“Jewish” Holidays
|
“Christian” Holidays
|
|
Names
|
Passover
Unleavened
Bread (Starts Same Time As Passover)
Firstfruits
Weeks
(Pentecost)
Trumpets
Day
of Atonement
Tabernacles
(Sukkot)
Hanukkah
|
Christmas
Easter
|
Scriptures About
|
Several
|
Zero (Acts 12:4
only says Easter in the KJV, however it is about Passover)
|
Where Did It Come From?
|
Leviticus
23
Maccabees
(Hanukkah)
|
Both
holidays came from pagan holidays assimilated by the church
|
Under Whos Command?
|
God Appointed
(Hanukkah was added later to celebrate God’s miracle and the rededication of
the holy temple)
|
Church and Roman
Emperor Appointed
|
Did Jesus (Yeshuah) Celebrate?
|
Yes
including Hanukkah
|
No
|
Did Anyone in the Bible
Celebrate?
|
Yes including
Hanukkah
|
No
|
What Happened?
|
The
holidays along with most Jewish customs were removed gradually as a result of
the Council of Nicea.
|
They
were assimilated by the church and declared valid by the Council of Nicea.
|
Do They Know What They’re
Doing?
|
Yes, God laid out
how each holiday was to be followed in His Word.
|
Yes, even the
Church recognizes the practices that became a part of these holidays. Even they the church knows that September
not December was the date most likely that Christ was born.
|
Should We Follow?
|
|
|
A Different View Of The Traditional Christian Principles.
Saturday, December 20, 2014
The Holiday Chart
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Yeshuah - The Glorious Birth
First of all, I would like to apologize for the delay in this topic. There is a lot of information to research and cover here and I did not want to leave you with any lack of information. Before I start the story, I do want to clarify a few things:
* I will discuss the feast days in this story. I will not go into full detail about them until later. However, please note that these days are very important and play an important role in the story.
*As well as the feast days there will be a lot of talk about the Jewish months. Again this is hard to understand just keep with me though.
* There will be a lot of information. As always double check my work. I am not a minister, apostle, or prophet nor do I claim to be.
John the Baptist
Yes, I am talking about the birth of the Messiah in this topic. However, in order to understand everything, you have to know the story of his cousin, John. Here is why. We know through Scripture that Mary became pregnant with Yeshuah (Jesus) roughly around 6 months into Elizabeth's (the mother of John) pregnancy. Why is this significant? Well by knowledge of the feast days and customs, we can accurately predict when this took place. Luke 1:5 tells us that John's father. Zachariah, was a member of the Abijiah tribe (one of the 12 tribes of Israel). This is important because each tribe took turns serving in the temple. So this narrows down the time frame in which John would have been conceived. Based on Scripture in Luke 1, we find that Zachariah is burning incense. He was doing this in preparation of the feast of Shavuot (also called Pentecost). So during Pentecost is when John the Baptist was conceived. For those Gregorians out there, this would mean that John was conceived roughly around June or July. According to the Jewish calendar, this would be the month of Sivan. Let's forward 6 months.
Yeshuah
Here we are six months later. According to Luke 1, this is when Mary finds out that she will be giving birth to the Messiah. Welcome the Jewish month of Kislev (November or December). This was when the angel visited Mary and told her the good news. Yeshuah is conceived and when Mary tells Elizabeth, John kicks in Elizabeth's womb.
The Good Stuff
So now the stage is set for things to happen. 3 months later is when John the Baptist was born. Now we know via the Bible that John is set to prepare the way of the Messiah. What does Yeshuah do? He dies for all of our sins and pays for it with his blood. So take a wild guess when John the Baptist is born? He is born during the month in which Passover takes place. The feast of Passover was when the Israelites painted their door posts with the blood of a lamb to save them from death. This was the last plague in Egypt before the Hebrews were freed from bondage. So John the precursor is born in the same month as the feast day that also is a precursor. Now let's go forward 6 more months. Now we are roughly in the month of September. This is when Yeshuah is born. Wait he wasn't born in December? No, he was not. What's really cool is during this time in the Jewish calendar is the feast of Sukkot, the feast of tabernacles. This is when the other new year for the Jews begins and sin is washed away. So more symbolism pertaining with the feast days and God's plans. Pretty amazing, huh?
Sorting Through The Bad Stuff
So obviously there is a lot of errors in the Christmas story aren't there? Of course by studying this we know for a fact that Yeshuah was not born in the month of December. There is more though. Based on the timing of everything, the wise men (magi) would not arrive for at least another year. So in all honesty the traditional nativity scene is also false. But what if I were to tell you that we could get even more exact then what we did with this topic? What if I told you that there were actually clues in the Bible that give us not only the events but can help us narrow the birth down to an actual time? Well it is possible. This will become more involved for just one lesson so I will continue this topic next week. However, for those who are interested in knowing the topic, we will be discussing the Star of Bethlehem. This is when for me, the Bible literally became the living word. I no longer had doubts or questions. This is where it all hits home. So stay tuned for next week when we will dive headfirst into this topic and wrap it up.
* I will discuss the feast days in this story. I will not go into full detail about them until later. However, please note that these days are very important and play an important role in the story.
*As well as the feast days there will be a lot of talk about the Jewish months. Again this is hard to understand just keep with me though.
