Three Religious Truths

I do not know the origin of this joke but I would strongly believe that it came from a Baptist.

There are three religious truths.

1. Jews do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah.

2. Protestants do not recognize the Pope as the leader of the Christian faith. 

3. Baptists do not recognize each other in the liquor store.

Zohran Mamdani Elected as the Mayor of New York City

 

First, this is not, never has been, and never will be, a political blog. The post which you are now reading is not a political post.

            On today, 4 November, 2025, Zohran Mamdani, a self-identified socialist, won the mayorship of New York City on the Democratic Party ticket. Some critics say that Mamdani is closer in his beliefs to Communism than to Socialism. Some may even see an apocalyptic meaning in his election, seeing Communism as 666, the number of a man. Revelation 13:18.

            No! I am not saying that Zohran Mamdani is the Antichrist! I am saying that some may see the resurgence of Socialist/Marxist/Communist ideas as evidence of the nearness of the coming of the Antichrist. This resurgence seems to fit many of the biblical descriptions of the Antichrist, the man of lawlessness. The following list is not everything said about the Antichrist in the Bible.

1.                          It elevates a political idea, which comes from man, to a position over God. The most extreme versions of the idea are overtly anti-religious. Anti can be understood not just as against, but also as instead of.

2.                          The Antichrist will be very popular with the majority of the populace and will perform miracles, perhaps economic miracles, rather than seemingly magical ones. He will claim that his system can eventually solve all the world’s problems. He will basically be a political Messiah-figure.

3.                          The divinity of man and man's self-transformation, which are New Age ideas, will be stressed.

4.                          Persecution of Christians will become more openly evident. Not all persecution is physical. It can also be denigration as uneducated bigots and may manifest as harsh social disapproval.  

5.                          The Antichrist will become powerful politically, militarily, and financially and will be a globalist in policy. He will create a one-world religion and a one-world government. Revelation 13:16-18.

6.                          After he is killed with a head wound, the Antichrist will be resurrected. Revelation 13:3. Some see this as having happened in the fall of Communism with the Soviet Union and the seeming modern resurrection of quasi-Marxist thought.

7.                      The government of the Antichrist will use economics, social pressure, and outright physical force to suppress any dissent.

 

Again, I am not saying that Zohran Mamdani is the Antichrist! It is a truly stupid exercise to attempt to name the Antichrist. Over the centuries, many have attempted to do so. Here are some of the names which have been put forward.

The Roman Emperor Nero, Oliver Cromwell, Peter the Great, Martin Luther, Adolf Hitler, Greta Thunberg, an as-yet unidentified Jewish person, the Ottoman Empire, Napoleon Bonaparte, Hillary Clinton, Saddam Hussein, Ronald Reagan, Pope Gregory VII, Pope John Paul II, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, King Charles III, Bill Gates, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Joe Biden, Mikhail Gorbachev, Prince Harry, Emmanuel Macron, Henry Kissinger, Barack Obama, Osama bin Laden, Donald Trump, a 6^th century French peasant mentioned by Gregory of Tours, Benito Mussolini, the European Union, John F. Kennedy, Aleister Crowley, and almost unbelievably, Jesus himself.

Do you see the idiocy of this? Not only is it idiotic, we are specifically told by Jesus not to do it. Matthew 24:36. To do it is disobedience to the Lord, an act of sin.

So, is the Antichrist to be a person representing the political systems of either Socialism or Communism? I do not know, and neither do you. 2 Thessalonian 2:1-8.

Keep your eyes open and do not be deceived, but also do not delude yourself into thinking that you do know. It is disobedience to Jesus to set dates and to plan out elaborate timelines of future historical events and to prematurely say names. When the Antichrist emerges it will be obvious to anyone who knows how to look. You will not have to guess.

