What Was The Significance Of The Baptism Of Jesus?
John the Baptist preached a message of repentance and forgiveness. Jesus needed neither of them. So, what was the significance of the baptism of Jesus? Click on the link below to read today's post.
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How To Receive Perfect Peace In An Imperfect Situation
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Jesus was Jewish. There’s no doubt about that. God told the Jewish people years ago what to look for in their Messiah. Two pictures immerged. One was of a Suffering Messiah. The other one was of a Kingly Messiah. What most Jews didn’t understand was that it would be the same person at two different times. The 1st as a suffering servant dying for the people’s sin. The 2nd as a king, reigning over everyone.
Sabbath – This English word comes from the Hebrew word ‘Shabbat’. It means ‘rest’. The Sabbath was instituted as a memorial to God’s creating the world in six days. On the seventh day, He rested. Not because He needed to rest but because He didn’t want us to work all the time. He wanted us to take one day every week to remember that He is our Creator. He also wanted us to re-create time with our family, to recreate with them so they would have good memories of our family time together.
Exodus 20:8-11 encourages us to ‘remember’ God.
Deuteronomy 5:12 says to ‘observe’ this day.
Sabbath is a weekly time to remember what God has done for us and to prepare ourselves and plan for what He will do in the coming week. While the preparations for celebrating the Sabbath are specific, its important to remember that it’s made for us. So, don’t be legalistic about it. It’s a time to rest and recreate. It’s from sundown every Friday to sundown Saturday.
Passover commemorates God’s deliverance of Israel out of Egypt (Exodus 20:1,2). The Jews had been slaves in Egypt for over 400 years. God sent Moses and Aaron to Egypt to ask Pharaoh to free the Jews (Exodus 5:1). Pharaoh didn’t recognize Moses’ God and said no (Exodus 5:2) and treated the Jews even worse (Exodus 5:7-18). God gave Pharaoh nine signs that proved He is God and should be listened to (Exodus 7:14 – 10:29). Pharaoh didn’t listen to any of them (Exodus 10:27) but just further hardened his heart toward God. Then God told Moses that He was going to kill all the first-born sons in the land of Egypt (Exodus 11:1-10 & 12:29-30). For the Jews to protect their first-born sons, God instructed them to do certain things with their family on the night the death angel would pass thru Egypt killing all the first-born sons (Exodus 12:1-13, 21-28). If they did these things, the death angel would ‘pass over’ their house and not kill their first-born son. This night and everything God had them do would forever more be called “Passover”.
After that night, Pharaoh relented and freed the Jews. Pharaoh’s first-born son had died and his god could not bring him back to life. The Jews left Egypt, bound for the Promised Land. Everything the Jews did that night was symbolic of what God would do thru Jesus, their real Messiah.
Here are just a few of the similarities between the Passover and Jesus:
Passover; Jesus;
1 )A perfect, spotless lamb (Exodus 12:5) Is the perfect lamb (John 1:29, 1st Peter 1:29)
2) Kill the lamb (Exodus 12:6,21) Jesus is killed (Matthew 27:22-25)
3) Put the blood of the lamb on the side This traces out the sign of the cross
and top of the door posts
(Exodus 12:7, 13, 22, 23)
4) Jews were delivered from slavery People are delivered from sin
(Exodus 13:16) (Romans 5: 6-8)
5) None of the lamb’s bones will be Jesus’ bones weren’t broken (John 19:36)
broken (Exodus 12:46)
6) The Passover dinner The Last Supper was a Passover dinner
7) The three pieces of bread with the Jesus said “This is my body, broken for you”
middle piece being broken (Luke 22:19)
8)The 3rd cup is the cup of redemption Jesus said this cups His blood, which is shed
for us (Luke 22:20).
There are many, many more similarities in the actual Passover Seder meal itself. Each year we look forward to when we will celebrate it with Jesus (Luke 22:18).
To host a Passover Seder meal and service, read the book by Martha Zimmerman. She includes everything in it from how to do the service to how to prepare the recipes.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:6-8 & Exodus 12:15-20) and the Feast of First Fruits (Leviticus 23:9-14) have been incorporated into Passover.
The Feast of Pentecost or Weeks (Shavout) is mentioned in Leviticus 23:15-22.
For the Jew, it’s a time to offer thanks to God for the abundance of the food harvest that is to come later in the year. Pentecost is celebrated 50 days after Passover. The ‘50th day’ in Greek is ‘pentecost’.
Jews also believe that this is the time that God gave Moses the Law on Mt. Sinai. Rabbis have said that there is no liberty without law and self-discipline. A train needs rails and a river has banks.
For the Christian, Pentecost is the birthday of the church. God came and filled all believers with His Spirit (Acts 2). This was fulfilling the prophecy in Joel 2:28-32. This is the Promise of the Father (Acts 1: 4-5) that Jesus talked about. This is the New Covenant prophesied in Jeremiah 31;31 and talked about in Hebrews 9:11-15. We are free ‘from’ the Old Covenant so we can be free ‘to’ the New Covenant. But we become free to not do as we please but as God pleases. We are no longer slaves to sin (Romans 6:6) but are slaves to God (Romans 6:22-23). We are no longer under the Law but are under Grace (Romans 6:14-18).
They looked forward to the great harvest of souls that was to come. The first fruits of this greater harvest came when 3,000 people were saved on that 1st Pentecost (Acts 2:38-41).
Each year when we celebrate Pentecost, we now look forward to the harvest of souls that are yet to come. How to celebrate Pentecost, read the referenced book by Martha Zimmerman. Pentecost is celebrated in May/June.
