Oh gosh. Somehow I wish we could get through this season without everyone feeling that they are better than everyone else. Just a wish. Is it the season of Love? Good. I'm all for it. Can we try the Love without the condescension? I push back when it's suggested that God's relation to Jews and the connection between Jews & God is limited by the geography. It's not.
PS, are you familiar with Margaret Starbird’s “Woman with the Alabaster Jar” which the writer claims that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalen? Someone shared it with my wife and I felt it was from Satan!
Erick, Merry Christmas to you, your family & your listeners. Can you recommend some books that articulate the history of Christianity that could help with my sharing the Good News with others?
"The Jews have Jerusalem?" The Jews have God, "in whom all the nations of the world" have been blessed, last time I heard, which was the last time I prayed this morning.
From a more literal perspective, Jewish sacrifices were to be made in Jerusalem making location a significant aspect of their worship of the Living God, YHWH. This is also to location of Jesus' sacrifice to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. His death and resurrection forever moved "religion" from geographic significance to each Believer's heart.
John 4:19-24 -
19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
You possess a unique place in radio & influence. God has allowed you to have a hearing, an influence into a segment no pastor can occupy. As in years past, I continue to pray for God’s wisdom & grace to infuse your work. Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year for you & your family Erick!
I really enjoyed your art. today. However I do have to also agree with Jim M. about the brotheres. But in my comments yesterday and the fact that the Bible tells us that in the later days, we will have a falling away, it is just one more step toward the last days. I feel that Pastor David Jeremiah's new book is about right on and we need to be busy sharing with others. I did that yesterday with a group of Seniors that are in Ass't Living in our unit. Two of us lead singing and I read scripture and talked about Christmas and why we need to be praising our Lord each and every day. I am 87 but will go as strong as He will give me the strength to do. I keep up with the world news of what is happening and seeing that the final war is NOT far away. One more sign. We also know the Chinese are developing many ways to kill many people and I feel I will see the rapture in Mid Trib.
Blessings on all who follow Erick and know Christ as their Savior.
Love the message, Erick. Unfortunately you muddled it by stating matter of factly that Jesus had blood brothers, which is by no means a settled matter. In fact, the strongest evidence of all would indicate that Jesus was an only child, to Mary at least. Otherwise, why at his death on the cross would Jesus have entrusted the care of his mother to young John, who was definitely not related. Anyway, Merry Christmas all the same. May the commemoration of the birth of our Savior bring peace, comfort and joy to a world much in need of all three.
Tradition is interesting, but it is not Scripture. I suspect some portion of your statement relates to interpreting Virgin Mary as remaining a virgin and never "knowing a man", which is also tradition, not Scriptural.
To your point, James and Jude being viewed as half-siblings via Joseph are not full blood brothers to Jesus, born of Mary and the Holy Spirit. Yet other areas in Scripture Erick refers to such as Matthew 12, the author indicates "Mother and Brothers" were literal human beings that wanted to address Jesus; they were embarrassed by his shenanigans, trying to get him to stop. Jesus then responds to the human mother and brothers seeking to speak with Him, extending the relationship beyond mere blood and into the spiritual realm.
Ah, solo scriptura, a "holey" concept if ever there was one. Difficult, if not impossible, to square it with "There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written", or this "Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours." The answer is you can't. Protestants, as well as the millions of lukewarm Catholics, love the watered-down teachings of Christ ... much easier to conform God's will to our own, rather than ours to His.
Thank-you for engaging. Our 500 year old tussle over source of Truth remains unresolved. Agree with John that what was written was not thoroughly comprehensive.
Clearly the time between the Wise Men's visit/time in Egypt and the 12-year old Jesus challenging the Scribes and Pharisees in the Temple is not recorded in Scripture, so yes, things in Jesus' life were not recorded, in full agreement with you. The challenge becomes the flip side - what constitutes "enough" to bring salvation. If one requires some comprehensive record to be sufficient unto salvation, from whence shall it come? If one views the Canon of Scripture as sufficient, one lands at Sola Scriptura as the starting (and ending) point.
Let me bring a bit more literal version of the other verse you refer - II Thes. 2:15:
"So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter." The spoken oral tradition was literally that of the apostles. This is one of the reasons the Roman Church seeks to root itself in Peter (petros, which, btw is not "petra" that Christ built his Church in Matt 16:18 - it was Peter's proclamation, not Peter himself) - if one can claim credibility via Peter's apostleship, one can carry "truth" forward beyond the Scriptures - oral tradition never ceases under that assumption. Another interesting unanticipated conundrum...
Reformers throughout the history of the Church called out traditions that served the Church rather than God. Martin Luther codified and quantified those areas in his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. Indulgences (including the sale thereof) emerged from the warping of tradition, supported and commissioned by a pope from whom interpretation and inclusion of such matters of "tradition" is to emerge. Martin Luther was no angel. What he argued was not gospel truth, it was a well-reasoned treatise of the excesses that "tradition" continued to embody through fallen men set on a pedestal.