Instead, enthusiastically live each day as if it is the last day of your life. As Pastor Frances Chan has said, think of what Jesus wants you to do in the next five minutes. Remember that the thing holding back the emergence of the Antichrist is us, the Body of Christ, the Church, the ekklesia, indwelled by the Holy Spirit.

Messianic Prophecies from the Old Testament: Today This Scripture Has Been Fulfilled in Your Hearing

Luke 4:16-28New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth

16 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

    because he has anointed me

        to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

    and recovery of sight to the blind,

        to let the oppressed go free,

19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

20 And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” 23 He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’” 24 And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown. 25 But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; 26 yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. 27 There were also many lepers[a] in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage.

Footnotes:

Luke 4:27 The terms leper and leprosy can refer to several diseases

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

That the quoted text (from Isaiah 61:1-3) is a Messianic prophecy is evident because Jesus Himself used it in this way.

The scholars who insist that Jesus never identified Himself as the Messiah obviously never read this passage. Why else was the synagogue so quickly filled with rage? They understood exactly what He meant and they believed that He was speaking blasphemy.

Verse 28 says they “were fiiled” ἐπλήσθησαν  with rage. This is from the verb πλήθω I am filled (to the top; to full capacity. )  Strong categorizes the word ἐπλήσθησαν (e-plees-the-san) as V-AIP-3P (verb-aorist indicative passive- third person plural).

In English and many other languages, tense has primarily to do with time. In Koine Greek, tense has primarily to with the type of action. The aorist tense expresses action without any further definition. It carries the idea of sudden action. The people were suddenly filled with rage

Book Comment: Judaism for Everyone and Why the Jews Rejected Jesus

Two books this time: Judaism for Everyone (2002) and Why the Jews Rejected Jesus (2005). These two books are two sides of the same coin and discuss some of the same issues.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, the author of eleven books with titles like Kosher Sex, The Rabbi and the Psychic, and The Jewish Guide to Adultery, wrote Judaism for Everyone as an apologetic work  (but, he emphatically points out, not as an evangelistic effort). The secondary title of the book is Renewing Your Life Through the Vibrant Lessons of the Jewish Faith.

David Klinghoffer says that he wrote Why the Jews Rejected Jesus as an explanation to his well-meaning Christian friends who cannot understand why he would reject the free gift of salvation offered by the Gospel.

For both authors the idea reduces down to one point: they do not believe that Jesus fulfilled the requirements for being declared the Messiah. Christians, of course, see the same things, but come to an entirely different interpretation *.

The Jews list these reasons for rejecting Jesus:

1.     Jesus never fought the Romans. * Chrisians say that Rome clearly saw Jesus as a threat.

2.     Jesus did not establish a physical political messianic kingdom.  * Christians say that Jesus established His kingdom in the hearts of His followers, an idea which Jews utterly reject.

3.     A new Temple was not built in Jerusalem.  * Christians say that Jesus Himself is the new Temple and its priest.

4.     The world did not recognize God as Lord.  * Christians say that at the Second Coming every head will bow and every knee will bend in acknowledgement of God.

5.      A New Covenant based on restored commitment to observance of the Law was not given to the Jews. * Christians say that the New Covenant based on Faith in the Saving Grace of Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law.

6.     There was no ingathering of the Jewish exiles.  * Some Christians see the fulfillment of this requirement in the establishment of the modern State of Israel.

The Jews saw the claims of Jesus and His Christian followers to be blasphemous.  Klinghoffer points out that to the Jews, blasphemy is abusing God’s name for a forbidden purpose. Boteach clarifies what the Jews see as that forbidden purpose: He declares that the idea that God can be Human is the ultimate heresy. *Christians, of course, insist that Jesus was fully divine and fully human.

I urge you to read both of these books. Christianity and Judaism have major differences between them.  A Christian, for example, cannot echo Rabbi Boteach in saying, “Doing the right thing for the wrong reasons is far more important than waiting for the right motivation.”