Rosh HaShanah or the Feast of Trumpets is the beginning of the Jewish New Year. The Hebrew word ‘Rosh’ means ‘beginning’. ‘HaShanah’ means ‘year’. Ezekiel 40:1 uses the word Rosh HaShanah. It translates into English as ‘at the beginning of the year’. On September 20, 2020, it will be the start of the Jewish year 5781. Jews believe that the Creation was 5,781 years ago on this date. Obviously, Jews go by our regular calendars also, but spiritually some Jews (though not all) believe that the world was created 5,781 years ago. Rosh HaShanah is the start of the “High. Holy Days”. It is the beginning of 10 days of repentance. The 10th day culminates with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
Rosh HaShanah starts with the blowing of the trumpet (Leviticus 23:23-25 & Psalm 150:1-3 & Numbers 29:1-6). The trumpet was blown to call all of Israel to repentance by saying “You who are asleep, wake up. You who are in a trance, arise. Search your doings and repent. Remember your Creator…” The apostle Paul echoed these words in Romans 10:13 (“…it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep, for salvation is nearer to us than when we believed”) and in Ephesians 5:14 (“Awake sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”)
One of the traditions is to throw rocks, representing our sins, into a river or lake that carries them away with the current. Micah 7:19 says that God will cast all of our sins into the sea. Psalm 103:12 says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” Rosh Hashanah is for remembering and repenting. It is celebrated in September/October.
Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement and comes 10 days after the start of Rosh HaShanah. The Hebrew word “Yom” means ‘day’ and “Kippur” means ‘atonement’ or ‘covering’.
Atonement means that God and man are now reconciled. There is no longer any separation between them. But, according to the Jews, this reconciliation had to be done once year. You name would be written in God’s Book of Life for the coming year (Leviticus 16:29-34 & 23:26-32). It looked forward to a time when the final sacrifice would be made by instituting a New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34). Isaiah 53 talks of a suffering servant who will be the final acrifice. Hebrews 10:1-22 explains it perfectly by saying that if the sacrifice of bulls and goats had been enough, they wouldn’t have needed to be repeated every year. That these yearly sacrifices looked forward to a once-for-all final sacrifice that Isaiah 53 talked about. The Old Testament yearly sacrifices never washed away the people’s sins. They just covered them up.
The Jewish High Priest would go into the Most Holy Place in the Temple once a year. He would place the blood of an innocent, perfect lamb on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant between the two angels. The Ten Commandment tablets, along with Aaron’s rod, were in the Ark. The mercy sea was the top covering of the Ark. This blood would cover the mercy seat, so when God looked down on it, He wouldn’t see the people’s sins that the ten commandments below would illuminate. He would see the blood of the innocent, perfect lamb and not our sin. But this blood covering was only temporary. It covered but it didn’t wash away the people’s sins. Which is why it had to be repeated very year. When the blood of the Messiah, God’ perfect lamb, was poured on the mercy seat, it washed away our sins permanently. This is why the Temple veil, that separates the Most Holy Place (the presence of God) from the Holy Place was torn in two (Matthew 27:51). Its God’s way of saying that the final sacrifice has been made. There is now nothing that separates us from God’s presence.Instead of the High Priest going into God’s presence once a year, all believers can come into His presence whenever we want to. We can come boldly into His presence any time (Hebrews 4:16). Our names are now written in God’s Book of Life (Revelation 20:15 & 21:27).
Since the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70A.D., Jews could no longer offer biblical sacrifices for atonement of their sins. How could they have their sins forgiven for the coming year? Their rabbi’s have said that by doing good works, praying and making charitable donations that these things make up for it. But that is not what God says.
So Yom Kippur is a day of prayer and fasting for the Jews but a day of celebration for Christians because Jesus was our once-for-all, final sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 9:11-28). When Jesus returns, the remaining Israelites will look on Him whom they have pierced and repent (Zechariah 12:10). Yom Kippur is celebrated in September/October, 10 days after Rosh HaShanah.
Sukkoth, or the Feast of Booths (or huts or Tabernacles), was the first place the Jews stopped at when they left Egypt with Moses at the time of the Exodus. The name is explained in Genesis 33:17 when it says that Jacob/Israel journeyed to Sukkoth and built for himself a house and made booths for his livestock. Therefore, the place is called Sukkoth. The Hebrew word Sukkoth means huts, booths or tabernacles. It is a celebration of the fall harvest. It’s a time to remember that God cared for them when they left Egypt and their slavery and wandered in the Sinai desert for 40 years (Nehemiah 8:14-17). They celebrate by building and living in temporary huts for eight days (Leviticus 23:39-43).
In New Testament times, a special part of this festival was when a priest would go to the Pool of Siloam and draw out water with a golden pitcher. He then poured the water into a bowl at the altar in the Temple. This visually demonstrated God’ faithfulness in sending rain to Israel to water their crops. This was a demonstration of Israel’s hope that the Messiah would come and pour out His Holy Spirit on people (Isaiah 44:3 & Joel 2:28-32). It reminded the Jews that God would provide for them like He did in that desolate wilderness of Sinai (Isaiah 55:1 & 58:11).
Jesus celebrated this feast in John 7:2-14 when He taught in the Temple. People were amazed that He, a carpenter’s son, had become such a learned man. In John 7:37-38 He said, “If any man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the scripture said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water”.
Sukkoth also represents the final harvest when all nations will celebrate the blessings of God’s eternal kingdom, heaven (Zechariah 14:16-19). Sukkoth is celebrated in September/October.
As Christians, we can celebrate these Jewish feasts because we can see how God protects and provides for His people. All these festivals point toward what our Messiah has done for us, what He is doing for us now and what He will do for us in the future.
