December 25 has become more and more acceptable as the birth date of Jesus. However, some argue that the birth occurred in some other season, such as in the fall. Followers of this theory claim that the Judean winters were too cold for shepherds to be watching their flocks by night. History proves otherwise, however, and we have evidence that unblemished lambs for the Temple sacrifice were in fact kept in the fields near Bethlehem during the winter months.

The truth is, we simply don’t know the exact date of our Savior’s birth. In fact, we don’t even know for sure the year in which He was born. Scholars believe it was somewhere between 6 B.C. and 4 B.C. One thing is clear: if God felt it was important for us to know the exact date of the Savior’s birth, He certainly would have told us in His Word. The Gospel of Luke gives very specific details about the event, even down to what the baby was wearing – “swaddling clothes” – and where he slept – “in a manger” (Luke 2:12). These details are important because they speak of His nature and character, meek and lowly. But the exact date of His birth has no significance whatsoever, which may be why God chose not mention it.

The fact is that He was born, that He came into the world to atone for our sins, that He was resurrected to eternal life, and that He’s alive today. This is what we should celebrate, as we are told in the Old Testament in such passages as Zechariah 2:10: “‘Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,’ declares the LORD.” Further, the angel that announced the birth to the shepherds brought “good tidings of great joy” (Luke 2:10). Surely here is the cause for celebration every day, not just once a year.

This answer is brought to you from GotQuestions.org.

Are there prophets today and what roles do/did they play in the church?

            It is possible that God could grant anyone today the gift of prophecy; He is God and can do whatever He deems needed for mankind. With that being said, it is very unlikely that He does so though. Why? The gift of prophecy was the best way for God to tell us what to look for in the coming of Jesus Christ and the formation of the early church. By giving us the prophecies in the Old Testament, He laid out the guiding framework of what to look for in His son Jesus Christ. Without that knowledge, we would not have been able to recognize that Jesus was exactly who He claimed to be; the living son of God.

Many argue that Jesus studied the Old Testament, and so He knew what the prophecies were and how to fulfill them; they have half an argument. The problem is that many of the prophecies we not within Jesus’ control as a mortal man. Just in the day of the crucifixion, He fulfilled 24 of the prophecies; many He had no control over such as the crown of thorns, being pierced in the side and so forth.

            With all these prophecies, we got the clear picture of who Jesus really was and that we should listen and follow His teachings. This played a huge role in the founding of the Christian church. Now, however, the church has been founded and the teachings of Jesus have stood for nearly 2000 years. So there is very little need for the prophets of the Old Testament.

            Will God give someone a vision of the future? Sure. Could this be a message for someone else? Yes, in my opinion if God did so, it would most definitely be a message to the world. Does that make that person a prophet, no not really since the vision was the gift, not the ability to see into the future as an ongoing gift.

• So are their prophets in today’s church? It is possible because all things are possible with Him, but very unlikely.
• What role do/did they play? They were signposts to allow mankind to know when the true Messiah had come. Since we have had this even with the life of Jesus Christ and the second coming has also been recorded in Revelations, there is little need for prophets in today’s church.

How can we tell if someone is a true prophet?

            In Matthew 24:23-27, Jesus warns us that we will face many false Christs and false prophets.

23Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him.

   24For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great (signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.

            So Jesus Himself warns us that there will be people that intentionally come to deceive us and take us away from His message. We must watch out for these people and denounce their false teachings. So how do we know them when we see them? By what they teach!

            God is infallible; He makes no mistakes. For a person to be a real prophet, they must match what God has already sent us: the Holy Bible. If they are contradicting the Bible, then they are saying the God has sent a message to contradict Himself. That simply cannot be with the infallibility of the Lord. You must weigh in with what this person says about Jesus, the gospels, and everything else that the Bible teaches us. And finally you must ask if this person is glorifying the Lord. If all these are true, then that does not mean that the person is a true prophet. It means that we must consider the message and pray for wisdom from the Lord. Many times He will let us know the truth if we slow down and listen.

