Jeremiah 29:11 – What does it say?

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

First it should be noted that the question is not "What does this verse mean to you?", rather we search for the true meaning of the message as the writer intended. This verse has been used many times by a great many preachers to say that God wants to prosper us and shower us with blessings. Often it is used to tell us that God's greatest joy in the world is to give gifts to His children (usually referred to as all humans, saved and unsaved) and wants nothing more than to give us everything that our heart's desire. It is used to bring comfort to those who are suffering or to fleece money from unsuspecting viewers of television evangelists.

There are serious problems though with the application of the verse in either of these manners reading the verse in its historical, grammatical context.

1. It doesn't match up with reality

If God's plan were to bless his followers, why isn't He doing this? Why are there suffering Christians all over the world? Just look at the website of the Voice of the Martyrs <http://www.persecution.com/> to see what Christians are experiencing. Or search for "Christian Martyrs" on the Internet to understand what is happening in the world around us right now. Quickly one comes to the realization prosperity is not the plan for all of Christ's followers.

In addition many unbelievers are very prosperous, especially when it comes to the area of finances. Most of the richest people on our planet are not Christ followers.

It is clear that prosperity is not a "rule" or law of God.

2. God was not speaking to all people for all time; he was speaking to the exiles.

This verse is in the middle of a letter to the exiles that were taken prisoner by Babylon. This must be read in the context of where it is written otherwise it ceases to have any reasonable meaning.

Verse 1 starts with "These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon."

Notice the introduction says that it is to all the people in exile. God, speaking through Jeremiah, is giving comfort and guidance to these people and therefore it would seem that the whole letter would apply to these people.

Just prior to the verse in question Jeremiah says (verse 10)

"For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.

It is clear again from this that he is speaking specifically to those captives. In the beginning of verse 11 he uses the word "For". This word tells us that it is connected to the words just previously spoken.

Verse 11 should not be used on it's own out of context.

3. Typically the version of the Bible quoted is the NIV

The NIV says:

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

However this is drastically different than every other version:

ESV:
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

KJV:
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

NASB:
'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for  welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a  hope.

Why the difference?

To understand this better we should look to the root word used in the Hebrew where the NIV translates as prosper & harm.

Prosper: (šalôm) shalom
There is no single English word that describes this word fully. This is the most famous Hebrew word and we can not comprehend the meaning without speaking the original language. It should be translated as all of the following:
- Peace (The most common use)
- Completeness
- Safeness
- Health
- Friend
- Blessing

The NIV is the only version that chooses a word that doesn't really fit in with the whole list here. Even when the other versions choose different words they still do not do justice to the meaning of the word.

Harm: (racah) rachah
Here again is a word that is translated a variety of ways throughout scripture. It shows up 663 times and in the AV (Authorized Version) it is primarily translated as "evil" 442 times, "wickedness" 59 times, "wicked" 25 times, "mischief" 21 times, "hurt" 20 times, "bad" 13 times, "trouble" 10 times, "harm" 3 times.

So while it may be valid to use the word harm, it may be translated any number of ways into English. While no English version will serve as a perfect translation, all other versions provide a more accurate view than the NIV.

Conclusion
The overall intent of the verse can be used and applied as it provides insight into God's character. However, care must be taken when applying the verse to ensure that the impression is not that God will prosper every Christian and no harm will come. The extension of this is that if a Christian is not prospering or some harm is coming to them that God is either unable or unwilling to act. The true message is that God will provide comfort and peace no matter what His children are going through. This does not mean that life will be easy and that no harm will come to you. Rather that God will walk with you and bring shalom even in times of massive trouble and calamity.

FW: Smyrna in Turkey

This is a graphic description of a horrible event, please note this
before you read ahead....

A letter to the Global Church from The Protestant Church of Smyrna

Dear friends,
This past week has been filled with much sorrow. Many of you have heard
by now of our devastating loss here in an event that took place in
Malatya, a Turkish province 300 miles northeast of Antioch, the city
where believers were first called Christians (Acts 11:26).

On Wednesday morning, April 18, 2007, 46 year old German missionary and
father of three Tilman Geske prepared to go to his office, kissing his
wife goodbye taking a moment to hug his son and give him the priceless
memory, "Goodbye, son. I love you."

Tilman rented an office space from Zirve Publishing where he was
preparing notes for the new Turkish Study Bible. Zirve was also the
location of the Malatya Evangelist Church office. A ministry of the
church, Zirve prints and distributes Christian literature to Malatya and
nearby cities in Eastern Turkey. In another area of town, 35 year old
Pastor Necati Aydin, father of two, said goodbye to his wife, leaving
for the office as well. They had a morning Bible Study and prayer
meeting that some other believers in town would also be attending. Ugur
Yuksel likewise made his way to the Bible study.

None of these three men knew that what awaited them at the Bible study
was the ultimate testing and application of their faith, which would
conclude with their entrance into glory to receive their crown of
righteousness from Christ and honor from all the saints awaiting them in
the Lord's presence.

On the other side of town, ten young men all under 20 years old put into
place final arrangements for their ultimate act of faith, living out
their love for Allah and hatred of infidels who they felt undermined
Islam.

On Resurrection Sunday, five of these men had been to a
by-invitation-only evangelistic service that Pastor Necati and his men
had arranged at a hotel conference room in the city. The men were known
to the believers as "seekers." No one knows what happened in the hearts
of those men as they listened to the gospel. Were they touched by the
Holy Spirit? Were they convicted of sin? Did they hear the gospel in
their heart of hearts? Today we only have the beginning of their story.

These young men, one of whom is the son of a mayor in the Province of
Malatya, are part of a tarikat, or a group of "faithful believers" in
Islam. Tarikat membership is highly respected here; it's like a
fraternity membership. In fact, it is said that no one can get into
public office without membership in a tarikat. These young men all lived
in the same dorm, all preparing for university entrance exams.

The young men got guns, breadknives, ropes and towels ready for their
final act of service to Allah. They knew there would be a lot of blood.
They arrived in time for the Bible Study, around 10 o'clock.

