Names in the Bible: Archippus

The name of Archippus (Colossians 4:17 and Philemon 2) means, in Greek, "master of horses."

Hello, Colombia!

Hola, Colombia! Bienvenido al grupo de lectores deotros 60 países que también visitan este blog. Espero que algunos de los mensajes útiles o significativas.
 El "Traducir esta página" gadget directamente sobre el"páginas vistas " total "contra el tiene la capacidad detraducir el texto en Inglés de este blog directamente enespañol.

 61 países: Argentina, Australia, Bahrein, Belarús,Bélgica, Brasil, Bulgaria, Canadá, Islas Caimán, China,Colombia, osta Rica, Croacia, República Checa,Dinamarca, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Etiopía,Francia, Georgia, Alemania , Grecia, Hong Kong,Hungría, India, Israel, Italia, Costa de Marfil, Japón,Lituania, Luxemburgo, Malta, México, Moldavia,Nethertlands, Nueva Zelanda, Noruega, Pakistán,Paraguay, Filipinas, Polonia, Rumania, Rusia, ArabiaSaudita , Senegal, Eslovaquia, Eslovenia, Sudáfrica,Corea del Sur, España, Sri Lanka, Suecia, Suiza,Turquía, Ucrania, Emiratos Árabes Unidos, Reino Unido, Estados Unidos, Venezuela y Vietnam.

Christian Comedians

Many people think of Christians as humorless and flat.   Not true!  There is even a website devoted to Christian comedy and comedians and the Serious Comedy Agency in Los Angeles, California which represents only Christian comedians.

A partial list of Christian comedians includes Michael Joiner, Dustin Joiner, Horace H.B. Sanders, Kenn Kingston, Chris Blackmore, Bob Smiley, Wiie Brown and Woody, Tony Rey, Matt Jernigan, Gilbert Esquivel, Scott Wood, Leland Klassen, Stephen B, Donna East, Risky Betts, and Charles Marshall.

The Saddest Day in Jewish History

When Moses sent the twelve spies into Canaan, only two, Joshua and Caleb, came back with a positive report.  God declared that that present generation would not enter the Promised Land and that the day, the ninth of Av, would become one of crying for their descendents. (Numbers 13 and 14.)

The destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 586 BC/BCE occurred on Tisha b'av, the ninth day of the month of Av (Hebrew Calendar).

The destruction of the Second Jewish Temple by Rome in 70 AD/CE occurred on the ninth of Av.

The Romans put down the Bar Kochba Revolt and destroyed the city of Betar in 132 AD/CE, on the ninth of Av.  Over 100,000 Jews were killed.

In 133 AD/CE, on the ninth of Av, the Roman commander Turnus Rufus plowed the site of the Temple.

The expulsion of the Jews from England in 1290 and from Spain in 1492 by King Ferdinand, the declaration of the First Crusade, the outbreak of World War I, and the deportation of Warsaw's Jews to the Treblinka Death Camp are all sometimes associated with the 9th of Av but did not occur on that day.  The Warsaw deportation is the closest to the correct date, beginning as it did on the 10th of Av.

Tisha B'Av is an annual fast day in Judaism.  Observant Jews do not eat, drink, work, bathe, wear leather shoes, or have sex on this day because it is a day of mourning.

Book Comment: Cracking the Bible Code

"All that was, is, and will be unto the end of time is included in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible."  So said the Lithuanian (though born in Belarus) Talmudic scholar Rabbi Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman (1720 - 1797).  He was a mathematician and bible commentator who memorized the Talmud.  


When the rabbi was challenged, "Where is the Rambam?" (The 12th Century Rabbi Moses ben Maimonides), he instantly responded, "Rabot (may be multiplied) Moftai (my wonders) B'eretz (in the land of) Mitzraim (Egypt)."  This is Exodus 11:9.


Rabbi Moshe Cordevaro (1522-1570) had earlier said, "The secrets of our holy Torah are revealed through knowledge of combinations, numerology (gematria), switching letters, first-and-last letters, shapes of letters, first- and last- verses, skipping of letters (dilug otiot) and letter combinations."


Both men were echoing an ancient Jewish tradition that the Torah was dictated by God to Moses letter by letter and that it contained coded or encrypted information about the past, present, and future.*  This is the subject discussed by Jeffrey Satinover in Cracking the Bible Code (1997).  For example, Satinover points out that AHRN (Aaron) occurs twenty-five times in the Hebrew text at equidistant spaces in Leviticus 1:1-13, a passage in which Aaron is not mentioned.


The claim of hidden messages in the scriptures is at the heart of Kabballah, Jewish mysticism.  There are currently many teams of researchers using computers to search for names, sentences, predictions, etc.  Many claim to have found mentions of historical and modern persons and events.  Most are using the Old Testament Hebrew text; a few are attempting to use the same techniques on the Greek text of the New Testament.


