Updates - Christian Community Year Devotional
1998 - 2018
But all of you are come unto Mount Sion (Zion), and unto the city of the living God, the Heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of Angels, To the general assembly and Church of the Firstborn, which are written in Heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made complete, and to Jesus the mediator of the New Covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things that that of Abel. See that all of you refuse not Him that speaks. For if they escaped not who refused him [Moses] that spoke on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him [Jesus] that speaks from Heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now He has promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also Heaven. And this Word, Yet once more, signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a [eternal] Kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire. ~ Hebrews 12:22-29
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in Heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that all of you, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that all of you might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, Unto Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. ~ Ephesians 3:14-20
Updates: March 3, 2018
LETTER LXXVI
At Irenaeus' request S. Ambrose points out the scope of the Epistle to the Ephesians. Therein is proposed to us a heavenly inheritance, a seat in heavenly places together with Christ, Who has obtained freedom for us. It sets forth to us charity, whereby we are united to Christ, as the end of faith. He adds that no other Epistle contains the mention of so many blessings, and he briefly recounts these one by one.
1. You have asked me to set forth to you the scope and substance of the Epistle to the Ephesians, an Epistle which seems somewhat obscure, unless by analyzing it we can gather what those motives are by which the Apostle would persuade us not to despair of the kingdom of God.
2. In the first place then he points out that the hope of reward and the inheritance of those heavenly promises which have been brought within our reach by the Passion and Resurrection of Christ, are wont to be a great encouragement to the good in the pursuit of virtue.
3. To this he has added that not only has a mode of return to Paradise been opened to us by Christ, but that even the honour of sitting in heavenly places has been imparted to this flesh of our body by its fellowship with the Body of Christ; so that you need no longer doubt the possibility of your own ascension, now that you know that your fellowship with the flesh of Christ subsists even in the kingdom of heaven, knowing also that by His Blood reconciliation has been made for all things, both on earth and in heaven, for He descended that He might fill all things: and, further, that by His Apostles, prophets, and priests, the whole world has been established, and the Gentiles gathered in; and that the end of our hope is the love of Him, that we may grow up into Him in all things; for He is the Head of all things, and unto Him according to the measure of His working we are all raised and built up by charity into one body.
4. We ought not therefore to despair of the members adhering to their Head; especially since from the beginning we have been predestinated by Jesus Christ to adoption as children of God in Himself: which predestination He has ratified, instructing us that the prediction made from the first, that a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh, is a sacrament of Christ and the Church. If therefore the union of Adam and Eve is a great sacrament which relates to Christ and the Church, it is certain that as Eve was bone of the bones of her husband, and flesh of his flesh, so we are members of the Body of Christ, bone of His Bones and flesh of His Flesh.
5. No other Epistle has pronounced so many blessings over the people of God as this. For herein the pregnant witness of Divine grace has declared that we are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenlg places, and predestinated unto the adoption of children, richly endowed also with grace in the Son of God, which things have abounded unto the knowledge of the mystery of His eternal will. Especially now, in the fulness of time, when all things are reconciled in Christ, both in heaven and on earth, have we attained an inheritance in Him, to the intent that both what is of the Law and what is of Grace might be fulfilled in us. For even according to the Law we seemed to be elected in that season of youth, by which is signified a holy life, without either the wantonness of childhood or the infirmity of age. We have been taught also how we must vigorously ivage war not only against flesh and blood, but also against spiritual wickedness in high places.
6. Wherefore as the possession of lands taken from the enemy fell to their lot, so to us has fallen the lot of grace, that we may become the heritage of God, Who possesses our reins, the seat of chastity and temperance. Do you seek to know this lot? Remember that lot which fell upon Matthias, that he might be chosen into the number of the twelve Apostles. The Prophet David also says, If ye sleep in the midst of the lots, because he who is placed in the middle, between the lot of the Old and New Testament, resting upon both, arrives at the peace of the heavenly kingdom. This lot of their paternal inheritance the daughters of Zelophehad sought for, and their petition was admitted by God's judgment. But they sought for it in the shade, for Zelophehad means 'the shade of the mouth;' they sought it then in dark sayings, they spoke not what was revealed. Hence the supplication for their inheritance by the daughters of Zelophehad was couched in dark sayings, but in our case it stands in the light of the Gospel and in the revelation of grace.
7. Let us therefore be the possession of God, and let Him be our portion, for in Him are the riches of His glory and inheritance. For who is rich but God alone, Who created all things? Especially however is He rich in mercy, in that He redeemed all mankind, and, as being the author of nature, changed us, who according to our fleshly nature were the children of wrath, and exposed to trouble, that we might become the children of peace and charity. For who can change nature but He Who created nature? Wherefore He raised the dead, and those that were quickened in Christ He hath made to sit in heavenly places in the Lord Jesus.
8. Not that any man has been thought worthy of the privilege of sitting in that seat of God, for to the Son alone hath the Father said, Sit thou on my right hand; but because in that Flesh of Christ the flesh of the whole human race has been honoured, because it partakes of the same nature. For as He was subjected in our flesh by His unity therewith, and by the obedience of the body, wherein He was made obedient even unto death, so we, in His Flesh, are sat down together with Him in heavenly places. We therefore are not set down by ourselves but in the Person of Christ, Who alone, as the Son of man, sitteth at the right Hand of God; as He said Himself, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of God. To this end has His Grace and Goodness been formed upon us in Christ Jesus, that being dead according to works, redeemed through faith and saved by grace, we might receive the gift of this great deliverance. Our very nature, raised, as it were, in Him, has been made partaker of the Grace of a new creation, that being new created in Christ, we, who had before fallen away through the corruption of our guilty lineage, might walk in good works.
9. For the strife which before existed in the flesh being removed, an universal peace has been made in heaven; that men might be like Angels upon earth, that the Gentiles and Jews might be made one, that both the new and old man might be united, the middle wall of partition, which, as a hostile barrier, had once divided them, being broken down. For the nature of our flesh having stirred up anger discord and dissension, and the law having bound us with the chains of condemnation, Christ Jesus subdued by mortification the wantonness and intemperance of the flesh, and made void the law of commandment contained in ordinances, declaring thereby that the decrees of the spiritual Law are not to be interpreted according to the letter; putting an end to the slothful rest of the Sabbath and to the superfluous rite of outward circumcision, and opening to all access by one Spirit unto the Father. For how can there be any discord, where there is one calling, one body and one spirit?
10. For what else did the Lord Jesus effect by His descent but our deliverance from captivity into liberty, and the subjection to Himself of that captivity which the bonds of unbelief had fettered, but which is now restrained by the fetters of wisdom, every wise man putting his feet into its bonds? For it is written that when He had descended He ascended also, that He might fill all things, and that we might all receive of His fulness.
11. Wherefore He gave first Apostles in the Church, filling them with the Holy Spirit, others prophets, others evangelists, others pastors and teachers, that by their exhortations the progress of believers might be accomplished, and the work of the ministry of faith might receive increase. Every one by the growth of virtue is built up unto the measure of the inward life, which measure, being that more perfect one of a holy life, that is, of a perfect man, taking of the fulness of Christ, has received the fulness of grace.