They arrived, and apparently the Bible Study began. Reportedly, after
Necati read a chapter from the Bible the assault began. The boys tied
Ugur, Necati, and Tilman's hands and feet to chairs and as they videoed
their work on their cellphones, they tortured our brothers for almost
three hours*

[Details of the torture--
* Tilman was stabbed 156 times, Necati 99 times and Ugur's stabs were
too numerous to count. They were disemboweled, and their intestines
sliced up in front of their eyes. They were emasculated and watched as
those body parts were destroyed. Fingers were chopped off, their noses
and mouths and anuses were sliced open. Possibly the worst part was
watching as their brothers were likewise tortured. Finally, their
throats were sliced from ear to ear, heads practically decapitated.]

Neighbors in workplaces near the printhouse said later they had heard
yelling, but assumed the owners were having a domestic argument so they
did not respond.

Meanwhile, another believer Gokhan and his wife had a leisurely morning.
He slept in till 10, ate a long breakfast and finally around 12:30 he
and his wife arrived at the office. The door was locked from the inside,
and his key would not work. He phoned and though it had connection on
his end he did not hear the phone ringing inside. He called cell phones
of his brothers and finally Ugur answered his phone. "We are not at the
office. Go to the hotel meeting. We are there. We will come there," he
said cryptically. As Ugur spoke Gokhan heard in the telephone's
background weeping and a strange snarling sound.

He phoned the police, and the nearest officer arrived in about five
minutes. He pounded on the door, "Police, open up!" Initially the
officer thought it was a domestic disturbance. At that point they heard
another snarl and a gurgling moan. The police understood that sound as
human suffering, prepared the clip in his gun and tried over and over
again to burst through the door. One of the frightened assailants
unlocked the door for the policeman, who entered to find a grisly scene.

Tilman and Necati had been slaughtered, practically decapitated with
their necks slit from ear to ear. Ugur's throat was likewise slit and he
was barely alive.

Three assailants in front of the policeman dropped their weapons.

Meanwhile Gokhan heard a sound of yelling in the street. Someone had
fallen from their third story office. Running down, he found a man on
the ground, whom he later recognized, named Emre Gunaydin. He had
massive head trauma and, strangely, was snarling. He had tried to climb
down the drainpipe to escape, and losing his balance had plummeted to
the ground. It seems that he was the main leader of the attackers.
Another assailant was found hiding on a lower balcony.

To untangle the web we need to back up six years. In April 2001, the
National Security Council of Turkey (Milli Guvenlik Kurulu) began to
consider evangelical Christians as a threat to national security, on
equal footing as Al Quaida and PKK terrorism. Statements made in the
press by political leaders, columnists and commentators have fueled a
hatred against missionaries who they claim bribe young people to change
their religion.

After that decision in 2001, attacks and threats on churches, pastors
and Christians began. Bombings, physical attacks, verbal and written
abuse are only some of the ways Christians are being targetted. Most
significant is the use of media propaganda.

From December 2005, after having a long meeting regarding the Christian
threat, the wife of Former Prime Minister Ecevit, historian Ilber
Ortayli, Professor Hasan Unsal, Politician Ahmet Tan and
writer/propogandist Aytunc Altindal, each in their own profession began
a campaign to bring the public's attention to the looming threat of
Christians who sought to "buy their children's souls". Hidden cameras in
churches have taken church service footage and used it sensationally to
promote fear and antagonism toward Christianity.

In an official televised response from Ankara, the Interior Minister of
Turkey smirked as he spoke of the attacks on our brothers. Amid public
outrage and protests against the event and in favor of freedom of
religion and freedom of thought, media and official comments ring with
the same message, "We hope you have learned your lesson. We do not want
Christians here."

It appears that this was an organized attack initiated by an unknown
adult tarikat leader. As in the Hrant Dink murder in January 2007, and a
Catholic priest Andrea Santoro in February 2006, minors are being used
to commit religious murders because public sympathy for youth is strong
and they face lower penalties than an adult convicted of the same crime.
Even the parents of these children are in favor of the acts. The mother
of the 16 year old boy who killed the Catholic priest Andrea Santoro
looked at the cameras as her son was going to prison and said, "he will
serve time for Allah."

The young men involved in the killing are currently in custody. Today
news reported that they would be tried as terrorists, so their age would
not affect the strict penalty. Assailant Emre Gunaydin is still in
intensive care. The investigation centers around him and his contacts
and they say will fall apart if he does not recover.

The Church in Turkey responded in a way that honored God as hundreds of
believers and dozens of pastors flew in as fast as they could to stand
by the small church of Malatya and encourage the believers, take care of
legal issues, and represent Christians to the media.

When Susanne Tilman expressed her wish to bury her husband in Malatya,
the Governor tried to stop it, and when he realized he could not stop
it, a rumor was spread that "it is a sin to dig a grave for a
Christian." In the end, in an undertaking that should be remembered in
Christian history forever, the men from the church in Adana (near
Tarsus), grabbed shovels and dug a grave for their slain brother in an
un-tended hundred year old Armenian graveyard.

Ugur was buried by his family in an Alevi Muslim ceremony in his
hometown of Elazig, his believing fiance watching from the shadows as
his family and friends refused to accept in death the faith Ugur had so
long professed and died for.

Necati's funeral took place in his hometown of Izmir, the city where he
came to faith. The darkness does not understand the light. Though the
churches expressed their forgiveness for the event, Christians were not
to be trusted. Before they would load the coffin onto the plane from
Malatya, it went through two separate xray exams to make sure it was not
loaded with explosives. This is not a usual procedure for Muslim
coffins.

Necati's funeral was a beautiful event. Like a glimpse of heaven,
thousands of Turkish Christians and missionaries came to show their love
for Christ, and their honor for this man chosen to die for Christ.
Necati's wife Shemsa told the world, "His death was full of meaning,
because he died for Christ and he lived for Christ&#133; Necati was a
gift from God. I feel honored that he was in my life, I feel crowned
with honor. I want to be worthy of that honor."

Boldly the believers took their stand at Necati's funeral, facing the
risks of being seen publicly and likewise becoming targets. As expected,
the anti-terror police attended and videotaped everyone attending the
funeral for their future use. The service took place outside at Buca
Baptist church, and he was buried in a small Christian graveyard in the
outskirts of Izmir.