So, have fun celebrating Jesus thru these Jewish festivals.
Two additional feasts that the Jews celebrate, although not commanded to by the Lord, are Purim and Hanukkah.
Purim, or the Feast of Lots, commemorates the deliverance of the Jews (who were exiled in Persia at the time) in the Old testament book of Esther. Esther was the Jewish wife of the Persian King Xerxes. Her cousin, Mordecai, uncovered a plot by one of Xerxes’ officials named Haman, to kill all the Jews living in Persia. Purim celebrates God’s faithful protection of the Jews in Esther 9:18-32. Purim means “lots”. It refers to the lot that Haman cast to decide the day of destruction that the Jewish people were supposed to be killed (Esther 3:7). God’s name is not mentioned at all in Esther but His presence is obvious. Purim is celebrated in February/March.
Hanukkah, or the Festival of Dedication or Lights, celebrates the Maccabee’s victory over the Greeks. The Seleucid King Antiochus Epiphanes ruled Israel at the time. He mocked and defiled the Jews by sacrificing, not an unblemished lamb in the Temple, but a pig (considered an unclean animal by the Jews). He then poured out the pig’s blood on the bible scrolls. The Maccabee’s were a prominent Jewish family. They rose up and defeated the King in about 165 B.C. The reason it’s called the Festival of Lights is because after the Jews cleansed the Temple of the pig, they found that there was only enough oil to last one night. The lit oil lamp represented the very presence of God. But miraculously, the oil lamp stayed lit for eight days. The Jews saw this as a reminder of those who courageously remain faithful to God in the face of persecution. Jesus celebrated this festival in John 10:22-23. Hanukkah is celebrated in November/December.
The festivals are celebrated in this yearly order:
Sabbath – every week
Purim – February/March
Passover (including the festivals of the Unleavened bread and First Fruits) – March/April
Pentecost – May/June
Rosh HaShanah – September/October
Yom Kippur – September/October
Sukkoth – September/October
Hanukkah – November/December
The reason we put February/March or September/October is because the Jewish year is not quite equal to our regular calendar year. So, the dates of these festivals change every year according to our regular calendar.
Receiving Salvation In The Lord Is Made Easy
Do you like to receive gifts? Chapter 2 in Ephesians explains how receiving salvation from the Lord is easy. It is just like accepting a gift offered by God. Click on the link below to read today's post.
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I knew I wanted to major in physics and astronomy since the 9th grade. Mind you, I wasn’t a Christian until age 24. In high school, I had to take biology, chemistry and math. In biology, there was only one view of origins ever taught, that of evolution. No other view was allowed. This was in 1965.
In my nuclear physics class in college, I remember asking the professor about radioactive dating. What if a rock didn’t start out with zero particles of the “daughter” isotope and 100% of the “parent” isotope? Wouldn’t that throw the dating process off? Yes, it would he replied. But I figured that professors were a lot smarter than I and that I should just accept what they said.
In college, a few Christians I knew couldn’t answer the most basic questions about God and the bible that I had. I began to look on them as intellectual weaklings. But a few years later, thru a personal tragedy, I became a believer at age 24. My 2nd prayer was for God to objectively prove Himself to me so that I could effectively serve Him my whole life. It is something that He started back then and continues to do today. These proofs about God and the bible were out there all along. My Christian friends and I just didn’t know about them.
With my new Christian friends, when the subject of origins came up, I just spouted off the standard evolutionary line. One of my friends asked me if I had read anything about creationism. I hadn’t, so I went to the local Christian bookstore and bought some books on creationism. As I read these scientists and the accounts of their views, it began to make sense. I was impressed by their answers and began to think that maybe these creation scientists weren’t intellectual weaklings after all. I was shocked by most of their answers. They were using standard methods of proof to arrive at their conclusions. They were also pointing out the flaws in evolutionary thinking. Flaws that none of my teachers had ever pointed out. To not critique a theory that you’re teaching is unacceptable for college professors. Yet here they were doing just that.
Over the next 2 years or so, I became convinced that 6 day creationism was a legitimate scientific theory that should be taught in public schools. The late Dr. Henry Morris even wrote a high school textbook for this very purpose called “Scientific Creationism: the public school edition.”
Since that time, scientists have found much more evidence that brings into question the evolutionary theory. Much of that new information supports the creationist theory. Even secular scientists are beginning to doubt evolution. Read https://bsssb-llc.com/quotations-from-scientists-evolutionists-about-darwinian-evolution/
Here are a few of the recent examples:
– dinosaurs with intact cells and intact DNA whereas if they were millions of years old, neither one should still exist… https://creation.com/dino-dna-bone-cells
– Carbon-14 found in million year old soil when if should have dissipated a long time ago, plus a lot of other young earth observed facts.
– the amount of salt in the oceans should be a lot more if evolution is true.
– the amount of sediment on the sea floor should be a lot more if evolution is true.
– the decay of earth’s magnetic field.
– recession of the moon from the earth.
– the presence of a significant magnetic field around Mercury that shouldn’t be there if Mercury was as old as evolutionists say it is. The same goes for Uranus, Neptune and the Jupiter moons of Ganymede, Io and Europa.
– the faint Sun paradox.
– the whole theory of solar system formation. The discovery of new planets totally blew this theory out the window.
– the ageing of spiral galaxies. They should be completely wound up if they were as old as cosmic evolutionary theory suggests.
Many of the above things and much more can be found at https://creation.com/age-of-the-earth.