Even with the differences, there is agreement on the vast majority of our two worldviews and an understanding of Jewish history, symbolism, and theology is absolutely essential for a proper understanding of Christianity. Jesus was an orthodox Jew.

Also, since God does not change, all of His promises to Israel still stand. He is not finished with the Jews.  The Bible tells us that in the end days “all Israel shall be saved.”

___________________________________________________________________

A general caution: books may give you wonderful new insights and explanations of subjects, but you should never base your Christian beliefs on any one book or the teachings of one person, no matter who they are. All teachings must be consistent with scripture. Read as the Bereans did, with discernment. “… for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11 NASB

Any doctrines must be consistent with the historical full body of Christian thought. Doctrines or teachings inconsistent with scripture in any way must be rejected. You would not eat cheese which had a fuzzy fungus growing on it.

God's Ultimate Purpose for Our Creation

Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862), an American Transcendentalist philosopher and writer basically lived the life of a hermit on Walden Pond in the State of Masssachusetts (USA).  He rejected organized religion and political parties, was a committed abolitionist and pacifist, and spent his life dedicated to self-improvement.  He never married and never attended any church. The writer, Robert Louis Stevenson said of him, “He was not easy, not ample, not urbane, not even kind; his enjoyment was hardly smiling, or the smile was not broad enough to be convincing; he had no waste lands nor kitchen-midden in his nature, but was all improved and sharpened to a point.”  Thoreau was not a pleasant person, but he still had some important insights, one of which is, “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” 

This statement is the essence of Jewish religious thought. As Huston Smith said in his classic work, The World’s Religions, “… Judaism is less an orthodoxy than an orthopraxis.” Orthodox Judaism sees obedience to God’s commands now as important, not for future reward, but for what it does to you. Observance of the Jewish rituals is seen as making all of normal life holy. (Leviticus 11:44, 1 Peter 1:16). Orthodox Judaism believes that observance of the rituals is preparing the world for the appearance of the Messiah and the coming of the Kingdom of God.

Many modern Christians have lost sight of the fact that Christianity began as a movement within Judaism and that Christianity can only be understood in the light of the Hebrew Scriptures. The entirety of the Old Testament clearly points to one person, Jesus.

Just as the Jews see obedience to God’s commands as making all of life holy, our allegiance to Jesus is conforming us to the likeness of Christ. This is the process of sanctification. Jesus did not conform to the world. He expected the world to conform to Him. This is God’s ultimate purpose in our creation, that we become conformed to Christ for God’s glory. Romans 8:28-31

Messianic Prophecies From the Bible: A Jew Will be Born Who Will be the King of the Jews. He Will be Called God, the Father, and The Prince of Peace.

Jews and Christians disagree on whether or  not Isaiah 9:6 is a reference to The Messiah.  Christians see this verse as clearly pointing to Jesus.  Jews insist that we are taking the verse out of context.  They say the verse refers to the birth of Hezekiah (740? – 692? BC/BCE), King of Judah.  Hezekiah cleaned and reopened the Temple.

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”  Isaiah 9:6

Jews number the verse differently (as Isaiah 9:5) and say that the verse should be translated as “For a child has been born to us, a son given to us,  and the authority is upon his shoulder, and the wondrous advisor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, called his name, “the prince of peace.”

A literal word for word translation of the Hebrew words of the verse: “For to us a child is born to us a son is given to and shall be the government on his shoulder and called his name Wonderful Counselor the God mighty the everlasting the Prince of Peace.”  Written ancient Hebrew contains no punctuation marks and all the letters are run together with no spaces between words.

The Probablity of Jesus Fulfilling Old Testament Prophecies

Several mathematicians have generated statistical studies of the probablity of Jesus fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies about the promised messiah..  The numbers are quite formidable.  Dr. Peter Stoner, the author of Science Speaks, has calculated the odds of Jesus fulfilling only eight of the over 300 biblical prophecies of the messiah.  The number Dr. Stoner derived by Dr. Stoner:1 in 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

Several of the eight prophecies chosen by Dr. Stoner were chosen specifically because Jesus could not have “fixed” them.  (Born in Bethlehem, there would be a forerunner announcing his arrival, he would enter Jerusalem riding on a donkey, betrayed by a friend, betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, the 30 pieces of silver used to buy a potter’s field, titally innocent, crucified.)   

