1Timothy115

We had a conference call beginning at 6:30 pm. It was good to hear familiar voices but, I still miss the gathering of saints in our sanctuary building.

Yep, I wouldn't want my computer to catch anything I had either, no viruses or bugs to make it sick. Should I wear a mask while using my computer?

Matt, who can criticize for you doing what the Lord leads you to do and the congregation obviously agreed.

Here in Ohio we are 10 or less at a time in groups. So, our church is having daily conference calls and intend to go live Sunday morning on Facebook. We just finished our 2nd day of conference call.

" if i say Satan does not exist," You are denying the scriptures. But no one here is upset. We are just pointing out the truth in the Bible, in context. "i wish Jesus Christ would touch me and save me from this evil within me" Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. We want you to be saved too.

I advise caution until you have time to look more closely at the New Testament, here are a few verses you may want to ponder while you research your questions. God, that is Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son, was manifest in the flesh (John 1:14) for the main reason of sacrifice for sin (1 John 2:2). God does not tempt us (James 1:13). There were other reasons God appeared in the flesh, you are correct God and Satan are against each other and do not cooperate. One reason Jesus went into the wilderness was to provide us knowledge that our Savior and sin bearer understood our frailties and could have compassion and forgiveness of sin (Hebrews 4:15). You are on the right path here (1 John 1:5). Satan is not alone in his attack, he has the glitter of the world and our fallen nature to work with (James 1:12-15) gives insight. But, the greatest insight can be provided by a careful study of Satan's temptations used on Jesus Christ in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). It was both an attack against Jesus physical body and against His mind, Satan is well aware of attack on multiple fronts. Satan uses very similar if not identical temptations on us today. We may be weary from the day's work and hungry, it's easy to become irritable, now a family member or friend wants our time, we need the car to help the family or friend, the car battery is dead, what are we to do? Jesus taught us what to do, with our breath, to utilize God's word--(Matthew 4:4). Hebrews 13:5 "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." I only hope someday I will overcome all my temptations and respond the way Jesus did. May God richly bless your effort to become like Him.

Dave, I'm reading Caring Enough to Confront by David Augsburger right now so I could list loads of his thoughts. Don't worry--I won't, just one to turn anger into love. 1 Peter 3:16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. Keep on my brother and God bless you and your wife, Dave in Ohio

The United States has become so consumed with ["rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." Colossians 2:8] and ["the lust of the flesh" 1 John 2.16] and other lusts, I can see how God might give them the leader that would reflect their hearts. Sorrowfully, we who love Christ and reject the worldliness described in our Bibles, must also live in this nation with God's blessings and His condemnation. So, yes pray for our leaders and hope that we don't waste any more time getting God's Gospel message to our families, friends, neighbors, and acquaintances.

I put this in our lounge to prevent folks with a need for truth from even contemplating this as a source.

The Third Jesus by Deepak Chopra Began: Monday, February 10, 2020 It becomes very apparent early in his book, Mr. Chopra desires to recreate Jesus Christ in his own image. This is nothing new. Men have attempted to make the Lord Jesus into their idea of utopia since before Jesus condescended in the flesh. Much like Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 3:1-5), Chopra would have you bow down and worship the image he constructs. I could sum up the ‘image’ Chopra attempts to erect of Jesus Christ by his following thought. “I want to offer the possibility that Jesus was truly, as he proclaimed, a savior. Not the savior, not the one and only Son of God. Rather, Jesus embodied the highest level of enlightenment. He spent his brief adult life describing it, teaching it, and passing it on to future generations. Jesus intended to save the world by showing others the path to God-consciousness.” pp 9-10. If Chopra were a Christian and led by the Holy Spirit to understand, he would not refer to Jesus Christ as “a savior.” Instead he would refer to Jesus Christ as the Savior he denies in the next sentence. Where did Chopra develop such ideas about Jesus? His introduction tells us his idea was planted by “Christian brothers from Ireland” and “prayers at the Catholic school I attended and Vedic chants at home.” pp 1, 4. It would be easy to see how repetitious Catholic prayers, Catholic dogma, and chants from Vedas a religion of pantheism, karmic retribution, and reincarnation might form a distorted view of Biblical Jesus. He also denies the validity of the New Testament writings. “Jesus spoke of the necessity to believe in him as the road to salvation, but those words were put into his mouth by followers writing decades later. The New Testament is an interpretation of Jesus by people who felt reborn but also left behind.” p 10. References to Hindu religious practice occur in what appears to be an effort to intertwine eastern mysticism with Christianity, at the very least to level the two as viable paths to God. To any Christian who walks daily in God’s truth and is led by the Holy Spirit of the Bible, his effort is inadequate. A smattering of Biblical scripture out of context is given to support and elevate mystic Hinduism to Christ’s own Words. Chopra’s confusion is further demonstrated by some statements toward the end of chapter one. “Westerners are scornful of outsiders coming in to claim Jesus as a teacher on the order of Buddha and Muhammad instead of seeing him as the one and only Son of God.” p 20. We Christians see the error of Chopra’s statement, that Jesus is the “only Son of God,” knowing Jesus to be the “only begotten Son of God” John 3:18. Deepak doesn’t stop there, “If Jesus rose to the highest level of enlightenment, why should he be unique in that regard? Buddha may be his equal (hundreds of millions of followers believe so), along with Vedic rishis like Vasishtha and Vyassa, who didn’t happen to have religions named after them.” p 20. According to Chopra, Jesus taught there are nine ingredients essential to a spiritual life. Almost as if people could throw these things in a bowl, by their own power, mix up a cake of spirituality from within themselves. At first glance they look similar to teaching of the Bible. Here is the seventh ingredient on Chopra’s list: “Faith—When you stop believing in the illusion of the material world and see everything for what it really is—light—you have faith. The reason all things are given to someone with faith is very simple: The light can shape itself into anything at will. Physical obstacles can’t stop the free flow of light.” p 24 At this point it is time for me to stop wasting time reading this mixture of sheer nonsense mixed with an appeal to be as confused as the author. I decided to resign from nonsense and embrace Biblical Jesus Christ some time ago. I lost my confusion about truth and life while looking at myself through God’s truth in His preserved Word, the Bible. The faith I received was by grace from God not some inner specter conjured up by silent contemplation. I stopped on page 25 of this book with over 241 pages. You can only walk so far through the garbage pile before you begin to smell just like it. I wouldn’t recommend this book for anything other than a source of paper for recycle. Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Maybe its not that other Christians avoid political involvement, I can't speak for them. Myself, I am in favor of political personalities who have a proven record of supporting my Biblically based values.

