One of the first things I want you to notice about Matthew’s gospel is the fact that it’s anonymous. Nowhere in the text does it clearly say who wrote it, but there is no need to worry about the authorship of the first gospel since the early church and scholars all agree that it was Matthew, the apostle.
Continue reading “The Gospel of Matthew.”Thanksgiving is a great holiday. It is great for many reasons although I have to admit that I am still grateful for the food. Most of all, I am grateful for the time with family. However, I am still grateful for leftovers that will last for days. Despite our fondness of food, Thanksgiving has to be more than food. Continue reading “What are you thankful for?”
The book of Song of Solomon is a unique and challenging book for the modern mind. The language sounds strange and forces the listener to wonder what the authors intent could have been.
Many people think the Bible is a good book, full of interesting children’s stories, etc., but is no better than many good books on the shelf. Friends, we need to realize that not only is the Bible a good book, it is THE Good Book. The Bible makes some incredible claims about itself, that, if true, make it the most important volume man could ever read. Let’s examine just a few of these from 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Continue reading “What Good is the Bible?”
Over the past months, we have been hearing about this movement called “Occupy Wall Street.” It would seem that this movement is gaining momentum and its springing up in almost every city in the country. The mountains of NC are no exception. I keep hearing about this movement called “Occupy Asheville” and the difficulties it is causing for the people/government of Asheville. It would seem that the government would like these people to fade quietly into the background.
The question I keep hearing is what are these people standing for? What are they against and what are they hoping to accomplish? It would seem that the theme for this movement is summed up with the statement, “We can no longer afford to allow corporate greed and corrupt politics to set the tone of our country.”
Before we are quick to point fingers or call names just remember how movements like this have shaped our country. Who can forget the “Civil Rights movement” or the “Women’s Liberation movement?” Each of these movements called for a better way for all people. This is just two and that’s not mentioning all the other movements that shaped the beliefs of our country. In fact it was a religious movement similar to occupy that shaped this very church. The Restoration movement called for Christians to go back to their bibles and restore the grandeur of the Lord’s Church. As a country and a church we owe a lot to people who were willing to stand against the status quo, people who would stand up and demand something better.
Remember that the call to end greed and corruption is consistent with the teachings of the New Testament. I will not tell you whether or not to embrace the “Occupy” movement that is something you must decide for yourself. However, I will tell you that the bible speaks loud and clear on such matters.
Let me encourage everyone to go to their bibles and read what God has to say on such social and moral issues. Here are just a few of the verses that come to my mind as I thought about this: 1 Timothy 6:3-5, 6-10; Prov. 30:7-9, 11:28; 1 John 2:16-17; Eccl. 5:10-12, 13-14; Matt. 19:24; Luke 6:24; James 5:1; Luke 16:19-26; Rev. 3:17; Acts 4:32-25; Luke 3:11; Matt. 19:21-24; Luke 19:1-10, 12:15-21; Matt. 6:24; Luke 16:14-15; Eph. 5:5-7; James 2:1-7; Psalms 10:2-3; Hab. 2:5, 6-11; Prov. 15:27, 29:4, 28:25, 1:19, 22:7-8; Matt. 3;24-26.
Let’s make it our calling to allow the teachings of the Bible to “Occupy” our hearts and minds.
Jeff
A little girl, being asked by a priest to attend religious instruction, refused, saying it was against her father’s wishes. The priest said she should obey him, not her father. “Oh! Sir! We are taught in the Bible to “Honor thy father and thy mother,” she replied.
“But you are to call me father,” was his answer, to which she replied, “No, for the scriptures say, ‘Call no man your father upon the earth for one is your father, which is in heaven.”
The priest was not anxious to lose a religious discussion to one so young, and he said, “You have no business reading the Bible.”
Then why did Jesus tell me to “Search the Scriptures?” she asked? He replied by saying, “But that is only for the clergy. You understand that a child cannot know the Scriptures.”
“Then why,” she asked, “did Paul write to Timothy, ‘from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures’?”
Surely there was some way to get the best of this young upstart. So the priest said, “Timothy was being trained to be a bishop and he was taught by the church authorities.”
“No sir,” said the little girl, “He was taught by his mother and grandmother. At least that is what Paul wrote.”
The priest turned away and someone said they heard him mumbling something about, “She knew enough Bible to poison a whole parish.”
(Big Clifty Church Bulletin, Vol. 32 No. 33 – Aug. 16, 2009)
It is my hope that we too know too much Bible to be led astray.
Central Haywood Church of Christ 