the fig tree is ALWAYS  a symbol for the nation of Israel and therefore Jesus was saying that when Israel becomes a nation again [which happened in 1948] that within ‘a generation’ the end will happen.  
 This view uses a few other verses to come to this conclusion. Jesus famous ‘this generation will not pass away until all these things happen’ and a few other scriptures. Simply reading the chapter in context does not seem to be saying this at all. The parallel passage in Luke says ‘and all the trees’. It seems like Jesus is simply saying ‘just like when you see a tree blossom- so when you see these signs know that the time is near’.
 There really is nothing in the actual text to indicate that this is speaking about 1948. But because of these verses having been used like this many preachers have tried to date the coming of Christ within ‘the generation’ from1948. Lindsey put out a book saying that 1988 was a ‘special time’ why 88? 1988 was 40 years [biblical generation] from 1948. Then some changed the biblical generation to 70 years- which makes this decade real important.
 The problem with all these dates is there based on a faulty premise- that Jesus was saying that within a generation of the ‘fig tree blooming’ the 2nd coming will take place- he never said that. As far as I can tell 1948 plays no significant role. Of course Israel becoming a nation again at that time was a great thing- but as a date to begin setting off some type of spiritual clock- that’s not in the bible.
 Okay- maybe I’ll do a few more of these over the next few days. Try and read these chapters the next few days and get a feel for the overall meaning [the context] when we become familiar with the overall meaning of the passage- it keeps us from getting lost in the Fig Tree ones.
 www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com 
 [parts]
Church Unlimited- Mass - https://youtu.be/DiRNv2hp3aU
https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/5-28-17-c-u-mass.zip
https://ccoutreach87.com/5-28-17-c-u-mass/ 
[I talked from the verses used in the Sunday Mass- and the verses from Church Unlimited]
 ON VIDEO-
.Ascension Sunday
.Cathedral city
.We are the 2nd book- Bishop Mulvey
.Dead words versus life in the Spirit [manifested thru us- the Logos made flesh once again]
.Tertullian ‘Have we chased God into a book’? https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tertullian 
.Gnostic writing in the first few centuries
.Pseudepigraphy https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pseudepigraphy 
.Life in community
.Logos
.Watch Tower
.Theresa of Avila http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=208 
.Catholic Mystics
.Contemplative prayer
.Hebrews- James- context
.Paul and James
.Faith and works
Correction- On the video I mentioned a quote/book from Theresa of Avila- the book was called ‘The Interior Castle’ written in 1588 - the quote I used was ‘Cathedral of the mind’.
 PAST POSTS- [Past teaching I did that relates to today’s post- C.U.- Mass]
https://ccoutreach87.com/galatians-links/
https://ccoutreach87.com/hebrews-updated-2015/https://ccoutreach87.com/hebrews-updated-2015/
https://ccoutreach87.com/romans-updated-2015/
https://ccoutreach87.com/james-2015/ 
https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/06/01/acts-13/ 
 CHAPTER 11: [see commentary on Acts 21]
END NOTES-
JUSTIFIED BY FAITH.
TORTURED- BY FAITH?
REJECTED MONEY- BY FAITH?
THEY ALL WAITED FOR THE CITY- THE CHURCH.
   ‘Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, FOR BY IT THE ELDERS OBTAINED A GOOD REPORT [JUSTIFIED]’ This is the key verse to the chapter. Paul will go on to prove that all the Old Testament figures that ‘pleased God’ did it by faith, and not by works! ‘Through faith WE UNDERSTAND that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear’ Faith is not ‘blind’. It informs and gives understanding. This understanding is real! Let me show you what I mean. All of the universe and creation had a beginning point. Science did not always know or believe this. Today science teaches this. It is called ‘the point of singularity/density’. Science has traced back the origins of all things and has found scientific evidence to prove that all things had a ‘beginning point’. Now if you were to ask science ‘what did you have right before the beginning point’? They are stumped. Some of course believe in God and will boldly proclaim him at this point. To the others they can not answer this question. Why? Because they realize, thru science, that matter is not infinite. [overblog- see the rest here- https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/06/03/c-u-mass/ ]
 Some have theorized that either all things always existed [which science has now disproved] or that at one point nothing existed [which science also teaches that if this were true then you would have nothing today. You can not get something from nothing!] So all true science has gone back to this ‘point of singularity’ and can not see what is right before ‘the point’. The Christian ‘sees’ God at this point! He ‘understands’ that by necessity there has to have been something that existed before creation, science teaches this. This something can not have been created also, because then where did the ‘being’ who created ‘it’ come from? So science teaches us that whoever got the ball rolling [Saint Thomas Aquinas calls this the ‘prime mover’] had to have been preexistent/ self existent in order to have done it. And we know that creation couldn’t have done it by itself, so therefore all reasoning and understanding leave us at the philosophical point of ‘there had to have been something/someone who existed forever  in order for anything to be today’. So now you see how ‘by faith we understand that all things that now exist were brought into existence by someone who we can not see’. FAITH UNDERSTANDS!
