Bible
Week Greetings from HomeWorship 101™
“So
the hammers of infidels have been
pecking
away at this Book for ages,
but
the hammers are worn out,
and
the anvil still endures.
If
this book had not been the book of GOD,
men
would have destroyed it long ago.
Emperors
and popes, kings and priests, princes and rulers,
have
all tried their hand at it;
they
die and the Book still lives.”
-
H.L. Hastings
National
Bible Week
starts Sunday.
Although the Bible it
is the textbook that America was founded on you probably won't hear
much about it in the media, or from our politicians and churches.
National Bible Week is celebrated each year
from Sunday to Sunday of the Thanksgiving week, beginning this year on
November 22-29 and it simply
encourages everyone to read the Bible.
It
may upset some folks when I say the Bible is not a religious book.
If it is, then which religion does it teach?
Not
today’s Christianity or Judaism.
As I have said before, what is called today’s radical right
in nothing but a bunch of New Testament liberals.
Today, the Bible-based men that founded our country would be
considered a bunch of Bible radical zealots and would be run out of
town. The New Testament does not teach today’s Christianity
anymore then the Old Testament teaches Judaism. As a matter of fact in
many churches, Bible teachers are not welcome.
“I
have no greater joy
than
to hear that my children walk in truth.”
-
IIIJohn 4
Truth
is found in the Bible not religion, and I am a ‘Biblical’
evangelist. My
passion is Biblically archeology and I teach the ancient ways - I do
not teach any religious tradition. There is much Hebrew prejudice
among some Christian teachings, that is why a lot of my writings
probably sounds strange. I do not teach traditional Christianity, some
of them look at me as a traitor. I do not come from any specific
church but my teachings could be called Hebrew Christianity - without
the mishegoss. Much of what I teach comes from the time before
there where Hebrew people so religious labels can be troublesome, I
prefer saying I follow the Ancient
Path or a Thinking
Persons Religion. I
am not here to win theological debates (I don’t have that much
energy), if I can get one to start thinking about the Bible then I
have already won.
It
startles some to hear that the Bible is not a religious book and I
get some strange looks when I call my book and website a “non-religious”
Bible teaching website - it seems I’m the lone fish swimming against
the current. I teach at
the grass roots level, using simple language, with a no-BS ethic of an
engineer, more concerned with education rather than indoctrination.
That is why the religionists run into problems with teaching
the Bible in public schools, instead of teaching the Bible in an
unbiased manner; they use the Bible for religious indoctrination - woe
the mishegoss of religion.
“A
thorough knowledge of the Bible
is
worth more then a college education.”
-
Theodore Roosevelt
Bible
Week is a good time to pause and consider,
as a nation
that used the Bible as one of its founding cornerstones, how are the
Bible studies going today. The
above quote from President Roosevelt was in the 1950’s, sadly one
would be hard pressed to find that sentiment today.
The Bible is still the best selling book of
all time. Since it's
first printing back in 1450, it's sold over six billion copies.
The
question is are people reading it, or are they just using it as a
decoration for a table or shelf?
Is it the laity does not want to learn, or is it the
religionists that do not want to teach?
"You
need only reflect,
that
one of the best ways to get yourself a reputation
as
a dangerous citizen these days
is
to go about repeating the very phrases
which
our founding fathers used in the great struggle for
independence."
-
Charles Austin Beard (1874-1948)
This
country was born with the Bible in one hand, and the Declaration of
Independence in the other. The
first and last lines of the document clearly reference the Divine.
In the early years, the U.S. Congress gave free Bibles to the people.
The founding fathers were well aware of the Bible's warning concerning
the government
of kings, 1Samuel ch.8. Their pure
Protestant-Christian hearts, and their reverence for the will of GOD,
symbolize their commitment to the creation of the first nation that
would glorify GOD instead of some earthly king.
