The Church of Jesus Christ - Thanksgiving

2 Thessalonians 3:3
But the Lord is faithful. 
He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.

Psalm 91

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
5 You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes
and see the recompense of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—
the Most High, who is my refuge—
10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
no plague come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.

12 On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread on the lion and the adder;
the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.

14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.

15 When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”





New believers have in the Word of God, the Bible was written by the people who did not seemingly triumph or live well. Didn't the wicked and evil men - triumph. Really?

History proves the agenda of men passed on and the Will of God Goes Forth.

Monuments today for the political leaders doing the regular leading thing?
Few sculptures of the scoffers. Less interest in their tombs.  Can you picture the government people leading the world?

See Paul's Tomb the Vatican excavated his tomb from the 1930s until the 1960s. Amazing.

The steadfastness of Christ and then the others

Pontius Pilate was so erased in History - we had the idea until the 1960s, he did not exist but recent archaeological records proved otherwise.

Who was the famous man Paul spoke to when the unnamed Sadduceen council arrested our PAUL ? Well if you look up that man, you find in Acts 23, that is Governor Felix. Which man does history honor?

High priest Ananias? His house was found in ruins, at the sack of Jerusalem in 70 A.D; His existence was doubted, as well, until the Talmud Records were found of the Sadduceen Council, for this era of Jesus walking the earth, in Scotland. These record the name of Mary's father. And say they were very concerned about Jesus' miracles and insurrection.

Capernaum.. Jesus' adult home town, picked as a land flowed with milk and honey, on the shores of the sea of Galilee, that town survived and thrived - avoiding war until the 13th century. Capernaum.

The Word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored.
There was no doubt Roman Emperors always win.

The triumph of Christianity is actually a very remarkable historical phenomenon.

Ian Wilson records a letter from a Jewish rabbi, of Lyracanthra, saying it would be the end of Judaism because of the incredible miracles of healing, restoration, life transformation and complete hope. These are letters confirming the Gospels show the Rabbi to be extremely unhappy. Josephus, the Israeli General turned traitor, turned Historian says Jesus was the Christ and his brother James formed the later Christian Church until martyred in 62 AD.

People you might not have heard of - and the world loved - and -yet- we can't place their face.

Trajan (c. 53 - 117) Philosopher Pliny the Younger's letter to Trajan on the subject of the Christians and the response of Trajan to Pliny the Younger. On Early Christian Writings. How to torture Christians to discredit the claims of Jesus Christ.

Hadrian (c. 76 - 138) Foxe's Book of Martyrs -- Persecution Under Trajen...... The forenamed authors, Antoninus and Equilius

Antoninus Pius (c. 86 - 161) Instead of stirring up persecution against the Christians, he extended to them the strong hand of his protection throughout the empire. Rather than give occasion to that oppression which he regarded as inseparable from an emperor's progress through his dominions, he was content to spend all the years of his reign in Rome, or its neighborhood. Under his patronage the science of jurisprudence was cultivated by men of high ability, and a number of humane and equitable enactments were passed in his name. 161 – 180 166 Christian persecution returned - The period was one of ever-increasing calamities. The earthquakes which had alarmed Asia under Antoninus were but the prelude to more serious convulsions. The Tiber rose to an unprecedented height and swept away the public granaries. This was followed by a famine, and that by a pestilence, which spread from Egypt and Ethiopia westward. Everywhere on the frontiers there were murmurs of insurrection or invasion. The year 166 was long known as the "annus calamitosus," and it was in that year that the persecution broke out and that Justin suffered. These calamities roused the superstition of the great mass of the people, and a wild fanaticism succeeded to an epicurean atheism. The gods were wrath, and what had roused their anger but the presence of those who denied them?

Marcus Aurelius (c. 121 - 180) The Thundering Legion incident (174)

During the war with the Quadi in 174 there took place the famous incident of the Thundering Legion (Legio Fulminatrix, Fulminea, Fulminata) which has been a cause of frequent controversy between Christian and non-Christian writers. The Roman army was surrounded by enemies with no chance of escape, when a storm burst. The rain poured down in refreshing showers on the Romans, while the enemy were scattered with lightning and hail. The parched and famishing Romans received the saving drops first on their faces and parched throats, and afterwards in their helmets and shields, to refresh their horses. Marcus obtained a glorious victory as a result of this extraordinary event, and his enemies were hopelessly overthrown.

That such an event did really happen is attested both by pagan and Christian writers. The former attribute the occurrence either to magic (Dion Cassius, LXXI, 8-10) or to the prayers of the emperor (Capitolinus, "Vita Marci", XXIV; Themistius, "Orat. XV ad Theod"; Claudian, "De Sext. Cons. Hon.", V, 340 sqq.; "Sibyl. Orac.", ed. Alezandre, XII, 196 sqq. Cf. Bellori, "La Colonne Antonine", and Eckhel, "Doctrina Nummorum", III, 64). The Christian writers attributed the fact to the prayers of the Christians who were in the army (Claudius Apollinaris in Eusebius, Church History V.5; Tertullian, "Apol.", v; ad Seap. c. iv), and soon there grew up a legend to the effect that in consequence of this miracle the emperor put a stop to the persecution of the Christians (cf. Euseb. and Tert. opp cit.).

