Psalm 115 ~ The house of Israel trusts in the LORD, who is their help and shield.

 Psalm 115

1
 Not to us, LORD, not to us but to your name give glory because of your faithfulness and love.
 2 
Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?"
3
Our God is in heaven; whatever God wills is done.
4
Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.
5
They have mouths but do not speak, eyes but do not see.
6
They have ears but do not hear, noses but do not smell.
7
They have hands but do not feel, feet but do not walk, and no sound rises from their throats.
8
Their makers shall be like them, all who trust in them.
9
The house of Israel trusts in the LORD, who is their help and shield.
10
The house of Aaron trusts in the LORD, who is their help and shield.
11
Those who fear the LORD trust in the LORD, who is their help and shield.
12
The LORD remembers us and will bless us, will bless the house of Israel, will bless the house of Aaron,
13
Will bless those who fear the LORD, small and great alike.
14
May the LORD increase your number, you and your descendants.
15
May you be blessed by the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
16
4 The heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth is given to us.
17
The dead do not praise the LORD, all those gone down into silence.
18
It is we who bless the LORD, both now and forever. Hallelujah!

Christmas card of the Three Magi seeking and finding Jesus. Christianity is referred to as a religion, but instead it's a relationship and claims Jesus sent to us to give us eternal life:

Luke 11:5
Then Jesus said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.'

7 "Then the one inside answers, 'Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.' 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

9 "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.



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Isaiah 45:23 ~ my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.

Isaiah 11:6
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.

Isaiah 65:25
The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent's food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain," says the LORD.

Romans 14:11
It is written: "'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.'"

Isaiah 45:23
By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.

Philippians 2:10-11
At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.


Romans 10:9
If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

2 Thessalonians 3:3
But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.


2 Thessalonians 3:5
May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.


Psalm 133:3
It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.


2 Thessalonians 2:16
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.


Ephesians 6:23
Peace to the brothers, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.


Jude 1:24-25
To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.



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Psalm 40 ~ Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust

Revelation 5:5
And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”


Psalm 40

40 I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the Lord.

4 Blessed is the man who makes
the Lord his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
to those who go astray after a lie!
5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
yet they are more than can be told.

6 In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,
but you have given me an open ear.
Burnt offering and sin offering
you have not required.
7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
in the scroll of the book it is written of me:
8 I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.”

9 I have told the glad news of deliverance
in the great congregation;
behold, I have not restrained my lips,
as you know, O Lord.
10 I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
from the great congregation.

11 As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain
your mercy from me;
your steadfast love and your faithfulness will
ever preserve me!
12 For evils have encompassed me
beyond number;
my iniquities have overtaken me,
and I cannot see;
they are more than the hairs of my head;
my heart fails me.

13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me!
O Lord, make haste to help me!
14 Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether
who seek to snatch away my life;
let those be turned back and brought to dishonor
who delight in my hurt!
15 Let those be appalled because of their shame
who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”

16 But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
say continually, “Great is the Lord!”
17 As for me, I am poor and needy,
but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
do not delay, O my God!

“Who is Aslan?” asked Susan.
“Aslan?” said Mr, Beaver. “Why don’t you know? He’s the King. He’s the Lord of the whole wood, …”

“Is--is he a man?” asked Lucy.
“Aslan a man!” said Mr. Beaver sternly. “Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and son of the great Emperor-beyond-the Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion--the Lion, the great Lion”

“Ooh!” said Susan, “I’d thought he was a man. Is he--quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”

“That you will, dearie, and that’s no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver; “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or just silly”

“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy. 

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ’Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”  

“Will the others see you too?" asked Lucy.
"Certainly not at first," said Aslan. "Later on, it depends."
"But they won’t believe me!" said Lucy.
"It doesn’t matter.


Isaiah 5:26-30
He will raise a signal for nations far away,
and whistle for them from the ends of the earth;
and behold, quickly, speedily they come!
27 None is weary, none stumbles,
none slumbers or sleeps,
not a waistband is loose,
not a sandal strap broken;
28 their arrows are sharp,
all their bows bent,
their horses' hoofs seem like flint,
and their wheels like the whirlwind.
29 Their roaring is like a lion,
like young lions they roar;
they growl and seize their prey;
they carry it off, and none can rescue.
30 They will growl over it on that day,
like the growling of the sea.
And if one looks to the land,
behold, darkness and distress;
and the light is darkened by its clouds.