* There will be a lot of information. As always double check my work. I am not a minister, apostle, or prophet nor do I claim to be.
John the Baptist
Yes, I am talking about the birth of the Messiah in this topic. However, in order to understand everything, you have to know the story of his cousin, John. Here is why. We know through Scripture that Mary became pregnant with Yeshuah (Jesus) roughly around 6 months into Elizabeth's (the mother of John) pregnancy. Why is this significant? Well by knowledge of the feast days and customs, we can accurately predict when this took place. Luke 1:5 tells us that John's father. Zachariah, was a member of the Abijiah tribe (one of the 12 tribes of Israel). This is important because each tribe took turns serving in the temple. So this narrows down the time frame in which John would have been conceived. Based on Scripture in Luke 1, we find that Zachariah is burning incense. He was doing this in preparation of the feast of Shavuot (also called Pentecost). So during Pentecost is when John the Baptist was conceived. For those Gregorians out there, this would mean that John was conceived roughly around June or July. According to the Jewish calendar, this would be the month of Sivan. Let's forward 6 months.
Yeshuah
Here we are six months later. According to Luke 1, this is when Mary finds out that she will be giving birth to the Messiah. Welcome the Jewish month of Kislev (November or December). This was when the angel visited Mary and told her the good news. Yeshuah is conceived and when Mary tells Elizabeth, John kicks in Elizabeth's womb.
The Good Stuff
So now the stage is set for things to happen. 3 months later is when John the Baptist was born. Now we know via the Bible that John is set to prepare the way of the Messiah. What does Yeshuah do? He dies for all of our sins and pays for it with his blood. So take a wild guess when John the Baptist is born? He is born during the month in which Passover takes place. The feast of Passover was when the Israelites painted their door posts with the blood of a lamb to save them from death. This was the last plague in Egypt before the Hebrews were freed from bondage. So John the precursor is born in the same month as the feast day that also is a precursor. Now let's go forward 6 more months. Now we are roughly in the month of September. This is when Yeshuah is born. Wait he wasn't born in December? No, he was not. What's really cool is during this time in the Jewish calendar is the feast of Sukkot, the feast of tabernacles. This is when the other new year for the Jews begins and sin is washed away. So more symbolism pertaining with the feast days and God's plans. Pretty amazing, huh?
Sorting Through The Bad Stuff
So obviously there is a lot of errors in the Christmas story aren't there? Of course by studying this we know for a fact that Yeshuah was not born in the month of December. There is more though. Based on the timing of everything, the wise men (magi) would not arrive for at least another year. So in all honesty the traditional nativity scene is also false. But what if I were to tell you that we could get even more exact then what we did with this topic? What if I told you that there were actually clues in the Bible that give us not only the events but can help us narrow the birth down to an actual time? Well it is possible. This will become more involved for just one lesson so I will continue this topic next week. However, for those who are interested in knowing the topic, we will be discussing the Star of Bethlehem. This is when for me, the Bible literally became the living word. I no longer had doubts or questions. This is where it all hits home. So stay tuned for next week when we will dive headfirst into this topic and wrap it up.
Monday, March 24, 2014
Jesus - In The Beginning
The Name
This is the beginning of my several part lesson about Jesus the Messiah. Before I talk about the birth and dive completely into that we really need to start in the very beginning. John 1 tells us that in the beginning was the Word. Jesus has been around since the very beginning of time itself. However, in order to understand him you need to understand God entirely. So that is where this topic begins. Simply put let's talk about the name of God.
What's amazing about Christianity is the lack of uniqueness about our God. Now wait do not misquote me about saying God is not unique. No, He is very much unique compared to everything else. However, what is so special about a God named God? Here is a very unique issue. The truth is that no man really knows the name of God the Father. Even though the Bible has several names to describe Him, not a single one is really His name. Why is that? Well let's take a look at the ten commandments. You know those simple rules that most people ignore. What is one of the commandments pertaining to God that would cause His name to be hidden? It is the commandment that thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain. Here is the interesting part. Because the Hebrew people were so scared of accidentally taking His name in vain, it was stricken from most records. Only one man was allowed to know the name of God and that was the high priest. No longer could a common man like Adam know this information because it was just that sensitive. So sadly we don't really know His real name. However, we can come close. First of all let's start with a name like Jehovah. Yehovah (as it is spelled in Hebrew) means the existing one or simply Lord. Now let's go closer and this one is more to His actual name and that is Yahweh. Yahweh means practically the same as Yehovah. These two names are really the closest we can come to his name. The actual name is believed to consist of entirely consonants. Now let's add Elohim. This name is different. Elohim basically put means God. What's interesting about this name is that it is not singular. It actually is a plural word. So Elohim is representative of the Godhead. So what does this all mean? This means that our God is not some generic person or being. He is a unique and deep individual. What's great about the other names in the old testament is that they describe all the amazing things He does and is. From now on though, I will refer to Him as Yahweh or Yehovah.