Even today, evolutionary scientists are trying to come up with answers to these problems. They’re trying to fit these “observations” into the evolutionary theory. Rather than letting these “observations” speak for themselves, and show the weakness of the evolutionary theory, they’re trying to cram these facts into the theory. Eventually, these scientists will realize that you can only have so many exceptions to a theory before you have to admit that your theory is wrong. This is starting to happen already… https://christiannews.net/2017/09/18/biologist-acknowledges-rising-number-of-publications-calling-for-major-revision-of-standard-theory-of-evolution/
The challenge is not just coming from creationism. Its coming from intelligent design (ID) and other secular scientists who see the weakness of evolutionary theory. While these are both legitimate lines of study (especially ID), we won’t be going into them here. For the most part, the evolutionists line of defense has been to ignore the ID theory and to attack the ID scientists credentials. When you have to resort to ad hominem attacks, you know your argument is weak. I have always wondered why, if creationism and ID are such weak theories, evolutionists fight so hard to keep them out of the classrooms. You’d think they’d love to expose ID and creationism weaknesses by teaching them. Maybe they’re afraid that by exposing students to them that they’ll believe them. After almost 100 years of absolute control in public schools, they still haven’t convinced Americans of their view… https://news.gallup.com/poll/210956/belief-creationist-view-humans-new-low.aspx.
The current theory of evolution has been changed so many times, its incredible that it still has supporters.
Finally, after researching the science behind creationism, I looked at the biblical evidence. I studied all the different “Genesis” theories. They are listed at https://bsssb-llc.com/how-did-we-get-here/. The only one that made sense to me was the 6 day creationism theory. I mean, how more exact can you get when it says “And there was evening and morning and it was the 3rd day?” You really have to twist the scripture to get anything but a 24 hour day. And remember, Genesis is written in narrative, not poetic, form.
So, here’s what I have come to believe…
– no one theory will answer all objections to it. Every theory has its weaknesses.
– that the theory of evolution, 6 day creationism and ID are all scientific theories with their strengths and weaknesses.
– that you shouldn’t teach only one theory, evolution, in the classroom. That’s not education, it’s indoctrination.
– all theories have their weaknesses and they shouldn’t be ignored or covered up.
– you should NEVER try to cram observational facts into any theory. Let the facts speak for themselves.
– never ever attack a scientist personally. Always be willing to look at their point of view.
– I personally lean very strongly toward the 6 day creationism theory.
References:
Books;
The New Answers Books (1-4) from Answers in Genesis
The Death of Evolution by Jim Black
Dismantling the Big Band by Dr. John Hartnett and Alex Williams
Darwin, Then and Now by Richard Nelson
In the Beginning by Dr. Walt Brown
The Genius of Ancient Man by Don Landis
A Flood of Evidence by Ken Ham & Bodie Hodge
Questioning Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey by Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell
Websites;
https://creation.com/
https://answersingenesis.org/
https://www.trueorigin.org/camplist.php
https://www.icr.org
http://creationwiki.org/Index_to_Creationist_Claims
https://www.darwinthenandnow.com/
https://kgov.com/real-science-radio
For His Kingdom,
Dave Maynard
https://bsssb-llc.com
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Despite What You See, The Enemy Is NOT Winning
The enemy tries every trick in the book to take our focus away from God. But Jesus in His love is always there to pick us back up. Click below to enjoy today's devotional post.
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What the heck is astrology and is there any reason to believe it?
Astrology is the belief that the position of the stars & planets somehow influence human lives. It begins at a person’s birth and continues throughout their life.
Important note: Astrology is NOT astronomy. While they were in the same category for much of recorded history, astronomy broke from astrology in the 1500’s. Astronomy is the scientific study of the universe. It makes no statement about affecting or predicting about peoples lives.
How does astrology work? A chart called a horoscope calculates the exact position of the heavenly bodies at a baby’s first breath. This permanently determines the baby’s character and destiny.
Basic astrological terms:
A) Zodiac…an imaginary 360 degree circle in the sky which contains the 12 zodiac ‘signs’. Each sign is 30 degrees. These signs are and the birth dates that they represent…
Aries…3/20-4/19 Libra…9/23-10/22
Taurus…4/20-5/20 Scorpio…10/23-11/21
Gemini…5/21-6/20 Sagittarius…11/22-12/21
Cancer…6/21-7/22 Capricorn…12/22-1/19
Leo…7/23-8/22 Aquarius…1/20-2/18
Virgo …8/23-9/22 Pisces…2/19-3/20
The sign you are is determined by your birth date.
So your personality and your life is influenced by the zodiac sign you were born under and the particular planets, moon & sun moving thru the various ‘houses’ right now.
This is astrology in general. There are slightly different forms of it and some additional minor terms, depending on what astrologer you’re talking to.
From all of these things, an astrologer can work up a horoscope for you that will guide you in making decisions about your present and future life.
Where did astrology start?
There are some evidences of it in Mesopotamia (Sumer, Akkad, Assyria & ancient Babylon), especially during the reign of King Sargon of Akkad in 2334-2279 BC. But Babylon was the first place that had an organized system of astrology in about 1800 BC.
Does astrology work?
A) According to scientists….NO! There is absolutely no proof that the heavenly bodies affect your life in any measurable way. In 1975, 192 leading scientists, including 19 Nobel prize winners, publicly disavowed astrology.
B) There was a test done on 2,978 couples who got married and 478 couples who got divorced in 1967-1968. It compared couples who married under compatible signs and incompatible signs. It did the same for couples who got divorced. It found no correlation at all.Those who got married under compatible signs had the same divorce rate as those who got married under incompatible signs.
C) John McGerry did a study between a person’s sign and their chances of success in their chosen profession. His research was 2-fold. He compared 16,634 scientists and 6,475 politicians. There was no correlation between what astrologers said were career successful signs and how successful those people really were.
