275,000 page views

Update: As of 8 May 2026, the number of page views is 946,372.

This blog just went over 275,000 page views.  Thank you for your interest in this ministry. I hope that the blog helps Christians to understand our spiritual unity within our almost infinite diversity. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female, for you are one in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:28 NASB

I have previously been using the King James Version (KJV) Bible for quotations since the work is in the public domain. The problem with the KJV is that the archaic English, while beautiful and poetic, may not translate well for readers in languages other than English. The New American Standard Bible (NASB) is considered to be the most literal modern translation into English from the original Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic languages.

"Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®,
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973,
1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation 
Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)

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.”

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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.

Amazing Grace Performed on the Pan Flute

Pan Flute (Austria)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0WzW7BiKk8

http://www.panflutejedi.com/academypage.html

http://www.wikihow.com/Play-the-Panpipe-or-Pan-Flute

The Lord's Prayer in Numerous Languages

This page has translations of the Lord's Prayer in numerous languages. Those who speak or read English should look at the prayer as written in the Old English of the year 1000. There is also an audio file of the prayer spoken in Old English.

http://www.prayer.su/other/all-languages.html

Christian Tattoos?

This is the well-known Serenity Prayer, first seen in a 1943 sermon by Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971).

  

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
 The courage to change the things I can,
 And wisdom to know the difference.”

Here are photos of an unusual way of presenting the prayer.

http://creativefan.com/serenity-prayer-tattoo/

In the ancient world tattooing was a pagan religious practice but now, many people, including some Christians, see it is no more significant than piercing ears for earrings. Some see tattooing as a way to begin a conversation with non-Christians, in other words, an act of evangelism. Other Christians see tattooing as a horrible offense toward God.

Biblical references:

Leviticus 19:26-29

Romans 7:1-4, 14:23

1 Corinthians 6:12

I believe that tattooing falls into the category of meat offered up to idols.  We are not bound to the Old Testament Law for our salvation, but to the gift of Christ. On this point, Paul was willing to argue with and if necessary to break with Peter (Acts 15:1-5; Galatians 2:3-4,11-21). All things are lawful to us but not everything is profitable; permissible but not beneficial.

We should not become aligned with or comfortable with the shifting and vapid trends of our surrounding culture. Christians are to be a set apart holy people, noticeable because of our differences from the surrounding culture and how we love one another..   

The following links present a variety of opinions about the Christian and body-modifications. The articles run the gamut from hyper-fundamentalism to extreme permissive liberalism. All of them think that they are correct.

http://christianity.about.com/od/faqhelpdesk/f/tattoochristian.htm

http://judaism.about.com/library/3_askrabbi_o/bl_simmons_tatoos.htm

http://carm.org/it-okay-christian-get-tattoo  (Read carefully the last two sentences of this web page!)

http://blogs.christianpost.com/confident-christian/is-getting-a-tattoo-a-sin-12619/

http://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-tattoos.html  (This is always a good site for reasoned answers to biblical questions.)

http://www.raptureready.com/featured/schaefer/tattoo.html

http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/should-christians-get-tattoos-what-does-the-bible-say/

http://www.biblebelievers.com/watkins_tattoos/bible.html

http://www.compellingtruth.org/tattoo-sin.html

http://www.todayschristianwoman.com/articles/2008/july/3.16.html

http://www.emilywierenga.com/on-christians-and-ink-why-i-believe-tattoos-are-not-a-sin/

http://tolovehonorandvacuum.com/2014/05/christian-legalism-real-christians-can-get-tattoos/

http://www.mountainretreatorg.net/faq/should_christians_get_tattoos.shtml

http://www.born-again-christian.info/questions/answers.113.htm

The Church of Body Modification is a non Christian group which finds spirituality in piercing, cutting, and tattooing.

http://uscobm.com/news/back-where-we-started/

http://uscobm.com/statement-of-faith/

The Honey Beez

The 73^rd Magic City Classic college football game was held last Saturday in Birmingham, Alabama between the Hornets of Alabama State University and the Bulldogs of Alabama A&M University. The Bulldogs won the game 37-36 before a crowd of 67,710. 

The Alabama State University Honey Beez (pronounced the same as “honeybees”) are one of the treasures of the State of Alabama. They are a plus-sized dance team which performs during the university’s college football games. The players on the football team are known as the Hornets and the cheerleaders are the Stingettes.

The Honey Beez are proof that everyone has something to contribute, especially those who are often excluded. As members of the Body of Christ we would do well to remember this. Not only should we remember that every one of us has been given gifts but that we are expected to exercize those gifts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3RUUqwR_9I  (2013 game highlights)

The World's Slowest Selling Bible

The world's slowest selling Bible and possibly the world's slowest selling legitimately published book is the Coptic translation of the Bible published in 1791 by David Wilkins (1685 - 1745). The book has never sold more than two copies a year.

Wilkins was a Prussian orientalist born as David Wilke (or David Wilkius) in what is now Lithuania. As an adult he lived and worked in England as an Anglican priest, librarian, translator, and university professor. He was a specialist in Arabic, Coptic, Hebrew, Armenian, Chaldaic, and Anglo-Saxon.