Religion and faith

 There is a difference between religion and faith. That may be a little hard to explain, but I think it is fair to say that a lot of people have a religion who have very little in the way of faith. Their religion is more a matter of ideas, arguments, positions, creeds, dogmas, and the like than it is about the heart. Churches can easily become the religious equivalent of political parties. They may be conservative or they may be liberal, and theological discussions can involve as much spin as any political discussion. Churches’ creeds can be just a political as any party platform, and heretics are merely people who are out to change the platform. True saving faith is a precious grace, and that not only as it is very uncommon, very scarce, even in the visible church, a very small number of true believers among a great multitude of visible professors (Matt 22 14), but true faith is very excellent and of very great use and advantage to those who have it. 

A New City

 A New City

Revelation 21:10-27

John describes a vision of the holy city Jerusalem coming from heaven from God. A good many Christians today think of this vision as the city plan for heaven that shows where the walls, streets, buildings, river, and vegetation will be located. Such folk look forward to walking the streets of gold.

In quite a different nuance, John uses the image of the city in Revelation 21:10-22:5 as an image of the qualities of life that make up the new heaven and the new earth. John uses the descriptions of walls, streets, buildings, the river, and vegetation to symbolize the characteristics of life in the new Jerusalem. John implies that listeners have a choice. They can choose to live in the city Rome and suffer its fate. Or they can struggle in witness now in order to live in the city of God. In Revelation 21:10 John re-emphasizes that the new community is a gift that comes from God in heaven (see Revelation 21:2). It does not come from Caesar in Rome.

The Ministry of Jesus part #2

 

The Gospel Jesus Preached

Over the passing centuries since Jesus lived, traditional Christianity has unfortunately obscured many of the teachings of Scripture. In some cases, this veiling of certain truths has been deliberate—for instance, in the doctrines of justification and of the Sabbath—while others have been allowed to fade from memory or to be eclipsed by emphasis on other doctrines. The early Roman Catholic Church bears much of the blame for these significant changes, having decreed through their councils that Roman Christianity would follow paths contrary to God's Word.

The gospel that Jesus taught during His ministry is one such area that has been purposefully diverted from scriptural reality. Ask any nominal Christian what Jesus' gospel was, and the answer is likely to be, "He preached a gospel of grace" or perhaps, "a gospel of salvation." Both of these are correct answers but not strictly accurate ones. Many Protestants sit in their pews each week and hear a gospel about Jesus Himself. This, too, is not wrong—certainly, Jesus is central to the gospel—but it is not exactly what the Bible says it is.

Mark 1:14-15 provides the inspired answer to our question: "Now after John [the Baptist] was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel'" (emphasis ours; see also Matthew 4:23; 9:35; 24:14). His message, then, was bigger than grace and salvation—as wonderful as they are—or even bigger than Himself, for that matter. His message was about the reign, the rule, the dominion, of God the Father, as well as of the Son, the One who is to be the King of that Kingdom (see John 18:37; Revelation 19:11-16).

The phrases "Kingdom of God" and "Kingdom of Heaven" are found over a hundred times in the New Testament, the majority of them in the four gospels. "Kingdom of Grace" never appears, nor—to the surprise of many—does "gospel of grace." "Gospel of peace" is found twice, in Romans 10:15 and Ephesians 6:15, both probably echoing Isaiah 52:7 and Nahum 1:15. In Ephesians 1:13, Paul calls it "the gospel of your salvation." Yet, by far, the gospel is most often called "the gospel of Christ," "the gospel of God," or something similar. From the Bible's own wording, then, we can conclude that the divinely inspired gospel is about the Kingdom of God.

"The gospel of the Kingdom of God" encompasses grace, faith, redemption, justification, sanctification, salvation, glorification, and all the other doctrines of Christianity because all of these teachings comprise the major tenets of God's way of life and the process of fulfilling His plan for humanity. The Kingdom of God is the goal of God's great purpose, and if we desire to have a part in it with Him, it must be our goal too. Jesus' preaching of the gospel of the Kingdom of God provides us with our objective, as well as with all of the component parts needed to reach it.

