Labels: A Useful Tool in Searching This Blog

 When you you read one of the posts in this blog, there are several tools to enhance the usefulness of the post. The Labels tool is one of these. 

The current blog text which you are reading is in a white box. To the right of the blog text is a light-green box. Scroll down to the small white box which is below the light-green box. This white box is Pages. The listed pages are Home, About this Blog, Statement of Faith, and Statistics. Clicking on the name of one of the listed pages will take you to that page.

Home: At the end of the current posting which you are reading, there is a light green box with the name of Labels. These labels concern the subjects related to the current post at hand. An example of a label is "animals." Click on "animals" and the Labels tool will call up blog postings which list "animals" as one of their labels. You can use this tool to search for any subject, such as "sports," "trinity," "baptism," "book comment," or random things such as "chainsaw" or "dog poop." At the extreme bottom of the Home page is a full listing of every label which has been used on this blog, listed alphabetically. It is extensive but you can search it by scrolling down the page.

About this Blog: A statement of the philosophy of this blog and things which you may expect to see here.

Statement of Faith: I have seminary training but would not attempt to tell you what to think: I'm interested in challenging you to actually think. Many people, possibly most, don't. Read your Bible and let the Holy Spirit perform his teaching ministry.

There are three types of Christian doctrine: absolutes, convictions, and opinions. Only absolute doctrines are "fighting words." They are doctrines which must not be compromised even if they lead to heated arguments, splits, and expulsions. 

Demonstrating an absolute (salvation by faith and not by works), Paul publicly rebuked Peter (Galatians 2:11-19) over whether Gentiles had to adopt Jewish practices to become Christians.  

An interesting discussion of the ranking of doctrines: read especially the comments of PRMan99. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Christianity/comments/58iiy5/doctrine_fundamental_secondary_tertiary/?rdt=41393

Statistics: This page lists the current historical number of page views for this blog and the countries from which this blog has been viewed.

Book Comment: 50 Things You Need to Know About Heaven

 

                In his book, 50 Things You Need to Know About Heaven. John Hart has one especially relevant comment: “Earth is the closest that a non-Christian will ever get to heaven. Earth is the closest a believing Christian will ever get to hell.”

                The book discusses 50 questions about heaven, such as:

                “Who goes to heaven?”

                “Do people in heaven know what is happening on Earth?”

                “Will animals go to heaven?”

                “How can I be sure I’m going to heaven?”

                “Will others in heaven know my secret sins on Earth?”

 

                As with all books such as this, the author is not trying to tell you what to think. He is trying to challenge you to read your Bible and to listen to what it says. Do not believe just anything because someone else told to believe it; let the Holy Spirit guide you to the truth.

                Information you will need to search for this book: Hart, John, 50 Things You Need to Know About Heaven (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2014)

There is nothing new under the sun

 

"There is nothing new under the sun." William Shakespeare said that, right?  Nope. It is from the Bible in Ecclesiastes 1:9.

Nationalities of Biblical Persons if They Were Born Today

 

Xerxes/Ahasuerus          Iranian

Sargon of Akkad            Iraqi

Simon of Cyrene            Libyan

Simon Peter                    Israeli

Bartholomew                  Possibly Lebanese

Emperor Claudius         French

Jeremiah                         West Bank Palestinian

Samuel                            Israeli

Emperor Nero                Italian

Emperor Augustus         Italian

Not Done in a Corner

 

        "Things are not done in a corner" is a phrase which derives from the Bible, in Acts 26:26, where the Apostle Paul, while defending his Christian activities to King Agrippa, says, "… none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner.". Nothing about it is secret; there is nothing to hide. It is there to see if you just look.

مرحبا عمان!مرحبا عمان/Hello, Oman

        Oman has just been added to the list of 142 countries from which this blog has been viewed. The total number of blog views as of today, 23 January 2025, is 504,647. The Church is is for everyone in every culture! Thank you for your interest! Μαράνα θά.