12. But who is a perfect man, but he who, being delivered from the weakness of a childish mind, from the unstable and slippery ways of youth, and from the unbridled passions of adult age, has attained to the strength of full manhood, and has grown up unto such maturity of character as not to be easily turned aside by the address of a wily disputer, nor cast, as it were, upon the rocks by the turbid violence of foolish doctrine? Who but he that betakes himself to the remedies of error, who follows truth not only in his words but also in his works, and, takes upon him the edifying of himself in love, that he may be united with others in the unity of faith and knowledge, and, as a member, not fall off from his Head, that is, from Christ, Who is the Head of all, from whom the whole body of the faithful and prudent fitted and compacted and joined together by the rational harmony of the Word by that which every joint supplieth, according to the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying itself in love; that so it may rise as one temple of God in all, and one habitation of the heavenly mansion in the spirit of all.
13. Herein I conceive we are to understand that not only holy men but all believers, and all the heavenly and reasonable hosts and powers are united in faith and spirit; that by a certain concord of powers and offices one body, composed of all spirits of a reasonable nature, may adhere to Christ their Head, being so united to the framework of the building, that in no single point of juncture the several members may seem to be severed from each other. And to unite each one to Himself according to the due measure of his merits and faith will not be difficult: for the edifice of love closes and blocks up every crevice through which offences may enter. We ought not then to doubt that in the building up of this temple the company of the heavenly hosts will be united with us; for it is unreasonable to suppose that while the Temple of God can be so built up by human love as that we shall become an habitation of God in the Spirit, He should not dwell within the heavenly Host.
14. On this account, that the building may be raised within us more rapidly, the Apostle exhorts us to open the eyes of our understanding, to lift them to things above, diligently to follow after the knowledge of God, to unravel the truth, to hide in our hearts the commandments of God, to put off deceitful lusts and hidden deeds of shame, to seek to be renewed by the graces of the Sacraments, to moderate anger, to calm all disturbance of spirit before the sun goes down, to beware lest the adversary gain the upper hand of us, that mighty spirit who entered into the heart of Judas, and broke through the gates of his soul, overpowering his resistance, to shut out theft, to eschew falsehood, to rise from the dead, to put on sobriety. He tells us likewise that wives should be subject to their husbands, as the Church is to Christ, and that husbands should offer up their own lives for their wives, as Christ gave Himself for the Church. And lastly, that, as good soldiers, we should put on the armour of God, and continually fight, not only against flesh and blood, but also against spiritual wickedness; that we may neither be corrupted by friends nor vanquished by enemies.
This summary account of the Epistle I offer you as the best which I have in my power to give.
Farewell, my son; love me, for I also love you.
Source: Tertullian.org
Updates: February 21, 2018
"I Can Only Imagine" A Tribute to Billy Graham YouTube.com
Billy Graham’s Funeral March 2, 2018 YouTube.com
Billy Graham Library - BillyGrahamLibrary.org
Source: TheGuardian.com
A private family prayer service will be held Saturday morning. Beginning Monday, for at least two days, Graham's body will lie in repose at the Graham family home. Then next Friday, a 90-minute funeral will be held at which his son Franklin Graham will speak, in addition to his other children. The hymns chosen for the funeral are some of Graham's favorite. In fact, he personally approved the details of the service years ago.
Source: ABCnews.go.com
Billy Graham's final journey underway in North Carolina
Source: FoxNews.com
Billy Graham "Set an example for your children by committing your life to Jesus Christ"
Answer: ... How can you help your son? The most important step you can take is to turn your own lives over to Jesus Christ, and become His followers. After all, how can you expect God to be important to your son if He isn’t important to you? Begin your journey of faith today by committing your lives to Christ and making Him the center and foundation of your lives.
Source: bgdailynews.com
Mission San Diego 2003 Crusade with Billy Graham
Source: BPnews.net
Note: I attended the Military Appreciation Night at the Billy Graham Crusade 2003 in San Diego.
Welcome to the Basic Christian Newsletter!
May 11, 2003
Billy Graham in San Diego
Hi to everyone:
A couple of days ago (Friday) I had the pleasure of attending one day of a four day major Christian event held in a stadium in San Diego Ca. The main speaker stepped up to the microphone and proclaimed that "God is the God of Judgment and that one day God is going to judge the world. But that day is not today! Today is another day! Today is another Day of God's Mercy and of God's Grace given to us from God for our Salvation." As I sat there listening I realized that indeed this is a testimony of God, Heaven, and of good things through Christ Jesus both now and yet to come. The speaker was Billy Graham.
2 Corinthians 6:1,2 We then, as workers together with Him, beseech you also that ye receive not the Grace of God in vain. For He saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored (helped/aided) thee: Behold, now is the accepted time; Behold, now is the Day of Salvation.
Billy Graham looked and seemed in great shape. Based on current news articles I half expected him to struggle up to the podium in a walker but he was fine, he told a couple of funny stories and gave a Superb message. His message was being broadcast to all of the military troops world wide on ship and on land including Iraq, Afghanistan and Korea so the theme was military oriented and the guest speaker was an Army General. Billy Graham used the current events and interwove it with the Biblical message of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32), he truly does wonderfully preach with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. His message was one of the best that I have ever heard, the stadium was mostly packed and it was really pleasing to see many young and squirming kids in attendance and it was truly amazing to sit in the crowd and feel the Holy Spirit calm the hearts of everyone around so Billy could give his message. I don't think that I have ever sat in such an amazing event, when Billy Graham began to speak, (after a long applause and standing ovation that he was visibly not happy about receiving), the crowded stadium entered into an incredible silent hush, you could literally hear a pin drop as the message was given and the invitation was enthusiastically met by an emptying of much of the stadium as people filled the field around the stage in an act of acceptance of the message given. Billy Graham showed once again that he truly is America's Preacher.
God Bless you!
Let us continue in praying for and the building up of one another in the Faith and Love of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!
Have a Jesus Day! :o)
God Bless you,
David Anson Brown
Source: BasicChristian.info
Also Note: The next year in 2004 I attended a pre-crusade event as a blogger at the coming Billy Graham 2004 crusade at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA. I was out of town and didn't make it to the actual Pasadena Crusade. At the Rose Bowl pre-crusade event it was Billy Graham's birthday and Billy Graham couldn't make it to the pre-event but they had birthday cupcakes for everyone when we left the stadium.
Updates: February 4, 2018
Kennedy Classics - The New Tolerance YouTube
Dr. James Kennedy mentions that society has transitioned from the "Age of Faith" (Christian belief in God) to the "Age of Reason" (belief in reasonable scientific explanations) to now the "Age of Tolerance" (how every idea is considered equal no matter how ridiculous the concept is).
Another way to look at this is that society has transitioned from the "Information Age" where people had enough truthful information to make a reasonably informed decision.
To what became the "Age of Disinformation" where most of the news and information in society is actually disinformation (part truth and part lies) and therefore deceitful and unhelpful and even incapable of helping people to make good and relevant decisions in their life.