So why bring up the name of God? Well because now we can determine the name of Jesus. Yes, I just stated that Jesus was not his real name. What does John 14:7 say? Jesus states that if we know him we know the father. How about Matt 1:21? What is the argument here? Well allow me to ask you a question. What does Jesus mean? Look it up I'll wait. Found it yet? Well I'll stop you there. The name Jesus has no meaning. Wait a minute. So God the Father who has his real name that has meaning and names that describe His abilities, God the Son has a name with no meaning? Can this be true? Look it up. Many of you will say well Jesus is the English version of the Greek Iesous. However, even his Greek name means nothing. Now there are some theories to why this is, I will not dive much into those. Now why the name Jesus was created I do not know. However, the name Yeshuah can also be found in the Bible too (or some of its variations). Yeshuah actually means "Savior" in Hebrew. What's even better about the name is the presence of "Yah" in it. "Yah" is a shortened version of the name "Yahweh." So therefore if we know Yeshuah, we know his father. Amazing how that works, isn't it? That is why knowing the name is so significant. Also, Iesous was not even used until the later part of the first century. So after the Messiah was called into heaven was this name even used. This is arguably one of the greatest deceptions in the entire Christian church.
Now for those of you who will argue my logic on this, I accept it. I like it when others challenge what they are told. I challenged it and it lead me here. Like I said, I am closer to God than I have ever been at this point in my life. It is that important. Now to help those further understand. Why is it that the name Jesus has some power to it? Simply put it's attributing things to it. For example, a doll is just a doll right? Now let's say I add personal things to it and chant a curse over it. I now have a voodoo doll with lots of power. So we take the name, Jesus, and attribute it to Yeshuah. It will have some power to it, however, it will never have the same amount of power that the real name does. Now I know there are some that will simply say that God will forgive us, or that we'll all find out when we get there. Don't be deceived by this. That is a lie the enemy tells us to continue in sin. Just read what Mark 7:7-8 says:
"But in vain do they worship me, teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men. Ye leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men."
"Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy name, and by thy name cast out demons, and by thy name do many mighty works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Matt 7:22-23.
It is that serious. So knowing who the Messiah is will help us. In several lessons, I have stated that there were several things that were changed or added. However, there is good news. The Bible also provides the answers to debunk those added things. Now that we know the true name I will stop using Jesus from this point on in my lessons. So join me next week when I will begin the discussion about the birth of Yeshuah and all the amazing things it entailed.
This is the beginning of my several part lesson about Jesus the Messiah. Before I talk about the birth and dive completely into that we really need to start in the very beginning. John 1 tells us that in the beginning was the Word. Jesus has been around since the very beginning of time itself. However, in order to understand him you need to understand God entirely. So that is where this topic begins. Simply put let's talk about the name of God.
What's amazing about Christianity is the lack of uniqueness about our God. Now wait do not misquote me about saying God is not unique. No, He is very much unique compared to everything else. However, what is so special about a God named God? Here is a very unique issue. The truth is that no man really knows the name of God the Father. Even though the Bible has several names to describe Him, not a single one is really His name. Why is that? Well let's take a look at the ten commandments. You know those simple rules that most people ignore. What is one of the commandments pertaining to God that would cause His name to be hidden? It is the commandment that thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain. Here is the interesting part. Because the Hebrew people were so scared of accidentally taking His name in vain, it was stricken from most records. Only one man was allowed to know the name of God and that was the high priest. No longer could a common man like Adam know this information because it was just that sensitive. So sadly we don't really know His real name. However, we can come close. First of all let's start with a name like Jehovah. Yehovah (as it is spelled in Hebrew) means the existing one or simply Lord. Now let's go closer and this one is more to His actual name and that is Yahweh. Yahweh means practically the same as Yehovah. These two names are really the closest we can come to his name. The actual name is believed to consist of entirely consonants. Now let's add Elohim. This name is different. Elohim basically put means God. What's interesting about this name is that it is not singular. It actually is a plural word. So Elohim is representative of the Godhead. So what does this all mean? This means that our God is not some generic person or being. He is a unique and deep individual. What's great about the other names in the old testament is that they describe all the amazing things He does and is. From now on though, I will refer to Him as Yahweh or Yehovah.
So why bring up the name of God? Well because now we can determine the name of Jesus. Yes, I just stated that Jesus was not his real name. What does John 14:7 say? Jesus states that if we know him we know the father. How about Matt 1:21? What is the argument here? Well allow me to ask you a question. What does Jesus mean? Look it up I'll wait. Found it yet? Well I'll stop you there. The name Jesus has no meaning. Wait a minute. So God the Father who has his real name that has meaning and names that describe His abilities, God the Son has a name with no meaning? Can this be true? Look it up. Many of you will say well Jesus is the English version of the Greek Iesous. However, even his Greek name means nothing. Now there are some theories to why this is, I will not dive much into those. Now why the name Jesus was created I do not know. However, the name Yeshuah can also be found in the Bible too (or some of its variations). Yeshuah actually means "Savior" in Hebrew. What's even better about the name is the presence of "Yah" in it. "Yah" is a shortened version of the name "Yahweh." So therefore if we know Yeshuah, we know his father. Amazing how that works, isn't it? That is why knowing the name is so significant. Also, Iesous was not even used until the later part of the first century. So after the Messiah was called into heaven was this name even used. This is arguably one of the greatest deceptions in the entire Christian church.