Read more on this subject at the following link:

http://www.goodnewsdispatch.org/math.html 

It should be remembered that overwhelming  probability statistics are not proofs.  All proofs, and dis-proofs, of God, ultimately fail.  

Jews Who Claimed to Be the Messiah

Over the last two thousand years there have been at least thirty-eight Jewish men, and one Jewish woman, who have claimed to be the promised Messiah.  Christians, of course, regard Jesus of Nazareth as the Holy One.

Jesus of Nazareth is believed by Christians to have been the Jewish Messiah.

The best-known Messiah claimant is Simon bar Kokhba, seen below: the others are:

The first recorded self-proclaimed Messiah was Simon of Peraea (fl. 4 BC/BCE), a former slave of Herod the Great.   Simon was followed by Athronges (fl. 4-2BC/BCE).  Both Simon and Athronges led rebellions which were put down by the Romans and both messiahs were killed.

Judas of Galilee (6AD/CE)

Menahem of Judah, a grandson of Judah of Galilee.

Theudas (d.46)

Vespasian (ca. 70)

John of Gischala, (after 70)

Simon bar Kokhba (d ca 135). Simon’s rebellion ended with the Romans destroying the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.

Luluas (115)

Moses of Crete (5^th century)

(Name unknown) in Khusistan  (7^th century)

Ishak ben Ya’kub Obadiah Abu ‘Isa al-Isfahani of Ispahan (8^th century)

Yudghan (8^th century, in Persia)

(Name unknown), in France, (ca. 1087)

(Name unknown), in Cordoba, Spain, (ca. 1117)

Moses al-Dari  in Morocco (1127)David Alroy, from Kurdistan, led a revolt in Persia in 1160.

The Yemenite Messiah (12^th century)

Abraham ben Samuel Abulafia (b. 1240-d. after 1291)

Nissim ben Abraham (fl. In Avila, Spain (ca. 1295)

Moses Botarel of Cisneros, fl ca. 1413.

Asher Lammlein, fl. 1502 near Venice.

Isaac Luria (1534-1572) in Palestine.

Hayyim Vital (1543-1620) in Palestine.

David Reubeni (1490-1541?)

Solomon Molcho (1500-1532)

Sabbatai Zevi (1626-1676) An Ottoman Jew who converted to Islam.  Many of his followers declared themselves to be the Messiah.

Barukhia Russo

Mordecai Mokia (1650-1729)

Jacob Querido (d. 1690)  Converted to Islam.

Miguel Cardoso (1630-1706)

Lobele Prossnitz (d. 1750)

Jacob Joseph Frank (1726-1791)  A convert to Christianity.

Eve Frank (1754 – ca 1817)

Shukr Kushayl I, in Yemen (19^th century)

Judah ben Shalom (Shukr Kuhayl II) in Yemen (19^th century)

Moses Guibbory (1899-1985)

Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994)

Christian Illustrators: Stephen S. Sawyer

Stephen S. Sawyer (b. 1952, Kentucky, USA) is a commercial artist, portrait painter, and motivational speaker. His most frequent portrait subject is Jesus Christ. Many of his Jesus portraits are traditional in nature, but a few are not, such as his "Undefeated ," which presents Jesus as very muscular and handsome, 
in contrast to many Jesus portraits which emphasize His gentleness.


You may find "Undefeated" to be unsettling. The reality is that Jesus was probably not handsome, He was probably very average or even unattractive in his physical appearance. He was  
someone who no one would have expected to be the Messiah. That is how God works. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD." Isaiah 55:8.