Psalm 34:10
The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

Proverbs 28:1
The wicked flee though no one pursues,
but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

Hosea 13:4-8
But I am the Lord your God
from the land of Egypt;
you know no God but me,
and besides me there is no savior.
5 It was I who knew you in the wilderness,
in the land of drought;
6 but when they had grazed, they became full,
they were filled, and their heart was lifted up;
therefore they forgot me.
7 So I am to them like a lion;
like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.
8 I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs;
I will tear open their breast,
and there I will devour them like a lion,
as a wild beast would rip them open.

Revelation 10:3
And called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded.

Proverbs 28:1
The wicked flee though no one pursues,
but the righteous are as bold as a lion.




“Great is the Lord!”

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Jude 1 ~ a servant of Jesus Christ

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us




Jude 1

1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James,

To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:

2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.


3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. 9 But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” 10 But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. 11 Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion. 12 These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; 13 wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.

14 It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.


17 But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” 19 It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. 22 And have mercy on those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment^{[chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin]} stained by the flesh.

24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.


The Epistle of Jude is not a favorite book of the Bible these days. We so often do not like to hear God has opinions in His Creation. Who is Jude, people debate, this Jude claims to be the brother of James the Just. The brother of Jesus Christ. He is being modest in this declaration. His letter, written with the Holy Spirit, declares Jesus was the Savior of the Children of Israel 1300 or 1400 years before his Brother was born of Mary.

certain people have crept in unnoticed

Who is Jude speaking of? Well, at that time, probably the Mysteries of Mithras. This was a very popular religion during the push of the Roman Empire. Roman god worship was important and this combined some of the glory, majesty, dominion, and authority of Christianity into pagan god worship. Prostitution was part of Roman god worship.  Unusual sexual practices. This could be just as the disciple Paul saw in the slave girl proclaiming Paul worshiped the most Holy God.  Majesty pedaled as people pleasing.

Jude says we take the grace and forgiveness of the sacrifice of God's Only Son and let that be cheap, easy grace.

Jesus says through His brother, we are not to speak to sinners in contempt but with mercy. He does not say speak down, He says speak with offering to GOD our prayers. How does a Christian contend with ideas contrary to the Word? Do not confuse polite behavior with weakness. See verses 8 through 10.

Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

with the opposite explained as
grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.

Not allowing the joy Paul had in living, and told us of in Philippians 2. "Seeing how it will go with me."

work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Philippians 2:14-16
Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

Holding fast to what?

holding fast to the word...

John 1:4
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith



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Psalm 106:47 ~ gather us

Psalm 106:47
Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the nations,that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.

Given the amount of people traveling in Thanksgiving to go to be with loved ones ~ this is a very present thanks.


Proverbs 15:30
The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, and good news refreshes the bones.


Matthew 11:15
He who has ears to hear, let him hear.


Matthew 13:16
But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.

Psalm 97:11
Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.

Nehemiah 8:10
Then he said to them, "Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."



Psalm 65:12
The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy


Psalm 68:3
But the righteous shall be glad; they shall exult before God; they shall be jubilant with joy!


Psalm 92:4
For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.

1 John 4:19
We love because He first loved us.

Shout to the Lord - Hillsong



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Isaiah 33 ~ Your cords hang loose; they cannot hold the mast firm in its place or keep the sail spread out.

1970s Christmas Tree

Everlasting Light, by the Black Keys. They single handedly save the 1970s Rock Genre. And we know our Everlasting Light is Jesus Christ the Lord.

Isaiah 33

Ah, you destroyer,
who yourself have not been destroyed,
you traitor,
whom none has betrayed!
When you have ceased to destroy,
you will be destroyed;
and when you have finished betraying,
they will betray you.

2 O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for you.
Be our arm every morning,
our salvation in the time of trouble.
3 At the tumultuous noise peoples flee;
when you lift yourself up, nations are scattered,
4 and your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers;
as locusts leap, it is leapt upon.

5 The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high;
he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness,
6 and he will be the stability of your times,
abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;
the fear of the Lord is Zion's treasure.

7 Behold, their heroes cry in the streets;
the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
8 The highways lie waste;
the traveler ceases.
Covenants are broken;
cities are despised;
there is no regard for man.
9 The land mourns and languishes;
Lebanon is confounded and withers away;
Sharon is like a desert,
and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.

10 “Now I will arise,” says the Lord,
“now I will lift myself up;
now I will be exalted.
11 You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble;
your breath is a fire that will consume you.
12 And the peoples will be as if burned to lime,
like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.”

13 Hear, you who are far off, what I have done;
and you who are near, acknowledge my might.
14 The sinners in Zion are afraid;
trembling has seized the godless:
“Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire?
Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?”
15 He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,
who despises the gain of oppressions,
who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe,
who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed
and shuts his eyes from looking on evil,
16 he will dwell on the heights;
his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks;
his bread will be given him; his water will be sure.

17 Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty;
they will see a land that stretches afar.
18 Your heart will muse on the terror:
“Where is he who counted, where is he who weighed the tribute?
Where is he who counted the towers?”
19 You will see no more the insolent people,
the people of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend,
stammering in a tongue that you cannot understand.
20 Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts!
Your eyes will see Jerusalem,
an untroubled habitation, an immovable tent,
whose stakes will never be plucked up,
nor will any of its cords be broken.
21 But there the Lord in majesty will be for us
a place of broad rivers and streams,
where no galley with oars can go,
nor majestic ship can pass.
22 For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver;
the Lord is our king; he will save us.

23 Your cords hang loose;
they cannot hold the mast firm in its place
or keep the sail spread out.
Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided;
even the lame will take the prey.
24 And no inhabitant will say, “I am sick”;
the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.


Christmas Gift!

Trim your sails.
Trimming the sails on your sailboat allows you to make the most of the prevailing wind. An expedient thing in life. My Uncle Tate used to yell "Tack!" and then ... you duck.

My father, in his shining years, used to quote with a gleam," All you need is a tall ship and a star to sail her by."

Ecclesiastes 11:5
As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.

John 3:8
The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

and this:

Ephesians 4:14
As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming


Your cords hang loose;
they cannot hold the mast firm in its place


Psalm 103
As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.


Tonight at our Daughters of the Holy Cross, our Anglican Church organization of service and praise, we talked about our Christmas Treasures. Memories. Lynn told, with a bit of mist, of being in the kitchen with her mother for Christmas memories being made for a lifetime. Never believing as a child, times would change and her mother would be gone. My mother-in-law told me of years spent with her tiny grandmother, her Uncle Sug and walks at Christmas and summer days, as we drove past her grandmother's house. Judy sighed and said, all gone. We build memories for the next generation to hold on to; many decades to come. Places of refuge. Acts of mercy and justice to hold on to.

I inherited my Grandmother Anita's pink depression glass goblets, about 12. And used them several times with lemonade for the boys and several happy occasions. We lived in a small house at the time and I placed them in tissue paper and newspaper and stored them in a decorative basket in our utility closet. One day soon there was a crash and the glasses had been emptied into the trash, thought to be garbage. Tears arrived. My grandmother was gone and so were her pink glasses of 60 plus years.

That Christmas we went to visit my elderly cousin Maxine. She always had a roaring fire in her living room gathered from wood around her gardens. And I told my mother, my boys and Maxine how the glasses had been lost. Maxine said, "I have a Christmas gift for you, please wait and I will get that, it will take a few minutes, I'm not sure where I put your gift." We waited, Mother and I drank hot tea and the boys bottles of Maxine's Coca Cola she loved. When Maxine returned she brought in a cardboard box and she handed me an exact, identical glass as my Grandmother's pattern. I held the glass in my hand, and looked at Maxine. She said, "Your grandmother bought an extra set that year and gave them to my mother for her Christmas Gift. I am pleased to give you Anita's glasses. A return of a beautiful gift to her granddaughter." Never has a granddaughter, or a cousin, been more touched and pleased. 




1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 

14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 

16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 

17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.


Ephesians 3

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,  from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 1so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

 


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1 Timothy 5 ~ Let the church not be burdened

The Church as a bridge .  This one is in Webster, North Carolina.  


1 Timothy 5

5 Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.

3 Honor widows who are truly widows. 4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God. 5 She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day, 6 but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives. 7 Command these things as well, so that they may be without reproach. 8 But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

9 Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband, 10 and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work. 11 But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry 12 and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. 13 Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not. 14 So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander. 15 For some have already strayed after Satan. 16 If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those who are truly widows.

17 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.” 19 Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 20 As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. 21 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality. 22 Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure. 23 (No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.) 24 The sins of some people are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later. 25 So also good works are conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden.


The Church. 2,000 years of opinions. Jesus said the Church would exist in Caesarea before the disciples had decided who Jesus was exactly. Church opulence causes anger. Lack of proper giving causes some Churches to resemble warehouses far from the workmanship people have willingly done for Churches for centuries. Church opulence judged by a world for 1500 years. When Henry VIII took the monasteries and wealthy Churches, sometimes even for their bricks, England was changed. The leading cause of death became starvation. The truth is the monks slept in small, barren cells and did their life's work producing food for the vicinity, cleaning the Church immaculately and making the Church ornate conveying GOD as KING.



The Church and Purity - no one associated with a Church rejoices in terrible events. Everyone applauds Pope Benedict for his work saying Jesus has agony for the ones who suffer.

Warehouse Churches - Does a family ask each other for their talents? Treating the Church as four walls is self-indulgent. Yes, some people see plain Churches as Holy. Were the walls painted by Church family. Is the landscaping forgotten or loved.

I heard a sermon on the radio saying every statistic says the evangelical movement is huge and so many people are attending and believing - the sermon went on to say - the evangelical movement in America today is 40 miles wide and 1/8 of an inch deep. The Minister said will we really live our convictions if tested. Martyrdom might be easier than living as if our lives and choices mattered to Him. We all must love and live out our lives for the glory of HIM.

Do not rebuke the Church, she is elderly. This Bride of Christ.

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep

Encourage

Honor

A reputation for good works

Hope on God

Learn to show godliness

Self-indulgent is dead even while she lives

Command these things

Continues in supplications and prayers

Brought up children

Provide for relatives

Cared for the afflicted

Manage the household

Let the Church not be burdened. We love others as ourselves fulfilling the command to love one another. 



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2 Thessalonians 3 ~ That we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith.

 

2 Thessalonians 3

Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, 2 and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. 3 But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. 4 And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. 5 May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

6 Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. 9 It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 11 For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.

13 As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. 14 If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. 15 Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.

17 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

From time to time the reading repeats. I do not find this as a flaw, instead I see this as a time to reflect again. Read the verses and let them flower and grow within me.

One of the historical problems 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.

Well, no. There are few monuments today for the leaders doing the regular leading thing. Few sculptures of the scoffers. Less interest in their tombs. See Paul's Tomb the Vatican excavated his tomb from the 1930s until the 1960s.


the steadfastness of Christ 

The Historian Josephus records twice about the surprise and admiration this Judean General had for Jesus and called HIM the Christ, And James, identified as the Lord's brother. Jewish Josephus records messiah types scatter at trouble, but the group of friends so loyal to Jesus Christ - they are called Christians.

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; they also found his family tomb and his sarcophagus (which was quite pretty.) 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.

70 A.D? Jesus' natural life span. This would have been rather churlish of the LORD to forgive that generation and then zap them. And Jesus' adult home town, picked as a land flowed with milk and honey, on the shores of the sea of Galilee, that town survived war until the 13th century. Capernaum.

Speaking of sarcophagus, that trial went on for 5 years in Israel with the Judge saying he didn't have enough authority to disprove or prove the sarcophagus of James, Brother of Jesus. The Head of the Louvre and  C.I.A gave evidence saying the style of the signature, the age of the patina, were correct.  James is better known than the whereabouts of King Agrippa.  So where is he?  We are not sure.

the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored

 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.

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

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 his 80s.


The Lord is faithful

Generations have called upon the name of Jesus Christ and have been saved. Governments have attempted, in our lifetimes, to restrict access to the Sciptures and the governments have failed; seeing a rebirth of Biblical interest and Churches.  The Word still  generates faith, becoming hope, flowering into love.


establish you and guard you against the evil one

Romans 10:13
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
 

toil and labor we worked night and day

John 5:17
Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working."

 
peace at all times in every way


Philippians 4:6-7

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.




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