Now for those of you who will argue my logic on this, I accept it. I like it when others challenge what they are told. I challenged it and it lead me here. Like I said, I am closer to God than I have ever been at this point in my life. It is that important. Now to help those further understand. Why is it that the name Jesus has some power to it? Simply put it's attributing things to it. For example, a doll is just a doll right? Now let's say I add personal things to it and chant a curse over it. I now have a voodoo doll with lots of power. So we take the name, Jesus, and attribute it to Yeshuah. It will have some power to it, however, it will never have the same amount of power that the real name does. Now I know there are some that will simply say that God will forgive us, or that we'll all find out when we get there. Don't be deceived by this. That is a lie the enemy tells us to continue in sin. Just read what Mark 7:7-8 says:
"But in vain do they worship me, teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men. Ye leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men."
"Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy name, and by thy name cast out demons, and by thy name do many mighty works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Matt 7:22-23.
It is that serious. So knowing who the Messiah is will help us. In several lessons, I have stated that there were several things that were changed or added. However, there is good news. The Bible also provides the answers to debunk those added things. Now that we know the true name I will stop using Jesus from this point on in my lessons. So join me next week when I will begin the discussion about the birth of Yeshuah and all the amazing things it entailed.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Constantine
*Disclaimer: The following lesson will have some very controversial and offensive material. I would like to apologize ahead for anyone that I might offend.*
This is the story of Constantine and also a follow up on Mithra. The reason I am combining the two is because they go hand in hand. Now I did post a disclaimer on here simply because this is a very sticky topic. I know I do not have to say very much about the Roman emperor because most people know what he was primarily responsible for, the founding of the Catholic Church. Now the following information I will be using is from several public works. You can look this information up and as always I encourage it. I do not intend on bashing any denomination with this lesson, however like the disclaimer said, I more than likely will. This is the plate where all our troubles begin. This is the reason for the multiple issues in denominational differences and Bible inaccuracies. So please hold on and get ready for the ride.
Firstly, I will discuss more of Mithra. Now I am sure that I caused some uproar with my previous post. However, what I said was 100% true. I took sources from encyclopedias and books written by trusted advisers. Now I know there are some who will quote me for saying that even though there are different accounts that does not make it false. However, Mithra was around long before Jesus. So who copied whom? Is Jesus false? Absolutely not! However, let's dive into Mithra. As I said before he was celebrated as being born on December. The feast that celebrated him was known as the Saturnalia. What's interesting about this feast is what his followers did. They ate ham (because Mithra had a fatal experience with one) and then exchanged gifts. In addition to that they celebrated and worshiped him every Sunday. So there are two similarities right there that can be attributed to Christ. So how did Mithra get into Christianity? Well let's continue. Mithra was worshiped by the Persians for several years. However, due to Greek and Roman conquest most of the teachings of Mithra fell by the wayside. However, in the early first century AD, we find that there is a revival of the Mithra order, and Mithraism started being practiced throughout all of Rome. Now the early church leaders were very much aware what was going on. It could be assumed that Paul may have been talking to those who may be inclined to follow Mithra when he warned about false doctrine. St. Augustine was very much concerned about the following of Mithra and the possible blending of Christianity. This religion, though, was very widespread through the Roman empire and did start to mingle with Christianity. Unfortunately, we can see a full immersion in the fourth century AD when a Mithra follower became a Christian.
Enter Constantine. So here we are in Rome, and the Mithra following is at it's pinnacle. Naturally then Constantine would've been a follower of this religion due to its popularity. However, throughout the Roman empire there was another religion gaining popularity, Christianity. Though it had been attacked through persecution from the likes of emperors like Nero and Diocletian, it still flourished. So it can be said that Constantine was fully aware of Christianity, its leaders, and its symbols. Consequently, as many of us know, he had a vision. During a battle in 312 AD, Constantine had a vision of the cross. Therefore he felt then the need that if he marked the cross on his army's shields, then he would have victory. As the story goes, he did this and his army won. So what happens next? Well supposedly Christianity now becomes the state religion with Constantine at the head (though he does promote a leader later, known today as the pope). Thus begins the Roman Catholic Church. Ah it gets better though. What happens to the religion of Mithra and the followers? Well quite frankly we don't know. According to multiple sources, in the fourth century it seems to fade from existence. Interesting, huh? So fast forward a few years. We have a Christian emperor building the original St. Peter's Basilica and also building an arch to celebrate his victories. What does he put on his triumphal arch? He doesn't put a cross or any other Christian likeness on it. No, instead he puts the goddess Victoria on it. Now wait I thought he was Christian? I know what many of you are thinking, well the Roman Senate probably did this so they wouldn't know yet. Okay let's go a few more years. What does Constantine do in 321 AD. He declares a national sun worship day. Now wait who is the sun god? Mithra isn't it? Therefore this is the start of the immersion. As we know there are then several councils that decide the fate of the church. These decide the deity of Christ, the books of the Bible, and many more. Also with the council, the Christian faith switched from following the lunar calendar (Jewish) to the solar calendar (Roman, eventually Gregorian). Best of all, say goodbye to Passover and hello to Easter. Eventually all of God's holy days in the Old Testament are scrapped and new ones arise. And eventually nothing is left of the original Christian church, it is now Roman Catholic.
Here is where I muddy the water. Most of today's denominations can be traced back to one church, the Catholic one. The controversy is that the Catholic Church had its hands on so many important things. The addition of new holidays and removal of old is because of the Catholic Church. The books of the Bible were decided by the Catholic Church. Worshiping on Sundays decided by well you know. The copying of the biblical manuscripts also done by the Catholic Church. That is why I talked about its founding. The truth is that Christianity became so muddled with false doctrine its not funny. We are in the mess we are today because of this. So let's start over. Next week I will begin a several part lesson on one man, Jesus. Using scripture and historical references, I will retell the greatest story ever told. This is where my eyes were opened and I am now closer to him than ever. So until next time I wish you the best in the name of our Savior, Yeshuah (Jesus).