On the subject of His masculinity, Jesus was surely not in any 
way physically effeminate. He grew up doing carpentry, a very hard, heavy, physical craft.

Book Comment: If the Church Were Christian, Chapter 1, Part 3

If you are joining this book review series mid-stream , you can read the comments from the beginning by going to the LABELS section following the last post on this page and clicking on PHILIP GULLEY

If the Church Were Christian. Chapter 1, Part 3; in a chapter by chapter series of posts in response to the book by Pastor Philip Gulley. Chapter One: Jesus Would Be a Model for Living Rather Than an Object of Worship.


Pastor Gulley declares that Jesus' "promotion to divine stature contradicts the Jewish faith of Jesus." It does ... unless He was God and knew it.


Mark 10:17-18 can be read in two ways.

"And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? [there is] none good but one, [that is], God." Mark 10:17-18

1. "Why are you calling me good? Only God is good. I'm not God!"
2. "Do you realize who you are talking to? Do you think that I am just a good teacher?"


Those who insist that Jesus didn't realize that He was God and never claimed to be, have to ignore or somehow discount what is clearly implied in Scripture: Matthew 26:6-13, John 6:35, 8:12, 10:9, 10:30, 12:8, 14:6, 14:10, 20:28.


Jesus, unlike all the other rabbis, didn't appeal to what earlier rabbis had said to make His points. What He said was "you have heard it said ... but I say..." He spoke from His own authority, as the Jews understood that only God could.


His listeners knew full well what he was doing and saying; that is why he elicited such violent and hateful opposition from the other rabbis who heard him. They understood Him so well that they wanted to stone Him to death on the spot. John 7:25, 8:52-58, 10:33.

Messianic Prophecies from the Bible: He Will Be Called Out of Egypt

Messianic Prophecies is a recurrent segment in this blog.

Old Testament:
“When Israel [was] a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.”
 Hosea 11:1

New Testament:
“And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.” 
Matthew 2:13-15.

Tithing, Part One

     My spiritual daughter, A Chinese convert, is extremely earnest in her devotion to the Lord.  She asks me numerous questions about the faith and its application to daily life.  Recently, she asked me about tithing; what the word "tithe" meant.

     I told her that the word means "a tenth."  Her response was, "Whoa!!!  That is a lot!"  I explained the background of the word and a proper Christian attitude toward it.  I'll tell you what I told her.

     Whether or not we believe that the Law given to the Jews is still in effect (I do, because God has explicitly said that He does not change.  Malachi 3:6a), Christians live under the Free Grace of God and not under the Law.  Modern Jews choose to remain under the Law, which Christians  believe was given to point to the need for the Christ, the Messiah.  The Law does not save us; it shows us why we need to be saved.

     The tithe was known before the time of the Israelites: the practice existed in Persia, Egypt, and China and may have originated in 8th Century BCE Babylon.  Abram knew of the tithe and practiced it when he migrated from Ur of the Chaldees.

     Under the Levitical Code the tithes were given only at the Temple (Dueteronomy 12:5-12) and went exclusively to the Levites (Numbers 18:21), who gave a tithe of their portion to the priests.  The tithe was an annual obligation under the code.

Obama Christ

     This is not, never has been, and never will be, a political blog, so this is not a political post.  This is a comment by a Christian man on a situation involving another Christian brother, President Barack Obama.

     People have fainted in rapturous states at Obama rallies, some have said that Jesus was also a community organizer, others have called him "the One," he is presented as Jesus in a picture posted on http://www.jesus of the week.com,  and The Nation of Islam leader Lewis Farakhan has openly called him the Messiah.  Evan Thomas, a Newsweek editor, declared, "I mean in a way Obama's standing above the country, above - above the world, he's sort of God!" All of this should instantly offend, horrify, and disgust any Christian and President Obama, as a Christian, should insist that it stop.  He is the President of the United States but he is just a man.