  As we go thru the rest of this chapter I want you to focus in on all the references of justification by faith. You will be surprised [I think?] on how many examples Paul gives to Israel from their own history [his too!] on God justifying people by faith. I will also try and show you [if I remember] how this chapter links the division between Paul’s epistles to the gentiles [Romans, Galatians] with James letter to the Jews. James was one of the lead Apostles at Jerusalem [Acts 15] and the Judaizers who were always accusing Paul of preaching grace in a way that justified sin, they came out of Jerusalem. James and Paul were rivals in a sense. James had the difficult job of overseeing the Church at Jerusalem, who had all the Pharisees who believed, while Paul was preaching this radical message of grace. This is why James’s letter [book of James] focused so much on faith and works. James was seeing the Genesis 22 account of Abraham’s justification when he offered Isaac on the altar. James will say ‘see how Abraham was justified by his works’. While in Paul’s letters he focuses on the Genesis 15 account of Abraham believing God and being made righteous. James was not contradicting Paul; he was showing the actual outcome of the life of a person who was previously justified by faith. James was saying ‘When God made Abraham righteous [Gen 15] he later actually became what God made him!’ [Gen. 22].
  Now when Abraham would later do righteous things, he only did them because he previously had faith in Gods promise. But the fact still remains that when Abraham did a righteous act, God still justified him [in a sense, God has the prerogative to say ‘good job son, I am pleased with you’ so this can be described as an act/function of justification]. Well, now that I already showed you all this, I guess I wont have to remember telling it to you later. The point is in this chapter Paul will go down and show all these examples of Jewish leaders acting by faith and doing righteous deeds. This sort of bridges the gap between the strong emphasis on faith in Paul’s letters, with the strong emphasis on works in James letter. Paul is telling Israel ‘yes, all the old saints did do good works that pleased God, but they did them by faith!’ ‘Faith without works is dead’ [James]. So in a sense this single chapter bridges one of the key divisions in the early church between Jerusalem and Antioch [Acts 13 and 15]. Note; I believe all the chapter references above are correct, I write all this from memory so you might want to go back and double check the references. I know all the stories are right.
  ‘By FAITH Able offered …by which he obtained witness that he was RIGHTEOUS…by FAITH Enoch was translated…he had this testimony that he PLEASED GOD…without FAITH it is impossible to PLEASE HIM [all these ‘please him’ references are like saying ‘being justified’ when a person is justified by God, God sees him as acceptable, pleasing. ‘Thou art my beloved son in whom I am well PLEASED’ God to Jesus!] By faith Noah… prepared an ark to the SAVING of his house…and became heir to the RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH IS BY FAITH [wow, he makes this one real plain] By faith Abraham…went out into a strange land…and sojourned’ interesting, both the aspect of ‘going out to a new land’ and ‘staying in it when you get there’ are both functions of faith. Let me throw in some practical stuff here. Over the years of ‘doing ministry’ I have seen and been a partaker of both of these experiences. Sometimes it takes an act of faith to uproot us from familiar territory and move on to the next level. And do you know what can happen next? The enemy will try to intimidate you once you get in the land of promise, and tell you ‘you cant stay here, look at all the people who hate you. Look at all the mistakes you made’ and it often takes an act of faith to STAY IN THE LAND. Don’t leave the land of your destiny; all true leaders will go thru both of these dealings.
 ‘For he looked for a city which hath foundations [Jesus is the foundation of this city!] whose builder and maker is God’ All of these great heroes of the faith were looking forward towards a future promise of being in Gods true church, the ‘City of God’ the Bride, the Lambs wife. Paul shows Israel that this 1st century appearing of Messiah was for the purpose of Israel coming into the ‘new land’ the Body of Christ. It is important to see this. There are many preachers today who are treating natural Israel as in if everything is just fine. It isn’t! They need Christ as much as the Muslim does. God was telling Israel ‘come into this new city’ [New Jerusalem versus Old Jerusalem] he wasn’t appealing for them to stay in ‘old Jerusalem’ and be a ‘completed Jew’. [I know this sounds harsh, but I want to emphasize to all my evangelical friends that Jews need Jesus, they play a special role in Gods plan, but ultimately they need Christ!]