Friday, March 14, 2014
The "Sun" of God
15 ...Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, 16 so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, 17 or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, 18 or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. 19 And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. 20 But as for you, the Lord took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of his inheritance, as you now are. Deut. 4:15b-20 (NIV)
Today's lesson I am going to do a little different today. I have three stories that I would like to tell. Each one I will give a narrative and then answer who it was about. I ask that you read through the entire lesson, because this one will set the pace for several lessons afterwards. First, let me begin with this. I chose the previous verse due to its significance that it has had over humanity. Several religions, present and obsolete, have in some way violated those verses. Knowing some of the stories will help us in discovering some of the sneaky issues involved with Christianity today.
Story 1
Once upon a time, there was a group of people with one man who wanted to build a building to heaven. His followers praised him and his son. He was a mighty ruler who presided over many cities. He came from a strong family line so therefore it was easy for the masses to trust him. However, as his tower was being built the people started to worship him. He was the sun and his son was the stars. This praise angered God and He was displeased with the ignorance and sin of the people. So God then stretched forth His hand and confused them. The people began to speak other languages. Faced with the situation at hand, the people went to the four corners of the earth. However, God was not finished. The earth split into the continents we have today. This all happened because of one man's need to be worshiped as the most high.
This is a very familiar Bible story. It is the story of Babel and descendant of Ham, King Nimrod. From the very early start of history, we can see an apparent sign of sun worship. The building became more than just a building but a shrine and temple to God. But why did it make God angry? In the passage (located in Gen. 11), the people were doing it for their glory and not God's. In other works and references, there was a shift where Nimrod himself became the shining light and a god in it of himself. This story is the start.
Story 2
Once upon a time there was a great person who was killed by his brother. His wife had to put his bones together and then brought him to life for a brief period of time. Fortunately, she was able to conceive and bare a son, who became one of the greatest men of all. He became the ruler of the sky and possessed the sun and the moon. He fought his evil uncle for the sake of humanity. He ordained men to become rulers of many. His eye served as a look out and could see all things and protect many.
This is the story of Horus, the great Egyptian god. Several things can be taken from this but a couple things I want to point out. He was a son of a god. He had direct ties to the Egyptian father, much like Jesus to God the Father. His life was a constant struggle to protect his people from his evil uncle and avenge his father's death at his uncle's hand. The next thing to point out is the eye of Horus. His eye looked down on man and protected them through his watch. He could see what was going to happen so he took care of them. This sounds a lot like the all seeing eye doesn't it? Had to point this out because that is very important later.
Story 3
This is the final story I will be telling. This man was born of a virgin around the month of December. Throughout his life he performed many miracles and had many followers. He was the light of the world and shown brightly for all humanity to see. He's been betrayed through history in many ways, as a just warrior, a good shepherd, and the savior of man. He had an untimely death but then rose again later to ascend into heaven. He is worshiped on Sundays. Finally, his church is the foundation, "rock," of the world.
Now many of you know who I am talking about. It is the god, Mithra. Now I really know what you are thinking, "Wait did he just say Mithra, and not Jesus?" Exactly! Mithra was a very old Persian god. What's amazing about his story is that it is so similar to Jesus' story. It is almost exactly the same in several important aspects. Now this is not some conspiracy, he is a real ancient god and there are several books about him. The information I gave you today can be found in many reliable encyclopedias and books. Hopefully, now many of you see the problem.
Here is what I am asking. Could it be possible that the church was infiltrated? Could we be serving another god and not our own? Who really was Jesus of Nazareth? Who really was Mithra? How can we separate the two? See, I told you this would get interesting. So, with that being said allow me to end this lesson on this. You read the verse above, correct? The verse talks about the dangers of idols. Before I end with another verse, I ask that you all stick around for the next topic, "Constantine." This will start our journey towards discovering the truth. As always, I ask you to challenge this. Read the scriptures and the resources I provided. That is how you study to show yourselves approved to God. Hope you all will join me next time. God bless.
Today's lesson I am going to do a little different today. I have three stories that I would like to tell. Each one I will give a narrative and then answer who it was about. I ask that you read through the entire lesson, because this one will set the pace for several lessons afterwards. First, let me begin with this. I chose the previous verse due to its significance that it has had over humanity. Several religions, present and obsolete, have in some way violated those verses. Knowing some of the stories will help us in discovering some of the sneaky issues involved with Christianity today.
Story 1
Once upon a time, there was a group of people with one man who wanted to build a building to heaven. His followers praised him and his son. He was a mighty ruler who presided over many cities. He came from a strong family line so therefore it was easy for the masses to trust him. However, as his tower was being built the people started to worship him. He was the sun and his son was the stars. This praise angered God and He was displeased with the ignorance and sin of the people. So God then stretched forth His hand and confused them. The people began to speak other languages. Faced with the situation at hand, the people went to the four corners of the earth. However, God was not finished. The earth split into the continents we have today. This all happened because of one man's need to be worshiped as the most high.
