Apocrypha: – Why Isn’t it in the Bible: Catholics will tell you, “You Protestants are missing part of the Bible. We have the rest of it.” This can throw people off, but it no longer has to. These false Catholic additions to the Bible are commonly called the Apocrypha or sometimes the Deuterocanonical books. The Apocrypha is a collection of uninspired, spurious books written by various individuals. The Catholic religion considers these books as scripture just like a Bible believer believes that our 66 books are the word of God, e.g. (Genesis to Revelation).

At the Council of Trent in 1546, the Roman Catholic religion pronounced the following apocryphal books sacred. (Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, First and Second Maccabees, Additions to Ester and Daniel). They asserted that the apocryphal books together with unwritten tradition are of God and are to be received and venerated as the Word of God. So now you have the Bible, the Apocrypha, and Catholic Tradition as co-equal sources of truth for the Catholic.

In reality, the Bible is the last source of truth for Catholics. Catholic doctrine comes primarily from tradition stuck together with a few Bible names. In the reading of Catholic materials, you will find notes like this: “You have to keep the Bible in perspective.” Catholics do not believe that the Bible is God’s complete revelation for man. Go to www.jesus-is-lord.com/apocryph.htm for more on this subject.

Metal books found in Jordan cave could change the view of Biblical history

Metal books found in Jordan cave could change the view of Biblical history

What does it mean to be a born again Christian? | GotQuestions.org

What does it mean to be a born again Christian? | GotQuestions.org

On This Day In History: The King James Bible Is Published For The First Time In London - On May 2, 1611 - Ancient Pages

On This Day In History: The King James Bible Is Published For The First Time In London - On May 2, 1611 - Ancient Pages

Bible

 Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the Lord. (Psalm 31:24)

Lazarus - An Obscure Biblical Figure - Ancient Pages

Lazarus - An Obscure Biblical Figure - Ancient Pages

Biblical City Of Gezer: Important Ancient City Mentioned In The Amarna Letters - Ancient Pages

Biblical City Of Gezer: Important Ancient City Mentioned In The Amarna Letters - Ancient Pages

Roma 10:9

 9  Kay saksi ko ang Dios, ang ginaalagad ko sa akong espiritu pinaagi sa pagsangyaw sa Maayong Balita sa iyang Anak, nga sa walay paghunong ginalakip ko kamo kanunay sa akong mga pag-ampo,

Kini nga bersikulo wala nagpasabut usa ka yano nga pag-ila nga Siya ang Diyos ug ang Ginoo sa uniberso, tungod kay bisan ang mga demonyo nag-ila nga kini tinuod.

Kini ang lawom nga personal nga konbiksyon, nga wala’y pagduha-duha, nga si Jesus mao ang kaugalingon nga agalon o soberano sa tawo. Kini nga hugpong sa mga pulong nag-upod sa paghinulsol gikan sa sala, pagsalig kay Jesus alang sa kaluwasan ug pagsumite Kaniya ingon nga Ginoo.

Kini ang mahinungdanong elemento sa pagtuo.

Gitun-an namon kini sa una nga kapitulo nga akong sublion usab dinhi:

Pagtuo: Sa pagsalig, pagsalig, o pagsalig sa. Kung gigamit sa kaluwasan, kini nga pulong kasagarang mahitabo sa karon nga panahon nga "mao ang pagsalig" nga nagpasiugda nga ang pagtuo dili usa ka higayon nga hitabo, apan usa ka nagpadayon nga kahimtang. Ang tinuud nga makaluwas nga tinuohan dili labaw sa kinaiyahan, usa ka grasya nga regalo sa Diyos nga gihimo Niya diha sa iyang kasingkasing ug mao ra ang paagi diin ang usa ka tawo mahimo’g angayan sa tinuud nga pagkamatarung.

Ang pagluwas sa pagtuo naglangkob sa 3 nga mga elemento.

Pangisip: ang hunahuna nakasabut sa maayong balita ug sa kamatuoran bahin kang Cristo

Emosyonal: gihangop sa usa ang tinuud nga katinuud sa mga kamatuuran nga adunay kasubo tungod sa sala ug kalipay tungod sa kaluoy ug grasya sa Diyos

Boluntaryo: ang makasasala nagsumite sa iyang kabubut-on ngadto kang Kristo ug nagsalig Kaniya ra ingon ang bugtong paglaum sa kaluwasan.