Two assistant Governors of Izmir were there solemnly watching the event
from the front row. Dozens of news agencies were there documenting the
events with live news and photographs. Who knows the impact the funeral
had on those watching? This is the beginning of their story as well.
Pray for them.

In an act that hit front pages in the largest newspapers in Turkey,
Susanne Tilman in a television interview expressed her forgiveness. She
did not want revenge, she told reporters. "Oh God, forgive them for they
know not what they do," she said, wholeheartedly agreeing with the words
of Christ on Calvary (Luke 23:34).

In a country where blood-for-blood revenge is as normal as breathing,
many many reports have come to the attention of the church of how this
comment of Susanne Tilman has changed lives. One columnist wrote of her
comment, "She said in one sentence what 1000 missionaries in 1000 years
could never do."

The missionaries in Malatya will most likely move out, as their families
and children have become publicly identified as targets to the hostile
city. The remaining 10 believers are in hiding. What will happen to this
church, this light in the darkness? Most likely it will go underground.
Pray for wisdom, that Turkish brothers from other cities will go to lead
the leaderless church. Should we not be concerned for that great city of
Malatya, a city that does not know what it is doing? (Jonah 4:11)

When our Pastor Fikret Bocek went with a brother to give a statement to
the Security Directorate on Monday they were ushered into the
Anti-Terror Department. On the wall was a huge chart covering the whole
wall listing all the terrorist cells in Izmir, categorized. In one
prominent column were listed all the evangelical churches in Izmir. The
darkness does not understand the light. "These that have turned the
world upside down are come hither also." (Acts 17:6)

Please pray for the Church in Turkey. "Don't pray against persecution,
pray for perseverence," urges Pastor Fikret Bocek.

The Church is better having lost our brothers; the fruit in our lives,
the renewed faith, the burning desire to spread the gospel to quench
more darkness in Malatya &#133;all these are not to be regretted. Pray
that we stand strong against external opposition and especially pray
that we stand strong against internal struggles with sin, our true
debilitating weakness.

This we know. Christ Jesus was there when our brothers were giving their
lives for Him. He was there, like He was when Stephen was being stoned
in the sight of Saul of Tarsus.

Someday the video of the deaths of our brothers may reveal more to us
about the strength that we know Christ gave them to endure their last
cross, about the peace the Spirit of God endowed them with to suffer for
their beloved Savior. But we know He did not leave their side. We know
their minds were full of Scripture strengthening them to endure, as
darkness tried to subdue the unsubduable Light of the Gospel. We know,
in whatever way they were able, with a look or a word, they encouraged
one another to stand strong. We know they knew they would soon be with
Christ.

We don't know the details. We don't know the kind of justice that will
or will not be served on this earth.

But we pray-- and urge you to pray-- that someday at least one of those
five boys will come to faith because of the testimony in death of Tilman
Geske, who gave his life as a missionary to his beloved Turks, and the
testimonies in death of Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel, the first martyrs
for Christ out of the Turkish Church.

Reported by Darlene N. Bocek (24 April 2007)

Christianity is Socialist?

This is what Hugo Chavez says in the following news story:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070302/ap_on_re/religion_in_the_news

"Christianity is essentially socialist, so no one - no Christian, no
Catholic - should be alarmed," said Chavez, who was once an altar boy
and says his brand of socialism will not copy Soviet or Cuban communism
despite his close friendship with Fidel Castro.

The big question is of course is the message of Jesus a socialist
message? This could easily be argued as a resounding yes if certain
verses and words were lifted out of context and used to support this
idea. This would be using such lines as:

- The poor have good news (Matthew 11:5)

- "You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to
the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."
(Mark 10:21)

- For this ointment could have been sold for more than three
hundred denarii and given to the poor." And they scolded her. (Mark
14:5)

There are others but what is the common message of the Bible when it
comes to the poor? That we are, out of Christian compassion, help those
who can not help themselves. Who are those that can not help
themselves? The early church was clear that we are to help widows and
orphans. What do these two types of people have in common? They are
poor due to events outside of their control. These we would term
righteous poor. These are people who need some help for a time, not
because they have done things in their lives that have caused them to be
poor but because someone died.

Contrast that with the unrighteous poor, those who are poor because they
have done something that had created their lack of wealth. These would
be addictions, unhealthy behavior, or general laziness. Should wealth
be taken from the righteous and given to the unrighteous? Does this
match up with the character of God? No. God tells us that we reap what
we sew and instructs us to work diligently and effectively. This is not
accomplished under a full leftist socialism structure. This type of
structure will take from those who are working and give to those who are
not. If those that are not working are righteous, it should be given
freely, always with the goal of helping those in need get out of their
situation, not perpetuating the issue by simply giving them money.

The Bones of Jesus have been found?

It isn't likely that this is truly the case, but what if it were to be
the truth? If it were, then the entire Christian faith would be in
question. This is because it would mean that the events described in
the gospels were incorrect surrounding the circumstances of the risen
Christ:

Acts 1:9
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud
hid him from their sight.

It is possible that he was taken up to heaven and then later (unwritten
in the accounts of scripture) came back to earth to have his bones
interred in a grave in Jerusalem. However this is not likely and
doesn't match the overall character of God as described in the Bible.

So if these are the bones of Jesus, then this is a very serious problem.
However, as with anything else we must examine to see if this the claims
outlined in this report are true and if this is enough "evidence" to
refute the literal mountain of evidence that exists to prove the gospel
accounts. This is where it is important for all Christians to have a
solid understanding of the reasons for their belief. Not the
experiences they have had, but the reasons why they think the gospel
accounts are true.

The reality is that many today don't have any idea why the claims are
true. If we believe in Jesus because of a feeling, then what makes Him
different than Mohammed? Or Buddha? The great thing about the Christian
faith is that it is the only religion in existence that can be explained
through objective evidence. It is not a personalized feeling, but an
objective reality.