The revolutionary Protestant
concept, that GOD directly empowers the people instead of a king, and
what GOD directly gives, no man can take away, is what makes American
unique among all other nations. Make-no-mistake, no other
nation, ancient or modern, not even the Jews, have ever made such a
proclamation. It’s a miracle that it even happened!
Today’s ruling elite would never give such uncontrolled human rights
to the people. The two most recent examples of modern social thinking
are reflected in the UN
Charter of Human Rights, or the current draft of the EU
Constitution. Neither of these is as citizen rights and freedoms
friendly, as what America’s founders organized. In short, all they
want to do is control you. Basically, it’s still the same ole’
story, what the government gives, the government can take away –
boorrrring.
“Facts
are stubborn things;
and
whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations,
or
the dictums of our passions,
they
cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”
—U.S.
President John Adams December 1770
Sadly
many of today’s politicians,
consider formally honoring the Bible as either unconstitutional or a
waste of time. For some
to consider it a waste of time, I can understand, but
unconstitutional?!?! The
congress printed and distributed Bible in the early years
- woe the mishegoss of politics.
I’ll quote:
The
Bible bill?
Victoria
McGrane Victoria
Mcgrane
Fri May 22,
5:40 am ET
When
the clock strikes midnight on Dec. 31, 2009, Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.)
hopes you’ll be ringing in the Year of the
Bible. It’s probably just wishful thinking.
Broun’s
simple congressional resolution aimed at honoring the Good Book has
produced a push-back of biblical proportion in the blogosphere, with
critics dismissing it as either unconstitutional or a waste of time.
Jews in Congress and atheist activists are dismissing the resolution,
while none of the many Democrats in Congress who are Christian have
bothered to sign on as co-sponsors. Log
on: http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20090522/pl_politico/22832/print
Are
the churches any better? A
basic familiarity with the Bible’s contents was once considered the
mark of an educated person. Today
however, most believers have become a church of Biblical illiterates.
Whom does this reflect upon?
The clergy who do not teach, or is it the laity who really do
not seek GOD’S
word? Surveys say a
majority of Americans believe the Ten
Commandments are still valid rules for living today - but
just don’t ask them to name them.
Knowledge
is power, and Divine knowledge is the most powerful
- that is what political and religious leaders fear.
There are mysteries at the heart of the universe, but it’s no
secret. In our CREATOR’S
Kingdom, information is available to all, and all are encouraged to
research - with sophistication - and qualify the spiritual
truths they accept as righteous.
One
of my Bible pet peeves is
that Christianity has taken the Bible hostage.
When I register my website with Internet search engines it is
usually in the Bible studies, or Bible history, which is a
sub-category under Christianity.
Regular readers of my work know I do not teach standard
Christianity, nor is it standard Hebraic or Messianic Judaism.
That is why I have a hard time with my ministry because it is
mostly churches – Messianic or Christian - that hold Bible study
classes with a predetermined agenda, and they do not want independent free-thinking
teachers. (The
spiritual – new age – groups do not care to hear me either.)
In my strange way of seeing it, the Bible should be it’s own
main category and the religions should be subcategories under it
because the Bible spawns the various religions, not the other way
around.
Talking
religion on the web is like herding cats;
everybody has their own mind about it so I don’t even get into it.
The Bible is my passion. I
have studied many religions, but in my humble opinion the Bible is the
most unique book in the possession of humankind – and often times it
is the most hated book in the possession of humankind.
“...I
am GOD, and there is none like ME.
Declaring the end
from the beginning.
And
from ancient times
things
that are not yet done…”
-
Isaiah 46:9-10
Think
for a minute what the Bible claims to be,
it is the message from the CREATOR to the creation. The question is:
How does the CREATOR authenticate the message? How does HE prove to
the creation that HE is the one sending the message? The primary way
HE has chosen to do that is by telling the creation the future before
it happens.