In His knowledge,

Hunter

            Today’s topic of prophets in today’s world really reflects on this issue. Do Oprah’s teachings match up with that of the Bible? No, it does not. She is not speaking the Lord’s word and trying to use her massive amounts of power to pull people from the true word of God and the teaching of Jesus Christ. She is a false prophet!

http://www.forbes.com/2008/06/09/celebrities08_all_slide_2.html?thisSpeed=15000

Let me start at the beginning and cover what baptism is and what it is not. A Christian baptism is an act we perform to show our faith in Christ as our savior. The act itself is symbolizing us going into the grave, just as Jesus did, and then coming out of the water represents us coming to life is a Christian just as Jesus was resurrected on the third day. In the bible we read:

Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life

Romans 6:3-4

           There are two things you need to make sure of before you consider being baptized: 1) you must understand and accept that Jesus Christ is the savior of mankind and 2) That it symbolizes the death and resurrection of yourself through the act of Jesus Christ in His crucifixion and resurrection. If you can understand and agree with both of those then you are ready to be baptized.

                So that pretty much covers the spiritual side of baptisms, so let’s look at the actual act of baptism. There are basically two ways to perform a baptism. Immersion baptisms have the priest and the believer in a tank of water that is approximately waist deep; in the old days this was done in a river and can still be done that way today. The priest will say a prayer and help the person in bending backwards down into the water so that they are lying on their back underneath the water. They will remain this way for only a few seconds before the priest brings them back up. The Baptist denomination is known for immersion baptisms that give them their name.

                The second way is by either sprinkling water on the head of the person or pouring water from a pitcher onto the head of a person instead of putting the person under water. This way of baptizing came into effect when infant baptisms started since it was dangerous to put an infant underwater. It is also the preferred way for handicapped or elderly that may not be able to perform an immersion baptism.  Many churches have also gone to sprinkling for the ease of not having to maintain the facilities of a baptismal pool and that it is easier to do within in service.

                There is a division among the denominations on what is biblical and what is not. It is true that the only way a baptism was performed in the bible is by immersion. Also it represents the going into the grave/water and the resurrection of coming out of the water and holds the symbolism to that while a sprinkling baptism does not. Since this is an outward act to symbolize an inward belief, it is my personal belief that it is up to the individual to decide what they feel is appropriate. My church is a sprinkle church; we do not maintain a baptismal pool. However, my pastors are very open to the individual’s beliefs and desires; we have an agreement with a nearby Baptist church that we can use their pool if needed, and they are open to going to nearby lakes or rivers if you want to “dunk it old school”. =0)

                Infant baptisms are another issue that causes some disagreements within the denominations. Nowhere in the bible does it talk about baptizing an infant; and if you actually  consider the above two spiritual requirements of acknowledging Jesus as your savior and knowing what the baptism symbolizes,  an infant could not meet those requirements and should not be baptized by the letter of the law. Again, my church acknowledges, in the infant baptism service, that an infant cannot know Christ but that we all belong to Christ and the ceremony is more of a dedication of the parents and the congregation to bring the infant up with the word of God and help them understand the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. In this case, it is not tied to the spiritual rebirth as a normal baptism would be, but more of a dedication to the child and bringing them up within the church.

                And I will end today with what a baptism is not. It is not a free ticket to sin and run amuck simply because you have been baptized and ‘saved.’ This goes against the beliefs that you are baptized under to accept and follow Jesus Christ. Also, you cannot be saved at all by baptism. Remember that we, as mankind, cannot forgive our sins and cannot save ourselves. We can only be saved by faith. The belief that baptism is required to be saved is a belief in self-salvation, which is not correct in the Christian faith.