  ‘Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed’ it takes faith to produce spiritual offspring! It might look impossible, but with God all things are possible. ‘Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky and the sand by the shore’ sometimes God will allow you to bring forth one ‘seed’ [person or act of ministry] and you will be surprised how much fruit can come forth from this singular effort. This is why it’s so important to simply hear and obey God. Often times in ministry we do tons of ‘leg work’ which is OK. But when God gives you an idea or mode of function that you weren’t even thinking of, go with it. These are usually the ‘little seeds’ that produce the great harvest! ‘THESE ALL DIED IN FAITH, NOT HAVING RECEIVED THE PROMISES’ I want to emphasize here that it is possible to live your whole life in faith without actually seeing the fulfillment of all that God has told you.
  Now faith does obtain promises [verse 33] but sometimes we also see things many years down the road and we must realize that the measurement of faith is not whether or not you are currently getting the actual promise. In the above [and below] verse’s we see Abraham and Sara being told that their offspring would number in the millions. They believed these promises, but it is obvious that they didn’t live to see it fulfilled, but they sure knew that after they were gone it would come to pass. So I want to exhort you to believe to see certain things fulfilled in your life time, but have some greater goals that you initiate while here on earth, knowing that after you depart they will be fulfilled. ‘And truly if they had been MINDFUL of the country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned’ what is Paul saying here? The greatest threat to the gospel taking root in the Hebrew community was the desire to go back to old law and culture. How many believers ‘revert’ back to an older form of church simply because they missed the old culture and ‘feelings’ that they had when they were younger? Many of the Jews would not go all the way with the gospel because they were ‘mindful’ of the good old days of law and sacrifice.
  I just watched a show the other day that told how even some gentile believers began celebrating certain feasts of Israel with their Jewish neighbors. While it is good to understand and see the significance of the feasts, yet we know Paul wrote the early believers and said ‘you observe days and times and feasts, and I am concerned about it’. So when we [or 1st century Israel] are ‘mindful’ of the ‘good old days’ then there is always a danger of going back! ‘By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac…of whom it was said in Isaac shall thy seed be called. Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure’ Abraham exhibited characteristics of the Father [God] as well as Isaac being a type of the Son [Jesus]. It’s interesting that these verses show that Abraham knew for a fact that God was going to give Isaac millions of children, Abraham also knew the voice of God so well that when he ‘thought’ he heard God say ‘offer up this boy’ that in the mind of Abraham, the only way these 2 things could be reconciled, is he came to the conclusion ‘I guess God will have to raise him up, being he has told me this boy will have millions of children, plus he is telling me to kill him’. Most of us would not have come to this conclusion! We would have doubted either the original promise, or said ‘surely this can’t be God telling me to offer Isaac’ [most likely we would have doubted the latter!].
 There is a real important reason for Abraham to have been a real man of faith. God wanted this ‘picture’ of the offering up of Isaac for a type of the Cross and Resurrection. The only way he could have shown this example was to have had someone so radically filled with faith, that he would have come to this conclusion of ‘well, I guess God will just raise him’. It was necessary for the figure to have been truly fulfilled. It took Abraham many years of hearing and believing God before he would get to this stage. The part of Abraham’s mind that said ‘God will just have to raise him up’ was important for the figure to truly work. God knew he could only bring someone to this conclusion by arranging the whole scenario around a person of faith. It truly took a real person of faith to have come to the conclusion of resurrection as being inevitable! [For Abraham to fulfill the type of God, he had to have been convinced beyond all doubt that after he offered up his son, that he would be raised again. This is exactly what the Father [God] believed and knew about his own Sons death. So not only did Isaac fulfill the type of Jesus in this story, but Abraham also fulfilled a type of God!] [NOTE; Today is September 22, 2007. Israel’s Day of Atonement. I just heard a brother preach on the feasts of the Lord [I have done this also] but he preached it in a way that said ‘because God said you were to observe these feasts perpetually, therefore all gentile believers need to start observing these days’ he added ‘I know Paul taught the law passed and all, but these feasts are supposed to be forever because God said so’.
  How are the feasts ‘perpetual’? Thru the fulfilling of them in Christ! Paul makes this plain all thru the New Testament [as well as this letter!] I was surprised to hear the brother preach that the first 2 feasts [out of the 3 main ones] were fulfilled and memorialized, but the 3rd one [Atonement/tabernacles] has yet to be fulfilled! What? Jesus fulfilled Passover and Pentecost for sure, and they are still being ‘fulfilled’ God is still bringing people in thru the blood of Christ and the Spirit is continually being poured out on people, and of course the ultimate reality of our atonement thru our high priest is a daily reality [he ever lives to make intercession] that is ‘fulfilled’ all the time[ I understand what the brother meant, that both Passover and Pentecost were fulfilled at the Cross and the day of Pentecost, and Tabernacles still has a future fulfillment. That Jesus will ‘ingather’ all peoples to himself at the end. The way he said it was in a way that he said Atonement, the beginning of Tabernacles/booths, still has to be fulfilled. It really came out badly!] I just thought it worth noting that today is natural Israel’s feast day, and we hold this feast in reality 24/7!]