Ang tinuud nga pagtuo kanunay naghimo og tinuud nga pagkamasulundon.

"Ang Dios nagbanhaw Kaniya gikan sa mga patay": Ang pagkabanhaw ni Kristo mao ang kataas nga pamatud-an sa Iyang pangalagad. Ang pagsalig niini kinahanglanon alang sa kaluwasan tungod kay gipamatud-an niini nga si Cristo mao ang Iyang giangkon nga siya ug nga gidawat sa Amahan ang Iyang sakripisyo puli sa mga makasasala. Kung wala ang pagkabanhaw, wala’y kaluwasan.

Wala gyud pagduha-duha sa tanan kung unsa ang kinahanglan nga buhaton aron maluwas.

// One Long Missing Day and the Cry of the Skeptics - GODSAIDMANSAID.COM

// One Long Missing Day and the Cry of the Skeptics - GO

DSAIDMANSAID.COM

 Matthew 16:18 “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

“Upon this rock”: The word for “Peter”, “Petros, means a small stone (John 1:42). Jesus used a play on words here with petra which means a foundation boulder (7:24-25).

Since the New Testament makes it abundantly clear that Christ is both the foundation (Acts 4:11-12; 1 Cor. 3:11), and the head (Eph. 5:23), of the church, it is a mistake to think that here He is giving either of those roles to Peter. There is a sense in which the apostles played a foundational role in the building of the church (Eph. 2:20), but the role of primacy is reserved for Christ alone, not assigned to Peter.

So Jesus’ words here are best interpreted as a simple play on words in that a boulder-like truth came from the mouth of one who was called a small stone. Peter himself explains the imagery in his first epistle. The church is built of “living stones” (1 Peter 2:5), who, like Peter, confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Christ Himself is the “corner stone” (1 Pet. 2:6-7).

The word “church” is a translation of ekklesia, meaning “called out” or “assembly.” In the New Testament, it usually refers to a local group of Christians.

In this sense a church is an assembly of baptized believers under the discipline of the Word of God. They are organized to carry out the Great Commission, the administration of New Testament ordinances, and the exercise of spiritual gifts.

When a group of Christians today follows this example, it is a church in the biblical sense of the word. In the New Testament, Christians assembled as churches for fellowship, instruction, and worship and to carry out the Great Commission.

Perhaps the best-known New Testament churches were at Jerusalem, Antioch, Thessalonica, Philippi, Corinth, Ephesus, and the other six cities mentioned (in Revelation 2 and 3).

Every Christian should follow the example of New Testament believers by identifying with a local church, and getting involved in its ministry.

In this, Jesus was telling Peter that His church would be built on the foundational rock of truth, which had just issued from Peter’s mouth. All the blessed (believers in the Lord Jesus Christ), have this truth from the Father.

Jesus promises that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church. The phrase “shall not prevail”, should be understood as meaning “shall not stand against.” The imagery would then picture the church as being on the offensive against the gates of hell.

While Jesus’ resurrection certainly will overcome the sting of death, it will also enable His church to aggressively and offensively attack the gates of hell (usage as Satan’s kingdom in Job 38:17; Isa. 38:10; Psalm 107:18); by snatching out victims from darkness into His glorious kingdom of light. The church is on the offensive here and hell is on the defensive.

Verses 19-20: The Lord promises to Peter and the other apostles “the keys of the kingdom.” This means that Peter will have the right to enter the kingdom himself, and preaching the gospel would be the means of opening the kingdom of heaven.

The Book of Acts shows us this process at work. By his sermon on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-40), Peter opened the door of the kingdom for the first time. The expressions “bind” and “loose” were common in Jewish legal phraseology, meaning to declare forbidden or to declare allowed.

Peter and the other disciples (see 18:18), were to continue on earth the work of Christ in preaching the gospel and declaring God’s will to men, and were armed with the same authority He Himself possessed.