מרנאתא

لقد تم إضافة عمان للتو إلى قائمة 142 دولة التي تم عرض هذه المدونة منها. إجمالي عدد مشاهدات المدونة حتى اليوم، 23 يناير 2025، هو 504,647. الكنيسة للجميع في كل ثقافة! شكرا لاهتمامك!

What if You Suddenly Died?

             

        Several years ago, a woman at the place of my employment received a devastating telephone call. Her husband was killed in an automobile accident while travelling for a work assignment. The woman was absent from work for about a week for bereavement and funeral leave.

        When she returned to work, she was still obviously very withdrawn and possibly in a state of depression. Unlike some, she was willing to talk. After relaying my sympathies to her, what I said next seems to have greatly improved her mood. 

        I told her that she could be proud that, when her husband died, he was where he was supposed to have been and was doing what he was supposed to have been doing.  He was a man of honor, fulfilling his responsibilities.  His wife smiled.

        If you had a sudden massive heart attack and died on the spot, what would you want your wife and children to be told? That you died on your way to a scheduled business meeting or that you lied to them and died while having sex with a prostitute?

नमस्ते नेपाल !/Hello, Nepal!

 नमस्ते नेपाल !

    Nepal has just been added to the list of 141 countries from which this blog has been viewed. The total number of blog views as of today, 21 January 2025, is 504,152. The Church is is for everyone in every culture! Thank you for your interest! Praise the Lord! Μαράνα θά.

מרנאתא

नेपाल भर्खरै यो ब्लग हेरिएको 141 ​​देशहरूको सूचीमा थपिएको छ। आज, 21 जनवरी 2025 सम्म ब्लग हेराइहरूको कुल संख्या 504,152 छ। चर्च हरेक संस्कृतिमा सबैको लागि हो! तपाईंको रुचिको लागि धन्यवाद! परमप्रभुको प्रशंसा गर!

Christian Respect for Political Leaders

 

 

Singer Carrie Underwood will perform “America the Beautiful” at the inauguration ceremony for the new United States President, Donald J. Trump, on 20 January 2025. Once this was announced, the singer began to receive vitriolic and hateful comments from persons opposed to Mr. Trump. Ms. Underwood seems to have taken the approach that it is an honor to be asked to perform at the ceremony, regardless of who the new leader is.

When Jesus said “Render unto Caesar,” he was warning against elevating the temporal government over the Kingdom of God. He was not telling us to remove ourselves from any involvement with the government.

Once, during the presidency of Barack Obama, a coworker of mine was bitterly complaining about the president. I was also not particularly fond of the president, but I told the coworker that it was the responsibility of every American, especially those who are Christian, to be willing to jump in front of a bullet to protect our leader. He responded, “Not me! I would be hitting the floor!”

It is our duty and honor as Christians to be civically involved, even if we do not personally approve of our current political leaders. Paul, who would ultimately be executed by the Roman government, would agree.

Mark 12:17; Romans 13:1-7; Hebrews 13:1-17; 1 Peter 2:13-17

¡Hola Uruguay! /Hello Uruguay!

 Uruguay has just been added to the list of 140 countries from which this blog has been viewed. The total number of blog views as of today, 17 January 2025, is 503,933. The Church is is for everyone in every culture! Thank you for your interest! Praise the Lord! Μαράνα θά.

מרנאתא

Over 500,000 Views!

     This blog just went over 500,000 views! On the Statistics page, you can view the list of countries from which this blog has been visited.

Hello Zambia!

 Zambia has just been added to the list of 139 countries from which this blog has been viewed. The Church is is for everyone in every culture! Thank you for your interest! Praise the Lord! Μαράνα θά.

מרנאתא

The Origin of the English Language Word "Goodbye"

        The English language word, Goodbye, a "parting word"used grammatically as an adverbial phrase, is derived from "Godbwye" a shortened form of the Old English phrase God þē mid sīe: (in modern English: "God be with you.")  God  (God) þē ("thou" = "to you") mid ("with") sīe: (a form of "to be").