D) Another test involved 1,000 people who were examined for 33 variables including physical attractiveness, leadership ability, personality traits, social and religious beliefs, etc.
Their conclusion was that the test failed to show any correlation to their astrological signs versus these 33 traits.
There are also problems with astrology:
1…even among the best astrologers, there is little agreement as to the interpretation of a person’s horoscope chart. That’s because while there are some very general rules, there are no specific rules as to what a particular horoscope means. It just depends on which astrologer is interpreting it.
2…In fact, people cannot tell the difference between an astrological horoscope and one that has been deliberately reversed.
3…when astrology was invented, several thousand years ago, the signs contained certain constellations in them. These signs have never changed. But because of the earth’s precession of its axis, these constellations have changed. They have moved thru one whole sign. So someone who was born in August 2017 was not born under the same constellations as someone who was born in August 2,000 years ago. Since astrology has not changed signs, astrologers claim they were born under the same sign as someone born 2,000 years ago, but they really weren’t.
4…shouldn’t twins have the same personality, according to astrology? My Mom was an identical twin but her and my Aunt were very different personalities. Most twins do have different personalities.
5…many astrological predictions are so general that they’re almost meaningless. Very few predictions are negative. They’re almost all positive. Some are like fortune cookies. Who wouldn’t want to hear “You’re strong, you’re insightful, you’re highly intelligent, etc.” How many want to hear “You’re narrow-minded, negative and you hold a grudge?”
6…astrology cannot explain mass tragedies, like 9/11. People with a wide variety of horoscopes all perished on 9/11.
7…Even King Nebuchadnezzar’s astrologers realized the impotence of their craft in Daniel 2:10,11. Astrology subverts the natural use of that God intended them to be…to separate day from night and to mark the seasons, days & years (Genesis 1:14 and Isaiah 47:13-15 “All the council you have received has only worn you out. Let your astrologers come forward, those star gazers who make predictions month by month, let them save you from what is coming upon you. Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot even save themselves from the power of the flame…”).
Why do people like astrology?
– it offers people hope
– it offers them positive feedback
– it offers a way to manipulate people or events to get a desired outcome
– sometimes it gives somewhat specific council for what to do….like “Today is not a good day to travel”
– it offers hope that doesn’t require your changing anything about you…like not dealing with your anger problem or your patience problem or giving up a vice. It offers you hope without transforming or growing you.
– it wants you to look for guidance rather than look to God. It is a God-substitute. This makes it divination (looking to something other than God) and that makes it idolatry.
How popular is astrology today?
Very popular! According to a Harris poll…
– in 2009, 26% of Americans believe in it
– in 2013, 29% of Americans believe in it
– in 2009, 21% of born again Christians believed in it
– in a 2010 poll, 65& of Americans said astrology wasn’t scientific
– in a 2012 poll, 55% of Americans said it wasn’t scientific
Countries where astrology is most popular:
India, South Africa, Singapore, Canada, USA, Australia & Britain in this order.
Cities in the USA where astrology is the most popular:
Pleasanton, CA
Irvine, CA
New York, NY
Portland, OR
Los Angeles, CA
San Francisco, CA
Seattle, WA
Denver, CO
Phoenix, AZ
Austin, TX
It’s interesting that all of these, except the 1st one, are all big cities that have universities in them.
What does the bible say about astrology?
– it condemns it (Isaiah 47:13-15)
– it says their predictions are worthless and will not substitute for God (Deuteronomy 4:19 17:1-5 18:9-11 2nd Kings 17:16 23:5 Jeremiah 8:2 9:13 Ezekiel 8:16 Amos 5:26,27
– God forbids occult practices as it leads to contact with evil spirits. Astrology is divination and that is occultic (Deuteronomy 18:9-13 1st Corinthians 10:20)
– it leads people away from looking to & trusting the Creator to trusting the creation. This is a form of idolatry
– astrologers teach many views of Christ, all of which are false. They may be sincere in their beliefs but they are sincerely wrong.
Were the Magi in Matthew 2:1-12 astrologers? How does that square with the bible’s condemnation of astrology?
Yes, the Magi or wise men, were astrologers. But we need to understand who ‘astrologers’ were in ancient times. Ancient astrologers were educated men that Kings employed. They were scientists, government officials, astrologers (in the modern sense), and emissaries of Kings. Remember astronomy didn’t become separate from astrology until the 1500’s AD. So some ancient astrologers were what we would call astronomers.
Daniel, from the biblical book of Daniel, was a ‘wise man’ in King Nebuchadnezzar’s court (Daniel 1:1-5, 17-21) but it’s obvious that he wasn’t an astrologer. He was a man of science & learning (Daniel 1:3,4). Since God gave Daniel supernatural dreams and visions, could He have given him what the night sky would look like when the Messiah would be born?
There was a sizable Jewish population in Babylon in Daniel’s day. Could Daniel have passed on this information to his Jewish friends who worked with him? This information could have been passed down thru the generations to the wise men that Matthew mentioned? And Babylon is east of Israel. This would mean that Matthew’s wise men were Jewish or at least they believed what Daniel had passed down about the birth of a Jewish King. At least one bible scholar believes this may have happened….William Barclay.
This would explain how ‘astrologers’ could have announced the birth of God’s Messiah without practicing what God condemns so often in the bible.
Variations of this theory are at the following websites:
www.qty.org/library/sermons-library/2182/who-were-the-wise-men this is a long but very good article.
www.factsandfaith.com/who-were-the-wise-men-why-would-they-travel-to-Bethlehem-to-worship-a-jewish-king/
Conclusion:
Astrology fails as a scientific method of giving people any sort of rational guidance. It is not rational or logical.
