JOEL 2 GENERATION

As I am now in the middle of DAY 40, I wanted to write something INSPIRATIONAL as we go forward. Let's purpose to RESET things in our lives. Let's set some new goals. Nothing you want to do or to become will be any easier than if you start NOW! Dream big. Go after something NEW. Something you haven't done before. Something BEYOND what you think you can do.  I think of my daughter and son-in-law are doing in June - they are RUNNING a full marathon (26.2 miles) - something neither of them have ever done. I ran my first marathon at 49 years old. We are all living way below our God-given potential.  So, let my blog post today INSPIRE. I am inspired to go forward spiritually and physically with an expectation for growth and transformation. For such a time as this... LINK https://keto4christians.wordpress.com/2024/03/30/holy-week-lent-2024-day-40-holy-saturday-my-final-fasting-day/

The earliest Christians wrote a LOT about the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. They emphasized an aspect of the atonement that many conservative Protestant Evangelicals often overlook, which is largely due to the effect of the work of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury named Anselm (1033-1109). If there was one word, one concept that captured the theological minds of the earliest Christian theologians and apologists it was the word, RANSOM. I don't entirely know how to disentangle the "pollution" that Anselm mixed into Western Christian thinking about the atonement. The Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Christians, as well as the Church of the East do NOT incorporate the concepts that Anselm INTRODUCED into Western Christianity - both Roman Catholic and Protestant. I know that early Christian writers such as Tertullian wrote about the atonement in terms of penal substitution, but he doesn't go nearly as far as Anselm his Satisfaction Theory of the atonem...

NO, the word Easter is NOT pagan. I dealt with this topic the past week. If you'd like to hear the sermon, check it out here. Preparing for Easter or Resurrection Day -  LINK But it is true that the universal and earliest name for Easter was Passover ( Pascha in Greek). And most of the world's languages refer to Easter as Passover in their languages (i.e. French, Italian, Spanish, etc.) Here's today's blog post. LINK https://keto4christians.wordpress.com/2024/03/28/holy-week-lent-2024-day-38-passover-easter-easter-passover/

Somehow I am getting sent articles from the Patheos Blog from their category entitled "Progressive Christianity" - who knows, maybe a former conservative Christian friend of mine whose drifted into apostasy wants to help 'enlighten' me!? What is abundantly clear from the articles that are getting sent to me, is that " Progressive Christianity" gets every single issue they weigh in on wrong! Every single one - no exceptions! The actual Apostolic Christian position differs from today's "Progressive Christian" position on every single issue. Even on a issue like concern for the poor, which superficially looks like they would be in agreement, the way they would address the issue would be so diametrically opposed as to constitute a disagreement. In short, "Progressive Christianity" actually advocates immoral approaches to dealing with poverty. What deception! Jesus and His Apostles would not have considered "Progressive Christianity...

In my Holy Week readings, what is really standing out to me is the "severe critics" who Jesus has had to deal with while teaching in the Temple. These critics were the religious leaders of His day. They were the "Biblical" ones. They were the ones people looked up to for guidance and inspiration. Today is no different. We may expect critics from OUTSIDE the faith, but in fact, some of the most diabolical ones are those with WITHIN THE CHURCH. Is my use of the word, "diabolical" too strong? Possibly, but many of the critics are actually doing a lot of good work. So-called "discernment ministries" who have provided an amazing service helping others to assess false and/or distorted teachings. But some of them have become "severe critics" - and what is revealed is not their "discernment" and/or their "rightly dividing the Word", but rather it is their UNBELIEF, and unbelief is sin! That is what is so diabolical about it ...

We've all heard the phrase, "finishing well". I noticed something in my Gospel reading this morning that I've never noticed before. Luke 20:1-40. Jesus knew He was entering into the hardest week that anybody has ever had to endure. The saddest. The most painful. No week has ever been lived that was worse than the one Jesus was facing. And HE KNEW IT TOO!! And yet, what was Jesus doing? We see that he was "daily" teaching in the Temple! Not throwing a pity party! Not lounging at the 'J-Town Day Spa' resting up for what would be the most physically tortuous week of His life!  He was entirely ON POINT. He was in modern terms, "finishing well". Doing what He always did once His ministry was commissioned and began. He was teaching the Kingdom message - a message that would only be made applicable with what He would accomplish later in that week. I am challenged deeply by the way He faced the most difficult of any circumstances that were ever fac...

We as a community are taking each day of Holy Week to consider the things that happened day by day. I was reminded that on Monday, Jesus wept over Jerusalem. I can imagine the things He was weeping over - how many of His own people were still rejecting Him as the Jewish Messiah, knowing that He was the ONLY WAY that they could be saved from their sins. What should we be weeping over today when we consider America? (or whatever country we come from) Abortion? The slaughter of MILLIONS of innocent lives in the past one hundred years! The explosion of child sex trafficking. Addictions? Sexual insanity? Homelessness? The breakdown of families? Violence and crime? Christians losing their faith? The millions of people who are currently lost without Jesus with no hope for eternal life? The list goes on and on. It seems we need to be doing some more weeping! For such a time as this... LINK https://keto4christians.wordpress.com/2024/03/26/holy-week-lent-2024-day-35-monday-of-holy-week/