To now we actually live in what is termed as the "Age of Conjure" where information is just made up out of nothing just "fake news" conjured-up "gibberish" that is being passed of as news and information and people are supposed to unquestionably accept it as a valid representation of reality.
by David Anson Brown
Updates: January 1, 2018
Jesus said "After this manner therefore pray all of you: Our Father which are in Heaven, Hallowed (Holy) be your Name. Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts (sins), as we forgive our debtors (sins against us). And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Yours is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, forever. Amen. For if all of you forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if all of you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ~ Matthew 6:9-15
The Sheep and the Goats
Jesus said "When the Son of Man shall come in His Glory, and all the Holy Angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the Throne of His Glory: And before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a Shepherd divides His sheep from the goats: And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, all of you blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was hungry, and all of you gave Me food: I was thirsty, and all of you gave Me drink: I was a stranger, and all of you took Me in: Naked, and all of you clothed Me: I was sick, and all of you visited Me: I was in prison, and all of you came unto Me. Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we You hungry, and fed you? or thirsty, and gave You drink? When saw we You a stranger, and took You in? or naked, and clothed You? Or when saw we You sick, or in prison, and came unto You? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Assuredly I say unto you, Inasmuch as all of you have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, all of you have done it unto Me. Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, all of you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was hungry, and all of you gave Me no food: I was thirsty, and all of you gave Me no drink: I was a stranger, and all of you took Me not in: naked, and all of you clothed Me not: sick, and in prison, and all of you visited Me not. Then shall they also answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto you? Then shall He answer them, saying, Assuredly I say unto you, Inasmuch as all of you did it not to one of the least of these, all of you did it not to Me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. ~ Matthew 25:31-46
Note: Jesus made it clear to His disciples (followers) that we are to forgive one another and that we are to help, encourage and assist one another. It is very much a real concept that in the very and exact way that we treat others even strangers it is in the very same way that God is going to treat us including in the final judgment to come.
by David Anson Brown
Updates: December 30, 2017
The Primary Ages of the 7 Church Letters of Revelation from Jesus Christ
1. The Church at Ephesus -- The teaching instructing Church - The Apostles and their disciples including Justin Martyr, etc.
2. The Church at Smyrna -- The martyred persecuted Church - Polycarp the Bishop of Smyrna, Perpetua and Felicity of Carthage, etc.
3. The Church at Pergamos -- The worldly government Church - Constantine I, Ambrose, Monica, Augustine, etc.
4. The Church at Thyatira -- The Roman Catholic Church - Pope Leo I, Francis of Assisi, Thomas Aquinas, Ignatius of Loyola, Queen Mary I of England, etc.
5. The Church at Sardis -- The Protestant Church - Anselm of Canterbury, William Tyndale, King James I of England, Charles Spurgeon, etc.
6. The Church at Philadelphia -- The friendship (Evangelical) Church - Queen Victoria, George Muller, Edward Backhouse, Oswald Chambers, etc.
7. The Church at Laodicea -- The modern comfortable (Emergent) Church - King Henry VIII of England, Westcott and Hort, C. S. Lewis, etc.
Note: what was important to Justin Martyr was that he had known and was connected to someone who he presumed had known an Apostle. Justin Martyr was witnessed to by a very elderly man who instructed Justin Martyr to start in the faith not by reading the Christian New Testament but by reading the Jewish Old Testament.
Ambrose Bishop of Milan, Italy "A Father of the Modern (Governmental) Church System" consecrated on December 7, 374 A.D.
Saint Ambrose of Milan was a founder in the 3rd Church era the Church at Pergamos the legal governmental church era.
Saint Monica the mother of Saint Augustine (baptized by Ambrose) was actually a member of the 2nd Church era Church of Smyrna -- The martyred persecuted Church before joining with Ambrose in Milan.
Also Note: Queen Mary I of England was an exceptional and gifted Catholic leader. The problem was not with her as a leader [as was so often the case especially at certain times during the ancient early Christian era Roman Empire] it was that the Church era [time in general] had shifted an moved on and the Protestant era had begun.
Recap: The 7 Church Letters of Revelation from Jesus Christ
1. The Church at Ephesus -- The teaching instructing Church - Faith in Jesus exhibited by a personal knowledge of Jesus
2. The Church at Smyrna -- The martyred persecuted Church - Faith in Jesus exhibited by total commitment even to death
3. The Church at Pergamos -- The worldly government Church - Faith in Jesus exhibited by current worldly status
4. The Church at Thyatira -- The Roman Catholic Church - Faith in Jesus exhibited by works i.e. Penance, Priests, Saint worship, Purgatory
5. The Church at Sardis -- The Protestant Church - Faith in Jesus exhibited by knowledge i.e. creeds, confessions, statements
6. The Church at Philadelphia -- The friendship (Evangelical) Church - Faith in Jesus exhibited by a personal relationship with Jesus
7. The Church at Laodicea -- The modern comfortable (Emergent) Church - Faith in Jesus exhibited by self-acceptance [i.e I accept the way I am and the way I live my life so Jesus must accept me this way also]
A Major Evangelical Sect
The Religious Society of Friends: Doctrines and Practices ..., Publication date 1870
by Edward Backhouse Online Book
Early Church History to the Death of Constantine, Publication date 1884
by Edward Backhouse Online Book
Biographical Preface of Edward Backhouse by Dr. Thomas Hodgkin
As the following work may come into the hands of some who were not personally acquainted with its Author, it is necessary to devote a few pages to a sketch of his life and character. Those who knew Edward Backhouse of Sunderland, will never forget either the man or that fresh and vigorous Christianity which was the keynote of his life. But for the sake of others an attempt must be made to give an outline, however imperfectly, of the manner in which he served his own generation by the will of God before he fell asleep and was "laid with his fathers."
He was the son of Edward and Mary Backhouse, and was born at Darlington in 1808. A resident from early boyhood at Sunderland, of which place he became one of the foremost citizens, he was thoroughly identified in his interests with the busy, stirring life of the North of England. He was not himself, however, actively engaged in commerce. Although a partner in collieries [coal mining], and in the extensive banking business with which the name of his family has been so long connected, he took little, if any share in the practical management of these businesses, having desired from the time of his early manhood to keep his hands free for philanthropic and religious work.
He was an eager and diligent student of natural history, a frequent traveler, and a landscape painter of considerable merit. Though not cultivating the graces of a professed orator, he could always be relied on to make a plain, vigorous, straightforward speech, with a heartiness which never failed to win the ear of a popular assembly. He was a rather keen, but not bitter politician, on the Liberal side, but never sought a seat in Parliament, whither he could certainly have gone as representative of Sunderland if he had desired to do so.
