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Lent Day 23: Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 21-30

...ke at all hours, sometimes taking on the appearance of holy men or angels in order to trick us into listening to their lies. Even if, Anthony says, they take on the appearance of seemingly godly beings or people, and even if they speak things which have a sliver of truth or quote Scripture (for even Satan quoted Scripture to Jesus in the desert, and the demoniacs declared Jesus to be the Son of God), pay no heed since they do not do this to aid our discipline of righteousness, but rather to tire us out and lead us to abandon the principles of the faith out of despair and from feeling burdened. For the demons do all things --they prate, they confuse, they diss...

Fasting: A spiritual and physical discipline

...ring fast hours (except soup still). This has typically been the teaching of how to fast in many Protestant/Pentecostal/Evangelical/Non-Denom churches that I’ve been in. Strict: No food or drink except water all day (except maybe milk for headaches), or until the fast ends. This type was historically observed only on Saturdays, although it varies amongst Christian traditions (as do all these ‘types’). Observe any as you are able and healthy to do so. As we fast, we should remember the true and better fast which God prefers and spoke of through the prophet Isaiah: Isaiah 58:6-9Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to un...

Coffee With Jesus: Luke 24

...last few hours while the other men were also with Jesus (or maybe after he vanished, he went to see Peter?). It’s intriguing how little it’s elaborated on here. Luke 24:34They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” After this, Jesus “led them out as far as Bethany” (v.50) for his ascension, which is about a two mile walk from Jerusalem where they began (John 11:18). It’s also interesting to note that Luke really seems to gloss over some details to condense the narrative, because it’s not until we read Acts 1:3 that we see there was a 40 day period between these events and the ascension! But why did he bring th...

The Coming of Jesus: The Olivet Discourse – Part 2

...ke 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 one of the cities of Perea which they called Pella. To it those who believed on Christ traveled from Jerusalem, so that when holy men had altogether deserted the royal capital of the Jews and the whole land of Judaea…" Eusebius, Church History 3, 5, 3 For when the city was about...

Great Lent: The Season of Fasting

...ring fast hours (except soup still). This has typically been the teaching of how to fast in many Protestant/Evangelical/Non-Denom churches I’ve been in, and is somewhat in line with the ancient historic early practices. Strict: No food or drink except water all day (except maybe milk for headaches), or until the fast ends. This type was historically observed only on Saturdays, although it varies amongst Christian traditions (as do all these ‘types’). Observe any as you are able and healthy to do so. As we fast, we should remember the true and better fast which God prefers and spoke of through Isaiah in Isaiah 58:6-9– Is not this the fast that I c...

A Journey Through Church History

...After many, many months of working on this in between COVID and other “life events” that kept me busy, I’ve finally released the Third Edition of my book, 40 Day With the Fathers: A Journey Through Church History! The Third Edition includes: a foreword by Paul Pavao (author of Decoding Nicea), updated content and also a new chapter about the Council of Nicaea explaining what did (and didn’t) happen there. “I cannot imagine there is a better way to get familiar with 350 of the most important years of church history in seven hours spread over 40 days.” — Paul Pavao, author of Decoding Nicea If you are unfamiliar with my previous editions...