The crucifixion, burial, bodily resurrection, and ascension of Christ
prove that He is God Himself. If He is not God Himself then his
sacrifice is not sufficient to forgive the sins of all believers and we
must "prove" our goodness to God in the hopes that He takes mercy on us.
We lose our assurance of salvation.

So now that we know why it is am important issue, let delve into a
little because you are likely to be asked about this if you are
witnessing to someone. They will ask you 'Didn't they find Jesus' bones
and prove that he wasn't God?" The worst responses you could have are:

That was a Hollywood conspiracy; they were out looking to make a bunch
of money and made up the entire story

This may be true but is a pretty big assumption on your part. You
presuming to judge the motives of someone you have never met before.
While it is reasonable to assume that the production of this documentary
is driven by a desire to make money it may well be that the true motives
of the producers is to determine objective truth.

There is some truth to the story; it does contain a lot of real
evidence. We will examine it further in later sections.

Satan planted this to try to convince people Jesus isn't real

Again this may be true; it would match the character of the deceiver.
However a non-Christian will not believe in Jesus much less the devil.
This statement only accomplishes to further the base assumption of
non-Christians; that Christ followers are deluded. That we dismissed
objective evidence and are members of a cult.

So how should you answer?

Well there are some resources available to you to find the answers to
the objection. The biggest issue is that the inscriptions are real, the
caskets are real, and the location is real. Don't deny the existence or
reliability of the evidence, focus instead on the conclusions drawn by
those examining the evidence. First you should read the claims for
those on the Discovery network
<http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/02/25/tomb_arc.html?category=archaeo
logy&guid=20070225073000> . I have taken some of the quotes and will
outline some of the potential errors/issues.

This quote describes the inscriptions on the ossuaries:

"In addition to the "Judah son of Jesus" inscription, which is written
in Aramaic on one of the ossuaries, another limestone burial box is
labeled in Aramaic with "Jesus Son of Joseph." Another bears the Hebrew
inscription "Maria," a Latin version of "Miriam," or, in English,
"Mary." Yet another ossuary inscription, written in Hebrew, reads
"Matia," the original Hebrew word for "Matthew." Only one of the
inscriptions is written in Greek. It reads, "Mariamene e Mara," which
can be translated as, "Mary known as the master."

Notice that several languages are compiled and manipulated to match the
base theory? Why are so many languages used? Well, if they translate
them this way it matches their theory better. Does it make sense that
they would do this in reality? Wouldn't they use the same language
throughout? The name Jesus may be incorrectly interpreted and may be
Hunan. The same goes for the inscription Mariamene e Mara, it can be
translated a number of different ways.

The next quote tells us that the two found in these tombs are Jesus his
wife Mary (Da Vinci Code) and their son Judah.

Since tombs normally contain either blood relations or spouses,
Jacobovici and his team suggest it is possible Jesus and Mary Magdalene
were a couple. "Judah," whom they indicate may have been their son,
could have been the "lad" described in the Gospel of John as sleeping in
Jesus' lap at the Last Supper.

The plausible part of this is that if Jesus and Mary were married and
had a child it is very likely that they would have named the child
Judah. However the tomb contains many different bones; these are
conveniently missing now, removing the possibility of examination of the
evidence and forcing us to take the documentary writers at their word.
Also, the Gospel of John contains no reference to a "lad", read it for
yourself. The only reference like this is where John leans against
Jesus.

Next statistics are given to show that it is 99.83% likely that the
names here are actually the Jesus of the gospel

Feuerverger multiplied the instances that each name appeared during the
tomb's time period with the instances of every other name. He initially
found "Jesus Son of Joseph" appeared once out of 190 times, Mariamne
appeared once out of 160 times and so on.

To be conservative, he next divided the resulting numbers by 25 percent,
a statistical standard, and further divided the results by 1,000 to
attempt to account for all tombs - even those that have not been
uncovered - that could have existed in first century Jerusalem.

The study concludes that the odds are at least 600 to 1 in favor of the
Talpiot Tomb being the Jesus Family Tomb. In other words, the conclusion
works 599 times out of 600.

I formerly taught statistics, I don't recall multiplying by 25 being a
conservative standard. Even if this is discounted, the issue is also
the use of 1000, it is a rather arbitrary number to use. In addition
the actual source of data is the real question, where id they obtain the
initial results of 1/160 and 1/190? There is other data to suggest that
the use of Mary occurred 25% of the time. So the initial assumptions as
well as the methodology to conclusion are suspect. However if taken at
face value this seems to be quite the claim.

Christianity is either true or it is false. It isn't partially true,
mostly true, or almost true none of these would be sufficient because if
it isn't all true then how do you decide which parts are true? It is
down to opinion and then the loudest voice wins rather than truth being
discovered.

Stay in the Word, trust in God, but don't use feelings to convince
otherwise their feelings will just trump your feelings. Both Paul and
Peter took the time to defend the faith, providing evidence through the
scriptures and pointing to the empty tomb as clear evidence. Take the
time to study, learn all you can so you can be an ambassador for Christ.
(2 Cor 5:20)

If you would like to learn how to defend your faith, not with feelings
but with evidence there is a massive amount of information

Start with this website:

http://www.carm.org <http://www.carm.org/>

Once you master the basics of theology and apologetics then move onto
learning good tactics to defending your faith:

http://www.str.org <http://www.str.org/>

For specific follow up on this issue see the following:

http://www.carm.org/evidence/Jesus_tomb.htm

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/mayweb-only/120-32.0.html

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/02/25/tomb_arc.html?category=archaeol
ogy&guid=20070225073000

Meet Marcus Borg

http://www.sltrib.com/utahpolitics/ci_5096642

I think the best quote is:

"Borg has a way of "sifting and winnowing the material from the Bible
and writing about it for other people to make it extremely
comprehensible," says David Hoeppner, a professor of mechanical
engineering at the University of Utah who helped bring Borg here."

I guess it is good that they admit ignoring portions of the Bible....one
wonders how they make the decision which to ignore? Maybe it's a daily
thing, like "today I just don't feel like not committing adultery, so I
will just cut that portion out" or that whole hell thing, that part
clearly needs to be winnowed. I know, let's get out our word editors
and make up a new Bible! I would like one that fit my needs please.