His whole life was coloured by his enthusiastic adoption of the principles of that portion of the Christian Church to which his ancestors for many generations had belonged; the Society of Friends. During a considerable part of his life he occupied a conspicuous position as a minister among them. It is generally known that in their body there are no paid religious ministers, but the work of preaching and of pastoral visitation is discharged by such members of the society as may feel themselves commissioned by the Unseen Head of the Church to undertake it. After one of these volunteers has preached in the "meetings for worship" for a while, if his services meet with the approval of the congregation, it is the custom to "acknowledge" him. Ministers thus acknowledged acquire a certain official position, but still are in no sense a clergy distinct from the laity around them, but only members of the body, whose gift happens to be of a kind which brings them into somewhat greater prominence than their brethren.
Edward Backhouse used to refer his own conversion to the thirtieth year of his age. His life had been always pure and unblameable according to man's judgment. After this time it became more conspicuously devoted to the service of Christ; yet it was not till fourteen years after this time that he commenced work as a minister. In the interval his religious labours were chiefly of the kind which Friends call "eldership," and which consists in accompanying the ministers on their missionary journeys, advising them as to their spiritual course, and discriminating between the ministers whose gifts claim encouragement and eventual recognition, and those who seem to have mistaken their vocation. In 1852 he began to preach in the assemblies of Friends, and after two years' probation was "recognized" as a minister, which position he occupied for the remaining twenty-five years of his life.
His preaching was very characteristic of the man, with no elaborate oratory, but a fine natural flow of language and a certain character of manly strength and earnestness in every discourse. His favourite topic of exhortation, especially in later years, was, "Press on, do not be satisfied with infancy or childhood in the Christian life. It is time now that you were full grown men and women in Christ Jesus, with all the power to overcome which this mature life should bring to you." The happiness of the Christian believer was another favorite theme, both in his conversation and his sermons. In speaking of his life after his conversion he says, "The more closely I kept to my faithful Guide, the more I understood the beauty of holiness, the glory of the Lord's delightsome land, the sweetness, the safety and the rest of abiding in Jesus." Those words, "the Lord's delightsome land," are very characteristic both of his life and ministry, and in writing them one seems to hear again the fine tones of that strong and hearty voice impressing, them on his hearers.
... It is difficult to describe this part of his character without conveying the impression that his was a self-indulgent life; but this was far from being the case. The sorrows and the sins of great cities, and especially of the great seaport near to which he himself lived, claimed a very large share of his time and thought, and he spent not only money, but health and energy freely in the endeavor to alleviate and reform them. He erected a large mission hall in one of the poorest districts of Sunderland, which became the resort of a large congregation, and was the center of a great Christianizing and civilizing work in a district which had much need of such assistance. In the various operations connected with this place, both on Sundays and weekdays, he took a large personal share. ... THOMAS HODGKIN
Updates: December 7, 2017
Ambrose Bishop of Milan, Italy "Father of the Modern (Governmental) Church System" consecrated on December 7, 374 A.D.
St Ambrose of Milan was a founder in the 3rd Church era the Church at Pergamos the legal governmental church era.
St Monica the mother of St Augustine (baptized by Ambrose) was actually a member of the 2nd Church era Church of Smyrna -- The martyred persecuted Church before joining with Ambrose in Milan.
When Augustine rejected Christianity in his youth it was the persecuted Church era Christianity of his mother Monica that he was rejecting. The early persecuted Church practiced what today we would call a Pentecostalism mixed with pagan practices.
In Milan the Bishop Ambrose rebuked the practices of (grave vigils - for those martyred) that Monica and her friends were practicing in Milan. Augustine was impressed that Ambrose rebuked the practice and again decided to consider Christianity.
Ambrose and many of his era including Augustine had rejected the Judeo/Christian model of the early Church and were looking to practice a Platonism/Christian model (i.e. the "School of Plato" including both the Gnosticism of Plato and the Philosophy of Aristotle) of Christianity.
Pope Leo I (400-461 AD) is loosely considered to be the first Pope of the 4th Church era the Church at Thyatira -- The Roman Catholic Church.
Judeo/Christian would come back into practice in the 6th Church era with the Church at Philadelphia -- The friendship (Evangelical) Church.
Note: the church at Rome "Vatican" didn't exist in the early Church years. The Council of Nicea was primarily hosted and represented by the stronger more influential Eastern Churches. The Church of Rome sending only two Presbyters and no Bishops to the very important Council of Nicea.
by David Anson Brown
Who was St Ambrose of Milan? YouTube
Augustine (Part 1) YouTube
Augustine (Part 2) YouTube
The 7 Churches Eras of Christianity Daily Christian Devotional
Updates: December 6, 2017
President Trump's speech was exceptionally well implemented. It couldn't possibly have been given with any more meaning, compassion and impactful importance then what the President delivered. Well done President Trump! ~ David Anson Brown
President Trump: US Recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's Capital 12/06/2017
Live Stream TV News YouTube
Trump to Announce Jerusalem as Capital of Israel
The Jerusalem Post Article
US to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital
BBC Article
Nettanyahu on Trump's Jerusalem Declaration: Our National, Historical Identity Being Recognized Today
Haaretz Article
Five things to watch in Trump's Jerusalem speech
Yahoo Article
The Czech Republic follows Trump's lead and recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital
Business Insider Article
Updates: November 24, 2017
The Ancient Roman world YouTube
Constantine the Great YouTube
Apostolic Fathers YouTube
Christian Apologists and Early Heresies YouTube
Worship in the Didache SermonAudio
Updates: November 12, 2017
Understanding Christian Church History!
Creeds and Councils: What are they? YouTube Council of Constantinople YouTube Council of Chalcedon YouTube Great Schism of 1054 A.D. YouTube
The Protestant Reformation
Martin Luther and the Heidelberg Disputation YouTube Luther's Reformation Breakthrough YouTube The Importance of the Reformation YouTube
500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation
Movie: Luther (2003)
During the early 16th Century [Oct. 31, 1517 AD] idealistic German monk Martin Luther, disgusted by the materialism in the church, begins the dialogue that will lead to the Protestant Reformation. Luther 2003 Movie Trailer YouTube
Kennedy Classics - The Reformation: Then and Now YouTube
Hundreds expected to attend celebration of 500th anniversary of Protestant Reformation
CJonline.com Article
Discovery Institute fellow: The Protestant Reformation, 500 years on
NewsOK Article
John Wycliffe the Morning Star of the Reformation
ThirdMill Article
FoxNews: The Reformation, led by Luther, failed. Here's how we could finally reunite the Christian church Article
Saint Anselm of Canterbury
Wikipedia Article
Note: Anselm of Canterbury is credited with changing the church focus from a Catholic Works doctrine to a Protestant Knowledge doctrine.
The 7 Church Letters of Revelation from Jesus Christ
1. The Church at Ephesus -- The teaching instructing Church - Faith in Jesus exhibited by a personal knowledge of Jesus
2. The Church at Smyrna -- The martyred persecuted Church - Faith in Jesus exhibited by total commitment even to death
3. The Church at Pergamos -- The worldly government Church - Faith in Jesus exhibited by current worldly status
4. The Church at Thyatira -- The Roman Catholic Church - Faith in Jesus exhibited by works i.e. Penance, Priests, Saint worship, Purgatory
5. The Church at Sardis -- The Protestant Church - Faith in Jesus exhibited by knowledge i.e. creeds, confessions, statements
6. The Church at Philadelphia -- The friendship (Evangelical) Church - Faith in Jesus exhibited by a personal relationship with Jesus
7. The Church at Laodicea -- The modern comfortable (Emergent) Church - Faith in Jesus exhibited by self-acceptance [i.e I accept the way I am and the way I live my life so Jesus must accept me this way also]
Updates: October 2, 2017
Christmas Day - Savior Day!