We don’t need to look to the stars for guidance when we can look to the One who created those stars.
For His Kingdom,
Dave Maynard
http://BSSSB-LLC.com
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How To See Through The Deception Of Others
There is an interesting story in 1 Kings 13. It involves 2 nameless prophets. One was following the directives given by the Lord. The other deceived the first by leading him to disobey God. There were consequences. Click on the link below to read today's post.
https://www.ramckinley.com/how-to-see-through-the-deception-of-others/
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In today’s world, when the scientific consensus says something, we tend to believe it without questioning it. We have come to imbue it with an almost god-like power.
We do this for several reasons:
1…Science has given us cures, discoveries and inventions that would have seemed miraculous even just 50 years ago. Think of cells phones, the internet, taking pictures without film from a phone, etc.
2…We think of scientists as people in white lab coats who only go where the facts lead, who have no biases whatsoever.
3…We think scientific opinion is proven fact and cannot be wrong.
I challenge points #2&3 and will prove that they are not always true.
Scientists are people and people have biases.Yes, scientists should go where the facts lead but many times they don’t. They tend to fit their facts into the prevailing paradigm.
Science has been wrong many times. Here are just a few examples;
Prenology…the belief that different parts of the brain correspond to certain personality traits. The size of each part determines how powerfully we express that particular trait. A trained physician can measure the size of each part by feeling the shape of the skull above it. Believe it or not but phrenology was widely accepted in the 19th century.
Global cooling…while not all scientists agreed with it, many did in the 1970’s. The scare was very real. Read https://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/03/01/global-cooling-compilation.
The recent claim that man-made global warming is “settled science” is no where near a consensus. Read www.petitionproject.org and http://breitbart.com/london/2015/07/31/new-study-majority-of-climate-scientists-dont-agree-with-consensus/ and www.forbes.com/sites/jamestaylor/2013/02/13/peer-reviewed-survey-finds-majority-of-scientists-skeptical-of-global-warming-crisis/#2f3e2aa7171b.
Piltdown Man…The fossil known as Piltdown Man was discovered in 1912. It was hailed as the “missing link” in human evolution. In 1953, it was revealed to be a hoax.For over 40 years though, this was ‘fact’. To question it was to open yourself up to being called scientifically illiterate. Many scientists had access to Piltdown Man’s bones and they were studied extensively. No one saw the hoax at the time (although a few questioned it), but afterwards, it all seemed so obvious. It was clear that highly qualified scientists had seen what they wanted to see and had ignored what didn’t fit their preconceptions/biases. Read about it at http://hoaxes.org/archive/permalink/the_piltdown_man. Other evolutionary hoaxes are the peppered moths, the Archaeoraptor half bird-half dinosaur, Nebraska Man and many others. Read about some of these at http://cavern.uark.edu/~cdm/creation/shame.htm. One such dissenting list from Darwinian evolution is at http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/filesDB-download.php?command=download&id=660. There are other such lists. One good, general article about evolution is at http://thetruthwins.com/archives/44-reasons-why-evolution-is-just-a-fairy-tale-for-adults.
Stress can cause ulcers…this was widely believed for years by the medical community. But in 1982, it was proven that a bacteria caused most ulcers and that stress had nothing to do with it. The two scientists who discovered this won the 2005 Nobel prize in medicine for it. Read about it at http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/understanding-ulcers-basic-information.
Canals on Mars…in 1877, canals on Mars were discovered using a telescope. Even American astronomer Percival Lowell believed it. But as telescopes improved and the 1st Mariner fly-by satellite observed, there were no canals on Mars.It was all an optical illusion. But, heaven forbid, if you questioned the scientific view at the time. Read about it at http://scienceblogs.com/universe/2012/09/28/the-canals-of-mars/.
Cigarettes are good for you…believe it or not, from the 17th century until the mid-1950’s, doctors prescribed tobacco as a cure for ailments like toothaches, fatigue and joint pains. An early 1950’s ad said to smoke to “fell your level best” and cigarettes were “just what the doctor ordered”. Read about it at http://www.healio.com/hematology-oncology/news/print/hemonc-today/%7B241d62a7-fe6e-4c5b-9fed-a33cc6e4bd7c%7D/cigarettes-were-once-physician-tested-approved.
You cannot grow new brain cells…for decades neuroscientists believed that we grew all of our brain cells in the womb and during early childhood. But evidence began to appear in the 1960’s that this wasn’t true. It took over 20 years to convince the majority of scientists that brain cells can be generated in adults.
Leprosy is highly contagious…No, it’s not! But it took thousands of years before science proved this. It wasn’t until the discovery of anti-biotics in the 20th century that corrected this myth.
The illness known as Pellagra reached epidemic proportions in the U.S. in the early twentieth century. The scientific consensus attributed it to an infectious agent or moldy corn. It turned out to be a vitamin deficiency.
Through much of the twentieth century, the conventional scientific wisdom was that the continents were fixed. When German geologist Alfred Wegener published Die Entstehung der Kontinente und Ozeane (The Origin of Continents and Oceans), arguing for the idea of continental drift, he was excoriated as a sloppy crank. Today his idea of drifting continents is the standard one in geology.
Backed by the authority of the U.S. government, the scientific establishment deemed eggs bad for your heart and pushed this narrative for years. These scientific authorities insisted eggs were bad for you, and ended up with egg on their faces.
With the discovery of radium in 1899, several products were marketed to a public fascinated with the element’s supposed therapeutic properties, such as…
–Vita Radium suppositories were sold in the USA to help revitalize ‘weakened organs’.