 ‘By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of pharaohs daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward…by faith the harlot Rahab perished not…’ I want you to see that faith in Moses situation caused him to forsake great riches and leave a successful future. This is in keeping with all the times Jesus called people in the Gospels ‘forsake all and follow me’ mentality. We too often equate the ‘treasures of Egypt’ with following Jesus; the scripture puts a different spin on it! Also Rahab ‘perished not’ because she ‘believed’. Paul teaches in Corinthians that those who believe are ‘being saved’ and those who don’t believe are ‘perishing’. I want you to see that Paul is really making a theological argument for ‘being saved by faith’ in this chapter. Even a harlot can be saved! Wow. The law seemed to have no mercy on someone like that!
  ‘Who thru faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, stopped the mouths of lions…women received their dead raised to life…others were TORTURED not accepting deliverance…others had mocking and scourging and bonds and imprisonment, they were stoned, cut in half, were slain with the sword… being destitute, afflicted, tormented…they wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and caves of the earth, ALL THESE [both the ones who shut the mouths of lions as well as the one’s who were tortured without deliverance] OBTAINED A GOOD REPORT THRU FAITH, AND RECEIVED NOT THE PROMISE’ Faith does not always cause you to be better off in this life. I am very familiar with all the verses of God blessing us and providing for us ‘the blessing of the Lord it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow to it’. I believe and claim these verses just like the next guy. I also don’t want to tell people ‘give your life to Christ and all will go well’ did it go well for the ones who were tortured not getting delivered? Sure did. It went well the moment they saw the face of God. The same for those who were cut in half. It also went well for the women who received their dead raised to life. The point is ‘going well’ is not always defined by your outward circumstance.
 We must see the overall biblical worldview of all things here being temporary, while all true spiritual riches are eternal. Moses actually was ‘less rich’ by the choice to follow Christ. But he was ‘more rich’ in that he fulfilled Gods purpose. It is important to see that many of these great heroes of the faith died without fully seeing the promise in this life. Now the last verse does say ‘that they without us should not be made perfect’ and this does show that the promise is now fulfilled thru Christ. We have all become recipients of eternal salvation thru Christ. The Old Testament patriarchs have ‘found that city’ in that we are all now members of the great ‘City that comes down from God out of heaven’ we are all in Christ today, even our Old Testament brothers who had faith. The point is don’t always measure a persons faith by their outward wealth and condition. James rebuked this idea in his epistle, he taught us not to show partiality to people who were rich while despising the poor.
  When believers see faith only from the standpoint of outward things, they are missing the true riches. Jesus taught that all these outward things were not the true riches; I am surprised how many believers spend so much time hoarding and storing things that will all pass away some day. Let’s close this chapter on a good note. Paul has offered Israel all of their Old Testament heroes as an example of being justified by faith. He is saying ‘look, all the great fathers of the faith pleased God, just like you have said and taught for ages. I am declaring unto you they were all ‘justified/pleasing to God’ by faith, not law’. Therefore if you want to follow the example of Abraham and Moses and all the other wonderful fathers, then you too MUST BELIEVE!
END NOTES-
JUSTIFIED BY FAITH.
TORTURED- BY FAITH?
REJECTED MONEY- BY FAITH?
THEY ALL WAITED FOR THE CITY- THE CHURCH.
This chapter is loaded with the history of the Jewish people-
I could teach on each story- but that would be a bit much-
So I pasted the verses below to show that the writer is saying ‘see- all of our forefathers were justified- received a GOOD REPORT- by faith’.
Wait a minute- they DID THINGS- in these stories-
Isn’t that WORKS?
If you read the letter of James- and the letters of Paul- some scholars says there is a disagreement-
Paul says a man is justified by faith- and not by works.
James says ‘see how a man is justified by works- and not faith only’.
If this letter [Hebrews] was written by Paul- then it’s a true masterpiece- because he is combining the examples that James uses [Rahab- and Abrahams Genesis 22 experience- which James uses to say ‘see how works justifies’].
So- to me- Paul would be saying ‘no- I’m not contradicting James- we both believe/teach the same thing’.
If the letter was written by Barnabus- then it also is a masterpiece- because Barnabus might be trying to bridge the gap between Paul and James.
We read about this tension in Acts chapters 13 and 15.
This chapter is certainly not showing us how to obtain stuff [money- etc.] thru faith- because look at the examples- ‘Moses chose to suffer- and reject the wealth of Egypt- BY FAITH’-
‘SOME WERE TORTURED- SUFFERED- CUT IN HALF- by faith’- ‘CHOOSING TO not be delivered- because they had faith’.