The
Bible is unique among the religious books of humankind
in that it dares to predict future events in great detail – that is
how YHWH validates HIS Word. Prophecy
validates the Bible, and proves the existence of the CREATOR.
There are approximately 10,835 prophecies in the Bible, some are of
curses and punishments, some are of blessings and redemption, and they
are of two types, fulfilled, and unfulfilled. The fulfilled ones we
learn from, and the unfulfilled ones are the ones we are watching for.
They are organized into three categories:
[1]
The Land: For
example, in the Book of Daniel, there are 135 prophecies, all
previously fulfilled as written.
[2]
The Messiah:
There are over 200 prophecies regarding the Messiah, all fulfilled in
the life and death of Yahshua).
[3]
The End Times
(Eschatology): Are prophecies that deal with death, resurrection, the
end of the age, Divine judgment, and the future world.
“…For
the LORD giveth wisdom:
out
of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.”
-
Proverbs 2:1-6
The
keyword in the above verse is “wisdom, knowledge, understanding”-
not religion!
The Bible is the textbook of spiritual warfare.
The Bible is a library of books: It is a history book.
It is a book of healthful living.
It is a philosophy book. It
is the Book of the Covenants. It is a Book of Prophecy.
It is the Book of our CREATOR’S plan for humanity.
The Bible illuminates YHWH's Path (Jer.6:16
ESV; Pro.3:6;Ps.25:4 ).
"As
for God, his way is perfect;
the
word of the LORD is flawless.
He
is a shield for all who take refuge in him."
-
2 Samuel 22:31
YHWH
used the Hebrew people
to write down and preserve HIS words for the succeeding generations,
and they did a good job. They
were exceptional in their dedication to accurately preserving the
original words, this is proven today’s Dead Sea Scrolls.
The Dead Sea Scrolls are ancient books of today’s Bible
written about 19 centuries ago, then sealed up in clay jars and buried
in the desert hills outside of Jerusalem.
These clay jar time capsules were found in the 1950’s and
they are about 99% accurate when compared to today’s Hebrew – Old
– Testament of the Bible.
The
Jews were better at preserving and sharing the Bible then the
Gentiles.
For example, a controversy arose around 280 B.C.E. when the
King of Egypt Ptolemy II wished to have a translation of the Jewish
Torah for his famous library in Alexandria.
Alexandria was a large city with a great Jewish population who
spoke Greek. Most of the
Jews living in the Greek areas having long forgotten their native
Hebrew or Aramaic asked for a Greek translation that they could
possess for study. The
Jewish High Priest Eleazer of Jerusalem agreed and sent 72 men (six
from each tribe) to Egypt with the Hebrew scroll of the Law to produce
the Greek translation. In
72 days each one of the 72 men translated one section from their
scroll, and afterwards they decided on the final wording together.
The finished Greek translation was called the Septuagint,
meaning the translation of the 70, abbreviated LXX.
Later other religious scrolls of the Jews were added to the
great library. This is an
important spiritual milestone because this event is that it marks the
first translation of the Sacred Hebrew Torah into Greek, which is
called the “Pentateuch,” meaning the Five Books of Moses.
It was a controversial decision because it was the first time
that the Jews publicly said, “…that as Sacred as Hebrew is, it
is more important that people read the Law and know it, then for it to
remain in its original tongue.”
This
is profound,
basically they were saying, we do not care what language you speak,
the message here is so important that one has to be able to
read it for themselves. Contrast
this attitude to the Roman Catholics who only allowed Latin
translation of the Bible for priests and outlawed it for the common
people to possess. The
Roman Catholics dictatorial hold on the Scriptures was only broken
with the bloodshed of Martin Luther’s Protestant Revolution when the
Bible finally was translated into German, English, and all the
languages of the common people.
"Watch
your life and doctrine closely."
-
1 Timothy 4:16
Satan
and his dark minions hate YHWH’S Words. Through
the centuries his tactics are so similar it is a wonder why more
people do not see it. One
can see it in the Sabbaths 7th day rest.