As many know, the word "gospel" derives from an Old English word, gödspel, which literally means "good news" or "good tidings." Thus, when Christ preached, He proclaimed the good news of the soon-coming Kingdom of God. But, some may wonder, is this not God's world? Is He not its Creator? Is He not sovereign of the entire universe? Why, then, did Jesus have to announce that God's dominion was on its way?

The answer is simple: This is not God's world! Yes, He created it. Yes, He governs all things. However, from the time of Adam and Eve's sinin the Garden of Eden, God and man have effectively been separated from each other. The holy God cannot abide sin: "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you," declares Isaiah 59:2. In turn, sin has made humanity hold God at arm's length for thousands of years, and man's banishment of God from his life has resulted in his perpetually miserable condition: war, poverty, disease, deception, distrust, and death.

Taking advantage of the vacuum, as it were, Satan the Devil has enthroned himself as "the god of this age" and blinded the minds of men and women to the truths that would set them free (II Corinthians 4:4). He has managed to deceive the whole world (Revelation 12:9), not only about himself, but about God and His way of salvation. This is why, among the first things He had to do, Jesus had to endure the Devil's temptations and overcome him and them without sinning (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13). He had to prove Himself superior to Satan's devices and worthy of His throne over the whole earth and all mankind.

Luke in particular shows the link between Jesus' overcoming of Satan and His preaching of the gospel of the Kingdom of God. Just three verses after the end of the temptation narrative, Luke recounts the episode of Jesus' announcement of His Messiahship in Nazareth's synagogue (Luke 4:16-21). He quotes from Isaiah 49:8-9, which provide His job assignment:

The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD. (Luke 4:18-19)

His mission, He says, is to preach the good news to the spiritually poor people of this world, whom Satan has imprisoned and deceived, and to begin the process of freeing them from the oppression of sin. He would proclaim liberty from their debt of sin, just as the year of Jubilee freed the Israelites from their financial debts (Leviticus 25:8-12). The Jubilee is a type of Christ's thousand-year reign, often called the Millennium, which will begin with His second coming and the binding of Satan (see Revelation 20:1-6).

The gospel of the Kingdom of God balances these present and future elements of God's purpose. By His calling, God is selecting a few chosen servants to be the firstfruits of His Kingdom (John 6:44; Matthew 22:14; James 1:18; Revelation 14:4). These elect, who believe the gospel, are put through the process of salvation: They hear God's Word, believe, repent of their sins, are baptized, and receive the gift of God's Holy Spirit. God forgives and justifies them through His grace, and then they become sanctified both by the imputation of Christ's holiness as well as through the lifelong processof overcoming their sins, growth in righteousness, and bearing fruit of godliness. At Christ's return, they will be resurrected and changed into spirit, given eternal life, and glorified as God's sons and daughters. They, as the Bride of Christ forever (Revelation 19:7-9), will reign as kings and priests (Revelation 5:10).

Such is the gist of Jesus' message of good tidings to mankind. In reality, it is the message of the entire Bible—God's wonderful plan of salvation and the establishment of His everlasting Kingdom.

 

THE MARK OF CAIN: A MODEL OF GRACE

 THE MARK OF CAIN: A MODEL OF GRACE So Cain was driven from the land to live as a fugitive and vagabond. He was afraid he would be forever banished from the presence of God and deprived of His protection. “Not so,” said the Lord, and put His mark on Cain saving his life (Genesis 4:15). The collective mind of scholarship has been probed in vain to determine the nature of this mark, but that’s not the point. All through the chapter, the covenant name of God has been used, indicating the scope of Cain’s relationship with Him. Cain sinned and refused to confess and