A look at Matthew 16 vs dogma The best commentary on scripture is scripture. Matthew 16:13-23 13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 20 Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. 21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. 22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. Discussion: Who is the subject of the discussion in Matthew 16:13-23? It is Jesus1. Who is the subject of the New Testament? It is Jesus2. Do other Gospels provide context for Matthew 16? Yes, Mark 8:27-33 (no mention of rock). Luke 9:18-22 (no mention of rock). 3 Matthew 18:18. 4 John 20:23. As a result of this scripture does Peter ever refer to himself as the rock or even a bishop (pastor) of any church? No, in fact he acknowledges his sinfulness, Luke 5:8 “When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” To whom is Jesus speaking in Matthew 16:13-23? All the disciples present but primarily the 12 apostles. In Peter’s only reference5 to “rock” in 1 Peter 2:8 he refers to The Lord Jesus Christ. “And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.” Even here, he refers to the O.T. where Isaiah 8:14 prophesied the future coming of Christ. It could be easy to make an errant casual determination of what Matthew 16:13-23 says. When some truth is mixed with an error it can appear to be plausible. Once an error occurs and additional dogma is adopted with it; it becomes difficult to correct. Once accepted and purported as truth, personal pride and reputation can play a strong role in perpetuating an error. Further, error becomes a tradition among those who accept and adhere to it. When power and wealth are added to pride and tradition, the error becomes nearly impossible to correct. When generations are trained to accept an error it may be so strongly entrenched, logical and obvious refutation is ignored. There may be good intention for the truth which accompanies the error; but the pathway to hell is paved with good intentions. Notes: 1 The obvious subject of Matthew 16:13 is Jesus Christ our Lord. “…Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” Also, in verse 15, “But whom say ye that I am?” 2 The word rock (singular) is found in the Bible 106 times. 54 times they are direct or indirect references to God and particularly Christ, i.e. Deuteronomy 32:15 “…the Rock of his salvation” and 1 Corinthians 10:4 “…that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.” 3 Matthew 18:18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 4 John 20:22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: John 20:23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. 5 1 Peter 2:4 “To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,” Here Peter refers to Christ as a “living stone” and in the verses which follow as the “chief corner stone”, “the stone which the builders disallowed”, and “a stone of stumbling.” Addendum: Many things have been attributed to Peter by the Church at Rome. However, what they cannot dispute is scripture, our Holy Bible; and so, they go about in an attempt to diminish it’s authority over men and establish their own dogma as authority above God’s word. The reason Rome had to have Peter, is because they thought Jesus Christ had appointed him a position above the other Apostles. So, instead of making Paul the "first pope" they chose Peter; even though Peter could not be placed at Rome for anything more than possibly execution.

I remember when Jordan was asking about a good school to attend. Seems like just yesterday. I'll pray for your ministry Jordan.

Go Buckeyes! Beat Clemson!

Merry Christmas everyone and have an especially blessed New Year. Sitting here listening to some great Christmas Christian Hymns. Praise our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen!