As for me, I said, “O LORD, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against you!” (Psa 41:4 ESV) Father, you are the God who heals us. People are hurting. People everywhere are getting sick, some are dying, and people everywhere are having to stop their lives and stay apart because of […]
A Prayer in this Time of Disease and Uncertainty Read More »
In T 0.1 Introduction to Tradition in the Church, we discussed that a tradition is a set of beliefs and customs that gets passed from one generation to another. We also looked at the verses that charged believers to follow the tradition that was handed down by the Apostles: So then, brothers, stand firm and hold
T 1 Tradition in Original Christianity, Part 1, Rightly Dividing the Word of God Read More »
Christians follow the Bible, and the Bible starts with the five books of the Law, Genesis through Deuteronomy. Those five books are called the Torah to Jews. The rest of the Jewish Bible includes the Prophets also called the Nevi’im, and the Writings also called the Ketuvim. The Law, the Prophets, and the Writings combined
T 0.2 The Jews and Tradition Read More »
If you go to a Christian church chances are it will be following one or more of many Church Traditions. Some churches advertise themselves as part of a tradition like the Wesleyan tradition, the Reformed Tradition or others. Some traditions are easy to see. The Catholic church, of course, follows the Catholic tradition. The Baptist
T 0.1 Introduction to Tradition in the Church Read More »
This article is about both who we may be now, and who we can become even though it may be so hard that it appears impossible. I’ll start off by saying that at one time I was a smoker, and even though after a while I didn’t want to be a smoker I couldn’t just
H4 The Difficulty Of Some Decisions, The War in our Flesh, Renewing the Mind Read More »
(Warning – mature content, parental guidance, items of a sexual nature are discussed) In Agape – First Things First – Christians Love we learn that the love of God is the great commandment of God and the mark of the true believer. But not every place that the word love is used in our English
H3 Four kinds of love in the Bible, When Love is not Love Read More »
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (Joh 13:34-35 ESV) These are the words of our Lord and Savior,
Agape – First Things First – Christians Love Read More »
In Part 1 we looked at the definition of the word holy: Something that is holy is something that is set apart for God’s purposes. We also looked at how that our call to holiness is a call to good works. We discussed how we are saved by grace and those good works don’t save
Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in
The science of whether sexual orientation is biological is pretty sparse and full of disparate, mixed and unreplicated findings.i I’ll get right to the point. The above line from a USA Today article challenges the simple rallying cry of the gay rights movement, born gay, that is the basis for the huge shift in both
H2 Born Gay: Scientific Fact or False Idol of Bad Science? Read More »
It would be remiss to discuss the Old Testament and its relevance to Original Christianity without talking about the oral traditions called the Talmud in later times. In the Bible, they are just called the tradition of the elders. In Jewish history, for as long as there has been a written law, there has been
LP4000 The Role of Tradition and its Old Testament Influence Read More »
We have looked at how the liturgy developed in the old Testament from simple sacrifices held by heads of households to the giving of the Law and God-given instructions for a much more elaborate liturgy. We also have looked at how the Israelites started their own traditions that accompanied some of these rituals in books
1.2 The Synagogue Became a Substitute For The Temple Read More »
Jonah, chronologically, is thought to be the first of the books of the prophets as the events of the book happen around 790BC. Jonah is listed as a minor prophet simply because the book on his ministry is short. Jonah is famous , for one reason, because Jesus refers to him: Then some of the
We have seen in Part 1 of the Worship Changes with the Giving of the Law that the liturgy of the children of Israel became increasingly complex with that giving. Part of the law included a series of feasts or festivals there were also become part of the new liturgy. Therefore let no one pass
1.1 Worship Changes with the Giving of the Law; Part 2 – the Feasts Read More »
Many people know the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel chapter 3. Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold. Then he made it a capital offense not to bow down and worship the image: Then the herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that at what
The Standard for Believing Set in the Book of Daniel for All Believers Read More »
The focus of this website is looking at original Christianity and how it has progressed from then until now into a myriad number of denominations. One tenet of original Christianity is unity of mind and judgment. In fact, there is one verse that may be quoted more than any other on this site: I appeal
21.1.2 One Benefit of All These Divisions in the Christian Church Read More »
As the old saying goes, Marcion was “the son of a preacher man”. Actually, his father was Bishop at Sinope. But Marcion’s upbringing in the Church did not lead him to accept the orthodoxy of the times. He was a wealthy shipowner and merchant who evidently compared the religion of his father with the religions
Gnosticism is the name given to a category of heretical beliefs in early Christianity and even before. This was not a uniform body of believers with a uniform body of beliefs. In fact, there were Gnostic “Jews” with their sets of beliefs before there were Gnostic “Christians” with their sets of beliefs. And within the
Even though he is named the Clement of Alexandria, Clement was actually probably from Athens. He was not raised in a Christian household, and the method of his conversion is not known. What is known is that he set out on a life quest to find a Christian teacher who could school him in his
Part of the law received on Mount Sinai related to the operation of what is referred to as the Priestly Law. In fact, the whole liturgy of Old Testament times is changed radically with the giving of the Law. Whereas before altars had been set up in places where contact with God had been made,
Dating ancient events has always proved challenging. For one thing, there have been numerous calendars that different cultures have used and synchronizing them is not always easy. The Egyptians had a 12 month calendar but each month had the same 30 days, (three 10 day weeks, no less). The Romans had several calendars; the original
LP0.2 Dating the Bible Read More »
As we have seen in a previous articles, O.1 Overview of Worship in Old Testament Times, it was common in the early centuries to worship outdoors. A determining factor in where an altar or might be created would be the presence of God. If someone experienced the presence of God in a place it was
0.2 Early Old Testament Places of Worship Read More »
When a lot of us Christians think of worship services what comes to mind are church services. For Catholics it is the Mass. For others it is a different service, but it is complete with a church, and a pastor or worship leader of some kind, and maybe musicians, and very possibly, communion, and probably
0.1 Overview of Worship in Old Testament Times Read More »
I remember when I was about 10 years old, standing in the choir chambers to the right and left of the main passageway that led from the congregation to the altar in my beautiful church. Sacred Heart church is a stunningly beautiful church. I had been in other churches, and none were as grand as
0.0 Liturgy Introduction Read More »
The last enemy to be destroyed is death. (1Co 15:26 ESV) Death is such an enemy. The fear of death drives so many decisions in our lives. We have safety standards, guidelines, practices to avoid injury and death. We have medical systems, doctors, clinics, pharmacies, hospitals to avoid sickness and death. We have fire departments
Defeating Death: He is Risen Read More »