It must be conceded that the testimony of Claudius is the most valuable of all that we possess, as he wrote within a few years of the event, and that all credit must be given to the prayers of the Christians, though it does not necessarily follow that we should accept the elaborate detail of the story as given by Tertullian and later writers 161 - 169

Lucius Verus (co-emperor) (c. 130 - 169) with Marcus Aurelius
180 - 192

Commodus (c. 161 - 192) All these who failed to follow the decree were brought to the Senate and were tried. This decree was a forceful attempt to put down Christians completely. But the followers who believed in Jesus Christ refused to accept this and many were ready to face the trial. "The Passion of the Scillitan Martyrs" written.

Persecution slows down -

Pertinax (193)

Didius Julianus (193) .

Septimius Severus (193-211) Edict makes it illegal to convert to Christianity; persecution especially in North Africa, ca. 203: Perpetua & Felicity martyred in Carthage (North Africa)

Caracalla (211-217)

Macrinus (217-218)

Elagabalus (218-222)

Severus Alexander (222-235)

Maximinus (235-238)

Gordian I and II (238)

Balbinus (238)

Pupienus (238)

Gordian III (238-244)

Philip the Arab (244-249) .

Trajanus Decius (249-251) 250: Major Empire-Wide Persecution; Christians required to participate in Emperor Worship. Bishop Fabian of Rome martyred; Bishop Cyprian of Carthage exiled; Origen of Alexandria tortured to death.

Trebonianus Gallus (251-253)

Aemilian (253) .
Valerian (253-260) ca. 258: Bishop Cyprian of Carthage martyred
Gallienus (253-268)
Claudius Gothicus (268-270) .
Aurelian (270-275) some persecutions
Tacitus (275-276)
Probus (276-282)
Carus (282-283)
Carinus (283-284)
Numerian (283-284) .

Diocletian (284-305) Major Empire-Wide Persecution begins ca. 303; confiscation of Christian churches and books; arrest, torture, and execution of many Christian leaders. Personally sends troops to Nazareth, the Bishop of Caesarea Eusibius records Diocletian offering clemency to the nephews carefully recording their ancestry to Jesus Christ. All refuse and are tortured and put to death. Diocletian sends troops to Turkey to place the Bishop Nicholas (also known as St. Nicholas or, in German, Santa Claus, in prison.

& Maximian (286-305) Major Empire-Wide Persecution begins ca. 303; confiscation of Christian Churches and books; arrest, torture, and execution of many Christian leaders

Constantius Chlorus (305-306)
Maxentius (306-312) .
Galerius (305-311)
Licinius (311-323) 311: Edict of Galerius: toleration for Christians, allowing them to worship openly

 And Then - History Always Remembers Constantine

Constantine (307-337) 313: Edict of Constantine (Edict of Milan): toleration for all religions, including Christianity; ends persecutions

Constantine's position on the religions traditionally practiced in Rome evolved during his reign. At first he prohibited the construction of new temples and tolerated traditional sacrifices; by the end of his reign, he had begun to order the pillaging and tearing down of Roman temples. The day Christianity officially arrived in the Roman Empire was in 325 A.D. The First Council of Nicaea is regarded as the first Ecumenical Council of the Christian Church. Invited by Emperor Constantine, about 318 world-wide Bishops (including St. Nicholas), who had risked their lives and were condemned for serving Jesus, traveled across continents and oceans, continued to risk their lives in dangerous travel, to express the basis of the Church today and choose the Books of the Bible.




(* I compiled "Thee" above information and gathered from several sources and paraphrased.)

The triumph of Christianity is actually a very remarkable historical phenomenon. ...

Do not grow weary in doing good

Luke the beloved physician, lived to be in his 90s. He stayed with Paul, the only one, until Paul died.

Timothy, Paul's missionary friend he called a son, was the Bishop of Greece and lived well until his 80s.

Lazarus and Mary and Martha are well documented growing to old, old age on the Mediterranean Shores of France. Not too bad. They had Jesus to dinner in appreciation of His friendship and help.

And a lot of our Scripture exists because we had those willing to relocate to India and Africa.

John lived until history records him vibrant in the 2nd Century.

The Lord is faithful

Generations have called upon the name of Jesus Christ and have been saved.

Fruit of the Spirit...against such as these - there is No Law.

Governments have attempted, in our lifetimes, to restrict access to the Scriptures and the governments have failed; seeing a rebirth of Biblical interest and Churches.

The Word still generates faith, becoming hope, flowering into love.

We are still in the decade proclaimed to be the largest percentage of Christians on earth.

Romans 10:13
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved

Abba, our Abba,

We want each day to start with Jesus. Saying Jesus God, please go with me. By the Power of the Holy Spirit - Guide, Lead, Encourage, Teach, Help, Prevail, Equip me with my life today. Enable. Protect. Give Wisdom. We want to be with Jesus. Because on His Path is going to find our Hope, Joy, Faith, Peace, Love.

Jesus is able to do so much more than we even imagine. Jesus is God who fed thousands with less than a meal. We want to live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' To all who did receive Jesus, who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God, Who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

We want the Word made flesh to dwelt within us, and we have seen Jesus Glory. Glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. From Jesus' fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. Not from works, for man to boast. Purely from the Love God has for us. And He became our salvation and righteousness.

We cover all of our cares and people we love - with the Highest Name - Jesus. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves!  †