Approximately the day that Jesus Christ the Savior of the world entered into the world! -- The Evangelical Christmas
Christmas Day is Monday, December 25th 2017
Selected Christmas Sermon for 2017
Christ The Savior and King -- Luke 1:26-38, Isaiah 9:6, Daniel 7:14
Source: Bloomsburg Community Church 2009
... that the abundant grace might through the Thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God
Thanksgiving Day is Thursday, November 23rd 2017
We having the same Spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; Knowing that He which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present (in heaven) us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the Thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man (soul) is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. ~ 2 Corinthians 4:13-18
Source: The Evangelical Thanksgiving
Kennedy Classics - Pilgrims Give Thanks YouTube
Kennedy Classics - The Pilgram Legacy YouTube
Holy Week (Passover) - Friday March 23rd 2018 ---> Easter Sunday April 1st 2018
Pentecost (Shavuot) - May 20th 2018
Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) - Sunset on Sunday, September 9th ---> Tuesday, September 11th (IST)
Thanksgiving (Feast of Tabernacles) - Thursday, November 22nd 2018
Christmas Day 'Savior Day' - The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) - Tuesday, December 25th 2018
Note: Rosh Hashanah the Jewish Feast is observed every year by Judaism. The Christian fulfillment of Rosh Hashanah the Feast of Trumpets happens only once [when God the Father calls the Bride of the Son of God the Christian Church into Heaven]. Likewise there is only one Christian Holy Week (Passover) Feast fulfilled in Jesus Christ and only one Pentecost (Shavuot) fulfilled in the Holy Spirit. ~ David Anson Brown
Holy Convocations, A Statute Forever, All Generations
Schedule of The Lord's 8 Holy Feast Days --- Spring Feasts: Holy Week is comprised of the four Salvation Feasts {Sabbath (Rest), The Lord's Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits (Easter)} --- Pentecost (Shavuot) [Acts 2:1 - Church Age] is the Middle Feast: The Sanctification Feast --- The Fall Feasts: The three Redemption Feasts are comprised of {Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) possibly the Rapture dates of the Christian Church, Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot)}
Salvation Feasts (Spring Feasts) - Jesus' First Coming
1. Sabbath (Rest) - Saturdays - fulfilled (Holy Week) at the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem
2. The Lord's Passover - 14th day of Nisan - fulfilled (Holy Week) at the Last Supper
3. Unleavened Bread - 15th day of Nisan - fulfilled (Holy Week) on the Cross
4. Firstfruits [Born Again] (Easter) - first Sunday after the Feast of The Lord's Passover - fulfilled (Holy Week) in the Resurrection
Sanctification Feast (Summer Feast or Middle Feast) - The work of the Holy Spirit
5. Pentecost (Shavuot) Acts 2:1 - 50 Days (7 Sabbaths + 1 day) from the Sabbath Day before the Feast of Firstfruits or the 7th Sunday (49 days) after the Feast of Firstfruits (Easter Sunday) - currently in progress
Final Redemption Feasts (Fall Feasts) - Jesus' Second Coming
6. Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah)
7. Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)
8. Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot)
Holy Week (Passover) - Friday March 23, 2018 ---> Easter Sunday April 1, 2018
The Feast of Pentecost (Shavuot) - Sunday May 20, 2018
The Fall Feasts (Rosh Hashanah) - Sunday Sept. 9-11, 2018 at sundown in Jerusalem, Israel
Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) - Tuesday Sept. 18-19 at sundown in Jerusalem, Israel
Christmas Day 'Savior Day' - Tuesday December 25, 2018
The Rapture [the end of the current Christian Church Age - the Church is called into Heaven] and [on] the Jewish Feast of Trumpets.
The Rapture and the Feast of Trumpets Youtube
Note: There are actually 8 prescribed Feast Days not 7 in Leviticus Chapter 23. The Feast Day of Sabbath [the Triumphal Entry (Palm Saturday) of Jesus Entering into Jerusalem for our Rest is often omitted by modern teachers]. The 7 Feast days comes from an ancient Alexandria, Egypt spiritualist teaching of the scriptures in equating the Feast Days of Israel with the 7 lamp bulbs of the Temple candlestick and therefore one of the 8 Feast Days had to be subtracted to get to the 7 to match the Temple lampstand. The 7 Feast Days is not a Biblical teaching it is an extra-biblical teaching. The 8 Feast Days is the correct Biblical teaching.
Rosh Hashanah the Jewish Feast is observed every year by Judaism. The Christian fulfillment of Rosh Hashanah the Feast of Trumpets happens only once [when God the Father calls the Bride of the Son of God the Christian Church into Heaven]. Likewise there is only one Christian Holy Week (Passover) Feast fulfilled in Jesus Christ and only one Pentecost (Shavuot) fulfilled in the Holy Spirit.
Countdown: 2017 Feast of Trumpets (Jewish Rosh Hashanah) starts at sundown on Wednesday September 20th until sundown on Friday September 22nd.
Updates: October 30, 2017
Jesus Christ the Lord of the Living
Shortly before his crucifixion, Jesus was questioned by the Sadducees about the concept of a resurrection. In order to demonstrate that there will be a future resurrection from the dead, Jesus told them: "But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken to you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." (Mt. 22:31-32)
"However, among the heathen Druids, Samhain or Saman, is the lord of the dead and that lord is none other than Satan himself! Therefore, when people celebrate the dead, they unknowingly honor the devil!"
It is important to understand what Jesus meant by these profound words "God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." The Sadducees to whom Jesus was speaking did not believe in a resurrection. They also accepted only the Torah as holy scripture. With this in mind, Jesus quoted the Torah (Ex. 3:6) to prove that a resurrection would one day occur. He did this by illustrating that long after the death of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God continued to refer to Himself as their God: "I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob," not "I was the God..."
The point Jesus was making was that although these patriarchs were dead (Heb. 11:13), they will live again in the resurrection, as will all of God’s people (Dan. 12:2; Lk 14:14; Jn 5:28; Rev. 20:4-6). Although these men were dead, they were as good as alive at that moment because God’s promise of a resurrection is immutable (Rom. 4:17).
With this understanding, Jesus’ words take on greater meaning. The God of the Bible is the GOD OF THE LIVING, not the God of the dead! To worship the true God, we should not celebrate rites dedicated to the dead.
Who is the Lord of the Dead?
However, among the heathen Druids, Samhain or Saman, is the lord of the dead and that lord is none other than Satan himself! Therefore, when people celebrate the dead, they unknowingly honor the devil!
Fall/Harvest Festival versus Halloween?