He denies the Bible:

"Two kinds of U.S. Christians: The most vocal group argues that being
Christian is about believing a set of historical claims. For believers
in that group, the Bible is without error: Genesis is a literal account
of the creation, Jesus was born of a virgin and after he died, his tomb
was empty. It's also about practicing what the book teaches.

"In this view, Christianity is the only way to salvation," Borg said
in a phone interview from Corvallis, Ore.

Thousands of other Christians look instead at the ancient texts in
their ancient context, asking what these teachings and commandments
meant to the people who wrote them."

I guess if you're ignoring portions of the Bible you can ignore the part
where Jesus said He was the only way to salvation.

Or how about later on in the story:

"Or consider the story of Jesus' resurrection.

"If I had to bet my life on whether or not the tomb was really
empty, I would bet that it wasn't," he says, "yet I would say the Easter
stories are profoundly true."

To Borg, the Bible accounts suggest that many followers either saw
Jesus in a vision after he died or felt his presence. Thus Jesus became
a living reality, not just a figure from the past.

In that experience, Jesus became "Lord" to his followers, a term
which had been reserved for the Roman rulers.

"Easter means God said 'yes' to Jesus and 'no' to the powers that
executed him," Borg says. "Being Christian means affirming Jesus is Lord
and the rulers of this world past and present are not.""

Isn't that the point of being a Christ follower, if the tomb isn't empty
then what's the point? It becomes just spiritual bunk like new age or
relativism. The fact that the tomb was empty was the point. I find it
amazing that someone could say that 500 people saw Jesus at the same
time in the same place and it was only a vision. On the other hand if
they only felt His presence it must have been a very strong presence for
all of them to go out and die to spread His word.

Why is this important? This is because he is calling himself a
Christian. People will follow his teachings. It's one thing to be
professing another faith like atheism or Islam and reject the message of
Christianity, this is expected. However to call yourself a Christian
and reject the core of the faith...this is insanity, logic has no place
in his life.

Sadly this is someone who is teaching in North America

"Decades later, Borg is a renowned professor of religion and culture at
Oregon State University who has written more than a dozen books about
Christianity, the Bible and Jesus, and he lectures widely. He is
president of the Anglican Association of Biblical Scholars and a
columnist for Beliefnet, an online magazine about religion."

Arghh!

Jesus the weak?

Jesus in Matthew's writing on the sermon on the mount tells us that MANY
will not be let into the kingdom of heaven and just before this he told
us that narrow is the way to eternal life.

Psalm 5:5 - God HATES sinners

In Romans Paul is telling us that God is storing up wrath for the
wicked. Should we not warn them?

In John 8, Jesus tells us that those who do not follow Him are not
children of God but children of the devil.

Does God love everyone? Yes in a universal sense since He created each
of us, but in a specific way he hates sin and will remove it from His
presence.

Your right, you don't call out sin in front of everyone, you don't run
around poking your finger in people's faces calling them a dirty rotten
sinner that God's going to kill. However, you don't shy away from it
either. The scriptures speak for themselves, the gospel is about God's
righteousness and holiness, Jesus demonstrated his grace and mercy.
Remember though this is the same Jesus who was there at creation and the
same Jesus who will be there to judge and destroy.

Read through the sermon from Matthew 23, read it out loud and with the
passion that Jesus would have had, words like "you snakes, you brood of
vipers, how will you escape being condemned to Hell?", that sounds
pretty in their face. Have someone read it to you, there is no way to
read that in a quiet voice with meekness, it would have been said with
authority and power.

Warn People About Hell

We must warn others about hell, including those that profess to be
Christians, in 2 Corinthians 13:5, Paul tells us that we should examine
ourselves.

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test
yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus
Christ is in you? --unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

Should we "judge" one another? Treating each other differently and as a
lower class citizen until they "prove" themselves to us? Certainly, we
can never know who will be in the kingdom of heaven, only God knows
this. However it is a loving act to care so much about someone that you
have a difficult conversation with them and help them see things that
they might not otherwise see. Isn't it better for them to fail this
test here while we are under grace than to stand before God and be told
that they failed?

Matthew 7:13-14, 21-23

13"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy
that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14For the
gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who
find it are few.

21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of
heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in
your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in
your name?' 23And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart
from me, you workers of lawlessness.'

OK, so this leads to the ultimate question, how do you know? With a lot
of Biblical concepts there isn't a direct list or checkbox that outlines
this perfectly for you to check against. Rather the information must be
gathered from a variety of places. A few of the ways it will be seen in
your life are:

- You are born again (see John 3)

- You love the Word of God, the Bible.

o Imagine if you were building a relationship that would lead to
marriage and your future bride wrote you 66 letters to tell you all
about them and their personality. Their character, likes, dislikes and
basically a total picture of who they are. On the wedding day you show
up and your bride asks you "did you read all my letters?" How will he
feel when you say "no, I didn't have time".
The Bible is God's love letter to you, read it, live it, walk it out.

- You must not feel that you are a "good person"

o In many places the scriptures tell us that there is none good,
no not one. Jesus Himself told us that there is none good but the
Father. (Luke 18:19). You must have a solid understanding that you are
undeserving of the grace poured out on your behalf. If you don't
understand this, have you really repented of your sin?

o Think of it as again a marriage, if you have an adulterous
relationship and then come back to your wife saying that you're a "good
person" and that you will just try to do better, how will she feel?
Will she forgive you? Likely not unless you express your sorrow and
anguish of having betrayed her. This is the same sorrow you must feel
with God. The good news is that when you finally express this and feel
it, God will fill you up with Himself. First you must empty yourself of
your old self-righteous ways.

- You must live for Christ in all you do

o If we gathered 10 of your closest friends together and asked
them "what is the most important thing in your life?" would they say
Jesus? Or would they have a different answer? Jesus tells us that
anyone who denies Him here on earth will be denied in the kingdom.
Don't be a closet Christian, to do this denies Christ.

It is a form of negligence to allow someone to come to harm when you
could do something about it. What will God say to you if you stand
before Him and he shows you all the people you could have saved by
having the courage to speak into their lives and instead they walked a
path to destruction?

