Tag: Jesus

January 28, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; commented.

John 18:28-40 deals with the last 24 hours of Jesus’ life, from the trial before Annas and the Sanhedron Jesus was paraded before Pilate, seeing a way out, Pilate sent him to Herod, who sent him back to Pilate, Pilate offered to release Jesus or Barabbas and the people demanded that Barabbas be released.

In Exodus 4 God gave Moses his call. At first Moses came up with one objection after another, but God persuaded him with signs that he must go back to Egypt, face Pharaoh and lead his people.

In Exodus 5 Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and asked for a 3 day reprieve for their people so they could go and worship God. Like all dictators Pharaoh reacted to this petition by making life even more miserable for the Hebrews; he wanted them to gather their own straw and still make as many bricks as before. The Hebrews blamed Moses for stirring up trouble for them.

And in Exodus 6 the LORD (Jehovah) promised deliverance from Pharaoh and He would give them the land He had promised Abraham. The narrative continues with an interlude where the names of the heads of the clans of Israel are listed. Moses protested and did not want to talk to Pharaoh any more, so Aaron would have to do the speaking.

Yesterday I didn’t comment on the momentous events when Jesus was taken into custody, ans Moses finally understood who God is and why it mattered, but the events of the trial reminded me of recent events in Minnesota. This is the Barabbas effect, one part of the government incites a mob to demand something that would be ridiculous for any thinking person to even contemplate. In this case the mob sides with the criminal, like the mob sided with Barabbas.

With Moses, his request was met with punishment of a whole group for a demand given by one person, a typical response for a ruler keeping control.

January 23, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; commented.

John 15. Jesus continued his instructions to the disciples. There are many memorable quotes from this chapter: “I am the true vine, I am the vine, you are the branches, apart from me you can do nothing, as the Father has loved me, so have I loved you, love each other as I have loved you, greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends, this is my command: Love each other” and “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.”

In Genesis 45 Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, and all rejoiced. It contains the phrase “But God” and shows clearly that God was in control all the time.

In Genesis 46 Jacob joined Joseph’s brothers in going to resettle in Egypt, and is a retelling of the names of all that went, sixty-six in total – not counting women and children.

Genesis 47 tells of how Jacob and his descendants settled in Goshen, about the continuing famine, and how Joseph, controlling the food supply enslaved the people. All power corrupts, and so even Joseph failed in comparison to Jesus, who came to set people free.

This is the big difference between what is taught by Jesus and what was implemented in the Old Testament. Jesus came to set people free, re-establish the perfect connection with God by accepting the gift of the Holy spirit, and so live a life of love for each other as individuals. Joseph on the other hand started out well. but even he succumbed to the pressures of this world, and as CEO of Egypt he enslaved the people, and they were reduced to be part of the collective.

January 21, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; commented.

John 14:1-14 records the events of the hour after the Passover meal before they all depart to Gethsemane. Jesus told his disciples he is going away to prepare a mansion, more precisely a dwelling place for them. Thomas, always questioning him, asked him “How can we know the way?” And Philip added “Show us the Father“. Jesus answer? “Believe in me“.

Genesis 40 deals with dreams. Joseph’s two fellow cellmates in prison each had a dream, Joseph interpreted the dreams that the cup-bearer would be released and restored to his former position, while the baker would be hanged on a tree.

In Genesis 41  Pharaoh himself had a dream, and Joseph was released from prison to interpret the dream. It dealt with seven years of plenty and seven years of famine. Joseph interpreted the dream so well that Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of all affairs of Egypt. The seven years of plenty came and good harvests filled the storehouses. Then came the seven years of famine.

Psalm 8 has been set to music many times. Even I have sung it many times, both as a choir number, and the first verse as an introit. Looking for the music I found a far better, very free rendition of the Psalm, this one by Marty Goetz.

God created the universe; first in a vision or a dream, then He spoke; and it was so. We have the proof by existing and living in the created universe. Jesus explains the eternal future for believers, but we can only see it as the dream yet, but then we shall see fully as we are fully known. Thomas had trouble with that, he required visual proof.

The Old Testament connection is Joseph, able to both have and interpret dreams. This lead him both in trouble and victory.

These dreams are recorded to help us better understand God’s ways, and the miracles of Jesus that are recorded occurred often on a Sabbath, but Jesus saved and healed people all the time.