Best Answer: Every year, millions of children throughout the world celebrate the custom of Halloween. During this celebration, they dress up in costumes, parade through neighborhoods knocking on doors, and declare the words "trick or treat," expecting to receive candy or some sort of gift. But is Halloween something Christians should celebrate? Is this the kind of festival Jesus Christ would want us to observe?
Today, Halloween is celebrated on the evening of All Hallows or All Saints Day. Because days were customarily reckoned as beginning at sunset, Halloween was celebrated in anticipation of November 1, which was dedicated to the Lord of the Dead. Halloween is founded on a fear of the spirits of the dead possessing those who are alive. This fear is driven by a belief that man has an immortal soul. It is important to understand that the Bible clearly declares that only God has immortality at this time. The apostle Paul, when writing to Timothy about Jesus Christ, said, "Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; Whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to Whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen." (1 Tim. 6:16)
First, understand that although Halloween professes to be a Christian holiday, it is anything but Christian. This custom was celebrated by the pagan world centuries before the New Testament Church was ever founded and it was not introduced into the professing Christian world until centuries after the deaths of the apostles. In fact, if you search the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, you will not find a single line advocating the observance of this holiday or anything like it. On the contrary, God condemns such practices throughout the scriptures.
A Strange Superstition
Halloween is one of the strangest holidays mankind celebrates. It is an amazing paradox, an unusual mixture of Christian terms and ancient pagan religious rites. Moreover, despite the technological and intellectual advancements our society has made, it still clings to ignorance of the past. As a result, we celebrate ancient superstitions by partaking in pagan rites, dressing up as witches, goblins, ghosts, skeletons, and demons.
What is this holiday? Where did it come from and why is it celebrated? It certainly did not come from the Bible or the early Christian church raised up by Jesus Christ and the apostles (Mt. 16:13-17). Consider what authorities say regarding the origin and practice of Halloween.
Ralph Linton, on page four of his book, Halloween Through Twenty Centuries, explains the connection between the current practice of Halloween and a pagan rite practiced by the ancient Druids.
"The American celebration rests upon Scottish and Irish folk customs which can be traced in direct line from pre-Christian times. Although Halloween has become a night of rollicking fun, superstitious spells, and eerie games that people take only half seriously, its beginnings were quite otherwise. The earliest Halloween celebrations were held by the Druids in honor of Samhain, Lord of the Dead, whose festival fell on November 1."
Further, the Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th edition, Volume 12 says: "It was a Druidic belief that on the eve of this festival, Saman, lord of death, called together the wicked souls that within the past 12 months had been condemned to inhabit the bodies of animals..." (pp. 847-858)
The Yearbook of English Festivals by Dorothy Gladys Spicer adds the following: "All Hallows' Eve or All Hallow E'en, with its tradition of witches, ghosts, hobgoblins and spirits, its games and incantations, still is a gay time for pranks and parties in many North country homes. Fun-loving Americans have borrowed from their British ancestors many Hallow E'en games such as apple-bobbing, nut roasting and tossing of apple parings. Transplanted to the New World soil, the old practices have become revitalized, and currently are observed with more enthusiasm than in the country of their birth."
"To ancient Druids, the end of October commemorated the festival of the waning year, when the sun began his downward course and ripened grain was garnered from the fields." "Samhain, or 'Summer's End,' as this feast to the dying sun was called, was celebrated with human sacrifice, augury and prayers; for at this season spirits walked, and evil had power over souls of men."
"Not until the fourth century did the pagan vigil for the god of light give way to All Hallows, the mass for Christian saints; and not until the tenth, did the Druids' death feast become All Souls' the day of prayer for souls that had entered rest. Cakes for the dead were substituted for human sacrifice, fortune-telling for heathen augury, lighted candles for the old Baal fires."
Far from being Christian, Halloween is an old pagan holiday masquerading as though it were one of the customs of the church. Despite this, professing Christians encourage their children to get into the spirit of this pagan custom!
The celebration of Halloween is clearly a relic of pagan times and superstitious tradition. Notice what the authoritative Encyclopedia Britannica says about this holiday.
"It long antedates Christianity. The two chief characteristics of ancient Halloween were the lighting of bonfires and the belief that this is the one night in the year during which ghosts and witches are most likely to wander about. History shows that the main celebrations of Halloween were purely 'Druidical,' and this is further proved by the fact that in parts of Ireland October 31 is still known as Oidhch Shamhna, 'Vigil of Saman.'"
Saman or Samhain was the pagan lord of the dead among the Druids. However, this pagan holiday was not celebrated among the Druids alone. It has been and is currently celebrated around the world in different forms, but always with the same general pattern and meaning.
Halloween was also a [ancient] Roman festival. Consider the words of the Encyclopedia Britannica regarding this celebration.
"On the Druidic ceremonies were grafted some of the characteristics of the Roman festival in honor of Pomona held about November 1, in which nuts and apples, representing the winter store of fruits, played an important part."
Halloween can be identified in various forms all around the world. It is found in both Christian and non-Christian countries. This is because its origins predate Christianity. Marie Trevelyan, in her book Folk Stories of Wales, writes the following.
"In Wales it was firmly believed that on All Hallows' Eve the spirit of a departed person was to be seen at midnight on every crossroad and every stile." (p. 254)
The practices involved in Halloween are also found in Mexico. In the book Adonis by Frazer, the practice of Halloween is clearly identified, not only by its date, but also by its symbolism and rituals.
"The Miztecs of Mexico believed that the dead came back in the twelfth month of the year, which corresponded to our November. On this day of All Souls the houses were decked out to welcome the spirits. Jars of food and drink were set on a table in the principal room, and the family went out with the torches to meet the ghosts and invite them to enter. Then, returning to the house they knelt around the table, and with their eyes bent on the ground, prayed the souls to accept the offerings." (p. 244)
The elements of this holiday are also found in Cambodia. According to E. Aymonier in the work Notice sur le Cambodge, people would chant, "O all your ancestors, who are departed, deign to come and eat what we have prepared for you, and to bless your posterity and to make it happy." (p. 59)
It is clear that the trappings of Halloween have covered nations around the world. It is equally clear that the practices embraced by this holiday are not Christian at all.
Its Symbols and Superstitions
Understand the shocking truth from history as to why this holiday was celebrated! Ruth Kelly, a recognized authority on Halloween, wrote that because the Druids believed in the immortality of the soul, they concluded that a person’s spirit would pass from them at death and seek out another body in which to reside.
"The pagan Druid priests . . . taught the immortality of the soul, that it passed from one body to another at death . . . They believed that on the last night of the old year the lord of death gathered together the souls of all those who had died in the passing year and had been condemned to live in the bodies of animals, to decree what forms they should inhabit for the next twelve months. He could be coaxed to give the lighter sentence by gifts and prayers." (The Book of Halloween, p. 10)
Many Druids believed that black cats were in fact reincarnated human beings, and that the Priest had the ability to divine the future through them. If any crossed your path, however, it would mean they might posses you, a very bad omen. Halloween was celebrated to preserve in the minds of the people the false doctrine that the soul is immortal and that the dead are not really dead. The Celtic peoples believed that the souls of good men went to paradise while the souls of those who did evil were reincarnated in the form of animals for a year. The only chance these disembodied souls had for a decent afterlife was to return on this day of Samhain, and find a human body to possess. It is important to understand that November was regarded by the Celtic people as the beginning of the New Year. Therefore, it was a perfect time for their priests to remember and celebrate the dead.