The actual bottom line becomes whether Scripture alone without the aid of human tradition brings the Truth of the Gospel:
1) By Faith alone
2) By grace alone
3) Through Christ alone
4) To the glory of God alone
If the answer is "yes" or possibly "not sure", follow II Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness" Let Scripture be your guide.
If the answer be "no", continue on your current path. This is not judgment on my part, is recognition that our paths diverge on a critical theological point - is Christ's Blood sufficient or not. We need not discuss further unless we can come to a common understanding where Truth can be found.
You sound like a scripture scholar, which I am not, but I have studied the history of the Church enough to know that Luther wanted reform, not schism. As far as what is essential for salvation, certainly it requires more than a simple expression of faith in Jesus Christ, and as James aptly stated, faith without works is dead. But ultimately, and thankfully, salvation is by the grace of God Almighty alone.
Not a scholar per se, thank you for giving me the benefit of the doubt ;-).
Agree that schism was never Luther's intent, it was to reform his observed excesses rooted in tradition and papal decree. Schism came when the power of Rome was threatened by the reformers' written challenge to papal edict and its obvious deviation from Scripture itself. Tradition over Scripture - Rome chose tradition, Luther and the reformers chose Sola Scriptura.
Also agree that mere profession of faith (going for "asbestos underwear" so to speak :-) ) is not a magic pill. Outgrowth of true profession will be works that glorify God (Sola Deo Gloria), including evidence of the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5: 22-23 in a Believer's life.
The difference we likely have at this point will be identifying what "works" constitute evidence of faith. Tradition added some "quantifiable markers" such as confession and penance that lack Scriptural support for "works", but that can provide a (IMO, false) sense of comfort that we are "doing the right things". As God indicated in the Old Testament, circumcision was a matter of the of the heart rather than the foreskin alone. A contrite heart is sought, not sacrifices.
By works, a few handy guides are in the Beatitudes and the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, all a means of denying oneself, taking up your cross, uniting your sufferings in Christ, and following Him.
Blessings on you Brother Erick. I don't always agree - as a fellow Believer - with your take on current events, but this I know, you and I will spend eternity together because of the reason for this season. I look forward to eternal kibitzing with you! Merry Christmas!
BTW, my future SIL brought me frozen Nu-Way hot dogs from Macon for lunch today.
Oh gosh. Somehow I wish we could get through this season without everyone feeling that they are better than everyone else. Just a wish. Is it the season of Love? Good. I'm all for it. Can we try the Love without the condescension? I push back when it's suggested that God's relation to Jews and the connection between Jews & God is limited by the geography. It's not.
Perhaps I missed something today. Because on wsb I heard Manhiem Steamroller country Christmas. ??
PS, are you familiar with Margaret Starbird’s “Woman with the Alabaster Jar” which the writer claims that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalen? Someone shared it with my wife and I felt it was from Satan!
Erick, Merry Christmas to you, your family & your listeners. Can you recommend some books that articulate the history of Christianity that could help with my sharing the Good News with others?
Amen, Erick and Merry Christmas.
I also look forward to the coming birth of the Global Methodist Church! Peace be with you.
Amen Brother!
Beautifully said.
"The Jews have Jerusalem?" The Jews have God, "in whom all the nations of the world" have been blessed, last time I heard, which was the last time I prayed this morning.
From a more literal perspective, Jewish sacrifices were to be made in Jerusalem making location a significant aspect of their worship of the Living God, YHWH. This is also to location of Jesus' sacrifice to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. His death and resurrection forever moved "religion" from geographic significance to each Believer's heart.
John 4:19-24 -
19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
You possess a unique place in radio & influence. God has allowed you to have a hearing, an influence into a segment no pastor can occupy. As in years past, I continue to pray for God’s wisdom & grace to infuse your work. Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year for you & your family Erick!
Merry Christmas Erick! Enjoy lots of fun and laughter with your family.
I really enjoyed your art. today. However I do have to also agree with Jim M. about the brotheres. But in my comments yesterday and the fact that the Bible tells us that in the later days, we will have a falling away, it is just one more step toward the last days. I feel that Pastor David Jeremiah's new book is about right on and we need to be busy sharing with others. I did that yesterday with a group of Seniors that are in Ass't Living in our unit. Two of us lead singing and I read scripture and talked about Christmas and why we need to be praising our Lord each and every day. I am 87 but will go as strong as He will give me the strength to do. I keep up with the world news of what is happening and seeing that the final war is NOT far away. One more sign. We also know the Chinese are developing many ways to kill many people and I feel I will see the rapture in Mid Trib.
Blessings on all who follow Erick and know Christ as their Savior.
Love the message, Erick. Unfortunately you muddled it by stating matter of factly that Jesus had blood brothers, which is by no means a settled matter. In fact, the strongest evidence of all would indicate that Jesus was an only child, to Mary at least. Otherwise, why at his death on the cross would Jesus have entrusted the care of his mother to young John, who was definitely not related. Anyway, Merry Christmas all the same. May the commemoration of the birth of our Savior bring peace, comfort and joy to a world much in need of all three.