We also see the heavenly city- as the goal of the patriarchs- they were all waiting for THE CHURCH- the city that the apostle John spoke about in the book of revelation.
The writer says ‘if they were mindful of the city they came out of [a reference to the law covenant- meaning if the Jews kept clinging to the law- the ‘city they came out from’- they will have a hard time moving on- into the New Covenant revelation of Messiah].
I didn’t quote verse 2- but we could teach modern physics from that one [the bible says all things were made from something invisible- modern physics has come to that reality in the 20th century- yet this verse was penned 2 millennia ago]!
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
So yeah- lots of good stuff in this chapter- but the main point is these ancients were justified by faith- the example of Noah and Abraham actually use that very language- salvation/righteousness [it’s a bit clearer in the King James Version- the above verses are from the NIV].
Yes- the writer is saying ‘everything is based on faith- and even our ancestors were justified by faith- they did all these things because they believed God- and God saw their faith- in action- and they too were made righteous- by faith’.
By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them
By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.
By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were put to death by stoning;[e] they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
[parts]
First- this entire school of thought was popularized in the 19th century- from the Christian universities in Germany.
 Yes- some good men- well meaning men [others not so good! Freud- etc] believed that in order for the faith to survive in this ‘brave new world’ [modernity- and the whole humanistic advance of man since the enlightenment].
 That they had to re-fashion the faith and sort of bring it up to date with the times.
 Men like Rudolph Bultman introduced the idea of ‘de mythologizing’ the bible.
 So- these guys rejected all the supernatural elements of the bible- no more miracles- angels- demons- or resurrection!
 Many people embraced this ‘new’ bold approach to the faith- and basically became theological liberals.
 One of the reasons some of these men went down this road were covered in the above documentaries.
 Okay- as I watched a couple of them- they had similar themes- and were also wrong in the same way.
 They compared about 25 other religious myths- from other cultures- and they said these other religious myths all had a savior- a son of god- who had 12 disciples.
 They said this Lamb of God died- was buried- and on the 3rd day rose again.
 They said he did miracles- was born of a virgin- was called Lord and savior.
  And they made it sound like this ‘story’- in complete form- was repeated many times before the Christians ‘picked it up’.
 Wow- double wow.
 Why are these documentaries dangerous?
 First- I actually have read/studied in this field.
  The similarities that they described in the doc’s were way overdone- they simply are not true.
 That’s the first problem.
 But- they did mix in some truth- with the false stuff.
  Both of the documentaries I saw [it seems like there is one person- producer- behind the 2 I saw] did give an actual quote from a 2nd century Christian leader- Justin Martyr.
 The quote is indeed real- Justin is known as one of the first Apologists of the church.
 He defended the faith during a time when many enemies of the faith slandered the religion.
  In one defense [out of many] he said that those who reject Christianity because we believe that a Divine son rose from the dead- that others also held the same type of belief in the pagan world.
  He was referring to the god Jupiter and the stories that surround those who believed in him.
 You also do find this same type of thing in the myth of Hercules.
 Okay- so the skeptic was right then?
 No.
 In the documentary- the skeptic actually gives the quote from Justin- and Justin says that just because these similarities did exist in other religions- before Christ- that this in no way means the Christian faith is false.
 How so?
  Justin said it was possible for satan to have ‘imitated’ what was really going to happen.
 The skeptic mocked this argument from Justin- and went on to challenge the faith.
 A few things.
 First- it is possible that Justin was right.
 2nd.
 This whole line of attack is not new [unless you never heard of it before- which is why I’m kinda surprised that Netflix has them in their lineup].
 It goes all the way back to the writings of Gilgamesh.
 These are writings that also have similarities to the things we find in the bible- yet they are not coming from the Christian perspective.
 They contain a story about a flood [like the one in Genesis].
 So- over time- skeptics have said ‘see- the bible must have copied these flood stories- because we find them in other cultures’.
 I actually covered this before.
 Let me give you the short version.
 We- as Christians- do indeed believe the story of Noah [the flood].
 Some debate whether it was a global event or local- I don’t want to get into that now.
  But- if there was a huge event- say like a 911 plane attack on the world trade center.
  Would you not expect to find that event- recorded in more than one culture?
 Of course you would.
 So the fact that other cultures have a flood event recorded too- this does not mean the Christians plagiarized the flood- no- it would be evidence that the flood really did happen.
 See?
 Now- the similarities between a divine son who rose from the dead.
 First- there ARE NOT 25 or so stories like this- with 12 disciples- raised on the 3rd day- and so on.
 The producer of the doc was simply mislead- or outright lying.
 2nd.
 We must remember that anything we find in Greek culture- which predated Christian ‘culture’ was also predated by Jewish culture.
 That is to say that the story of Judaism comes before the Greek philosophers.
 Are there any themes in the Jewish religion that speak about a Messiah who would come- die- and be the Messiah of all mankind?
 Yes!
 So- you could argue that any similarities between Greek myth- and Christianity- are actually ‘copies’ taken from the Old Testament story.
 That is- God himself gave us clues about the story of redemption- and these clues might have very well ‘seeped’ into the Greek culture- before Christ- and that’s why you might find similarities between the 2.
 See?
   Okay- I could go on- but I think I made the point.
 I was not mad that these documentaries were on net flix.
 But I saw the danger in presenting one side like this- without giving the other view [which I just gave].
 All in all- the Christian faith has more historical backing [like the many thousands of bible manuscripts that survived the early days] than any other religion or writings of any kind.
 The documentaries made a couple of good points- things that were indeed true- but they had way too much mis information in them to be playing on such a huge venue.
 Buyer [or watcher] beware!
 [parts]
(1445) WAS NOT ABRAHAM OUR FATHER JUSTIFED BY WORKS WHEN HE OFFERED ISAAC HIS SON UPON THE ALTAR- YE SEE THEN HOW THAT BY WORKS A MAN IS JUSTIFED AND NOT BY FAITH ONLY- WAS NOT RAHAB THE HARLOT JUSTFIED BY WORKS?  James 2:22-26. Okay, in Genesis chapter 22 we read the story of God telling Abraham to offer up his son Isaac upon the altar. Abraham obeys God and at the last minute the Lord stops him; but the angel of the Lord says because he did this, that now God knows he can be trusted and God will fulfill his promise to him. James uses this story to define what he means when he speaks of ‘being justified’ in Gods sight. I believe there have been many noble attempts at trying to reconcile this passage with the passages in Romans and Galatians where Paul specifically says ‘a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith’. Paul clearly teaches us that men cannot be justified by the works of the law; James says ‘see how men are justified by works’. The explanations I have heard go like this ‘James was simply saying the faith that saves is an active living faith’ ‘James is simply saying men are justified in the sight of other men by their works’ ‘James is simply saying true faith has works along with it’ while all of these things are true, they seem to not adequately deal with the 3 passages I quoted at the top. James says that when Abraham offered up his son on the altar that the scripture was fulfilled that said ‘he believed in God and he counted it to him for righteousness’. James is fully aware of the Genesis 15 promise to Abraham, the key verse Paul uses to define justification by faith; it’s just James is speaking about the process thru out life where men actually become righteous in practice, which is a result of being legally made righteous by faith. In essence when James says ‘see how men are justified by works’ he is describing the act of God being pleased with us, God having the right to say ‘yes, you obeyed me son, and I call you righteous in my eyes because you did obey me’. This process can be defined as being ‘justified by works’ while not contradicting Paul use of the term ‘justification by faith’. To me it is quite clear that James is saying more than just ‘real faith has works’ no, he is saying that the legal/forensic act of justification by faith [Gen. 15] leads to a life of actually doing just things [obeying God- Gen. 22] and when the legally justified believer obeys God, in a sense he is justified in Gods sight [not men’s!] by these works. Now, this does not mean men are ‘saved’ by doing good works, in the sense that Paul uses ‘saved’ but James is saying that when believers do good works, these works cause a response from God that can be defined as ‘being justified in Gods sight by our good works’ a totally different theme than Paul. This passage has been a difficult one for many years, Luther battled with it and at one point called James epistle a ‘straw epistle’ he doubted its canonicity. The Catholic Church used this very passage in their council at Trent to refute what they saw as Luther’s neglect of good works. I have had Mormons and other various Christian groups use this passage in defending certain aspects of their churches; this passage is well worn in the annals of Christian apologetics, I think the explanation that I just gave is the best one; the other efforts that have been made to explain this passage have some truth to them, but at the end of the day they don’t fully explain the clear text of the above passages. I think this explanation explains them.
   VERSES
 15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
2nd Peter 3
16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.
18 For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
Gal 2 [Here’s my entire study on Galatians https://ccoutreach87.com/galatians-links/ ]
  [From the Mass]
Reading 2 
EPH 2:4-10
Brothers and sisters: God, who is rich in mercy,  because of the great love he had for us,  even when we were dead in our transgressions,  brought us to life with Christ — by grace you have been saved —,  raised us up with him,  and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus,  that in the ages to come  He might show the immeasurable riches of his grace  in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith,  and this is not from you; it is the gift of God;  it is not from works, so no one may boast. For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works  that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them.
Verse Before The Gospel 
JN 3:16
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.
Gospel
JN 3:14-21
Jesus said to Nicodemus: “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,  so must the Son of Man be lifted up,  so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,  so that everyone who believes in him might not perish  but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,  but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned,  but whoever does not believe has already been condemned,  because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world,  but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light,  so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light,  so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.
OTHER VIDEOS- Links to all sites below
Kings 17  https://youtu.be/twt47Xhpa84
10-15-17 Sunday sermon  https://www.dropbox.com/s/waqoz1i3z5octsw/10-15-%2017%20Sunday%20Sermon.mp4?dl=0
Friends n teaching  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMiy920_l3B7V_AdHW
Andy- Craig  https://youtu.be/cZLwTwxkESc
The scepter of the kingdom  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhW5QGcPtdttZAGaX
Mark 14  https://youtu.be/IZS5Q3z8hro
John 15  https://www.dropbox.com/s/mgbmmio0e2wibgx/8-30-16%20John%2015.mp4?dl=0
A message  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhWmFXXGCn1S37bZE
Marcus  https://www.bitchute.com/video/qaEWcyJxt88s/
Plane leaving Houston  https://www.instagram.com/tv/ByC-nbeHQNM/?utm_source=ig_web_options_share_sheet
John 19  https://youtu.be/iS9OG-fiBL0
A sign  https://youtu.be/oExtvIKtatI
Goodbye Pops  https://dai.ly/x77nr2k
Homeless friends  https://flic.kr/p/2h2QKWE
10-22-17 Sunday sermon  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhAG-f-ZblazGnKY-
Colossians 4  https://www.dropbox.com/s/u3urlhqn0uohehn/4-26-18%20Colossians%204.mp4?dl=0
10-29-17 Sunday sermon  https://www.dropbox.com/s/grkeb1bdsbyq940/10-29-17%20Sunday%20Sermon.mp4?dl=0
Hurricane Harvey  https://youtu.be/J_klUVlRAaU
Plane- turbulence  https://www.instagram.com/tv/Bx9ybE0HLgR/?utm_source=ig_web_options_share_sheet  
10-8-17 Sunday sermon  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhBa3n8oVSUJeaz9t
Colossians 3  https://www.dropbox.com/s/l5uniom6iw4j1tm/4-12-18%20Colossians%203.mp4?dl=0
1 Day at a time  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhWgq0z192YaxVtpX
Acts 3  https://youtu.be/Zdx2ZP4VqOo
Acts 18  https://youtu.be/iqrNUuWL-0A
Homeless friends  https://www.dropbox.com/s/rprxvh9g5zyk11h/8-28-17%20Homeless%20friends.mp4?dl=0
Acts 5  https://www.bitchute.com/video/3qREFJoOJMtT/
5-28-17 Sunday sermon  https://dai.ly/x7abr8y
1st Peter  https://flic.kr/p/2h5HKPs
Homeless friends  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMiyJUDy4hmDQC_HtF
Colossians 2  https://www.dropbox.com/s/0pd5q1g903rsdtw/3-29-18%20Colossians%202.mp4?dl=0
Homeless friend  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMghvw-gyfoUcnwKnQ
Kings 10  https://youtu.be/jlMRq0fW1XY
9-14-19 Teaching  https://youtu.be/YwZRp98Wtzk
11-12-17 Sunday sermon  https://www.dropbox.com/s/y3dylqb4d0r7nub/11-12-17%20Sunday%20sermon.mp4?dl=0
https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos/10206092335705622/
Homeless friends  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMiRSAgAvKlYRtFg7q
Danny-  https://youtu.be/U_RQFC9NBrA
8-28-16 Sunday sermon  https://www.dropbox.com/s/vst8eqmqn69ce9g/8-28-16%20Mountauns%20%5BC.U.-%20Mass%5D.mp4?dl=0
Recovery  https://dai.ly/x7abr8x
10-7-18 Sunday sermon  https://flic.kr/p/2h4avJ2
11-19-17 Sunday sermon  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhChLHpH_ZmQ8BHPQ
Colossians 1  https://www.dropbox.com/s/lx4vvkmsayx1qwt/3-15-18%20Colossians%201.mp4?dl=0
Homeless vet  https://youtu.be/pv47iCp_d2Q
5-19-19 Sunday sermon  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMiyU-nAigr5Ta8_-E
Isaiah 6  https://youtu.be/J-8a4O6BufQ
Prayer  https://www.dropbox.com/s/v4v9lmz43gm681l/8-27-18%20Real%20Time%20Prayer.mp4?dl=0
James 1  https://dai.ly/x7a8oce
Samuel 21  https://flic.kr/p/2h1qVUz
11-26-17 Sunday sermon  https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhDLI-9ypw3p0uIxP
Ephesians 6  https://www.dropbox.com/s/xecoai78k9ljdbx/2-15-18%20Ephesians%206.mp4?dl=0
Acts 18  https://ccoutreach87.com/2019/09/17/acts-18-5/
Acts 19  https://ccoutreach87.com/2019/09/19/acts-19-text/
 OTHER VIDEOS
Walking off the GW bridge into NYC https://youtu.be/pP5Y7uT3_LI 
Teaching from the Mass and Church Unlimited bible verses https://vimeo.com/260333831 
3-15-18 friends- Timons https://youtu.be/nbgSB2uxDCo 
3-15-18 Hahn update https://youtu.be/m20WI_SkNw4 
3-15-18 Kara Sands case- world news too https://youtu.be/wh9dv5OPceI 