January 20, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; commented.

John 13 begins the telling of the last 24 hours before the crucifixion of Jesus. Jesus washed the disciples’ feet before the Passover meal, a task normally performed by the lowest servant. During the meal he announced his betrayal, and then he gave the disciples a new commandment “love one another”. He also predicted Simon Peter’s denial.

Genesis 38 tells  the story of Judah and Tamar. One of the rules of the Old Testament is that if a man dies without producing an heir, it was the duty of his brother to try to produce an offspring to his widow. Onan shirked this responsibility, and that was the sin of Onan. Tamar was thus still barren, so she tricked Judah into committing adultery. You can read it for yourself. Judah finally confessed: “She is more righteous than I.”

Genesis 39 then picks up the story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife. The story is a classic, and for doing the right thing Joseph was falsely accused and thrown in jail.

Psalm 7 is a shiggaion, a dithyrambic ode of David. I would love hearing how the music to this Psalm sounded.

The common thread in today’s selection is betrayal and renewal. Jesus washed all the disciples’ feet, making the betrayal complete. Onan refused to do the brother’s responsibility to produce an offspring for his dead brother, so he was too killed. Tamar took matters in her own hands and tricked Judah into doing his responsibility through adultery.

The story of the scarlet thread is also remarkable. When Tamar gave birth to twins only one hand came out, so she tied a scarlet thread around his wrist. Then the other baby came wholly out first, but the one with the scarlet thread was still considered the firstborn. This proves that if any part of the baby is outside the body the baby is born, and it means that partial birth abortion is murder.

January 14, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; commented.

In John 10:1-21 Jesus told that he is the good shepherd, the gate for the sheep, there will be one flock and one shepherd, and the sheep hear and know his voice.

After Sarah’s death, in Genesis 25 Abraham married his concubine Ketorah, who had already borne him six children. Before his death he sent them all away with ample gifts and provisions but his inheritance he gave to Isaac. Isaac and Ishmael buried Abraham, and then Ishmael’s genealogy was written down. Finally is told the story of Jacob and Esau, and how Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of lentil stew and some bread.

Genesis 26 tells of Isaac and Rebekah, how Isaac too said Rebekah was his sister, like father, like son. In spite of that lie God protected them, and the rest of the chapter deals with the eternal Mideast dispute: Water right

Today’s selection of chapters illustrates well the difference between Jesus, the good shepherd and the intrigues in the Old Testament. Jesus gives his sheep protection, pasture and he knows where the good water is. The still waters are often polluted. Abraham married his concubine, but he never let them be part of his inheritance. Isaac and Ishmael buried Abraham, but Abraham never married Hagar even though she gave birth to his firstborn child. Jacob was always a schemer, blackmailed Esau out of his birthright, and told Abimelech Rebekah was his sister, a blatant lie. In spite of that they came to an agreement of water rights.

Daisy World, The Gaia Hypothesis and the real story of Creation. Part 9: Nature or nurture?

We were created by God in his image with an expanded brain, capable of lifelong learning. This included a spiritual connection directly with God through His Spirit. This is the connection that died when Adam sinned and people decided they could function quite well without constant communication with God. Yet there remained a god-shaped void in their brains, a longing that wanted to be satisfied.

The question for us now is: Are we the way we are as a result of nature or nurture? Up to now we have dealt with the physical universe, the creation of all forms of life, and finally the creation of mankind, where mankind is unique in that it is created to have a special functioning connection with God. This is the only physical difference between us and the animals. A dog has better sense of smell, a cat hears better, an eagle sees better a bat uses echolocation to see at night, a dolphin has a better sonar than what scientists has been able to duplicate, many animals can sense changes in magnetic disturbances and so on.

We can separate the nature-nurture question two ways: Spiritually and environmentally. We start to develop much sooner after conception than people think, and the brain as it develops starts to record sounds and begins feeling way before birth.These impressions become hardwired into the brain and some insists that listening to classical music is the best environment for the developing baby, but the voice of the mother, both language and accent start to get imprinted before birth. The baby can also sense mood changes, arguments, stress and unrest. Some of this is already imprinted in their brain before the baby is born! If the mother gets sick, takes drugs, eats or drinks improper things, this too affects the baby’s development. Then comes birth, and so many things have to come to pass in right time and order for the birth to succeed, and yet it normally does. This is a miracle. Granted, when you see a cow give birth, she licks the calf off, and one hour later the calf rises up and starts to follow the mare, while a baby is helpless for a long time. When a child grows up, all it senses, hears, sees smells, tastes and feels gets uploaded into the brain, but only a small part is forever stored into memory, and what is stored permanently is often in connection with a traumatic event, good or bad. The events as memorized can be seen as nurture, but how they are handled are more part of nature. Some learn and change for the better, others change for the worse.