Who knows?  It seems unlikely, but who would dare to insist it is not true?  Is it a situation like what is said in the film, The Number 21, "You're finding it because you're looking for it."?  It does seem dangerous, though, to base one's faith in the Bible on Bible Codes, religious relics, the Shroud of Turin, or other such things when we have the Bible itself and the witness of the Apostles.  The Bible Codes might be equivalent to seeing Jesus' face in a plate of spaghetti.    


















* Many modern theologians, including many Jewish scholars, believe that someone, possibly Moses, assembled the Torah from earlier, far more ancient, sources.  

World's Smallest Church

Madonna Chapel , near Bayou Goula, Louisiana (USA), is claimed to be the smallest church in the world.  Roman Catholic mass is held in the chapel each August 15, but there are no seats or pews and there is only room for one priest and an altar boy (two if the boys are quite small).   Attendees to the mass must stand outside.

The settlement, Bayou Goula, is named for an Italian sugar farmer, Anthony Gullo (aka Goula or Goullo).  In 1890, Gullo prayed to the Virgin Mary to cure his son who was threatened by a life-threatening illness.  Gullo and other residents began to build the church in 1903.

Does anyone know of a smaller church in active use, or now inactive but once in use?

Hello, Paraguay!

Hola, Paraguay! Bienvenido al grupo de lectores de 59otros países que también visitan este blog. Espero quealgunos de los mensajes útiles o significativas.
El "Traducir esta página" gadget directamente sobre el"páginas vistas " total "contra el tiene la capacidad detraducir el texto en Inglés de este blog directamente en español.
60 países: Argentina, Australia, Bahrein, Belarús,Bélgica, Brasil, Bulgaria, Canadá, Islas Caimán, China,Costa Rica, Croacia, República Checa, Dinamarca,Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Etiopía, Francia,Georgia, Alemania, Grecia , Hong Kong, Hungría, India,Israel, Italia, Costa de Marfil, Japón, Lituania,Luxemburgo, Malta, México, Moldavia, Nueva ZelandaNethertlands, Nueva, Noruega, Pakistán, Paraguay,Filipinas, Polonia, Rumania, Rusia, Arabia Saudita,Senegal , Eslovaquia, Eslovenia, Sudáfrica, Corea del Sur, España, Sri Lanka, Suecia, Suiza, Turquía,Ucrania, Emiratos Árabes Unidos, Reino Unido,Estados Unidos, Venezuela y Vietnam.

Sense

"He has room for people with very little sense, but He wants every one to use what sense they have."
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Film Comments So far

Up to this point, I have posted film comments on the following films and film subjects: Beauty and the Beast; The Big Picture; Bollywood, Nollywood, Hollywood; The Book of Eli; Duel; Christian Comments on Films; The Christian Film Database; Crash Test; The 400 Blows; God Told Me To; The Greatest Gift; The Green Pastures; Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix; I Am Curious (Blue); I Am Curious (Yellow); Ink; Island of Despair; Island of Lost Souls; Its the End of the World ...; Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter; Juno Whips It; Kike Like Me; The Man Who Could Work Miracles; Over and Over Again, With Variations; Quid Pro Quo; A Quote from Constantine; Rabbit; The Red Balloon; Satan: Prince of Darkness; Screen Door Jesus; Time Bandits; Tremors; Vegas in Space; Video Fireplace; Watermelon Man;  What Does It Mean?: Why Jesus Spoke in Parables; Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music?; The Wild Dogs; Wise Advice from Forrest; and, Woman in the Dunes.  Some of them, like Video Fireplace, Vegas in Space, and Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter are really not worth your trouble.  Some, like The Red Balloon, Duel, The 400 Blows, The Green Pastures, and Island of Lost Souls are essential views for film enthusiasts.  Most are available for rental from Netflix or for purchase from Movies Unlimited.  I have no financial connection with either of these businesses except as a customer.  You may have guessed that I am a film geek; I have so far viewed 6306 films.

Most films are made by non-Christians but that doesn't mean that they have nothing to say to us. I believe that a Christian can derive insights even from films made by non-Christians; even from films which are anti-Christian. Films can present positive and negative demonstrations to us of religious and philosophical concepts, sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally. All of my film comments interpret the films in light of a Christian worldview. Sometimes the interpretation I derive from a film may not reflect the original intentions of the filmmaker.

To access the commentaries, go to “film commentary” in the labels section below this post.

Religious Humor: Proverbs 11:22

The following verse is an example of the use of hyperbole in Hebrew humor.  It makes its point by placing side by side two intense images which would ordinarily never be thought of together.  When one thinks of the Hebrew attitude towards pigs, it is obvious that this is not intended as a flattering thought.