God bless,
Hunter

Open Review

In this chapter, Tolle wants to expand on his theories that the ego is holding us back from being truly great beings of truth and pureness. In that statement alone, I can agree. Holding on to resentment and grievances, as Tolle suggests, can corrupt your life and change it forever and not in a positive way! There is a lot of truth to this and even in Christianity, we are taught to forgive each other and to turn the other cheek. Tolle talks a lot about “the truth” in this chapter and how it is obscured and hidden by the rules and regulations that is placed on our lives. He is really pointing a cold finger towards any organized religion. I did find it funny that he talks about how each side of a battle claim to have the truth and that is the ego talking…yet he wrote a book about his version of the truth and why others are wrong in their thoughts. I found this a bit dagger to the heart on his case.

Biblical Review

I started this chapter with very little excitement. The last chapter was tough to muddle through for me and this chapter started off much the same with very little fact other than what Tolle tells us is the truth; solely based on his opinions. He does throw out a quote from Jesus on page 61 which is a little off the mark. The quote is from Luke 6:41, which reads:

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

Tolle tries to turn this into an “egoic compulsive habit” and that is what Jesus was trying to warn against. That is not really true. In a continuing pattern that I am seeing, Tolle likes you use part of the bible to spin in his direction, but does not like to include the whole passage that usually reveals where Tolle has made a slight of hand with the Bible’s true meaning of the passage. Here is the full verse:

41″Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 42How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Jesus clearly does not say “let go of your ego!” No He is talking about being a hypocrite and saying that you need to remedy yourself in God’s eyes before you worry about others. Not exactly what Tolle led us to believe…

Then the religious talk dies down a bit to later resurface with another Jesus misquote of:

Jesus’ teaching to “Forgive your enemies” is essentially about the undoing of one of the main egoic structures in the human mind
Page 66

Actually, that is not it at all! This is complete and utter junk! Jesus was referring to the hatred between the people of His day and this can definitely be placed on the world today. It has nothing to do with your ego but the forgiving of others just as God forgives us. If you look to the apostle’s creed for reference you can clearly see that Jesus is not telling us to “search within and release your ego”, but to pray for the relationship to be returned to the right state by praying for those who have done you wrong and asking that God forgive them and at the same time yourself as well.

9″This, then, is how you should pray:
” ‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread.
12Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.[a]‘ 14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Matthew 6:9-15

Does that sound like what Tolle is referring to when he used this quote from Jesus? It doesn’t to me.
Starting on page 69, my book now bleeds yellow highlighter. As I read, I highlight the things I would like to come back to, reflect on, and research more. From pages 69 to 72, my book is bright yellow. It is here that Tolle opens a full on assault against any organized religion and the teachings of Jesus Christ and his divinity. So here we go!

Tolle tells us that the history of Christianity is “a prime example of how the belief that you are in sole possession of the truth, that is to say right, can corrupt your actions and behavior to the point of insanity.” He is referring to the inquisition where Christian’s tortured thousands of people or the Salem witch trials where people were burned alive. When religions go bad? Perhaps. Shining spot in Christian history, nope. But he then compares it to Pol Pot who ordered 1 million people killed that included everyone that wore glasses. The reason, well Tolle give us that, because Pol Pot believes that glasses made you part of an educated class and are repressing the people. So according to this comparison, Christians are nothing more than ignorant prejudice people who walk around killing anything that we don’t agree with. I admit there have been times, but to compare that to Christianity today is just foolish.

He then makes a huge jump to attack the bible completely, stating that the “truth” for Christians is, and let me quote this for the proper effect, “A story you had to believe in; which means, a bundle of thoughts.” So the beliefs of Christianity and the Bible are nothing more than a story or someone’s thoughts. I have to ask why you quote it so much in your very own book if it is nothing more than a worthless story?

He then tells us that the Catholics are correct when they said that relativism, or the belief that there is no absolute truth that guides mankind, is one of the evils of or time. But that, and again I quote so you can see his exact words, “you won’t find absolute truth if you look where it cannot be found: in doctrines, ideologies, sets of rules, or stories.” Wait, so first he called the Bible nothing more than a story, and now he has pushed it further by saying that there is no truth in doctrine or stories; so Tolle has clearly just stated that the Bible is nothing more than a story and has no truth in it at all.