The idea of resting 1 day in 7 only comes from YHWH.
In the ancient pagan world there is no profit in such idleness.
When the Hebrews kept it and promoted the concept, the dark
side wanted them dead in order to suppress the information.
In time, once the word about the Sabbath rest was out, then
Satan slowly began to use the day as a wedge to divide people, by
promoting the idea that Sunday is a better worship day, not Saturday.
It was one of the issues that tore ancient Israel in two.
Soon after the civil divide, the Sunday keeping northern
kingdom of Israel was wiped off the map, never to be heard from again.
And today after all the torture, murder, and bloodshed, to
bring this information to the world, most think it is irrelevant.
In our 24/7 world, the idea of resting and not working, is
inconvenient, does not seem important, and is generally ignored.
It is the same with the Bible, after all the countless
controversies, torture, and murders to suppress it, today few people -
really - care about the Bible and it’s message.
Mostly the words of the Bible are twisted to alter the
originally intended message, because it’s message is generally
considered inconvenient, so the idea that the Bible (or YHWH’s
Words), are not as important as to what the leadership dictates is
promoted, and the Bible generally is ignored.
The
Bible is hated
because it brings light to the shadowy world of the hypocrites.
Getting the Book of Peace into the hands of the common man has
a very bloody history. It
is a history of grisly persecutions of those who are nonviolent
soldiers armed only with the Scriptures.
Today in the west, it is easy to take the Bible for granted,
but throughout time brave men have obeyed their calling and risked
horrifying death to make the forbidden Holy Scriptures accessible -
whether it was translating, distributing, or teaching - and is still
continuing in many parts of the world today.
“When
I pray, I talk to GOD;
when
I study Scriptures, GOD
talks to me.”
A
type of homeWorship is studying the Bible.
Want to prove a spiritual truth research how much
bloodshed there was in order to suppress the information.
Read Foxes
Book of the Martyrs and learn the horror stories of those who died
to further the Word of GOD. They
were merciless tortured and murdered not because they had a sword in
their hands, but because they were armed with a simple book, or in
ancient times a scroll, which is just words on paper. Today
in many parts of the world people are still being beheaded, tortured,
and killed for simply wanting to study Scriptures.
What
mere mortal has the authority to change YHWH’s words?
The Bible contains inconvenient truths that many Bible teachers
simply ignore. For
example: some religious groups dislike music and dance in their
churches. My response
when I am talking to them would be to open my Bible to Psalm 149 and
150 and say, “here tear these pages from my Bible.
When you have done that then which other passages do you have a
problem with, lets go there and tear those pages out, then the next,
and the next.” There
are some Bible dullards still to this day who think they can rewrite
the Bible. Log on for an
article on the latest rewrite from the Western
Bible Foundation. Woe
to those who are wise in their own eyes (Isa.5:20).
Learning
spiritual truths begins with critical thinking
and it is done with lightly
salted diplomacy. When
hearing Bible teachers, first listen with your heart, when something
doesn’t feel right, then politely say, “please excuse my
cynical reaction, but....”
When interpretation of spiritual matters gets so confusing,
then it is time to return to the original source, the Bible.
Sometimes in Biblical research we must even return to the
original Hebrew source for a more precise and clearer meaning.
Owning
a Bible is a responsibility to be respected,
and
it is read with sophistication.
Reading
with sophistication means
do not interpret verses singularly (2Pet.1:20).
It has been said that: “Divine knowledge humbles great men,
astonishes the common man, and puffs up the little man,“ and “a
half truth is the worst kind of lie.”
Through the ages, and up to the present time, there always have
been the petty, the manipulative or misguided religious troubadours,
who are guided solely by their own narrow-minded prejudices to become
very skillful in taking Bible verses out of context to support their
limited point of view – the little men.