This is a very familiar Bible story. It is the story of Babel and descendant of Ham, King Nimrod. From the very early start of history, we can see an apparent sign of sun worship. The building became more than just a building but a shrine and temple to God. But why did it make God angry? In the passage (located in Gen. 11), the people were doing it for their glory and not God's. In other works and references, there was a shift where Nimrod himself became the shining light and a god in it of himself. This story is the start.
Story 2
Once upon a time there was a great person who was killed by his brother. His wife had to put his bones together and then brought him to life for a brief period of time. Fortunately, she was able to conceive and bare a son, who became one of the greatest men of all. He became the ruler of the sky and possessed the sun and the moon. He fought his evil uncle for the sake of humanity. He ordained men to become rulers of many. His eye served as a look out and could see all things and protect many.
This is the story of Horus, the great Egyptian god. Several things can be taken from this but a couple things I want to point out. He was a son of a god. He had direct ties to the Egyptian father, much like Jesus to God the Father. His life was a constant struggle to protect his people from his evil uncle and avenge his father's death at his uncle's hand. The next thing to point out is the eye of Horus. His eye looked down on man and protected them through his watch. He could see what was going to happen so he took care of them. This sounds a lot like the all seeing eye doesn't it? Had to point this out because that is very important later.
Story 3
This is the final story I will be telling. This man was born of a virgin around the month of December. Throughout his life he performed many miracles and had many followers. He was the light of the world and shown brightly for all humanity to see. He's been betrayed through history in many ways, as a just warrior, a good shepherd, and the savior of man. He had an untimely death but then rose again later to ascend into heaven. He is worshiped on Sundays. Finally, his church is the foundation, "rock," of the world.
Now many of you know who I am talking about. It is the god, Mithra. Now I really know what you are thinking, "Wait did he just say Mithra, and not Jesus?" Exactly! Mithra was a very old Persian god. What's amazing about his story is that it is so similar to Jesus' story. It is almost exactly the same in several important aspects. Now this is not some conspiracy, he is a real ancient god and there are several books about him. The information I gave you today can be found in many reliable encyclopedias and books. Hopefully, now many of you see the problem.
Here is what I am asking. Could it be possible that the church was infiltrated? Could we be serving another god and not our own? Who really was Jesus of Nazareth? Who really was Mithra? How can we separate the two? See, I told you this would get interesting. So, with that being said allow me to end this lesson on this. You read the verse above, correct? The verse talks about the dangers of idols. Before I end with another verse, I ask that you all stick around for the next topic, "Constantine." This will start our journey towards discovering the truth. As always, I ask you to challenge this. Read the scriptures and the resources I provided. That is how you study to show yourselves approved to God. Hope you all will join me next time. God bless.
But there arose false prophets also among the people, as among you also there shall be false teachers, who shall privily bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master that bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.
2 And many shall follow their lascivious doings; by reason of whom the way of the truth shall be evil spoken of.
3 And in covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose sentence now from of old lingereth not, and their destruction slumbereth not. 2 Peter 2:1-3 (ASV)
Thursday, March 6, 2014
The Denomination Conundrum
I remember sitting in a college Bible course when the professor stood up to speak. "I love that there are different denominations," he said. "It's just like the gospels. We are all different yet the same." Of course the student body loved hearing that. The room was filled with Wesleyans, Catholics, Pentecostals, Baptists, and more. All of us were different, yet somehow the same. The same could be said about the gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are all different, yet they are the same. Let's investigate that shall we?
If you look at the gospels, every single book has a different take on Jesus' ministry. However, from a universal standpoint they are identical, are they not? Each book discusses the main bullet points about the Savior's life. That is not a bad thing. It's like atheists saying that Genesis isn't real because of multiple accounts of the flood by pagan religions. Each of us have different stories by our own experience. So for the sake of example, let's talk about 9/11/01. Let's say a Jewish person, a Catholic person, an Atheist, and I talk about our experience when the towers came down. Would all of us have a different story? Yes! Would all of us be talking about the same thing? Yes! So just because we are all of different faith, background, and creed does not mean that we cannot be witness to the same thing. That is how the gospels are. They are written by four different men all about the same person. Now allow me to separate the two topics. Are Catholics, Methodists, Pentecostals, Baptists, Presbyterians, etc. all the same? Well that's an easy answer isn't it? The answer is a resounding "No!" However, are the denomination beliefs all about the same thing? Let's discuss that.
I disagree with the teacher's comments about denominations. Why you may ask? Simply because we do not all believe in the same fundamentals. So what are fundamentals? Well a fundamental is defined as a basis for belief. In other words, it is a foundation. What is doctrine? Doctrine is a set of beliefs based on the fundamentals. So doctrine is not fundamental, and fundamental is not doctrine. I explain that because it is very important. Too many denominations attack each other because of doctrinal differences, but is that strictly why? It's time for some church history. In the beginning of the Christian church there were how many denominations? There was just one. What happened in the fourth century? We now have three denominations (Original, Catholic, and Orthodox). What happened in the sixteenth century? Well now we have multiple denominations, and since then they have grown. Where do these denominations differ? True, some of them differ on doctrine, but there is some difference on the fundamentals. Many of these differences include but are not limited to the deity of Christ, salvation, forgiveness of sins, the law of God. This is important to understand, because we are starting to get into the meat of the problem. I believe there should be ONE denomination. I believe that doctrinal differences should not divide the body. Here is my reasoning.