3-13-18 Update https://youtu.be/_3TzNQzedwI 
G.W. bridge walk https://youtu.be/DnikClMi3dc 
Samuel 20 https://vimeo.com/259965064 
Matthew 23 https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMgQpOhuFuCkqsZOgo
James https://vimeo.com/260149715 
Back from the dead https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ya00ZLwdvHtTq5yKCYOuETSFNq1qLVt0/view?usp=sharing 
  MY SITES
Active sites-
www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com  [Main site]
https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5?ref=bookmarks  
https://www.facebook.com/ccoutreach1/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel&eid=ARCo7sBBI_1fHMUwrHJbFUGf73C6FmpZxtgTcWET2gVwpdHCKmXSGxs6wyeA-qGCnbsr2ILaXqpd4ACt  [my page]
https://ccoutreach87.com/  
http://johnchiarello.tumblr.com/
http://ccoutreach.over-blog.com/
https://ccoutreach87.jimdo.com/
http://ccoutreach87.webstarts.com/__blog.html?r=20171009095200
http://ccoutreach87-1.mozello.com/
https://ccoutreach87.site123.me/
http://ccoutreach87.wixsite.com/mysite
https://corpusoutreach.weebly.com/
http://ccoutreach87.strikingly.com/
https://medium.com/@johnchiarello
https://johnchiarello.webs.com/
https://vk.com/id533663718
https://steemit.com/@ccoutreach
https://www.linkedin.com/home?trk=hb_logo
https://ok.ru/profile/589985645111
 Link sharing sites-
https://twitter.com/ccoutreach87
https://www.pinterest.com/ccoutreach87/
https://mix.com/jchiarello
https://trello.com/b/swhF9Vr8/ccoutreach87com
 http://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/p/one-link_18.html [Link to past teaching]
 Inactive- work in progress
http://ccoutreach87.webs.com/
https://sites.google.com/yahoo.com/ccoutreach87/home
http://johnchiarello.doodlekit.com/
http://corpus-christijohnchiarello.simplesite.com/
https://spark.adobe.com/page/6INKwX1tFT7WA/
 Video sites [Can view and download my videos free of charge]
Youtube  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4GsqTEVWRm0HxQTLsifvg?view_as=subscriber
Youtube Playlist- https://ccoutreach87.com/youtube-playlist/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ccoutreach87/
https://vimeo.com/user85764413
https://www.dailymotion.com/ccoutreach87/videos
https://bit.tube/ccoutreach87
https://www.bitchute.com/channel/jsS961GkXUSn/  
https://1drv.ms/f/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMg0G_aInmCi8XUC-C
https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code=kZ1sXP7ZardKGRUxFByiFYi667jeup7MD1Sy
https://mega.nz/#F!7WQCSIJR!-4v9-zUQRq4MIQbBfI2n4A  
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/d43nhtrgysqg493/AAAlCszxZXJoRtk8UudtuR9ma?dl=0
https://ln.sync.com/dl/3e1f4c5e0/tcnm9p32-xiwe4nbu-zjbkitqj-4fvemf6m
https://1drv.ms/f/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMg0MwmUCJ1XM3q9ui  [Upload- unzipped- all teaching videos to 12-18 here]
https://www.facebook.com/john.chiarello.5/videos?lst=1779330793%3A1779330793%3A1546906912  [My Facebook videos]
https://www.instagram.com/john.chiarello/channel/
https://icedrive.net/dashboard/#/cloud
https://www.brighteon.com/channel/ccoutreach87
Cloud sites- https://ccoutreach87.com/cloud-links-12-2018/
 Note- Please do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on-  Copy text- download video links- make complete copies of my books/studies and posts- everything is copyrighted by me- I give permission for all to copy and share as much as you like- I just ask that nothing be sold. We live in an online world- yet- there is only one internet- meaning if it ever goes down- the only access to the teachings are what others have copied or downloaded- so feel free to copy and download as much as you want- it’s all free-
 Note- I have many web sites- at times some question whether I’m a ‘bot’ because I do post a lot.
I am not a ‘bot’- I’m John- so please- if you are on the verge of deleting something- my contact email is [email protected] - contact me first- thank you- John
0 notes