Have the courage, speak the truth. Learn the tactics to doing this with
humility.

Truth is a battlefield

Human philosophies:

1. It is OK If it feels good
2. It is OK if no one finds out
3. It is OK if I believe it is OK

Christian philosophies (equally skewed)

1. Jesus is easy if you follow the formula

a. Truth is it is simple, but not at all easy

2. Jesus is great, but let's not be fanatics

a. If you think Jesus is great, you will be a fanatic

3. Jesus is OK for small problems, but for big problems see a
professional

a. People lack faith in God

How much should we tithe?

Since we are no longer living under law but under grace the issue of how much to tithe has actually become more difficult rather than easier. We don’t “have” to follow the law but rather through the Holy Spirit we “want” to follow the law.

Under the law the Israelites were required to support the Levites in full time ministry by giving 10% of their income to this tribe. In addition 10% of what was left was to support the government and church, which at that time was the same. Finally of what was left 10% of this was to go towards festivals and celebrations to celebrate and worship God.

So a mathematical example:

$100 salary
$10 – Goes to Levites
$90 left
$9 – To church & governmental affairs
$81 left
$8.10 – To festivals and celebrations

Leaving: $72.80 (27.2% of their income)

The issue is that this also formed their taxes, income and personal. Of course while they were under their own rule. Once the Romans took over there were additional taxes collected.

So how much should we give today? 10%, is that enough? What about the missing portions? We are under a new covenant; this does not remove the law but fulfills it. Rather than being forced to follow the law, through the Holy Spirit we will want to follow the law, but it comes back to the question of how much to give? The answer is easy and very difficult at the same time; the basic message is that you should give as much as you want to.

At first this sounds great, you don’t have to give. The problem is that if you are progressing in your Christian walk you should want to give. If you don’t want to give and want to hang onto all your money this means it is more important to you than anything else, including God. Jesus told us that the greatest commandment was to love God, this means that nothing will come in front of God. For many of us money is the little god we follow.

A natural outpouring of the grace you have been given is that you will want to bless others and see them also enter the kingdom of heaven. You will want to give.

Jesus does not call you to give out of duty, the math is simple at 10% but that’s about it, he wants you to give out of love. If you’re not progressing on your giving you need to search out and determine if you truly believe in Christ or if you have formed your own god to follow.

Why not topical preaching from the pulpit?

The only thing that should be taught is Jesus and Biblical concepts. We should focus on understanding the relevance, message teaching, and details of the gospel of Jesus. Why only this and not purely topical or subject based? This is for many reasons:

- Topical preaching will only be relevant to the people who relate and only those who may be impacted by that particular subject.
o For example if a subject is dealing with the loss of a child or getting through a divorce, this is only relevant to a certain group of people and excludes a great many people
o Subjects like this can be handled in a variety of other ways, special seminars, small groups, etc.
- Topical preaching leads to “self-help” style and messages, it becomes not about how God wants you act and behave, but what God can do for you. The truth is that God has already done enough for you in sacrificing Himself for you, is this not enough?
- It allows people pastors to pick and choose subjects, ignoring or skipping text. This leads people to not have a full belief in the whole Biblical text and rather believe in only that with which they are comfortable. This could lead to a false image of Jesus, forming a god in our own image and hence a false god. If belief in Jesus is what gets us into heaven then we must ensure we believe in the right Jesus.

Acts 13 – Jesus Always Was

Today we are going to go through some pretty big concepts, it’s going to be a heavy and long session so I hope your ready. Today we are going to talk about who Jesus is, what it means to preach the gospel and what it means to be saved. So buckle up and let’s get started.

Acts 13 starts with our Paul coming back from Jerusalem and they were called prophets and teachers. They were commissioned by the Holy Spirit to go out and preach the gospel. The church supported this by laying hands on them and praying for them.

The first challenge is a witness encounter with a false prophet. A man named Segius Paulus who was a proconsul (Similar to today, a premier of a province) who wanted to hear what Paul and Barnabus had to say. However there was a problem, there was a man in their way who was a sorcerer, they refer to him as Bar-Jesus and as Elymas and he stands in their way. Paul “looked intently at him” (V9) and said some very politically incorrect thing to him:

- Full of all deceit and fraud
- Son of the devil
- Enemy of righteousness
- Cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord

Elymas was then blinded and the proconsul believed.

This type of thing is contrary to the current teaching of universal acceptance and relativism.

Paul and Barnabus then enter the synagogue at Antoich and there they begin the greatest missions trip in history. The timing here was about 46 AD and this missions trip continued for 22 years until Paul’s execution in 68 AD. During this time Paul really was living his best life now, the blessings of the Lord were pouring out all over him. In his owns words he wrote in about 56 AD after ten years of mission works for Christ this is what he wrote:

2 Corinthians 11:25-27

25 Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27 in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness

So what sort of gospel message did Paul teach? Here he was going to enter into a Jewish synagogue and tell people about Jesus. Was he going to tell them that Jesus would solve all their problems, make their life better, get them that new camel they have always wanted?

Paul starts of speaking to them about their own history, with a 5 minute old testament overview from Moses right through to their current day, showing them that Jesus was the messiah they had been waiting for.

This is a message specifically to the Jews. The Jews had been waiting thousands of years for the messiah and many were apprehensive about Jesus being the messiah. This was also over a decade since Jesus had left and as a result it meant that this was likely new information to many present.

Look what is missing from his preaching, something that today many people insert. This is the joy, peace, and happiness that Christ is supposed to bring. Isn’t that why you should come to Jesus?

To answer that let’s look at how Jesus Himself preached:

Luke 18:18-27

18 Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’”21 And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” 22 So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 23 But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.
24 And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! 25 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And those who heard it said, “Who then can be saved?” 27 But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”
Again what’s missing? The most important element…the good news, Jesus doesn’t even give it to the rich young ruler. He doesn’t even tell him that he the way the truth and the life. Why?

What was the promise of Jesus, what did he tell us about what we could expect from following Him?