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// Dead Men Talking About Life After Death - GODSAIDMANSAID.COM

// Dead Men Talking About Life After Death - GODS

AIDMANSAID.COM

Memories

 Isaiah 65:17 says, “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.” Some interpret Isaiah 65:17 as saying that we will have no memory of our earthly lives in heaven. However, one verse earlier in Isaiah 65:16, the Bible says, “For the past troubles will be forgotten and hidden from my eyes.” It is likely only our “past troubles” will be forgotten, not all of our memories. Our memories will eventually be cleansed, redeemed, healed, and restored, not erased. There is no reason why we could not possess many memories from our earthly lives. The memories that will be cleansed are the ones that involve sin, pain, and sadness. Revelation 21:4 declares, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Concentration

 When you can’t change your circumstances, change your concentration. Peter walked on water until his concentration broke (Matthew 14:22-33). Once he took his eyes off Jesus and saw the wind and the waves, he began to sink. Likewise, if you concentrate on your circumstances, your soul will sink. But if you can concentrate on the Creator, fixing your eyes on Jesus and all that you have to be grateful for, you can rise above any situation.

 The continents of Europe and Asia have periodically been engulfed by epidemics of leprosy and plague, especially from 1200 to 1400. More than sixty million people, almost one-third of the population of Europe in the fourteenth century, are estimated to have died by the Black Death (bubonic plague). Those who survived described scenes that sounded like the haunting visions of Dante’s descriptions of hell.

How was this dreaded plague finally stopped? In Vienna, in the center of the city, there is a strange-looking plague statue dedicated to the Black Death’s victims and the church fathers' actions to abolish that plague's curse. In light of God’s advanced health laws, one might expect to learn that it was only after the people began to follow the Biblical laws of sanitation and disease control that the epidemic was broken.

Several church leaders began to search the Bible to discover whether there was a practical solution. They saw that in Leviticus 13:46, Moses laid down strict regulations regarding the treatment of those afflicted with leprosy or plague: “All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be.” God answered their prayers for deliverance when they finally began to obey His Scriptural commands. This divine medical rule demanded that a person who contracted the plague be isolated from the general population during his infectious period.

Fortunately, the church fathers of Vienna finally took the Biblical injunctions to heart and demanded that those infected with the plague be placed outside the city in special medical quarantine compounds. Caregivers fed them until they either died or survived the disease. Those who died in homes or streets were quickly removed and buried outside the city. These Biblical sanitation measures quickly brought the dreaded epidemic under control. Towns and other countries rapidly followed the medical practices of Vienna until the deadly spread of the Black Death was halted.

Until the twentieth century, nearly every society other than the Israelites kept infected patients in their homes—even after death—unknowingly exposing other people to deadly diseases. Even during the Black Death epidemic, patients who were sick or had died were kept in the same rooms as the rest of the family. People often wondered why the disease affected so many people at one time. They attributed the epidemic to “bad air” or evil spirits. However, careful attention to the medical commands of God as revealed in Leviticus would have saved untold millions of lives. Arturo Castiglioni characterized this Biblical law: “The laws against leprosy in Leviticus 13 may be regarded as the first model of sanitary legislation.”

Moses’ instruction to segregate infected patients from their families and other people was one of the most important medical advances in human history. Yet no other ancient nation followed this effective medical regulation. The only reasonable explanation is that Moses received this advanced medical knowledge from God’s inspiration.

Doubting Thomas

 Thomas was deeply committed to his master, yet he struggled with many doubts and questions. On the day He rose from the dead Jesus appeared to a group of disciples in a room. For some unknown reason, Thomas was not there (John 20:19-24). The disciples later told Thomas and Thomas told them that he would not believe unless he seen and put his fingers in the holes the nails made and put his hand into His side he would not believe (John 20:25). That's how Thomas got his nickname and it has stayed with him throughout history.

 Thomas told the other disciples that he needed proof before he could believe Jesus had risen from the dead, he was being honest. Faith does not prohibit investigation. Eight days later the disciples met together again and this time Thomas was there. Jesus asked Thomas to touch His wounds (John 20:27). Jesus knew what Thomas needed to believe. From there He guided Thomas back to faith. 

Gods Word

 Everything in the Old Covenant is centered on the physical world. The promises, the curses, the worship, the Temple, the festivals… all are physically oriented, but point to a great reality that was to come; this is called “typology” and these things are called “types.”  Thus, the Land and the Sabbath are “types” of something wonderful that the people of the Old Testament had no real concept of… eternity.  When Jesus began speaking of eternal life, He was speaking of something that the Old Testament made no mention of… at all. All of the promises in the Law were earthly, not one was eternal in scope.  Jews do not die and go to Heaven; they die and live through their children. If you don’t believe me, ask one of your Jewish friends.