Water, the element of life, is made up of two elements hydrogen (2 parts) and oxygen (1 part). I can safely say that that is scientific fact. We know this to be true, so what if I were to take groups of people who had never learned this before, and teach them something different? What if one group I told water was made up of helium and neon; another group I told them it was sodium and chloride, and finally the last group I said it was made of uranium and plutonium, would any of these groups be right? Well we all know that they would be believing in the wrong thing. Would they fight the other group as to who was right about water? Well they probably would, wouldn't they? What would happen though if they realized that it was made of oxygen and hydrogen? Would those groups fight each other any more about water? Probably not. They would only argue as to how long water's hair should grow. So is it possible then that several of these denominations have a wrong foundation? I would say yes.
Romans 16:17 warns us about those who would divide the body and spread false teaching. The problem is that in the beginning the early church was under attack from outside influences. Paul warned the church about these issues. Unfortunately, years later these were ignored, and the church was infiltrated. I will cover this in later lessons but that created the problem we have today. I think Matt. 7:21-23, says it plainly. Jesus was not talking to nonbelievers but believers when he prophesied this. There are many who come in the name of the Lord but not all of them are truly His servants. They have infiltrated the church. They have changed its fundamentals. They have deceived billions. That is why we have multiple denominations today. So where does it all start? In the next lesson, "The Sun of God," I will begin talking about the transformation of the church and the mess we have to dig through today.
If you look at the gospels, every single book has a different take on Jesus' ministry. However, from a universal standpoint they are identical, are they not? Each book discusses the main bullet points about the Savior's life. That is not a bad thing. It's like atheists saying that Genesis isn't real because of multiple accounts of the flood by pagan religions. Each of us have different stories by our own experience. So for the sake of example, let's talk about 9/11/01. Let's say a Jewish person, a Catholic person, an Atheist, and I talk about our experience when the towers came down. Would all of us have a different story? Yes! Would all of us be talking about the same thing? Yes! So just because we are all of different faith, background, and creed does not mean that we cannot be witness to the same thing. That is how the gospels are. They are written by four different men all about the same person. Now allow me to separate the two topics. Are Catholics, Methodists, Pentecostals, Baptists, Presbyterians, etc. all the same? Well that's an easy answer isn't it? The answer is a resounding "No!" However, are the denomination beliefs all about the same thing? Let's discuss that.
I disagree with the teacher's comments about denominations. Why you may ask? Simply because we do not all believe in the same fundamentals. So what are fundamentals? Well a fundamental is defined as a basis for belief. In other words, it is a foundation. What is doctrine? Doctrine is a set of beliefs based on the fundamentals. So doctrine is not fundamental, and fundamental is not doctrine. I explain that because it is very important. Too many denominations attack each other because of doctrinal differences, but is that strictly why? It's time for some church history. In the beginning of the Christian church there were how many denominations? There was just one. What happened in the fourth century? We now have three denominations (Original, Catholic, and Orthodox). What happened in the sixteenth century? Well now we have multiple denominations, and since then they have grown. Where do these denominations differ? True, some of them differ on doctrine, but there is some difference on the fundamentals. Many of these differences include but are not limited to the deity of Christ, salvation, forgiveness of sins, the law of God. This is important to understand, because we are starting to get into the meat of the problem. I believe there should be ONE denomination. I believe that doctrinal differences should not divide the body. Here is my reasoning.
Water, the element of life, is made up of two elements hydrogen (2 parts) and oxygen (1 part). I can safely say that that is scientific fact. We know this to be true, so what if I were to take groups of people who had never learned this before, and teach them something different? What if one group I told water was made up of helium and neon; another group I told them it was sodium and chloride, and finally the last group I said it was made of uranium and plutonium, would any of these groups be right? Well we all know that they would be believing in the wrong thing. Would they fight the other group as to who was right about water? Well they probably would, wouldn't they? What would happen though if they realized that it was made of oxygen and hydrogen? Would those groups fight each other any more about water? Probably not. They would only argue as to how long water's hair should grow. So is it possible then that several of these denominations have a wrong foundation? I would say yes.
Romans 16:17 warns us about those who would divide the body and spread false teaching. The problem is that in the beginning the early church was under attack from outside influences. Paul warned the church about these issues. Unfortunately, years later these were ignored, and the church was infiltrated. I will cover this in later lessons but that created the problem we have today. I think Matt. 7:21-23, says it plainly. Jesus was not talking to nonbelievers but believers when he prophesied this. There are many who come in the name of the Lord but not all of them are truly His servants. They have infiltrated the church. They have changed its fundamentals. They have deceived billions. That is why we have multiple denominations today. So where does it all start? In the next lesson, "The Sun of God," I will begin talking about the transformation of the church and the mess we have to dig through today.
Monday, March 3, 2014
Bill-oney & Smoked Ham
Now I know what many of you are thinking, "Didn't he say he wasn't going to talk about Creation vs. Evolution?" Well you're in luck because I am not. However, with the recent Ham vs. Nye debate (not that I would call it that), I figured it was good to point something out. Each spokesman for their fellow belief system never once answered the other's question. This bugged me. What bugged me even more were the posts by everyone who were picking sides as to which person won. It's hard to pick a winner when neither one debated. Nevertheless, I was really disappointed with Mr. Ham for constantly avoiding Mr. Nye's statement. To paraphrase, Bill Nye kept asking how it was possible to believe a book that's been translated multiple times into English. Unfortunately, Ken Ham avoided the question and kept going. This brings me to my topic: Is the Bible without error?