        The first known recorded occurrence of the word was in 1573 when it was used by the English scholar and poet, Gabriel Harvey. Harvey often wrote in Latin, claimed to have invented the English language hexameter format of poetry, and coined these English language words: "rascality," "extensively," "conscious," "jovial," "notoriety," and "idiom."

¡Hola Bolivia!/ Hello Bolivia!

Bolivia has just been added to the list of 138 countries from which this blog has been viewed. The Church is is for everyone in every culture! Thank you for your interest! Praise the Lord! Μαράνα θά.

מרנאתא

Salom O'zbekiston!/ Hello Uzbekistan!

 

 Uzbekistan has just been added to the list of 137 countries from which this blog has been viewed. The Church is is for everyone in every culture! Thank you for your interest! Praise the Lord! Μαράνα θά.

מרנאתא

Saints on the Loose! Tools: "Search This Blog" and "Translate This Blog".

        On this blog, Saints on the Loose!, there are two useful tools: "Search This Blog" and "Translate This Blog".

        The "Search This Blog" drop-down tool provides the reader with access to over 1700 subject listings from Christian doctrinal issues, social and cultural issues, sports, health, movies, food, books, television programs, history, Christian heresies, apologetics, and many other subjects.

        The "Translate This Blog" drop-down tool allows the the reader to select a language other than English in which they may read the blog post. This tool uses the Google Translate function and, as of January 2025, can translate 249 languages. A detailed but not excessively technical discussion about Google Translate can be found on Wikipedia.

        Use of these two tools in tandem can greatly increase the usefulness of this blog to you.

        The Google Translate tool provides what is probably a very literal, but readable translation.  Idiomatic meaning and some subtleties unique to particular languages may be lost. The following two example translations are of a portion of this post, in Traditional Chinese and in Spanish..

在這個部落格 Saints Loose! 中，有兩個有用的工具：「搜尋此部落格」和「翻譯此部落格」。

        「搜尋此部落格」下拉工具為讀者提供了數千個主題列表，包括基督教教義問題、社會和文化問題、體育、健康、電影、食品、書籍、電視節目、歷史、基督教異端、護教學，以及許多其他主題。

        La herramienta desplegable "Buscar en este blog" proporciona al lector acceso a miles de listas de temas, desde cuestiones doctrinales cristianas, cuestiones sociales y culturales, deportes, salud, películas, comida, libros, programas de televisión, historia, herejías cristianas, apologética, y muchos otros temas.

The Restrainer

 

            In the city in which I live, one of the local television stations carries a weekly broadcast of the Sunday morning worship services of a large local church. Every week, immediately after the church service broadcast ends, a commercial begins for a local gambling casino. The world is always ready to pour in if the Church, the ἐκκλησία, is not present as a restaining influence.

            The word, “restrainer, “ is from the Greek word Κατέχον (Strong’s 2722) which is used in the Bible to express ”hold down,” “hold back,” “detain,” “restrain,” and other similar meanings.

            2 Thessalonians 2:6-8 says that “the restrainer,” the one who holds back the world, will continue to do so until he is taken out of the way.  To modern readers, it may not seem to be clearly stated who this restrainer is. A literal translation of the Greek of verse 6 into English is "And now that which is restraining, you know, for to be revealed him in his time."

            Many believe that the restrainer is the Holy Spirit who indwells all the Christians who make up the Church. The removal of the restrainer could reference the removal of the Church at the time of the Rapture.  The Antichrist is to be revealed when the one who hinders his presence is removed.

            These concepts are involved in controversy among theologians over how to interpret eschatological doctrines. I will not tell you what you should believe but I will say that we should, at least, discuss it and not ignore it. Paul assumed that his contemporary readers understood what he was referencing ("you know"). Paul was talking to us also.

Nationalities of Biblical Persons if They Were Born Today

 

Ben-Hadad                         Syrian

Judas Iscariot                    Israeli

Herod the Great                Jordanian

Darius the Mede               Kurdish

Queen of Sheba                Possibly Saudi Arabian

Nebuchadnezzar              Iraqi

Gallio                                Spanish

Luke                                 Syrian

Timothy                           Turkish

Solomon                           Israeli