 

Why the disciples returned to fishing after Jesus died on the cross?

Before the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ, the necessities of Him and the disciples seem to have been provided by the charity of other individuals (Luke 8:3). It is probable that after the crucifixion there were no more sources of income and not fully knowing how they were to be employed they returned to their former way of life and that was fishing. The seven mentioned in John 21:2 fished in the sea of Tiberias also known as the sea of Galilee. This fishing expedition revealed the uncertainty of the disciples.  

Bible

 Were there really fiery serpents sent by God to plague the offenders of Israel? Did a man named Moses receive a remedy from God which entailed a staff and a brazen serpent? Is this Biblical account reliable history?

The following paragraphs are from the book The Bible as History:

Surprisingly enough, quite recently we have had archaeological confirmation of two occurrences in the Biblical account of the journey through the desert, which nobody would have expected in this connection. In spite of all the planning and systematic work, chance nevertheless has its part to play in archaeology, and chance does not always pay any attention to what the scholars expect! In this case, it enabled the Israeli archaeologist Benno Rothenberg to discover a “serpent of brass” and a tabernacle in the copper mine area of Timna (Wadi Arabah).

It is reported that there was a similar idol in the temple at Jerusalem which was not removed until it was broken in pieces by King Hiskia (Hezekiah) of Judah, who reigned around 700 B.C. (2 Kings 18:4).[End of quote]

Many years later, the children of Israel transgressed against God in the matter of the brazen serpent. II Kings 18:4 speaks of King Hezekiah and Nehushtan:

He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.

The Bible as History continues:

The serpent idol naturally reminds us of the Sumerian serpent staff on a vase dedicated to the god of life, Ningizidda. It reminds us, too, of the Aesculapius’s staff of a later phase of Classical Antiquity, as well as of the numerous serpents of Ancient Egypt. Already at the beginning of this century, a German scholar, H. Gressmann, had asserted that the “brazen serpent” in the Bible must have been taken over from the Midianites with whom the Israelis were in contact during the journey through the desert.

According to the Bible, the Midianites were descended from Abraham’s wife, Keturah (Gen. 25:2-6) and Reuel (or Jethro), a priest of the Midianites, who was the father-in-law, adviser, and co-celebrant “before the Lord” (Ex. 2:16, 3:1, 18:1) of Moses. The Israelites are supposed to owe the strange cult of the brazen serpent to Reuel. It is not without a touch of dramatic effect that we note that it was at an archaeological site showing signs of Midianite occupation that Benno Rothenberg’s found an idol in the form of a brazen serpent five inches in length and partly decorated with gold. As though this sensational confirmation of an important part of the Biblical accounts of the journey through the desert, which have been the object of so much discussion, were not enough, this small bronze serpent was found in the Holy of Holies of a tabernacle! [End of quote]

 None can do good without the grace of God, the strength of Christ, and the help of the Spirit; there is not even a spiritual man that can do perfect good. We all have sin in us. The works of the flesh produce evil, meaning that we are naturally weak and are being opposed by evil spirits and by evil men. Our good intentions can easily be derailed. The fruit of the Spirit results in doing good (Galatians 5 19-26). 

Christians often feel that there are so many things that need to be done that they can't possibly do it all. Remember, we can only do one thing at a time. We as individuals can only do so much. We should schedule times to rest (Mark 6:31). We can be over-committed to a cause. This can cause burnout and say what's the use. Discernment is essential here. Often times all God wants from us is to take a deep breath and calm down (Psalm46:10: Luke10:41). 

We will never grow weary of doing good if we have Christ Jesus (Galatians 5:24). We should

Grace

Grace provides justification for sins. (3:21 – 5:21)

1. Grace as justification for sin is by faith in Jesus Christ (3:21-31)
2. Grace has now been fully revealed to us through Jesus Christ. (3:21-23)
3. Sinners are justified by the blood of Jesus Christ (3:24-26)
4. Sinners are justified apart from works of the Law (3:27-28)
5. Grace is available to all people (3:29-30)
6. Law is upheld by the proper working of grace (3:31)

If you look carefully at these points, you easily see that Paul has made an interesting argument that grace provides us justification for our sins by faith in Jesus Christ.