The Roberts Group

The Roberts Group was founded in 1971 by Jimmie T. Roberts, a former Pentecostal minister. The group has never taken an official name but is known by several: The Brethren, The Brothers and Sisters, The Church, and The Garbage Eaters (members get all their meals by collecting food from garbage dumpsters). Roberts is referred to as "the Elder" or "Brother Evangelist," and makes all decisions for the group. Roberts makes no claim to deity and lives the same simple life as his followers.

Members of The Brethren see the world as hopelessly corrupt and believe that they are the end-times remnant of Jesus' church; all others are deceitful and wicked. They live a vagrant, migratory lifestyle, sometimes taking odd jobs for spending money. The men all wear beards and the women wear long dresses and do not cut their hair. Women are restricted to the traditional female roles of cooking and child rearing.

In their theology, the group is millenial, apocalyptic, and strictly puritan. Married members remain married but no new marriages are allowed since these are the end-times.

http://www.apologeticsindex.org/169-roberts-group-garbage -eaters
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brethren_(Jim_Roberts_group)

Messianic Prophecies from the Bible: They Will Give Him Vinegar for His Thirst

“They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” Psalms 69:21


“They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted [thereof], he would not drink.
… And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled [it] with vinegar, and put [it] on a reed, and gave him to drink.” Matthew 27:34,48

Christian Cowgirl

http://www.christiancowgirl.net/ is a site which features articles about equine ministries from across the United States, devotionals, contests, riding camps for children, Christian horse-themed e-cards, reviews of books and magazines, jokes, games, photos, polls, message forums, horse/riding industry news, member tweets, etc.

Models for Jesus

http://www.model4jesus.com/ is a site featuring a group of Christian fashion models who say, "Be a model, don't just look like one." They declare that a woman can be a positive role model in the modern world without compromising her beliefs. "A woman who knows her self, her true assets and her limitations will be able to become a woman of wisdom."

The group conducts workshops to teach women how to be true role models for younger women and not to conform to shallow standards of "beauty." They teach women to see what God thinks about real beauty. Fashion shows are presented for fundraising purposes.

A Telling Gravestone

In Ribbesford, England, there is a grave marker in the town cemetery for a woman named Anna Wallace. Ribbesford is a tiny village (2001 population: 237) in northern England in Worcester.

"The children of Israel wanted bread, and the Lord gave them manna; Old clerk Wallace wanted a wife, and the Devil gave him Anna."

Names in the Bible: Hannah

Names in the Bible is a recurrent segment in this blog.

Hannah: Hebrew for “grace,” or “favor.” She was a beloved but barren woman who became the mother of the prophet Samuel as recounted in 1 Samuel 1:1-2 - 2: 1-10.

What Does It Mean?: Psalm 137:9

WHAT DOES IT MEAN? Is a recurrent segment in this blog. The meaning of certain Biblical verses is not always readily apparent to modern readers. Sometimes the answer to the problem is cultural, or linguistic, or philosophical. Sometimes no one knows what it means and we have to accept that full understanding will only come when we meet the Lord.

“Happy [shall he be], that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.”
 Psalm 137:9

That is in the Bible? Yes, it is, in a psalm about the grief and rage of exiles snatched up by the Edomites, “daughters of Babylon,” and carried away to a strange land. The exile’s homeland has been raped and destroyed.

This psalm is an accurate representation of the feelings of the defeated and brutalized Israelites crying out in rage to God, asking Him to give them vengeance against their oppressors. The final two verses, 8 and 9, are hateful curses directed at the oppressors. The psalmist is crying and screaming but has not yet received an answer from God.

There is disagreement among scholars as to whether the next Psalm (138) is related to 137 or not. Psalms may be a collection of totally unrelated poems and songs, but 138 is a prayer of thanks for an answer which God has provided. Those who believe that the Psalms are a collection might see the placement of 138 after 137 as the work of an editor or collector.