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Theology

Theological Issues – past and present

Review: Jewish Feasts in John’s Gospel

The Role of Jewish Feasts in John’s Gospel ( vol 162) by Gerry Wheaton, Cambridge University Press. A monograph The Role of Jewish Feasts in John’s Gospel (Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series) Hardcover – March 9, 2015 https://smile.amazon.com/Jewish-Society-Testament-Studies-Monograph/dp/1107079683/ ISBN-10: 1107079683 ISBN-13: 978-1107079687 First of all, let me say this is a very thorough scholarly work and it is definitely not for the layman. It has untranslated quotations from German, French, Greek and Hebrew, as well as a plethora of footnotes. I borrowed this book from the library because I am interested in how the Gospel writers used types from the Hebrew scriptures to show how Jesus was the fulfillment of those signs, symbols, and festivals (the study is called Typology). For instance, Matthew, in the book of Exodus, draws a parallel between Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness ending in the Sermon on the Mount to Moses’ 40 days on the mountain with God and the giving of the Law from Mt. Sinai. I was primarily interested in understanding how John uses the Hebrew Holy Festivals as a thematic structure in the Gospel. Gerry Wheaton’s thesis is that John’s Gospel is written to show Jesus as the fulfillment … Read more

Releasing the Past – Part 1

Everyone can be troubled by remembering misdeeds from the past. Guilt is Satan’s playground. He loves to cause endless remorse and guilt, because it divides us from God who has forgiven us. If you have confessed your sins but still live under condemnation, you are listening to the wrong voice.

Releasing the Past – Part 2

Letting go of the past requires forgiveness. If you do not forgive the things done to you, you will keep reliving the pain every time your are reminded of it or will react with fear and anxiety if you are ever in a similar situation, even if there is no real threat. Sometimes the hardest things to forgive are not things done to you, but done to someone else that you care about.

Hebrew Meanings 10 Names in Genesis

The Hebrew Meanings of the 10 Generations Mentioned in Genesis 5: Pastor Mark Biltz [http://www.elshaddaiministries.us] Adam, Seth, Enos, Cainain, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah When we assemble the meanings of the names together in birth order, we find a message unfolding before us… just as it must have for those who witnessed the generations so long ago: Mankind / Is Appointed To / A Feeble, Frail, Mortality / In A Fixed mail order Dwelling Place. / God Who Is Praised / Comes Down / To Instruct / As A Man Sent Forth / To Be Beaten, Smitten And Tortured / Bringing Rest, A Quiet Peace. ADAM = Mankind OT:120 ‘adam (aw-dawm’); from OT:119; ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species, mankind, etc.): SETH = Appointed To OT:7896 shiyth (sheeth); a primitive root; to place (in a very wide application):KJV appoint ENOS = Feeble, Frail, Mortality (#582 FROM #605) OT:582 ‘enowsh (en-oshe’); from OT:605; properly, a mortal (and thus differing from the more dignified OT:120); OT:605 ‘anash (aw-nash’); a primitive root; to be frail, feeble CAINAN = A Fixed Dwelling Place OT:7064 qen (kane); contracted from OT:7077; a nest (as fixed) MAHALALEEL = God Who Is Praised … Read more

Feeling Guilty? There is a Remedy

A guilty conscience is a constant accuser. You can’t escape from yourself. But there is a way to find peace with a cleansed conscience.

What Donald Trump Should Have Said After Charlottesville.

What Donald Trump Should Have Said After Charlottesville: In 1977, the ACLU defended the right of the Ku Klux Klan to march through Skokie, Illinois, through a neighborhood where many survivors of the Holocaust lived, and even defended the KKK’s right to wear Swastikas! The motive of the KKK was not love, but hate. Yet the ACLU argued that censoring certain speech or forms of expression gave the government too much power that could be used against any particular group of people at any time, if that group fell out of favor. In other words, if the KKK could be censored and not permitted to march, so too could gay pride marches be banned. The ACLU holds that the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech, also protects the rights of those who express things we hate and find repulsive. The Supreme Court of the United States and the Supreme Court of Illinois found that merely expressing reprehensible views is not a legitimate reason to suppress that speech, no matter how offensive it is. The First Amendment is necessary to a democracy and to a free people, lest the government begin to decide who does and who does not have … Read more

The Church Unleashed….

Ministry is done by all the people of God, not a specialized clergy. Each person is responsible to hear from God what He has called them to do.

Law, Lawlessness and Legalism

“Judge not, lest you be judged” has been misinterpreted to mean that no matter what anyone does, we should not judge the behavior. He pointed out that we are not to condemn someone for their sins, lest we get condemned for ours, but that does NOT mean we are not to discern what is right and wrong, or identify certain behaviors as sin.Grace does not mean there is no law and we are free to behave any way we wish. Grace is to lead us to holiness, which is the walking in the presence of God and reflecting his character.

Enlightenment Rationalism and the Problem of Fundamentalism

Fundamentalism has unconsciously imposed an Enlightenment Rationalist Worldview upon the Gospel writers, who never intended the Gospels to be interpreted simply as a strict chronological recounting of historical events. They were writing theological pamphlets intended to prove that Jesus was the fulfillment of the prophetic types present in Genesis to Joshua. By arguing as Enlightenment Rationalists, Fundamentalists have undermined their own efforts because they have not understood the original writers’ intent.

The Humanity of Jesus

Why did Jesus have to be baptized by John? He said, “it is necessary to fulfill all righteousness…” What did Jesus mean by that?
Why are there no records of miracles by Jesus as a child?
What did it mean for Jesus to be fully human?
What does it mean when it says that Jesus “emptied himself… being born in human likeness”?