therefore put himself out of fellowship with God. But God didn’t revoke His covenant, nor did He withdraw His protection. Unconfessed sin interrupts our relationship with God and causes us to wander in spiritual wilderness, but it doesn’t sever our family ties and it doesn’t put our eternal life at risk. Cain serves as a model of so many Christians today. When we, as believers, refuse to recognize and confess our sins, we are out of fellowship with God. But we are still in His family and still have eternal (protected) lives. While out of fellowship, we are objects of the enemy’s passionate interest, and fair game for his schemes against us, but our union with God and eternal destiny are marked by His Grace as off limits to the stealer of men’s souls. For more on this, listen to my audio Bible study on Union and Fellowship. Jesus was our sacrifice. All we need to do now is confess. And immediately, we are forgiven. The slate is wiped clean, the Lord chooses to forget we ever sinned in the first place, and we are back in fellow‐ ship with Him. Now you know the adult version

Martin Luther King The Three Evils of Society

Spirit Of Harmony

https://pass-theball.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-spirit-of-harmony.html 

Attitude Of Gratitude

 https://pass-theball.blogspot.com/2022/09/an-attitude-of-gratitude-by-rev-md.html

A SECOND WIND

 TITLE: A SECOND WIND

The Summer Olympics began two days ago. As the world comes together 
in the spirit of Competition, we will be routing our nation on. 
There are many events that I enjoy watching. I watched swimming and 
boxing yesterday, but I am looking forward to the track & field 
events. I am always amazed while watching the long distance 
events. Cross country runners and other long distance runners have 
all relied on what is commonly referred to as a second wind in an 
effort to gather enough strength and energy to finish their race; 
the longer the race the more "second winds" will be required. Many 
of us that are not long distance runners have oftentimes experienced 
something that is called a second wind. When we have been engaged 
in activities and feel like we have burned out, all of a sudden, we 
receive a burst of energy, can't really explain it, but we say we 
caught our second wind. This physiological wind source is a timely 
aid in propelling an exhausted runner onward to the finish line. The 
phenomenon of a second wind has a spiritual principle as well. When 
the purposes of God seem too distant to continue, God provides a 
second wind to propel his people onward to finish the cause in which 
they are engaged. 

If ever there was a time that we need a second wind. If ever there 
was a time that we need a word from the Lord, now is that time. We 
don't have to look very hard or very far to realize that we are 
living in some perilous times. Bro and Sis we are living in a land 
that seems to be draining on the efforts of every believer. I 
believe today that we desperately need a fresh outpouring of the 
Holy Spirit. Our communities have become havens for the adversaries 
work. Our District Attorney reported in the local paper last week 
that 80-90% of his cases are drug related. It gets to the point 
where we begin to feel as though all is lost. Things don't look too 
good. In fact, it seems to be growing worse as time goes on. When I 
consider our Churches today, it appears to me that we don't do as 
much within the church as we did when I was coming up. We have a 
whole lot going on within the walls of the Church, much of it 
appears to be motivational speaking instead of Preaching the Word of God.

Black History Month: Taking a historical look at African American writers - Jackson Advocate

Black History Month: Taking a historical look at African American writers - Jackson Advocate

The Civil Rights Movement pt.2

https://g.co/arts/cVV6iWX1Bt2k  

KXUh9 

The Great Migration: The African American Exodus from The South

 https://priceonomics.com/the-great-migration-the-african-american-exodus/?fbclid=IwAR10Ty95hnI_6XeCNfEQ9UaxIOfQGxVctGfxeQqBh899DNExltR2cVQfi0U

The Negro in Literature and Art-1918.

 

Collecting African American Artbooks and Catalogs:

Going through my collection.

The Negro in Literature and Art-1918.

Detailed look at black people, mainly American, but also some European, from the 1700s to the 1900s in art, literature, painting, sculpture and theatre. The author also gives an interesting analysis of the work of these people.

The Negro genius.--Phillis Wheatley.--Paul Laurence Dunbar.--Charles W. Chesnutt.--W.E. Burghardt Du Bois.--William Stanley Braithwaite.--Other writers.--Orators: Douglass and Washington.--The stage.--Painters: Henry O. Tanner.--Sculptors: Meta Warrick Fuller.-

Did you know that North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company was the first African American owned insurance company.

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