For all of us that are over 45 we will never forget January 28 1986. The space shuttle was ready and loaded to send up “teacher in space”, every classroom that had access to a television had it loaded and President Regan was ready to give the State of the Union speech the same night. The sky was perfect, but there had been a short dip below freezing and the dew had condensed thick on the main tank and even formed icicles from the cold from the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. The boosters were not certified to work safely below 50 F, but they had done successful cold liftoffs before. A friend Ph.D chemist was working in the next cubical and together we were terrified that they would not scrub the mission. They could not find one engineer to sign off on the mission, but they went ahead anyway. The State of the Union speech was more important than safety. We all know what happened.With nearly all school-age children watching online the shuttle blew up and all seven astronauts were instantly killed. Some took it very hard, especially most teachers that had looked forward to this special moment in history. Some children had nightmares for a long time, but for others it was just another video-game. I can still remember some children coming home from school laughing: We now know what NASA stands for: “Need Another Seven Astronauts”. – The only one punished for this disaster was the one refusing to approve the mission and not accepting the white-washing of management responsibility; another sign of the fallen human nature.

It is of great importance where you spent your childhood. If you are born and raised on a subsistence farm, your experience is quite different from being raised on a modern specialized farm. If you are raised in the asphalt jungle of a modern city where crime and rape is commonplace, drugs are everywhere and corruption is the dominant method of doing business, that will shape how you see the world. Every memory impression will shape the way you behave and react.

If you are born in the country you will observe nature, and see how weather and climate affect all aspects of life, and you will see how beautifully God controls the weather. You learn to read the clouds and be a part of nature. Not so in the big cities! All is covered up, the sky tells you nothing. There are of course cultural events, sports, shows and spectacles, and many are drawn to that.

All this will be important in how you deal with the big question: Why are we here in the first place?

Next installment: The spiritual search for truth.

January 10, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; commented.

Today we read about circumcision and its importance; in John 7 and one of the four chapters in Genesis selected for today. But that is just one part of the story.

John 7:1-24. Jesus pointed out that according to Jewish law, circumcision is more important than keeping Sabbath, so, if the eighth day is on a Sabbath, it must be performed on that day, but healing on a Sabbath is not permitted.

In Genesis15 God promised Abram a son. Abram believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.

But in Genesis 16 Abram badly wanted an heir, so Sarai, being too old, gave her handmaiden Hagar to be the mother of Abram’s son, Ishmael. Sarai regretted what she had done, and Hagar was sent away with Ishmael into the wilderness.

Thirteen years later, in Genesis 17, Ishmael was back with Abram,  God  promised Abram his seed of promise, changed Abram’s name to Abraham and Sarai’s name became Sarah, established with an eternal covenant, the covenant of Circumcision, and it was performed on Abraham, Ishmael and all Abraham’s male servants.

Which brings us to Genesis 18 with Abraham still waiting for his promised offspring. He was visited by three angels that promised him he will have a son within a year. Sarah heard it and found it laughable, but God confirmed this promise, and was also proclaiming the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham tried to bargain with God at no avail.

The question to ponder: Why is circumcision important for Jews and Muslims, but not for Christians? Hint: read the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 15.

here is a map of the prevalence of male circumcision:

As we can see, circumcision is almost universal in Muslim countries, but very low in Europe and South America. In the U.S the circumcision rate is around 70%. Why is that? U.S. is a mostly Christian nation and we are told in Acts 15 that we should not be circumcised. There is an interesting aspect to circumcision and prostate cancer. The Mayo Clinic conducted a study a long time ago about the correlation between prostate cancer and circumcision, and they found a strong link, circumcised males had much lower risk of prostate cancer. There was one fatal fault with the study; it was done in Minnesota with a lot of people of Swedish descent, and the Swedes do not circumcise, and they have a much higher genetic propensity for developing prostate cancer than other population groups.

