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The Coming of Jesus: The Olivet Discourse – Part 1

...21. Most Christians are probably more familiar with the Matthew 24-25 version than the others, though they are all the same prophetic message of impending judgement. If you're at all familiar with any doctrine or teaching on the "Second Coming" or "End Times", then these passages in the Gospels are most often quoted and used to say that Jesus is talking about a terrible time that is coming in the far, far, far off future, usually interpreted to mean within our lifetime (for some reason). I, too, used to believe this as it was what I was taught in the churches I attended and told by the people I met, all with that eager expectation that Jesus could suddenly...

The Coming of Jesus: The Olivet Discourse – Part 2

...The early Christians took this seriously and, as is well documented in the historical record, they fled! This is what is known as the “flight to Pella” (Mark 13:14-16; Matt 24:16-18; Luke 21:21). Pella was about 75 miles north of Jerusalem, which, according to Google Maps, would take you 26 hours to walk! That may seem a long way to go, but this is exactly what the Jerusalem Church did as they heeded the warnings from Jesus, and also from an angelic encounter telling them where to flee to! The people of the Church in Jerusalem were commanded by an oracle given by revelation before the war to those in the city who were worthy of it to depart and dwell in...

Has Brexit just spoiled “End Times” prophecy?

...earliest Christians (who were living in the original Roman Empire) interpreted Daniel’s prophecy. They saw the Jewish War and the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in 70 AD as fulfillment of Daniel’s “70 Weeks” prophecy, and also as fulfillment of Jesus’ predictions in Matt 24/Luke 21 about the “end of the age”. To the Early Church, it wasn’t about the world ending in a ball of fire, and arguably, it never was. So why is it the focus of the Church today? We’d do well to know our history in these cases. “Brexit” may or may not be bad for the UK and Europe in general, which has possibly got you worried, but as for an anti-Christ r...

Lent Day 35: Ambrose of Milan: Concerning the Mysteries: 1-4

...d done by Christ Himself. When: About 387 AD You can find today’s reading on page 167 here: lentfatherscomplete.pdf   This is another similar lecture to the catechisms we read over the last few days from Cyril of Jerusalem, except these are by the Bishop of Milan: Ambrose. Taught during this season of Lent, the latter part of the 40 days is when the mysteries were explained. It was only after baptism that it was considered the acceptable time to teach these things though, otherwise it was considered to have “betrayed than to have portrayed the Mysteries”. Open, then, your ears, inhale the good savour of eternal life which has been breathed upon you...

7 Ways Jesus Reverses the Curse From Eden

...tians 3:13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us 6. Jesus defeated death and sin and brought in eternal life, Adam and Eve ushered in death and sin and lost their immortality. Genesis 3:22,23Then the Lord God said, “See, the humans have become like one of us, knowing good and evil, and now they might reach out their hands and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever”— therefore the Lord God sent them forth from the garden of Eden… 2 Timothy 1:10…but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through t...

Jesus, Mithras and Ancient Roman Cults: Separating Fact from Fiction

...Welcome to the next instalment of my series looking at the ancient mythological gods and how they compare to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Mithras is yet another popular ancient god that people like to compare with Jesus and make wild claims about, proposing that they are the same deities with different names. But is this even remotely true? This article has ended up being a bit longer than anticipated as it’s one of the few ancient religions that was contemporary to the birth of Christianity which was seen as somewhat of a rival belief system, so there’s a lot of interesting things to cover! The Origins Mithras has his roots in ancient Persi...