Source: Fall/Harvest Festival versus Halloween Trick or Treating?
Yahoo Article
Reformation Day and All Saints Day 2014
Yeah, everybody knows 31 October is the day Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the church door and started the Reformation. Everybody knows it's Halloween too. What does this mean?
The Origin of All Saints' Day
So when did we start having a Feast of All Hallows on 1 November? Well, we started having a Feast of All Hallows, or Saints, before it was on 1 November! In the Eastern Church, all the saints are collectively remembered on the first Sunday after Pentecost. It really got rolling when the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire Leo VI (886-911) built a church in honour of his wife when she died, but as she was not a recognised saint he dedicated the church to all the saints, so that she would be included in a commemoration of all saints whether recognised as such or not.
Source: Reformation Day and All Saints Day
Past Elder Article
Halloween, Scorpio, Reincarnation and the Birth of Astrology
If you live in the Northern hemisphere, and if you are lucky enough to reside in a place that boasts four seasons, take a look around and you will see the passionate love-making of Lady Death and Laddie Life. If ever their love affair had an anniversary, it is Oct 31, Halloween. And the product of their illustrious adulation are the twins: Astrology and Science. Since Death and Life are lovers, let me assure you, that you need not be afraid to die, just as you should not fear life. For in nature, mythology, astrology, and science, they are bound together, opposite yet the same, like you and your mirror image.
Note: what this awkward and inaccurate article is really describing is a type of occultism - i.e. Jewish Kabbalah. October 31st during the day is All Saints Day and Protestant Reformation Day however in the Kabbalah Jewish tradition the new day begins in the evening at sundown. Therefore sundown on October 31st is actually November 1st to an occult Kabbalah observer.
Source: Halloween, Scorpio, Reincarnation and the Birth of Astrology
HUFFPOST Article
Sundown and Yom Kippur
Note: All Jewish holidays begin at sundown because the Jewish people believe that the day begins in the evening and ends the next evening. Yom Kippur begins at sundown on the day before the date specified on the Jewish calendar for the holiday and ends an hour after sunset on the specified date.
Refrence Article
The History Behind Samhain
All Hallow Mass
Around the eighth century or so, the Catholic Church decided to use November 1st as All Saints Day. This was actually a pretty smart move on their part – the local pagans were already celebrating that day anyway, so it made sense to use it as a church holiday.
All Saints’ became the festival to honor any saint who didn’t already have a day of his or her own. The mass which was said on All Saints’ was called Allhallowmas – the mass of all those who are hallowed. The night before naturally became known as All Hallows Eve, and eventually morphed into what we call Halloween.
Note: Samhain would be considered a Kabbalah Occult event.
Also Note: All Saints Day is observed loosely starting from Oct. 31st until the first Sunday in November and commonly as the "Triduum of Allhallowtide" the three days of Oct. 31 - Nov. 2.
The History Behind Samhain
ThoughtCo Article
All Saints' Day
In the Western Christian practice, the liturgical celebration begins at Vespers [an evening usually midweek church service] on the evening of 31 October, All Hallows' Eve (All Saints' Eve), and ends at the close of 1 November. It is thus the day before All Souls' Day, which commemorates the faithful departed. In many traditions, All Saints' Day is part of the triduum of Allhallowtide, which lasts three days from 31 October to 2 November inclusive.
Wikipedia Article
Updates: July 30, 2017
"You can have a personal relationship with God." We like to pull this amazing declaration out of our evangelism toolboxes, to focus on the fact that a relationship with God is actually possible for human beings. This fact is at the wondrous heart of biblical, evangelical Christianity.
"You can have a personal relationship with God." We like to pull this amazing declaration out of our evangelism toolboxes, to focus on the fact that a relationship with God is actually possible for human beings. This fact is at the ...
However, another word from the above statement also deserves our attention: personal. More than just a modifier of "relationship," "personal" points to the fact that God Himself must be personal in order to relate to us.
How does Almighty God pull off being personal? According to theologian Millard Erickson, "The Holy Spirit is the point at which the Trinity becomes personal to the believer."
1. The Spirit is the actual presence of God, active and alive, within Christians. Another theologian wrote, "Though we speak of the Spirit as the third Person [of the Trinity], from the standpoint of experience Spirit is first, because it is the Spirit that enables us to experience God's ... drawing near."
2. Think about all these ideas regarding God the Holy Spirit: personal, active, alive, experiential, and "drawing near." As the very presence of God within us, the Holy Spirit does all sorts of things, among them producing [righteous] fruit, giving gifts, and making [us] holy [Christian Sanctification].
Another thought about [Holy] spiritual fruit is worth mentioning. These nine elements — multiple parts of a singular fruit, like a cluster of grapes — perfectly describe life in the [Holy] Spirit. W. T. Conner, long-time theologian at Southwestern Seminary, phrased it perfectly in saying that the Spirit-filled life is moral and ethical, not "an emotional orgy. ... Paul was no wild enthusiast. His religion [traditional Christianity] always had at its center the element of rational and moral control. Christian character and conduct were the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit."
Source: sbclife.net
Updates: July 16, 2017
- Christian Covenant Zionism is primarily focused on the future Christian Church - Millennial Reign government, administrations, individual functions, etc.
- Christian Dispensation Zionism is primarily focused on the future Jewish Israel - Millennial Reign Temple, government, administrations, etc.
Zionism: Christian Zionism by David Krusch
jewishvirtuallibrary.org/christian-zionism
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ)
www.ifcj.org
Haaretz: Christian Zionism Losing Its Israel Grip on Evangelicals
whtt.org/haaretz-article-exposes-decline-christian-zionism-evan
Biblical Christian Zionism (MP3's)
davidpawson.org/resources/series/biblical-christian-zionism
Note: the Listen option is one-click but the Download MP3 option brings up a popup screen that also needs to be clicked.
Christian Zionists are charged with being politically dangerous, ... They are also said to be theologically heretical for two reasons.
On the one hand, they [Zionists] teach the very opposite of Replacement theology (the notion that the church has replaced Israel as God’s people to achieve his purpose) which has been part of Christian tradition for centuries.
On the other hand, the Zionist conviction that God has brought Israel back to her own land in our day has become entangled with Dispensational theology, which is largely discredited in Britain but still widely held in America.
These three [MP3] talks are an integral series, aiming to lay a foundation for Biblical Christian Zionism in the New Testament. They expose the differences between this and both Replacement and Dispensational viewpoints, one too anti-Israel and the other too pro-Israel. Given in March 2007 by David Pawson
Updates: July 2, 2017
When the Protestant Reformation officially occurred on Oct. 31, 1157 AD with the Catholic Monk Martin Luther posting of his Ninety-Five Theses complaints against various Catholic church practices and some abuses. The Protestant Reformation in splitting from the Catholic church actually split into two Protestant factions the Evangelical faction and the Reformed Calvinism faction.