"[As] a jewel of gold in a swine's snout, [so is] a fair woman which is without discretion." Proverbs 11:22

Film Comment: Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast (La belle et la bête, 1946) is a classic French film directed by Jean Cocteau.   Most of us know the rudiments of the story.   To save her father (Marcel Andre) from a death sentence declared by a werewolf-like beast (Jean Marais), a beautiful young virgin (Josette Day) must agree to substitute herself as the beast’s victim.  She reluctantly but willingly goes to meet her fate only to realize that her host is actually a sensitive and caring person.

Unlike the 1991 Disney version, this fairy tale film was never intended for viewing by children.  The Beast’s castle is a mixture of elegant beauty and creepy visual effects which may be frightening for children.  The beast is truly a beast and looks very much like a traditional werewolf.  The visual and poetic beauty of the film can’t obscure the fact that it deals with many adult themes such as familial duty,  love, violence, frustration, and sexual tension.  An underlying tension is present when one realizes that the intensely heterosexual Beast is portrayed by Jean Marais, the longtime homosexual lover of the director, Jean Cocteau.

We may not like to acknowledge it, but, biologically, we are animals.  Animals are innocent in their selfishness, but, as sentient beings, we are not.   We are a mixture of the law of the Jungle, survival of the fittest, and of our higher impulses.  By our own power, we cannot overcome our selfishness (the true essence of sin) and our separation from God.

Just as the Beast is redeemed by the pure self-sacrificing love of the Belle, we are saved by accepting the gift of Jesus’s sacrifice.

"That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Ephesians 4:22-24. 

Barlow Girl

I have to admit that I don't follow contemporary Christian music.  My tastes in music run to guitar-heavy instrumentals (Joe Satriani ), classical music (Wolfgang Mozart , Erik Satie ), and electronic music (Isao Tomita , Kraftwerk ).

I learned of the beautiful music of the three member group known as BarlowGirl  from "The Walk," the blog of Glen Cantrell , a bivocational Southern Baptist preacher in Sikeston, Missouri (USA).  Bivocational pastors work for small churches which choose not to, or are financially unable to, support a full-time pastor.  Though they work full time away from the church to support themselves, most end up working full time at the church also.  They are a special dedicated breed.

BarlowGirl  consists of three sisters (Alyssa, Rebecca, and Lauren Barlow) who produce beautiful three-part harmonies in what is defined as Christian Rock Music.  They have been nominated for ten Dove Awards.

da Vinci's "The Lord's Supper" Recreated in An Unusual Medium

A woman in Roscommon, Michigan (USA) has reproduced Leonardo da Vinci's "The Lord's Supper" in an unorthodox medium.  Read about it here .

Hello, Cayman islands!

Hello, Cayman Islands!  Welcome to the group of readers from 57 other countries who also visit this blog.  I hope you find some of the posts useful or meaningful.

Another Light Bulb Joke

How many progressive clergymen does it take to change a light bulb?
None!  It is cruel to expect a light bulb to change!  We need to ban these insensitive light bulb jokes!

Wise Advice from Forrest

“Remember this: while somebody is down there kissin’ your butt, they could just as easily be bitin’ it too.”  Forrest Gump (The fictional idiot savant of the book, Forrest Gump (1986), and the same named, 1994 Oscar winning film. )  From the book, Gumpisms. The Wit and Wisdom of Forrest Gump, 1994.

Forrest Gump (“I’m not a smart man …”) said whatever came into his mind and sometimes what he said was quite profound.  Flatterers (“butt-kissers” if you will) don’t just give praise, but excessive, insincere praise.  Praise designed to put you off your guard, to deceive you, and to be used to profit the flatterer.

The ultimate butt-kisser is the sycophant, a person who insincerely gives obviously excessive submission to authority in return for the benefits of cozying up to those in power.

"A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet." Proverbs 29:5

Hello, United Arab Emirates!

مرحبا، الإمارات العربية المتحدة! مرحبا بكم في مجموعة من القراء من 56 بلدان أخرى أيضا الذين يزورون هذا بلوق. وآمل أن تجد بعض من وظائف مفيدة أو ذات مغزى.
"ترجم هذه الصفحة" أداة مباشرة فوق "عرض صفحة المجموع" كاونتر لديها القدرة على ترجمة النص الانكليزي من هذابلوق مباشرة إلى اللغة العربية.

How Much He Trusts Us

"I know God will not give me anything I can't handle.  I just wish that He didn't trust me so much." Mother Teresa

Hello Bahrain!

مرحبا، البحرين. مرحبا بكم في مجموعة من القراء من 58 بلدان أخرى أيضا الذين يزورون هذا بلوق. وآمل أن تجد بعضمن وظائف مفيدة أو ذات مغزى.
"ترجم هذه الصفحة" أداة مباشرة فوق "عرض صفحة المجموع" كاونتر لديها القدرة على ترجمة النص الانكليزي من هذابلوق مباشرة إلى اللغة العربية.