–Revigator was a drinking water laced with radium-266 & 288 isotopes, sold between 1918 & 1928. It was said to cure stomach cancer, among other things. It remained popular in the USA until industrialist Eben Byers died of jaw cancer after drinking a bottle a day for 4 years.
–Scortal Radiendocrinator was a product intended to increase sexual virility in men. The device consisted of radium soaked paper placed under the scrotum at night. Its inventor, William J. Bailey, died of bladder cancer in 1949.
–Radium Chocolate was sold in Germany from 1931 to 1936 for its powers of rejuvenation.
–Doramad radioactive toothpaste was sold in Germany during WWII to kill germs and whiten teeth.
–Tho-Radia beauty cream was sold in France in the 1930’s. It contained radioactive thorium & radium. It was believed that the radioactivity killed germs and promoted a healthy glow to the skin.
Also watch www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MuMPLoQZN4.
There are many, many more examples that I could list but these are sufficient to show that science & scientists are not always correct. Only when something has been proven to be true over a very long period of time and under many different circumstances with little or no exceptions can we have complete confidence in its hypothesis. Laws of science like the 1st & 2nd laws of thermodynamics, the law of gravity, the laws of chemical interactions (like if we add sulfur to water we’ll get sulfuric acid, etc.) are examples of ‘settled science’.
Consensus in science, after some initial test results, means little as a majority of scientists have been wrong many times before. At best, it’s a guide. Science isn’t determined by consensusbut by facts over a long period of time. So next time someone tells you something is ‘settled science’ or that a majority of scientists believe something, don’t automatically believe them.
For His Kingdom,
Dave Maynard
Former physics, chemistry, astronomy & mathematics teacher/instructor
Former chemist, research & development lab manager & automotive engineer
The Stone The Builders Rejected Is Now The Cornerstone
Jesus was the stone that the builders rejected, yet He became the chief cornerstone of our faith. Today's post is very uplifting. Click on the link below to read it as you rejoice in the Lord.
https://www.ramckinley.com/the-stone-the-builders-rejected-is-now-the-cornerstone/
Most of the bibles written today are written from only a few manuscripts. Then why do we have all these different translations? We don’t have the original manuscript of any ancient historical document. All we have are copies of them. How do we know that Julius Caesar ever existed? We have copies of manuscripts that attest to his existence. But we only have a few copies and they are dated to several hundred to more than a thousand years after when he existed. Whereas we have thousands of New Testaments, some written from 50-100 years after Jesus existed. So, we have wayyyy more copies of the New Testament than any other ancient historical document. The time frame between the event and the earliest copies is way, way less than any other ancient document. For a more complete answer, please refer to our class “How We Got the Bible” at https://www.bsssb-llc.com/video-courses-overview/how-we-got-the-bible/. Teacher notes 07-11 or scroll down to video 3-HD. So the bible documents are much more accurate than any other ancient document that we have.
When the King James bible (KJV) was written, scholars had New Testament copies that were only so old. When the slew of modern translations were written, they had older copies to translate from. But the most important thing to remember is this…no matter when the copy was written, they are almost completely identical. This can be said of no other ancient documents that we have. So, in practical terms, it really doesn’t matter too much what translation you read. They all say the same thing.
But why are there so many modern translations? There are two ways to translate anything.
– word for word…this is the most accurate way but it’s not the most readable.
– thought for thought…this is the most readable but it’s not the most accurate.
Most people want a translation that is accurate and readable. The NIV is the best for accuracy and readability. See the table below that compares several translations. As you can see, it just depends upon which translation suits you best.
You can now buy an NIV bible that has study notes geared to the subject of archaeology or apologetics (the defense of the faith) or life applications or teen-agers, etc. You can also buy large print bible or thin line bibles for traveling or bibles that have space for journaling or ones that are geared to men or women or children. There are bibles that list 4 different translations side-by-side on one page so you can compare different translations (parallel bibles). As with many things in America, there is a plethora of choices in bibles.
As of October 2017, the full bible has been translated into 670 languages. The New Testament has been translated into 1,521 languages and bible portions or stories into 1,121 languages. But the bible is NOT available in 57% of the world’s 6,901 languages.
2,195 languages (26%) are in the process of getting the bible translated into their own language. But the bible is being translated into more languages and at a faster rate than ever before.
Here are the bible translation designations:
NIV=New International Version NLT=New Living Translation
ESV=English Standard Version CEV-Contemporary English Version
NASB=New American Standard Bible MSG=The Message Version
KJV=King James Version TEV=Today’s English Version
NKJV=New King James Version RSV=Revised Standard Version
HCSB=Holman Christian Standard Bible NRSV=New Revised Standard Version
For His Kingdom,
Dave Maynard
https://bsssb-llc.com
FREE EBOOK
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From time immemorial, people have asked these three questions:
– Who am I?
– Why am I here?
– What happens when I die?
Four types of people attempt to answer these questions. These four types of people make up the entire human race.
Atheists believe that mankind evolved from chemicals randomly combining together to produce humans. That we’re just “accidents of nature”. That there is no reality outrside of the physical world. That there is no ultimate purpose in life. That our morality is just an agreed upon set of behaviors. That these behaviors can, do and will change with time. That our morals are nothing more than preferences that help us to survive. Read “Is Morality Relative or Absolute” at https://bsssb-llc.com/is-morality-absolute-or-relative/.
Philosopher Michael Ruse says that “…ethics, as we understand it, is an illusion fobbed off on us by our genes to get us to cooperate…ethics is a shared illusion of the human race.”
Philosopher William Provine says that “There is no ultimate foundation for ethics, no ultimate meaning for life, and no free will for humans either (because our genes determine our actions)”.