Evangelical Protestant Christianity tends to view a fallen mankind as capable of doing good and generally being pleasing to a Good, Loving, Caring, Faithful and approachable Father God.
Calvinism Protestant Christianity tends to view a fallen mankind as unable to please God and tends to see the Father God in a more stern and unapproachable way.
The word Protestant means Pro "in favor of" and Testament "witness" the Christian Protestant movement is not an anti-Catholic movement it is a movement that is "in favor" and for primarily three Christian traditions that Christians felt were being neglected or denied by the Catholic church.
1. Sola Scripture - the Bible is the only authority for Christian doctrine and the main authority for Christian living.
2. Sola Fida - meaning that "Faith" not our works but Faith in the finished works [cross and resurrection] of Jesus Christ is our primary acceptable entrance into heaven.
3. Sola Sacerdos - interaction between God and mankind is via a "Sacred Priesthood" the Priesthood (1 Peter 2:9) {Royal Melchizedek Priesthood} is available to all Christians at all times by and thru the agency of the Holy Spirit and is not strictly a human appointed priesthood as had developed in the Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches.
by David Anson Brown
Updates: June 4, 2017
Video: Bride will be Raptured during a Feast of Trumpets "Rosh Hashanah" by Mark Biltz Trumpets YouTube
Feast of Trumpets (Leviticus 23:24)
The two-day Jewish Feast of Trumpets is interesting as it is both the next Biblical Feast (Leviticus 23) in order to be prophetically fulfilled “in their seasons” (Leviticus 23:4) and it is also considered to be the Feast time that provides the possible and even the probable end (i.e. Rapture event) of the current Christian Church Era.
The current New Testament Christian Church started on a Feast Day the (Sunday) Feast of Firstfruits (Easter Sunday). The next Feast the Feast of Trumpets is the start of the Jewish New Year the civil (secular) New Year.
The Christian Church would be considered to end sometime on the two-day Jewish New Year (Feast of Trumpets) Festival in that prophetically the prophetic calendar now switches from the Gentile timeline back to the *secular Jewish timeline in order to eventually complete the prophetic 70th Week (Daniel 9:27) of the famous prophecy of Daniel’s 70 Weeks (Daniel 9:24) prophecy.
- The civil or secular nature of the Jewish New Year is that the New Year in itself does not directly initiate the start of Daniel's 70 Week. The 70th Week is actually initiated slightly later by a set of separate actions and conditions i.e. a Jewish Temple existing in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount and by various political covenants and developments.
Updates: April 21, 2017
I have recently been studying early-church history including Roman Emperors, Crusaders, Nights Templers and Spanish Conquistadors. Much of what these groups were doing and attempting to do was.
1. Going to Jerusalem attempting to find traditional Christianity [though they often were looking for an artifacts based Christianity]
2. Taking that Jerusalem based original Christianity out into the world
This video is a good summary of where modern Christianity should be though granted there are several nuances where the video is wrong i.e. teaching only 7 Feast Days when in actuality there are the 8 Biblical Leviticus chapter 23 Feast Days starting with the often left out "Sabbath Feast Day" (the Triumphal Entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem often taught as Palm Sunday but is actually a Saturday Sabbath event in the Bible).
Leaving out the unauthenticated artifacts of times past and instead focusing on the correct Acts 2:1 "one accord" Jerusalem schedule is a desired and reasonable place for the modern Christian.
Actually if we neglect the ancient teachings and timelines of the Bible then we are mostly left with modern interpretations of what someone thinks the Bible should say.
One of the safest and best ways to understand the Bible is to do it in the original timeline and context of the ancient Feast Days of Israel.
the coming Jerusalem centered Kingdom on Earth of Jesus Christ
The Four Dispensations of The Bible's New Testament
In the Apostle Paul's trip to Rome [recorded in the Bible's Book of Acts by the early Church Historian Luke] are some of the most codded and cryptic passages of the Bible's New Testament. Was Luke aided by the Apostle Paul, putting forth the future of the Church Era and an End Time scenario that Christians could glean from to understand events both current and future?
Summary: The Apostle Paul's Journey to Rome - The Four Dispensations of the Times since the 1st Coming of Jesus Christ seem to have been mapped out and enacted throughout Paul's Journey to Rome.
1. The Apostles Dispensation (Acts 27:1-5)
2. The Common Christian Church Age (Acts 27:6-44)
3. The Martyred Saints of Revelation Tribulation (Acts 28:1-15)
4. The 1,000 year Millennial Kingdom Reign of Jesus Christ on earth (Acts 28:16-31)
Source: Common Christian Community Daily Devotional
Recap: the slight problem with the teaching in the video is that the teacher Mark Biltz is using the traditions of men to interpret the Bible instead of using the Bible to interpret the Bible. For example it is the tradition of men that there are only seven Feast Days yet the Bible in Leviticus chapter 23 commands eight Feast Days. As Christians it's imperative that we have an accurate Biblical message derived from the Bible (usually the reliable KJV) and not just the constant parroting of slightly inaccurate teachings that the Christian Church has become mired in.
By David Anson Brown
Updates: March 2017
not as specific future events
I have been watching some YouTube videos about End Time events. Each new year brings the potential of End Time prophetic events and already 2017 as a year of change has the potential to begin a significant new era. I certainly don't think 2017 is the end of anything and more likely it is the beginning of a new season however with so much change happening so fast it will be a good idea to get familiar with some of these current concepts so they don't surprise us and possibly confuse us all the more. If I see anything else interesting or that is helpful I'll also post it.
In the last few years there have been some significant changes in the global society. i.e. Pope Francis (2013), Brexit (2016), Trump (2017). The Bible is mostly centered on Israel and Europe regarding the End Times.
I'm not a fan of 1 person prophecy shows. I think that prophecy should be discussed in a group to help provide a better balance and should maintain traditional Protestant Church traditions and creeds. Also taking care not to place America completely front and center in End Times prophecy as that is difficult to do and maintain a traditional Biblical view since the Bible is mostly centered on Israel and Europe regarding the End Times.
All the best to everyone!
David Anson Brown
YouTube 5 Ways the World Has CHANGED since 58th Inauguration of TRUMP | Can LIBERTY Exist without Religion?
Pastor Steve Cioccolanti is declaring the start of global revival. This teaching begins an important series on Good Government called "Is America a Christian Nation?"
YouTube September 23, 2017 | Greatest End Times Sign | Discoverer Interviewed | Revelation 12 Sign!
Rex Bear of LeakProject.com sits down with Scott Clarke of erfministries.com to discuss bible prophecy, signs in the heavens, the mark of the beast, biblical wars, the rapture, the tribulation, next September 23, and what 2017 may hold for those who dwell on earth … and so much more. Don’t miss this interview!
YouTube The RAPTURE before February 17th 2017?
YouTube DID MICAH SEE THE RAPTURE IN A VISION?
Teaching on dispensations and corrupt bible versions
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