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The Temptations of Jesus: Pride

Welcome to the first part of a short series I'm writing during Lent. We’re on the first Sunday of Lent, and so I’m going to be looking at the forty days that Jesus spent in the wilderness, and the temptations he endured. A new post will be up every Sunday, and you can view the series overview here: Lent 2018. Mark 1:12-13And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. That’s all Mark has to say on that time Jesus spent there, and John doesn’t mention the forty days at all. That leaves only Luke and Matthew which mention th...

Was Jesus worshipped in the New Testament?

Often a claim from critics of the faith, and especially Muslims arguing against Christianity, is that Jesus wasn't thought of as God early on and more to the point, wasn't ever worshipped in the accounts of the New Testament. This is a very cursory look at a few places within the Gospels where Jesus was clearly worshipped, either by his followers or others he encountered, and didn't rebuke or correct people for doing something wrong. Worshiping Jesus: 1. Matthew 14:33 - The Proclamation of Divinity And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” In the aftermath of a storm on the Lake of Galilee which Jesus calmed with a...

Lent Day 19: Cyprian: On the Unity of the Church: 10-18

...ment from Jesus (vv. 19,20), Cyprian goes on to bring quite an in depth interpretation of these verses and explains what they do and don’t mean. Matthew 18:19-20 Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” There are a few preachers today, mostly within the Prosperity Gospel movement, who would claim this verse means that you can literally ask for anything and have it (and if you don’t get it, then it’s your own lack of faith stopping you). Cyprian interprets this instruction by Jesus as a way of...

It's no longer about land!

...(What Did Jesus Say?) Let's look at what Jesus had to say about having a special place for worshipping God when a Samaritan woman asked him about where the proper place to meet with God was: John 4:21,24 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem ... God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman says to Jesus, 'our ancestors worshipped here, but you Jews say only in Jerusalem – which is right?' Jesus gives an answer which just flips it all up on its head and effectively says "neither and both". Neither, because...

The Coming of Jesus: Revelation Fulfilled?

...th you in Jesus the persecution and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.   Both of these Roman Emperors persecuted the Christians, though none quite so severely as Nero did. There’s varying accounts of when Revelation was penned by John. I won’t spend too much time on this as many, many others have wrote books on the topic of dating, so I’ll just give a brief overview of both sides of the argument.   One of the earliest accounts mentioning a possible early date for Revelation is from the “Muratorian Fragment” which dates back to the around 170-190 AD. Thi...

7 Ways Jesus Reverses the Curse From Eden

...Everything about the Kingdom of God is a reversal of worldly powers (servant leadership, first shall be last, etc.). God’s ways are opposed to the World’s ways. Likewise, everything about the Gospel is a reversal of what went wrong in the beginning of creation and nowhere is this highlighted more than during the Passion, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. So here are seven ways in which Jesus reverses all the mistakes and curses from creation. 1. The disobedience in the Garden of Eden is now rectified by the obedience of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Genesis 3:11Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat? Luke 22:42...