Matthew 5:3-5,10-12
3 “ Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth… 10 …Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Jesus never spoke of happiness the way it is often presented. Here are some current excerpts from some of the most current presentations of this teaching. This is one example from Lifeway Church in Houston, Texas and Joel Osteen, writer of the book, Living your Best Life Now:

“There are so many people who don’t expect anything good in life. They don’t expect to get breaks, they don’t expect to get promoted, they don’t expect anything positive. So I just try to get people to say, I believe if we expect God’s favor, if we declare it, if we thank him when we do see good things happening, then we’re going to see more of that.

A lot of psychological principles and even medical principles, you see them coming around to what the Bible said hundreds of years ago: a merry heart is good like a medicine. I’ve read many articles on how a positive attitude, laughing every day and being happy, does help people to recover and live longer.

The main reason I decided to write it was to help people enjoy their life and to realize God has a good plan. I wanted people to see that you can be happy today --- that you can bloom where you're planted and enjoy your life right now.”

As with any heresy there is an element of truth to it, God does want your happiness, He will make things right in the world again until then we live in a fallen broken world full of sin and hatred. Jesus knew what we would face and wanted to prepare us for this by telling of the persecution to come. There is only one way to find lasting happiness, this is by repent of your sin and putting your faith in Jesus Christ, this faith will be the source of your happiness. This happiness will not come from the carnal knowledge.

This sort of thinking came from the Campus Crusade for Christ, the leader Bill Bright invented the 4 spiritual laws that started with God has a wonderful plan for your life. (Quote from book)

This sort of thinking is rooted in what can God do for me? This is a man centered response, rather than a God centered response. Rather when a sinner has full knowledge that he has sinned against God, he will drop to his knees in repentance and come to the cross humble and broken. Then the sinner is in a position to receive the gift of grace from the cross. If you come to the cross with the attitude of giving Jesus a try to see if it will fix you marriage, finances, job or relationships this is demanding of God and putting yourself and your needs above God’s position.

The biggest proof for this not being a reasonable gospel message can be found in the current situations all around the world. Many people are living in poverty and deal with daily persecution even martyrdom. Are they living their best lives now? You judge for yourself:

Iran
Assyrian Christian Boy Beheaded – Assyrian International News Agency (AINA)
The AINA has reported that a 14-year-old Assyrian boy, Ayad Tariq, was beheaded by Muslim militants in Baqouba, Iraq, on October 21. Ayad was beginning his shift of maintaining an electrical generator when a group of disguised Muslim militants approached him and asked to see his identification. When the Muslims saw his identification and noted he was a "Christian," they (called him) a "dirty Christian sinner!" They then threw him to the ground, held down his arms and legs, shouting "Allah Akbar!" (God is great), and beheaded him. Pray God will comfort Ayad's family and friends, giving them the supernatural gift of peace that comes from forgiving our enemies.

Eritrea
Two Christians Tortured to Death - Compass Direct
On October 17, security police tortured two Christians to death, two days after arresting them for holding a religious service in a private home south of Asmara. The deaths came after officials detained a U.S. citizen and re-imprisoned a popular Christian singer who was hospitalized as a result of spending 29 months in a metal shipping container. Immanuel Andegergesh, 23, and Kibrom Firemichel, 30, died from torture wounds and severe dehydration in a military camp outside the town of Adi-Quala, eyewitnesses told Compass. Earlier this month, Eritrean authorities returned popular Christian singer Helen Berhane to military detention after she spent three days in Asmara’s Halibet Hospital for medical treatment. Berhane’s leg had been seriously damaged as a result of beatings she received while imprisoned in a metal shipping container since her arrest in May 2004. Pray the Holy Spirit will move in power to overcome the vicious and senseless attacks against Christians in Eritrea.

On October 16, 2006, Pastor Irianto Kongkoli was shot and killed by two masked gunmen. He was 42 years old.
The attack happened at 8:15 a.m. local time. That morning, Pastor Kongkoli was shopping for tile with his wife, Mrs. Rita Arianti Kopa, and five-year-old daughter, Galatea. The trio took the family van to a local hardware shop. Pastor Kongkoli was browsing the store’s yard when two masked men shot him in the head at a range of two meters. According to witnesses, one of the men was on a motorbike.
Following the attack, the masked men fled. Pastor Kongkoli’s wife heard the shots from inside the van and rushed to help her husband. Rita, who is a member of the East Palu police force, immediately took her husband to a hospital for aid. He died that same day.
Local police are following a lead on the two men suspected in Pastor Kongkoli’s murder
Pastor Kongkoli is survived by his wife, Rita, and three children. Rita is not seeking retaliation against her husband’s murders, but plans to let local authorities handle the case.
“It is God’s will,” she said. “He gives life and then He also takes life.”

So why would modern churches change the message? It all starts with marketing, in business we never let the engineers talk to customers; this is why we invented sales and marketing groups. They will outline the features and benefits of a particular product or service and hope to obtain you as a customer. The hope is that once you are in as a customer that you stay as a customer due to your company not sucking as bad as other companies. In business what is needed is a balanced or realistic view. One that tells people what to expect, that this will not solve all their problems, but will address many issues they face. The church today has done the sales and marketing pitch. They have taken the fruits of salvation, fruits that are real and used these as draw cards to build churches. Joy, peace, and happiness are real when a person is saved, your outlook on life will change. However the first step is the most important. Your life itself will likely change, you be met with persecution and difficulties. Just ask those people from the previous stories; their life will certainly did not change for the better. The simple act we take for granted of open worship of Christ will mean death for them and their family. Where is their promise of happiness? Does God not care about them? Of course he does. The sales pitch is a balanced view of the gospel, in this case leading with the fact that a person is a sinner.

Why did Jesus not give the gospel to the righteous young ruler? Because he would have come for the wrong reasons. He was looking for continued life enhancement, his life was already pretty easy and he thought he was a good person. Notice that Jesus doesn’t run after him, doesn’t offer up options, and doesn’t invite him to become a disciple so he could learn more, he lets him leave. This man was not ready for the gospel. Jesus likely could have said to him “All you have to do is let me into your heart and I will fix everything wrong in your life”. Instead he just let him leave because he wasn’t willing to take the first and most important step, the one that we so often miss when bringing the gospel to people. You must admit that you are a sinner and come to Christ with humble of spirit, asking for nothing other than His forgiveness. If you come asking, or worse demanding something, you have no humility and Christ will turn away from you.
Hear what Jesus had to say:

Matthew 9:13
But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Many like to quote the first part, I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners. However they don’t complete the verse.