He then follows with two more statements to try to persuade you away from true Christianity: “All religions are equally false and equally true, depending how you use them.” and “If you believe only in your religion is the Truth, you are using it in the service of your ego.” The first statement is clearly meant to buy into his theory that all religions support his enlightenment. This to me really resounds to why he feels that he can quote any religious work and use the parts that fit with his thoughts and toss the ones that don’t. He clearly states that you can use religions how you see fit; which he is doing masterfully so far. The second statement is aimed to make you feel guilty and doubt yourself and your religion. Let me translate this into what Tolle is really saying: “If you actually believe what you believe then you are only trying to build your ego up and as I have said, the ego is bad. So stop believing what you believe and believe what I am telling you.”

Tolle then says that all religious teachings are just “signposts” left behind by awakened humans. This flies right in the face of Jesus’ divinity by calling Him an “awakened human”. He then continues to pull us away from God and Jesus by stating that the truth is inseparable from whom we are and that we are the truth. If we look elsewhere we will only be lied to. What he is saying is that we are the super beings of truth and that Jesus, God, or any other deity figure is incorrect. Tolle also uses the phrase “I AM” to refer to his belief of inner light. He calls this ‘I Am-ness’. This is actually a sacred name for God; so he is replacing God with his theory of empowerment. Tolle goes as far as to quote Jesus with “I am the way and the truth and the life.” to try to point to this “I AM-ness”. Again Tolle leaves off the last part of the statement so that it will fit his views. As most Christians can finish this verse for themselves: “No No one comes to the Father except through me.” This clearly shows that Jesus is not talking about some inner light that we can achieve ourselves.

Later, on page 78, Eckhart goes back to making us the ones in control over bringing the “Presence” into the world instead of God or Jesus. Tolle would have us worship ourselves. He then uses Jesus statement of “Deny thyself” to mean deny your ego. Again this is only half of the message. Jesus was talking about how the people believed in pleasing themselves and not following the word of God.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Matthew 6:24

It is quite clear to me, in this chapter, that this book has nothing to do with Christianity and the actual word of God other than a few misquotes and is really starting to pull the reader, by the use of the familiar Bible quotes, away from God.

See ya tomorrow….tonight we party!

We got out tickets, popcorn and water and headed into the theater….it was near empty and for a 2:00 movie on a Sunday during opening weekend; that is not good. We watched the previews and I saw what may be the dumbest movie idea I have ever seen beyond giving Tom Green his own movie: Beverly Hills Chihuahua….be afraid. The movie may be great for kids, but I will be skipping this one for sure! The singing dog show of a trailer should be enough of this movie by itself for most adults.

Caspian started well enough and I enjoyed seeing a bit more of the ”normal world” going on with World War II soldiers in the streets and on the subway. I thought that was a nice touch to show the actual time frame that the kids are coming from. However, they very quickly find themselves in Narnia again. They discover that they are not in the same Narnia that they left and a great deal of time and war has passed. The find their hidden chests with all their armor and weapons that they left behind and head out to find out what has happened.

The main Christian theme throughout the movie was facing your belief vs. going with what you can see. When Aslan did not come bounding up the first second the kids were in Narnia they began to doubt. This should speak volumes in our day and time when we are faced with problems. Do we just go with what is before us and take the easy way out, or do we stand firm in our beliefs, ask for the help of our God, and follow in the path that He has laid before us.

The movie itself was not bad; it just wasn’t the summer blockbuster that we expected. The main problem I had with this movie was Peter and Caspian being side by side. Peter, who looked like and acted a child, is the High King, and Caspian, who looked like he actually had a clue how to survive in this world, had to listen to Peter and call him Sire. I do understand the time jump, and that Aslan named them kings and queens, and so forth, but it just did not pull off well between the two. All the rest of the cast did very well and I enjoyed them. My wife and I both left the theater saying “It was OK…I just liked the first one much better.”

I give it 3 out of 5 stars and will probably skip buying it on DVD.

from www.godtube.com

from www.godtube.com