Atheists believe that we’re born, we live, we die and that’s it. There is no afterlife. When we die, we just cease to exist. There’s no ultimate purpose in life. Any human desire for a better life is just our brain chemicals reacting in a certain way. There is no absolute right and wrong.
Atheists would answer these three questions like this:
– Who am I? Nobody special. You’re just a conglomeration of chemicals.
– Why am I here? There’s no special purpose for your life at all. You’re just one out of several billion people on one planet out of trillions in the universe.
– What happens after I die? You cease to exist. There is no afterlife.
Polytheists believe in many gods that all merge into one god. This god is not a “he”, it’s an “it”. It is not a personal god but an impersonal one. You have somehow inherited a lot of bad deeds or bad karma. Because most polytheists believe in reincarnation, you must go thru several lifetimes where your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds. When you finally work off all of your bad deeds or your bad karma, your consciousness gets absorbed into “god”. Many polytheists describe it as a drop of water added to the ocean. Your individuality is gone. You don’t exist anymore.
Polytheists would answer the three questions as follows:
– Who am I? Your physical body is an illusion. Your consciousness is the real you. You are a part of god, you just don’t realize it yet.
– Why am I here? To work off your bad karma. They don’t explain how or why you got these bad deeds or bad karma.
– What happens to me when I die? You become part of the universal, impersonal “it”. Your consciousness gets absorbed into the universal, impersonal consciousness.
They don’t believe in an absolute right or wrong as one guru teaches one set of morals and another guru teaches another set.
Monotheists, who believe in one God, answer these three questions in a variety of ways:
– Islamists…
Who am I? You’re a creation of Allah (Quran 95:4).
Why am I here? To obey and serve Allah and to fulfill the five pillars of Islam, which are-
Shahadah – declaring and believing in one God, Allah.
Salah – Praying 5 times a day.
Zakah – giving money to Allah
Sawm – Fasting during Ramadan.
Hajj – Going to Mecca at least once in your lifetime.
Life is a test to show us who are the best in deeds (Quran 49:13 & 67:2)
What happens when I die? If your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds (and you won’t know this until you die), you’ll be welcomed into Islamic heaven. If not, you’ll go to hell (Quran 3:115-116).
– Jews…
Who am I? A creation of God, usually by evolution, to teach the world about God by loving Him and observing His commandments.
Why am I here? To fear God and keep His commandments (Ecclesiastes 12:13) . To believe in a future Messiah sent by God who will deliver the Jews.
What happens when I die? Jews believe in an afterlife. There will be a final judgement where everyone receives a forever physical body. Some people will go to heaven (if they are good Jews in this life) and others will go to a place of torment (Daniel 12:2 & Isaiah 25 & 26).
– Christians…
Who am I? We are people designed in the image of Almighty God, the Creator of the Universe (Genesis 1:28). We have infinite worth because God says we do. Our worth is not based on anything we have done. It is based on the word of the God who created us.
Why am I here? What is the reason for my earthly existence? He made us to freely choose to have a relationship with Him because He loves us. We’re free to have this relationship with Him, to tell other people about Him and to rule over His whole creation as He originally wanted us to (Genesis 1:28). In the meantime, we live as He instructed us to.
What happens when I die? Your body goes into the ground. Your spirit goes up to heaven to be with God. When Jesus returns to this Earth, everyone will be physically resurrected into a new, non-perishable body. Then God will judge everyone. If your sins have been forgiven, while you were alive, you’ll go to heaven for an eternity. If not, you’ll go to hell for an eternity. Either way, God will honor the choice you made in this earthly life.
In heaven, we’ll spend an eternity exploring the resurrected universe and using the talents God had given us to glorify Him. For specifics, take/watch my class entitled Heaven & Hell at https://bsssb-llc.com/video-courses-overview/heaven-and-hell/.
Now, I’d like to ask you the following questions:
1…Which belief system is more appealing?
2…Which belief system is true and matches up with reality?
Atheists say when you die, you cease to exist. Unless you’re an Einstein or Napoleon, you’ll be forgotten in a couple of generations. Your body will decay in
the grave.
Polytheists believe you’ll be absorbed into the great god, Brahma. Your body will decay in the grave. Your individuality will be gone. “You” will be gone. You’ll become like a drop in the ocean.
Monotheists believe in an after-life but only one guarantees a perfect life in heaven.
Atheism doesn’t match up to reality. Any ultimate purpose for our lives is illusory. We’re just one out of billions of people on this planet in this time period. Our planet is just one of trillions of planets circling other stars in billions of years. Sometime in the distant future, our universe will die a “heat death” where nothing can exist. Morality just becomes “preferences”. What’s moral in one time period may not be moral in another. There’s no purpose in our life, no reason for us to exist and when we die, we cease to exist.
Polytheists don’t explain where our bad deeds (karma) come from or why we must work it off. There is no absolute system of morality. Guru’s (polytheists holy men) often contradict each other. They cannot explain the human desire for a better life or where this desire comes from. They cannot explain why humans feel like individuals.
Only Christianity can be proven to match up with reality and is true. Read/watch my class on “Prove to me that God exists” at https://bsssb-llc.com/video-courses-overview/prove-to-me-that-god-exists/. Only Christianity compellingly answers all of these questions. We do have purpose in our life. Our “personality” and our resurrected body will exist for all eternity. We will be rewarded for what we have done in our Earthly life (Revelation 22:12). Our life has purpose and meaning and we live like it does.
Most people don’t think thru these 3 questions. But when they do, it becomes apparent that Christianity answers them compellingly and correctly.
Book reference:
“Reflections on the Existence of God” by Richard E. Simmons III
Here’s to a GREAT eternity,
Dave Maynard
https://bsssb-llc.com