Luke 13:2-5
1 There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”


Acts 3:18-20
18 But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before

Acts 17:29-31
29 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. 30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

Part of the problem is the current view of Jesus, the world view Him as a humble Galilean peasant, who looked like he should be at Woodstock and be driving a “73 Volkswagon Van with peace and flowers all over it. We have pictures of Jesus that have been produced showing him as a good looking European man with flowing hair, blue eyes and soft skin. More or less you get a picture in your head of someone who you could beat up, this is not someone who is worthy of worship, maybe a guy who you can share your feelings with, but worship a big wus?

This distorts and hides the true face of Jesus from us, yes He is that person. He preached peace, love and compassion. However a careful read of the gospels demonstrates that Jesus preached repentance, righteousness, and holiness. So what did Jesus look like? His earthly appearance from 30-33 AD is irrelevant, the only clues we have is from

Isaiah 53:2
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.

So there was nothing special about His appearance when he was here with us, but what about when He comes again as promised?

Looking to Revelations 19:11-16 we see the following description:

11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Now this is someone worthy of worship, a robe dipped in blood, I would presume not his own. He judges and makes war? Rule with an iron rod? What a contracting picture of Christ. What changed? How come Jesus is so much different here?

They add little bit to the gospel thinking that it will win souls to Christ; they have not faith in the gospel.

Was Jesus around from the beginning of time? What are the more common views of this?

Jehovah’s witnesses – Jesus is actually a created being, he was Michael the Archangel
Mormon’s – Jesus became the Son of God and became a God himself as a result of what he did on Earth.

What does the bible have to say? The first big thing is that it says that no one can see the face of God and live:

Exodus 33:20

20 But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”

How can this be when we look back and look in Genesis and Jacob clearly wrestled with God, not a in a spiritual way, but physically wrestled with him.

Genesis 32:24, 28-30

24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day… 28 And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”

OK, so you could argue, as some have the God changes, that he is progressively revealing Himself to us. This would mean that it was OK for Jacob to see God, but not OK for Moses. However this argument falls apart when we look at:

Daniel 3:23-25

23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” 25 “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”

This has been translated several different ways in various Bibles. In the NIV, NASB it will says like a son of the gods, the CEV says like a god. Either way the same applies, one looks at it from the perspective of the king stating this and since he was a Pagen it would be his inclination to refer to Him as a god (little g) and the KJV and others look at it from the logical who He would be. Both support the case the God remained the same.

Of course the best scriptural support for this lies in

Hebrews 13:8
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

So Jesus was around forever, he was there at the beginning in Genesis.

Why this is important is to establish that Jesus didn’t “change” anything when He came to Earth. He fulfilled the promise and confirmed God’s covenant as prophesied. God didn’t suddenly become “nice” where He was “mean” before. He always was and the character of God is the Character of Jesus, they are the same. So the wrath, punishment, and judgment of the Old Testament is also in the New. The reason we don’t see as much written is really a simple matter of time. The Old Testament spans thousands of years while the new, excluding Revelations, spans only about 30.

The reason it is important to establish that Jesus has been around since the beginning is to understand that God didn’t suddenly change all the rules when Jesus was made flesh on the earth. This was the fulfillment of prophesy and was always the plan, right from the beginning. The Old Testament points to the saviour to come, the New to the saviour who came. Jesus didn’t change the rules, take away the ten commandments or provide us with a “new” way of doing things, he fulfilled the plan.

Why is this so important to establish? Why does it matter? If people come to the cross with distorted views of the truth they will not have the correct gospel and will not find the salvation they desire, they will instead find themselves outside the kingdom of heaven. Rather than worshiping the God of the Bible, they will be worshiping a God they have created, one that they feel more comfortable with, one that fits their lifestyle better. This is a false god and worshiping such a god is worthless and will result in a path to Hell. Strong words, but they come right from Jesus:
Matthew 7:15-16

15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits…

Just so there is no confusion, because many who preach the prosperity gospel will actually use this as weapons in support of their argument. Fruits are not material possessions, they are not good relationships or significant influence. Fruits of the spirit, something our children learned about this summer are found in Pauls letter to the Galatians:

Galatians 5:22-26
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Matthew 7:21-23

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Speaking from my heart I can tell you that I do not want to be the one that is going to teach someone incorrectly, this is very serious because I will be called to give an account of all my teaching.

Now we can return to our book of Acts and pick up with Paul in the Synogogue. He finds that there is some major opposition to what he is presenting. The question is why? Shouldn’t he have been a little softer with his presentation? He seems as though he is rather harsh, look at what he does. They shake the dust from their sandals and move onto the gentiles, they accepted the message.

So what should we do in preaching the gospel to the lost. First don’t “sell” the gospel, God doesn’t need any help in changing the message to make it more palatable. Attempting to change it runs the risk of preaching a false gospel that will not lead to salvation but damnation. You must also have faith that the Holy Spirit can work in people the way it has been outlined in the Bible, not by softly treading and telling people what you think they want to hear but rather telling people the truth and bringing them humbly to the cross.

Perhaps at this point you’re questioning your own motivations for coming to Christ or haven’t made a decision yet. This may be the first time your hearing this type of message. Don’t put yourself at the center of the gospel rather God’s glory needs to be the center. Good news, it’s not to late if you are hearing this right now. There is still time, but you could die soon and you want to be sure that your going to heaven. The steps are repentance and faith, repentance of your sins, this means turning away from them. Put your trust in Jesus as saviour and Lord, Lord as the righteous judge of the Earth coming again, not as a humble peasant. Do this now, don’t wait. Read your Bible everyday, yes everyday and you can be happy and content in the fact that Jesus has you in his hand and will bring you one day into His kingdom. There is no magic prayer, this is a connection between you and God, do it today, don’t wait.