The Bible and Its History
In the Gospel of John, Jesus performs seven miracles. In one case, he changes water into wine. With another person, Lazarus, he raises him up from the dead. But not all these healings or miracles required the supernatural power of Jesus. For instance, in John 5:6, Jesus ask a man lying on the ground; Do you want to get well?
The Acts of the Apostles covers 30 years of history, from the Post Resurrection Jesus to Paul’s imprisonment in Rome.
Learn about the travels of Paul and the early church led by Peter.
Find out about the lives of early Christians and who were Jewish Christians.
Sometime near the end of the first century, a writer skilled in Greek language and philosophy wrote the last Gospel, called the Gospel According to John. In some quarters, the authorship is assigned to the Apostle John, while others declare it was another person, perhaps another person named John. While the authorship is hotly debated, what is not debated is this Gospel is very different from the first three.
This Gospel is far more philosophical and contains longer and deeper theological expressions by Jesus. In the Synoptic Gospels; Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus speaks in quick bursts and uses parables for many of his teachings. Here we have philosophical explanations by Jesus about the Kingdom of heaven and who he is.
Great Christians of the Past
Jesus said to Peter the Apostle; And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.
It was true that Peter built the church after Christ rose into heaven. It was simple enough, on Jesus’s part, to say this and for it to happen. But there is more to Peter than just being The Rock.
Find out the person who identified the 27 books of the New Testament and was instrumental in creating the Nicean Creed.
A man from the fourth century who rose to become the “Pillar of the Church” and became a role model for all future church leaders.
Discover his valiant life efforts to defend the Trinity and wrote many landmark books defining Christian Theology.
Learn about a man of great virtue who endured five exiles during his 48 years of being one of the first Christian Bishops.
Discover the first person to spread the Good News about Jesus throughout the Roman empire.
A zealous person, who walked 10,000 miles to spread the message of the Gospel and endured hardships, jail and even times of great danger to his life.
He was the author of many books in the New Testament, whose writing style engaged and inspired many in the first century. Yet, even today, his words resonate in the 21st century.
Spend a Year with Jesus
Jesus arrived in the form of a human, as the true servant of both God and humankind. Bringing the greatest gift ever given–eternal life. The transfiguration of Jesus Christ was completed in the presence of reliable witnesses to show the reality of the power of God and the glory of Christ Jesus. Connected with this visible change in Jesus was prayer. An intense prayer to prepare Jesus for his way forward and which would lead to the redemption of humankind through the crucifixion. Similarly, when we accept our new life in Jesus, we are changed, and we are clothed in dazzling white.
Jesus feeds us both spiritually and through the provisions of our lives. When we look to the world for spiritual renewal and our bounty, we are always left looking for more.
How many times in our lives do we stand at a place where all things seem lost? These times of distress are inevitable and will visit all, both the weak and the mighty.
Jesus asks us to be calm and have faith. Jesus asks us to stand calmly when the swirling seas of life pound the rocks of our lives. Jesus asks us to stand firmly faithful and turn our eyes toward God. Our life answers are found when we stand calmly and face our foes with an unwavering trust in Jesus. Our trust in Jesus replaces the turbulence of life with a calmed spirit.
Inspirational Christian Stories
Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”
Luke 13:16
In this amazing statement by Jesus, it wasn’t just that He fought back about healing on the Sabbath, but that he blamed her illness on Satan, the dark force of evil. Evil that had caught this woman eighteen years earlier, and despite all efforts it took the hand of Jesus to heal her.
Evil comes in many forms, in this case crippling a woman. But like all of the stories in the Gospel, this story is remarkably transportable to the 21st century. We certainly have evil in this world. In comes in the form of addictions, bad life habits, depression and bad decisions.
As I was reading this verse, I instantly thought about addiction, to alcohol and drugs. I am not sure why, but this is what stood out for me in this story. I am sure others would focus on the grumbling about a healing on the Sabbath, and they would be right. It is one of the messages of this story. But addiction stood out for me and particularly, the onslaught of new and more dangerous drugs that have emerged. Evil that catches it victims and relentlessly keeps them trapped.
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—
Romans 5:12
Augustine, the great doctor of the early Christian church, famously said, Give me chastity, but not yet. An amazing statement when you consider his elevated status as a great ancient leader of the church. Augustine had a significant influence on many church doctrine, especially the Doctrine of Original Sin. Yet as a wild youth he stole fruit, because he was told he shouldn’t! As a young adult he enjoyed the illicit pleasures of life. This statement and his actions as a youth makes us wonder; How did this man become the great leader of the early church?. The answer is complicated, but when we know the back story of his life, we will know why.
Flavius Valerius Constantinus was born in Serbia in 280AD. While not a native Roman, he would rise to become the Roman Emperor in 324AD. Later in life, he shortened his name to Constantine. His rise to becoming the Roman Emperor changed the course of Christianity. Christianity would move from being a persecuted underground religion, to becoming the state religion of the Roman Empire.
Zacchaeus come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.
Luke 19:5
Jesus enters the town of Jericho and is met by a throng of people. As he walks into the town, he passes under a sycamore tree. He looks up and sees a man in the tree. To the man he says; Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today. Zacchaeus agrees and has Jesus stay at his house. Zacchaeus was a very rich tax collector. After the visit, Zacchaeus states he will give half his wealth to the poor and to any that he has defrauded, he will pay back four times.
On the surface, this seems like a simple conversion and change of heart created by Jesus. An interesting story that we pass through when reading the Gospel of Luke. But it isn’t so simple, especially when we consider the historical and deeper theological implications.