When our first son was born in 1969 the nurse nonchalantly handed me a clipboard and said: Sign here, it is standard procedure but it requires your signature. When I read through it I found out it was about circumcision, so I refused. She snarled and left and I overheard her saying to another nurse: Those Scandinavians; they are so backwards – she even wants to breast feed – how primitive!

January 7, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; commented.

Today we read in John 5:31-47 how Jesus defended His testimony.

In Genesis 9 God established His covenant with Noah (The Noahic Covenant), and as a sign He established the rainbow in the sky. Noah planted a vineyard, got drunk and exposed his nakedness. This lead to “the curse of Ham,” which gave the excuse that the black race was destined for servanthood and slavery. It was in reality the curse of Canaan, the original inhabitants of the yet to be promised land.  Ponder that!

Genesis 10 is a genealogy of the descendants of Noah. It describes how the earth was repopulated. This is quite interesting to see how the different tribes developed.

When Jesus defended his testimony the Scriptures were already written and pointed to the coming Messiah. In most of the prophesies Messiah is described as a conqueror. He will reestablish Israel in all its glory, and the prophesies of the suffering messiah of divine origin were ignored as being inconsistent with the purpose and destiny of Israel. This is why Jesus testimony was vehemently opposed.

In Noah’s time on the other hand none of the Scriptures had been written, so God in His grace gave Noah the covenant He would never again destroy mankind with a flood, and He sealed it with the sign of the rainbow as a remembrance. After the deluge weather patterns changed and thunderstorms became common in season. In spite of this it didn’t take long for Noah to sin and get drunk, and from that story we get “the curse of Ham” which really was the curse of Canaan.

January 2, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; commented.

Today’s reading of the Bible begins with John 1: 19-51. John the Baptist testified about the Messiah: “Make straight the way for the Lord”. When he met Jesus he referred him as “The Lamb of God” that “takes away the sin of the world”, and “this is the Son of God”. Jesus called his first disciples, Andrew and Peter, Philip and Nathaniel.

Genesis 2 tells of how God created woman out of man, showing that creation was not complete without man and woman as a unit. This must be taken spiritually, since in Genesis 1 he already created man in His own image, male and female. God’s design is one man, one woman, one lifetime. This would still be the case if we let God chose our mate. If we had followed God’s intent, many sicknesses would not exist, especially sexually transmitted diseases. “He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord.” Proverbs 18:22

To find out how God created woman we move to verse 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.“The rib” is from the Greek Septuagint translation of the Old Testament. The original Hebrew meaning is “took part of the man’s side“, but since the Greek Septuagint was the most used version of the Scriptures for the early Christians, the rib won.

Don’t get stuck on the detail if it was from the side or from a rib. That is not the point of the story. Some take it to only mean “the two shall be one flesh” is only for procreation, but it is more than that. I can attest it works, having been married now to my wife for over 57 years. It works through communication and fellowship with God. This fellowship is broken in Genesis 3 and forward in the Old Testament.

January 1, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; commented.

The Holy Bible is the most influential book ever written. According to Wikipedia it has been translated in its entirety into 724 languages, and the New Testament has been translated into 1617 languages. At least one part of the Bible has bee translated into 3,589 languages, and more translations are coming every year, especially from the Wycliffe translators.

Both the New Testament and the Old Testament begin with the words “In the beginning”.

John1:1-18 deals with creation spiritually.

Genesis 1 deals with the physical creation with spiritual emphasis, laying the groundwork for spiritual understanding of how and why we exist.

We are existing in time and space. The question is: What was there before time and space existed, before the beginning?

Answer: God, existing in three persons, God the Father, God the Son (the Word) and God’s Spirit, (the Holy Ghost).

The Three-in-one God alone are eternal, everything else, including time and space, is created.

Another Question: Why did God say “it was good” for day 1,3,4 and 5 but not for day 2 and it was very good after day 6?

Answer: The ecosystem is a work in progress and will function differently for each phase and finally come to completion when all parts are set in place, which includes people. We are responsible to God to be good stewards of the earth and leave it a better place than we found it. The main regulator of temperature on earth is the clouds. They cool by day and warm by night. The time of day they appear is also very important, and there is no risk for the earth to overheat.