Tradition is interesting, but it is not Scripture. I suspect some portion of your statement relates to interpreting Virgin Mary as remaining a virgin and never "knowing a man", which is also tradition, not Scriptural.
To your point, James and Jude being viewed as half-siblings via Joseph are not full blood brothers to Jesus, born of Mary and the Holy Spirit. Yet other areas in Scripture Erick refers to such as Matthew 12, the author indicates "Mother and Brothers" were literal human beings that wanted to address Jesus; they were embarrassed by his shenanigans, trying to get him to stop. Jesus then responds to the human mother and brothers seeking to speak with Him, extending the relationship beyond mere blood and into the spiritual realm.
Ah, solo scriptura, a "holey" concept if ever there was one. Difficult, if not impossible, to square it with "There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written", or this "Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours." The answer is you can't. Protestants, as well as the millions of lukewarm Catholics, love the watered-down teachings of Christ ... much easier to conform God's will to our own, rather than ours to His.
Thank-you for engaging. Our 500 year old tussle over source of Truth remains unresolved. Agree with John that what was written was not thoroughly comprehensive.
Clearly the time between the Wise Men's visit/time in Egypt and the 12-year old Jesus challenging the Scribes and Pharisees in the Temple is not recorded in Scripture, so yes, things in Jesus' life were not recorded, in full agreement with you. The challenge becomes the flip side - what constitutes "enough" to bring salvation. If one requires some comprehensive record to be sufficient unto salvation, from whence shall it come? If one views the Canon of Scripture as sufficient, one lands at Sola Scriptura as the starting (and ending) point.
Let me bring a bit more literal version of the other verse you refer - II Thes. 2:15:
"So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter." The spoken oral tradition was literally that of the apostles. This is one of the reasons the Roman Church seeks to root itself in Peter (petros, which, btw is not "petra" that Christ built his Church in Matt 16:18 - it was Peter's proclamation, not Peter himself) - if one can claim credibility via Peter's apostleship, one can carry "truth" forward beyond the Scriptures - oral tradition never ceases under that assumption. Another interesting unanticipated conundrum...
Reformers throughout the history of the Church called out traditions that served the Church rather than God. Martin Luther codified and quantified those areas in his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. Indulgences (including the sale thereof) emerged from the warping of tradition, supported and commissioned by a pope from whom interpretation and inclusion of such matters of "tradition" is to emerge. Martin Luther was no angel. What he argued was not gospel truth, it was a well-reasoned treatise of the excesses that "tradition" continued to embody through fallen men set on a pedestal.
The actual bottom line becomes whether Scripture alone without the aid of human tradition brings the Truth of the Gospel:
1) By Faith alone
2) By grace alone
3) Through Christ alone
4) To the glory of God alone
If the answer is "yes" or possibly "not sure", follow II Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness" Let Scripture be your guide.
If the answer be "no", continue on your current path. This is not judgment on my part, is recognition that our paths diverge on a critical theological point - is Christ's Blood sufficient or not. We need not discuss further unless we can come to a common understanding where Truth can be found.
You sound like a scripture scholar, which I am not, but I have studied the history of the Church enough to know that Luther wanted reform, not schism. As far as what is essential for salvation, certainly it requires more than a simple expression of faith in Jesus Christ, and as James aptly stated, faith without works is dead. But ultimately, and thankfully, salvation is by the grace of God Almighty alone.
Not a scholar per se, thank you for giving me the benefit of the doubt ;-).
Agree that schism was never Luther's intent, it was to reform his observed excesses rooted in tradition and papal decree. Schism came when the power of Rome was threatened by the reformers' written challenge to papal edict and its obvious deviation from Scripture itself. Tradition over Scripture - Rome chose tradition, Luther and the reformers chose Sola Scriptura.
Also agree that mere profession of faith (going for "asbestos underwear" so to speak :-) ) is not a magic pill. Outgrowth of true profession will be works that glorify God (Sola Deo Gloria), including evidence of the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5: 22-23 in a Believer's life.
The difference we likely have at this point will be identifying what "works" constitute evidence of faith. Tradition added some "quantifiable markers" such as confession and penance that lack Scriptural support for "works", but that can provide a (IMO, false) sense of comfort that we are "doing the right things". As God indicated in the Old Testament, circumcision was a matter of the of the heart rather than the foreskin alone. A contrite heart is sought, not sacrifices.
By works, a few handy guides are in the Beatitudes and the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, all a means of denying oneself, taking up your cross, uniting your sufferings in Christ, and following Him.
Blessings on you Brother Erick. I don't always agree - as a fellow Believer - with your take on current events, but this I know, you and I will spend eternity together because of the reason for this season. I look forward to eternal kibitzing with you! Merry Christmas!
BTW, my future SIL brought me frozen Nu-Way hot dogs from Macon for lunch today.
That guy is a keeper for sure! Even if your daughter changes her mind, keep him.