All About Jesus

Seriousness of Sin Sin is "any evil action or evil motive that is in opposition to God. Simply stated, sin is failure to let God be God and placing something or someone in God’s rightful place of supremacy" (Erickson, M. J., 2013). Jesus talked about sinners when He said, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:2-5).   The Greek term for perish is ἀπόλλυμι which means to cause or experience destruction.  The Greek word for offender is ὀφειλέτης which is one who is guilty, culpable, and at fault when it relates to God (Arndt, et. al., 2000).   Jesus also states, "For whoever is ...

The First Beast "And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority" (Revelation 13:1-2). The seven heads is a composite of the heads of the beasts in Daniel.  Daniel writes, " I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another...And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, 'Arise, devour much flesh.’  After this I looked, and behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this I saw in th...

What Happened? There is a lot of  misinformation about the case.  So, here is what actually happened. 1.  The arrest warrant was not for a minor infraction of weed and missing a gun permit.  Daunte Wright choked a woman and threatened to shoot her if she did not hand over $820.  He was also due to face trial for a charge of attempted aggravated robbery.   2.  There are some online theories that say Daunte didn't know about the arrest warrant.  However, Daunte knew there was a warrant out for his arrest.  The letter was just to inform him of a different date for his court hearing. 3.  Daunte resisted and fought with the officers.  Officer Potter thought she'd drawn her taser instead of her gun.  As Wright drove away from the scene, he was shot, and travelled several blocks before crashing into another vehicle and dying.  There is no evidence of race playing a role.  4.  Officer Potter was a 26-year veteran po...

Use of Scripture Scripture according to Paul "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17  A few of the Greek words and their meanings: breathed - θεόπνευστος - inspired by God  reproof - ἐλεγμός - expression of strong disapproval correction - ἐπανόρθωσις - useful for improvement training - παιδεία - the act of providing guidance for responsible living So in other words, Paul is saying that all of Scripture is inspired by God and can be used for teaching, expressing strong disapproval, improvement and providing guidance for responsible living.   Peter's Passage on Scripture "For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For when He received honor and glory from God the Fat...

Suffering and Death Suffering "So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.  And the soldiers led Him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. And they clothed Him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on Him.  And they began to salute Him, 'Hail, King of the Jews!'  And they were striking His head with a reed and spitting on Him and kneeling down in homage to Him.  And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him" (Mark 15:15-20). The word scourged in Greek is φραγελλόω which means to beat with a whip/flog. This  verberatio  (the worse type of flogging) under Roman law accompanied a capital sentence and usually happened before crucifixion-and this is the one Jesus was deli...

Prosperity Gospel Defined The prosperity gospel is "An aberrant theology that teaches God rewards faith—and hefty tithing—with financial blessing" (Christianity Today).   It claims that God rewards increases in faith with increases in health and/or wealth and states that the atonement of Christ includes not just removing of sin, but also removal of low finances and illness (Carter, J., 2017, May 3).   Example Passages Taught by Prosperity Preachers in Context with Scripture Spiritual Blessings, Not Physical The prosperity gospel is one where certain bible verses are taken out of context.   For example, a prosperity gospel preacher may refer to a passage in Exodus that says, “You shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you.   None shall miscarry or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days” (Exodus 23:25-26 ESV).   In this instance, if God's laws are obeyed...

Social Justice Social justice is "a political and philosophical theory which asserts that there are dimensions to the concept of justice beyond those embodied in the principles of civil or criminal law, economic supply and demand, or traditional moral frameworks" (Investopedia, 2020, October 26).  In modern terms, it revolves around favoring or punishing groups of a population regardless of individual choices.  For economics, this involves "redistribution of wealth, income, and economic opportunities from groups whom social justice advocates consider to be oppressors to those whom they consider to be the oppressed" (Investopedia).  It is often associated with socialism and revolutionary communism.  Socialism is an economic and political system based on public (collective) ownership of the means of production.  "In a purely socialist system, all legal production and distribution decisions are made by the government, and individuals rely on the state for everythi...