My purpose is the illumination of some spiritual truths that
are rarely taught. Although
I quote certain verses, space does not allow me to use the complete
context in which the verse is used.
I encourage all readers to refer to their own Bibles, read with
sophistication, and consider the complete historical context in which
the verse was quoted from. For
greater in-depth study, excellent research helps are “study
Bibles” which provide more background information and help in
understanding the historical circumstances in which the chapter and
verse were written.
It’s
a good time to be a Bible believer!
Dig
the Bible! When
discussing the Bible, many times people will tell me that you cannot
trust the Bible translations, because some translators made changes to
it, either from ignorance, Hebrew prejudice, honest mistake, or for
the purposes of deception. Sixty
years ago it was a good argument, but today Biblical archeology has
been flourishing since the nation of Israel has been reborn, and
nothing has been found that contradicts the Bible.
Many archaeological discoveries such as the Dead Sea Scrolls do
more to prove the general integrity of the Bible, then to disprove it,
and it’s causing some nervous
hand ringing around the tables of the Bible critics.
Computers
are also being used to dig the Bible.
The Torah, or Books of Moses, had long been assumed by skeptics
to be the work of multiple authors. Scripture scholar Moshe
Katz, and computer expert Menachem Wiener of the Israel Institute of
Technology, analyzed the Masoretic text through sophisticated computer
analysis, and discovered an intricate pattern of significant words
concealed in the canon, spelled by letters separated at fixed
intervals. Such recent
discoveries called codes
in the Hebrew Bible
contain coded messages are proving its Divine authorship.
So
don’t only just read your Bible in the shadows, but log on to my
website and teach your family, friends, and critics, to see it in a
renewed light. Remember
the believers are the salt of the Earth, and it only takes a little
bit of salt to purify.
“I
am the LORD, I do not change!”
The
word of the LORD endures forever.”
-
Mal 3:61; Pet 1:25
Enjoy
the journey of learning:
Ø
Links:
http://www.homeworship101.com/links.htm
- Biblical Archaeology
Ø
Tomb
of King Herod's wife unearthed: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-herod22-2008nov22,0,4591124.story?track=rss
Ø
World
Oldest Bible online: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/07/24/online.bible/index.html
Ø
Codex
Sinaiticus is one of the most important books in the world.
Handwritten well over 1600 years ago, the manuscript contains the
Christian Bible in Greek, including the oldest complete copy of the
New Testament. Its heavily corrected text is of outstanding importance
for the history of the Bible and the manuscript – the oldest
substantial book to survive Antiquity – is of supreme importance for
the history of the book.http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/en/
Shine
on (Mat.5:16)!
Peace
and blessings, Errol.
**********************************************
Errol
Mueller, chronicler extraordinaire
e-mail: errol@homeworship101.com
website:
www.homeworship101.com
**********************************************
WSC
Newsletter 2009-13, posted 11/21/09.
Copyright
© 2009 Errol Mueller. All
rights reserved. Short
quotations, page copying, or redistribution for personal or
non-commercial group study is permitted and encouraged, provided they
are copied in total with no alterations or deletions.
Author’s name, website address, and copyright notice must be
included. If any other
use is desired, written permission is required.
For
information, email or call (334) 678-0913.
White Stone Communications (Rev.2:17), Dothan, AL.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scripture
quotations are from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Copyright
© 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers.
=================================================
*If
you have received this message in error, return an email with the word
unsubscribe in the subject line.
----------------------------------------------------------
**To
be added to our mailing list, send an email with the word subscribe in
the subject line.
=================================================
www.homeworship101.com
Bible
Boot- Camp
[ Top GOD | Sacred
Scrolls | Re-Creation
of the Earth | Order
of Melchizedek | Sacred
Covenants
| .Hellenism
- Romanism |
Are
You the Messiah? | Age of
Grace | Prophecy
| Mystery of the Bride
|
Conquering
Messiah |
Judgment
Day ] 