Now I am going to throw out a disclaimer, please understand this is a foundation building lesson. Every lesson I write will build upon the other. So please do not just read this one, get upset, and ignore the rest. The reason why I say that is because this foundation, I lay out before you today, will change your outlook. Many of you will be ready to stomp down my door with torches and pitchforks in hand, but don't worry this will get better. So without further ado allow me to continue.
I've had arguments with several people over this topic. Now I am not saying that God's words directly out of His mouth are not truth, but what about the written word? Now many of you are already seeing where I am going with this, but really how do we know? Now there are several verses that talk about how the words of God are true, but are man's words always true? Well we know that to be false. So why did Mr Ham not answer Nye's question? He may not be sure about the answer.
Here are the interesting things about the books of the Bible. First of all, what languages were they written in? Well many of you know and would say Greek and Hebrew which would be correct. However, although most of the New Testament was written in Greek, there is one book that originally was not. Drum-roll please...Matthew. However, I dare you, any of you, to find me a copy of Matthew in Hebrew. Magically it doesn't exist. Now why is that significant you may ask? Well I will cover it more in later lessons but here is the basis. The New Testament being entirely in Greek is no coincidence. Greek is vastly different than Hebrew. If you don't believe me, ask a Jewish person or go to a Jewish Shabbat. Hebrew actually has a rhyme and music to it. So, in other words, the Old Testament is mostly one big song. This is another example of how the Bible is a living word. Because of the intricacies of Hebrew, it makes it very hard to alter and change. Greek, unfortunately, is not hard to change. So there you have it, I just stated that the New Testament is possibly altered. Bring out the stocks and the stake to burn me on! But before you do think about it. Is it really that hard to comprehend? Every Bible today is copyrighted. In order to write your own version the text does have to be altered. So technically every different version of the Bible has to be different. Also there are many mistranslated passages. Read Matthew 1 and Luke 3. The genealogies both talk about Joseph right? Well technically no. However, you would not be able to tell that by reading them would you? So therein lies the problem.
Now like I've said before God's words are true. There is no denying that. But the key foundation you have to make, is that the New Testament has some issues. I will be adding more and more lessons to guide and explain my reasoning. Please, do not ignore the rest because of what this lesson said. There is a ton of content to cover, but, unfortunately, I can only cover some every week. If you take anything from this lesson, here is what you need to know:
Foundation
~SS
Now I am going to throw out a disclaimer, please understand this is a foundation building lesson. Every lesson I write will build upon the other. So please do not just read this one, get upset, and ignore the rest. The reason why I say that is because this foundation, I lay out before you today, will change your outlook. Many of you will be ready to stomp down my door with torches and pitchforks in hand, but don't worry this will get better. So without further ado allow me to continue.
I've had arguments with several people over this topic. Now I am not saying that God's words directly out of His mouth are not truth, but what about the written word? Now many of you are already seeing where I am going with this, but really how do we know? Now there are several verses that talk about how the words of God are true, but are man's words always true? Well we know that to be false. So why did Mr Ham not answer Nye's question? He may not be sure about the answer.
Here are the interesting things about the books of the Bible. First of all, what languages were they written in? Well many of you know and would say Greek and Hebrew which would be correct. However, although most of the New Testament was written in Greek, there is one book that originally was not. Drum-roll please...Matthew. However, I dare you, any of you, to find me a copy of Matthew in Hebrew. Magically it doesn't exist. Now why is that significant you may ask? Well I will cover it more in later lessons but here is the basis. The New Testament being entirely in Greek is no coincidence. Greek is vastly different than Hebrew. If you don't believe me, ask a Jewish person or go to a Jewish Shabbat. Hebrew actually has a rhyme and music to it. So, in other words, the Old Testament is mostly one big song. This is another example of how the Bible is a living word. Because of the intricacies of Hebrew, it makes it very hard to alter and change. Greek, unfortunately, is not hard to change. So there you have it, I just stated that the New Testament is possibly altered. Bring out the stocks and the stake to burn me on! But before you do think about it. Is it really that hard to comprehend? Every Bible today is copyrighted. In order to write your own version the text does have to be altered. So technically every different version of the Bible has to be different. Also there are many mistranslated passages. Read Matthew 1 and Luke 3. The genealogies both talk about Joseph right? Well technically no. However, you would not be able to tell that by reading them would you? So therein lies the problem.
Now like I've said before God's words are true. There is no denying that. But the key foundation you have to make, is that the New Testament has some issues. I will be adding more and more lessons to guide and explain my reasoning. Please, do not ignore the rest because of what this lesson said. There is a ton of content to cover, but, unfortunately, I can only cover some every week. If you take anything from this lesson, here is what you need to know:
Foundation
- God's words (His speech) are 100% true
- Man is not perfect
- Satan and evil men do not want you to know the truth
- The Old Testament is hard to change plus another religion has copies as well
- The Old Testament is a big song (it has a rhythm and flow to it)
- The Greek New Testament can be changed (it does not have a rhythm and flow)
- There are zero original works of the Bible left (they have all been lost over time)
~SS
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